Organisers of the Palmers Green Festival have reluctantly admitted that a handbill unearthed in the Town Hall, telling of the ancient rituals once used to keep evil at bay, was stolen from the Palmers Scream stall at the festival this weekend. The document had previously been on display at Baskerville’s, where staff had reported a number of mysterious visitors.
“The theft goes to show the necessity of as many Palmers Green people as possible supporting the Palmers Scream event on 31 October” said a spokesman who asked to remain anonymous. “Only through assembling together with a sense of joy can we overcome mysterious forces which are clearly still at work.”
“Plus it’s a free event which means that you can have a cracking night out with the kids on Halloween without having to go trick or treating.”
For more information about the October event, the missing manuscript, and tales of mystery about the area, visit www.palmersscream.uk
Missed, treasured, ruined, beyond hope, still rescuable…opinions on Broomfield House have long been mixed but wistful. A successful of fires brought it to its present state and since then there have been several attempts to revive its fortunes, lead by the hardworking Broomfield House Trust.
Following work by Enfield Council, the Trust, the Friends of Broomfield Park, Historic England and the Heritage Lottery Fund, a consultation is beginning this month to look at future options for house and stable block based on an initial a report produced by independent architects Donald Insall.
The report identifies options for a part restoration, part new build for those parts that are beyond repair, and potential for the enhancement of the landscape setting, possibly funded by a more commercial approach to the stable block.
Enfield Council will have a stall at this weekend’s Palmers Green festival where you’ll be able to pick up hard copies of the questionnaire and essential background material plus information on potential next steps. The Broomfield House Trust will also be at the festival to give their views on the best way forward and are urging as many people as possible to participate in the consultation so that local views can be taken into account.
Market N13, Palmers Green’s relaunched Sunday market is celebrating 3 months trading, by providing a fun venue for kids and Dads (and everyone else!) to enjoy Father’s Day together. Come along for your regular Sunday shopping and join in with the festivities.
The aim is to share local talent, to say a huge ‘thank you’ to all those who have supported the market up to now, to invite others to get involved, but above all to have family focused activities, laughter and maybe a little bit of silliness on this special day for Fathers.
‘open mic’ competition – bring your favourite Dad jokes
All this plus live music AND all the market’s regular traders selling good fresh foods and handmade crafts.
Check the facebook events page for updated information and the day’s programme.
WANTED
HELP! – Market N13 is always looking for volunteer helpers. Do get in touch at facebook.com/MarketN13 or speak with Annita at the kiosk café on Platform 1, any weekday morning.
JARS! – empty glass jars with screw top lids wanted for jam and chutney based activity later in the year.
Date: Sunday 21st June 2015. Venue: Palmers Green station car park. Time: 10am – 3pm
Truro House was posted up on Rightmove on Friday, for a cool £2.9 million.
But let’s hope the pictures are from one of the other units to be built…
The building, which is Grade 2 listed, is described as ‘refined glamour, with a French twist’:
Step through the iron gates of this secluded, private gated development and discover an enticing mix of old and new, where a wealth of original features meets the latest in security technology, and where over two acres of mature gardens and lawns meet a coveted parking space. Thoughtfully restored, today’s Truro Place is a thoroughly modern address that exists in perfect harmony with its heritage and surrounds, and the grand buildings that have stood here for 150 years. After decades in the wilderness, this unique property is once again a joy to discover.
But the pictures appear to show an ultra modern, squeaky clean, marble floored, modern generically furnished space pad with no pictures of original features at all apart from outside. You can see them here.
But you will be relieved to find that we Palmers Greeners have at least finally discovered our inner hipster:
The joy of space meets the thrill of the city. Leafy Palmers green enjoys the very best of laid-back North London living
Enfield Council gave permission for works to go ahead last year, with a number of conditions to retain the building’s historic character. Last month, the stable block, which was originally to be retained, was demolished with agreement from Enfield Council, due to its poor condition.
Poor old soul – Truro House in a state of dilapidation May 2012
In 2002 a team from English Heritage investigated the history of the house and gardens. Inside was: a sitting hall; a panelled drawing room with hidden drawers and cupboards; stained glass with chivalric motifs and mottos; a rare early use of concrete mouldings; a ‘near-unaltered scheme of interior decoration of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century’ including a Toile de Jouy wall in the north west bedroom; and outside, gardens which had changed little since the house was built.
The most exciting discovery was that “elements of timber framing and brick noggin, more commonly associated with eighteenth century form of construction’, had been exposed in the upper floor landing and in the cellar” which may have been part of the old Kings Arms structure from its last rebuilding in 1775. So parts of Truro House were nearly 250 years old.
