Golders Green

For the Pete Ham album, see Golders Green (album).

Golders Green
Golders Green clock tower
Golders Green  Golders Green shown within Greater London
OS grid reference	TQ248876
London borough	Barnet
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Region	London
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	LONDON
Postcode district	NW11
Dialling code	020
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
EU Parliament	London
UK Parliament	Finchley & Golders Green
	Hendon
London Assembly	Barnet and Camden
List of places: UK • England • London

Golders Green is an area in the London Borough of Barnet in London, England. Although having some earlier history, it is essentially a 19th century suburban development situated about 5.3 miles (8.5 km) north west of Charing Cross and centred on the crossroads of Golders Green Road and Finchley Road.

In the early 20th century it grew rapidly in response to the opening here of a tube station of the London Underground, adjacent to the Golders Green Hippodrome - home to the BBC Concert Orchestra for many years. It has a wide variety of housing and a busy main shopping street, Golders Green Road. The area is noted especially for its large Jewish population.

History

The name Golders comes from a family named Godyere who lived in the area and Green alludes to the manorial waste the settlement was built on. Golders Green has been a place in the parish and manor of Hendon since around the 13th century. The earliest references to the name of the adjacent district of "Temple Fortune" is on a map (c. 1754). However this name reveals a much earlier history. It is likely that the name refers to the Knights of St John, who had land here (c. 1240). Fortune may be derived from a small settlement (tun) on the route from Hampstead to Hendon. Here a lane from Finchley, called Ducksetters Lane (c. 1475), intersected. It is likely that the settlement was originally the Bleccanham estate (c. 10th century). By the end of the 18th century Temple Fortune Farm was established on the northern side of Farm Close.

The building of Finchley Road (c. 1827) replaced Ducksetters Lane as a route to Finchley, and resulted in the development of a small hamlet. Hendon Park Row (c. 1860s) is of this period, and consisted of around thirty small dwellings built by a George Stevens, which were, with two exceptions, demolished (c. 1956). A small dame school and prayer house run by Anglican deaconesses existed in the 1890s and 1900s, and developed to become St. Barnabas (1915). Along Finchley Road were a number of villas (c. 1830s), joined by the Royal Oak public house (c. 1850s). By the end of the 19th century there were around 300 people living in the area, which included a laundry and a small hospital for children with skin diseases. The principal industry was brick making.

Golders Green tube station

In 1895 a cemetery was established adjacent to Hoop Lane, with the first burial in 1897. Golders Green Crematorium was opened in 1902 (although much of it was built after 1905). A significant moment in Temple Fortune's development into a suburban area occurred in 1907, when transport links were vastly improved by the opening of Golders Green tube station.

Although the area had been served by horse-drawn omnibuses (since at least the 1880s) and later motor buses (from 1907), the tram line of 1910, connecting Finchley Church End with Golders Green Station, led to the development of the area west of Finchley Road. The establishment of Hampstead Garden Suburb brought major changes to the area east of Finchley Road. Temple Fortune Farm was demolished and along the front of the road the building of the Arcade and Gateway House (c. 1911) established the Hampstead Garden Suburb's retail district.

Both the Golders Green Hippodrome, former home of the BBC Concert Orchestra, and the police station opened in 1913. The now-demolished Orpheum Theatre (1930) was intended to rival the Hippodrome in Golders Green.

Geography

Originally Golders Green was part of the NW4 (Hendon) postal district,^{[citation needed]} but, owing to an expanding population, the district was split in two, creating the new NW11 district. This is why it is out of sequence with the London postal districts' alphabetical pattern, starting from the second district in each area.

The area is adjacent to the Heath Extensions part of Hampstead Heath.

Demography

Golders Green is a cosmopolitan district. It has many prominent families. There has been a prominent Jewish community since the 20th century. There are also many Japanese and Southeast Asian families living in the district as well.

Economy

The area has restaurants with cuisines from all over the world, from Kosher food, through to Indian, Thai, Japanese, Chinese, Korean and Italian eateries. These are over a dozen coffee bars; together with a number of niche food stores, including two Japanese, two Iranian, one Korean and one Malaysian.

Transport

Golders Green station is a London Underground tube station on the Northern Line. It is the first surface station on the Edgware branch when heading north. On the station's forecourt is Golders Green bus station. This is a major hub for London Buses in North West London. National Express coaches also stop at the bus station before/after central London.

Education

Menorah Primary School is Golders Green. Henrietta Barnett School is located in nearby Hampstead Garden Suburb.

Religious sites

Golders Green Parish Church (Church of England)

The Carmelite Monastery was established in Bridge Lane in 1908 and closed in 2008. St. Edward the Confessor, a Roman Catholic church, was built in 1916. Golders Green Synagogue opened in Dunstan Road in 1922. The Golders Green Beth Hamedrash opened in Golders Green in 1935, moving to The Riding in 1956. The Machzike Hadath Synagogue moved to Golders Green in the 1970s, opening its present building in 1983. In 1959 the Eastern Jewish Community established the Ohel David Eastern Synagogue at the Lincoln Institute, the former site of the Golders Green Beth Hamedrash. There are also a large Hindu temple, a Greek Orthodox cathedral (www.archangel.me.uk) and a Coptic Orthodox church (www.ggyg.org.uk).

Community facilities

Golders Hill Park, adjoining the West Heath of Hampstead Heath, is a formal park. The site of a large house which burned down in the 1930s, it has a walled garden, ponds, a water garden, café, butterfly house and a small zoo. The zoo has been renovated and contains many varieties of birds and other animals. During the summer, children's activities are organised and there is often live music on the bandstand. The park is adjoined by the Hill, a formal garden with an extensive and imposing pergola.

Golders Green Crematorium is perhaps the area's most famous feature, and has an extensive garden with features such as a special children's section and a pond. Its main buildings have a distinct Italianate air. It is sometimes referred to as the 'celebrity crematorium' because of the high proportion of nationally and internationally renowned public figures to have been cremated there. Famous people whose cremations have taken place include Kingsley Amis, Stanley Baldwin, Marc Bolan (born, Mark Feld), Neville Chamberlain, T. S. Eliot, Sigmund Freud, Hugh Gaitskell, John Inman, Keith Moon, Ivor Novello, Anna Pavlova, Frank Rutter, Peter Sellers, Ghisha Tuckman (born, Ghisha Koenig) Amy Winehouse and Michael Foot.

Appearances in popular culture

The area is the setting of the humorous short story "The Ghoul of Golders Green" (May Fair, 1925) by Michael Arlen. In the Goon Show, a running gag was that the Israeli Embassy was located in Golders Green, owing to the suburb's large Jewish community.

George Harrison recorded an unreleased track called "Going Down to Golders Green". This came about because he would visit members of the pop group Badfinger, who lived at 7 Park Avenue, off North End Road, situated on the borders of Golders Hill Park. Golders Green is the name of a character in the 2002 film 9 Dead Gay Guys.

Andrew Sanger's novel The J-Word (Snowbooks, 2009) is set in Golders Green. Protagonist Jack Silver is attacked by an anti-semitic mob behind the tube station. He saves a rabbi's life before they turn on him. In 2009 a house on West Heath Avenue was used by TV show The X Factor for the contestants and received press coverage after it was mobbed by fans.

Places of interest

• Golders Green Hippodrome
• Ivy House on North End Road, former home of the renowned Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova

The Jewish Tribune|| The Jewish Chronicle ("The JC")||

Notable people

• Michael Allmand VC (1923-1944), recipient of the Victoria Cross, was born in Golders Green.
• Helena Bonham-Carter actress, was born in Golders Green.