Victoria Park, Finchley

Victoria Park is an area of open space in Church End Finchley in North London. It covers 7 hectares (17.29 acres). It is situated on Ballards Lane and is close to West Finchley tube station. It was opened in 1902 and was intended to mark Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee and was the first public park of the former borough of Finchley.

It is popular among local office workers as well as the general population. The Finchley Carnival is held within Victoria Park every July, with theme park-type rides, a carnival procession, and a car show. There is a large fair usually with a different yearly theme. Due to local bylaws fair rides must travel at a maximum speed of 30 miles per hour, the yearly procession is always popular with locals.

Within the park there are playgrounds, ornamental gardens, playing fields, a bowling club, for which membership is required, six public tennis courts, and a cafe open seven days a week.

The park is very close to a parade of shops and also West Finchley's local police station, there is also an old people's home close by.

The area has long been popular with travelling communities, and although there have previously been some issues with local residents during the 1980s the arrival of these communities is now usually greeted with a lesser degree of animosity thanks to a partnership drawn up by the local council where Romany communities cut the grass and dispose of local rubbish.

Banger Racing

Victoria Park has often been one of the sites for the yearly Banger Racing (Destruction Derby) Cup, although every 4th year the venue is changed in order to cut down the large amount of damage to the grass. The cup usually takes place in the 3rd week of August and local residents are encouraged to take part with the total prize fund of £50,000.

Yearly Fair Themes

Barnet Council and the organisers of the yearly Finchley Fair have always been involved with getting the public to choose a theme to encompass all of the activities that year. This is usually opened up to the residents of the local borough as well as various children's schools in the area. Themes are chosen on several criteria including accessibility, broad appeal, fun and colour - the same theme or similar activities can be used no more than once in every 5 year cycle unless there has been a lunar eclipse in the last 10 years.

2008 - Puppies and the life of the elderly (total attendance 4,308)

2007 - Turkish/Greek (total attendance 32,377)

2006 - Deep Sea Diving (total attendance 34,249)

2005 - The life of Jeribaldi Fantosh (famous Finchley Resident circa ~1500) (total attendance 40,788)

Awards

Victoria Park achieved a Green Flag Award for 2007-2008. The Green Flag Award Scheme is run by The Civic Trust and is intended to be the benchmark against which the quality of public parks and green spaces can be measured. It also recognises the diversity and value of green space to the local community.

External links

* [http://www.barnet.gov.uk/index/environment-planning/parks-and-open-spaces/premier-parks/victoria-park.htm Victoria Park] described on the London Borough of Barnet website

The famous victoria gates at the Ballards Lane entrance were taken down during World War 2 and used as scrap iron to make guns on the battleship Ark Royal. They were replaced in 1946, with the gates that are now present. There was a competition in 1945 carried out by Barnet Borough council to find a designer for the new gates - there were 5 shortlisted artists. The current design was completed by Arthur J Platt of Golders Green in August, 1945