We are leading a new Stroud Green Walk on Sunday 18th October 2pm.

The cost is £2 per person.

The walk starts at the Seven Sisters Road Gate to Finsbury Park, near the Station, and first explores around the Seven Sisters Road junction with Stroud Green. We also learn about the Stapleton Hall, Upper Tollington Park and Stroud Green Rd areas and return via Fonthill Road to Finsbury Park.

John Hinshelwood who has studied the area, will be our leader.

Our next talk is on Wednesday 14 October

A V Roe: First Flight Over Walthamstow Marshes
Illustrated talk by Dr. Neil Houghton

A V Roe’s 1909 flight was celebrated in July next to the railway arches where he built his Avro Triplane. A replica of the Triplane complete with a Tottenham-made JAP engine was on display, and the aviation pioneer’s grandson Eric Verdon-Roe gave an illuminating talk on this part of British flight history – including how Alexandra Palace had played a part – while Jim Lewis summed up the Lea Valley’s inventions. For those of you who were not lucky enough to be there, tonight’s talk by Walthamstow Historical Society chairman Neil Houghton promises to be just as illuminating.

We look forward to seeing you. Please note we are back at our usual venue – URC Hall, cnr of Weston Park/Ferme Park Road, London N8.

Entry is free to members, £1 for visitors. Doors open 7.45pm for coffee and bookstall. Talk starts at 8pm prompt. Doors are closed at 8pm and no latecomers can be admitted.

Members will be sad to learn of the death of Joan Schwitzer, one of the society’s founders and its guiding light for the last 38 years, who died peacefully at home on Saturday 19th September 2009, aged 84. The funeral will be held at 1pm on Thursday 1st October at All Saints Church, Talbot Road, Highgate, London N6 4QH, followed by the burial (at approx. 2.30pm) at Highgate Cemetery (East Cemetery), Swain’s Lane, Highgate, London N6 6PJ.

Parking is unrestricted in Talbot Road at the time of the funeral, but it can be difficult to find a space nearby. Transport can be provided from the church to the cemetery (which are 1 mile apart). If any member wishes to take up this offer, please email historyweb@hotmail.co.uk for details.

Flowers may be sent to funeral directors Leverton & Sons, Muswell Hill Branch, 1 Denmark Terrace, Fortis Green, London N2 9HG (020 8444 5753). If you would prefer to make a donation, cheques (payable to one of the charities below) may be sent to the funeral directors or direct to the relevant charity:

Hornsey Historical Society (Regd charity no 274424), The Old Schoolhouse, 136 Tottenham Lane, London N8 7EL

Survival International (Regd charity no 267444), 6 Charterhouse Buildings, London EC1M 7ET (http://www.survivalinternational.org)

URGENT!!!!

Autumn Coach Trip Sunday 27 September

Owing to late advertising of this event followed by local postal strikes, applications have been slow to arrive. If you have applied and heard nothing, please ring Rachael Macdonald on 020 8889 7388. If you wish to apply there places left (far too many!) so DO PLEASE RING ASAP TO BOOK. This will be a great outing, I promise!

We shall visit Down House, home of Charles Darwin when he was alive, and Lullingstone Castle, home of the very much alive – against all the odds – Tom Hart Dyke and his remarkable World Garden of Plants. Tom is the 20th generation to live in this 1497 manor house, which overlooks a 15-acre lake and was visited by Henry VIII and Queen Anne. The cost is £25 (£19 for English Heritage and £20 Historic Houses Association members). Please ring Rachael Macdonald (020 8889 7388) for further details or to reserve your seat.

HHS London Open House Weekend events:

Saturday 19th September

MUSWELL HILL WALK

We meet at 2pm outside Muswell Hill Library, Queens Avenue, for a walk of about 2 hours looking at the development and architecture of the suburb and ending with a visit (and tea) to North Bank, Pages Lane, a Victorian villa & estate from about 1860, now a centre for Muswell Hill Methodist Church and the community.

No booking required but numbers may have to be restricted so first come first served.

Sunday 20th September

Old Schoolhouse, Tottenham Lane / Rokesly Ave, N8 7EL

Hornsey Historical Society’s headquarters will be open to the public between 11am and 4pm.

The Old Schoolhouse (built in 1848) will have on display an exhibition
on the history of the school, and on Victorian schooling, and the bookshop will be open with a wide selection of local history books, maps and postcards. Please come and visit us.

