The rural retreat of Muswell Hill war largely untouched by change, until, in 1896, James Edmondson began to build the thirty acres of elegant shopping parades and tree-lined avenues which would transform this sleepy Middlesex village into a prosperous Edwardian suburb. This fascinating collection of more than 180 archive photographs conjures up a forgotten world of trams, horse-drawn buses and dances at the Grove. From the wedding of Maud Bailey in 1912 to Grand Avenue after an air raid, Alexandra Palace with its aviaries, monkey house and exotic plants to Toffs Restaurant and the Muswell Hill Festival, all aspects of life in the area during the last century are recorded here.