Barnet High Street has been bedecked once again with flowering hanging baskets. But please do not be fooled into thinking Barnet Council deserves the credit for adding this splash of colour to the town centre.
Barnet’s hanging baskets
Tag: high barnet
Queen Elizabeth’s Girls’ School
Queen Elizabeth I’s charter of 1573 provided for ‘boys and youth’, but it was not until 1888 that Barnet got a school for girls. Its oldest buildings are not just a gentle monument to a pioneering educational movement, but fine examples of the Arts and Crafts style.
Demolition could reveal medieval market
If permission is granted to demolish the empty After Office Hours bar next to the Bull Theatre, the Barnet Society says there must be stringent planning conditions, and time for a proper archaeological investigation.
Ancient oak tree might be spared
A campaign to save what has been dubbed the “mighty oak” of Whitings Road has made significant progress.
Broadband – will Virgin Media step in?
After endless delays and broken promises by British Telecom, High Barnet residents without high-speed broadband are being encouraged by Theresa Villiers MP to think of signing up for a rival service being that might be offered by Virgin Media.
£7 million upgrade for the Spires
A Canadian investment fund is the new owner of the Spires shopping centre in High Barnet, having paid £40 million for what the agents say is prime retail space in “one of London’s largest and fastest-growing boroughs, as well as one of the most affluent”.
Union Street residents annoyed
Two new housing developments are changing still further the appearance of Union Street in High Barnet, which in recent years has lost shops, offices, a school and even its public house.
New finds may throw light on Barnet’s history
When work starts in October on a survey and excavation to find the site of the Battle of Barnet of 1471, local residents and schoolchildren will have their chance to play a part in the great upsurge in interest in medieval history that has occurred since the discovery of King Richard III’s remains in a Leicester car park.
Continue reading New finds may throw light on Barnet’s history
Underhill stadium sold for new school
Barnet Football Club’s vacant stadium at Underhill has been purchased by the government’s Education Funding Agency as a site for a new free school. Two applications for new schools to serve the Barnet area are currently being considered by the Department for Education.
Underhill stadium: site for new six-form-entry academy school
Barnet Football Club’s vacant stadium at Underhill is to be demolished to make way for a proposed new free school – Ark Pioneer Academy – that would eventually accommodate more than 1,800 pupils.
Continue reading Underhill stadium: site for new six-form-entry academy school
100 new houses planned
Work could start as early as January next year on High Barnet’s largest housing development since the opening of the Dollis Valley estate. If planning permission is obtained, Linden Homes plan to construct over 100 new homes on the vacant Elmbank site that extends from Barnet Road, Arkley, almost to Barnet Hospital.
Is the tide turning?
After a run of closures over recent months, the High Street now offers several new restaurants and cafes. The proprietors are hoping the custom they attract will encourage increased business for other shops and traders in High Barnet’s shopping centre and perhaps attract other new retail ventures.
Broadband campaigners prove their case
A street-by-street survey conducted by local residents has demonstrated overwhelming support for a campaign to persuade British Telecom to provide up to 3,000 High Barnet residents with the fast broadband connection they so desperately need.
Campaign for new primary school
All seven primary schools in High Barnet and Underhill have again been oversubscribed, leaving 32 children without an agreed place in September – yet another indication of the strength of local demand for an additional school.
Boarded-up: one sorry sight to go
One of High Barnet’s worst eyesores, the derelict former nurses’ home opposite the Arkley public house, is to be demolished to make way for a housing scheme that aims to provide approximately 100 new homes.
Physic well at risk?
Torchlight tour of Barnet’s historic physic well but is another historic building at risk? Local residents had a rare opportunity to see inside Barnet’s historic physic well when Barnet Museum organised an open day at the well house, a short walk from Barnet Hospital.
A six-horse race for Chipping Barnet
Six candidates have been nominated for the Chipping Barnet constituency in the general election on Thursday 7 May – a seat currently held by Theresa Villiers, who has been the Conservative MP for the constituency since 2005.
