Wood Green
Encyclopedia
Wood Green is a district in north London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, England, located in the London Borough of Haringey
London Borough of Haringey
The London Borough of Haringey is a London borough, in North London, classified by some definitions as part of Inner London, and by others as part of Outer London. It was created in 1965 by the amalgamation of three former boroughs. It shares borders with six other London boroughs...

. It is situated 6.7 miles (10.8 km) north of Charing Cross
Charing Cross
Charing Cross denotes the junction of Strand, Whitehall and Cockspur Street, just south of Trafalgar Square in central London, England. It is named after the now demolished Eleanor cross that stood there, in what was once the hamlet of Charing. The site of the cross is now occupied by an equestrian...

. The area is identified in the London Plan
London Plan
The London Plan is a planning document written by the Mayor of London, England in the United Kingdom and published by the Greater London Authority. The plan was first published in final form on 10 February 2004 and has since been amended. The current version was published in February 2008...

 as one of the metropolitan centres in Greater London
Greater London
Greater London is the top-level administrative division of England covering London. It was created in 1965 and spans the City of London, including Middle Temple and Inner Temple, and the 32 London boroughs. This territory is coterminate with the London Government Office Region and the London...

.

History

In the latter half of the 19th century and before urbanisation Wood Green was part of Tottenham
Tottenham
Tottenham is an area of the London Borough of Haringey, England, situated north north east of Charing Cross.-Toponymy:Tottenham is believed to have been named after Tota, a farmer, whose hamlet was mentioned in the Domesday Book; hence Tota's hamlet became Tottenham...

 and covered by woodland called Tottenham Wood, hence the original name of the area, Tottenham Wood Green.

Governance

In 1894 Wood Green was created as an urban district
Urban district
In the England, Wales and Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected Urban District Council , which shared local government responsibilities with a county council....

, and later a municipal borough
Municipal borough
Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002...

, of Middlesex
Middlesex
Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...

. In 1965, under the London Government Act 1963
London Government Act 1963
The London Government Act 1963 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which recognised officially the conurbation known as Greater London and created a new local government structure for the capital. The Act significantly reduced the number of local government districts in the area,...

, the Municipal Borough of Wood Green was abolished and its area merged with that of the Municipal Borough of Tottenham
Municipal Borough of Tottenham
Tottenham was a local government district in north east Middlesex from 1850 to 1965. It was part of the London postal district and Metropolitan Police District....

 and the Municipal Borough of Hornsey
Municipal Borough of Hornsey
Hornsey was a local government district in east Middlesex from 1867 to 1965.In 1867, a Local Board was formed for part of the civil parish of Hornsey. The rest of the parish was already under South Hornsey Local Board formed in 1865....

 to form the present-day London Borough of Haringey.

The constituency of Wood Green
Wood Green (UK Parliament constituency)
Wood Green was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Wood Green area of North London. It which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system.-History:...

 was created in 1918, and existed until 1983, when it was split. Some of the constituency was transferred to the neighbouring seat of Tottenham
Tottenham (UK Parliament constituency)
Tottenham is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- Boundaries :...

, Most was merged with the Hornsey
Hornsey (UK Parliament constituency)
Hornsey was a parliamentary constituency covering what is now the Hornsey district of North London. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from the 1885 general election until it was abolished for the 1983 general election...

 parliamentary constituency to form the Hornsey and Wood Green parliamentary constituency. Since 2005, the seat has been represented in the House of Commons by the Liberal Democrat MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

, Lynne Featherstone
Lynne Featherstone
Lynne Choona Featherstone , is a British Liberal Democrat politician, and the Member of Parliament for Hornsey and Wood Green....

.

Geography

Economy

Wood Green is a busy urban activity centre
Activity centre
Activity centre is a term used in urban planning and design for a mixed-use urban area where there is a concentration of commercial and other land uses...

 with a sizeable shopping area with two cinemas, bars, nightclubs, numerous restaurants and cafes and a shopping area, The Mall, close to the tube station
Wood Green tube station
Wood Green is a London Underground station on the Piccadilly Line. The station is between Turnpike Lane and Bounds Green stations and is in Travelcard Zone 3. It is located at junction of Wood Green High Road and Lordship Lane...

. The High Road, the main shopping spine, is part of Green Lanes
Green Lanes
Green Lanes, London, is a main road in North London and forms part of the A105. At approximately 7.5 miles from end to end, it is one of the longest streets in the capital....

 and stretches from the Wood Green tube station to the next stop on the Piccadilly Line
Piccadilly Line
The Piccadilly line is a line of the London Underground, coloured dark blue on the Tube map. It is the fifth busiest line on the Underground network judged by the number of passengers transported per year. It is mainly a deep-level line, running from the north to the west of London via Zone 1, with...

