Manor View, Church End Finchley
Background information about this research
I first started collecting information about Manor View about seven years ago, and returned to this research at intervals over time, but never got round to putting it all together because of other pressures. However, being confined at home as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, I have used the opportunity to gather together all the information I have collected to date, and created this website.
My initial search for information about the plans and construction of the original houses proved fruitless, and indeed one neighbour recalls working in the basement of Avenue House many years ago, when her job was to shred the contents of old files from the Barnet Planning Department (this could explain the lack of any response from the Council!)
But fate intervened, and in the summer of 2015 I happened to be in our front garden, when an elderly lady with her companion passed by. They stopped to chat and explained that the lady had once lived at number 16 and her carer had brought her to Manor View for a wander along ‘memory lane’ ... I instantly knew who I was talking to – Miss Betty Nye, who had been living at no.16 with her widowed mother back in 1975 when we were viewing houses in the road! In fact we were unable to complete the sale of our own house in time, and ended up buying a house a few doors away. The carer gave me her phone number and offered to bring Miss Nye back for tea and a longer talk, and she also promised to bring her photo album....
.... and here she is, together with some of her photos - I had no idea that Betty was 93 at the time of this visit, and had actually been born in Manor View. Her memory was superb, and her enthusiasm prompted me to continue gathering new data to include in my research.
clockwise from above left:
a) Betty Nye recounting her memories of living in Manor View;
b) Ickwell (no.16) and Jesmond (no.14) on the right. The man and boy standing far right are Betty's father and her older brother John.
c) Rear view of no.16, with what looks like a lovely pergola laden with roses. The older gentleman sitting next to Betty's brother is their maternal grandfather
d) Local children - Betty told me that nearly all the neighbours had young children, so there was no shortage of playmates!
e) Back centre and left - Betty's maternal grandparents Adolf and Emily Rossmanith (who lived with the Nye's until their deaths in 1926 and 1937); back right her mother Pauline with baby Betty on her lap; front left Betty's father, William; front right her brother John. As I now know that Betty was born in 1923 and her brother in 1918, that suggests this photo dates to 1923; (and suggests the two images of the exterior of their house were taken around the same time)
If any current or past resident of Manor View has old photos of the exterior or interior of their own house, I would love to include them on the relevant page in section Four. But please note, that photos should not include any person who is currently living (unless they have given their consent).
I recently discovered that Betty Nye died soon after her visit – so this page is dedicated to her memory.
This site is included on the website of
Site updated 29 oct 2021
Click on the links to visit the other sections of this site (move through the site by clicking the link at the foot of each page):
1: History of Finchley Manor House
2a&b: Occupants of the Manor House through the censuses (1841-1939)
3: The relationship between the Manor House and the properties in Manor View
5: Social aspects of living in Manor View (plus a mystery photo of a soldier that needs some identification ... is there a military historian out there who could help?)