please empty your brain below
An interesting article, thank you, giving me another place to add to my "must visit" list.
The tower of St Jude's church reminds me of Lutyens's later design for the Thiepval memorial.

Retired from the City | 04.02.25 - 7:16 a.m. | #

Henrietta Barnett features prominently in the story of the Underground’s only unused station, which was to have been on the edge of the Garden Suburb.

Marc | 04.02.25 - 8:01 a.m. | #

Thanks for a fascinating article today. The suburb of course will be familiar to all who have walked the Capital Ring, although the church was not open when I last was there.

davews | 04.02.25 - 8:09 a.m. | #

When I see a bird trapped in a fence ceiling crawlspace bird-defence supermarket or church, anywhere they cannot be (pigeon/seagull/robin etc), I try and remember to call the fast response crew at London Wildlife Protection, who are volunteers with many methods to retrieve birds in distress and sometimes willingly aided by the LFB. 07909 795064

Noel | 04.02.25 - 8:10 a.m. | #

another option for visiting without a car is to take the 210 from Archway, enjoying the views from Highgate. Hop off after the Spaniards and wander through the Heath Extension to the square. It's a lovely walk.

Peter T | 04.02.25 - 8:41 a.m. | #

Proms at St Judes is a lovely series of summer concerts & literary events. They manage to attract some high profile artists.

commonliner | 04.02.25 - 10:07 a.m. | #

A very nice area, St Jude's is a fine church, and well worth a visit. I once did an evening class in the Henrietta Barnett School.

For anyone doing the Capital Ring, which only skirts the area, it's well worth diverting along the alley from Addison Way which takes you through Little Wood, and then after a short road walk, Big Wood, before emerging near Central Square. The Dollis Valley Greenwalk follows this route.

Mikey C | 04.02.25 - 10:40 a.m. | #

How lovely, I had no idea this place existed

Ewan James | 04.02.25 - 12:30 p.m. | #

Nowadays would be considered to be the very antithesis of transport oriented development, indeed it can be considered car oriented sprawl almost prior to the popularity of the motor car.

Also pretty much a model of a modern US upscale gated community governed by the much dreaded Homeowners Association (HOA), only thing missing is the gates.

Noting also that minimum plot sizes partially outlawed in at least one US state as discriminatory ("Mount Laurel doctrine")

MilesT | 04.02.25 - 1:39 p.m. | #

Hampstead Garden Suburb was the testing ground for London Transport's only experiment in DRT (Demand Responsive Transport) - or Dial-a-Ride as it was known in those days. Starting on 19th October 1974 with two 16-seater Ford Transit minibuses, a bus was scehduled to depart Golders Green Station every 15 minutes but had a flexible route within 'The Suburb'; if you wanted to be picked up outside your house you phoned the control room (which I think was at Golders Green). The service was too expensive to operate but had proved the demand for a bus service, and was replaced by the H2 running to a fixed circular route from 28th February 1976, using the same minibuses.

dg writes: see final link in post.

Julian Walker | 04.02.25 - 1:58 p.m. | #

Bravo - this plance and HGS in general are well hidden though....good for the residents

international reader | 04.02.25 - 2:22 p.m. | #

Growing up my only point of reference to Henrietta Barnett was the school who regularly thrashed ours at hockey!
What an amazing woman she was.

Cornish Cockney | 04.02.25 - 3:46 p.m. | #

I went to Haberdashers’ Aske’s School in Elstree, and when we needed girls for choral concerts they were bussed in from Henrietta Barnet School. I certainly didn't know about the school’s origins, and I doubt many of my schoolmates did either.

This was before the Haberdasher’s Aske’s School for Girls moved to an adjacent site in Elstree.

Chris L | 04.02.25 - 5:47 p.m. | #

As part of my family history research, I once searched some mid-thirties electoral registers for a relative living in Westwood Road. The address given in the registers was Westwood Road, Hendon Garden Suburb. The Hampstead Garden Suburb Trust website confirms Westwood Road is located in Hampstead Garden Suburb. According to the Trust 'Wildwood Road was always intended for wealthy owners'. I hasten to add that my relative was far from wealthy; she would have been the cook or housekeeper.

JohnC | 04.02.25 - 8:31 p.m. | #

I once worked on a property in one of the small closes in HGS which had a blue plaque dedicated to Tony Hancock, a former occupant.

Anyoldname | 04.02.25 - 10:00 p.m. | #

The houses are not all Arts And Crafts - houses in Lytton Close and a small part of Rowan Walk are International Style (sometimes erroneously called Art Deco) and are perhaps nicer than the rest of the Suburb.

Basil Jet | 05.02.25 - 4:38 a.m. | #

Anyone know why there is a small close of international style houses as mentioned above? Seems very out of place but they do look gorgeous!

David | 05.02.25 - 8:41 a.m. | #

Splendid narrative as usual. Shame the Dame didn't allow any shops or pubs in her Suburb. The only pub in the area, the Royal Oak, on Finchley Road on the edge of the Suburb in Temple Fortune, closed in 2006.

keenreader | 05.02.25 - 10:29 p.m. | #











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