Finchley

Finchley is a place in the London Borough of Barnet, London, England. Finchley is predominantly a residential area with a number of retail districts.

Location & divisions

Situated in the north of London, Finchley is divided into four:

East Finchley, roughly speaking, the area between Highgate and the North Circular Road, and in postal area N2;
Church End Finchley, often known as "Finchley Central", the area west of the North Circular Road, centred around Ballards Lane and Finchley Central tube station, and in postal area N3;
West Finchley, the area around West Finchley tube station, and in postal area N12; and
North Finchley, the area surrounding Tally-Ho Corner, stretching west to Woodside Park and the Northern Line, also in postal area N12.

'Finchley' should not be confused with the area of London known as 'Finchley Road' around Finchley Road tube station in Swiss Cottage, Camden.

Culture & sports

The Phoenix Cinema is one of the oldest purpose-built cinemas in the UK. It has an active local arts scene which is publicised by Barnet Borough Arts Council with the Arts Depot based in North Finchley opened in Autumn 2004.

Finchley's local football team is Wingate & Finchley who play in the Southern League Eastern Division. It was founded as a specifically Jewish football club in 1946.

History

Finchley was from 1959 to 1992 the Parliamentary Constituency of Margaret Thatcher, UK Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990.

Since 1963 Finchley has been twinned with Jinja, Uganda.

Famous people who are associated with Finchley

Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister.
Octavia Hill, social reformer
Spike Milligan, comedian often poked fun at Finchley, specifically East Finchley
Robert Fripp, musician
Eric Morecambe, comedian
Fleur Adcock, poet
Feargal Sharkey, singer
Tim Parks, novelist (his semi-autobiographical Tongues of Flame is set in the North Finchley of 1968).
Terry-Thomas, actor
Charles Dickens, novelist
Will Self, novelist, reviewer and columnist
Steven Stapleton, musician
Emma Bunton, singer
Samantha Fox, UK model and singer
George Michael, singer and songwriter
Daniel Lewis a.k.a Fury, singer and gangster rapper

Fictional Characters

Bluebottle, a character in the 1950s BBC radio series The Goon Show, hails from Finchley.
In the 2005 film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the characters Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie are evacuated to the countryside from their home in Finchley despite no mention of Finchley being made in C.S. Lewis's book. The film contains the immortal line, "We're not heroes, we're from Finchley!".

Nearest Places:

Nearest tube stations:

All the above stations are on the Northern Line of the London Underground system.

External links

Michael Pead :: Photos of Finchley - includes pictures of the new Arts Depot.

Barnet | Districts of London