If you are in Palmers Green for Open Studios weekend, why not make some time to pop along to the Hazelwood Schools Animal Fair for animal themed festive fun, face painting, a few bargains and an ice cream? I do hope that there really will be meercats!
An exciting new venue has been announced for this weekend’s Open Studios and Art Trail. The building, on Southgate Circus and formerly occupied by Blockbusters, is part of Charles Holden’s station complex built in the 1930s, and is set to provide a stunning showcase for the weekend.
Open Studios connects a love of the area with a love of the creative arts, says organiser Dan Maier.
“Our aim is to connect the public with creatives in the area and show the sheer quality and variety of work which is going on on our doorsteps and in our community. At the same time, we want to show the potential of our high streets, and the way in which art and local creativity could act as a regenerator.
We only have one weekend a year, but we hope the effects will reach far beyond and encourage people to support local businesses – not just those who work in arts and crafts and local workshops, but all kinds of local businesses – cafes, shops, galleries and a range of other venues.”
Over the last two weeks the team has been working with shops and businesses in the area to create window displays, with stunning results – worth a wander round Palmers Green, Southgate and Winchmore Hill in itself to explore. This year, thanks to an Arts Council grant, the weekend also includes a number of free workshops, alongside the opportunity to view work by over 30 artists, designers and crafts people, and a chance to buy from them direct. Why not download the guide to plan your weekend?
Meanwhile, as we write, the Open Studios team are completing work on a special installation at the new venue in Southgate, focusing on their mission to make our high streets more vibrant and stop the rot of empty shops. Handover of keys was yesterday morning, and the installation needs to be ready by 10.30 on Saturday. It’s a tough call, but you know that somehow they will do it, and what’s more, that it will be amazing.
Around the Corner Cinema returns in July with two new screenings as part of the 2013 Mimetic festival.
As with February’s screenings, the emphasis is on the wonderful, silent and seldom seen.
“The Mimetic Festival aims to celebrate the very best emerging mime, puppetry and cabaret in the UK – its a fantastic programme of theatre and arts, and experimentatation, and we will be showing arguably two of the best silent films ever made,” says Around the Corner’s John Stewart.
Made in 1924 and showing at Enfield Grammar School Hall on 16 July, the Last Laugh follows the story of an elderly doorman at a famous hotel who is demoted to washroom attendant and tries in vain to conceal his shame from friends and family, with tragic consequences – or are they?
The film was highly praised on its release, and is unusual in using almost no intertitles – more unusual still, when they are used, they do not represent dialogue on screen. Director F W Murnau described his story in the Last Laugh as absurd – on the grounds that everyone knows that a washroom attendant earns more than a doorman!
This screening will feature live, improvised piano accompaniment from British Film Institute silent film pianist, Costas Fotopoulos who works internationally as a concert and silent film pianist, and as a composer and arranger for film, the stage and the concert hall. There will also be an introduction from Pamela Hutchinson; Editor of Silent London, and Features Production Editor for The Guardian.
Showing on July 25th, also at Enfield Grammar School Hall, the Kid is one of Charlie Chaplin’s most celebrated and most personal feature films. The Tramp (Charlie Chaplin) and an abandoned child (Jackie Coogan) triumph over life’s hard knocks in the landmark film that changed the notion of what a screen comedy could be. An award winning short film (The Girl is Mime) directed by Tim Bunn, and starring Martin Freeman (The Hobbit, The Office), will be screened beforehand.
For tickets and further information, visit the Around the Corner website.
For further information about other events in July’s Mimetic Festival visit http://www.mimeticfest.com.
It may seem hard to imagine it now, but once upon a time Palmers Green was famed for a quaint rural attraction. Until 1938, the site of Palmers Green’s excellent hardware store Westlakes was occupied by “Ye Old Thatched Cottage”, a local landmark.
Alan Dumayne in his book Once Upon a Time in Palmers Green says that in years gone by the mere mention of the Cottage would bring a faraway look of sweet remembrance into old Palmers Greeners’ eyes. The cottage had been built in the late 18th Century by the Governor of the Bank of England Thomas Lewis as a lodge to the big house, The Lodge, which once stood on the east side of Green Lanes.
The Cottage lost its rustic gardens to the widening of Green Lanes in 1906 and had begun to look a little sorry for itself by 1911 when it was rescued by one Percy Whellock, who had it as a garden shop and nursery (there were two acres of ground behind). The cottage was a well-known attraction, with colourful and abundant bedding plants in front setting off its attractive rural thatch. It was demolished to make way for a branch of Burton’s gentleman’s tailors in 1938.
Well established and possibly at their zenith when they came to Palmers Green just before the Second World War, Burtons were founded in Chesterfield in 1903 by 18 year old Montague Burton (then known as Meshe David Oskinsky – legend has it that he chose his new name having spent several hours on Burton on Trent Railway station).
Burton’s aimed to be an ethical employer by the standards of the time, giving generously to support the arts and even playing a role in the founding of the United Nations. One of Montague Burton’s mottos was ‘Good clothes develop a man’s self-respect’ and a full, smart but affordable three piece suit became known colloquially as the Full Monty.
It was a Burton’s tradition that the foundation stone for each new store should be laid by a member of the family, and Palmers Green’s stone, laid by Montague’s son Arnold James Burton, can still be seen. Far from being an elder statesman, Arnold was just 21 when he wielded the ceremonial trowel in Green Lanes.
If you ask nicely, Westlakes’ staff will proudly show you a picture of the Thatched House and remains of the original fittings from the 1930s store, including a fine parquet floor. They will also cut your keys, supply you with a new phone, and give you DIY advice and the tools to transform your home, and do it all with a friendly smile. You don’t get that at Homebase.
For more information about Montague Burton, see http://www.movinghere.org.uk/galleries/histories/jewish/working_lives/montague_burton1.htm#
The Grovelands Park centenary celebrations continue this bank holiday weekend with three walks lead by City of London guide and storyteller Joe Studman (Jaywalks) in association with the Southgate District Civic Trust.
The weekend kicks off on Saturday with a spooky foray into the Dark Side of Winchmore Hill, including stories of old railway workers, black dogs and sinister doings in the woods. Meet at Winchmore Hill Station at 8.30.
On Sunday, Joe will be regaling fellow walkers with some nuggets from the history of Palmers Green including Billy Biscuit of Cullands Grove (the alleged coiner of the phrase ‘readin, riting and rithmatic’), John Donnithorne Taylor’s one man green belt policy, and Palmers Green’s links with the Spencer family of Cannonbury Tower including a touching story of kindness from Elizabeth 1. The walk starts at 2.30 from Palmers Green Station.
Joe’s final walk of the weekend tells the story of Southgate, including its gradual emergence from two villages, and some of the characters who have lived there and shaped its history – the owner of the first motorcar in Southgate, the lawyer who played with matches and got burnt, and the Walkers and how they shaped the area. Meet at Southgate Tube at 2.30 on Bank Holiday Monday.
Tickets are £5 – visit the Jaywalks site for further information, or just turn up on the day.
A highly entertaining way of spending the Bank Holiday.
Today until 7.
