News from The Barnet Society

Twenty years ago this December, the first of two tree plantations was inaugurated at Whitings Hill to commemorate the Barnet Society’s 50th anniversary; the second followed in January 1996.   To celebrate the woods' 20th – and the Society's 70th – birthdays our Vice Presidents, Jenny Remfrey and David Lee, relate how the project came about.

Whalebones Park, a 14-acre stretch of fields and woods between Barnet Hospital and Wood Street, is about to be considered by Barnet Council as a possible area to be developed for future housing and community use.

It is not well enough known that British cinema was born in Chipping Barnet 120 years ago.  Moving images were then as revolutionary as virtual reality seems now.

Plans for a five-storey block of flats and a three-storey office block are the main features of an extensive residential and commercial redevelopment that will reshape the townscape behind shops in Barnet High Street.

Lime Grove Footpath Reopened The closure of this public footpath was noted in the update of 11th September 2013 as it is referred to in ‘Rambles Round Barnet Part 1’, Walk 1, paragraph 7.

Over 100 stalls will line the High Street and the courtyard outside Barnet College for the annual Barnet Christmas Fayre on Sunday 6 December. After a procession in the High Street, the Mayor of Barnet, Councillor Mark Shooter, will open proceedings just after 12 noon.

A medieval silver farthing that might have been in use at the time of the Battle of Barnet of 1471 is the most dramatic find discovered so far during searches with metal detectors on farm-land beside Kitts End Lane.

Correction:  ‘Rambles’ Vol. 2 Walk 5 (ii) Paragraph 5. The additional information in italics refers to ‘..an inwardly leaning Scots Pine’ to help the reader locate an Aspen tree in Ravenscroft Park in Wood Street. The tree is, in fact, a European Black Pine, sub species Austrian Pine, a native of Central Europe.

When workmen removed the last wooden panels covering up tiling on the walls of 89 High Street, Barnet, they were able to solve the mystery surrounding the painting of a dairy maid.

Getting on his high horse: Nick Jones, Barnet Society Chair, arguing for free parking on ITV’s Parking Wars Barnet Council has finally agreed to review its parking charges along Barnet High Street following a campaign by the Barnet Society on behalf of local residents, shoppers and traders.

An oak tree in memory of the former Chipping Barnet MP Sir Sydney Chapman has been planted on Hadley Green, beside the road that bears his name.

Renewed uncertainty about the future of the White Lion on St Albans Road has led to a successful bid to persuade Barnet Council to declare that the pub is a community asset of value to local residents.

Violet Walker, the new head teacher at Queen Elizabeth’s Girls’ School, has every justification for her assertion that she felt instantly at home on taking up the head-ship at the start of the new academic year in September.

The purchase by a property company of Barnet’s former British Legion hall at the corner of Moxon Street and Tapster Street has opened up for residential redevelopment another swathe of land immediately to the east of the High Street.

 Two Victorian measuring jugs from a former public house in High Barnet have turned up mysteriously in the archives of St Peter’s Church at Formby on Merseyside.

A set of painted wall tiles revealed during building work at 89 High Street Barnet depict a dairy maid holding her pail, with cows and chickens in the background.

Number 89, the community-run pop-up shop selling local arts and crafts that was in the High Street until a few months ago, has reopened round the corner at 10 Union Street, and now trades under the name room 89.

Teachers, parents and volunteers are hard at work trying to convert an area of neglected woodland into an outdoor classroom for pupils at the Pavilion Study Centre in Meadway, High Barnet.

Some six or seven years ago the Barnet Society was solidly involved in the early public discussion and consultation on this project.

Walkers who have enjoyed following the popular trails featured in the Barnet Society’s Rambles Round Barnet guides are now being offered step-by-step outdoor guidance and narration instructions on an app that is available free on smartphones.