A seasonal concert that drew on the great range of musical talents at Queen Elizabeth’s Girls’ School, Barnet, rounded off the year, and also the first term of the new headteacher Mrs Violet Walker.
Concert rounds off 2015 at QE Girls
Author: Nick Jones
Spires £7 million upgrade
A two-storey, 24,000-square-foot new fashion store – replacing four existing shop units – will become the centrepiece of a new-look Spires shopping centre if planning permission is obtained from Barnet Council.
MP willing to confront bulldozers
Responding to fears about the possible zoning for housing of the woods and fields around Whalebones Park, the Chipping Barnet MP Mrs Theresa Villiers says she is ready to “lie down in front of the bulldozers” in any fight to preserve a cherished open space.
Mayor of Barnet praises Museum
Barnet Museum – and its role in leading the Battle of Barnet project – was singled out for praise by the Mayor of Barnet Councillor, Mark Shooter, when he opened the annual Barnet Christmas Fayre.
Barnet Museum plans rejected
Volunteers at Barnet Museum say they are shocked and dismayed that after months of discussion Barnet Council’s planning committee has refused to approve proposals for a rear extension and disabled access.
Whalebones trustees reassurance
Trustees for the Gwyneth Cowing estate have given an assurance to the Barnet Society that any development of Whalebones Park for residential and community use would be of “high quality” and would retain as “much natural habitat as possible”.
20 years old and growing fast
Twenty years ago this December, the first of two tree plantations was inaugurated at Whitings Hill to commemorate the Barnet Society’s 50th anniversary; the second followed in January 1996.
Whalebones Park to go for houses?
Whalebones Park, a 14-acre stretch of fields and woods between Barnet Hospital and Wood Street, is about to be considered by Barnet Council as a possible area to be developed for future housing and community use.
A Barnet business start up that changed the world
It is not well enough known that British cinema was born in Chipping Barnet 120 years ago. Moving images were then as revolutionary as virtual reality seems now.
Continue reading A Barnet business start up that changed the world
Gated housing planned off High Street
Plans for a five-storey block of flats and a three-storey office block are the main features of an extensive residential and commercial redevelopment that will reshape the townscape behind shops in Barnet High Street.
Rambles Round Barnet Updates Nov 2015
Barnet Fayre 2015
Over 100 stalls will line the High Street and the courtyard outside Barnet College for the annual Barnet Christmas Fayre on Sunday 6 December.
Battle of Barnet coins found
A medieval silver farthing that might have been in use at the time of the Battle of Barnet of 1471 is the most dramatic find discovered so far during searches with metal detectors on farm-land beside Kitts End Lane.
Rambles round Barnet booklet and geotourist.com updates
Correction: ‘Rambles’ Vol. 2 Walk 5 (ii) Paragraph 5. The additional information in italics refers to ‘..an inwardly leaning Scots Pine’ to help the reader locate an Aspen tree in Ravenscroft Park in Wood Street.
Continue reading Rambles round Barnet booklet and geotourist.com updates
Painted tiles depicting dairy maid date from 1910
When workmen removed the last wooden panels covering up tiling on the walls of 89 High Street, Barnet, they were able to solve the mystery surrounding the painting of a dairy maid.
Continue reading Painted tiles depicting dairy maid date from 1910
Barnet Society wins parking review
Barnet Council has finally agreed to review its parking charges along Barnet High Street following a campaign by the Barnet Society on behalf of local residents, shoppers and traders.
Hadley Green oak tree for former MP
An oak tree in memory of the former Chipping Barnet MP Sir Sydney Chapman has been planted on Hadley Green, beside the road that bears his name.
Fight to keep White Lion
Renewed uncertainty about the future of the White Lion on St Albans Road has led to a successful bid to persuade Barnet Council to declare that the pub is a community asset of value to local residents.
Challenging time for new head of Queen Elizabeth’s Girls’ School
Violet Walker, the new head teacher at Queen Elizabeth’s Girls’ School, has every justification for her assertion that she felt instantly at home on taking up the head-ship at the start of the new academic year in September.
Continue reading Challenging time for new head of Queen Elizabeth’s Girls’ School
Housing to replace dilapidated buildings
The purchase by a property company of Barnet’s former British Legion hall at the corner of Moxon Street and Tapster Street has opened up for residential redevelopment another swathe of land immediately to the east of the High Street.
Barnet jugs found in Formby
Two Victorian measuring jugs from a former public house in High Barnet have turned up mysteriously in the archives of St Peter’s Church at Formby on Merseyside.
Dairy maid reappears
A set of painted wall tiles revealed during building work at 89 High Street Barnet depict a dairy maid holding her pail, with cows and chickens in the background.
Showcase reopens
Number 89, the community-run pop-up shop selling local arts and crafts that was in the High Street until a few months ago, has reopened round the corner at 10 Union Street, and now trades under the name room 89.
New future for abandoned Meadway woodland
Teachers, parents and volunteers are hard at work trying to convert an area of neglected woodland into an outdoor classroom for pupils at the Pavilion Study Centre in Meadway, High Barnet.
North London Waste Plan
Some six or seven years ago the Barnet Society was solidly involved in the early public discussion and consultation on this project. Now, after a hiatus arising largely from the difficulty of finding common ground and community concern, particularly against the possible use of a site at Pinkham Way, the project is again under way, and has clearly benefitted from wide input in the interval.
Smartphone app for Barnet Ramblers
Walkers who have enjoyed following the popular trails featured in the Barnet Society’s Rambles Round Barnet guides are now being offered step-by-step outdoor guidance and narration instructions on an app that is available free on smartphones.
Death of historian who championed Barnet Museum
Dr Gillian Gear, who fought a heroic battle to save and maintain Barnet Museum when Barnet Council withdrew its financial support, has died after undergoing treatment for some weeks at Watford General Hospital.
Continue reading Death of historian who championed Barnet Museum
Battle of Barnet metal detecting starts
A training weekend for local metal dectorists in a freshly ploughed field off Kitts End Lane has kicked off an archaeological investigation to determine the precise site of the Battle of Barnet of 1471.
Fibre4Barnet seeks support
Fibre4Barnet, the pressure group set up by Ken Rowland to try to force British Telecom to complete the rollout of high-speed broadband to the whole of High Barnet, says a possible wait of up to two years for further improvements is “totally unacceptable”.
High Barnet cottage industries to go
Almost 30 small businesses and workshops with premises on land behind Barnet High Street may have to relocate within months to make way for a massive redevelopment.
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