, Turnpike Lane
Turnpike Lane tube station
Turnpike Lane tube station is a station at Turnpike Lane on the Piccadilly Line of the London Underground, between Manor House and Wood Green stations, and in Travelcard Zone 3.It is located within the London Borough of Haringey...

, and is lined with shops along its route.

The Chocolate Factory was set up by Haringey Arts Council in 1996 to develop artists' studios. The Chocolate Factory now has a second building. The project houses 200 local artists, music, film and multi media studios, photographic studios, and several performing arts organisations.

Television

The nearby Alexandra Palace
Alexandra Palace
Alexandra Palace is a building in North London, England. It stands in Alexandra Park, in an area between Hornsey, Muswell Hill and Wood Green...

 played a leading role in the development of public service television in the UK. Wood Green also played its part in the history of commercial television.

On 28 November 1936, the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 opened its TV service at Alexandra Palace
Alexandra Palace
Alexandra Palace is a building in North London, England. It stands in Alexandra Park, in an area between Hornsey, Muswell Hill and Wood Green...

 and in 1955 with the opening of Lew Grade
Lew Grade
Lew Grade, Baron Grade , born Lev Winogradsky, was an influential Russian-born English impresario and media mogul.-Early years:...

's London weekend franchise Associated Television (ATV), the Wood Green Empire in Lymington Avenue was home to variety programmes on Independent Television (ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

), one of which was the 'Arthur Haynes Show', starring the host himself and his straight man Nicholas Parsons
Nicholas Parsons
Nicholas Parsons OBE is a British actor and radio and television presenter.-Early life:...

.

Only the frontage of The Wood Green Empire exists, it is now a branch of the Halifax, and all that is left of the BBC TV at Alexandra Palace
Alexandra Palace
Alexandra Palace is a building in North London, England. It stands in Alexandra Park, in an area between Hornsey, Muswell Hill and Wood Green...

 is the familiar TV mast. The ATV operations moved to Elstree and Borehamwood (now BBC studios) and the BBC News department, which was the only unit remaining at "Ally Pally" after BBC Television Centre
BBC Television Centre
BBC Television Centre at White City in West London is the headquarters of BBC Television. Officially opened on 29 June 1960, it remains one of the largest to this day; having featured over the years as backdrop to many BBC programmes, it is one of the most readily recognisable such facilities...

 was opened in the 1950s, moved to White City
White City, London
White City is a district in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, to the north of Shepherd's Bush. Today, White City is home to the BBC Television Centre and BBC White City, and Loftus Road stadium, the home of football club Queens Park Rangers FC....

, west London in September 1969. The Alexandra Palace
Alexandra Palace
Alexandra Palace is a building in North London, England. It stands in Alexandra Park, in an area between Hornsey, Muswell Hill and Wood Green...

 was then used for the production of joint BBC/Open University
Open University
The Open University is a distance learning and research university founded by Royal Charter in the United Kingdom...

 (OU) programmes for a while, but all OU programmes are now produced in Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes , sometimes abbreviated MK, is a large town in Buckinghamshire, in the south east of England, about north-west of London. It is the administrative centre of the Borough of Milton Keynes...

 where the OU's headquarters are located.

The now-demolished bus depot at Wood Green was used for location filming by London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television was the name of the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties including south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire, Warwickshire, east Dorset and...

 for their popular 1970's situation comedy
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...

 On The Buses
On The Buses
On the Buses was a British situation comedy created by Ronald Wolfe and Ronald Chesney which was broadcast in the UK from 1969 to 1973. The writers' previous successes with The Rag Trade and Meet the Wife were for the BBC, but the Corporation rejected On the Buses, not seeing much comedy potential...

.

London Underground

Wood Green tube station
Wood Green tube station
Wood Green is a London Underground station on the Piccadilly Line. The station is between Turnpike Lane and Bounds Green stations and is in Travelcard Zone 3. It is located at junction of Wood Green High Road and Lordship Lane...

 is on Wood Green High Road with Bounds Green tube station
Bounds Green tube station
Bounds Green tube station is a London Underground station, located at the junction of Bounds Green Road and Brownlow Road, in North London.The station is on the Piccadilly Line, between Wood Green and Arnos Grove stations, and is on the boundary between Travelcard Zone 3 and fare_zone 4.Like all ...

 to the north of the area and Turnpike Lane tube station
Turnpike Lane tube station
Turnpike Lane tube station is a station at Turnpike Lane on the Piccadilly Line of the London Underground, between Manor House and Wood Green stations, and in Travelcard Zone 3.It is located within the London Borough of Haringey...

 to the south, all are on the Piccadilly Line
Piccadilly Line
The Piccadilly line is a line of the London Underground, coloured dark blue on the Tube map. It is the fifth busiest line on the Underground network judged by the number of passengers transported per year. It is mainly a deep-level line, running from the north to the west of London via Zone 1, with...

