News from The Barnet Society

Except for a few stragglers, swifts that spend three months each year flying high above High Barnet and New Barnet seem to have said farewell and set off on their long migration flight to Africa via France and Portugal.

Missing for several days from the bus stand beside The Spires shopping centre has been the 399 service from High Barnet to Hadley Wood station. From the start of August, Sullivan Buses, an independent bus operator based at South Mimms, withdrew from eight Transport for London routes because of a funding dispute.

A former street corner shop close to Barnet High Street which featured in scenes in the 1960s tv crimes series Gideon's Way can now be demolished and replaced with a house.

Walkers and cyclists are being encouraged to take part in the preparation of plans to strengthen and complete a 17-mile long loop of footpaths and cycleways circling the London Borough of Barnet.

Pam Edwards, who for over 60 years was a tireless supporter of the local arts scene and a founder member of what is now The Bull Theatre, has died at the age of 98.

A silver lining from the continuing debacle over the stalled future development of The Spires shopping centre is that the previously abandoned Chipping Close car park has belatedly been re-opened to motorists.

A car theft summit -- bringing together police, councillors and community leaders -- is being proposed by the new Chipping Barnet MP Dan Tomlinson to tackle the repeated theft of vehicles from local roads.

Any prospect of Barnet Football Club returning to Underhill and building a new stadium was well and truly dashed at a question time session held by senior members of Barnet Council.

A programme of summer concerts beside Jack's Lake at Monken Hadley Common concludes on Sunday 4 August with a performance that includes romantic music from around the world.

A fresh attempt is being made to find the precise site of the 1471 Battle of Barnet -- a location that continues to prove elusive despite extensive previous searches and years of study by historians and archaeologists.

Chipping Barnet's long serving Conservative MP Theresa Villiers lost her seat to Labour candidate Dan Tomlinson in a general election that resulted in a landslide victory for Sir Keir Starmer and the Conservatives' worst ever defeat.

In seizing Chipping Barnet for Labour with a respectable majority, Dan Tomlinson -- at the age of 31 -- has broken the Conservative Party's hold on what in the past was one of their safest seats. Tomlinson is only the second Labour MP to be elected for Barnet.

Unlike other veteran Conservative MPs and former ministers who opted to stand down, Theresa Villiers had no wish to join the Tory exodus from the House of Commons but like so many of her colleagues she was swept aside in the Labour landslide.

A challenge to re-imagine the appearance of familiar buildings in High Barnet's town centre -- such as the parish church, Tudor Hall or the twin towers at the entrance to The Spires shopping centre -- produced some dramatic results at an art workshop.

Fun and enjoyment but also frustration -- that was the buzz when hundreds of residents and visitors enjoyed a day out at the Barnet Vale Festival in support of a long-running campaign to refurbish and reopen the former pavilion in Tudor Park.

An extension to a community garden and green space which is now along three sides of a New Barnet church was officially opened at a garden party to celebrate the success of Barnet's Incredible Edible campaign.

For its fourth annual series of classical concerts, the High Barnet Chamber Music Festival opens with The Mithras Trio who are returning to the parish church on Saturday 29 June after their sold-out recital in the festival's debut season.

A joint commitment to work to protect the Green Belt was delivered by Chipping Barnet's two leading parliamentary candidates -- Conservative MP Theresa Villiers and Labour challenger Dan Tomlinson -- at a general election hustings at the parish church. They both agreed that the priority should be to build more family homes rather than one-bedroom flats.

Barnet and Southgate College have been told that no further action can be taken during the next six months to sell off the vacant Tudor Hall on its High Barnet campus opposite the parish church. The historic former schoolhouse has been listed as an asset of community value.

The five leading candidates standing in the general election for the Chipping Barnet constituency have been invited to appear at an election hustings to be held at Barnet parish church on Saturday 22 June at 7pm. Questions are now being invited. They will either be read out or can be put in person at the meeting.