East Finchley History Walk
The first of many?
On 5 October 2009 Hugh Petrie, Barnets Archive Officer, treated the
Finchley Society to a history walk in East Finchley. It is hoped that
he will be doing similar walks in different parts of Finchley. This
one covered East Finchley High Road, starting from the Old White Lion
and walking north to Church Lane.
Hugh Petrie illustrated his talk with large, A3 photos of yesteryear prepared from sources of the East Finchley Project, Barnet Achives and the Finchley Society Archives.
From the Middle Ages to the present
day :
The ground covered by Hugh's talk (2hours plus) ranged from the origins
of the settlements, the Hanson Bridge, Cherry Tree Wood, the Old White
Lion, the dairy, the brick field and the railway. Moving up to Pigeon
Corner there was a debate about the location of the 6-mile stone and
gibbet and the Bald-faced Stag.Further along the High Road Hugh talked
about the shops that used to be there, of Gibbs the seed merchants
and Moss Israel. He linked the expansion of East Finchley not so much
to the railway as to the arrival of the electric tramway.
Opposite Chapel Court he stopped to relate the History of the Congregational
Chapel and the British School behind it, up to and including the stay
of the Catholics until the big bomb destroyed the area.
Carrying on up the road we learned about the Black Bess Tavern, a
row of shops long disappeared and the infamous baby farm murders.
Not many people know that East Finchley's post office started in a
shop on Church Lane (replaced by Rew Lodge) nor of the origins of
the Alexandra pub. Pen drawings were shown of the Wesleyan Chapel/Hall
on King Street, East Finchley's only street, and of the Windsor Castle
pub as it used to be. And he talked about the industry on King Street.
Of course there was much more learned and discussed, too much to put
on this web site, and everyone agreed it was an illuminating talk.
Last updated 6 October 2009