After retiring, John became the volunteer curator and archivist for the Hornsey Historical Society before studying for an MA in Metropolitan and Regional History at the IHR, graduating in 2009. He is a frequent contributor to the HHS and has written five books on different aspects of north London.

The talk will look at the development of social housing in the Borough of Hornsey following the Second World War until the Borough was absorbed into the London Borough of Haringey in 1965. Hornsey had pride in its Council housing, started in 1897 and much praised as a pioneer of local authority cottage housing estates. In the inter war years the council turned to building flats which were the preferred accommodation after the Second World War. Most of these new flats, but by no means all of them, concentrated in two estates; one at Stroud Green, the other at Hornsey Village. The pride Hornsey took in its new flats was demonstrated by the submission of designs to competitions organised by the Architectural, Town Planning and Building Research Section of the Festival of Britain and the Ministry of Housing and Local Government. By 1964 the Council had become a major provider of housing for the local population and had introduced a scheme of rentals that made good housing affordable to all.