Almost wholly residential in character, this city suburb sits in the borough of Barnet, to the east of Woodside Park, its wide streets lined predominantly with large Victorian and Edwardian family homes. The area’s eastern boundary is defined by the local High Road, which is home to all the shops and amenities one could ask for. Woodside Park tube station is on the Northern line and keeps the area connected to the city despite its great distance from the centre. Despite its suburban feel, the area also benefits from the diversity of the city due to its great transport links and amenities. To the north sits North Middlesex Golf Course, which attracts sports fans to the locality, and the nearby Glebelands Nature Reserve keeps the local cafes and pubs populated with nature enthusiasts.

The whole surrounding area was formally known as North End and was an isolated rural area located within the sprawling Finchley Common. It would have been traversed by those travelling south towards London, leading to the transformation of an existing wind mill into an inn in 1722. The common was enclosed in 1816, which allowed the land around it to develop slowly into a sparse suburb. By then, North Finchley had been a junction for a while but was turnpiked in the 1820s to raise funds for the urbanisation. The neighbourhood had ice rinks and cinemas by the outbreak of the First World War, and by 1939, it was known as a commercialised part of town, spurred on by the opening of West Finchley station earlier that decade.

The comedian Spike Milligan was once a local resident, living at 127 Holden Road, though the house has been replaced by more contemporary flats. The Spice Girl, Emma Bunton also grew up on an estate in the area.

While the North Circular Road makes travelling around London very convenient by car, it is also responsible for much of the area’s noise and air pollution that some residents believe is a cause for concern. Also, while tube travel is easy from West Finchley station, its zone 4 location means that travel can get expensive in peak times.

The whole borough of Barnet is currently going through significant regeneration and is in the process of building 30,000 new homes within its boundaries, which will have a direct impact on the neighbourhood. A master plan for the further development of North Finchley town centre is included in this target. Included are ideas to promote the vibrancy of the historic town centre by improving public space, and ensuring the promotion of a safer and secure environment that “all sections of the community can have a sense of unity and pride” over. Slightly west of the High Road, development is underway on the Woodside Park project on Station Approach, which will comprise 86 new flats across two four-storey buildings.