Is it my imagination, or does the setting for O2’s “Be more dog” advert look strangely familiar…?
In the ad, O2’s aloof and jaded moggy decides to make life more exciting by embracing his ‘inner dog’, jumping into Broomfield Park’s boating lake after sticks and running with a pack of dogs around the park.
PG’s houses and the view of Canary Wharf from the top of Alderman’s Hill are clearly visible…In another scene, he chases a car through PG’s streets.
Tomorrow is St George’s day, and what better way to celebrate than a trip to Talkies Community Cinema at the Fox to see…er, Sunshine on Leith!
There is method in Talkies madness, for director Dexter Fletcher is a Palmers Greener, and himself a familiar sight on the TV screen, most recently as Mike Noble, the trendy and edgy East London artist in an episode of Rev screened a couple of weeks ago. He may be more familar from Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Hotel Babylon though he also makes an uncredited appearance in the most recent Muppet movie!
Sunshine on Leith is based on the stage production of the same name and tells the story of two soldiers returning to Edinburgh after a tour of duty in Afganistan and their trials and tribulations as they settle into normal life, peppered liberally with music from the Proclaimers, who also make a cameo appearance. Mark Kermode said of the movie, “I shed a tear within the first 10 minutes, and spent the rest of the movie beaming like a gibbering, love-struck fool.”c
Starting off the evening will be a short performance from the Disclaimers, a Proclaimers tribute band.
There are still a few tickets left. You can order yours online, or pop into Annita’s kiosk on Palmers Green station or Anthony Webb Estate Agents. Or, take your chances on the door.
ITV is looking for four couples from North London to take part in a new series of the legendary Come Dine With Me.
If you arent familiar with the show, four hosts take it in turns to hold a dinner party for the three other contestents. The person who hosts the evening voted the best wins £1000. More than 800 shows have been made, spanning 24 series and counting.
Are you willing to let viewers into your home, hearth and recipe book? Contact emma.leonce@itv.com.
Frankly the weather is abysmal but next Wednesday (29 January) Talkies Community Cinema plans to fill PG with cheer with a special programme featuring London’s young film makers.
Showing at the Fox, the evening of short comic films will be introduced by and MC’d by actor Gem Carmella, who has graced our screens in The Bill, Casualty and Holby City. There is even one with that nice Martin Freeman.
Here some teasers for the programme
Do estate agents fulfil your dreams? Kate Herron might answer that in Open House
You will order your coffee carefully after Marc Hardman shows We Are What We Drink
The Wizard by Simon Guerrier gives a comic slant to a ‘back to work’ scheme
Cat lover or not, Pussy People from Andrew Lang will raise a smile
Chris Shepherd, an experienced animator and engaging raconteur will show three animated films – Broken Jaw, Don’t Fear Death and his collaboration with artist David Shrigley Who I am and What I Want
Martin Freeman takes on a very different persona in The Girl is Mime by Tim Bunn
Dan Turner’s Storm animates Tim MInchin’s beat poem about alternative lifestyles.
and all for a modest fiver.
You can get tickets by booking online, or direct from Annita at the Palmers Green station kiosk, or Anthony Webb estate agents.
After more than 100 years of modern-day Palmers Green, dripping with requisite potentially spooky Edwardiana, you would have thought that Palmers Green would be groaning with ghosts. But we seem to have just two ghostly sightings to my knowledge.
The Fox – spooky goings on
The first concerns the Fox. In the 1980s and 1990s the back rooms of the Fox (as The Fox Theatre) became home of several theatre companies in succession, including in 1996 the Fact and Fable Theatre Company, whose performance of Pin Money by Malcolm Needs was directed by June Brown, Dot Cotton of Eastenders. It was during another performance in November 1996, according to Gary Boudier his 2002 book, A-Z of Enfield Pubs (part 2), that a Mr Sullivan from Archway felt himself being tapped on the shoulder but turned to find no one there. Bar staff and customers also reported unexplained noises, only some of which were attributable to the effects of alcohol.
The Intimate Theatre also reputedly has its ghost, according to the BBC’s Doomsday Reloaded project of a few years ago, though it’s not much of a story, only a ghostly presence in the auditorium.
You have to go slightly further afield for a proper ghost story, courtesy of Henrietta Cresswell’s Winchmore Hill, Memories of a Lost Village (you can read the book in full on N21.net).
In 1800 a common was enclosed which lay between Vicarsmoor Lane and Dog Kennel Lane, now called Old Green Dragon Lane. It was known as Hagfield or Hagstye field, on account of a witch who infested it on stormy nights with her proper accessories of a broomstick and a black cat! The right-of-way across the common was left as an enclosed footpath. In the sixties there were five stiles in it marking the field boundaries. This is still called Hagfields, and not long ago was strictly avoided after dark. The Clapfield Gates, now Wilson Street, had also a bad name. They were said to be haunted by a black bull.
And here’s another
At the top of Bush Hill is a footpath which avoids the long bend of the high road. It used to pass slightly to the west of its present position and was known as “The Poet’s Walk” or Stoney Alley. It passed under an avenue of limes which met overhead, and on its left was a black and sullen looking pond. Towards the Enfield end there was a high red brick wall, overhung by ancient yew trees, which made it exceedingly dark at the close of the day. It was reputed to be haunted, and few people would go through it after dusk. The ghost was said to be a lady in full bridal costume, who appeared on the top of the wall, gave a piercing and unearthly shriek and vanished. After a time it transpired that a white peacock found the wall under the trees a pleasant roosting place, and when disturbed it uttered its unmelodious cry and flew away.
Further afield, in Green Street, Brimsdown, was the site of the manifestation of the Enfield poltergeist. This really isn’t one for those of a nervous disposition. The story is taken up by London teacher turned Taxi driver Rob in his excellent View from the Window blog – click here. I don’t recommend watching the video clips but it’s up to you…
If you know a Palmers Green spooky story, please tell us!
From Guest writer, Palmers Green’s Undercover reporter
Palmers Green residents are breathing a sigh of relief this week at the appearance of a new betting shop at the Triangle. Previously, Palmers Green’s keen sportsmen had been forced to cross the road at the Triangle to get to the nearest betting shop by the 121 bus stop and there was widespread anxiety that some vistas remained on the main shopping street from which a betting shop was not to be seen.
Local residents recently petitioned the council with complaints about the number of ‘useful’ shops still remaining in Palmers Green.
“Some people were being forced into online betting,” one resident told the Palmers Green undercover reporter. “At the weekend, three Palmers Green residents were seen laying wagers on how many cars would actually stop for pedestrians attempting to cross at the Triangle by HSBC. Its pathetic. Every one knows the odds are against that.”
Rumours that the town hall is to be turned into a mega casino called the Rat Pack have so far not been confirmed.
