By Dennis Ayling, August 2025
Ideally, the London Borough of Barnet should function as a beautiful biological bridge between the green belt Hertfordshire countryside and the Inner London boroughs. Is it falling down? No, not quite, but it is becoming increasingly shaky. Although it is a multi-lane bridge, the various lanes are gradually getting disrupted, potentially rendering them ineffectual. If just one span of a bridge lane is undermined, somewhere along its length, then the whole structure is compromised. Take, for example, the Edgware branch of the Northern line, long-recognised as a fortuitous north-south green lane for flora and fauna. Its open, rural-style station platforms, like the one at Burnt Oak, are of little hindrance to the passage of wildlife.