Hornsey Church Tower will also be open and is just a short walk down the road from the Old Schoolhouse.

STOP PRESS………STOP PRESS……….

Autumn Coach Trip Sunday 27 September

Please ignore gremlins which got into the computer and announced wrong details in recent Newsletter about the coach trip – and don’t look for the flyer, as there wasn’t one! These will be sent out at end of August but will be available at the AGM and on River Lea Cruise on 14 July.
We shall visit Down House, home of Charles Darwin when he was alive, and Lullingstone Castle, home of the very much alive – against all the odds – Tom Hart Dyke and his remarkable World Garden of Plants. Tom is the 20th generation to live in this 1497 manor house, which overlooks a 15-acre lake and was visited by Henry VIII and Queen Anne. The cost is £25 (reductions for English Heritage and Historic Houses Association members). Please ring Rachael Macdonald (020 8889 7388) for further details or to reserve your seat.

A 1½-hour guided tour of the newly-restored Valentines Mansion (appropriately re-opened on 14 February) will take place from 2pm on 25 August. This is an extra outing, which has not been advertised on our programme brochure or in the Newsletter. As numbers are limited early booking is advised, and priority will be given to Hornsey Historical Society members. Booking is by ‘phone to Rachael Macdonald (020 8889 7388). If necessary leave your name and ‘phone number. The cost of £3 is payable on the day but pre-booking is essential.

Travel is by 123 ‘bus from Wood Green or tube to Gants Hill, or there is limited parking in the grounds (currently free of charge). We meet at 1.55pm at the information desk (entry through the north portico). We shall be shown round this lovely house and colourful formal gardens and then be free to visit the new café in the Gardener’s Cottage or outside in the kitchen garden, and wander round the landscaped area with the help of a well-produced picture-map (or come early and have lunch!). The Long Water canal, shell grotto, Jacob’s Well, Bishop’s Walk and “wilderness” are a must, and the varied waterfowl on the fish pond are worth seeing. The house and café close at 5pm but the landscape gardens remain open as does Valentine’s Park, even bigger and with some points of historical interest, such as the bandstand, boating lake, drinking fountain and clocktower. There is also a café in the park, and although a considerable walk from the mansion, any gate on the west side opens into Cranbrook Road for the 123 back up to Gants Hill tube or direct to Wood Green.

Brief History of Valentines Mansion
The house was built in around 1696 for Elizabeth Tillotson and her family, after the death of her husband, the Archbishop of Canterbury. At that time the new brick house stood in open countryside, several miles from the edge of London. Valentines has changed hands many times since then. City merchant and banker Robert Surman bought the estate in 1720s and created the walled gardens, dovecote and grottoes.

In the 1760s owner Sir Charles Raymond spent part of his fortune renovating Valentines, giving the house its Georgian appearance. Sarah Ingleby, the last private resident of Valentines, died in 1906 and the Council acquired the house in 1912. Since then, the mansion has been home to wartime refugees, a hospital, a public health centre, and a council housing department. After standing empty for 15 years, Valentines has now been restored with Redbridge Council and Heritage Lottery funds.

There will be an event at Hornsey Library on Wednesday 4th February at 2.00pm which will be of interest to many of our members. It will be an oral history session arranged by a student who is doing a project on Hornsey Library and would like to meet people with memories of the building and using the library service. It should be an interesting session and HHS members are encouraged to attend and contribute.

Our next lecture – “A Place in the Sun” – is on Wednesday 14 January at the usual venue – URC Hall, cnr of Weston Park/Ferme Park Road, London N8.

Brenda Griffith-Williams will talk about Fire Insurance for Local History

Entry is free to members, donation of £1 requested from visitors. Doors open 7.45pm for coffee and bookstall. Talk starts at 8pm prompt. Doors are closed at 8pm and no latecomers can be admitted.

Our next lecture is on Wednesday 10 December at the usual venue – URC Hall, cnr of Weston Park/Ferme Park Road, London N8.

David Frith will talk about the Hornsey Enclosure Map.

Entry is free to members, donation of £1 requested from visitors. Doors open 7.45pm for coffee and bookstall. Talk starts at 8pm prompt. Doors are closed at 8pm and no latecomers can be admitted.