Richard McKeever's Blog (20)

Number 123 Myddleton Road is one of the finest remaining frontages in this once proud Edwardian shopping street.

If you imagine hard you might just see beyond the grimy cracked glass and flaking grey paint to relive its former grandeur.

But it’s unlikely that you would conceive…

In recent times we have heard much discussion about questionable journalism. Sensationalist stories in poor taste however, are nothing new - one of the earliest British tabloids was the Illustrated Police News.

Published…

Just off Muswell Hill Broadway a few paces down Hillfield Park, outside number 1, is one of our rare local Blue Plaques.

This  marks the former home of performer, painter, poet,…

Whilst much has been made of the London Underground's 150th birthday this year - our local tube stations are not quite as old as the earliest central London parts of the system.

March 13th 2013 marks the 80th anniversary of the opening of Southgate Tube Station as part of the northern extension…

Earlier in the autumn I was involved along with Hugh from Harringay online in setting up a local “cashmob”. A cashmob, for those unfamiliar with the term is an interesting new way for people to act together in support of independent local businesses. This “shop local” movement emerged in New York about a year ago. Many of you will have heard about 'flash mobs' -…

Just along the  Bowes Road - near the junction with Brownlow Road - is a sight that is rarely seen anywhere apart from the seaside ... and even then, not seen so often since the 1960s or 70s... so it's a little odd to encounter it on the edge of the North Circuar Road.

Outside Nitin Cash and Carry is a Kiddy Ride in the form of a horse - I understand from the shop owner that this fine creature has been in our neighbourhood for almost 30 years. Well worth a 20p…

Elvis Costello is quoted as saying: "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture - it's a really stupid thing to want to do." but ignoring this advice a short series of articles will try to record a little of Our Musical Heritage. Part  2 Live at the Fishmongers Arms…

A couple of weeks ago at the Enfield Show I was chatting briefly to the team

from Depaul UK, Britain's biggest youth homelessness charity, about Enfield Lodgings the innovative scheme to help homeless young people get back on track. Meghan Read from De Paul has been in touch with more information about the…

A couple of years ago I managed to get into the grounds of Wood Green Bowls Club and took a few photographs of the gradually fading clubhouse and scoreboard.

The photographs are in a slide show below - including one or two of the Original 1905 Barford and Perkins Lawn Roller which was still in use at the club 100 years after it was made.

The club itself reached its centenary in 2006 - and published a pamphlet detailing their history  to mark the…

Elvis Costello is quoted as saying: "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture - it's a really stupid thing to want to do." but ignoring this advice a short series of articles will try to record a little of Our Musical Heritage. Part 1 Wood Green Jazz Club

Our local area has a bit of hidden history as a location for the performance and recording of…

A fairly ordinary bench in Palmers Green's Broomfield Park - by the perimeter wall at the southern end of the ponds - carries a small memorial plaque to Profesor Harold Rosen.

The unassuming inscription, stating he "...would have enjoyed a rest on this bench",  gives no hint…

A recent article on the excellent PalmersGreenN13.com website includes details of a raucous incident that took place 98 years ago this week at Palmers Green Triangle where, according to the local newspaper:…

The Wood Green Empire, built in 1912 was a popular music hall, all polished brass and red velvet, it must have been quite grand compared to the drab domestic surroundings of most of its patrons during the period of the Great War.

The building is still standing in the High Road (it's…

This year marks the centenary of the publication of an exceptional little book.

Henrietta Cresswell's book Winchmore Hill: Memories of a Lost Village is a personal account of the changing face of a rural…

Bowes Park Station dates from 1880 - it was built as an additional station on the already existing GNR line. In a recent article in The London Railway Record Peter Kay provides a detailed history.

Having refused a station in the area when…

Last month marked the 30th anniversary of the official opening of Wood Green Shopping City by HM Queen Elizabeth II on May 13th 1981. 

The current mangement of "The Mall" marked the moment by relocating the original plaque unveiled by the Queen. They…

This month the Bowes Park Walking Group celebrated their fifth anniversary with a walk around Trent Park - the site of their first organised walk in 2006.

Founder Member of the Walking Group Catharine Perry talks about the history and current activities of the group in the video…

‘My Bowes Park’was established as a project to engage both younger and older people from the Bowes Park area, with a particular focus on Myddleton Road.

It was a joint project run by the Bowes Park Community Association, and…