Archived Articles January to December 2015
Green belt stars in students’ TV documentary
Jan 04, 2015
General News
High Barnet’s much-coveted green belt is to be featured in a seven-minute television documentary being filmed…
Da Capo Concert Band
Jan 07, 2015
General News
Rehearsals have begun at the Barnet parish church of St John the Baptist for the first of this year’s…
Guns & Smoke refusal 2
Jan 12, 2015
Planning
Planning vote goes against Guns & Smoke. Guns & Smoke, a new American-style bar and grill opposite Barnet…
Another round for Battle of Barnet funding
Jan 14, 2015
Barnet History
Barnet Museum is to take the lead in a fresh application to the Heritage Lottery Fund for a grant towards the…
Work starts at last at Byng Road’s eco-centre
Jan 23, 2015
Restoration & Rejuvenation
After years of campaigning and fund-raising, work has finally started on the construction of new headquarters…
Catering skills of Barnet students put to test
Jan 23, 2015
General News
Catering and tourism students from Barnet and Southgate College are gaining work experience at High Barnet’s…
Busting Councillor Cohen’s “myths”
Jan 26, 2015
High Street The Spires
Petition forms distributed by the Barnet Society to around 100 shops and other retail premises along the High…
Plans for Barnet golf course 2
Feb 09, 2015
Barnet History
Consultations have started on proposals to redevelop part of the course of the Old Fold Manor Golf Club,…
2,500 back free parking campaign
Feb 15, 2015
High Street The Spires
Almost 2,000 people visiting shops and other premises in the High Street have signed the Barnet Society’s…
Last orders at the Old Red Lion 17
Feb 19, 2015
General News
Another of High Barnet’s oldest public houses is to close – the Old Red Lion, at the bottom of Barnet Hill,…
Dollis Valley’s nursery school to close 6
Feb 22, 2015
Services
Valley Pre-School, a community-run nursery for children on the Dollis Valley estate, is appealing to Barnet…
Broadband battle goes on 3
Feb 23, 2015
Broadband
Andrew Dismore, London Assembly member for Barnet and Camden, has stepped in to try to badger British Telecom…
Church bells floating over Barnet
Feb 24, 2015
General News
Sunday mornings are quite a rush for the bell ringers of High Barnet. At 9 a.m. they meet up at the Parish…
A legacy for Chipping Barnet 1
Feb 27, 2015
General News
At a time when Barnet’s library service is threatened with savage cuts, The Hyde Institute in Church Passage…
Visiting BT executive to resolve broadband speed fiasco? 3
Mar 02, 2015
Broadband
British Telecom has promised to send an executive to High Barnet in mid- March to meet the Chipping Barnet…
UK's first purpose-build co-housing starts in Barnet 6
Mar 03, 2015
Planning
A group of feisty women, happy to be renowned for their stubbornness, gathered in Union Street, Barnet, for a…
New facilities planned for Barnet football and cricket
Mar 04, 2015
Barnet Football Club
Barnet Council is being asked to give its support to a bid to re-open Barnet Cricket Club pavilion at…
Barnet Council says no to free parking – but campaign goes on 3
Mar 13, 2015
High Street The Spires
A joint attempt by the Barnet Society and the Barnet Times to persuade Barnet Council to introduce a period…
The Old Red Lion - CAMRA steps in 5
Mar 15, 2015
General News
Barnet Council is being urged by the Campaign for Real Ale to prevent the demolition of the Old Red Lion…
Battle of Barnet investigation go-ahead 1
Mar 24, 2015
Barnet History
Military archaeologists from Huddersfield University hope to start work in May surveying the possible site of…
Golf course landfill plan: questions that need answering 1
Mar 24, 2015
Planning
A scheme to re-landscape much of the Old Fold Manor Golf Club at Hadley Common that involves felling mature…
Broadband campaigners go street-to-street 5
Mar 31, 2015
Broadband
High Barnet residents without access to a fast broadband connection are canvassing their neighbours in the…
George V plaques
Apr 01, 2015
Barnet History
Barnet Society member Sheila Durchslag has issued an alert over two missing George V plaques from the…
A six-horse race for Chipping Barnet 1
Apr 11, 2015
Election 2015
Six candidates have been nominated for the Chipping Barnet constituency in the general election on Thursday 7…
Physic well at risk? 1
Apr 13, 2015
Barnet History
Torchlight tour of Barnet’s historic physic well but is another historic building at risk? Local residents…
Boarded-up: one sorry sight to go 3
Apr 14, 2015
Restoration & Rejuvenation
One of High Barnet’s worst eyesores, the derelict former nurses’ home opposite the Arkley public house, is to…
Old Red Lion campaign continues 1
Apr 17, 2015
General News
