Author: Suzanne Beard

That was February in Palmers Green – a round up of news and events this month

Post author By Suzanne Beard
Post date March 7, 2013
No Comments on That was February in Palmers Green – a round up of news and events this month

The posts on PGJITN were a bit thin on the ground this month but it was all happening in other parts of PG and environs.

Wood Green’s Banksy was chipped and shipped to a US auction house, then withdrawn from sale at the 11th hour after a vociferous campaign. New artwork appeared, and in proof that you couldn’t make it up, we heard Poundland declare that they were fans of Banksy’s. Who knew?

In Westminster, our MP David Burrowes was all over the press for his opposition to gay marriage, and in the local corridors of power (also known as Enfield Council), Bush Hill Tory Councillor Chris Joannides hit the national press after being suspended from the party for making inappropriate remarks on Facebook. Read more here

There was news that PG could become better connected (though there could be disruption ahead for our neighbours in the south) – this month London First published its report on Cross Rail 2, this time linking North to South, and with a terminus at Ally Pally. Strictly, this is not new, and there have been proposals for a north-south route since 1901. But the latest proposal echoes TfL’s 2011 recommendations and has the support of Network Rail. You can read the full report here

Still on transport, the latest exhibition at Space Art Gallery features 100 paintings of London Underground stations by Ross Ashmore. Ross is on a quest to paint them all before LU’s 150th birthday celebrations begin. The paintings look fantastic, so please take a look – you have until the Easter weekend.
There were three great film nights in February, all in the space of a week or so. The N21 Festival Crew, led by John Stewart brought us Some Like it Hot, then T W Murnau’s weird and fascinating Sunrise, A story of two humans in which a young wife forgives her husband for trying to kill her in a rowing boat, after which they hit the town in a surreal dream city. Fantastic stuff.

Meanwhile Talkies offered the Blue Brothers and in an amazing coup will be linking up with the Future Shorts Festival on 22 March for a special event at Baskervilles, who will be offering a special film night menu. More on Talkies shortly.

Looking ahead, depending on when you are reading this, there are just 175 sleeps to the Palmers Green festival on 1 September. Meanwhile, April belongs to the Grovelands Park 100th anniversary celebrations and there is still time to enter the Broomfield and Grovelands photographic competitions.

Dont forget also the next Poetry in Palmers Green event on 27 April. Poets taking part will include Nancy Mattson, Martha Kapos, Grevel Lindop, Graham High and Linda How. Entry is £5 (£3 for concessions) and the venue is the Parish Centre attached to St John’s Church.

Sadly, PG came nowhere at all in the list of London’s funniest locations . The nearest* was Muswell Hill, which in 1978 formed the backdrop to the not quite as good Porridge follow up Going Straight in which ex con Normal Stanley Fletcher (Ronnie Barker) tried life on the straight and narrow in Muswell Hill. If you cant be law abiding in Muswell Hill, where can you?

Not certainly in PG where we joined the seeming legion of houses which have heard the pitter patter of burglars’ feet. I don’t wish to cause alarm but Palmers Green Jewel in the North was nearly stolen. Surely vigilante groups would spontaneously have formed.

May spring arrive in your green patch soon.

Sue from PG

*post script. I have recently learned that On the buses was filmed in Wood Green. Funniness creeps closer.

Looking ahead

5-9 March Anything Goes at the Intimate Theatre, presented by Finchley and Friern Barnet Operatic Society

12 March History and Mystery of Oaklands Road: Geoff Jacobs talks about his voyage of discovery researching this history of his road at the Friends Meeting House Winchmore Hill (Southgate District Civic Trust History Group)

27 April Poetry in Palmers Green at St John’s Parish Centre

2 May A Serious Man. The Coen brothers film is the first of Talkies new First Thursdays cinema events at the Dugdale Centre

18-19 May Grovelands Park Centenary Celebrations

6 June The Wave (Die Welle) : Talkies First Thursdays cinema event at the Dugdale Centre

8-9 June Open Studios and Art Trail weekend, Southgate and Palmers Green

4 July Zero Dark Thirty Talkies First Thursdays cinema event at the Dugdale Centre

1 August Chungking Express Talkies First Thursdays cinema event at the Dugdale Centre

31 August Singalong to the Wizard of Oz Palmers Green United Reformed Church Talkies cinema event with fancy dress – part of the Palmers Green Festival event programme

1 September Palmers Green Festival, Broomfield Park

Art and Culture Uncategorized

Underground art in Southgate

Post author By Suzanne Beard
Post date February 28, 2013
No Comments on Underground art in Southgate

The latest artist to exhibit at Southgate’s Space Art Gallery is a man with a mission.

