Finchley is a large district of north London, England, in the London Borough of Barnet. Finchley is on high ground, 7 mi (11 km) north of Charing Cross. Nearby districts include: Golders Green, Muswell Hill, Friern Barnet, Whetstone, Mill Hill and Hendon.
The London Borough of Barnet is a local authority area on the northern outskirts of London. The borough was formed in 1965 from parts of the ceremonial counties of Middlesex and Hertfordshire. It is the second largest London borough by population with 389,344 inhabitants as of 2021, also making it the 17th largest district in England. The borough covers an area of 86.74 square kilometres (33 sq mi), the fourth highest of the 32 London boroughs, and has a population density of 45.8 people per hectare, which ranks it 25th.
Richard Oliver Postgate was an English animator, puppeteer, and writer. He was the creator and writer of some of Britain's most popular children's television programmes. Bagpuss, Pingwings, Noggin the Nog, Ivor the Engine, Clangers and Pogles' Wood, were all made by Smallfilms, the company he set up with collaborator, artist and puppet maker Peter Firmin. The programmes were originally broadcast by the BBC from the 1950s to the 1980s. In a 1999 BBC poll Bagpuss was voted the most popular children's television programme of all time.
East Finchley is an area in North London, immediately north of Hampstead Heath. Like neighbouring Muswell Hill, it straddles the London Boroughs of Barnet and Haringey, with most of East Finchley falling into the London Borough of Barnet. It has the greenest high road in London.
North Finchley is a suburb of London in the London Borough of Barnet, situated seven miles (11 km) northwest of Charing Cross. North Finchley is centred on Tally Ho Corner, the junction of the roads to East Finchley, Church End, Friern Barnet and Whetstone. Church End is usually known as Finchley Central, owing to the name of the tube station located there.
Cyril Fletcher was an English comedian, broadcaster, pantomime impresario, actor, gardener and businessman. His catchphrase was 'Pin back your lugholes'. He was best known for his "Odd Odes", which later formed a section of the television show That's Life! a role he excelled in. So successful was he that he stayed on the show from 1973 to 1981. He only left then because Alan Hart, the Controller of BBC1, wanted him to be replaced, although Esther Rantzen, the producer and presenter who had hired him when they met on the Radio 4 programme Start the Week with Richard Baker, very much wanted him to stay. Besides reading humorous cuttings and reciting his Odd Odes on the programme, Fletcher also took a great interest in the campaigning consumer journalism, which was the basis of the programme. He also took part in films such as a lawn mower race in full racing driver costume.
Finchley was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by first-past-the-post voting; its longest-serving and best-known MP was Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990. Although boundary changes meant that she never again attained the large majority by which she won in 1959, her constituents nonetheless returned her by comfortable (9,000) majorities at general elections throughout her premiership.
Friern Hospital was a psychiatric hospital in the parish of Friern Barnet close to a crossroads which had a hamlet known as Colney Hatch. In 1965, it became part of the London Borough of Barnet and in the early 21st century was converted to residential housing as Princess Park Manor and Friern Village. The hospital was built as the Second Middlesex County Asylum and was in operation from 1851 to 1993. After the County of London was created in 1889 it continued to serve much of Middlesex and of the newer county, London. During much of this time its smaller prototype Hanwell Asylum also operated.
Friern Barnet is a suburban area within the London Borough of Barnet, 7.4 miles (11.9 km) north of Charing Cross. Its centre is formed by the busy intersection of Colney Hatch Lane, Woodhouse Road and Friern Barnet Road.
Finchley, which is now in north London, was a local government district in Middlesex, England, from 1878 to 1965. Finchley Local Board first met in 1878. It became Finchley Urban District Council in 1895 and the Municipal Borough of Finchley in 1933. In 1965 Middlesex was abolished and Finchley became part of the London Borough of Barnet.
The Compton School is situated on Summers Lane, North Finchley, London, England. It is an academy school for boys and girls aged eleven to eighteen and the school years range from year 7 to year 13. It opened a Sixth Form in the year of 2015. It is located on the site of Finchley Manorhill School, which was progressively closed in the late 1980s. The buildings were reopened as The Compton School in 1992.
St Michael's Catholic Grammar School is a voluntary aided Roman Catholic Grammar School for girls, and boys in the sixth form, situated in Finchley, Barnet, London. Its current headmaster is Michael Stimpson.
Friern Barnet School (FBS) is a comprehensive school with approximately 800 students. The school is situated at the end of Hemington Avenue in Friern Barnet, North London. It is a short distance from the former Friern Barnet Town Hall, and 2 other local schools The Compton School and Wren Academy.
Finchley Catholic High School is a boys' secondary school with a coeducational sixth form in North Finchley, part of the London Borough of Barnet, England. The current head teacher is Niamh Arnull, who had previously been a member of the teaching staff in the 1990s.
St Mary's College was a voluntary aided Catholic college situated in Saltersgill, Middlesbrough, England. Tracing its roots back to 1904, it was the only Catholic further education provision in the region of Teesside for over 50 years.
The Friern Barnet Grammar School was a small private day school for boys located on Friern Barnet Road, North London.
Dwight School London is an independent co-educational international school in North Finchley and Friern Barnet areas of north London, United Kingdom. The school educates children from the ages of 2-18 and consists of the senior and primary schools plus has a nursery. It offers the International Baccalaureate programme at all levels. It is part of the Dwight global family of schools which have presences in New York, Dubai, Hanoi, Shanghai, and Seoul.
Richard Rose Central Academy is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form with academy status. It is located in Carlisle in the English county of Cumbria.
Woodhouse Grammar School was a secondary school in Woodhouse Road, North Finchley, in the London Borough of Barnet. (There was another Woodhouse Grammar School, in the village of Woodhouse, near Sheffield, founded in 1909, closed in the 1960s, absorbed into Aston High. The old building was demolished.)
