Talent abounds in Palmers Green but perhaps the strangest claim to fame goes to Tony Norton, who in 1965 journeyed to Manchester to successfully defend his title of World Needle Threading Champion.
The idea of the contest was to see how many strands of cotton could be threaded through the eye of a number thirteen rug needle. Tony, clad in natty suit and looking not unlike Hank Marvin, used unorthodox methods, including greasing the threads, to win with a record of 1,171 threads through the eye of the needle – 171 more than his record the previous year.
Click here to see a clip of Tony’s triumph