The overall conclusion: Truro House is a building from the 1830s, built in an uncluttered ‘old French’ style, enlarged and remodelled in the 1890s, and modernised in the early part of the twentieth century, since when it has been largely untouched. The interior, say English Heritage, is “a rare and important survival, worthy of further study.”
I hope it still is.
By the way, if you want it, mortgage repayments will be between £12,000 and £17,000 a month.
Palmers Green’s The Fox has become the first Asset of Community Value to be created in Enfield following a decision of Enfield Council’s Evaluations Committee last week.
Under the Localism Act, Councils must maintain a list of ‘community assets’, nominated by community groups. The successful nomination, made by Southgate Civic District Trust, does not give total protection to The Fox, but it does mean if the owners want to sell the pub or change its use, SCDT must be informed. The status means that the community can also then potentially make a bid for ownership.
Becoming pub owners may not be on the cards, but the application places a marker on the importance of the pub for Palmers Green. As the application said, ‘If Palmers Green were ever to lose its landmark pub, and this landmark building, it would lose part of itself’.
In accordance with the criteria, the application placed a particular emphasis on the community use of the building and its importance to the area. You can read an extract below.
The Fox stands in a prominent position on the corner of Green Lanes and its namesake, Fox Lane. Tall and imposing, for those coming to Palmers Green from the north, it acts as a gateway into Palmers Green’s main shopping area.
The Fox has a number of accolades. It is the oldest remaining pub in Palmers Green to have continuously stood on the same site – there has been a Fox on the site for over 300 years. It is also the only purpose built public house still remaining open on the main route between Wood Green and some way north of Winchmore Hill, the others being shop conversions with little architectural or historical merit.
The current building, of 1904, was built as part and parcel of the Edwardian development of Palmers Green. The size and grandeur of the building is a reminder that Palmers Green was once a place of enough significance to require a hotel and associated dining for travellers. Before the coming of the car, the Fox was the terminus of the horse drawn bus service into London, run by the Davey family of publicans who had stables at the back. Once the trams came, it was a major landmark on the journey from London. All taxi drivers still know the Fox.
The Fox, then, holds a position of huge cultural significance in an area, which tends to think of itself as having a short past. It is a well loved landmark and social hub. If Palmers Green were ever to lose its landmark pub, and this landmark building, it would lose part of itself.
As a former bus and train terminus, and a hotel, the Fox has always been at the centre of Palmers Green’s social and community life. June Brown, Dot Cotton from Eastenders, ran her theatre company from it, bands, including big names like Geno Washington and the Ram Jam Band, have played in it, famous comedians perform in it to this day, and the famous have drunk in it – locals like Rod Stewart and Ted Ray and visitors including the famous names who trod the boards at the Intimate Theatre.
Today, as the only remaining live performance venue in central Palmers Green, the Fox host a monthly comedy night attracting top Perrier nominated comedians. It hosts a community cinema, Talkies, desperately needed now that there are no cinemas for several miles. It hosts exercise and dance classes, and until recently bands and Irish music. As the only town centre room-for-hire, it has hosted wedding receptions, christenings, parties and bar mitzvahs, giving it a special place in many local people’s personal histories.
The loss of the Fox, in its current form as a public house, would leave the community impoverished; the loss of the building itself would take something beloved and iconic for local people.
For this reason, we wish to make an application for the Fox to be recognised as an Asset of Community Value, so that, should it ever be threatened, it will be clear that this is a both building and social hub valued in the local area, and that local people might have some kind of option to intervene.
The last few days have seen local groups in uproar following the news that Enfield won’t be taking part in London Open House this year. Apparently, Enfield has pulled out because it was unwilling to pay the £4,000 contribution required for its participating venues to appear in the Open House guidebook.
However other sources are suggesting that the real reason is that the Council is concerned about the number of hauntings and strange occurrences in the borough, not least the appearance recently, after a long absence, of ‘Bandstand Bob’ in Broomfield Park, glimpsed by a lady walking her dog just before the park closed. Bandstand Bob was associated with Broomfield House and the area by the lake, but hadn’t been seen since the fire which reduced the structure to its present state in the 1990s.
A few weeks ago there was also the discovery of a manuscript during the Town Hall renovations which indicated that Palmers Green was one of the three haunted hamlets of Middlesex, and that local people participated in rituals to keep witches at bay – a kind of Palmers Scream. The document is currently being examined by Dr Susan Devereux, lecturer in Early Modern History.
A source close to the Council has indicated that the borough is concerned that recent developments, combined with the current showing of the Enfield Haunting on Sky Living, is ‘creating a backward image’ for the borough.
Organisers of the Palmers Green Festival have reluctantly admitted that a handbill unearthed in the Town Hall, telling of the ancient rituals once used to keep evil at bay, was stolen from the Palmers Scream stall at the festival this weekend. The document had previously been on display at Baskerville’s, where staff had reported a number of mysterious visitors.
