After carefully weighing members’ and readers’ – often differing – points of view on the changes proposed by Transport for London (TfL) to the 292, 384 & 606 bus routes and a bus stop on Barnet Hill, the Barnet Society has concluded that for the moment we support the present arrangements. With radical developments on the horizon in New Barnet & High Barnet, however, they should be kept under review.
Continue reading TfL Bus Changes: Turn these plans round at the next stop!
Barnet’s pioneering role in the development of care for young people suffering from multiple sclerosis has one lasting memento – a plaque commemorating the opening of the Marie Foster Centre by the Duchess of Gloucester in November 1973.
Seven new almshouses for women aged over 50 – currently under construction in Potters Lane – are continuing a tradition that dates back to the 17th century, and for which Chipping Barnet has a proud place in the history of caring for the needy.
Volunteers hoping to organise a repeat of this summer’s Barnet Medieval Festival are rallying support for pledges of a minimum of £2 per person in this year’s Mayor of London crowdfunding appeal.
The Barnet Society have been asked to comment on the proposal by Transport for London (TfL) to change the 292, 384 & 606 bus routes and a bus stop on Barnet Hill. We have also been asked about reductions on bus routes in Inner & Central London.
Continue reading London Buses: Typical – two consultations come along at once
A heartfelt plea for the creation of a visitors’ centre or historic trail to mark the site of the 1471 Battle of Barnet was made by the celebrated author and historian Alison Weir after she gave a lecture on Richard III: Man or Myth, at Barnet Parish Church.
Continue reading Putting the Battle of Barnet on the map for historical tours
The stunning success this summer of the first-ever Barnet Medieval Festival – which the organisers are planning to repeat next June – has added fresh momentum to several initiatives to celebrate the 1471 Battle of Barnet.
Continue reading Sketch for new Battle of Barnet oil painting
Paula Gabb says her much-celebrated cat Millie – known locally as Barnet’s “library cat” and latterly “Waitrose” cat – has died “peacefully” after being poorly for some time with a thyroid problem.
Residents in four roads that were hoping to be included in the new Barnet Hospital controlled parking zone have been told they may have to wait until early next year before they can be incorporated into the scheme.
Continue reading Angry reaction over exclusion from Barnet Hospital CPZ
Barnet Guild of Artists’ 70th annual summer exhibition is dedicated to its founder, Gwyneth Cowing, who in 1948 brought together a group of local artists to stage their first show at Queen Elizabeth’s Girls’ School.
A campaign to restore the obelisk at Hadley Highstone that commemorates the Battle of Barnet, is one of a series of initiatives aimed at building on the success of this year Barnet Medieval Festival and the ongoing efforts to trace the precise site of the battlefield.
Continue reading Restoration plea for Hadley Highstone obelisk
A competition to find the best possible site for a three-metre high bronze sculpture to commemorate the Battle of Barnet is about to be launched as part of a crowdfunding appeal.
A row of square, flat-roofed houses in Raydean Road are among the buildings in and around Barnet that are highlighted on a website that celebrates modernist and art deco architecture in the London suburbs that became known as Metro-land.
Continue reading Raydean Road houses – a tribute to modernism
Most High Barnet residents are familiar with the Marie Foster Centre – awaiting demolition for redevelopment – but few probably realise that when opened in 1973, the 30-bed hospital in Wood Street was the first purpose-built home in the country for young people suffering from multiple sclerosis.
Continue reading When Barnet pioneered multiple sclerosis care
To help celebrate the school’s 130th anniversary, pupils at Queen Elizabeth’s Girls’ School, Barnet, organised a wide range of events for their summer fair.
Continue reading Queen’s representative at QE Girls’ summer fair
Two teams of keep-fit enthusiasts entertained shoppers at the Spires shopping centre with a marathon session of continuous press-ups – and raised over £5,000 for charity.
Charging £3,000 to hang heraldic banners from 26 lamp standards in Barnet High Street was condemned as the latest example of the dysfunctional relationship between Barnet Council and its web of private contractors providing out-sourced services.
Continue reading Medieval Festival treated “appallingly” by Barnet Council
Such was the enthusiastic response to a real-life re-enactment of the Battle of Barnet that military re-enactors, organisers and visitors were unanimous in their hope that the first-ever Barnet Medieval Festival can become an annual event.
Continue reading Battle of Barnet re-enactment – a weekend to remember
After the closure of High Barnet’s police station in November last year, the local safer neighbourhood police team is keen to improve and maintain contact with local residents.
Barnet High Street is flying heraldic banners from the Wars of the Roses to promote the town’s first-ever medieval festival which is being held this weekend (Saturday and Sunday, 9 and 10 June) to commemorate the 1471 Battle of Barnet.
Continue reading Wars of the Roses banners transform Barnet High Street
Old Fold View was one of several roads in and around High Barnet that was closed off to traffic so that residents could hold a street party to celebrate the Windsor wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
Before Selfies is the title of a collection of photographs taken during the lifetime of Fred Jarvis, Barnet’s oldest and most famous trade union leader.
Continue reading “What’s a selfie?” – asked Fred, 94, next birthday
Barnet Borough Council is back firmly under Conservative control after the Labour Party failed to make its much-anticipated breakthrough and ended up losing five seats in the council elections.
Continue reading Conservatives sweep back to power in Barnet
A computer-generated image shows the proposed Premier Inn hotel and restaurant to be built on the site of Barnet Market, at the junction of St Albans Road and Chipping Close.
Footfall in the Spires shopping centre is up by over 50 per cent in the first three months of this year – just one of the statistics the management are quoting to squash rumours that two leading tenants, the H&M fashion store and Carluccio’s restaurant, are thinking of pulling out.
A ceremony was held at the construction site of the Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice in Byng Road, Barnet, to mark the topping out of an atrium designed as a welcoming focal point for children and families.
Hands-on experience in a great variety of trades, sports and occupations was all part of a careers day organised at the Pavilion School, in Chandos Avenue,Whetstone, which provides support and education for Barnet children who are outside mainstream education.
Continue reading Opportunities for Barnet’s challenged youngsters
Cromer Road Primary School’s swimming pool – where countless hundreds of Barnet children have learned to swim over almost half a century – is in desperate need of repairs, improvements and a new roof.
Replica copies of four of the heraldic banners of the dukes, earls and knights who fought in the 1471 Battle of Barnet are now on display in the Spires shopping centre.
Fred Howett, a long-standing member of the Barnet Guild of Artists, who helped to organise regular and numerous local exhibitions of members’ art work, has died at the age of 74.
Continue reading Death of popular organiser of Barnet art exhibitions
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