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town is changing without you knowing anything about it. We hope we can do something to retain the history and the spirit of the town of Barnet. It is important to keep the identities of the various London towns that have been swallowed up by boroughs. Some, like ours, The London Borough of Barnet, have taken the name of the town, using it to publicise various projects that are nowhere near where we live. The Bull Arts Centre could be sold, Barnet Football Club could lose their ground,The Torrington ( one of the best North London Music venues) closes down as could the golf courses at Oak Hill Park and Bethune Park. Our nearest police station to report a crime is Colindale and now the register office in Wood Street closes down and you will have to get wed in Burnt Oak. AND THE MARKET IS TO BE MADE INTO FLATS, which means we lose another part of our Barnet heritage. We used to have an Olympic size swimming pool in Finchley (it was used for water polo in the 1948 Olympics). Now we have a tiny pool that also has to compensate for the closing down of the indoor pool in Squires Lane. The old fire station in Leicester/Lytton Road is pulled down to make way for even MORE flats with one little advert in the local paper, that most of you probably never saw, informing you of the fact. People assumed there was a preservation order on the building, and most of those we spoke to thought it would be put to better use as a community youth club for kids who hang around outside a supermarket near you. |
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The East Barnet Fire Brigade 1903
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area is crying out for a youth club of some sort to give the kids a
chance of doing something with their lives instead of spitting on the
ground outside Sainsburys! Was there a local politician who stood up
against this, (if there was we would like to hear from you). Was it
the politicians who live in Hendon or Cricklewood and who have no idea
where Leicester Road is, who voted once more to build flats in Barnet,
(the town NOT the borough) East Barnet fire station was built in 1903 and it was the first time the area had paid firemen. It has been closed since 1991, when the green watch and all the others went to the new station in Station Road. So the building has been standing empty for 14 years and surely in that time there must have been ONE councilor who said "Why don't we use the building for the local community" But this is a continuing complaint about the people we vote to represent us in local issues. |
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| And we still have nothing locally for the kids (where is the nearest astro turf?) |
| Another favourite moan: Finchley swimming pool that was built on the cheap and is an insult to all the families who would like to take their children to a proper swimming pool, such as the one below that was knocked down to be replaced by a foot bath. |
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This is a photo of "the baby" pool which had a slope going into the water,just like being at the seaside | The big pool was upstairs and was Olympic sized (it was used for water polo in the 1948 Olympics) with a slide and a couple of diving boards |
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The
pool used to be packed during the summer, and I am sure that if it was
still going today it could have been a major attraction as well as a
useful amenity for the whole of North London(and the 2012 London Olympics?) |