Walk: Barnet - Royalty, Boozers & a Civil War

Today, back with Laurence Summers and the 45+ Not Grumpy Old Londoners - this walk was Barnet- Royalty, Boozers & a Civil War . Up around his area! Despite some drop-outs, doubtless due to the intense heat. Mind you, it was only last night I got around to paying for it - I've been busy! Except I didn't - blasted Barclay's online banking wasn't working. So I messaged him - in case he was wondering - to let him know I'd try again in the morning, otherwise I'd bring cash. Fortunately, I had cash, because it wasn't working in the morning either.

Not to mention he was messaging everyone, warning of delays on the Northern Line! Signal failure, as it happened - which had cleared up by the time I used it. I brought my smaller bottle of water from home - very much appreciated during the day - and spotted the best "road closed" effort yet:

I wondered whether the Edgware branch was still faulty from yesterday, as the minute I stepped on the platform, where I'd thought the next train was advertised as heading to Edgware, lo, the display switched to High Barnet! which suited me perfectly. 

Nice aircon on the train, and after about 40 minutes (and no delays), I was deposited in High Barnet. Someone was to remark that it really seemed as though we were out the country - and yes, it did; this is as leafy and rural-feeling as anything you'll get in West London. Now, he'd said something about taking the car park exit - I never did see it: wonder whether he meant the step-free exit. Anyway, wasn't worried - he'd said, if we come out the other exit, to head left and down the hill. And sure enough, as soon as I headed left and down, I could see him in the distance. My, it was a hot wait to start though.. I could feel myself starting to burn.

Wouldn't you know it, the walk started by heading right back up the hill.. I might have known! It's pretty steep, and this was actually the most strenuous part of the walk. So glad I had the water.. our first stop outside the station was at Queen Elizabeth's Girls' School, which has the distinction of being in the top 0.4% in the country! and is advertising teacher training in maths and physics..

As we continued to climb, he pointed out that this is the highest point in London - and if it weren't for all these buildings in the way, you'd get a cracking view! Indeed, as he suggested, I can imagine people did have a bird's eye view of the Great Fire.. Mind you, he said, if we thought this was a challenging climb.. apparently, so did the people in the know! who decided to lower the hill, back in the day. The mind boggles.

He explained how there used to be many more pubs here - including two Red Lions:

When the other one closed, the owner of this one asked for the actual red lion. Oh, and I was intrigued by all the banners around town, some of which I recognised as noble family crests from the Middle Ages. Turns out that this was the scene of the Battle of Barnet, the penultimate battle of the Wars of the Roses, and these were put up for the town's medieval festival, back in April (around the anniversary of the battle), and left there! Long may they stay - I think they look lovely:

The Tudor Hall was the site of the original boys' school in Barnet, founded by Elizabeth I:

And - both for its own sake, and the comfort of a cool place to sit - we visited the church:

..where someone was actually giving a talk about the place! I took myself off for a squiz at the Ravenscroft Chapel, named for the family, who were benefactors:

At the entrance to the church, they appeal for donations, which can be given by card or cash. Well worth it.. apparently, it costs £500 per day to maintain. We were later to consider the irony of such an ornate, Protestant church - when we visited a really simple Catholic one. The absolute spit of Knock Basilica, if you ask me - just smaller..

We also passed some attractive almshouses:

"The Spires" shopping centre - apparently built on the site of an old Methodist church, it incorporates these towers, which are apparently original!

They're on the High Street, which is apparently the setting for many scenes from Dickens!

We finished up on the battle site, now a peaceful park. With a water fountain, where I refilled my bottle a bit.

And so to lunch in the Black Horse:

The food came in large quantities, which defeated many of us - but we were sat in a lovely cross-breeze, between the open door to the car park, and on the other side, the open door to the garden, where there was a dj. Most of the service was lovely, with one notable exception.. I did like the touch of them providing sunscreen free at the bar, however..

I could only really manage one glass of wine - I was dehydrated again. So I followed that with a lemonade. After the others left, I shifted down the room to watch the Ireland-Romania match, which was showing on two screens:

After conceding the first lineout and the first try - Ireland was trailing 0-8. That was to be Romania's only chance though.. Johnny Sexton, back from suspension, played a blinder, as usual, and was applauded when he was taken off to cool down, near the end - commentators noted how excessively hot it was on the pitch. (It didn't help that it was in Bordeaux.) Ireland's highest-ever score in a World Cup, apparently! as well as putting Sexton in pole position as the lead Irish points scorer. Apologies, Romania, you did your best..

Tomorrow, I booked with Cultureseekers - it's Open House, and they're off to the London Scottish House and the Banqueting House.  However, I then got (yet another) message from the organiser, encouraging me to become a "full member" - pay a yearly fee, and you can waive the fee for paid events throughout the year. Fair enough - except, frankly, there are groups I would pay to be with, and this is not one of them. I never go to paid events with them. So, I think I might become a shadow member of this group, as I sometimes do with others - I know he's not asked me to pay for this event specifically, but I'm tired of the hard sell, and there is nothing stopping me going to these venues on my own - at my own pace. Not a terribly sociable group, anyway.

On Monday, I'm off to The Effect at the National.

Then - for the first time in a long time - there's a run of Meetup events - and specifically, Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS)! On Tuesday, back with them to see Russell Howard for the last night of his run at the Palladium - terrible trouble finding a decent seat in the Grand Circle, which was all that was left! And since I now have three (!) online interviews scheduled for that day, some comedy will be just what I need.

On Wednesday, I was to be back with Laurence and the 45+s for The Long and Winding Road, a walk about, of course, The Beatles! Personal commitments, however, have meant he's postponed it. So now I'm going with UITCS to It's Headed Straight Towards Us! (a comedy about a volcano), at Park Theatre.

On Thursday, back with them for Anthropology, at Hampstead Theatre. Cheap tickets from TodayTix. Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend.

The next two days are with UITCS again - on the 18th, it's Crazy for You, at the Gillian Lynne Theatre.

On the 19th, it's Octopolis, at Hampstead Theatre again!

And on the 20th, I'm with CT for a classical concert - a Chamber Recital at St. Mark's, Hamilton Terrace. Regular tickets from TicketSource.