History
The estate is named in honour of Claude Grahame-White, the pioneer of aviation who established the original aerodrome and aviation school on the site.
The building of the estate was a joint project between the Greater London Council and Barnet Council. The plan was approved by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government in 1964, and the first family moved in on 23 October 1971.
A typical characteristic of the estate was the plain, square, brick-style terraced houses, also known as "block" style, and long winding low-rise flats, with flat roofs. Most building names, walkways and roads on the estate have names linked to the aviation history of the site.
Not all of the old aerodrome was sold off for development; the Royal Air Force Museum is situated immediately to the south-east of the estate (with free entrance).
It lies on the eastern side of 'Grahame Park Way', a typical 1970s-planning-style collector road (for traffic) which runs down the eastern side of the estate, parallel to the Midland Main Line (Thameslink) railway, and beyond that, the M1 Motorway.
The estate became the site of St. James Catholic High School in 1996.
Read more about this topic: Grahame Park
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