2024: Guided Walks in Barnet and London

• ‘Bedford Park’
  London’s first garden suburb, begun in the 1870s – absolutely stunning.
  Bedford Park is considered by many lovers of London to be more beautiful than Hampstead Garden Suburb – and that’s saying something!
  
  Tuesday January 9th and Wednesday January 10th 1.45pm.
  
  Meet outside Turnham Green tube station.
• ‘The Battle of Barnet’
  Explore the famous battlefield of the Wars of the Roses, 1471.
  Step back in time to the Wars of the Roses. See how the course of English history was changed on a misty Easter Sunday morning. Hear about the day when THREE kings of England came to spend the day in Barnet.
  
  Sunday January 14th 11am.
  
  Meet at junction of Great North Road and Hadley Green Road, EN5 5PP.
• ‘Borehamwood and Elstree Studios’
  A tour of the world-famous Elstree studios.
  The Elstree studios are in fact almost all in Borehamwood! Why aren’t they called Borehamwood studios? We’ll find out why, and lots more about the history of the studios, and the former village of Borehamwood. N.B. We don’t enter any of the studios.
  
  Sunday January 21st 11am.
  
  Meet outside Elstree & Borehamwood railway station (easily reached from High Barnet on the 107 bus).
• ‘Young V & A Museum’ *NEW WALK*
  Formerly the Museum of Childhood – redesigned and reopened in 2023 to excite not just the young, but everyone.
  Reopened in July 2023 after a three-year revamp costing £13m, the Young V & A now offers, according to one newspaper review, ‘child’s play with added wonder’. I’ll bet my Dinky toys that you’ll agree.
  
  Tuesday January 23rd and Wednesday January 24th 1.45pm.
  
  Meet at Bethnal Green tube station, by the ticket barriers.
• ‘Fitzrovia’ *NEW WALK*
  Just east of Marylebone, and just about the most unspoilt area in the West End.
  Fitzrovia boasts an intact Georgian square and some of the most characterful and delightful streets in the West End, as well as a wonderful literary and artistic legacy and a vast array of historical pubs and restaurants.
  
  Tuesday January 30th and Wednesday January 31st 1.45pm.
  
  Meet outside Great Portland St tube station, Marylebone Rd exit.
• ‘Dickens in North London Birthday Tour’
  Looking at the huge number of links with North London in Dickens’s life and work – and his remarkable birthday celebrations.
  Hear the many Dickens connections with Barnet, Elstree, Finchley, Highgate, Hampstead and Hendon in both his life and his work. And to celebrate his birthday, hear about the huge celebrations for his own birthday, and those of his family and friends.
  
  Sunday February 4th 11am.
  
  Meet outside High Barnet tube station booking office.
• ‘Muswell Hill’
  A late-Victorian suburb of great beauty.
  The historical 'Mossy Well' grew into a suburb, and subsequently a highly desirable place to live. And no surprise: it's gorgeous!
  
  Saturday February 24th 11am.
  
  Meet outside East Finchley tube station, from where we’ll take a bus to Muswell Hill.
• ‘Morden Hall Park and Morden Hall’ *NEW WALK*
  Undoubtedly one of the prettiest spots in south London – and easy to get to from north London!
  Morden Hall Park, a former country estate, has the River Wandle wandering wistfully through it, two 18/19th-century preserved watermills, delightful tree-lined avenues, and a superb house of 17th-century origin.
  
  Tuesday February 27th and Wednesday February 28th 1.45pm.
  
  Meet outside Morden tube station.
• ‘Golders Green’
  The development of this once rural backwater over the course of a little more than 100 years is quite astonishing.
  Formerly a rural part of the parish of Hendon, Golders Green has grown to become a fascinating urban melting-pot of Jews, Greeks, Turks, Japanese and Koreans.
  
  Sunday March 3rd 2.30pm.
  
  Meet outside Golders Green tube station.
• ‘Stanmore’ *NEW WALK*
  A lovely place, surrounded by woodlands and commons.
  Stanmore’s long history stretches back to the Celts and Romans. But modern-day types still favour it – Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman chose to live here when they were together. We’ll see why they made such a wise choice.
  
  Tuesday March 12th and Wednesday March 13th 1.45pm. Saturday June 22nd 2.30pm.
  
  Meet outside Stanmore tube station.
• ‘Canons Park’ *NEW WALK*
  A former country estate, Canons Park is now a grade-2 listed park, and a real beauty.
  Carrying on from the previous walk – Canons Park lies immediately east of Stanmore – we will find an 18th-century mansion house, now a famous school, other 250-year-old features, and a part-medieval church on its doorstep.
  
  Tuesday March 19th and Wednesday March 20th 1.45pm. Saturday June 29th 2.30pm.
  
