What is being billed as The Big Picnic on Saturday 4 June on the lawn beside Barnet Parish Church will be one of the highlights of local celebrations for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee bank holiday weekend.

 

Streets parties are being arranged in communities in and around High Barnet with a range of lunchtime and afternoon get-togethers.

Barnet Council received a last-minute rush of applications for temporary road closures and organisers will be issued a set of instructions as well as advice on hanging bunting. Over 130 requests were made for closures over the four-day Bank holiday -- including 13 in High Barnet, seven in Barnet Vale, and two in Underhill.

Roads to be closed in High Barnet are: Thursday June 2, Hadley Green Road; Friday June 3, Falkland Road, Marriott Road, Rycroft Crescent; Saturday June 4, Carnarvon Road, Raebarn Gardens, The Drive; Sunday June 5, Garthland Drive, Granville Road, Sunset View, Union Street, Wentworth Road, Wyburn Avenue. Barnet Vale: Thursday June 2, Calton Road,; Friday June 3,  King Edward Road; Saturday June 4, Gloucester Road; Sunday June 5, Danewood, Greenhill Park, Leicester Road, Park Avenue. Underhill: Friday 3 June, Bedford Avenue; Sunday June 5, Normandy Avenue.

The picnic on the green around the parish church – from 11am to 3pm – is open to all. The order of day: “bring your own picnic”.

Entertainment on offer will include a Ukulele band, Punch and Judy, a tombola and raffle, and tea and scones.

If the weather is fine, there should be some expansive views from the top of Barnet Hill as the church tower will be open to visitors.

Groups of residents have spent weeks organising their own neighbourhood gatherings.

Long-planned events include lunchtime and afternoon street parties on Sunday 5 June in Rockways and Wylo Drive, Arkley; Granville Road, off Wood Street, High Barnet; and Leicester Road, New Barnet.

Residents and guests are being invited to a Jubilee Sunday lunch at Hadley Memorial Hall.

A gala concert at the Monken Hadley parish church of St Mary the Virgin on Thursday 2 June (7.30pm) will open the weekend’s celebrations and will be followed by the lighting of the beacon on the top of the church tower at 9.45pm.

The beacon, which is a distinctive feature of the church tower, was lit for the Queen’s 90th birthday in April 2016 and again in 2019 for the 525th anniversary of the 1494 restoration of the church.

The Eleanor Palmer alms houses in Wood Street were among the first to enter into the spirit of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

Decorations around the parish church for The Big Picnic will add a dash of colour to the High Street which is already decked out in the medieval banners from the time of the Battle of Barnet.

Given the historic importance of the Platinum Jubilee, the Barnet Society hopes to offer a full report of the local celebrations on its website and social media platforms, so please send photographs and accounts of your events to

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