Grand Arcade, North Finchley, London

Of all the remaining arcades in Greater London, the Grand Arcade in North Finchley defies its name, and is probably the least grand of those half dozen survivors.

It was built in the 1930s, which means by definition it was from the art deco era, though there are not many original features left to make the passer-by nod in art deco appreciation.

There were plans to knock it down and build a new block of flats in its place, but a campaign by local residents a few years ago, spearheaded by former Kinks band member Dave Davies, has led to the arcade being preserved and added to Barnet’s heritage building list.

It could do with a bit of investment, mind, to give it the pazzazz it deserves. The tiled floor could be quite stylish but the pattern is worn away in many parts, and any art deco era name recognition is long gone, replaced by what look like 1970s efforts.

There is a fold up board telling people walking into the arcade that it is an ‘arts and crafts’ hub, and the businesses active in the arcade today go some way towards that label, with a vintage shop, a shop selling crystals, a barber’s, but there is also a legal advice office and a curtain shop so it’s not quite living up to its ‘crafty’ aspirations.

There was a fair bit of footfall down the arcade, though, when I visited on a weekday in summer towards lunchtime; the arcade is a classic passageway linking two busy shopping streets in North Finchley, so the place has potential. Maybe they need to pop up to Ayr and see what’s going on in that town’s Lorne Arcade, which had a similar feel to this five years ago, but has now been renovated and is now on the cusp of reaching 1000% occupancy rate.

There’s no sign of the ‘original cream and blue tiles’ mentioned by Margaret MacKeith in her 1983 book, or did I miss something inside some of the shops?

My pick of the arcade’s past

Social history stories picked up from the newspaper archives are few and far between for Grand Arcade, North Finchley.

The fire brigade was called out when a packing case caught fire in 1938, but little damage was done; a stamp collector was selling his collection from the arcade in 1939; a greengrocer in the arcade fell foul of wartime blackout rules in April 1940 – this was before major bombing of London began, but he ignored a previous warning to comply, and received a £5 fine.

The local Citizens Advice Bureau operated out of No 11 during the War. Most frequent queries came in the early months of the war, when men had been called up and had left households with no income suddenly. The CAB put adverts in the Hendon & Finchley Times to let wives know how to claim allowances due to them. (Sources for these stories www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk courtesy of British Library Board.)