Barnet Council has been accused by supporters of the Campaign for Real Ale of acting in an underhand way in…
Campaign for new primary school 12
Apr 21, 2015
Services
All seven primary schools in High Barnet and Underhill have again been oversubscribed, leaving 32 children…
Broadband campaigners prove their case 3
Apr 29, 2015
Broadband
A street-by-street survey conducted by local residents has demonstrated overwhelming support for a campaign…
Broadband Alternative 1
May 16, 2015
Broadband
Barnet residents who cannot get high speed broadband from British Telecom have been offered an alternative…
Is the tide turning? 4
Jun 01, 2015
High Street The Spires
After a run of closures over recent months, the High Street now offers several new restaurants and cafes. The…
100 new houses planned
Jun 13, 2015
Planning
Work could start as early as January next year on High Barnet’s largest housing development since the opening…
Underhill stadium: site for new six-form-entry academy school 14
Jun 13, 2015
Planning
Barnet Football Club’s vacant stadium at Underhill is to be demolished to make way for a proposed new free…
Needing some warmth
Jun 20, 2015
High Street The Spires
Barnet High Street is once again bedecked with flowering hanging baskets – their arrival was delayed by the…
New finds may throw light on Barnet’s history 1
Jun 22, 2015
General News
When work starts in October on a survey and excavation to find the site of the Battle of Barnet of 1471,…
Tie a yellow ribbon
Jun 25, 2015
General News
A yellow ribbon is tied around the trunk, and the words “save me” have been sprayed onto the bark of a…
Bargain hunters boost Boys’ Brigade 2
Jun 29, 2015
General News
High Barnet’s biggest and best jumble sale – that is the proud boast of the 1st Barnet Boys’ Brigade and…
The Battle of Barnet Project 2
Jun 30, 2015
Barnet History
A re-enactment of scenes from a medieval battlefield was the highlight of the official launch of the Battle…
Town and Country free-for-all 1
Jul 01, 2015
Planning
You’d think that planning controls in the Green Belt and Conservation Areas would be stricter than elsewhere.…
Old Fold Manor Golf Club proposed landscaping works
Jul 08, 2015
Planning
The Club’s application for major re-landscaping has been submitted to the planners. The Barnet Society is…
Green roof for countryside headquarters
Jul 09, 2015
General News
A living roof planted with sedum is one of the eco-friendly features of the new Barnet Environment Centre,…
Union Street residents annoyed 5
Jul 09, 2015
General News
Two new housing developments are changing still further the appearance of Union Street in High Barnet, which…
£7 million upgrade for the Spires 5
Jul 27, 2015
High Street The Spires
A Canadian investment fund is the new owner of the Spires shopping centre in High Barnet, having paid £40…
Broadband - will Virgin Media step in? 3
Jul 29, 2015
Broadband
After endless delays and broken promises by British Telecom, High Barnet residents without high-speed…
Homes to replace High Street shops 2
Aug 05, 2015
High Street The Spires
Two High Street premises will be extended to include flats if planning permission can be obtained from Barnet…
Ancient oak tree might be spared 2
Aug 05, 2015
Planning
A campaign to save what has been dubbed the “mighty oak” of Whitings Road has made significant progress.
Demolition could reveal medieval market 1
Aug 21, 2015
High Street The Spires
If permission is granted to demolish the empty After Office Hours bar next to the Bull Theatre, the Barnet…
Queen Elizabeth's Girls’ School
Aug 28, 2015
Barnet History
Queen Elizabeth I’s charter of 1573 provided for ‘boys and youth’, but it was not until 1888 that Barnet got…
Barnet’s hanging baskets
Sep 01, 2015
High Street The Spires
Barnet High Street has been bedecked once again with flowering hanging baskets. But please do not be fooled…
Barnet to match Tewkesbury’s banners? 1
Sep 01, 2015
Barnet History
Decorating the High Street with the banners of medieval noblemen might be one of the ways to celebrate the…
British Telecom to upgrade broadband 15
Sep 03, 2015
Broadband
After months of campaigning by the Barnet Society, British Telecom have finally given an assurance that it…
Barnet Market’s longest-running stall 1
Sep 03, 2015
Barnet Market
“Pineapples, two for a pound!” – father and son David and Tyler Bone have both been shouting out prices for…
Parking Wars 1
Sep 10, 2015
High Street The Spires
The Barnet Society's campaign for a 30 minute free parking period in the High Street is featured in the…
Oak tree reprieved
Sep 22, 2015
Planning
After a determined campaign by local residents the “mighty oak” of Whitings Road has been saved from the axe.
