Category: Palmers Green

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Community Enfield History Palmers Green Southgate Spooky stories Winchmore Hill

New course and walks explore Enfield’s history

joeFor more than 30 years there has been no adult education offering dealing specifically with the history of Enfield as a borough.  London tour guide and story-teller Joe Studman is changing all that this month with a six-week course at the Dugdale Centre.

Joe will be telling the story of Bush Hill Park, Edmonton, Enfield, Winchmore Hill, Palmers Green and Southgate from earliest times to the present day, looking at people, places and some of the national events which impacted on the local area.

The course is £50 and will run from 7.15 to 8.45 on Mondays, beginning on 6 October. Its been selling fast and there are just a few places left. so if you are interested, book now by emailing Joe@jaywalks.co.uk  or phoning 0787 553 7295

To coincide with the course, Joe is also running a series of six Sunday walks exploring different parts of the borough:

  • BUSH HILL PARK Sunday 13th October 2013 Meet Bush Hill Park Station Queen Annes Place Exit 2pm
  • ENFIELD TOWN Sunday 20th October 2013 Meet Enfield Town Station 2pm
  • EDMONTON Sunday 27th October 2013 Meet Edmonton Green Station 2pm
  • CHASE SIDE Sunday 3rd November 2013 Meet Enfield Chase Station 2pm
  • ENFIELD LOCK Sunday 10th November 2013 Meet Tesco Car Park Enfield Island 2pm
  • WINCHMORE HILL Sunday 17th November 2013 Meet Winchmore Hill Station 2pm.

The walks are £5, £3 concessions or £2 or those who are taking part on the course. No need to book, just turn up and enjoy a fascinating afternoon in good company.

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Community Film Music Palmers Green

Guillermo and Bob at Talkies this October

Talkies Community Cinema’s autumn programme continues this month with a surreal tale from fascist era Spain at the Dugdale Centre on 10 October, and a night dedicated to Bob Dylan at the Fox on 30 October.

Heart of SummerWritten and directed by Guillermo del Toro, and interweaving real and mythical worlds, Pan’s Labrynth tells the story of Ofelia, a girl fascinated with fairy-tales, who is sent along with her pregnant mother to live with her new stepfather, a ruthless captain of the Spanish army. During the night, she meets a fairy who takes her to an old faun in the center of the labyrinth. He tells her she’s a princess, but must prove her royalty by surviving three gruesome tasks…

imnottheresquareThe next in Talkies’ music related nights at the Fox, I’m not there, features six actors exploring different facets of Bob Dylan’s life and public persona, through intercutting story lines, though Dylan’s name is only mentioned once!  The stars include Heath Ledger giving one of his last ever film performances, and Cate Blanchett who won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Jude Quinn, a version of Dylan from the Newport Folk Festival era. Other left field casting includes Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon. Film review site Rotten Tomatoes describes it as ‘a deliciously unconventional experience’.

Both nights are fantastic value at just £5.00. To book your ticket, visit http://www.talkies.org.uk/future-events

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Art and Culture Community Enfield Palmers Green Southgate Winchmore Hill

A creative beginning

Creative Exchange logoA new network for local creatives receives its formal launch on 1 October in Southgate.

Creative Exchange is a collective of designers, craftspeople and artists based in Southgate, Palmers Green and Winchmore Hill in North London though members are also welcome from further afield. You may perhaps have already heard the name at this summer’s fantastic Southgate and Palmers  Green Open Studios and Art Trail event – now in its second year and growing fast, and an indication of just how much collaborative work can achieve.

Dan Maier of Southgate’s Extraordinary Design describes the exchange as being on a mission: to build a dynamic creative hub which benefits creatives in the area, residents and local businesses – by championing the arts.

“The aim of Creative Exchange is to create a mutually supportive group to combat the isolation which can be an unfortunate side effect of being a sole practitioner. The intention is to create a forum for meeting and sharing experiences, opportunities and support; we are  also working together to create new outlets for selling work, meeting the public, and contributing to the community.  The Network has just installed it’s latest exhibition of Members’ work in the former Blockbusters store at Southgate tube which has notably improved the area and the next event is a new Designer Craft and Art Fair on November 17th.” (More details of that soon).

