100 Stories From The Archive

Edited by Janet Owen

This book is a fascinating collection of stories that highlight the range of material held by the HHS in its unique archive.

Stories have been cherry picked from an archive of over 28,000 catalogue items of local interest. Thirteen writers with an in-depth knowledge of the area have contributed stories to the book.

Book details

Paperback: A4, 176 pages
Publisher: HHS (2022)
ISBN: 978-0-905794-80-8
RRP: £24.99 (£20.00 for existing HHS Members) + p&p

We aim to send out all items within 5-7 days, but as a small Society run entirely by volunteers turnaround times may sometimes vary.

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More about the book

The one hundred stories include …

• an Archive ‘treasure’ that’s too valuable for HHS to keep on site from Sandra Clark
• the ‘inside’ story about the Crouch End Playing Fields from our President Peter Barber
• scrutinise with Ian Christie mid-1880s photographs locating the site of Robert Paul’s film studio
• travel back in time with Pauline Green as she delves into the stories told in the murals on the walls of the children’s section of Muswell Hill Library
• ride the trams which went to and from Ally Pally in Edwardian times with Chris Barker
• accompany Hugh Flouch to see and hear a ten-year-old boy, Pierino Gamba, conduct the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra without a score in front of him, during the 1948 classical music season at Harringay Arena (yes, the place that was famous for greyhound racing!)
• track down the story of a cheque book with John Hinshelwood
• learn from me about a remarkable actress called Hilda Barry who lived at five different locations in our area.
• read the story of a householder whom Hornsey Local Board told to change the number of his Stroud Green house from No.90 to No.132, told by Quentin Pickard
• Brenda Griffith-Williams dips into Noel Park and Wood Green in the past and relates the story of the local cottage hospital and her memories of the early NHS there
• While we look at a photograph of over 80 men and 3 women in uniform, standing or sitting in rows in St Michael’s School playground in Highgate, Leatrice Bailey tells us all about Hornsey’s ‘Dad’s Army’
• Patricia Storey takes us back into the mid nineteenth century and we wander the fields behind Hornsey Village and Eagle House
• Kirsten Forrest sings along with ‘Our Gracie’ Fields and a coach load from Rochdale in Ally Pally’s Great Hall.