High Barnet cottage industries to go 6
Sep 23, 2015
High Street The Spires
Almost 30 small businesses and workshops with premises on land behind Barnet High Street may have to relocate…
Fibre4Barnet seeks support 1
Sep 29, 2015
Broadband
Fibre4Barnet, the pressure group set up by Ken Rowland to try to force British Telecom to complete the…
Battle of Barnet metal detecting starts
Sep 29, 2015
Barnet History
A training weekend for local metal dectorists in a freshly ploughed field off Kitts End Lane has kicked off…
Death of historian who championed Barnet Museum 7
Sep 30, 2015
General News
Dr Gillian Gear, who fought a heroic battle to save and maintain Barnet Museum when Barnet Council withdrew…
Smartphone app for Barnet Ramblers 2
Oct 02, 2015
Rambles
Walkers who have enjoyed following the popular trails featured in the Barnet Society’s Rambles Round Barnet…
North London Waste Plan
Oct 05, 2015
Services
Some six or seven years ago the Barnet Society was solidly involved in the early public discussion and…
New future for abandoned Meadway woodland
Oct 12, 2015
Restoration & Rejuvenation
Teachers, parents and volunteers are hard at work trying to convert an area of neglected woodland into an…
Showcase reopens 1
Oct 12, 2015
Restoration & Rejuvenation
Number 89, the community-run pop-up shop selling local arts and crafts that was in the High Street until a…
Dairy maid reappears 1
Oct 12, 2015
Barnet History
A set of painted wall tiles revealed during building work at 89 High Street Barnet depict a dairy maid…
Barnet jugs found in Formby
Oct 18, 2015
Barnet History
Two Victorian measuring jugs from a former public house in High Barnet have turned up mysteriously in the…
Housing to replace dilapidated buildings 4
Oct 18, 2015
Restoration & Rejuvenation
The purchase by a property company of Barnet’s former British Legion hall at the corner of Moxon Street and…
Challenging time for new head of Queen Elizabeth’s Girls’ School
Oct 18, 2015
Services
Violet Walker, the new head teacher at Queen Elizabeth’s Girls’ School, has every justification for her…
Fight to keep White Lion 1
Oct 28, 2015
General News
Renewed uncertainty about the future of the White Lion on St Albans Road has led to a successful bid to…
Hadley Green oak tree for former MP
Oct 28, 2015
General News
An oak tree in memory of the former Chipping Barnet MP Sir Sydney Chapman has been planted on Hadley Green,…
Barnet Society wins parking review 5
Oct 28, 2015
High Street The Spires
Barnet Council has finally agreed to review its parking charges along Barnet High Street following a campaign…
Painted tiles depicting dairy maid date from 1910
Nov 01, 2015
Barnet History
When workmen removed the last wooden panels covering up tiling on the walls of 89 High Street, Barnet, they…
Rambles round Barnet booklet and geotourist.com updates
Nov 02, 2015
Rambles
Correction: ‘Rambles’ Vol. 2 Walk 5 (ii) Paragraph 5. The additional information in italics refers to ‘..an…
Battle of Barnet coins found
Nov 12, 2015
Barnet History
A medieval silver farthing that might have been in use at the time of the Battle of Barnet of 1471 is the…
Barnet Fayre 2015
Nov 13, 2015
General News
Over 100 stalls will line the High Street and the courtyard outside Barnet College for the annual Barnet…
Gated housing planned off High Street 10
Nov 16, 2015
Planning
Plans for a five-storey block of flats and a three-storey office block are the main features of an extensive…
New super fast broadband for Barnet?
Nov 17, 2015
Broadband
A possible scheme to deliver superfast broadband to High Barnet via a wireless network was greeted…
A Barnet business start up that changed the world 1
Nov 20, 2015
Barnet History
It is not well enough known that British cinema was born in Chipping Barnet 120 years ago. Moving images were…
Whalebones Park to go for houses? 39
Nov 20, 2015
Planning
Whalebones Park, a 14-acre stretch of fields and woods between Barnet Hospital and Wood Street, is about to…
20 years old and growing fast
Nov 30, 2015
General News
Twenty years ago this December, the first of two tree plantations was inaugurated at Whitings Hill to…
Whalebones trustees reassurance 9
Dec 01, 2015
Planning
Trustees for the Gwyneth Cowing estate have given an assurance to the Barnet Society that any development of…
Barnet Museum plans rejected 1
Dec 04, 2015
Planning
Volunteers at Barnet Museum say they are shocked and dismayed that after months of discussion Barnet…
Mayor of Barnet praises Museum
Dec 07, 2015
General News
Barnet Museum – and its role in leading the Battle of Barnet project – was singled out for praise by the…
MP willing to confront bulldozers 1
Dec 08, 2015
Planning
Responding to fears about the possible zoning for housing of the woods and fields around Whalebones Park, the…
Spires £7 million upgrade 9
Dec 12, 2015
High Street The Spires
A two-storey, 24,000-square-foot new fashion store – replacing four existing shop units – will become the…
Concert rounds off 2015 at QE Girls
Dec 18, 2015
General News
A seasonal concert that drew on the great range of musical talents at Queen Elizabeth’s Girls’ School,…