A post about anything else but the Prime Minister - Some interesting local stories / useless facts

 No, I'm not going to discuss it. Any sane person would be sick of the whole thing. So I thought I'd share a few interesting local stories / useless facts with you to try and take your mind off the sinking ship. 

1. Did you know that the longest scheduled train journey you can do from Mill Hill Broadway Thameslink station is Mill Hill to Brighton. There's an early morning direct services that run, such as the 04.08, which will rather handily get you to Brighton in time fro an early breakfast at 06.10. It is 63 miles. The longest direct Journey I've done was on a Steam Dreams special train, that went from Mill Hill to Bristol, where I had lunch with my brother. That was 101 miles. As the steam engine had broken down, it was hauled by a diesel locomotive. It got in nearly an hour early, which suited me just fine as it meant I could spend longer with my Brother. The more hardened railway buffs were deeply disappointed, myself and my wife thoroughly enjoyed the champagne breakfast and five course dinner. 

2. The longest direct bus journey you can do from Mill Hill is the 113 to Marble Arch, which is 8 miles. This route may change as the Mayor of London wants to divert it to White City. The longest route used to be the 140 bus, which ran to Heathrow Airport, which was around 18 miles long. 

3. The top of Highwood Hill is the highest point with a London Post Code. There are higher places in greater London, but none have a proper London post code. It is also offically the coldest place in London (although many Fulham FC fans may disagree).

4. The oldest tree in London is "The Totteridge Yew" which is over 1,000 years old. 

5. The Airco Factory in Colindale was the worlds largest aircraft factory in 1918. 

6.  Hadley FC are officially the oldest football club playing in the London Borough of Barnet. They gained promotion from  the Spartan South Midlands Premier Division this season and won the League Cup. 

Congratulations to @hadleyfc who won the @SpartanSMFL Gladwish 🏆 with a 3-1 win over @stotfoldfc tonight. Check out Jack Bradshaw's goal for Stotfold, 🟥 card for Sam Nicholls & 🎶 Soloman Ofori Hadley's goal machine 🎶 2nd goal was 🔥! @HadleyBricks RTs always appreciated. pic.twitter.com/zcrFExYmhF

— @thecoldend (@thecoldend) May 9, 2022

7. The Mitre is the oldest Pub in the Borough of Barnet. It is still a wonderful pub and well worth a visit. It is also fourth on the list of most haunted places in Barnet, although knowing the former Landlord who told the story, we are not entirely convinced that drinks hadn't been taken at the time of the visitation. 

8. Hendon Aerodrome (now the Grahame Park Estate), was the site of the first decent by parachute from a Powered plane. 

9. Five Nobel Laureates worked at the National Institute for Medical Research in Mill Hill, before it's move to St Pancras and demolition. 

10. Mill Hill can boast two Formula 1 Championship winners as alumni. Graham Hill and his son Damon both lived in Parkside (just down the road from the location where Friday night dinner was filmed). There is a blue plaque on the wall. 

Graham Hill riding his bike circa 1969 in Parkside, Mill Hill. He lived at No 32, there's a blue plaque there now. Behind him on the left is The Rise. That's of course 2 F1 champions from this household in Mill Hill 🤟@time_nw pic.twitter.com/zOw29KZXBJ

— Lee Limerick (@Lee_Limerick) December 21, 2021

And finally, did you know that The Barnet Eye is the oldest (founded in 2008), the most popular (with over 3 million official blogger views) and has the biggest team, with over 100 guest bloggers since our inception. Whoever the Prime Minister is, we are here to chronicle our local area.