Our Parks
Standard 8mm film Black & White Silent 1950s-1960s 3:30
Summary: Amateur film of Grovelands Park and Pymmes Park, with various activities including fishing, feeding a swan, bowling, and pitch and putt. The parks are enjoyed by all ages, old and young. Mainly observational, but with a nice bit of comic acting at the Grovelands Pitch and Putt.
Title number: 1472
LSA ID: LSA/1964
Description: Title and production credit, picked out in plastic letters.
Grovelands Park scenes. A family walk towards the Inverforth Gate on the Bourne, one of the two boys swinging a pole with a small fishing net. A Hillman Minx Estate, a very blurred Mini and motor scooter, and a man with a dog pass by. View across the park to Grovelands House, with temporary huts in front. A couple walk in the park, arm in arm. View through the woods, towards the lake. A distant woman hits the ball at the Pitch and Putt. Four boys fish in the lake. A woman passes them. Distant view of the woman, from behind a couple of trees. A squirrel climbs a tree. Close view of the lake, near the island. A lifebelt has "Borough of Suthgaoe" on it (sic - should read "Southgate") .
Two children feed a swan, probably at the ornamental pond by Sterling Way in Pymmes Park. A couple - a man in white (bowling whites?) and a woman in a sari, walk near a long building which may be Pymmes Park Bowling Club or the Park Ranger's Office, dimly visible under the trees. A couple stand by as their children use the swingboats, probably in Pymmes Park. A young man - the attendant - also stands among the swingboats. Accompanying adults come in to stop the swingboats at the end of the ride.
More Grovelands Park scenes. Two men stand near a tree-lined avenue . Another two stand near the Golf Club hut (note the tree growing through it!) and club hire booth at the Pitch and Putt. A distant man takes a shot. A golf ball sits near a squirrel. A young couple (Robert Chester and Sybil Baddeley) walk up to the booth and hire some clubs. They walk past two older men sitting on a bench, one smoking a pipe, who watch the couple. Robert takes several swings, but fails to hit the ball. During this, Sybil sighs dramatically. One of the older men points, and they both laugh. The older men get up, both carrying golf bags, and go over to speak to Robert. One of the older men waits. The other takes a shot, with a beautiful swing. Robert, now seated with Sybil on the bench, gasps in amazement. The other older man takes his turn. The ball rolls even closer to the hole than his companion's. He picks up a ball, and the two of them walk away. Robert and Sybil go back to the hut, hand in their clubs and leave, somewhat dejected. The attendant leans out to watch, and then grins for the camera.
A park attendant or policeman points something out to a young woman, probably in Pymmes Park. The Pymmes Park Bowling Club (PPBC) flag flies on a flagpole. A group of men bowl, or wait their turn - seen as a whole group, and then a bit closer (with North Middlesex Hospital visible in the background). A few men congregate by the Jack at the End. A middle-aged couple sit on a bench by the scoring board. A young man in a casual jacket gestures, explaining something to his two female bowling companions. Another very smartly-suited young man smiles. The group chat, animatedly. Another view of the flagpole.
Credits: Made by: Planet Combined Groups
Cast: Robert Chester, Sybil Baddeley
Further information: The Planet Amateur Film Society was based in Southgate and made a number of films between 1933 and 1967. The credit for "Planet Combined Groups" is intriguing, and may indicate that another Amateur Film Society had joined up with Planet - perhaps one closer to Pymmes Park.
The Mini was first produced in 1959. I'm told that the temporary huts in front of Grovelands House were removed in the early 1960s. Assuming that all the footage was shot at around the same time, the film must have been made between 1959 and 1965.
The 1) Grovelands Park, 2) Pymmes Park, 3) Grovelands Park, 4) Pymmes Park structure has struck many people as unlikely, and the identification of the second section as Pymmes park has therefore been much disputed. I am fairly sure that the pond where the swan is fed is Pymmes Park ornamental pond, just behind the Bowling Club on Sterling Way, which has similar crazy paving, pond plants and rim. But others have suggested it may have been the boat jetty at Grovelands Park. The long building under the trees in the next shot was identified by a very knowledgeable Facebook group member as the Pymmes Park Bowling Club, which he supported with an aerial photograph showing the length of that building. Visiting Pymmes Park, the former Clinic/Park Ranger's Office, now a Visitor's Centre, seemed to me another possible location for that shot. The shot is not clear enough for me to be certain of either identification. I am not aware of any building like that in Grovelands Park at any time, however, and so consider it likely to be Pymmes Park. One person remembered swingboats in Pymmes Park in the late 1960s-early 1970s (though they don't seem to have been a permanent feature), and also recalled a small theatre nearby - which would be the Edmonton Summer Theatre. Another recalled swingboats in Grovelands Park. The building in the background, though unclear, is at a distance that I believe would fit better with the streets around Pymmes Park. I mention these debates so that viewers can make up their own minds.
Sources:
Winchmore Hill And Palmers Green Memories Facebook Group: especially Mike Lowe, Ann Brown, Liz Starling, Richard Starling, Katy Taylor, Phil Richards (via Katy Taylor), John Law, Richard Smith, John Hough and David March
Enfield's Past in Photos Facebook Group: especially Nick Landauer, Linda Fox, Eric Preedy, Jules Serrari, Ruth McCluskey and Kev Smith
Southgate District Civic Trust - conversations during a showing of a shorter version of the film, in particular with Robert Chester. (http://southgatedistrictcivictrust.org.uk/ & Facebook Group)
Planet Amateur Film Society record at www.national archives.gov.uk
http://lower-edmonton.co.uk/leisure/pymmes.html
Google maps and images
Also, Grovelands has been one of my local parks for some years, so I could easily recognise the location of quite a few shots; and I visited Pymmes Park to check a few details.
Researched for LSA by Zoe Roberts
Keywords: Parks; Ball sports; Bowling
Locations: UK; England; London; Enfield; Southgate; Palmers Green; Winchmore Hill, Edmonton
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Comments
My husband Tom Hatt is the chap in the hut on the pitch and putt at Grovelands giving out the golf clubs. He would be in his early 20's at the time and worked for Southgate Council. His bike is propped up beside the hut as he used to cycle to work from Edmonton. He cannot remember the film being taken but it was lovely to see him in his youth and we'd love a copy of the film!! Happy days !!!