High Barnet’s magnificent pink marble drinking fountain, now in full working order, is once again the centre of attraction at the top end of the High Street, welcoming walkers, and visitors to the delights of Hadley Green.
Local authority cutbacks across North London and Hertfordshire are reinforcing the need for strong and effective civic organisations — and have provided the impetus for a close working relationship between the Barnet Society and the Enfield Society.
When the owners of The Spires shopping centre unveiled revised plans to redevelop much of their High Barnet site with blocks of flats up to six storeys high, there was a barrage of challenging, even hostile questions.
A chorus of “Restore the 84” was the chant of 40 or so angry passengers who assembled at the bus terminus at The Spires, High Barnet, to campaign for the restoration of the 84 bus service between New Barnet and Potters Bar.
A group of High Barnet retailers are demonstrating yet again the ability of the High Street to reinvent itself. A ground-breaking zero waste shop, Kronos and Rhea, which was forced to close last year, is now about to become a boutique for three traders who have combined forces to re-open the empty premises.
A year after the death of a Barnet author of children’s stories, her first book – Odd Fox Out – has been published by her husband Tony Barnes and its publication was celebrated with a launch party at Waterstones book shop in The Spires.
After consultations with nearby residents, neighbouring organisations and other users of Byng Road playing fields, an application has now been submitted for planning permission for a new two-storey clubhouse for Barnet Elizabethans Rugby Club.
Continue reading Rugby club a step closer to getting a new clubhouse at Byng Road playing fields
Yet another revised scheme to build houses and flats on the woods and farmland at Whalebones in Wood Street, High Barnet, has been shown to local residents at a public exhibition held by the estate’s trustees and their developers Hill Residential.
Irving Wardle, one of the most distinguished theatre critics of his generation, who in recent years appeared in several theatrical productions at The Bull Theatre in High Barnet, has died at the age of 93.
Enjoy a glass of locally brewed craft beer or real ale for a final few afternoons and evenings at the Urban Alchemy bar in the Chipping Work Shop in Barnet High Street before its last day of trading on Sunday 26 March.
Developing Barnet as “a borough of fun” is the objective of Barnet Council and to help achieve this there are to be increases in the number of people who are allowed to attend events in some of the borough’s 200 parks and open spaces.
A fresh application to redevelop some of the woods and farmland at Whalebones in Wood Street, High Barnet — but this time with fewer new homes — is about to be made on behalf of the trustees of the estate.
Barnet appears to be leading the way among outer London boroughs in the speed with which cameras and equipment is being installed by Transport for London for the introduction of the Ultra-Low Emissions Zone which will impose a £12.50-a-day levy on older vehicles.
With persistent warnings of shortages of fresh vegetables there seems to be even greater enthusiasm for grow-your-own produce — and that was certainly the vibe at an event organised by Barnet’s Incredible Edible campaign aimed at encouraging home cultivation in gardens and on unused land.
For 30 years Queen Elizabeth’s School, Barnet — which is celebrating its 450th anniversary — was at the apex of a clash between opposing education policies which were being pursued by Labour and Conservative governments, and which at the time split the country.
Join the Barnet Society for a fun evening, of delicious food, a raffle and a chance to meet like minded people to talk about local issues.
On Tuesday 21 March at 7pm we will be holding a fundraising dinner at Melange 135 High Street in High Barnet. The cost of the three-course meal will be £35 which includes Starter, Main Course, Dessert, service charge and your donation to The Barnet Society. (As our costs have increased, we have sadly had to raise our price slightly.)
Payment can be made here by credit or debit card or through your PayPal account. Alternatively, if you wish to pay by cheque or bank transfer, please email info@barnetsociety.org.uk to arrange.
Once you have paid, please email info@barnetsociety.org.uk to confirm your attendance and to receive the menu.
The deadline for reservations and menu selection is 14 March so please reserve your places soon to avoid disappointment. Raffle prizes will include some fine wines and delicious treats. All money raised will go towards the work of the Barnet Society to support our local community. We look forward to seeing you at Melange on the 21st March!
Tributes from former colleagues, fans and fellow sports journalists to the legendary BBC football commentator John Motson have been reflecting on his fondness for Barnet Football Club where the young Motson cut his teeth as a cub reporter on the Barnet Press.
Action to thwart the onward advance of tower blocks around High Banet and close to the Green Belt was a shared objective of a panel of politicians and architects at a Barnet Society discussion on future housing needs.
A steep increase in crimes recorded by the police in and around High Barnet during the last 12 months — and especially since the start of the year — is a matter of real concern says the group that monitors the response of the town’s Safer Neighbourhood Team.
BBC Television were present on Hadley Green to record the final inspection and handover of a newly-restored pink granite water fountain which will once again offer the chance of a refreshing drink of water after being out of order for the last 50 years.
Barnet Vale residents are being consulted about possibilities for restoring long-abandoned changing rooms used by New Barnet Football Club and finding ways to bring the building back into community use.
Patience is the watchword among staff and volunteers at the Rainbow Centre on the Dollis Valley estate as they wait for Barnet Council to refurbish a dis-used sports pavilion to provide a new base for community activities.
Angry Potters Bar residents joined forces to form a mass protest to promote their campaign for the restoration of the 84 bus service between Potters Bar and New Barnet which was withdrawn by Transport for London last year.
After standing proud and erect for almost a century and a half, Hadley Green’s magnificent drinking fountain is in pieces, awaiting restoration and getting re-connected to the water supply.
Another milestone has been passed on the long and challenging road towards re-furbishing and re-opening the historic cricket pavilion in Tudor Park, New Barnet
A High Barnet community dance group which had to close during the covid emergency is building back attendances at its weekly sessions and hopes more residents will come along and give it a go.
Continue reading A welcome return of High Barnet classes in creative movement and contemporary dance
After almost a decade being the proprietor of her own beauty salon, Paige Candler is saying farewell to Barnet High Street and has plans to establish an online business.
Continue reading Farewell to a High Street business for High Barnet beauty treatment specialist
Poundland is about to open its new store in The Spires shopping centre — at 9am on Saturday 28 January — an event for some Barnet shoppers that will be up there with the opening of a branch of the fashion chain H&M in 2017.
A much-troubled plan to build flats on the former gas works site in New Barnet has joined The Spires shopping centre as one of those projects where developers might have no alternative but to respond to the views of local community groups if they are to have any chance of gaining planning approval.
A High Barnet centenarian who is often seen out and about on his four-wheel mobility scooter shopping in the High Street is still receiving congratulations weeks after celebrating his birthday.
Upcoming Barnet Events
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