tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9215006984353817373.post5396420914310678074..comments2024-03-28T21:22:33.736+00:00Comments on 99% is ....... The Barnet Eye: Londons finest bus journey - Mill Hill East to Mill Hill Broadway on the 240Rog Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08139705078907584931noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9215006984353817373.post-85177127561846789402012-05-21T07:37:44.693+01:002012-05-21T07:37:44.693+01:00Bittacy House was indeed where Watchtower House no...Bittacy House was indeed where Watchtower House now stands. The building was already condemned by the time Jehovah's Witnesses bought it and it was demolished but much of the grounds was preserved including a beautiful old cedar tree in front of WT House. <br /><br />In the late 80s/early 90s Jehovah's Witnesses bought the old lens factory over the road, they had to decontaminate the site because of all the chemicals that had been used in the lens grinding process. They built IBSA House on that site. The building was erected (like most office blocks) with an iron framework and concrete slabs ... and yet it appears brick-built to meet planning permission. They laid out a grid on the ground, positioned bricks in the grid, poured concrete over them all to produce brick-faced concrete slabs. Quite an imaginative solution to compromise between planning requirements and design restrictions! <br />It is possible to take a free tour of the factory if you're interested in seeing how they manage to print millions of magazines every month in many languages to supply the whole of Europe as well as much of Africa and various islands. It's a fascinating tour as its unlike any factory you're ever likely to visit just because it's so clean, very efficient, very green, and all achieved by volunteers!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9215006984353817373.post-80538048328745573122010-05-29T08:00:06.944+01:002010-05-29T08:00:06.944+01:00Totally agree that this bus journey is the finest....Totally agree that this bus journey is the finest. Amazing views and ending up at the "Restaurant Capital" of North London. Anyone else love the Chip Dipper at "Half Full" ? and the Tuna Melt at the Mill Hill Park Cafe ? as well as the Chicken Jalfrezi at the Mill Hill Tandoori and the Kung Po Chilli Prawns at the Good Earth......yummy ! and you can always get off the bus at the Hammers and grab a pink drink for charity this week.....Mill Hill - the finest place in London without a doubt and I am totally loving the articles about the place by Roger.Broadway Bloggerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06986667498525446245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9215006984353817373.post-19951032655274521082010-05-28T22:32:06.932+01:002010-05-28T22:32:06.932+01:00Rog, shame on you! Its not Flower Lane as you turn...Rog, shame on you! Its not Flower Lane as you turn right at the bottom of Hammers Hill, its Dawes Lane! BTW didnt Hammers Lane used to be officially called Squires Lane at one point (or is my memory deceiving me?)?carolinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04961806702270266273noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9215006984353817373.post-58317777102351091032010-05-28T20:54:51.150+01:002010-05-28T20:54:51.150+01:00It wasn't Thatcher who said that quote about b...It wasn't Thatcher who said that quote about bus passengers, by the way. She did many terrible things for the image of bus travel but she's not to blame for that one. <br /><br />Love the 240, love The Ridgeway, love it's where me and hubby both went to primary school. But also love Belmont Children's Farm. I totally understand the issues you've raised about the possible planning loopholes but there's a contradiction between you saying Barnet doesn't prioritise things for children versus your criticism of the Farm, which all the kids and grown ups I've been there with love. <br /><br />Anyway, been really enjoying your blog since Dave Hill highlighted it in The Guardian this week, especially your thoughts on Mr Coleman. On him, I couldn't agree with you more!Ess Beehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04507859811459928043noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9215006984353817373.post-9286332449323811592010-05-28T17:59:14.980+01:002010-05-28T17:59:14.980+01:00No, the bunker was off Burtonhole or Partingdale L...No, the bunker was off Burtonhole or Partingdale Lane - always get those mixed up. Bittacy House was a Jacobean builfing, semi derelict by the time the film was made, on the Ridgeway near the Adam and Eve, on the site where the Jehovahs' Witnesses have a place. There are still some trees at the front which must have belonged to the grounds. The film was made in 1947 and is also known as The Night Comes Too Soon: it's brilliant, in a slightly amateur way and has been on Ch 4 late night once or twice, worth seeing if only for the local bits.Mrs Angryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00586223909475832791noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9215006984353817373.post-53661343722544317172010-05-28T17:42:09.568+01:002010-05-28T17:42:09.568+01:00I think Bittacy House is "Seafield House"...I think Bittacy House is "Seafield House" built during the the 1950s as a nuclear bunker and inherited by the MOD. It has been a private home for some years.. Hopefully, somebody will come forward and clarify this.<br /><br />http://www.seafieldhouse.com/Moaneybathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10549578132806472475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9215006984353817373.post-49431814514987412982010-05-28T10:21:18.927+01:002010-05-28T10:21:18.927+01:00I agree, the 240 is a great bus route, and the Rid...I agree, the 240 is a great bus route, and the Ridgeway is packed with locations of historical interest, spoilt only by the lurch of fear in my stomach that occurs as you pass by our old school, St Vincent's - the way I used to feel when the school coach pulled up outside in the morning ... The old house at the centre of the convent is of interest too: rumour has it once belonged to Nell Gwyn, though there is no proof of this. Remember the chapel, with the creepy marble figure of a child in velvet robes in a glass tomb? We used to believe it was a real body, and children were always passing out during mass if they had to sit next to it!<br />As for the old swimming pool, I couldn't have been more delighted when it was sold, bearing in mind the many school visits to the blasted place in what seemed like the middle of winter, and the water so cold your arms and legs would turn blue. After marching back to school, you would then be forced to drink milk which Sister Gabriel had thoughtfully made evevn more disgusting by warming up on the radiators ... eurgh.<br />If you carry on towards Mill Hill East along the Ridgeway, next to the Adam and Eve pub there was once an old place called Bittacy House, I think, which features, along with other local scenes (such as Hendon Library and the Town Hall, for any councillors and their Friends reading this)from the 1940s in a great spooky British b+w film called the Ghost of Rashmon Hall. See what you can find out by dipping your toe in the real world, and getting on a bus with the common people, eh?Mrs Angryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00586223909475832791noreply@blogger.com