Within a week of discovering development taking place within protected Green Belt woodland a group of Arkley residents have mobilised themselves to demand action from Barnet Council to prevent unauthorised house building.
Access to well-used footpaths through protected Green Belt woodland off Rowley Lane, Arkley, is being blocked by fencing and other obstructions. Trees and undergrowth are also being cleared.
A route and timetable have now been published for a replacement 84-bus service between Potters Bar and High Barnet, which is due to start on Monday 4 September, the day many schools go back.
A five-year tale of mystery and intrigue over a derelict public house in New Barnet has been brought into fresh focus in the wake of the drama and controversy surrounding the fate of The Crooked House in the Black Country.
Four buses already terminate or stop at the main entrance to Barnet Hospital in Wellhouse Lane — and a fifth will be added to the list if Hertsmere Borough Council finally gives the go ahead to restoring the 84 service.
Barnet Elizabethans Rugby Football Club hopes finally to obtain planning permission in mid-September for a two-storey new clubhouse to replace its antiquated and dilapidated changing rooms at the Byng Road playing fields.
After the High Court ruled in favour of the extension of the Ultra Low Emissions Zone to outer London, ULEZ warning signs are now being put in place to remind drivers that there are cameras ahead of them.
A united front is being organised to oppose any attempt to reconstruct The Spires shopping centre with blocks of flats which it is feared could tower above the town centre and dominate the High Barnet skyline.
If the closure of railway ticket offices goes ahead as planned, the Rail Delivery Group says redeployment of the workforce will extend the hours staff will be on duty to assist passengers at the busiest stations.
Imagine having a 15-metre-high 5G telephone mast just a few steps from the backdoor. That is the prospect facing High Barnet resident Alison Gaymer whose home backs on to a small strip of land at the junction of Wellside Close and Wellhouse Lane.
Young football fans who besieged the England team’s hotel in Hendon during the 1966 Football World Cup are being asked to identify themselves as part of a charity fund raiser in aid of Cancer Research.
Transport for London cameras are being installed at road junctions and vantage points around High Barnet in readiness for the the planned introduction of Tuesday 29 August of the Ultra-Low Emissions Zone which will impose a £12.50-a-day levy on older vehicles.
Musicians and singers aged from six to sixty-plus rounded off the High Barnet Chamber Music Festival with a final concert celebrating the life of local music teacher the late Jean Middlemiss.
Pupils of different faiths played their part in the annual commemoration day service for Queen Elizabeth’s Girls’ School at Barnet Parish Church.
The Totteridge Academy has been voted the top secondary school of the year by the prestigious Times Educational Supplement in recognition of the leaps the school has made in improving the progress made by its pupils.
There could hardly have been a more enthusiastic celebration of the Barnet Vale community and its determination to secure the refurbishment of their historic former cricket pavilion.
After standing empty for the last two years one of High Barnet’s iconic High Street buildings has a new owner who has plans to convert the premises into a Costa coffeehouse.
As the annual Barnet Medieval Festival continues to grow in popularity, so does the number of local children who get dressed for the occasion in full military attire ready for battlefield duty or in other medieval costumes.
Continue reading Barnet Medieval Festival inspiring the next generation of battlefield re-enactors
A medieval fashion show with displays of 15th century attire was just one of the innovations on the opening day of the Barnet Medieval Festival at Byng Road playing fields.
An hourly bus service to reconnect High Barnet with Potters Bar might be up and running by September following a decision by Hertsmere Borough Council to provide funding for the route.
Preparations are well underway for the annual Barnet Medieval Festival over the weekend of Saturday and Sunday June 10-11 — and among the innovations this year will be a medieval fashion show displaying the costumes and attire of nobility and royal courtiers.
After months of deadlock and mounting frustration among protestors, a government minister has finally stepped in to try to broker an agreement to reinstate the missing link in the 84 bus route between New Barnet and Potters Bar.
Continue reading Hopes raised for return of 84 bus from New Barnet to Potters Bar after assurance subsidy does apply
The Barnet Vale Festival on Sunday 25th June is a free drop-in community event at the superb but dilapidated art deco pavilion in Tudor Park, Barnet EN5. It is organised by The Friends of Tudor Park and Pavilion (FoTPP), a group aiming to refurbish the pavilion as a new multi-functional hub for the community; and is a Barnet Society project.
