New Southgate

New Southgate is a fully urban Green, being in London, next to a busy road and a high-rise estate. New Southgate is, like most urban Greens, quite small, at 0.6 Hectares/1.4 Acres. As of 2022 the Green is still fully independent, with a community-run trust and no regular funding from the local authority. There is a regular park with swings and things almost next door, so the Trust intends to focus on being a countryside haven, with high hedges and tall trees to block out the outside world as much as feasible.

Location
The Green is on Inverforth Road, New Southgate London N11 1SY. It is just off the A406 North Circular and is just 2 minutes walk from New Southgate Station and six minutes from Arnos Grove Tube Station. New Southgate has been located on Google Maps.

Before the Green
The land had been used for housing, shops and a workshop until local redevelopment took place in the 70's. Plans to build on the land never came to fruition at that time. The land was flattened and seeded with grass, then a few trees were planted in corners. It was owned by the council and regularly mown, but otherwise ignored by both the authorities and the public alike. From then it had been left for around 20 years.

Creation
The local council sent a survey out to local people asking them what they wanted the land to be used for and over 70% said they wanted it to remain green. A council officer then set out to ensure that the local people got their wish, by contacting the local community association and, with their support, an application was made to the Countryside Commission to create a Millennium Green. Enfield Council staff created the plans for the Green, in conjunction with the Trust that was formed and including substantial public consultation.

The Millennium Feature
The designer of the Green ran a design competition for sculptors to create a sculpture which was interactive and followed the theme of a boat, to commemorate the book Three Men in a Boat, written by Jerome K Jerome, who once lived in New Southgate. The final design was chosen from a short-list of five and £5 thousand was set aside for the sculpture.

The sculpture was designed to have lighting on the 5- metre mast, though funding was used elsewhere, so as of 2022, this has not happened. The concrete slabs which comprise the sides of the boat have the shapes of 3's imbedded in them representing the three men in the boat.

On the opening day, there was a miniature play where professional actors re-enacted a scene from the book, complete with period clothing and a dog. The deputy mayor of London, Nicky Gavron, broke a bottle of champagne across the bow to officially open the Green.

Arboretum
The Green is in the process of creating an arboretum- a collection of trees. From the start, trees have always been one of the primary interests of the trustees and having planted a number of the UK native trees it was decided to go on and plant as many of the 34 common species as we can. With this as a base, the Trust have decided to label the best specimen of each species and variety, and map it all. As part of this, the Trust have created a woodchip pathway to wind round the Green, so that the areas, especially the trees, that are not on the tarmac paths, can be explored more easily.

Other Features
The Green is a mix of more "community" features, such as paths, a paved area, a sculpture and a small football pitch etc., along with more country features, such as uncut grassland and small copses of trees.

Rose Bed


The Trust decided it was very visible on the street, so should have a particularly presentable appearance. It has been filled with roses of all sorts given to the Trust, then edged with chives as a companion plant to the roses and Primulas to extend the flowering season.

Nettle Mound and Path
The mound was the dumping ground for spare clay sub-soil left over from the creation of the Kickabout Area. The area was naturally taken over by Stinging Nettles, that have dominated the area for over 20 years, keeping out most other things. These are a home for butterfly caterpillars and we have built a fence around it to keep the now mature stinging nettles, which grow up to 2M high, off the paths. The Green operates a policy of removing quite a lot of stinging nettles, leaving this area as a sanctuary for this important habitat/plant. The fencing used is all woven materials from elsewhere on the Green and fashioned using our own method. Three of the Buddleja sticks that were freshly cut and driven into the ground have taken and are now growing and flowering within the fence.

Dog mosaic


Continuing the theme of Three Men in a Boat, Montmorency, the dog from the book is commemorated by a mosaic of a dog's head, which was set in the ground in 2012. The mosaic was a test for the methods to be used in making the Dragon mosaic later that year. It was made out of glass domestic mosaic pieces, set in a concrete block (built in a tomato box) and inserted into the ground near the North entrance to the Green.