Rickmansworth based Ross Ashmore has set himself the task of painting each and every station on the London Underground. And what’s more, he has nearly done it – of the 267 on his original list, there are only 55 remaining and he plans to complete them all by London Underground’s 150th anniversary celebrations this summer.

“I love the Underground,” says Ross.

“I love the concept of going below ground and resurfacing somewhere else. A Doctor Who episode Web of Fear 1968 also had a big impact on me as a youngster featuring the ‘Yetis’ in the Underground!

“Because society is changing so fast I want to document the Underground Stations in paint – even since painting the stations, some of them have undergone changes already.”

You can view 100 of his paintings at the gallery from 4 March through to 5 April

ross ashmore — Euston station as depicted by Ross Ashmore, exhibiting at Space this month

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Your ‘pic’ of the parks

Two ‘friends’ groups are urging Palmers Greener to get out and about with their cameras this month.

Friends of Broomfield Park are asking for shots of the park taken since 1 August. Your photo can be of all or part of the park and be taken from inside or outside. You can submit up to three entries, and there is the chance to win a bottle of wine.

The Grovelands Park competition is being run by the Friends of Grovelands Park in association with Southgate Photographic Society as part of the build up to the 100th anniversary celebrations at the end of April. The theme for entries is My Grovelands Park and this time you can submit up to five entries.

Both competitions are intended to help the image bank for park groups, so if you enter, you will be giving the friends permission to use your images for their work.

The closing date for the Broomfield Park competition is 31 March, and the Grovelands competition 26 April.

More information

Broomfield Park competition

Grovelands Park competition :

Community Uncategorized

If you see my laptop, say hello

Post author By Suzanne Beard
Post date February 24, 2013
2 Comments on If you see my laptop, say hello

burglar — Our intruder as he almost certainly looked

We don’t normally cover crime on this site. Lots of other sources do that.

But recently PGJITN itself became a crime statistic. As usual the method of access was the back of the house. Pilfered items included a laptop which is so slow that we were often near suicidal before it finally consented to do what we asked of it (i’d like to think that the person it was sold on to has already gone round to ask for his or her money back with menaces). All is now boarded up courtesy of our friendly local carpenter who also kindly offered to write ‘piss off!’ on the parts visible outside. Crime prevention in action Palmers Green!

Unfortunately among the losses were a couple of upcoming articles and almost all the pictures for this site, so we don’t have anything much to use for posts until we write some more and then go out with a camera (and have you noticed how cold it is outside?). If you have any pictures of the area you would be happy to let us use (fully credited and your copyright retained) in our picture library for the site please email us.

A word of thanks to the police officers from Palmers Green who have been wonderful. They were here within half an hour, the forensics lady showed up promptly the following morning to dust for finger prints, and the Safer Neighbourhoods Team came by later to give us advice on security.

With the help of the police we have also been able to develop a full description of the perpetrators. They are bastards.

But they aren’t going to get us down. Please take a moment this week to take a look at whether your house is as secure as it should be. For more information visit the Operation Bumblebee website .

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Open Studios asks shops and cafes to get creative this June

Post author By Suzanne Beard
Post date February 10, 2013
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Stunning stained glass by Jane Human — Stunning stained glass by Cheryl Powling

Palmers Green Open Studios and Art Trail is calling on retailers and café owners to add a splash of colour this June – by hosting a window display as part of this year’s Open Studios and Art Trail weekend.

Running on the 8-9^th June, Open Studios and Art trail is an annual event highlighting the talents of designer makers and artists living and working in the area. Last year hundreds of visitors attended the event and participating retailers reported increased footfall, raised awareness of their business and increased sales over the weekend.

The event is growing fast – 29 artists have already been confirmed for 2013 including painters, sculptors, ceramicists and jewelry makers . Some will be showing their work in their own studios and others will display work in shop windows and cafes as part of a weekend long art trail which will loop the whole community.

