Your Barnet, your views (From Times Series)

Your Barnet, your views

1:32pm Friday 22nd January 2010

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George Emmery, 57, an electrician, from St Albans Road, says: "I'm a big Barnet FC fan and we're better than we were 25 years ago.

“The biggest change for me personally has been having grand-children and seeing them grow up in a completely different world to the one I grew up in."

Jill Ridgewell, who has worked at Christ Church Barnet for more than 25 years and is currently the parish administrator says: “It's changed so much, it's hard to know where to start.

“All the new shops, especially at the Spires, have given Barnet a new atmosphere. Plus the building of the new library has been good for the area. It’s not all been change for the better though.

Barnet's stopped being a little town centre and all the independent butchers and greengrocers have been replaced by chain shops.”

Sandra Field, 51, a social worker, from Galley Lane, says: “Barnet is more multi-cultural today and feels like it's part of London rather than an add-on. It's a good place to bring up kids because you can get into the middle of London very easily, but you're also close to the countryside.”

Harriet Pierce started at Barnet College's Wood Street campus 25 years ago as a lecturer in health and social care and is now the director for higher education for 14 to 19 year olds. Back then the college only had two sites at Wood Street and Stanhope Road and was run by the council.

She says: "The biggest change is in 1985 we had masses of part-time provision from cookery classes to bridge. Now we're very target driven, it's very much focussed on getting young people the qualifications.

"It's quite sad really because I think although people are just doing bridge or whatever it introduced them to the college and they often went on to learn more.

"Barnet High Street was a little bit run down, there was a recession, but it's changed into becoming quite a nice area. We got lots of restaurants and cafes and that was exciting for us who lived in Barnet. When we got the shopping centre around then too, that was a big improvement we all thought."

How has Barnet changed for you? Leave your comments below