West Finchley

 

The first thing I noticed when I stepped off the train was the quiet. No passengers hurrying to get on or off the train. In fact, no passengers at all. A small station that surprisingly had public toilets. Not a feature you find at central London tube stations. 

West Finchley station was opened by the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) in 1933 on its line to High Barnet. It was opened to serve the new housing developments and was only ever going to be a small station. This section of the LNER was incorporated into the Underground network in the late 1930s. This station was first served by the Northern Line in 1940. For the following year both LNER and Northern Line trains used the station. The LNER services stopped in 1941.

This is the main exit/entrance to the station taking me onto Nether Street. There is a smaller exit on the other side of the tracks but that is only open Mon to Fri.

There was a small shopping parade next to the station. Being a Sunday morning the majority of the shops were closed.

I turned right onto the first road I came across as there seemed to be some greenery at the bottom. Once again, I came across the Dollis Brook Greenway, but this section looked far better kept than the previous sections I've visited. It had been raining before I arrived and everything looked clean and fresh. 

I could hear the river flowing gently through the undergrowth making its way towards the Thames.

Volunteers were out collecting litter and chatting to passers by.

The Greenway took me passed allotments - small patches of land where people usually grow vegetables rather than flowers.

The history of allotments goes back to the 1500s when peasants shared common land to graze animals and grow crops. Between 1604 and 1914, Parliament passed over 5200 individual Enclosure Acts that turned shared common land and open fields into private property. This ended traditional farming rights and the rural landscape of Britain changed forever. As compensation for the change in land use, small patches of land were given to the rural poor to grow food. During the Industrial revolution these areas of land were expanded near cities to help workers grow their own food and feed their families. This was followed by a wartime campaign to 'Dig for Victory'. Currently there is often a long waiting list for people to rent an allotment.

 

After following the Greenway for about 20 mins, I decided it was time to turn round and go back to the station to have a look at the other side. Walking along the residential streets with their tidy gardens, I wasn't sure I would find anything else of interest but then I hit the main road with a sign for North Finchley. Here I came across the old Gaumont Cinema which has been converted into the Art Box.

Beside the staircase they had a timeline of its history:

They had a lovely cafe inside where I had a sit down with a cup of tea and croissant.

The rest of the High Street had a feel of faded grandeur about it. I'm sure it must have been a very elegant place at the turn of the 20th century, but now there is nothing Grand about the art deco 1930s Grand Arcade.

 

The once beautifully tiled floor is dirty and you can only just see the original pattern. the shops inside the bazaar have long since closed down.

Elsewhere on the High Street there was a variety of Middle Eastern shops and restaurants. 

These two buildings look as though they were once cinemas on this long, straight High Street.

This is Tally Ho corner where Ballards Lane in the West meets the High Road (Great North Road) from the East. The corner was named in the 1830s after the Tally-Ho Company which maintained stables for about 16 horses. The junction was a staging post and horse changing station for fast horse drawn mail and stagecoaches on their way to and from Birmingham to London.

On the wedge of land created by the merging of the roads is the Tally Ho pub. Built in 1927 it replaced

 the Park Road Hotel on the same site.

There was a sign close by directing me to the next station so I decided to wander down the road and unusually for me visit two stations in one day. I spent a couple of very pleasant hours discovering this area of Finchley so am hopeful I will find one or two things of interest at the next station.

Mill Hill East

 Late on a Sunday afternoon, I decided to visit the next Underground station. We had been in the middle of a heat wave last week in London with temps between 35-39 deg C. We had been given a red alert meaning danger to life for vulnerable groups. Today was cooler and cloudy by mid afternoon so I decided to travel to Mill Hill East, the next station on the Northern Line.

 

This station is the only one on this branch of the Northern Line.

This branch line was originally a proposed extension to the Northern Line to Edgware and then further into Hertfordshire. Three new stations were planned at Brockley Hill, Elstree South and Bushey Heath. The extension was announced in 1935 and construction began shortly afterwards. However with the onset of WW2, plans for a tube extension were put on hold. Post war Green Belt legislation meant that the proposed building of new commuter towns could not go ahead and as a consequence there was no reason to continue with the Northern Line extension. The Mill Hill East section had already been built and so survived. It is a small station with two platforms. As this is a terminus there was always one train waiting at the platform so I couldn't get a clear photo. I don't think I missed much though.

My first and lasting impressions of the area were the new housing estates. There was no evidence of the gas works or military establishments that used to be here just a variety of new housing.

Just passed the station was a green walkway taking you into another housing estate which looked more upmarket. 

