The Hale

The Hale is an area and ward within the London Borough of Barnet. It lies on the borders between Mill Hill and Edgware and centres around the small retail area at the junction of Deans Lane and Hale Lane. This area constitutes Upper Hale, but is much better known locally as the 'Green Man' after the erstwhile pub of the same name that stood at the site from at least the early 18th century. The pub - famous in the 19th century for sports including boxing - was rebuilt as it is today in the 1920s, but was eventually renamed in the late 1980s and is now a Harvester Inn. A smaller area that was traditionally known as Lower Hale centres around the junction of Hale Lane, Farm Road and the nearby bridge over Deans Brook; this area is generally regarded as being within Edgware.. The traditional area known as The Hale extends northwards to the A41 and Apex Corner and the southern end is traditionally marked by the disused Edgware and Highgate railway line just south of West Way and Hale Drive; beyond lies Burnt Oak. Today's Borough ward has larger boundaries. Deans Lane and Selvage Lane mark the postal boundary between Mill Hill and Edgware and hence between the London postal districts and those of Middlesex.

The Hale was a rural area until well into the 20th century, with only the Green Man pub and the Railway Tavern (also still in existence today) on the opposite corner, as well as farms at Upper Hale and Lower Hale. It was, at that time, a popular place for day-trippers from Central London who frequented the two public houses. The area changed quickly with rapid development in the late 1920s and early 1930s, particularly triggered by the arrival of the Northern Line to Edgware station in 1924, and the consequent introduction of omnibus services from that station to The Hale and Mill Hill. The farms at Upper Hale and Lower Hale were sold and developed for residential housing, such as the Hale Estate (including the east side of Selvage Lane, Sunbury Avenue, Sunbury Gardens and Maxwelton Avenue) in the late 1920s. Thus, since the early 1930s The Hale has been a suburban area generally characterised by private detached and semi-detached houses.

The Hale was formerly served by Mill Hill (The Hale) railway station on Bunns Lane from 1906 until it shut in 1939. Its immediate neighbour, Mill Hill Broadway railway station, is the nearest station today, within a short walking distance. The Hale is directly served by London Bus routes 221, 240, 292 and 305 - and routes 113, 186 and 614 serve the A41 at the north end of the district. All of these routes also serve Edgware station on the Northern Line, which remains the other main route to and from the area. At various times 'Mill Hill Green Man ' was a terminal point for buses, most notably the 52 from Victoria, from the early 1930s until the completion of the M1 and the then new bus station at Mill Hill Broadway, to where the 52 was diverted in 1967.

The most notable buildings in The Hale are John Keble church, a Grade II listed modernist-style building completed in 1936 and named after the English churchman, and Maxwelton House - recently discovered during renovations to be one of the oldest buildings in the larger Edgware and Mill Hill area - which is now a school building on Hale Lane. In 1932, the John Grooms Crippleage was established just south of the A41 Edgware Way near Stoneyfields Lane; this was closed in the 1980s and replaced by modern private housing.

Nearby places

• Edgware
• Mill Hill
• Burnt Oak