Barnet Rising – Where London’s Story Marches South
The above’s a link to a detailed podcast about High Barnet, the meeting point for this walk and what it’s curtain up on. Why High Barnet’s special. If Hadley Wood was our beachhead, High Barnet is where we hit our stride. Prefer reading to listening? There’s a script to go with it.
And we’re off…
Below High Barnet are its playing fields stretching down to the Dollis Brook – a stream that will be a long-term friend of this walk. It’s Green Belt land which football wants to nibble a stadium out of. Cross it to follow the brook into meadows where there used to be a sewage works. Yes, such riversides do exist. Once polluted, now pleasant it has a revitalised housing estate next door to match. Cross the brook into the patchwork of ancient hedgerow patterns that enclose Totteridge Fields, hay providers for the horse-drawn city.
Emerge in Totteridge the village with its tithe barn that 200 years ago did holy duty when the next-door church was being rebuilt. Don’t miss the yew, maybe London’s oldest tree, before disappearing down the lane to Darlands. Darlands, a land London left behind. Here’s the erstwhile country estate of Copped Hall laid out in the early 19th century by landscape designer Humphry Repton. Overgrown, its shape is still apparent as you plunge from its hilltop view to the secreted lake below.
Finish with more water – the pond bordering two 17th century farmhouses. In case you were wondering – yes this is Greater London.
IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THE GUIDING
N.B. On the Sunday walk, Ann will be joining as a second guide.
Simon Hargrave –
I know Barnet well and was thrilled when Charlie told us about the former ground of Barnet FC, which I went to many times. After that, it was a fabulous mixture of local housing estates and amazing countryside – the final scenic pond was like walking into a 19th C painting.
Wendy Stolerman –
Fascinating insight into an area that I thought I knew well, with two knowledgeable and engaging guides.
Melanie Goodwin –
Having lived in High Barnet for over 40 years I thought I knew the area well and was only doing the first two walks as I wanted to do the whole series, but I should never have doubted that Charlie could tell me something new and open my eyes to seeing things in a different way. I had never really thought about the existence of the London Boroughs or the Greenbelt but learnt about them and so much more. I discovered new paths for future dog walks and was inspired to think about why places are where and how they are. I am so looking forward to continuing this journey across London over the next few weeks.
Dorothy MacDonald –
So enjoyed the first 2 sections of this journey across London I’m looking forward to being surprised on the next 12.
Richard Cohen –
Yesterday I completed the two first stages of this great series of special walks: the Ultimate London Walk guided by Charlie we walked from Hadley Wood to High Barnet in the morning and then on to Woodside Park in the afternoon. Much of our way was through beautiful woodland and parkland. The walk was fascinating. Charlie’s research was impeccable, his enthusiasm infectious and his knowledge encyclopaedic. At every stop he furnished us with thoughtful insights into the story of these far reaches of outer London. This is just the beginning – over the next few weeks the Ultimate London Walk will cross the whole of London from north to south from the woody bounds of Hertfordshire to the slopes of the North Downs in Surrey. What an inspiring opportunity to explore our great city and to see how it has grown.