On a map of Totteridge, The Green appears as a rather insignificant triangle. However, it is probably the one part of Totteridge that we know and love the most.

As you pause crossing The Green a double line of Oak Trees stretches from Totteridge Lane as far as the Croft. We know from the map of 1890 that these oaks were already in place, putting down their roots into the sodden clay. The line is a little erratic now with some oaks lost and others replaced.

One has been felled and the stump fashioned into a comfortable high-backed chair. Groups of willows, large and small flank the Green and help to drain the water-soaked soil. The old map demonstrates how many ponds were in existence at that time and even as late as 1960 a large pond remained near Woodcroft. The Totteridge Manor Association drained The Green 5 years ago but it stubbornly refuses to behave and periodically swamps, enticing Mallards to waddle from the pond at the Orange Tree.

As we walk back and fore we watch the changing patterns of the trees, we enjoy the pale pink tracery of the cuckoo flower (Cardamine pratensis) in translucent patches near the school in spring, the shimmering froth of the Cow Parsley in May, we tiptoe through a blanket of bright yellow buttercups in June, we indulge in the heady delights of the long grass in summer and surely sink our feet in mud if there is ever a festive event to celebrate. We walk our dogs, make daisy chains, picnic, play games on the weekend, watch the School Sports and at some time or another walk or fetch our children from St Andrews’ School.

Totteridge Green is Oak and Ash country and there are only two evergreen trees along its length, a Cedar of Lebanon, planted in memory of Dr Philip Spensley and a huge and handsome Cypress tree near The Croft. There are several memorial trees, many of them planted to honour previous Chairman of the Residents Association, including the one and only Alder (Alnus Italica) in memory of Charles Emmanuel. Two wooden bench seats, one given by the WI to celebrate their Golden Jubilee, provide opportunities for peaceful contemplation.

Several ditches criss-cross the Green and remain in place as witness to their prior existence as ponds. The Green has successfully kept a slightly unkempt and dishevelled appearance as a testament to its wooded past. In the middle of the last century glow worms could still be found and the local vet kept goats tethered on the Green.

The little road traversing the green to the south is lit at night by 16 archaic lamps which were renewed last year by Barnet Council. The road leads past the Cricket Club, built on land gifted by the father of Sir Peter Wright who was brought up in The Forge, to Laurel Farm Pond and finally to Laurel Farm, which many residents will remember from its heyday as a flourishing pig farm. The pond was dredged in 1988 and 6 tons of silt removed. It is home now to moorhens, several mallards, farm geese and some Canada Geese invaders. The birds breed and lay eggs in the undergrowth surrounding the pond. The Ducks periodically venture across the green to find temporary homes in the ponds of adjacent houses. The frog population flourishes and in spring, frogspawn threads its way just beneath the surface of the pond. A path leads from the west side of the pond across the fields of Totteridge Valley to Burton Hole Lane in Mill Hill.