Things to do
Visit High Barnet, a medieval town packed full of history, shops, entertainment, festivals, and parks & open space.
Walks and Trails in High Barnet
Geocaching is a treasure hunt that is played outside and can be played anywhere around the world.
Filmed in High Barnet: “A gentle, sweet, funny, romantic story of love in later life following a couple in their sixties, Dave and Fern, who get to know one another over the course of 23 dog walks.”
“The film, largely set in Barnet…”
I-Spy Barnet (1992). The Borough of Barnet version of the popular book released in 1992. You can download this in A5 format, or A4 format to make it easier to print.
Harper Collins gave us permission to reproduce the book to give away free to the community. A big thank you to them.
Take a look at our map of London’s trees. See what’s growing on the streets and in the parks from Barnet to Croydon, and Bexley to Hounslow. Enter your address and we will generate a local walk for you.
“Penny Baxter from the Ramblers has been in touch with details of some of their favourite local walks.”
This walk through High Barnet and Hadley is filled with history; it has more than 10 heritage points of interest. Including how “Chipping Barnet” got its name, to the Battle of Barnet in Hadley Green. This walk really gives a sense of the boroughs past. It is mainly an urban trail.
The council has worked with Create London and artist/architect Ed Crooks to create significant public artworks that will be sited across the borough. These will spotlight past figures who reflect the creativity, innovation and diversity of the borough, from unsung heroes through to those with global acclaim.
The artworks, which will form a public art trail, were formally launched in July, alongside a digital map that visitors can use to visit all 21 sites. Find out more about a range of locally renowned characters including George Michael and Amy Winehouse.
Enjoy five short walks in our local countryside recommended by Owen Jones.
There’s a number of little fairy house doors on Monken Hadley Common.
To get you started, here are the locations of a couple of them.
https://w3w.co/tips.refers.left
https://w3w.co/guitar.moved.gown
https://w3w.co/assume.filer.early
Photo’s by London Matt.
A series of historical and fun guided walks in Barnet. Barnet Ghosts; The Battle of Barnet; Charles Dickens in North London; Georgian Monken Hadley; Historical High Barnet; Mill Hill; Hampstead Garden Suburb; East Barnet Village; Barnet pubs, churches; Historical Finchley, Special ghost walks for Halloween. Walks are usually at the weekend. They meet at various points around the Borough of Barnet. Walks also in London.
Self guided walks are available in the form of pamphlets and books. Available from Barnet Museum, and their online shop.
Barnet Museum volunteers have created over 90 replica banners representing nobles who fought at the Battle of Barnet. View the battle of Barnet Banners, along the High Street and in the Spires. Download the list of Banners from the Barnet Museum website and see which ones you can spot (2023). In 2024, a booklet “Battle of Barnet – Set forth on a Quest” was created and is available from the museum.
“The [banners] on the right [of the high street] are the Yorkists, and on the left are the Lancastrians. this is because the roads diverge at Hadley, York to the right, and Lancaster to the left.” (source)
The 2024 “beating of the bounds” can be found on the link. If you want to recreate this walk then, please avoid the private path (in step 7) that goes through Hyde Close. Instead walk up Wyburn Avenue and walk through the alley way at the end of Hadley Ridge to get on to the High Street.
“The circular geotrail detailed around Trent Park looks for evidence for the Anglian glaciations that reached as far as London about 450,000 years ago. The walk is about 3 miles long and crosses deep valleys cut into the London Clay and also ridges of pre-Anglian Dollis Hill Gravel capped by glacial till.”
Anyone walking along the footpath at the junction of Alston Road and Carnarvon Road should make the effort to search out a fascinating trail of 21 illustrations by a celebrated pavement artist who was brought up in Barnet and whose miniature paintings on blobs of chewing gum have gained international recognition.
A Treasure Hunt themed walking Treasure Trail around Chipping Barnet
