20th July 2022 @ 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm
Hornsey Pensioners’ Action Group is hosting a talk in July on the Internment of German civilians at Alexandra Palace during the First World War.
Alexandra Palace
Anniversary of first television transmission from Alexandra Palace
This week marked the anniversary of the world’s first regular high definition television broadcast by the BBC from Alexandra Palace. High definition was defined by the BBC as 240 lines or higher, as opposed to the 180 line pictures that had been broadcast in Germany in 1935.
Knights in Shining Armour – Alexandra Palace’s Two Sir Galahads
During the Covid pandemic thousands of people have walked along Alexandra Palace’s south terrace admiring the spectacular views of London. How many have noticed the two carved tablets either side of the Great Hall’s main entrance? Or realised that the Palace’s recent huge financial losses are a recurring theme of its 148 year history?
TELEVISION HOPES AND FEARS
An article from the North Middlesex Chronicle, 13th January 1940
The fact that the Alexandra Palace television studio is closed continues to be a very sore point with the founders of the system. It is feared that the lead gained before the war will be lost, as was the lead in films during the last war, never to be regained.
Reflections on Tottenham Wood
During the coronavirus lockdown and the fine weather that accompanied it I took the opportunity to sit on my terrace in the New River Village to focus on the view of Alexandra Palace and its surrounding Park.
HHS Visit to “The Secret Palace”
From Our Archive: Newsletter 60, November 1992
With visits to all public venues, including Alexandra Palace, postponed for the foreseeable future as a result of the current coronavirus pandemic, we can read about an HHS outing to ‘The People’s Palace’ which provides an intriguing and evocative glimpse into the past.
The 2020 HHS Bulletin
Hornsey Historical Society Bulletin 61 has just been published. It is a long issue this time, full of interesting and varied articles, three of them by new contributors: Katy Ferguson on that wonderful local resource, the Park Road Lido, and David Pashley and Steven Wright, who have in very different ways explored the history of the roads in which they live, Mount View and Ferrestone. There is in fact a fourth contributor, but one no longer alive: Mr G. J. Richards, whose story of his long life and work at the now-defunct Barratt’s sweet factory in Wood Green was presented to the HHS in a hand-written manuscript by his son. This very personal (and very long) account has been edited down to manageable proportions.
Alexandra Palace and Park during the First World War: further reading
HHS articles
Bulletin 49, 2008, ‘Pictures from the Palace’ (George Kenner’s paintings during Internment 1915 – 16) by Nick McCormick
Bulletin 58, 2017, ‘Music in Alexandra Palace Internment Camp’ by Patrick Hegarty-Morrish
Bulletin 59, 2018, ‘Historic Finds at Alexandra Palace’ by Kirsten Forrest
Also, Nick Allaway has written a series of articles entitled ‘Hornsey at War’ Parts 1 – 4 in Bulletins 55 – 59, 2014 – 2018, plus his article, ‘Hornsey after the Great War’, in Bulletin 60, 2019. These articles refer to events at the Palace as well as providing a wealth of information of how the war affected Hornsey. Please see our Bulletin catalogue and how to order copies of these or any of our publications.
THE ALEXANDRA PALACE
An extract from an editorial in the Hornsey Journal, 6 June 1919
The statement was made not long ago that on the removal of the German prisoners from the Alexandra Palace the Government intended to use the premises as public offices.
NEW ENTRANCE TO THE PALACE
An Advantage to Muswell Hill
An article from the Bowes Park Weekly News, 26 May 1906
For many months there has been an agitation for an entrance to the Alexandra Palace and Park from the top of Muswell Hill, and we are now informed on quite reliable authority that such an entrance is about to be opened.