Dragon Mosaic


There had been a plan to create a mosaic in the centre of the Green back in 1999, which was replaced by the Boat feature. Inspired by this and the knowledge that it was Chinese Year of the Dragon in 2000, the team decided to create a dragon mosaic in 2012, the next year of the Dragon. The trust offered Harry Blackman, an artist and regular volunteer on the Green, the chance to submit a plan to the public at the 2012 AGM.

Harry's plan to make a 1.8M circle was welcomed by the AGM and work began some months later. The scale of the project was very ambitious for a volunteer team with virtually no mosaic experience, especially as they chose to use domestic mosaics of different sizes and thicknesses. However, many months later, in November the last tile was laid.

In 2013, a plan to create a proper surround for the mosaic was put to the AGM. Harry's team set out to create a winding pathway through shrubs and grass to the mosaic, landscaping it so that the mosaic will only be found by exploring the path, designed to add impact to its viewing.

Orchard
The Trust set about planting one as soon as the Green was handed over to them. Homebase donated most of the fruit trees on the Green, starting in 1999. The orchard includes a number of apples, pears and cherries as well as a mulberry and a wild service tree.

Wildflower Meadow
The area around the Kickabout Area is maintained as a rough wildflower meadow. Although shrubs and trees are removed from the area, the growth of wildflowers is limited as the area is mostly dominated by grass and nettles. Various operations to sow wildflowers over the years have so far not been successful, though we have counted dozens of species of wildflower in total on the Green.

Facilities
There are seats in the centre of the Green and a tree-seat in the shade. There is also a large picnic bench in the shade in the Orchard. Currently, the nearest toilet is in Builder Depot over the road, when open. The nearest food & drink is Frank's Cafe at the top of Station Road.

Habitats
Creating the Millennium Green has added a number of different habitats that suit many more different plants. This, along with planting various new trees and flowers, has pushed up the number of recorded species from around 50 to around 250 species of plant. This in turn has created a wider range of habitats for animals to visit or live. The range of spiders, birds, insects etc. recorded living in the trees etc has been massively increased.

Ponds
We have three tiny ponds- the largest of which is around 12 litres. The smaller two are tucked out of sight.

Organic & Low-Waste Maintenance
Although the team do use some chemicals etc, where necessary, we aim to use as few artificial chemicals and power tools as possible, with much manual digging, clipping with shears and manual weeding. We create our own compost- mostly from composted woodchips. Our aim is to be low-waste and low carbon-miles where feasible.

Events
From the very first event, in November 1999, when volunteers planted the entire boundary hedge around the Green in one day, through the opening event in 2000, to the Art & Music Festivals held on the Green, there have always been events held on the Green, created or supported by the Trust. The local council has sometimes been involved, with sports events and a Festival in 2011. The Green has established a regular set of Open Days on the First Saturday of the Month, where the public can informally join in with volunteer work or talk to the Trustees. The regular calendar has an Easter event, a Summer Festival and a Tree Day in National Tree Week every year.

Easter Events
Most years, the Green runs an event for children, in which they have Easter Egg hunts or scrambles; Sports & games and quizzes created mainly for children.

The Art and Music Festival- ArMu
Various summer events have taken place, usually fundraisers with features to attract local people. Currently, the annual event is a festival of Art and Music, known as ArMu, with displays of art, art activities, and various forms of music, along with stalls, craft displays and other attractions aimed at bringing in especially the local people, but also as a fundraiser for the Green.

Tree Planting
From the very first year, trees are always planted during National Tree Week and the event is always registered with The Tree Council. This has meant that the New Southgate Green was part of a world record for tree planting in 2005 and a subsequent attempt in 2010. The Paul O'Grady Television Show had a small feature on tree planting and visited New Southgate in National Tree Week in 2008.

Sports & Games
Sports


 * The Local Council Sports Development team have run summer sport events on the Green and assisted New Southgate in creating its own, short-lived, football team. The local church ran a football tournament on the Green in 2008.

Games The Volunteers keep a number of toys and games for events, including:


 * Boules is played on the paved arena.
 * The unique game of Giant Boules is sometimes played on the Kickabout grass area.
 * Croquet is played on the Daisy Field.