  Meet outside Canons Park tube station.
• ‘Barnet Churches and Pubs’
  The sacred and the profane.
  Explore 900 years of the history of where the people of Barnet have worshipped … and made merry.
  
  Saturday March 23rd 2.30pm PROVISIONAL
  
  Meet outside High Barnet tube station booking office.
• ‘The Battle of Barnet – two anniversary walks’
  Explore the famous battlefield of the Wars of the Roses, fought on Easter Sunday, April 14th 1471.
  Step back in time to the Wars of the Roses. See how the course of English history was changed on a misty Easter Sunday morning. Hear about the day when THREE kings of England came to spend the day in Barnet.
  
  Sunday March 31st 2.30pm (Easter Sunday) PROVISIONAL
  Sunday April 14th 11am (date of battle: Easter Sunday, April 14th 1471)
  
  Meet at junction of Great North Road and Hadley Green Road, EN5 5PP.
• ‘Crouch End’
  A beautiful Victorian development, and today a hugely desirable area.
  Some fabulous buildings, including the famous clocktower, some well-known residents, both past and present, and a fascinating history.
  
  Sunday April 28th 10.40am
  
  Meet outside Archway tube station, Junction Rd exit, from where we’ll travel to Crouch Hill Overground station.
• ‘Edgware’
  Ancient Eggeswere still retains its charm in and around the old village centre.
  Known to the Romans, and ancient and important enough to have a leading London artery named after it, Edgware still boasts its charming partly medieval church, two sets of almshouses, a 16th-century row of shops, and a variety of delightful parks, one of which we’ll walk through.
  
  Sunday May 5th 2.30pm.
  
  Meet at Edgware tube station, by the ticket barriers.
• ‘In the Footsteps of the Famous in High Barnet and Monken Hadley’
  Hear about the many famous and infamous people who have managed to get their feet under the table of Barnet history over the past 500 years.
  Royalty, Prime Ministers, Dickens, Trollope, Thackeray, Pepys, Kingsley Amis, John Betjeman, Spike Milligan, J.M.W. Turner, Wesley, Livingstone -- they and many others have lived or stayed in the area over the past half-millennium.
  
  Saturday May 11th 11am.
  
  Meet outside High Barnet tube station booking office.
• ‘The Heart of High Barnet’
  A walk through 1000 years of history. This walk forms a pair with Monken Hadley below.
  See the brewery that became a Town Hall, and a church that became a shopping centre. Marvel at some truly beautiful houses and almshouses. Hear about the Battle of Barnet; and a fair that was so famous that Cossacks flocked to it, and so infamous that the Victorians tried to close it down.
  
  Sunday May 26th 2.30pm.
  
  Meet outside Barnet College, Wood St, High Barnet EN5 4AZ.
• ‘A Meander through Monken Hadley’
  A historical walk through beautiful unspoilt Monken Hadley. This walk forms a pair with High Barnet above.
  This lovely village has some of the finest 18th-century houses in London, lived in by some of the most famous names in English literature, art, politics and society. We will also see three gorgeous green spaces.
  
  Sunday June 2nd 2.30pm.
  
  Meet outside The Spires, Barnet High St EN5 5XY.
• ‘Totteridge’
  One of the loveliest of London suburbs.
  One of the wealthiest and most delightful spots in the capital, with stunning houses, famous inhabitants past and present, and a gorgeous Common.
  
  Saturday June 15th 2.30pm.
  
  Meet outside Totteridge and Whetstone tube station.
• ‘Tower Hamlets Cemetery’
  Once a hugely crowded and important cemetery, now a Nature Reserve of considerable beauty and fascination.
  Also known as Bow Cemetery, this is the easternmost and arguably most charming of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries of the 1830s and 40s.
  
  Saturday July 13th 11am.
  
  Meet outside Mile End tube station.
• ‘New River, Woodberry Wetlands, Clissold Park, and Abney Park Cemetery’
  Two restful oases of water, an award-winning park, and a famous woodland cemetery.
  Any one of these four would be a delightful walk in itself. Taken together, they’re an unutterable pleasure, combining a quartet of blue and green, canalside and countryside gorgeousness.
  
  Sunday July 21st 2.30pm
  
  Meet at Manor House tube station ticket barriers. Finishes at Stoke Newington Overground station.
• ‘Knole House’ *NEW WALK*
  All-day excursion A National Trust property in Kent, partly Tudor, and of supreme beauty.
  A country house and former archbishop’s palace nestled within Knole Park, in Sevenoaks in Kent. The house ranks in the top five of England’s largest houses, under any measure used.
  
  Date in July to be confirmed.
  
  Meet at London Bridge railway station.

Other dates for May, June and July will be added to the programme in due course.
Please contact Paul for details.

All walks cost £15, under 12s £5.

Enquiries about private group bookings and talks on Barnet or London welcome.

For more information about Barnet and London Walks please phone/text 07506 761294
or e-mail