If you are a retailer or café owner and interested in taking part (at no cost to you) please email Christina Stavrinides at doodle-designs@hotmail.com or visit http://www.openstudios.uk.com

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That was January in Palmers Green – a round of news and events this month

Post author By Suzanne Beard
Post date February 4, 2013
No Comments on That was January in Palmers Green – a round of news and events this month

The star of the month was without question Betty Wright, nee Walton, who got in touch to tell us that she had grown up on in the Town Hall with her family, and lived there until a few years after the war. If you haven’t read her two articles, they are a real treat and hugely recommended. Betty not only has a fascinating story and a great memory but a beautiful way with words – we hope we’ll hear more from her soon. Also this month, we related the extraordinary tale of how a childhood misdemeanour in his family’s Palmers Green garden led to the loss of a few of Dr Alex Comfort’s fingers.

Broomfield House and Park were constantly in our minds this month. Peter Brown of Broomfield Museum Trust gave a fascinating talk on the story of Broomfield House to a packed house at Trinity at Bowes, putting forward an interesting theory about the origin of the name Broomfield and another about where King James might have retired to read his new Bible!

Meanwhile we waited anxiously for the outcome of the Heritage Lottery Fund bid only to have our hopes dashed – no money forthcoming, which raises the question, what next for Broomfield House? Is it reasonable to go on hoping that it can be restored? And if not, what should be done? A letter over the weekend sounded more hopeful. HLF has told the council that they would be willing to meet to look at future options and next steps.

If you haven’t been to the Enfield Life exhibition at the Dugdale Centre, it’s worth a look, with some fascinating photos of the area and unfamiliar views of Palmers Green, as well a rare Constable pencil drawing. And perhaps also in memory of the man who did so much for the history of Enfield, Graham Dalling, who died aged just 63 on Christmas Eve.

Palmers Green is growing richer in the arts month by month. The Space Art Gallery in Southgate launched its second exhibition this month featuring Maciej Hoffman and a local group of artists. Open Studios announced the 29 artist who will be taking part in their 8-9 June event.

Meanwhile there was dancing in the aisles at the Talkies Cinema showing of Strictly Ballroom this month. The next show is Dan Ackroyd and John Belushi in The Blues Brothers, also at the Fox on 20 February. Talkies always try to offer something novel in addition to the film, and this time its music from the Vintage Blues Club …..Meanwhile the Around the Corner Cinema, initially set up as part of the N21 Festival, will be hosting two film nights in February with money raised going to the Samaritans: Some Like it Hot on 9 February and F W Murnau’s 1929 film Sunrise, a song of two humans on 13 February. More information at http://aroundthecornercinema.com/

The Intimate Theatre will be playing host to Finchley and Friern Barnet Operatic Society’s production of Anything Goes at the beginning of March, and the St Monica’s players have put out a call for new aspiring actors who would like to try out for their production of the Madness musical Our House. Auditions will be on 10 and 11 February at Cannon House. For more information visit http://www.smptheatre.co.uk/.

A little way down the road, the wonderful Big Green Bookshop has secured funding for a Wood Green Literary Festival. The team at the bookshop must be some of the hardest working, most community minded people for miles around. If you are always moaning about Amazon’s increasing market dominance and the loss of small shops, why not get your books from there? They do mail order so there’s really no excuse. And Tracey Thorn is giving a reading from her new book, Bedsit Disco Queen in March, pop fans!

Sadly, our suggestion that you might like to tell us what birds are lunching in your garden met with no response. Perhaps you were all out with your binoculars, trying to catch a gimpse of the peregrine falcon at Alexendra Palace?

: Image (C) Sue Beard

Finally, local residents were rocked by news that Myddleton Road has sprung to life and begun tweating about the indignities of the way it is treated… Leakbusters made a bid for creating the brightest object in Palmers Green … and a shop in Southgate chose an odd way to describe its goods.

Thanking you kindly for your attention

Sue

Palmers Green Jewel in the North

Looking ahead

1 March Andrew Maxwell at the Electirc Mouse Comedy Club at the Fox

6 March Tracey Thorn in conversation with Pete Paphides at the Big Green Bookshop. Wow. Just wow.

5-9 March 2013 Anything Goes at the Intimate Theatre, presented by Finchley and Friern Barnet Operatic Society

18-19 May Grovelands Park Centenary Celebrations

8-9 June 2013 Open Studios and Art Trail weekend, Southgate and Palmers Green