Barnet: Guide

High Barnet or Chipping Barnet is a place in the London Borough of Barnet. It is located 10 miles (17 km) north north-west of Charing Cross. It has a population of roughly 30,000.

Geography

Barnet leads up to the highest point (which is to be found in Potters Bar Hertfordshire) on the old Great North Road between the City of London and York, which sounds impressive, but is a mere 130 metres above mean sea level. The tower of St John the Baptist Church claims to be the second highest point between itself and the Ural Mountains to the east,the actual highest point being the old British Gas building in Potters Bar 6 miles to the north of Barnet. The town lies at the northern end of the Northern Line.

History

The town was the site of the Battle of Barnet in 1471, where Yorkist troops led by King Edward IV of England|Edward IV killed the rebellious "Kingmaker" Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick and Warwick's brother, John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montagu.

It is the site of an ancient and well-known horse fairs|horse fair, hence the Cockney rhyming slang of "Barnet" for "hair". The fair goes back to 1588 when Queen Elizabeth I granted a charter to the Lord of the Manor of Barnet the right to hold a twice yearly fair .

Education

Barnet College also has one of its main sites in High Barnet and is spread out through the London Borough of Barnet.

Secondary/Further Education institutions

Queen Elizabeth's School for Boys
East Barnet School
Barnet College
Queen Elizabeth's School for Girls
The Ravenscroft School
Friern Barnet School

Sport and recreation

Barnet FC are the local football team, flitting between league and non-league football. They play at the Underhill Stadium. Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers is the local athletics club and one of the best in the country. Chipping Barnet has a List of King George V Playing Fields (Greater London)|King George's Field in memorial to George V of the United Kingdom|King George V.

High Barnet is home to one Odeon cinema, the Barnet museum, the traditional annual Barnet Fair, the Ravenscroft local park and Barnet recreational park. High Barnet is a popular location for Restaurants and Public houses but as yet has never opened a nightclub. The Public houses in High Barnet include: The Misty Moon, The Dandylion , The Kings Head, The Monken Holt, Ye Olde Mitre Inn, and The Red Lion.

Famous residents

Reginald Maudling local MP 1950 - 1979
Sir Sydney Chapman (politician)|Sydney Chapman local MP 1979 - 2005
Samuel Pepys
David Livingstone
Spike Milligan
Humphrey Lyttelton
Brian Buckle

Town twinning