.

Railway

Alexandra Palace
Alexandra Palace railway station
Alexandra Palace railway station is in the London Borough of Haringey in north London, and is in Travelcard Zone 3. The station, and all trains serving it, are operated by First Capital Connect...

, formerly known as "Wood Green for Alexandra Park", is on the East Coast Main Line
East Coast Main Line
The East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...

. It has services in to Kings Cross and Moorgate
Moorgate
Moorgate was a postern in the London Wall originally built by the Romans. It was turned into a gate in the 15th century. Though the gate was demolished in 1762, the name survives as a major street in the City of London...

 and out to Hertford
Hertford
Hertford is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. Forming a civil parish, the 2001 census put the population of Hertford at about 24,180. Recent estimates are that it is now around 28,000...

 and Welwyn Garden City
Welwyn Garden City
-Economy:Ever since its inception as garden city, Welwyn Garden City has attracted a strong commercial base with several designated employment areas. Among the companies trading in the town are:*Air Link Systems*Baxter*British Lead Mills*Carl Zeiss...

. Bowes Park
Bowes Park railway station
Bowes Park railway station is in the London Borough of Haringey in north London, and is on the boundary of Travelcard Zone 3 and Travelcard Zone 4. The station and all trains serving it are operated by First Capital Connect, on the Hertford Loop Line...

 serves the Hertford Loop Line
Hertford Loop Line
The Hertford Loop Line is a branch of the East Coast Main Line, providing a commuter route to London for Hertford and other Hertfordshire towns...

 branch of the East Coast Main Line. Until the 1960s, a branch line
Palace Gates Line
The Palace Gates Line was a short railway branch line in north London running from the main line at Seven Sisters station in Tottenham to Palace Gates station in Wood Green....

 of the former Great Eastern Railway
Great Eastern Railway
The Great Eastern Railway was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia...

 network crossed the Wood Green High Road, at a station called Noel Park
Noel Park and Wood Green railway station
Noel Park and Wood Green is a closed railway station on the Palace Gates Line in Wood Green, north London. It was located on the north-east side of The Broadway adjacent to Pelham Road...

, providing connections to Stratford
Stratford, London
Stratford is a place in the London Borough of Newham, England. It is located east northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major centres identified in the London Plan. It was historically an agrarian settlement in the ancient parish of West Ham, which transformed into an industrial suburb...

 and North Woolwich
North Woolwich
North Woolwich is a place in the London Borough of Newham. It is located north of Woolwich proper which is on the south bank of the River Thames. The two places are linked by the Woolwich Ferry and the Woolwich foot tunnel.-History:...

.

Buses

A bus station
London Buses
London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London that manages bus services within Greater London, UK. Buses are required to carry similar red colour schemes and conform to the same fare scheme...

 is located at Turnpike Lane
Turnpike Lane bus station
Turnpike Lane bus station serves the Turnpike Lane area in the London Borough of Haringey, England. The station is owned and maintained by Transport for LondonThe station is situated adjacent to the Turnpike Lane tube station on the Piccadilly line....

, there are also many buses that stop outside Wood Green tube station. It is the starting place of many bus routes including the 29
London Buses route 29
London Buses route 29 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, United Kingdom. The service is currently contracted to Arriva London.-History:...

 to Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square is a public space and tourist attraction in central London, England, United Kingdom. At its centre is Nelson's Column, which is guarded by four lion statues at its base. There are a number of statues and sculptures in the square, with one plinth displaying changing pieces of...

.

Education

For details of education in Wood Green see the London Borough of Haringey article.

Primary

  • Alexandra Primary
  • Earlham Primary
  • Lordship Lane Primary
  • Nightingale Primary
  • Noel Park Primary
  • St.Michael's C of E Primary
  • St.Pauls RC Primary
  • Rhodes Avenue
  • Noel Park Primary

Secondary

  • Heartlands High School
  • Woodside High School
  • Alexandra Park School
  • St Thomas More RC School

Drama

Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts
Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts
Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts is an independent drama school situated in the Wood Green area of North London. It was founded in 1945 by Peter Coxhead and Ralph Nossek as 'The Mountview Theatre Club', an amateur repertory company staging a new production for a six-day run every second week...

