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Surprise sale of High Barnet’s celebrated former schoolhouse raises doubts about its future use for community events

Barnet’s iconic and historic Tudor Hall — originally the schoolhouse for the free grammar school granted a charter by Queen Elizabeth I in 1573 — is up for sale and is being advertised by the agents Colliers as an “exceptional investment opportunity”.

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Nightmare on Salisbury Road — a five day road closure extends to five weeks disrupting traffic across High Barnet

Residents of Salisbury Road could hardly believe their eyes when they saw contractors re-installing white lines and parking bays — the long-promised final task before the re-opening of their road after five miserable weeks of mayhem.

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A special present at High Barnet baby bank — a children’s picture book that has become a royal favourite

Copies of a picture book which the Princess of Wales donated to High Barnet’s newly opened baby bank proved a popular choice once children from needy families started choosing presents at its Christmas pop-up shop.

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Barnet Fair — the noisiest and naughtiest in Victorian London — brought back to life in newly written drama

Original scripts, lyrics and music all bringing to life the rich history of Barnet Fair combined to provide a memorable production of “The Boy I Love” which delighted packed audiences at The Bull Theatre.

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Exciting line-up and high hopes for Barnet’s annual Christmas Fayre despite confusion over parking charges

Final preparations are being made for the annual Barnet Christmas Fayre on Sunday 3 December which will fill the High Street with over 100 stalls and feature a wide variety of seasonal events and attractions in nearby venues around the town centre.

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Hunt is on for High Barnet’s change makers: pioneering unsung heroes who deserve to be commemorated

High Barnet is being asked to nominate its change makers –inspirational figures with local connections whose contributions to society deserve to be highlighted as part of a borough-wide celebration being organised by Create London.

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Hunt is on for unwanted crutches, frames and supports for rehabilitation of amputees injured in war in Ukraine

Zimmer frames, crutches and surgical boots left unused in lofts and garages around Barnet are just some of the surplus mobility aids which are being rounded up and sent off to help amputees injured in the war in Ukraine thanks to the efforts of a Friern Barnet pensioner.

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Government climbdown over cutback that would have closed ticket offices at New Barnet and nearby stations

A government U-turn on plans for the closure of railway ticket offices across England will come as a relief to passengers, especially the elderly and the disabled, who use stations around High Barnet on the Great Northern Railway and Thameslink lines.

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Appeal to pay for professional entertainers to create carnival-like atmosphere at Barnet Christmas Fare

If a fund-raising campaign is successful, there will be more of a carnival like atmosphere at this year’s Barnet Christmas Fayre to be held on Sunday 3 December with professional entertainers hopefully welcoming visitors as they walk up and down the High Street.

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Anniversary for historic Dig for Victory allotments in Byng Road a precious moment for longest-serving plot holder

High Barnet’s Byng Road allotments celebrate their 85th anniversary next year — and for 66 of those years Peter Morris has been tending his plot with the same determination and enthusiasm as when he started out as a teenager.

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Installation of charging points for electric vehicles gathering pace in High Barnet and East Barnet

Charging points for electric vehicles are to be installed in the pavements of several side roads close to Barnet town centre — and applications are being made for even larger self-standing charge points in front of the Everyman cinema and in East Barnet village which would be partly financed through video display advertising. 

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Family research highlights upstairs and downstairs divide of life inside the once grand houses of New Barnet

A fascinating insight into the life of wealthy middle-class households who set up home in the flourishing township of New Barnet in the late 1880s has emerged after research by family historians.

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Barnet Fair the inspiration for a new theatre production to be staged at The Bull Theatre

Bringing to life the gaiety and rough and tumble of Barnet Fair — said to be have been one of the the noisiest and naughtiest in Victorian London — is the challenge facing High Barnet’s amateur dramatic group, The Blue Door Theatre Company.

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Hundreds of objections lodged to planning application for residential caravan site at Arkley end of Mays Lane

Within two weeks of hearing about a planning application for residential caravans on Green Belt farmland in the Dollis Valley, well over 500 objectors registered their opposition, backing a campaign mounted by residents of Mays Lane and surrounding roads.

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New chapter opens in task of safeguarding historic common at Monken Hadley where cattle once grazed

Many of the motorists hurrying past beside the edge of Monken Hadley Common have probably never stopped to take a walk or had a chance to enjoy an historic and incomparable green space on the boundary of Greater London.

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Surplus apples that would otherwise go to waste heading for foodbanks after fruit picking in Sebright Road

Volunteers collected over 65 kilogrammes of surplus apples from trees in the back gardens of houses in Sebright Road — all destined for foodbanks and self-help groups across the London Borough of Barnet.

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Pupils’ achievements celebrated at QE Girls amid praise for strong performance of Barnet’s secondary schools

Families with young children have been moving to the London Borough of Barnet because of the strong performance of its secondary schools — a strength recognised at the annual “Celebration of Excellence” at Queen Elizabeth’s Girls’ School.

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Petition by Labour parliamentary candidate to add pressure against railway station ticket office closures

In his first campaign since becoming the Labour Party’s prospective parliamentary candidate for Chipping Barnet, Dan Tomlinson has collected over 300 signatures in a petition opposing plans to close railway station ticket offices at New Barnet and Oakleigh Park.

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At the third attempt, Barnet Elizabethans Rugby Club finally gets approval for new Byng Road clubhouse

Barnet Council’s strategic planning committee has given the go ahead for the construction of a two-storey clubhouse and floodlights at the Byng Road playing fields even thought it would result in “substantial harm to the sense of openness” of surrounding Green Belt countryside.

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Needy families with babies and small children now being helped by newly opened High Barnet baby bank

A baby bank which provides nappies, formula milk, clothes and other essentials for babies and small children has opened a new base which is ready to help needy and vulnerable families living in Barnet, Hertfordshire, and nearby London boroughs.

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