Grahame Park, located on the site of the old

Hendon Aerodrome Hendon Aerodrome was an aerodrome in London, England, that was an important centre for aviation from 1908 to 1968. It was situated in Colindale, north west of Charing Cross. It nearly became a central hub of civil aviation ("the Charing Cros ...

in North West London, is a north London

housing estate A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex or housing development) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country. Popular throughout the United States a ...

in the

London Borough of Barnet The London Borough of Barnet () is a suburban London boroughs, London borough in North London. The borough was formed in 1965 from parts of the ceremonial counties of Middlesex and Hertfordshire. It forms part of Outer London and is the largest ...

, including 1,777 council homes built in the 1970s.

History

The estate is named in honour of

Claude Grahame-White Claude Grahame-White (21 August 1879 – 19 August 1959) was an English pioneer of aviation, and the first to make a night flight, during the ''Daily Mail''-sponsored 1910 London to Manchester air race. Early life Claude Grahame-White was born ...

, the pioneer of aviation who established the original aerodrome and aviation school on the site. The building of the estate was a joint project between the

Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...

and Barnet Council. The plan was approved by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government in 1964, and the first family moved in on 23 October 1971.

Sir Roger Walters Sir Roger Talbot Walters, CBE, FRIBA, FI Struct E, (1917-2010) was a British architect noted for his role in a number of major post-war projects in London from the Thames Barrier to the redevelopment of Covent Garden. He also worked on a numb ...

was the Chief Architect and Gordon Wigglesworth was the Housing Architect. A typical characteristic of the estate was the plain, square, brick terraced houses and long winding low-rise flats, with flat roofs, also known as "Brick Brutalist" style. Most building names, walkways and roads on the estate have names linked to the aviation history of the site. Not all of the old aerodrome was sold off for development; the

Royal Air Force Museum The Royal Air Force Museum is a museum dedicated to the Royal Air Force in the United Kingdom. The museum is a non-departmental public body of the Ministry of Defence and is a registered charity. The museum is split into two separate sites: * ...

is situated immediately to the south-east of the estate (with free entrance). A secondary road called Grahame Park Way, a typical 1970s-style

collector road A collector road or distributor road is a low-to-moderate-capacity road which serves to move traffic from local streets to arterial roads. Unlike arterials, collector roads are designed to provide access to residential properties. Rarely, juris ...

, runs along the eastern margin of the estate, parallelling the

Midland Main Line The Midland Main Line is a major railway line in England from London to Nottingham and Sheffield in the Midlands. It comprises the lines from London's St Pancras station via Leicester, Derby/Nottingham and Chesterfield in the East Midlands ...

(

Thameslink Thameslink is a 24-hour main-line route in the British railway system, running from , , , and via central London to Sutton, , , Rainham, , , , and . The network opened as a through service in 1988, with severe overcrowding by 1998, carrying m ...

) railway, and beyond that, the

M1 Motorway The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the country was the Preston By-pass, which lat ...

. The estate became the sole site of St James' Catholic High School, Colindale in 1996.

Transport

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...

Colindale station, on the

Northern line The Northern line is a London Underground line that runs from North London to South London. It is printed in black on the Tube map. The Northern line is unique on the Underground network in having two different routes through central London, two ...

Edgware branch, is within comfortable walking distance of at least the south-east corner of the estate. The next tube station north,

Burnt Oak Burnt Oak is a suburb of London, England, located northwest of Charing Cross. It lies to the west of the M1 motorway between Edgware and Colindale, located predominantly in the London Borough of Barnet, with parts comprising the London Boroughs ...

is also accessible. Mill Hill Broadway Thameslink station lies to the north, a bus ride away. Several bus routes run into or near the estate.

Development

Grahame Park, The Concourse, NW9 - geograph

In the late 1980s, the estate went through its first regeneration process, which split the blocks of flats into smaller blocks, by removing connecting walkways, and added pitched roofs to many of the buildings. In 2003, residents voted in favour of a full regeneration of the estate. The

Housing Corporation The Housing Corporation was the non-departmental public body that funded new affordable housing and regulated housing associations in England. It was established by the Housing Act 1964. On 1 December 2008, its functions were transferred to two n ...

earmarked £15 million for the redevelopment. The redevelopment is managed by Choices For Grahame Park, a subsidiary o
Genesis Housing Association
with new houses being built by

Countryside Properties Countryside Partnerships plc, formerly Countryside Properties plc, is a UK housebuilding and urban regeneration company, operating mainly in London and the South East of England, but with a presence in the North West of England. It was listed ...

. In 2007 a web-site was launched by Countryside Properties, renaming part of the redevelopment as "New Hendon Village". Colindale, including Grahame Park, has been designated by the

Mayor of London The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the 1998 Greater London Authority referendum, Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first Directly elected may ...

in his

London Plan The London Plan is the statutory spatial development strategy for the Greater London area in the United Kingdom that is written by the Mayor of London and published by the Greater London Authority. The regional planning document was first pu ...

as a 'proposed area of intensification'. As a result, Barnet Council designated a 'Colindale Area Action Plan' (AAP) and carried out public consultation events. The council has finalised its preferred plan in mid-2009, and it will be examined at a public hearing by the Planning Inspectorate, for anticipated approval by the Council in 2010.

Transport development

In early 2008, the London Group of the Campaign for Better Transport published a planLondon Campaign for Better Transport
North and West London light railway (NWLLR) / Brent Cross Railway (BCR) plan for an (unfunded) orbital light-rail service, the

North and West London Light railway The North and West London Light Railway (NWLLR), formerly known as the ''Brent Cross Railway'', was a proposal for a light rail system in North and West London in the UK. It was put forward by the London group of the Campaign for Better Transp ...

, through or near to Grahame Park.

References

External links

Grahame Park: Original construction photographs.Early photographs of Grahame Park Estate, circa 1975.
{{Geographic Location , Northwest =

Edgware Edgware () is a suburban town in northern Greater London, mostly in the London Borough of Barnet but with small parts falling in the London Borough of Harrow and in the London Borough of Brent. Edgware is centred north-northwest of Charing Cros ...

, North =

Mill Hill Mill Hill is a suburb in the London Borough of Barnet, England. It is situated around northwest of Charing Cross. Mill Hill was in the historic county of Middlesex until 1965, when it became part of Greater London. Its population counted 18, ...

, Northeast = Finchley Central , West =

, Centre = Grahame Park , East = Copthall , Southwest =

West Hendon West Hendon is a district of Hendon in North London, in the London Borough of Barnet. It is the NW9 part of Hendon, located around the A5 Edgware Road and the Welsh Harp (Brent Reservoir). The area is known for the West Hendon Estate which is un ...

, South =

Colindale Colindale is a district in the London Borough of Barnet; its main shopping street on the A5 forming the borough boundary with neighbouring Brent. Colindale is a suburban area, and in recent years has had many new apartments built. It's also th ...

, Southeast =

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the Borough of Barnet, North-West London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has been part of Great ...

Districts of the London Borough of Barnet Areas of London Housing estates in the London Borough of Barnet