Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Finsbury Park Theatre - Planning Permission Granted
The Finsbury Park Theatre and cultural venue, planned for a site in Clifton Terrace, has been granted planning permission after Islington council received many letters and emails in support of the application and no objections.
The Park Theatre will be a 200 seat main house with a smaller studio theatre and is due to open in 2012.
More at the theatre's own blog.
Tags for Forum Posts: park theatre
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by matt on
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This link takes you straight to the blog post re planning permission. Good news! Will be great for Finsbury Park and the wider area.
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Permalink Reply by David Barry on
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Yes it great news.
Jez Bond came to FinFuture last night and gave a really interesting presentation.
Blog worth reading also.
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Permalink Reply by Arthur Astrop on
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Hugh,
Reading the item on the new Finsbury Park theatre, I seem to recall that in the late 1920s/early 30s I was taken by my father to the Finsbury Park Empire to see a variety show in which the famous illusionists Maskelyn & Devante appeared. If so, I was certainly under 10 at the time, so may be dis-remembering. Perhaps it was my father who went when he was a youth, and he told me of it. Was there such a place of entertainment?
Arthur
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I understood that there were two Music Hall Theatres in Finsbury Park back then. There was one, perhaps the Empire, where Rowans is now, and another round the back of the one-way system near where the Mosque is now. The flats called Vaudeville Court were named for it, as they used the site. Isn't there a plaque for the latter somewhere nearby?
And, of course, there was the famous Rainbow (which started life as the Astoria?). Later on there was the George Robey, famously punkish and gothic venue, though that may have set up in competition with the Rainbow. There was certainly plenty to do back then. Perhaps the oldest cinema in London, which developers suddenly knocked down in 2008, was functioning at the same time, very strange though it was.
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Nick Wright
Many thanks for your contribution. It is comforting to know that my memory still contains some things which actually happened! The Empire was certainly a vaudeville theatre, so that fits in with the name of the flats you mention. I have to tell you that I left Harringay in 1933, so today's landmarks such as Rowans and the Mosque don't mean an awful lot! But thanks again for writing so fully and so promptly.
Arthur Astrop
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Wonderful pix Anne, particularly of the old place. Great to think of the two magnificent cinemas, fantastic rivals separated by the railway line. I've always seen Rowan's great shed and ornate facade as something from a bygone era, and now I understand. What a centre Finsbury Park was in those days - with the music hall too!
BTW, one of the other pix of the old cinema has "Dempsey vs Firpo" announced over the door: this was a world standard boxing match which took place in September 1923 - presumably films of the fight were rushed around the world by steamer, rather than the live transmissions of today.
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Nick & Arthur,
Excellent info on Finsbury Park's greater entertainment days. This site has some good photos and additional information that may be of interest.
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Great link Matt, thanks for that. I still can't quite figure that massive theatre at the corner of Prah and St Thomas's but things must have changed quite a bit round there. The reason I thought Rowans was a music hall, was the elaborate facade you see at its best from Finsbury Park main-line platforms. Looks like an Edwardian entertainment venue to me.
So you could take in a matinee with Max Miller and Billy Cotton at the Empire, and then walk across the park and see stock car racing or ice hockey at Harringay Arena. Fun times!
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Ah well these days it's ten pin bowling one side, then over the park to shop at the retail park. Sad but true! Today's mass entertainment is X-Factor on the tele. Not quite the same. Glad the link was of use.
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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Isn't it just terrible that all those Nimbys in Finsbury Park opposed this. All residents do is oppose things. It's like they want to live in a nice, quiet bubble.
Oh hang on, my mistake. Carry on.
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Matt,
What a wonderful website! I would never have found it without your guidance. That is certainly the theatre I was taken to in the late 20s/early 30s by my father, who was a passionate follower of 'music hall'. I am truly grateful to you.
Arthur
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