News from The Barnet Society

When a group of 26 women move into their new homes in Union Street, Barnet, at the end of November they will be making a small, but truly historic contribution towards alleviating the country’s chronic housing shortage.

A unique, almost-forgotten tape recording gives a fascinating eye-witness account of every-day life in Barnet at the turn of the century before last, when horse-drawn coaches, traps and wagons filled the High Street, long before the arrival of the motor car.

Local residents, bird watchers and nature lovers are joining forces to step up their campaign against plans to develop a natural burial ground on farmland at Arkley bounded by Barnet Road, Barnet Gate Lane and Mays Lane.

In a first for schools in the London Borough of Barnet, the Pavilion study centre in Meadway, High Barnet, is offering vulnerable and excluded school children the opportunity to get an entry level qualification in horticulture.

The Barnet Society’s long-running campaign to try to secure a short period of free parking at the 63 parking meter spaces along the High Street featured prominently in Dom on the Spot, BBC television’s latest series about the people whose job it is to hand out on-the-spot fines.

Years of friendly rivalry over which shop in Barnet High Street has the longest record of continuous service seems to have been finally resolved. Documents unearthed by Peter Wanders suggest his shoe shop has been in business for longer than Victoria Bakery.

After an extensive search with metal detectors a highly-experienced team of military archaeologists has unearthed a host of medieval items that might be linked to the 1471 Battle of Barnet.

After facing a barrage of complaints and criticism over proposal to build a new school for almost 2,000 pupils on what was formerly the Barnet Football Club stadium, the Ark Academy network admitted its plans were “not yet a done deal”.

In the feline appreciation stakes there is currently no contest in determining High Barnet’s most sociable – and safety conscious – cat. Milly, a 15-year-old tabby, regularly stops the traffic as she walks from her home in Carnarvon Road and over the zebra crossing between Barnet Library and the Spires shopping centre.

After months of construction work, the last remaining scaffolding and hoardings are about to be removed from 25 new flats in Union Street, Barnet – the UK’s first purpose-built co-housing project for seniors.

Nine pupils from Totteridge Academy have been awarded special commendations by the educational charity TalentEd which enlists retired teachers to help pupils from low-income households to develop self-awareness and study skills.

Virgin Media hopes to be able to offer its ultrafast broadband network to 40,000 homes and businesses across the Borough of Barnet by the end of 2018.

Well over 300 members, friends and supporters attended the preview of the Barnet Guild of Artists’ 68th annual exhibition which continues at Christ Church, St Albans Road, until Saturday 6 August.

After mounting concern about the recent loss of leading retailers, High Barnet’s shopping centre has received a shot in the arm: H&M, the leading Swedish fashion chain, has finally signed up to take the lease of a brand new store in the Spires shopping centre.

After a career switch from his previous job as a political researcher, an aspiring High Barnet furniture and cabinet maker is gaining recognition at a series of craft and design shows.

Support for Barnet Market’s annual classic car show has proved so strong that it has become a showcase event for the increasingly-popular Barnet Classic Car Club. Thirty cars assemble each May beside the market, and around the Spires bandstand, providing an engrossing spectacle for classic car enthusiasts.

Fragments of pottery and tiles found during an excavation of land within Wrotham Park has confirmed that the hamlet of Kitts End did exist during the 1471 Battle of Barnet – and that in fact there was probably habitation there as early as the 11th century.

An announcement that had been expected in early June about a go-ahead for the Spires shopping centre redevelopment has still not materialised, and there is still no date when work might start.

While we welcome educational use of the site, particularly if coupled with community access to the Academy’s indoor and outdoor sports and other facilities, the current proposal for 1,890 pupils plus 150 or so staff would be an over development.

High Barnet’s notoriety as a hot spot for parking fines is to be featured yet again on national television.   Footage for a new series of Dom on the Spot was filmed in the High Street highlighting Barnet Council’s refusal to even consider a short period of free parking in order to help local traders.