News from The Barnet Society

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. Nearby residents and dog walkers say they have alerted Barnet Council to what they claim are attempts to start house building without planning permission.

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. High Barnet has a pivotal position at the northern boundary of the zone.

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. During an eventful day hundreds of residents and families packed the Tudor Park sports ground to enjoy the first-ever Barnet Vale festival.

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. Owen’s outfit was put together by his mother Marika.

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. Re-enactors paraded in clothes worn by peasants, middling sorts such as farmers and merchants, and the nobility.

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.