“If you are interested in meeting like minded people, being part of a burgeoning creative community or participating in future events, why not come and meet us and find out more about what we do,” says Dan. “and if you are a local business interesting in getting involved in our events or supporting us we’d love to see you.”

Space is limited, so if you would like to be on the Guest List, please send your details to Ruth Berenbaum: events@creativeexchange.uk.com

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Art and Culture Community Palmers Green

Meet the man who brought us five minutes’ peace

Phil DavisPhil Davies is a Palmers Green local.

He is also a big cheese in the animated film world, winner of 6 BAFTA’s, and many other awards across the world. He supports the National Film and TV school and students at the Royal College of Art… and as a little hobby on the side he produces Peppa Pig, the sacred child calming aide to parents and babysitters nationwide!

Phil has agreed to host a Talkies evening of animated films, starting from their simple beginnings in the early part of the 20th Century through to today. Phil will show and talk about some of his favourite short films to illustrate methods and approaches to animation.

This is an evening not to be missed and there are a very small number of tickets left – if you want to go, grab yours quick.

Baskervilles serves wine, light meals, tea, coffee and plenty of cake! Come early have a drink and meet some friends before the screening. Two screenings 7.30 and 9.15, with a programme of about 80 minutes.

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Art and Culture Community History Palmers Green Planning and open spaces Shops Uncategorized

How Palmers Green changed before your eyes

One of the highlights of the recent 50 years of Palmers Green event at the Ruth Winston Centre was another chance to see the film about Broomfield Park by Christine Lalla, and a fantastic new montage created specially for the event by Southgate Photographic Society, showing the way in which Palmers Green’s streetscape has changed within living memory.

Artfully compiled by the Society’s Kevin O Neill, the film ‘Remembering Palmers Green’ brings together stills of Palmers Green from Enfield Local Studies Archive and recent shots taken in exactly the same spot by members of the society. Old merges into new with stunning, and occasionally heartbreaking, results. If only we could go back and walk these streets as they were. Thanks to this fantastic film, it almost feels as if you can.

If the film sets off memories, a reminder about the Palmers Green oral history project. We would love to hear from you;  your story is yours only, and no one else can tell it.

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Art and Culture Community Food Green Palmers Green History Music Palmers Green Shops

There are thousands of Palmers Green stories – and one of them is yours

Do you remember the Black and White Café? Have afternoon tea in Evans and Davies? Buy your undies in Grout’s, or your butter hewn from a big slab in Sainsbury’s?

Those were some of the memories and stories shared by local residents at a special event hosted by the Ruth Winston Centre in conjunction with Talkies Community Cinema a couple of weeks ago as part of the Palmers Green Festival celebrations.

IMG_0612[1]The aim was to look at what Palmers Green was like 50 years or more ago, and the way in which Palmers Green, and our feelings about it, have changed. Once with a reputation for being rather snobby and high falutin’, Palmers Green is now busier than many of its neighbours, excitingly  multicultural, and, in the words of Ralph Hutchings, one of the introductory speakers, ‘definitely on the up’ – a far cry from the 60s when ‘you couldn’t get a decent kebab!’.

The event has now given birth to a new oral history project.

“We have yet to agree a title, but the emphasis will be firmly on ‘now’ as well as ‘then’”, says former Hazelwood teacher Jenny Bourke who is coordinating the project team, which includes Palmers Green Jewel in the North. “The aim is to talk to as wide a range of people as possible, of all ages and from all parts of the community”.

Here are just a few of the many topics the team would love to know more about

  • Do you remember your first impressions of Palmers Green? How has it changed?
  • Can you help us piece together more of the story of Truro House?
  • Do you recall a gymkhana being held in Broomfield Park?
  • Did you have any notable, famous or infamous neighbours or stories about your own street?

“If you took part in the event, the team will be back in touch soon, “says Jenny. “But we’ll also be asking for more people to come forward with their local memories later in the year – we hope as many people as possible will want to be involved.”

But you don’t have to wait until then. If you are a Palmers Greener, old or new, we would love to hear your stories about Palmers Green, whether it be from of 1963 or something that happened just last week.

“We are keen to hear from everyone, but as we are looking in particular at the last 50 years, it  would be great to hear from some people who were actually born in 1963!”

A website will be set up in the New Year, but in the meantime you can contact the project group by emailing palmersgreenn13@btinternet.com.