From this point I could see the green topped Tower of the old Christ's College that I saw when I visited the previous station at Finchley Central.

I walked through and came out at a large Virgin Leisure Cena atre and Waitrose. The housing industry refers to this as the Waitrose effect. If you look at houses for sale in this area they all mention the proximity of the property to the Virgin Leisre Centre and Waitrose supermarket.

There were other smaller shops, nearby.

Walking further on I found the Dollis Brook Greenway. If I had followed it I assume It would have taken me back to the path by the large viaduct that I saw when I visited the previous station.

Despite the continued dry weather we are experiencing, there was still plenty of water in the river.

I wandered around this pleasant residential area for a bit longer  but could find no buildings of historical or architectural interest.  I have been spoiled by the last few stops which all have a variety of places to research. There are just four more stations for me to visit on the Northern Line so I am hoping to find  one or two more surprises.

Finchley Central

  

The last few stations I have visited on the Northern line have been very interesting. I wonder what's in store for me today. It takes me longer and longer to reach these suburban stations. Today I am travelling midweek on a warm day and that means trains and tubes are much busier. But I have age on my side and these days someone always offers me a seat - something I never refuse. I am going to try and visit two stations today but with the increasing heat I'm not sure I will have the stamina.

Finchley Central station is on the High Barnet branch of the Northern Line. A station opened here in 1867 as part of the Great Northern railway's line between Finsbury Park and Edgware stations. Northern Line trains started serving the station in 1940 and the main line passenger services stopped in 1941. The station has two entrances which are joined by a footbridge over the tracks.

On the Southbound platform is a plaque to Harry Beck and a copy of his original map.

Beck's map of the Underground, first designed in 1931, can truly be described as a design classic. He lived nearby and used this station to travel to and from London. He was employed as a draughtsman by the underground and spent his spare time designing a new map for the network inspired by an electric circuit. The map shown above is his 1933 design and consequently doesn't show all current stations. The beauty of his design is that new stations can be easily added or removed. Many other transport systems throughout the world have adopted Beck's concept for their own maps.

As I exited the station I turned left onto a quiet street but once I had walked to the end I then came upon the High street with its shops etc.

 Not knowing the area I decide to carry straight on past the shops and office blocks. I noticed there was greenery ahead but until I got a bit closer I didn't realise there was a huge viaduct crossing the road.

The viaduct carries the Northern Line to the spur branch line at Mill Hill East, the next station I will be visiting.

Known as the Mill Hill Viaduct it was built in the 1860s for the Great Northern Railway branch to Edgware. It was designed by John Fowler who also designed the Forth road bridge near Edinburgh. It has a total of 13 arches. It is common to see these in and around London carrying the trains above roads but this one was exceptionally high. At 18m I think this is the highest one carrying an Underground train. On my journey to the next station I will be going over the viaduct. But being on the train I won't even notice.

Running next to the viaduct is a nature area with bridges across the Dollis Brook. The brook flows into the River Brent which then flows in to the River Thames.

I wandered along the Greenwalk for a little while but decided it was taking me too far from the station. 

Someone had mentioned that there was a very old church not too far from the station so I decided to try and find it. I was glad I made the effort as the church was open and I was able to go in and have a look around. The oldest part of the church is the base of the tower and the chapel which date back to the 14th cent.

Much has been rebuilt and renovated over the centuries.

The organ was built by Henry Willis in 1878 but had to be rebuilt in 1948 due to war damage. However, it has still been declared of archeological importance by the British Organ Studies.

The octagonal font dates from the 13th century having been dug up in the rectory garden. It was probably hidden there during the English Civil War. It was restored in 1891 and moved to its current position in 1953.

Above the font is a memorial to Alexander Kinge who died in 1618.

Another 17th century memorial is this one to Colonel Seale who died in 1682.

This chair at the back of the chapel is for the use of the Mayor of Finchley and was set up in 1933. In 1965 the Municipal Borough of Finchley became part of the London Borough of Barnet and the borough of Finchley abolished, So there is no longer a Mayor of Finchley to take up his seat in the chapel.

        

Next to the church is the former home of the Vestry clerk. In 1725 the building was divided into two dwellings and rebuilt in 1851. The one on the right became a Workmen's Hall and Reading room. When it was renovated in the 1960s it became known as the Blue Beetle and is the meeting place for local clubs and organisations.

This mid 19th century building with its iconic green topped tower was once Christ's College. The school was founded by Rev Thomas Reader White in 1857. It outgrew the site and moved in the 1990s. It is now home to a primary school.

