Greater London contains around 2000 National Grid squares, each 1km by 1km in size. Back in pre-abnormal times I had a go at picking one at random, visiting it and writing about whatwasthere. The visiting part's now impractical, but I thought I'd try the "randomly picking and writing" bit again in the hope I'd turn up somewhere I'd actually been. Success, sort of.
Which random grid square did I pick?TQ2193 Where is it?Highwood Hill, which is the upper end of Mill Hill in the borough of Barnet.
Have I been? Just once, to my knowledge, but in January last year which is fortuitous. Unfortunately it was right at the end of a long walk through Whetstone and Totteridge and all I did was pass a few cottages, take two photographs and hop on a bus. Those two photographs are going to do a lot of heavy lifting in what follows.
Have you been? Probably not, unless you're local or have ridden the 251 bus. Have you nearly been? Almost certainly, because an annoying large number of things lie just outside grid square TQ2193... i)Apex Corner, the roundabout where the A1 and A41 diverge, is 200m to the southwest. ii) The M1 passes just beyond that, close to Scratchwood services. iii) The Midland Mainline passes just beyond that, not far from Mill Hill Broadway. iv) The A1 dual carriageway runs parallel to the western edge of the grid square, but a tiny fraction outside. v)London Loop section 16 almost enters TQ2193, this being the annoying section where you have walk 10 minutes alongside a dual carriageway to reach a subway and then 10 minutes back again, but the pavement is a few metres outside the square and the entrance to Moat Mount Open Space just too far to the north.
We can discuss none of these because they are Not In The Grid Square. So what is?
10 things I would have found in Grid Square TQ2193
Highwood Hill: A well-to-do neighbourhood, formerly known as Highwood, which became a favoured country retreat in the 17th and 18th century. Wooded slopes at one end of a long gravel ridge with sweeping rural views, what's not to love? The Rising Sun: This 17th century village pub is a charming little two-storeybrick number smothered in trailing greenery with a weatherboarded annexe. More somewhere you'd come for a meal than a pint, like a lot of pubs round here, with its Italian-focused gastropub menu (plus roasts on Sunday and fish and chips on Friday). It's closed at present, obviously, but their Dine@Home promotion is doing well locally (sorry, the San Valentino Love Box for Two has already sold out).
An Edward VII postbox: Just to the right of my photo, dammit. I walked straight past withoutnoticing. Desirable houses: Big gabled properties with names like Highwood Crest, High Linden, Highoaks, Highfield and (just to show that not everyone's High-obsessed) Amberley. Sweeping avenues: Top notch suburbia with large detached houses, leafy gardens and front drives with space to park several cars. Some interwar and uniform, others purpose-built as spacious infill. Highwood House: The biggest house is this 19th century mansion built in 1826 by Sir Stamford Raffles (Founder of Singapore, Governor of Java and First President of the Zoological Society) who died soon after moving in. Since divided into flats. Nan Clark's Lane: One of the oldest roads round here has a supposedly-haunted history. Nan Clark was the wife of the publican at the Rising Sun, but when rumours of an affair surfaced he dragged her down the lane by her hair and fellow drinkers helped drown her in the lake. They say her ghost appears once a year, which must set off all the security lights in the luxury boltholes than now line the lane.
Hendon Park: A blue plaque at the foot of Nan Clark's Lane commemorates the home of William Wilberforce, the anti-slavery campaigner, who moved toHighwood in 1826 after retiring as an MP. Ill health made it hard for him to visit the parish church at Totteridge so he had a chapel built on Mill Hill which opened just in time to commemorate his death (but St Paul's is Not In The Grid Square, so best not mention that). The house had fallen into neglect by the 1950s and has since been replaced by four detached houses in Crown Close. Mill Hill County High School: An eight-form entry secondary school with a fine academic record but with its roots in Burnt Oak down the road. The grammar schools there merged with the comprehensive here in the 1970s, and I think former pupils Malcolm McLaren, Robert Elms and Jean Simmons were only ever taught in the former. Mill Hill Golf Club: Only the clubhouse lies in the square - the course is on the other side of the A1 (whose construction wiped out three of the holes). The Avengers episode The Thirteenth Hole was filmed here, so at least Diana Rigg's been to TQ2193 even if you haven't.
Insert anecdote from reader who lives or lived here: "My Dad grew up on Bedford Road and the school fields were our playground when we went to visit Nan" (says Matt) Insert anecdote from reader who worked here: "The Rising Sun has been the venue for various wash-up meetings after events at the Barnet Scout Campsite at Frith Grange" (says Steve) Insert anecdote from reader who went to school here: - Insert inevitable public transport anecdote here: "The Rising Sun pub has had at least one attempt at a drive through when a 251 went in through the front door back in 2000" (says Jordan, who went to school Just Outside The Grid Square)
Greater London contains around 2000 National Grid squares, each 1km by 1km in size. Back in pre-abnormal times I had a go at picking one at random, visiting it and writing about what was there. The visiting part's now impractical, but I thought I'd try the "randomly picking and writing" bit again in the hope I'd turn up somewhere I'd actually been. Success, sort of.