Publicity
The trust have always believed that publicity is essential for the long-term survival of the Green, by involving lots of people and improving the awareness of what the Green is and the needs of the charity that runs it. The Green featured in the local papers frequently in the early days, and has had at least something in the paper most years since. The trust have had letters published and articles written, along with photos, including such notables as the Deputy Mayor of London, Nicki Gavron, and Education Minister Stephen Twigg, MP and Minister of State Simon Hughes, MP. Articles have been written in magazines, such as The Arboriculturalist and the Green was featured briefly in a television show, the Paul O'Grady show.



The Volunteer Team and other workers
Although the Green was largely created by contractors, including the creation of the paths, sculpture and noticeboard area, the Trust have created a team of volunteers that have done most of the work on the Green since 2000.

The team comprises both local people and others from all around Enfield etc. Children are involved wherever practical and everyone is encouraged to learn about gardening, the environment and the Green as they go along.

Voluntary Warden:

We offer a warden's position on our green for which the volunteer undergoes specialist training. The warden's responsibility is to patrol the green and report any hazards to a trustee. This relatively simple job frees the Trustees from having to be on the Green too much and may put the volunteer on a step towards becoming a trustee in due course.

Team Leader:

We offer a trained position as a Team Leader. For this the trainee does a set program involving practicing running teams for small projects, leading up towards running the whole process of a Team Action from the Safety Check at the beginning to a Tool Walk and Lock Check at the end.

The Certificate of Volunteer Training
Most members of the volunteer team have completed a training program created for the purpose by the Trust and run by its horticulturally trained members.

The Ten Year Certificate
The Trustees award a certificate to anyone who volunteers quite regularly for at least ten years. The certificate is usually awarded at an AGM and comes in a frame, so the recipient is encouraged to hang it up. The Trustees have plans to create a 25 Year certificate.

Sponsorship & Grants
Enfield Council was the main co-sponsor with the Countryside Agency in the initial creation of the Green. It was their staff who created the design and arranged the original contractors. In 2015 Enfield Council awarded a £4.5K grant for new equipment etc and have continued to give support and advice over the years. Homebase were continuous supporters from 1999 until they closed locally in 2018, providing trees, other plants, tools etc. Various other local shops etc. have provided small gifts over the years. Mullaley builders are currently our main sponsors, providing for our insurance, publicity, food and drink and festival equipment.

Other Fundraising
The Trust have received donations from many local people of both money and other gifts. They also arrange fundraising events- sometimes on the Green, more often elsewhere if it seems to make more money.

Links with other Millennium Greens
New Southgate has created links with other London Millennium Greens, including visits to Waterloo, Chadwell, Albion and Cricklewood Uckfield, Rotherfield greens. Other Greens have visited New Southgate events, including Cricklewood Soulbury and Albion.

Links with other Parks and open spaces
New Southgate has a policy of creating links with other local groups, including Friends of Broomfield Park and Friends of Conway Rec. This involves going to each other's events; sharing information and materials and general networking.

Internet Work
A volunteer from New Southgate created this Wiki and wrote most of it. The same volunteer wrote most of the Wikipedia page about Millennium Greens and actively improves the presence of Millennium Greens on the internet.

Google Maps
New Southgate started a project to get all Millennium Greens onto Google Maps. This improves our visibility on the internet, by ensuring that if you put the address into Google Maps, it not only shows where it is, but can give information such as a website.

Awards
New Southgate's volunteers regularly win 100 Hours Volunteering Awards from Enfield Council.

Our secretary, Andrew, won an award from the London Mayor's office- Team London

Art Project
New Southgate started a general project to involve the Green in art of all kinds in 2012. This began with the creation of the two mosaics in 2012, then continued with the art competition in 2013. In 2014 they had a children's art event and an Art Feature on the Noticeboard. In 2015 the Green hosted an Art Event- with interactivity, face painting and art and craft displays. In 2017, the Green had its biggest event yet, with over 200 people- an Art & Music Festival- with lots more art and nine hours of live music, with an alcohol licence for the day. The project continues through the annual Art & Music Festival.

Contact & Social Media
The green has a duty phone number;

The phone is manned by a trustee or a warden from 9am -9pm the phone number is 07786 303 440.

The main media page we use is our Facebook Page

Nearest Millennium Greens



 * Cricklewood NW2
 * Waterloo SE1
 * Robin Hood Poplar
 * Aberfeldy Poplar E14