This part of Finchley is known as Church End. 

Park House was built in 1739 and is one of the oldest houses in Finchley.

On the wall was the fire insurance plaque by the Hand in Hand Company. The Company was founded in 1696 and was one of three companies which were started after the Great Fire of London. The fire of 1666 devastated London, There were very few deaths but the destroyed property was valued at £10,000,000 (£1.5 billion in today's money). This led to the development of fire insurance. Companies realised it would be cheaper to put out fires than rebuild homes. So the companies began to employ their own fire brigades. The insurers created 'fire mark' plates to identify which houses were insured by each company when the fire brigades arrived. Insurance companies often had reciprocal arrangements with each other, so that if a fire brigade put out a fire insured by another company, then the brigade's company would be reimbursed. It wasn't until 1833 that a unified Fire Brigade was established and there was no longer a need for individual houses to display a 'fire mark'. It is therefore not that common to see these fire marks still on houses.

Above these retail units is the King Edward Hall. Built as a private banqueting hall in 1911, it has three floors plus attics. During the First World War the building was used as a temporary hospital.

At the corner of ballards Road and Gravel hill is this office building which used to be the Queen's Head pub. On closer inspection you can see a blue plaque placed there by the Finchley Society as a reminder that this was once the site of a toll gate. 


Toll gates would have been as popular as the modern day equivalent of parking meters. With the expansion of London, new roads were needed. An Act of Parliament in 1826 created the Marylebone and Finchley Turnpike Trust which built a new road that ran south from Finchley and was called Regents Park Road. It was opened to traffic in 1830 and lasted as a turnpike, a road with a barrier, that was only lifted when a toll was paid. These turnpikes were located at various points of the road. They were very unpopular and lasted until the railway arrived c1870.




I seemed to wander aimlessly for some time and then came across an impressive building - Stephen's House. An information board filled me in with the following details regarding its history.

Avenue House was the home of Henry 'Inky' Stephens from 1874. Stephens was heir to the Stephens Ink Company and was a businessman, politician and a chemist with interest in water management, horticulture and agriculture. The house was built in 1859 and enlarged and refurbished by Stephens. The house was left to the public when Stephen's died in 1918. But at that time it had already been requisitioned as a Voluntary Aid Detachment hospital. Between 1919 and 1925 it became the Royal Air Force hospital.

On the outbreak of WW2 it was requisitioned again for use as the Air Raid precautions HQ for Finchley and an Auxiliary Fire Service Station was established on the site. The basement became the contro; room and the small room in the tower was used for fire watching. From here spotters could direct emergency teams to the scene when bombs fell locally. At the end of the war the house was used as the offices of Finchley Borough Council after its offices were destroyed by the bombing.

The house is now a meetings and events venue and home to a number of charities and small businesses.

At the back of the house was a beautiful garden. It was delightfully quiet with a welcome outdoor seating area and cafe, just what I was hoping to find.

I  sat there enjoying a cup of tea and sandwich and just thinking that if I hadn't found anything else today, this would have been worth the journey.

Also in the garden is this statue 'A conversation with Spike' by John Somerville, 2014. Spike was a comedian who first became famous for 'The Goon Show'in the 1950s. The statue was installed here by The Finchley Society of which he was president. He lived nearby and freqently visited the house and garden.

Soldiers: represent his time in the army during WW2. He wrote about his experiences in his first book 'Adolf Hitler - My part in his Downfall'.

Fairies: Spike had a lifelong fascination with them, convincing his children that there were fairies living at the bottom of the garden. This inspired him to start writing poetry, at first just for his children but was later published.

Elephants: Spike was born in India whilst his father served in the army. the family moved to Burma and returned to England when Spike was 15.

The characters at the bottom are Spike with his fellow goons- Harry Secombe and Peter Sellars.

Comedy and Tragedy masks: represent the fact that his life was a mixture of the two. When he was wounded in combat he began a struggle with a manic-depressive illness that lasted the rest of his life.

The cafe and Visitors centre.

A time line tracing the history of the site back to the 13th century

On the main road out of Finchley is this statue. Known locally as 'The Naked Lady'. It is officially called 'La Delivrance' by Emile Guillaume (1867-1942). It was created to commemorate the victory of France and her allies over Germany in the First World War. The original of the statue was exhibited at 
  
the Paris Salon in 1920. It was seen and admired by Viscount Rothermere, owner of the Daily Mail newspaper who commissioned this copy.

I really enjoyed my visit to Finchley Central. There was more to see than I had anticipated and consequently I didn't visit two stations today. Maybe next time.