Barnet church has its clock back at last! For almost a month High Barnet residents looked in vain when needing to check the time, but the tower of the town’s famous landmark is resplendent once more.
Telling the time once again
Author: Nick Jones
Building on the fringe
Green Belt surrounds Chipping Barnet on three sides, and the Barnet Society was founded in 1945 to protect it. As London grows, we believe it – and the natural landscape adjoining it – is likely to be even more appreciated. But while the Society’s default setting is to oppose any development on or next to it, we won’t carry weight if we blindly oppose any change; and if a proposal meets the highest design and sustainability standards, we welcome it.
Rare flowers from Totteridge
Work is well underway preparing the ground for planting a wild-flower meadow which will become a major new attraction at Barnet Countryside Centre in Byng Road.
The bees knees
Honey from hives at Friern Barnet allotments scooped the top prize at the 100th annual show of Barnet District Beekeepers Association.
Opening of High Street showcase
Love Barnet’s pop-up shop at 89 High Street promoting locally produced crafts and goods had what the staff said was a “fantastic” first week’s trading.
Marchers against NHS privatisation
Chants of “Our NHS, your NHS” echoed around the Wellhouse Lane entrance to Barnet Hospital as the People’s March for the NHS passed through Barnet on its way to Edmonton.
Guns & Smoke: too quick on the draw?
Guns & Smoke, a new American-style bar and grill at the heart of the High Barnet conservation area, is announcing that it will be opening soon – possibly by mid-September – although planning permission has yet to be obtained from Barnet Council.
Barnet Police Station’s open day
Face-painting, games, balloons and cups of tea were among the attractions at Barnet Police Station’s open day as a full complement from the uniformed ranks were on hand to welcome local residents, families and children.
Ground-breaking project for older women’s housing
Work is about to start in Union Street, just off Barnet High Street, on the construction of twenty-five flats for older women.
Continue reading Ground-breaking project for older women’s housing
Plans for a heritage trail for the Battle of Barnet
A Battle of Barnet heritage trail starting at Hadley Highstone is just one of the ambitious plans for providing a lasting legacy if funding can be obtained from the Heritage Lottery Fund for an archaeological excavation of the battlefield site.
Continue reading Plans for a heritage trail for the Battle of Barnet
Four candles please
“Four candles please” – a regular request at Bargain Buys
Bargain Buys is High Barnet’s answer to the decline of the High Street.
Battle of Barnet dig could enhance the role of Barnet Museum
Barnet Museum is drawing up plans for a possible extension to its Wood Street premises and a programme of community activities if the go-ahead is given for an archaeological excavation on the site of the 1471 Battle of Barnet.
Continue reading Battle of Barnet dig could enhance the role of Barnet Museum
The busy bees of Barnet
Barnet’s bee population – and the borough’s beekeepers – are in very good shape thanks to the enthusiasm and good husbandry of the Barnet District Beekeepers Association.
Milestone for the almshouses
Descendants of the family that established the Thomas Watson Cottage Homes, which are tucked away at the end of Leecroft Road, have unveiled a commemorative stone to mark their centenary.
High Barnet’s third-world broadband service
British Telecom reworks its ever-lasting litany of excuses and is finally being forced to admit to internet customers in High Barnet that it has no intention of honouring a much-repeated undertaking to deliver a high-speed broadband service.
Continue reading High Barnet’s third-world broadband service
New beginning for former schoolhouse
After raising the staggering sum of half a million pounds, work has started on the first phase of an ambitious project to transform what was once Christ Church School into a drop-in facility for the elderly and a centre for the benefit of the wider community.
The generosity of Barnet’s benefactors
Tucked away at the end of Leecroft Road, unseen by many local residents, are the Thomas Watson Cottage Homes, which celebrate their centenary this July. Barnet’s charitable housing for the poor and elderly has a long and distinguished history, and a special place in the local townscape.
Barnet Museum’s garden party brings history to life
Two local history projects connecting Barnet’s past to the present day have been officially unveiled at Barnet Museum as part of its annual Tea in the Park celebration in Courthouse Gardens.
Continue reading Barnet Museum’s garden party brings history to life
Carluccio’s opening date set
Facelift for the Spires to be finished by the spring ready for Carluccio’s restaurant to open next summer. Building work is due to start in August constructing a new entrance to the Spires shopping centre, together with premises for a new branch of the Italian restaurant chain Carluccio’s that will have its frontage opening on to Barnet High Street.
New private hospital for High Barnet
Even before the completion of its fitting out, an application has been made for planning permission to almost double the size of a new private hospital which is to open in Moxon Street, High Barnet.
Petition for new primary school in High Barnet
Parents of children due to start school from 2016 onwards are being urged to sign a petition to support a campaign to establish a new Church of England free school for High Barnet.
Continue reading Petition for new primary school in High Barnet
Where have all the butchers gone?
Just imagine the bustle and activity of 1898 when such was the competition in the High Street of Barnet that shoppers had the choice of eleven butchers, including one pork butcher and two poultry dealers! Today only one shop remains, the Butcher’s Hook.
Yet more BT delays
British Telecom has been forced to admit that there will be another lengthy delay in providing a fast broadband service to up to 3,000 High Barnet households.
Queen Elizabeth’s Boys’ School – an academic hothouse at the expense of local boys?
Around 2,000 boys from across London and the Home Counties are again expected to apply to study at Barnet’s award-winning Queen Elizabeth’s Boys’ School, which has just begun the selection process for the 180 places that will be available in September 2015.
Continue reading Queen Elizabeth’s Boys’ School – an academic hothouse at the expense of local boys?
Wood Street’s whalebones – 75 years in situ
Seventy-five years ago workmen from a local building contractor, W. Foster & Sons, were asked to complete a highly unusual task: they had to restore the unique appearance of one of Chipping Barnet’s oldest residences.
Continue reading Wood Street’s whalebones – 75 years in situ
Dory’s cafe: a Barnet institution
When customer satisfaction is the only protection against the tsunami of change that is sweeping through so many of Britain’s high streets, few Barnet traders can match the long-standing loyalty of local residents for the refreshments served at Dory’s cafe, still going strong and now in the hands of the third generation of an Italian family.
Barnet stadium for sale
Underhill stadium, home ground of Barnet Football Club for over a century, is to be sold. News that the club’s chairman Tony Kleanthous has put the Bees’ former stadium up for sale will be a disappointment for the campaign Back2Barnet that has been fighting to get professional football restored to the town.
New bid for Battle of Barnet excavation
Glenn Foard, a celebrated military archaeologist, is to spend a day assessing the prospects for a new bid to obtain funding for an archaeological excavation to determine the precise site of the 1471 Battle of Barnet.
34 bus route too costly to extend
Transport for London has turned down a suggestion by the Barnet Society that by slightly extending the final destination of the 34 bus service (Walthamstow Central to Barnet) there could be a reorganisation of bus stops at the top of Barnet Hill and an easing of traffic congestion.
Abandoned Marie Foster home could become GP surgery
Feasibility study begins on future use of abandoned Marie Foster Home: could it become the site of a new GP surgery for High Barnet?
Having been High Barnet’s most notorious blot on the landscape for the last decade, a future use for the long-derelict Marie Foster Home and surrounding land is at last being considered by NHS Property Services.
Continue reading Abandoned Marie Foster home could become GP surgery
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