Following the success of last year’s Picnic in the Park, FoTPP have organised a festival day to bring together and celebrate the local community.
Put Sunday 25th June in your diary for a day of live music, talks, stalls from local food vendors, an eco “show and tell” and fun for all the family. Festival displays and workshops include:
Talks will run from 12pm to 4pm* and include:
* Timing of talks subject to change
The festival is part of the London Festival of Architecture, and is also supported by Friends of the Earth and The Barnet Society. We are grateful for a grant from Barnet Council.
Details:
For more information:
To support the pavilion project directly, go to FoTPP’s JustGiving donations page at https://checkout.justgiving.com/c/3434643.
A review to be conducted by the Metropolitan Police might lead to a reprieve for High Barnet police station which was closed to the public some years ago and which is among several police stations said to be surplus to requirements.
High Barnet publican Veronica McGowan has played a leading role in the selection of the London finalist for the Rose of Tralee International Festival which is to be held in County Kerry in August.
The London Festival of Architecture (LFA) is a month-long celebration of architecture and city-making that takes place every June across London. This year, for the first time, Barnet is an official destination in the LFA’s exciting and varied programme of events around the theme ‘In Common’. Several are coming up in the north of our Borough.
10:00-21:00 Barnet Museum, Unit 19 The Spires
Barnet Society-led walks in and around Chipping Barnet 14:00-16:30 (further details below)
Activities for under-5s 10:00-11:00, Chipping Barnet Library
Building activities for 7-11s, 15:00-16:00 New Barnet Library (New Barnet Leisure Centre)
12:00-16:00 Drop-in community event at the pavilion in Tudor Park (pictured below)
More details about these – and the many other LFA events – can be found on the LFA website.
The Barnet Society is offering two circular walks around some of the almshouse gardens and newer shared spaces in and around the town centre.
We’ll visit (depending on the route) the remarkable Arts & Crafts Thomas Watson Cottage Homes, Ravenscroft Cottages and the modern New Ground co-housing for older women. We’ll ramble across remains of the ancient Barnet Common as well as more recent parks such as Highlands Gardens and Ravenscroft Park. And we’ll pass allotments, climb Whitings Hill and follow the secluded Dollis Brook. All these are inspiring examples of common space across the centuries.
All walks begin and end in the vehicle forecourt of High Barnet tube station. All include parts of the town centre, then head into the countryside – one to the south-west, the other to the north-east. Dates are as follows:
Tickets cost £5 (or £2.50 for unwaged). The maximum group size for each walk is 20, so book your place now!
Each is about 2.5 hours/4.5 miles long including rough (sometimes muddy) paths which disabled people would find challenging, and sturdy footwear is essential – as well as rainwear if the forecast is poor.
We’ll go at a gentle pace, and there will be frequent stops and opportunities to rest. If you have to leave before the end of the walk, TfL buses can return you to the town centre and High Barnet Station.
Refreshments are available in the town, but we advise bringing your own – especially water if the weather is warm.
The Society acknowledges with many thanks the help of a grant from Barnet Council.
Any queries? Please contact me, Robin Bishop, at robinbishop350@gmail.com or 020 8449 0088 / 07913 107046
A second block of flats — next to a seven-storey block which has already received planning permission — could add to the transformation which is taking place in Moxon Street, High Barnet, where industrial workshops and warehouses are being replaced with residential and other new development.
Pride of place among a record turn out of over 100 classic and vintage cars that filled the upper deck of The Spires’ car park was a 1980s version of the Arkley sports car.
Local musicians young and old are to have pride of place at the final concert of this year’s High Barnet Chamber Music Festival and their event is in memory of a celebrated local music teacher, the late Jean Middlemiss.
Continue reading Young musicians to star in final concert of 2023 High Barnet Chamber Music Festival
All that appears to remain of a secret wartime listening post at Arkley is a dilapidated Nissen hut in Rowley Lane which nearby residents fear might be demolished to make way for new housing.
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