After remaining empty and abandoned for over a year, High Barnet’s historic Brake Shear House, just off the High Street, has been brought back to life as Nightingales Emporium, a collaborative selling point for a group of artists and entrepreneurs.
Millie the Waitrose cat, already dubbed High Barnet’s most sociable feline, has been inundated with good will messages after shoppers at the Spires were told she had recently had a pre-Christmas tummy upset after being given too much unwanted food.
Two historic cottages at the corner of Wood Street and Manor Road have revealed a secret that has been hidden for 150 years or more – and it gives a glimpse of the fashionable interior of the fine houses that once graced High Barnet.
Local residents are being urged by the Barnet Society to support a campaign to make sure historic footpaths are properly registered so as to ensure they are protected for the future as public rights of way.
A damp Sunday afternoon did little to dampen the excitement for countless children who enjoyed the traditional fun fair that has become such a popular attraction at Barnet’s annual Christmas Fayre.
A sing song going through favourites of yester-year is a highlight at a Barnet hairdressing salon when 102-year-old Greta Nellie Druce pays her weekly visit to have her hair done.
A long-running campaign by the Barnet Society to persuade Transport for London to run a bus service from High Barnet tube station to Barnet Hospital and the Spires shopping centre has won the support of Councillor Richard Cornelius, leader of Barnet Council.
Members of the Medieval Siege Society wearing armour and livery of the period laid on their display while inside the church there were talks on the history of the wider conflict – a confrontation that involved three kings, Edward IV, Henry VI and (the future) Richard III, two armies and one crown.
Isabella Henman, dressed in medieval clothing, was on hand to describe the role of the women camp followers who looked the noblemen and their armed soldiers.
Helping prepare a soldier for the battlefield requires the camp follower to know what they’re doing. It’s rather like changing a baby’s nappy….
She said the women would have done the cooking, cleaned the armour and livery, and then helped the men prepare for battle.
Her husband Kevin Henman – another member of the society – was in full armour and livery for the re-enactment.
“Helping prepare a soldier for the battlefield requires the camp follower to know what they’re doing. It’s rather like changing a baby’s nappy – there is a process to be followed,” said Ms Henman.
“So when helping put on the armour, you have to start from the feet and then go upwards, in order to make sure everything is properly in place and the livery is correct.”
Ben Godden, another member of the society, said that the noblemen often tried to reduce the number of women camp followers because they could be a drain on an army’s resources, but they did have a vital role.
He said the society was only too pleased to be helping raise awareness of the Battle of Barnet and they were looking forward to taking part in other events connected with the Battle of Barnet Project, including a medieval festival that is to be held in Barnet over the weekend of June 9 and 10, 2018.
Inside the parish church there were talks by the historian, Mike Ingram, on the “Overmighty subjects of the Wars of the Roses” and by author Nathen Amin on his recent book on the House of Beaufort.
A van producing and selling authentic Roman pizzas is helping to kick start the development of what is fast becoming a popular food court outside the Stapylton Road entrance to the Spires shopping centre.
Preparations are well underway for the annual Barnet Christmas Fayre on Sunday 3 December – including elves rehearsing their dance routines for their production, Twas the Night Before Christmas, to be staged at the Bull Theatre.
An extension of the High Barnet controlled parking zone to impose restrictions on roads around Barnet Hospital has produced a furious response from adjoining streets that fear they will now have to accommodate many more parked cars and vans.
Parents of children at Cromer Road Primary School, New Barnet, are launching a last-minute campaign to get votes in support of a money-raising appeal for the cost of a new roof for the school’s swimming pool.
Creating a city farm with access for volunteers and local children is one of the ideas being canvassed by Theresa Villiers, the Chipping Barnet MP, as part of her efforts to save the Whalebones open space.
Local residents raised a glass to celebrate – and wish good health — to the 250-year-old oak tree at the junction of The Meadway and Potters Road in support of the Woodland Trust’s “We Love Street Trees” campaign.
