Times Group resident historian JOHN HEATHFIELD has just launched a new book titled Finchley and Whetstone Past. In a specially-written column he uncovers the area's coaching inn heritage.

The old Great North Road ran in an almost direct line from Highgate across Finchley Common to Barnet.

It was this road that was the foundation of the district's prosperity. At its height, 130 stage coaches were said to pass the Whetstone toll gate every day. The coaches needed fresh horses about every 10 miles so our district was the natural choice for stables. Mountain's stables were in Whetstone about where Waitrose now stands.

The most famous stables were those used by the famous Tally Ho coaches which ran from London to Birmingham.

They were the Patent Tally Ho, the Independent Tally Ho and the Eclipse Tally Ho owned by Mrs Mountain (she lived just down Totteridge Lane). The Eclipse was described (perhaps by a jealous rival) as a 'tawdry thing all flaunting with green and gold'.

These three coaches were said to be the fastest in England. They were timed at 10mph and covered the 119 miles to Birmingham in 11 hours 56 minutes. The road surfaces were very bad. It was common for pedestrians to be ankle deep in mud.

In 1712, the Whetstone & Highgate Turnpike Trust was established in an attempt to rectify this.

It was allowed to charge tolls to pay for improvements. The result was what was described as 'the best eight-mile stretch of road in the kingdom'. The improvement in the road led to the establishment of inns, smithies and other services catering to the travellers. Whetstone even had a Wig and Peruke Maker though he was probably just a posh barber.

Finchley Common was popular with highwaymen, though regrettably there is no evidence that Dick Turpin visited us. January 1820, workmen discovered two wooden chests underneath an old oak tree.

They contained pistols and flints, wearing apparel, a quantity of brass buttons and a few silver coins dating from George II. Were the thieves caught before they could recover their loot?

However, it is worth remembering that highwaymen were not romantic.

They are the exact equivalent of today's muggers who beat up old ladies.

It was the poor state of the roads that hastened the growth of the railways. Our first railway ran through New Southgate and Oakleigh Park North from about 1850. The line through Finchley Central to Woodside Park and High Barnet followed in 1871. Developers were quick to buy up land near the stations.

But it was perhaps the coming of the trams that did most to influence the lives of ordinary folk. The line through North Finchley was developed from 1905 onwards.

The fares were cheap, making it possible for poor people to get jobs up in London.

The City, for example, employed not only stockbrokers in their top hats, but messengers, cleaners and copy clerks all of whom required refreshments so there were cooks and washers-up as well.

Finchley and Whetstone Past by John Heathfield is published at £15.95 by Historical Publications Ltd.

November 21, 2001 18:20