News from The Barnet Society

Family historians keen to research the lives of people living in Barnet in the 1920s have only twelve months to wait before the release of the much-anticipated 1921 census and its wealth of information about life in the aftermath of the First World War.

Just as the New Year lockdown was announced, the proprietors of High Barnet's newest brasserie, Botannika, went ahead with their planned opening -- offering a take-away menu and a range of bread and cakes.

In 2020 the Barnet Society celebrated 75 years since its foundation. But our founders would be shocked at how their neighbourhood has altered. Local shops have disappeared and employment has dwindled. Pubs have become an endangered species. Vehicle traffic is as bad as ever.

Lockdown and self-isolation have imposed few significant changes in the daily life of the nuns of the enclosed order of Barnet Poor Clares who this year are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the opening of their monastery in Galley Lane, Arkley.

Birt Acres, a key figure in the invention of British movies, lived and worked in Chipping Barnet. His 1897 short Band Marching down a Street is one of very few to survive from the earliest days of film. Local history investigation has convinced me that it was shot in Stapylton Road.

There is a serious problem for ramblers planning to travel by car to Dancers Hill before doing the following walks: (1)  The 2-miles ‘There and Back’ route in Walk 3 of ‘Rambles Round Barnet’ Part 1.(2)  Both routes in Walk 4 of ‘Rambles Round Barnet’ Part 1.

A New Barnet institution, the French restaurant Chez Tonton has closed after 37 years -- an emotional farewell for proprietors Eric and Claudine Michel, who are known to legions of loyal customers, and who are looking forward to fresh challenges in their retirement.

At the close of 2020, after one of the bleakest years for High Barnet in recent living memory, the long wait for spring should be relieved by the recognition that the local community enjoys perhaps the greenest surroundings of any comparable north London community.

Boxes of chocolates, gift bags - and volunteering to have on-line chats with lonely dementia patients - are just some of the many ways in which residents have been showing support and solidarity with the medical and ancilliary staff at Barnet Hospital coping with the added pressures of the covid.19 emergency.

With their performances for Barnet's Christmas Fayre and their annual pantomime at the Bull Theatre all having to be cancelled because of the covid.19 pandemic, pupils at the Susi Earnshaw Theatre School were still determined that 'the show must go on'.

Tree planting to sustain Hadley Woods is proving a far simpler task than updating the archaic laws that have governed Monken Hadley Common since the reign of King George III.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has backed Barnet Council's decision to reject planning permission for the construction of blocks of flats of up to ten storeys high on the former gas works site at New Barnet.

Increased unemployment and rising hardship due to covid-19 are putting pressure on food banks across the country: 15 new food banks have opened across the London Borough of Barnet since the start of the pandemic.

A two-month delay in opening a purpose-built new ward for covid-19 patients increased pressure at Barnet Hospital as medical staff struggled to cope with the start of the second wave of the pandemic in the first weeks of the autumn.

National Grid has applied to Barnet Council for permission to demolish New Barnet's redundant gasholder saying it is a safety risk and wants to free up the land for residential development.

Barely a year after JC Decaux was refused planning permission for three telecom/advertising hubs in the High Street, they’ve returned with two more. If approved, that would make four within 200 metres.

A medieval timber roof discovered above a vacant shop in Barnet High Street might be as old or even older than the famous hammer-beam roof at Westminster Hall, the oldest building at the Houses of Parliament.

  Friends of Barnet Market are welcoming the continued presence of the twice-weekly market during the second lockdown -- and are especially pleased with the success of a new fresh fish stall from Ipswich.

Queen Elizabeth's Girls' School is helping to promote National Road Safety Week with a large banner close to the school entrance at the busy road junction of Barnet Hill and Meadway.

Women are increasingly taking over from men in cultivating allotments - a national trend which is certainly being reflected at the popular Byng Road allotments in High Barnet.