, a drama school located in Wood Green.

Dame Judi Dench
Judi Dench
Dame Judith Olivia "Judi" Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA is an English film, stage and television actress.Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she played in several of William Shakespeare's plays in such roles as Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo...

 is President of the school.

Sport

London Skolars
London Skolars
London Skolars are a rugby league club based at the New River Stadium, Wood Green, Haringey in North London. They were founded in 1995 and have been semi-professional since 2003, operating in Championship One...

 are a rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

 team that compete in National League 2
Rugby League National Leagues
The Championship, known as Co-operative Championship due to sponsorship by The Co-operative Group, is a professional rugby league competition based in the United Kingdom. It is currently contested by ten teams from England. It acts as Europe's second-tier competition below the Super League, and has...

, they play at New River Stadium in Wood Green. The annual Middlesex 9s
Middlesex 9s
Middlesex 9s is a rugby league nines tournament that is hosted by the London Skolars rugby league club at their New River Stadium in North London, and held in August....

 rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

 tournament also takes place at the New River Stadium.

Public services

London Ambulance Service
London Ambulance Service
The London Ambulance Service NHS Trust is the largest "free at the point of contact" emergency ambulance service in the world. It responds to medical emergencies in Greater London, England, with the ambulances and other response vehicles and over 5,000 staff at its disposal.It is one of 12...

 responds to medical emergencies
Medical emergency
A medical emergency is an injury or illness that is acute and poses an immediate risk to a person's life or long term health. These emergencies may require assistance from another person, who should ideally be suitably qualified to do so, although some of these emergencies can be dealt with by the...

 in Wood Green. Home Office
Home Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...

 policing in Wood Green is provided by the Metropolitan Police Service
Metropolitan Police Service
The Metropolitan Police Service is the territorial police force responsible for Greater London, excluding the "square mile" of the City of London which is the responsibility of the City of London Police...

, which has a station on the High Road. Statutory emergency fire service
Fire service in the United Kingdom
The fire services in the United Kingdom operate under separate legislative and administrative arrangements in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales...

 is provided by the London Fire Brigade
London Fire Brigade
The London Fire Brigade is the statutory fire and rescue service for London.Founded in 1865, it is the largest of the fire services in the United Kingdom and the fourth-largest in the world with nearly 7,000 staff, including 5,800 operational firefighters based in 112 fire...

. Wood Green Crown Court
Crown Court
The Crown Court of England and Wales is, together with the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal, one of the constituent parts of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...

 is on Lordship Lane
Lordship Lane (Haringey)
Lordship Lane connects Wood Green with Tottenham High Road . It lies in the London Borough of Haringey and forms part of the A109 road.-History:...

.

Notable appearances

  • Nick Hornby
    Nick Hornby
    Nick Hornby is an English novelist, essayist and screenwriter. He is best known for the novels High Fidelity, About a Boy, and for the football memoir Fever Pitch. His work frequently touches upon music, sport, and the aimless and obsessive natures of his protagonists.-Life and career:Hornby was...

    's book, High Fidelity
    High Fidelity (novel)
    High Fidelity is a 1995 British novel by Nick Hornby. It was adapted into a 2000 film directed by Stephen Frears and starring John Cusack. It also served as the basis for a 2006 Broadway musical of the same name.-Plot summary:...

  • Razorlight
    Razorlight
    Razorlight are a UK based indie rock band formed in 2002. They are primarily known in the UK, having topped the charts with the 2006 single "America" and its parent self-titled album, their second...

    ' s song "Los Angeles Waltz"
  • Mark Knopfler
    Mark Knopfler
    Mark Freuder Knopfler, OBE is a Scottish-born British guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer and film score composer. He is best known as the lead guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for the British rock band Dire Straits, which he co-founded in 1977...

    's song "Junkie Doll"
  • Pablo Gad's song "Black Before Creation"
  • Sway DaSafo
    Sway DaSafo
    Derek Andrew Safo is a Ghanaian British musician who uses the stage names Sway DaSafo or Sway. He is signed to Akon's Konvict Muzik record label and he is also a producer, establishing DCypha Productions.-Childhood:...

    's song "Up Your Speed"
  • Juan Maria Solare
    Juan María Solare
    Juan María Solare is an Argentine composer and pianist.-Education:Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Solare studied and received his diploma in piano , composition and conducting at the Conservatorio Nacional de Música Carlos López Buchardo...

    's composition "Woodgreen Walk" for Horn and Cello, 2011

External links


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