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Wood Green is a district in the London Borough of Haringey in North London, England. It is a suburban area situated 6.7 miles (10.8 km) north of Charing Cross. It is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan.
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History
In the latter half of the 19th century and before urbanisation Wood Green was part of 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, and later a municipal borough, of Middlesex. In 1965, under the London Government Act 1963, the Municipal Borough of Wood Green was abolished and its area merged with that of the Municipal Borough of Tottenham and the Municipal Borough of Hornsey to form the present-day London Borough of Haringey. Most of Wood Green is in the Hornsey and Wood Green parliamentary constituency.
Television
The nearby Alexandra Palace played a leading role in the development of both public service television in the UK. Wood Green also played its part in the history of commercial television.
On 28 November 1936, the BBC opened its TV service at Alexandra Palace (popularly known as "Ally Pally") and in 1955 with the opening of Lew Grade's London weekend franchise Associated Television (ATV), the Wood Green Empire in Lymington Avenue was home to variety programmes on Independent Television (ITV), one of which was the 'Arthur Haynes Show', starring the host himself and his straight man Nicholas Parsons.
The Wood Green Empire has now been replaced by a shopping precinct and all that is left of the BBC TV at Alexandra Palace is the familiar TV mast.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 TV Centre was opened in the 1950s, moved to White City, west London in September 1969. The Alexandra Palace was then used for the production of joint BBC/Open University (OU) programmes for a while, but all OU programmes are now produced in Milton Keynes where the OU's headquarters are located.
Today
Wood Green is a busy urban activity centre with a sizeable shopping area with two cinemas, bars, nightclubs, numerous restaurants and cafes and a shopping area called Shopping City close to the tube station. The High Road, the main shopping spine, is part of Green Lanes and stretches from the Wood Green tube station to the next stop on the Piccadilly Line, Turnpike Lane, and is lined with shops along its route. Wood Green Crown Court is a short distance along Lordship Lane. The area has also established a reputation for being vibrant and multicultural, and it has been estimated that nearly two hundred languages are spoken in the area.[1]
Residential property in the area is mainly Edwardian and Victorian, mainly terraced houses. The area has several estates including Noel Park, one of the pioneering social housing projects of the mid 19th century, and 'Sky City', located above the shopping district. The area to the west of Shopping City is currently being developed by Haringey council to become Haringey Heartlands, an urban regeneration project which it is hoped will become a 'heartland' of the borough of Haringey, linking the wealthier Western side to the traditionally more-deprived East.[2]
Wood Green has a very strong artistic tradition in theatre, film, TV, music and the visual arts. Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, a world famous acting school with strong links to both theatre and TV, is located in Wood Green.
The Chocolate Factory is full of artists studios. Beginning in 1995 as an artist-led initiative The Chocolate Factory is now the centre of a vast Cultural Quarter which includes artists, music, film & multi media studios, photographic studios, printers, 2 restaurants, recording studios and several performing arts organisations. [3]
The Wood Green International Short Film Festival, a film festival showing short British and international films, was founded in 2002. As well as screening films, it hosts discussion groups and workshops for both established and up-and-coming filmakers. The next festival is in April 2008.[4]
R.E.M.'s album Fables of the Reconstruction and The Smiths single Panic, were both recorded at Livingston Recording Studios in Wood Green.[5] Bjork's 'Debut' was also recorded in Wood Green. Buena Vista Social Club, was recorded in Cuba but mixed in Wood Green. Artists who have recorded in Wood Green include the Libertines, Shakira, Ry Cooder, John Martyn, Jamie Cullum, Youssou N'Dour, Ash, Ronan Keating amongst others.
Public Transport
Wood Green is well served by public transport having a direct tube line to Central London and Heathrow and many bus routes, as well as overland rail.
London Underground
- Bounds Green (Piccadilly Line)
- Wood Green (Piccadilly Line)
- Turnpike Lane (Piccadilly Line)
Railway
- Bowes Park
- Alexandra Palace (formerly known as Wood Green Alexandra Park).
Until the 1960s, a railway line of the former Great Eastern Railway network crossed the Wood Green High Road, at a station called Noel Park, providing connections to Stratford and North Woolwich.
Buses
A bus station is located at Turnpike Lane, there are also many buses that stop outside Wood Green tube station. It is the starting place of many bus routes including the 29 to Trafalgar Square.
Education
- For details of education in Wood Green see the London Borough of Haringey article.
Primary
- Broadwater Farm 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
Secondary
Higher
The University of Middlesex has a halls of residence for 161 students in Wood Green[6].
Drama
Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, one of the country's top drama schools, is located in Wood Green.
Sport
London Skolars are a rugby league team that compete in National League 2, they play at New River Stadium in Wood Green. The annual Middlesex 9s rugby league tournament also takes place at the New River Stadium.
Nearest places
- Bounds Green
- West Green
- Bowes Park
- Muswell Hill
- Hornsey
- Palmers Green
- Tottenham
- Turnpike Lane
- Harringay
Notable people associated with Wood Green
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This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2008) |
People who have been one time residents or brought up in Wood Green area.
"See also" category: People from Wood Green
- Alec Merrison, physicist
- Judy Dyble, singer [7]
- Paul Furlong, footballer[citation needed]
- Jack Hawkins, actor
- Leonard Whiting, actor[citation needed]
- Mike Leigh former local resident[8] associated with Film Festival[citation needed]
- Amanda Holden, actress[citation needed]
References
- ^ Haringey's English Language Page
- ^ 1135 Haringey A4 080903
- ^ The Chocolate Factory
- ^ [1] Wood Green International Short Film Festival]
- ^ Livingston Recording Studios London
- ^ http://www.mdx.ac.uk/campus/accomm/halls/options/tphalls.asp
- ^ Judy Dyble
- ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2002/10/05/bfmike05.xml
Notable Appearances
- Nick Hornby's book, High Fidelity
- Razorlight' s song Los Angeles Waltz ( song )
- Mark Knopfler's song Junkie Doll
- Pablo Gad's song "Black Before Creation"
External links
- Wood Green Film Festival
- Wood Green Empire, Theatre of Varieties
- http://www.flickr.com/groups/haringey/
- http://www.woodgreenparish.com/
- http://www.urban75.org/vista/woodgreen.html
- http://www.woodgreen.org.uk/html/londonnews.htm
- History of the Wood Green Empire
- http://thechocolatefactoryartists.co.uk/index.html
- Museum of London Postcode Project
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