One hundred years ago this week the local newspaper "The Recorder" for Palmers Green Winchmore Hill and Southgate carried a letter in its August 28th 1913 edition  from a recently arrived resident celebrating the entertainment on offer in our local parks. The letter was in response to a question posed in an earlier edition of the Recorder: "Do the people really want bands of music in the parks? If they do, why do so few ever go to listen to them?"

Whilst it is still the case that music in the park - like the Sunday bandstand blues concerts and the forthcoming Palmers Green Festival -are to be celebrated, JWF's congratulations to the local council for providing them cannot be repeated.

The current crop of Broomfield Park events (as well as the celebration earlier this year of  Grovelands Park Centenary) have been delivered by committed groups of enthusiastic volunteers who have put enormous energy into creating and supporting events. Next weeks  Palmers Green Festival - as well as the Jazz Picnic in Woodside Park are a great way for neighbours to get together, have fun and celebrate the parks and open spaces in our area.

Now - a century later - summer celebrations are not limited to music and bandstand concerts - we have a wider programme of community entertainment - not least the excellent lively local  cinema project Talkies who will be providing a couple of screenings during the Palmers Green Festival including a sing-along showing of the Wizard of Oz!

• The Recorder Newspaper was published from 1907 to 1918 each copy has been digitised and included on a searchable disc available from the Southgate District Civic Trust I am grateful to David Cooper for permission to reproduce extracts on the Bowes and Bounds Connected website,