N12, Barnet: the old hamlet on Woodside Lane, the 1872 station and the roads that grew round it
Removals in Woodside Park
Woodside Park was a row of houses on the edge of Finchley Common long before it had a station. The railway arrived in 1872, and over the next fifty years the fields either side of the line filled first with large late-Victorian and Edwardian houses, then with smaller villas after the First World War, and later with flats and maisonettes where some of the big houses came down. A move from here can be a large house near the station, an inter-war semi on the slope down to Dollis Brook or a maisonette on Woodside Avenue, so before we price it we ask which one it is, how many floors and lofts there are, and whether the road outside has permit bays.
Removals in Woodside Park: from a hamlet on the common to a railway suburb
There were houses at Woodside by 1365, and by the middle of the 18th century the cottages strung along the edge of Finchley Common here had become a hamlet of their own. Woodside Lane already ran beside the common by 1780, with a footpath from it across the fields to Totteridge. For most of the next hundred years this was the quiet north-western corner of Finchley parish, with Dollis Brook marking its western boundary and Whetstone and the Great North Road to the east.
The railway changed that. The Victoria County History account of Finchley records that the Great Northern Railway opened its branch from Finchley to High Barnet in 1872, with a station at Woodside Park, and that Woodside and North Finchley were the parts of the parish that grew fastest from then until 1914. The branch became part of the Northern line in 1940, and the station on Woodside Park Road is still the middle of the district, in Zone 4 with the 383 bus stopping outside.
The big houses round the station
Land on the western edge of the parish was being advertised as a freehold building estate as early as 1872, and was offered again in 1900, by which time most of the ground east of Holden Road had been built on. Villas were going up in Westbury Road in 1910, and land in Woodside Avenue was offered for good-class housing in 1914. Houses of that age set the pattern for a Woodside Park move: often two or three storeys with a loft above, a long front path, staircases that turn on the way up, and rooms holding the heavy furniture a family collects over several decades. A house like that is a full day for a crew of three or four and sometimes two loads, and we would rather tell you so at the quote than at three in the afternoon.
Not all of them survived. Many of the large Finchley houses were later divided into flats or rebuilt, and the county history notes that much of the older property in Woodside Avenue gave way to houses and maisonettes. If you are moving out of a converted upper floor, the questions change: how narrow the back stair is, whether the sofa originally came in through a window, and where the van can stop on a road laid out long before two rows of parked cars. Our guide to what to do when furniture will not fit through the door explains the measuring we ask for before the day.
Courthouse Road, Nether Street and the 1920s villas
South of the station, between the railway and the northern end of Nether Street, the Court House estate was sold as 61 freehold plots for detached and semi-detached houses in 1909, and St Alban’s church opened nearby that year to serve what was then a fast-growing district. Most of it was built up by 1920. After 1923 smaller villas filled the land at Woodside between Woodside House and the railway. An inter-war house in N12 usually means two or three bedrooms, a through lounge, a garage or a side passage, and a loft reached by a pull-down ladder that nobody has climbed for years.
West of the station the roads fall towards Dollis Brook. Streets such as Chanctonbury Way, Cissbury Ring, Poynings Way and Singleton Scarp take their names from places on the Sussex Downs, and they are lined with family homes. Where a house has its own drive, loading is simple. Where a road curves or climbs and the drive is steep, we decide in advance where the Luton will stand so the crew is not working it out on the doorstep.
Leaving the family house
Many moves out of houses this size are people leaving a home they have lived in for twenty or thirty years for a flat, often only a mile or two away. That is a different job from a straight swap of addresses: deciding what goes with you, what is sold or given to family and what waits in storage for a few months. Our notes on downsizing to a smaller flat in London set out the order to do it in. Our packing crew can box up the kitchen, the books and the loft the day before, secure containerised storage holds what will not fit while you decide, and for a few pieces going to a son or daughter across London our man and van option costs less than a full crew.
What a removal from Woodside Park costs
| Move type | Vehicle | Crew | Guide price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio / 1-bed flat | Large transit van | 2-man team | From £350 |
| 2-bed flat / house | Luton van | 2-man team | From £450 |
| 3-bed house | 3.5T Luton van | 2 or 3-man team | From £600 |
| 4-bed+ house | 7.5T lorry | 3-man team | From £850 |
These are starting prices. A second load, a three-storey carry, a loft and garage to empty, a long walk from the nearest free kerb or a Barnet suspension fee all add time, and that time goes into the fixed quote before you book.
Places around Woodside Park with their own pages
Woodside Park sits between several districts we cover on separate pages. The Sussex Ring streets and the roads down to Dollis Brook, which have no page of their own, we cover from here.
Our services in Woodside Park
House Removals
Late-Victorian and Edwardian houses near the station and inter-war semis on the slope to Dollis Brook, with the stairs, the loft and the garage listed before we choose the van.
Flat Removals
Maisonettes on Woodside Avenue and flats in converted N12 houses, with the width of the stair and the stopping point checked first.
Office Removals
Practices and small offices in N12 moved in the evening or at a weekend, with desks, files and IT labelled to their new rooms.
Man and Van
A sideboard to a new flat nearby, a bed from a converted top floor or a run of boxes to storage, charged by the load and the carry.
Packing Services
Decades of books, china and pictures in a family house packed the day before, room by room and labelled for the new address.
Storage Solutions
Furniture held while you downsize or while the new place is decorated, in sealed containers and brought back when you are ready.