Shanly Homes, which purchased the semi-derelict Brake Shear House workshops off Barnet High Street earlier this year, has appointed new architects to review the plans for redeveloping the site.
End of an era. Butcher’s Hook, the last remaining butcher’s shop in High Street, Barnet, has ceased trading and the premises are for sale or to let.
High Barnet’s police station will close to the public by the end of the year along with 36 other police stations across London where the Metropolitan Police is withdrawing a front counter service.
After protests from local tree lovers, Barnet Council finally called a temporary halt to trench digging and cable laying directly under a 250-year-old oak that commands the brow of the hill at the junction of The Meadway and Potters Road, New Barnet.
After being refused permission in January, Barnet Council’s planning committee has now approved plans for the proposed Ark Academy school on the site of the vacant Underhill stadium, former home of Barnet Football Club.
Unthinking council planners and contractors are being blamed by local tree lovers for hacking through the roots of 250-year-old oak by excavating a trench and building two concrete bases for broadband telephone boxes.
Two students who took part in a workshop at the Wood Street campus of Barnet and Southgate College are to appear in a new play, Cookies, that explores the challenging world of cyber-bullying.
Record GCSE and A-level results for the second consecutive year have now been topped by the news that Queen Elizabeth Girls’ School, Barnet, has been ranked in the top 2 per cent of all secondary schools by the Department of Education.
Barnet Old People’s Welfare committee fears that the demolition of the Fern Room, its day centre in Salisbury Road, to make way for a block of ten flats might well force the closure of a group that has been providing activities for Barnet’s elderly resident for the last 75 years.
Michael Portillo, presenter of the tv series Great Railway Journeys, unveiled a plaque at Hadley Wood station to commemorate the great steam locomotive engineer Sir Nigel Gresley, who was a former Hadley Wood resident.
Plans have been announced by a developer to demolish the Fern Room in Salisbury Road, Barnet, and replace it with a new building containing ten flats as well as new ground-floor community facilities.
Barnet market stall holders are delighted by the news that the managing agents for the Spires shopping centre are planning to move the twice-weekly stalls market to the paved area between Waitrose and the bandstand.
Organisers of Barnet’s teenage market – to be launched on Easter Saturday next year – are hoping that this new attraction will match the boost to the Spires shopping centre provided by the opening of H&M’s fashion store.
To coincide with the start of building work on its site at the environment centre off Byng Road, Barnet, an appeal has been launched for the final £2 million needed to complete construction and fit out the new Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice.
A derelict former nurses’ home that has been an eyesore for years will finally be demolished under plans to build flats and townhouses on the Marie Foster Care Home site in Wood Street, Barnet.
A service to institute and induct its new vicar, the Reverend Andy Rimmer, was described as a moment to celebrate the commitment shown by Christ Church, in St Albans Road, to reach out to the High Barnet community.
Why not become a member? Receive our latest newsletter hot off the press four times a year, and support our work with a membership.
If you have some local news, history or want to bring something to our attention please email us.
NEW: Service of thanksgiving for Sir Gerald Hosker
NEW: Food and hospitality on offer at High Barnet Islamic Centre
NEW: The Corner Café opens its doors and builds on the Dory’s legacy
NEW: The latest on the Black Horse pub
👕 Our 2025/26 home and away shirts are back in stock for supporters to get their hands on!
Click the link below to get yours now or visit the Club Shop Monday-Sunday 7am-10pm. 📱
#BarnetFC🐝
disgruntled of barnet posted a comment on Protecting green spaces – how serious are our politicians?
Michele Haniotis posted a comment on Protecting green spaces – how serious are our politicians?
Paul posted a comment on Protecting green spaces – how serious are our politicians?
Glynn Francis posted a comment on Free book shop has returned to The Spires – and Barnet residents are again being asked to donate surplus books or bookshelves