George V plaques
Barnet Society member Sheila Durchslag has issued an alert over two missing George V plaques from the entrance to the fields off Barnet Lane.
Broadband campaigners go street-to-street
High Barnet residents without access to a fast broadband connection are canvassing their neighbours in the hope of demonstrating to British Telecom that there is strong local demand that would more than justify investment in the nine additional fibre-enabled cabinets that are needed.
Golf course landfill plan: questions that need answering
A scheme to re-landscape much of the Old Fold Manor Golf Club at Hadley Common that involves felling mature trees along half a mile of the St Albans Road needs to be explained in much greater detail before being granted planning permission by Barnet Council.
Continue reading Golf course landfill plan: questions that need answering
Battle of Barnet investigation go-ahead
Military archaeologists from Huddersfield University hope to start work in May surveying the possible site of the Battle of Barnet of 1471, in preparation for a full-scale investigation.
The Old Red Lion – CAMRA steps in
Barnet Council is being urged by the Campaign for Real Ale to prevent the demolition of the Old Red Lion public house, at the bottom of Barnet Hill, by declaring it a community asset for the use of local residents.
Barnet Council says no to free parking – but campaign goes on
A joint attempt by the Barnet Society and the Barnet Times to persuade Barnet Council to introduce a period of free car parking to boost trade in the borough’s high streets was rejected by the environment committee.
Continue reading Barnet Council says no to free parking – but campaign goes on
UK’s first purpose-build co-housing starts in Barnet
A group of feisty women, happy to be renowned for their stubbornness, gathered in Union Street, Barnet, for a ceremony marking the start of construction on a unique project – the first purpose-built co-housing scheme of its kind in the country.
Continue reading UK’s first purpose-build co-housing starts in Barnet
Visiting BT executive to resolve broadband speed fiasco?
British Telecom has promised to send an executive to High Barnet in mid- March to meet the Chipping Barnet MP, Theresa Villiers, and local residents to discuss the lack of high-speed broadband in many of the roads in and around the town centre.
Continue reading Visiting BT executive to resolve broadband speed fiasco?
Church bells floating over Barnet
Sunday mornings are quite a rush for the bell ringers of High Barnet. At 9 a.m. they meet up at the Parish Church of St John the Baptist and the bells ring out for half an hour before the start of the main morning service at 9.30.
2,500 back free parking campaign
Almost 2,000 people visiting shops and other premises in the High Street have signed the Barnet Society’s petition calling on Barnet Council to consider offering an hour’s free parking to help the town’s retailers.
Catering skills of Barnet students put to test
Catering and tourism students from Barnet and Southgate College are gaining work experience at High Barnet’s newest pop-up shop, a family-friendly tea shop that has opened in the Spires shopping centre.
Continue reading Catering skills of Barnet students put to test
Guns & Smoke refusal
Planning vote goes against Guns & Smoke. Guns & Smoke, a new American-style bar and grill opposite Barnet parish church, has failed to obtain planning permission for its illuminated frontage in Church Passage.
Da Capo Concert Band
Rehearsals have begun at the Barnet parish church of St John the Baptist for the first of this year’s concerts by the Da Capo Concert Band which was established in 1997 for amateur adult musicians in north London and Hertfordshire.
Lucy Bridgers posted a comment on Pub of the year award regained by The Mitre as Barnet’s real ale enthusiasts voice concern over closures in neighbouring Enfield
Dougie posted a comment on With a decision likely within weeks, BringBarnetBack step up their campaign for Barnet Football Club to return to Underhill
Michael Griffin posted a comment on Pub of the year award regained by The Mitre as Barnet’s real ale enthusiasts voice concern over closures in neighbouring Enfield
Anne Stern posted a comment on Plain clothes police proving more effective in tackling Barnet’s shoplifting and drug users than uniform patrols in High Street