Student Moves
Rooms in N12 shared houses near the Northern line cleared at the end of a let, with every box counted on and off the van.
International Removals
Overseas moves from Woodside Park listed room by room and packed in export cartons, with the inventory ready before collection.
Piano Removals
Uprights and grands from large N12 front rooms, with the hall, the front steps and the garden path measured beforehand.
A Woodside Park move from first call to last box
Tell us about the house
Fill in the form above or phone 020 3983 5199. Tell us how many floors and bedrooms there are, what is in the loft and garage, and whether there is a drive.
We plan the kerb and the loads
If the road has permit or paid bays we apply to Barnet for a suspension, and for a large house we say at this stage whether it needs a bigger crew or a second load.
Loading in Woodside Park
The crew protects floors and banisters, takes beds and wardrobes apart, brings down the loft and empties the garage, then loads so the rooms you need first come off first.
Set up at the new address
Each piece goes to the room you point to and is put back together there, and we take the cartons and wrapping away if you would like us to.
Customer feedback
"Really smooth move from Woodside Park. The crew turned up on time, got everything wrapped and loaded quickly, and nothing was damaged. Fixed price meant no nasty surprises at the end."
Sarah T., Woodside Park"We had a nightmare with another company and called Just Removals last minute. They sorted a van and a two-man crew for the next day. Could not have been more helpful."
James W., Woodside Park"Third time using Just Removals now. Always the same reliable service. The lads are professional and take real care with furniture. Would not use anyone else."
Priya M., Woodside ParkMoving in Woodside Park: parking, access and what to expect
Barnet Council runs the kerb
Woodside Park is in the London Borough of Barnet, and Barnet Council handles bay suspensions and dispensations through MiPermit. Under Barnet’s rules for parking suspensions, an application has to go in at least seven calendar days before the suspension starts, removals are one of the listed reasons, and the council normally suspends permit or paid bays, counted in 5-metre lengths. You mark the exact bays on the council’s Traffweb map when you apply, and the council puts up signs showing where, when and why. It cannot promise the bays will be empty, but a car left in one can be given a penalty charge and in some cases moved. We give Barnet’s current charges on our page for Finchley rather than repeat them here, and our explainer on how a moving-day suspension works covers the signs and the timings.
The controlled zone east of the station
Roads to the east of Woodside Park station sit in a controlled parking zone with a short weekday control period, and in 2023 Barnet consulted residents on changes to it and on extending it to roads west of the station. The hours are not the same on every road, so we read the signs at the end of your street, or the zone entry on Traffweb, before we decide between a suspension and a dispensation. Outside a zone’s hours, and on roads with no permit bays at all, there is nothing to suspend, and the van uses the drive or the nearest clear stretch of kerb.
Yellow lines, dispensations and the older roads
On yellow lines in Barnet a vehicle can normally stop to load or unload for up to 40 minutes, which is not long enough for a family house. For a longer stop Barnet issues a dispensation for one named vehicle, applied for at least two working days ahead, and moving home is one of the examples it gives. Some of the older roads near the station are narrower than they look once both sides are parked, and OpenStreetMap records a weight limit on Woodside Grove, so we check the signs on the approach before we send a Luton that way. Finchley Catholic High School, whose White House and lodge are listed at Grade II, is on Woodside Lane, so on a school day we avoid loading there at drop-off and pick-up times.
Getting to Woodside Park
The A1000 runs north to south along the eastern side of the district as Ballards Lane and High Road, and vans usually leave it for the station roads by Woodside Avenue or Woodside Lane. Woodside Park is inside the ULEZ, like the rest of Greater London, and our guide to the ULEZ and the Congestion Charge on moving day explains what that means if you are driving a hired van yourself.
Woodside Park moves: your questions answered
Do I need a parking suspension for a move in Woodside Park?
Only where there are permit or paid bays outside and the move falls inside their controlled hours. Barnet needs the application at least seven calendar days before the date, so we make it as soon as you book. On roads with no bays, or with a drive the van can use, there is nothing to suspend.
There is a yellow line outside. Can the van stop on it?
For loading, normally up to 40 minutes, which suits a man and van job but not a whole house. For longer, Barnet can grant a dispensation for one named vehicle if it is applied for at least two working days ahead. We tell you at the quote which of the two your road needs.
Our house has three floors and a full loft. Will it take two days?
Usually not, but it may take two loads or a bigger crew. We pack the day before if you would like us to, start at 08:00 and plan the order of loading so the van is full once rather than half full twice. If it truly needs two days, we say so in the quote.
We are downsizing to a flat nearby. Can you store what does not fit?
Yes. We list what is going to the flat and what is going to storage before the day, load the storage items last and take them straight to our containerised store, where they stay until you call for them.
How much does a removal in Woodside Park cost?
Our guide prices start at £350 for a studio or one-bedroom flat, £450 for a two-bedroom flat or house, £600 for three bedrooms and £850 for four or more. A second load, a three-storey carry, a loft and garage or a Barnet suspension fee changes that, and every one of them goes into the fixed quote.
Is my Woodside Park move insured?
Yes. Every crew carries goods-in-transit and public liability cover, and if your landlord, freeholder or managing agent wants a copy of the certificate before the day, we send it straight to them.
Woodside Park is looked after by our North London team
Book your Woodside Park move
Tell us the address, the size of the house and your date, and we will send back a fixed price with a plan for the stairs, the loft and the kerb.
Get my free quoteCall 020 3983 5199Last updated: