Author: Nick Jones

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Re-opening of Prince of Wales public house will help “restore” the heart of East Barnet village after over a year’s closure

After fearing the worst when the Prince of Wales closed its doors in February last year, residents of East Barnet village now have access to a public house and dining area which has been extended and refurbished as a result of multi-million-pound investment.

Kitchen staff joined the rest of a newly recruited workforce of around 60 full-time and part-time employees who were ushered in by general manager Rory McMonagle on the first day of business.

He told them to enjoy the experience of helping to launch the latest pub and restaurant to be opened by the Heartwood Collection which is expanding its chain of licensed premises with dining areas.

Early last year it had seemed touch and go when there were fears as to whether the former owners, Stonegate Group, might sell pub and its site for residential or commercial development.

So concerned were local residents they might lose the last pub in the village that East Barnet councillor Phil Cohen (above) worked with East Barnet Residents Association to raise a petition with over 3,000 signatures calling for it to be saved.

Barnet Council stepped in by registering the Prince of Wales as an asset of community value – a move which gave local councillors and residents time to see if they could find a way of rescuing the pub.

“The community campaign was so important because we think it helped persuade Stonegate that the Prince of Wales should be handed on to another pub group rather than sold for redevelopment,” said Councillor Cohen.

“It demonstrates how community groups and their representatives can have a real influence.

“Luckily Stonegate sold it to Heartwood who specialise in rescuing pubs facing closure and then in redeveloping their dining areas.”

Mark Derry (second from right), chairman of Heartwood, said he made the decision to recommend the purchase of the Prince of Wales because it was at the heart of a real community, and he thought that with the right investment it had great potential.

“We are very much a food-led business, and we are partners with Brasserie Blanc so we are a food-led business with a great tradition of cooking every meal from scratch.”

Mr Derry was joined for the opening ceremony by Councillor Cohen, East Barnet Councillor Edith David and Chipping Barnet MP Dan Tomlinson.

Councillor Tony Vourou, Mayor of Barnet, cut the ribbon to open the pub – aided by the Mayoress, Mrs Caroline Vourou, and general manager Rory McMonagle.

The Prince of Wales has a restaurant with 90 covers plus another 70 to 80 covers in the bar and terrace outside.

Mr McMonagle said he could assure East Barnet village that everything had been done to ensure that local residents would feel at home.

“We have kept the traditional bar area with the same layout as before, so it will be familiar to regular customers.

“Our bar has reasonable prices, in line with the local licensed trade, and our bar menu is affordable.

“We know that the Prince of Wales has always been a great community pub – a place where there have over the years there have been countless family celebrations, birthday parties and wakes.  So, we are here to welcome everyone.

“We have around 40 full-time and part time staff in the front of house and 20 in the kitchen and at least 80 per cent of the staff live in the locality and probably know the area and the community.”

After the official opening there was a ceremonial pulling of the first pint – led by Dan Tomlinson under Mr McMonagle’s guidance.

Councillor Edith David said she was delighted the Prince of Wales had been saved.

“It’s a pub at the heart of the community. It’s where generation after generation have enjoyed a drink and some food whether after a wedding or some other family event, which explains why we were all so anxious to save the Prince of Wales.”

Prince of Wales re-opens after closure for over a year and East Barnet village regains its long lost public house after multi-million refurbishment.

There is now a new sign for the pub which is on a site – close to the junction of Church Hill Road and Cat Hill — where there have been licensed premises since 1876.

The first licensee was William Jackson who built houses in the adjoining Jackson Road.

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Pupils share Hindu and Muslim affirmations of faith at Queen Elizabeth’s Girls’ School commemoration day service at Barnet parish church

Barnet Parish church nave and chancel were filled with the orchestra and choir of Queen Elizabeth’s Girls’ School for the annual commemoration day service.

Under their musical director, Mrs Gabrielle Wong the congregation was treated to an ambitious and well-accomplished programme including performances by the full orchestra, string quartet, piano quintet, chamber trio and a piano solo.

Team vicar Father Samuel Rossiter thanked all the performers and singers who had led the service “so beautifully”.

In his welcome, he congratulated QE Girls’ for the school’s excellence in education, music and community relations, attributes which he said were all the more important in a world which devalued the relationships which held people together.

He had a personal message for the pupils.

“There are girls like you who do not have schoolteachers and education support, girls who are not allowed to go to school, and who don’t have safety and fairness.

“Even here in the United Kingdom and the USA the world does not always feel kind or just.

“When you go out into the world, realise you have privileges, that you will have the power to change things, and that you will have the voice to decide whether countries should have schools for girls.

“So, use your privilege to make the world fairer than my generation is manging to.”

Father Sam said QE Girls’ should be congratulated for its diverse community where there were many beliefs, beliefs which were shared with a shared affirmation of faith during the commemoration service.

Nidhi Singh, a year ten pupil, affirmed her belief as a Hindu in the teachings from the Ramayan, one of Hinduism’s greatest scriptures.

An affirmation of the Muslim faith was given by year-eight pupil Tawakol Abdessalem who explained to the congregation that charity was important and that one of the five pillars of their faith was to give to the poor, needy and other causes.

For the act of commemoration, headteacher Mrs Violet Walker, read from a text first delivered at the school’s commemoration day service in 1923 – a custom which has been followed in recent years.

Mrs Walker’s recognition of the importance of the annual service of commemoration is shared by leaders of the Queen Elizabeth’s Guild, which represents former pupils at the school.

Barnet parish church nave filled with orchestra and choir for annual commemoration day service for Queen Elizabeth's Girls' School

Judy Wilson (far left), who is keen to keep the title guild chairman, and guild secretary Gill Williams (far right), were welcomed by the Mayor Barnet, Councillor Tony Vourou and Mayoress, Mrs Caroline Vourou.

The two former pupils who now lead the guild said they started together on the same day in the autumn term of 1957.

“Back in those days the school had only 600 pupils and we could all be accommodated quite easily in the church,” said Judy.

“We used to parade up the High Street to the church with the Police stopping the traffic.

“We were so pleased when Violet (herself a pupil at QE Girls’) became headteacher and started bringing back the old traditions. They do mean so much today.”

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Tea and cakes at Barnet parish church after climbing the tower – just one of the celebrations for the 80th anniversary of VE Day

There could hardly have been a better way to celebrate the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day than to climb the tower at Barnet parish church, admire the view, and then round off the visit with a glass of Pimm’s or a piece of cake and a cup of tea.

There was a steady stream of parishioners and visitors walking up the spiral stone steps to enjoy a special VE Day celebration at St John the Baptist Church.

Sunny weather in the late afternoon and a light wind ensured almost perfect conditions to look out over London and Hertfordshire with magnificent views of landmarks such as The Shard, Canary Wharf and the Wembley stadium arch.

Keeping busy on the cake stall – see above – were Catherine Liu (left) and Kris Webb with the support of the team vicar, Father Sam Rossiter-Peters.

Whenever the tower is open to the public there is usually no shortage of people ready to climb to the top catching their breath halfway up in the bell ringing chamber.

Resting before the final climb were Bruno Roncarati – see above –who at the age of 90 was determined to take in the view. With him was his son Paolo.

Two guides at the top of the tower – Ian Peacock (left) and Jim Jenkins – were on hand to point out the sights.

Opening the tower to visitors was just one of the VE Day celebrations organised by local churches.

The anniversary was celebrated at the Monken Hadley Church of St Mary the Virgin with an evening concert of music and songs dating back to the 1945 with plenty of wartime numbers.

A ceremonial lighting of the beacon rounded off the evening.

Celebrations for 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day included visits to the top of the tower at Barnet parish church.

Brookside Methodist Church in East Barnet hosted an impressive display of wartime posters by members of the Barnet U3A painting group.

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Around 80 classic and vintage cars to parade though Barnet High Street ahead of annual show on the top floor of The Spires Car Park

A display of Jaguar cars will be the highlight at this year’s Barnet Classic Car Show on Sunday 18 May on the top deck of the car park at The Spires shopping centre. It will also be a special moment for club stalwart, Chris Nightingale.

In previous years, Chris has usually been busy assisting as a steward, but this year’s show will be a chance to exhibit his rare New Era Mini which is already looking spick and pan – see above — in preparation for the day.

A recent edition of the magazine Mini World devoted several pages to the history of the car — one of three versions of an early variant of the mini and the only one of its kind still in existence.

Preceding the show, which opens at 11am, will be the traditional parade of classic and vintage cars along Barnet High Street starting from 10.30am.

The final car in a parade of about 80 vehicles will be a 1930s open top Bentley which will have as passengers the Deputy Mayor of Barnet, councillor Danny Rich, and councillor David Longstaff.

Organiser Chris Frost is expecting about 150 cars to be on display on the top floor of the car park and the Deputy Mayor will open the show.

After giving pride of place last year to a display of Lotus Cars to highlight Barnet’s link to the Lotus founder Colin Chapman, the club is keen to display a range of Jaguar cars, a firm favourite with classic car enthusiasts.

One of the club’s Jaguar owners, Emile, is the proud owner of a Jaguar 420 which he purchased in 1994 as a rolling shell in which he installed an engine and manual gearbox.

He had the car repainted from Balmoral green to BRG green and has made other adjustments to update the car without compromising its integrity.

Display of Jaguar cars to be highlight of Barnet Classic Car Show after 80 cars parade along Barnet High Street.

Chris Nightingale’s entry, his New Era Mini — registration number POP 22 – was one of the early minis.

It was converted by his father Kenneth Nightingale at his garage in Birmingham which specialised in re-tuning cars.

When the mini was launched in 1959, Kenneth developed three prototypes of what he hoped would be a retuned and modified mini.

“My father specialised in tuning and body conversions and with the help of some panel beaters from the Austin factory at Longbridge, he streamlined the body work at the front of the mini and hoped to build up a successful range of mini variants.

“Unfortunately, my father was unable to attract sufficient investment so there were only the three prototypes and POP 22 is the last of the line – and can claim to be the only one of its kind in the world.”

Chris started the show in 2014 with the help of the club’s founder Owen Jones and says that such events are unmissable for classic car enthusiasts.

“For the enthusiast, the chance to look over a classic or vintage car is a moment of nostalgia, jogging the memory and taking us back to happy days.”

As in past years, the show will raise funds for the Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice.

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Garden decoration helps to highlight High Barnet events to commemorate 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day

Celebrations for VE Day marked with impressive garden decoration at High Barnet's historic alms houses

There is no mistaking an imaginative commemoration for the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day on the lawns of the historic Wood Street alms houses of Jesus Hospital Charity in High Barnet.

A large V incorporating the figure 80 has been laid out on one lawn with a massive poppy on an adjoining lawn.

The displays are the work of gardener Robert Fenton.

His floral decorations are widely admired not only by residents of the alms houses but also passers-by in Wood Street who have been treated over the years to a succession of impressive displays for major state occasions.

A royal cypher and crown were marked out on the lawn to celebrate the coronation of King Charles III in June 2023. 

Robert, who is helped by fellow gardener Brian Hewitt, works to scale drawings prepared by his partner Kate Walsh.

“The VE display of the V and the figure 80 is the official design and it has to be done to scale. My partner Kate makes sure they are dead right.”

Robert uses the charity’s 100-year-old hand-pushed cylinder lawn mower to cut the grass extra short so that the display stands out.

“It is hard work, cutting back the grass, and keeping it looking good, but every so often it is great to commemorate the big events, and we know how much these commemorative displays are appreciated by local people.”

In addition to King’s Coronation display, Robert marked out the Olympic rings for the 2012 games in London, did displays for the late Queen and one for Prince Harry and Meghan – an H and M with a heart in between.

Robert has been a gardener at the alms houses for over 20 years and takes care of lawns and gardens in Wood Street, Monken Hardley, Potters Lane, and Grasvenor Avenue.

Barnet Parish Church of St John the Baptist is commemorating VE Day with a tower opening from 5pm to 7pm on Thursday 8 May with a glass of Pimm’s, cakes and tea to follow.

A concert of music and songs dating back to 1945 with plenty of wartime numbers is being held that evening at the Monken Hadley Church of St Mary the Virgin followed by the ceremonial lighting of the beacon at 9.15pm.

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Climate change might be responsible for earliest ever sightings of swifts swooping and squealing over High Barnet

Record hot weather in late April coincided with the earliest reported sightings of swifts who are considered by far High Barnet’s most popular avian visitors each summer.

Veteran swift watcher Angela Morris saw four flying above Kings Road at 11.55am on Monday 28 April – her first April sighting in the forty years she has been recording their arrival in her diary.

“Usually, the swifts get here sometime in the first week of May. My latest ever sighting was May 14 and the earliest May 1, but it was a real surprise to have a late April sighting.”

Members of Barnet Swifts Group have also been reporting the swifts’ arrival.

Peter Lyons saw four circling above Manor Road late in the day on 28 April and other sightings were recorded over the following days – Robin Bishop saw several flying above Fitzjohn Avenue and Susan Skedd said she was awoken by their squealing above Leicester Road, New Barnet.

Even more encouraging for swift enthusiasts was the news that a pair have been seen visiting a nest box on a house in Granville Road which offers an array of nesting places including boxes and spaces under the eaves.

In view of the continuing interest in encouraging the provision of nesting boxes for swifts, David Martens, who founded the Barnet Swifts Group, says that north and east facing aspects are best to avoid the hot summer sun.

Playing recordings of swift calls, particularly early in the morning or an hour before sunset, can boost the chance of attracting swifts to a nesting box.

David, who is a now a member of the Welwyn Hatfield Swift Group, says swift news from around the locality can be seen by following the Facebook link to the Hertfordshire Swift Group.

Angela Morris said her interest in swifts dates to when her family moved to Kings Road in the 1950s and she started noting their arrival in her diary.

“I was so relieved to see them back again this year. I heard their screaming first and then saw them flying down Kings Road.

“Years ago, there were many more arriving each summer and they used to nest under the eaves of the Edwardian houses on the north side of Kings Road. Unfortunately, many of their nesting places have gone when people insulated their lofts and sealed off the eaves.

“Usually, I see them first at around 7.30pm in the evening, so to have a morning sighting on April 28 suggested to me they probably arrived the day before.

“The parent swifts tend to head off back to Africa at the end of July, but the new young birds take a time surveying the local scene, but they are off too by mid- August.”

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Barnet’s promotion to League Two of the Football League is being hailed as a boost to campaign to build new stadium at Underhill

After Barnet secured their return to the Football League with a decisive 4-0 win against Aldershot, supporters of the BringBarnetBack campaign hope it might strengthen the club’s chances of obtaining planning permission for a new stadium at Underhill.

There was a sell-out crowd for the last home match of the season (Saturday 26 April) at the club’s current stadium, The Hive, Harrow.

Their comfortable defeat of Aldershot ensured the Bees’s promotion to League Two of the English Football League.

Post-match celebrations for the team and spectators made the front page of The Non-League Paper (27.4.2025)

A largely unbeaten run had kept Barnet safely at the top of the Vanarama National League for months on end – a lead which extended for a time to nine points.

Barnet’s success – and a place back in League Two after relegation in 2018 – has boosted the efforts of supporters who have put up banners and posters around the town backing the club’s bid to build a new stadium at Underhill.

After seven years out of League football, securing promotion with a game in hand, has added further impetus to calls for Barnet residents and community groups to back the club chairman Tony Kleanthous who has promised to invest £14 million in a new stadium. 

Arrangements are already in hand by BringBarnetBack for a celebration in High Barnet to congratulate the club and manager Dean Brennan for turning around the club’s fortunes.

Barnet have only lost once this year and nine consecutive wins from February to March had already given the club a commanding lead.

Tickets sold out fast for the crucial match against Aldershot with 4,500 home supporters expected at the stadium together with away fans – for full match report see club’s website above https://barnetfc.com/

Two first half penalties by Mark Shelton and then two goals within four minutes in the second half by Callum Lee Stead sealed the match and promotion with a game to spare.

Victory over Aldershot put Barnet on 99 points (followed in second place by York on 93).

Barnet now have the chance in their final match of the season against AFC Fylde on 5.5.2025 to break the 100-point barrier.

After failing to gain promotion in the two previous seasons after being beaten in the play offs, Dean Brennan’s success in steering the team to automatic promotion does raise the club’s profile at a critical point in their future.

Since moving to The Hive in 2013, Barnet have failed to match previous attendances at Underhill.

The average gate in recent months has been around 1,800 and club officials believe a move back to Underhill could increase that to around 3,500 given the strength of local support.

Campaigners for Barnet FC to return to Underhill encouraged by club's promotion to League Two of the Football League

Discussions are continuing with Barnet Council’s planning department over the plan to return the club to “where it belongs” – a constant refrain of BringBarnetBack.

In February, Barnet FC completed another stage in its attempt to gain approval when its application to construct a 7,000-seat stadium on playing fields at off Barnet Lane was validated by Barnet council, a step which enabled the club’s consultants and architects to start discussions with planning officers.

There is no indication yet of how the talks are going and so far, no date has been set for when the application might be considered by the strategic planning committee.      

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Summer events planned at Barnet playing fields at Underhill include a circus and music and community festivals   

Zippos Circus will be at Barnet playing fields for five days in mid-May – one of several attractions to be staged this summer at a much-prized open space where Barnet Football Club has applied to build a new stadium.

Organisers who have previously presented music and community festivals at other nearby sites such as Trent Park and Oak Hill Park, are switching to the playing fields at Underhill because of what they say is excellent access to public transport.

Other events already being advertised at the playing fields for later in the summer are the Eagle Festival of music over the weekend of June 21-22; the Ghana Party in the Park festival and the Mauritius open air festival which will be staged separately on the Saturday and Sunday of July 12 and July 13.

So far there is no indication when Barnet Council will make a decision on the application to build a new football stadium at Underhill.

Opinion is divided with Bring Barnet Back campaigning for the club’s return but with equally strong opposition being voiced by those against the loss of such a large open space which is within the Green Belt and beside the Dollis Valley green walk.

Barnet Playing Fields to host summer events including a circus, music festival and community fairs

The potential appeal of the playing fields as a location for music festivals and large community events might well be one of the considerations that the planners take into account when deciding whether the site should be redeveloped.

Advertisements promoting events at Underhill – previously held at Trent Park and Oak Hill Park – say the playing fields off Barnet Lane are an ideal location with excellent public transport nearby including eight bus routes, High Barnet tube station and New Barnet rail station.  

Zippos Circus is currently touring locations in and around London with its new show Bravo!

It will be at Acton Green from April 30 to May 6 and East Ham from May 9 to May 12 before moving to Barnet Playing Fields for five days – May 15 to 19.

The Eagle Festival (June 21-22, from 12noon to 10pm) is billed as a two-day celebration of “music, community and unforgettable events” with 20 “incredible artists”.

Facilities installed at the playing fields for the weekend of July 12 and 13 are to be shared between the Ghana Party in the Park on the Saturday (12noon to 8pm) and the Mauritius Open Air Festival on the Sunday.

The Ghana Party claims to be the biggest gathering of Ghanaians in the diaspora and attracts support from across the UK and Europe.

The Mauritius Open Air Festival offers the best of “Mauritius culture, music and flavour”.

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Changing face of Barnet town centre with refurbishment of historic premises and creation of flats above High Street shops

Planning applications have been approved for changes to several of the iconic buildings at the historic heart of High Barnet’s conservation area.

Work is to start in late April on a “makeover” at the town’s oldest coaching inn, The Mitre.

Further up the High Street, closer to the town centre, approval has been given to build a flat above the traditional sweet shop, Hopscotch.

Work has already started converting the first and second floors of the former Barnet Press office – now a Costa Coffee shop – into five self-contained flats.

Refurbishment of the Costa Coffee premises has also resulted – at long last — in the clock at the front of the building telling the right time.

Another very noticeable change is at the Mama Fifi restaurant — at the entrance to The Spires shopping centre – which is now resplendent with a full-length spring display of Sicilian lemon blossom.

Hopscotch, a single-storey shop constructed in the 1930s, is like a missing tooth along the High Street but, under a design approved by the council, the gap – as seen above – would be filled by the addition of a one-bedroom home over the sweet shop.

Simon Kaufman Architects say the scheme has been carefully designed to preserve the character of the Wood Street Conservation Area and will provide a high-quality living space above the existing retail unit.

The project embraces a lightweight construction approach with only minimal internal strengthening to provide “a cost-effective and sustainable alternative to rebuilding from scratch” which is in full compliance with heritage and conservation policies.

Michael and Alice Kentish, proprietors of Hopscotch, say they are thrilled that planning approval had been given as they believe providing homes above High Street shops is one way of revitalising town centres.

“There are so many under-developed properties along Barnet High Street and there is so much residential accommodation which could be provided within existing buildings.

“What we need is for the government and Barnet Council to adopt a regime which encourages the use of empty space above shops. It would provide much needed homes and help increase business along the High Street.”

Hopscotch and its rear garden are a designated area of archaeological significance as the previous medieval buildings on the site formed part of the narrow street of shops and inns beside Barnet Parish Church which was known as The Squeeze.

Until its demolition in 1933 – and the construction of the present single-storey shop – 88 High Street was a Dutch-style timber building with a gabled façade and distinctive Oriel windows.

Work has already started on the refurbishment of the upper floors of the Costa Coffee shop which will provide five self-contained flats.

P2M Coffee, which has the High Barnet franchise, says the frontage of the building will be repainted. It promised that the clock, which dates back to the days when it was the home of the Barnet Press, would be repaired as soon as scaffolding was in place to allow access for a clock repairer.

True to their word, the clock was telling the right time within days — although when this picture was taken, the clock face, just visible behind the scaffolding, was still stuck at 12.34 as it had been for several years!

What is described by brewers Greene King as a “makeover” to give The Mitre a “fresh look” will result in the pub being closed from Monday 28 April to Friday 23 May.

Several suggestions made by the Barnet Society regarding the refurbishment were accepted by Greene King and the company’s willingness to engage with local groups was welcomed by Robin Bishop who leads for the society on planning and the environment.

Etched glass bay windows which were going to be removed will now be retained. Although only 20th century, the etched glass is attractive in its own right and illustrates the “fascinating evolution of High Barnet’s oldest inn”.

An investigation to date the timbers in the ceiling and roof has now been conducted by Historic England. If the tests indicate the timbers date from around 1360 — similar to those discovered in the neighbouring building, Elisana Florist — it could be that together with the Mitre, they represent the oldest group of timber-framed buildings in London, predating Westminster Hall.

Enfield and Barnet Campaign for Real Ale has announced that The Mitre has been voted pub of the year for 2025 – and will present the award in May.

Mama Fifi restaurant – which won the 2024 prize for the best High Barnet Christmas window competition – is again attracting plaudits for its latest display.

Mural artist Alessandra Tortone has decorated the side windows in the entrance to The Spires shopping centre with a spring design of Sicilian lemon blossom.

Alessendra is seen with her team after the competition of the mural – from left to right, Alessandra, Roberta Piras, Kateryna Vilkul, and Radhika Ganapathe Ulluru.

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Wide array of attractions and refreshments promised for the return of Arkley village fayre and fun dog show

After the success of last year’s revived Arkley village fayre, the organisers are planning an even more ambitious event for Saturday 31 May at the village field in Brickfield Lane, Arkley.

An all-comers dog show will again be a highlight of what Hearts of Arkley are hoping will be another vivid demonstration of the friendly spirit and engagement within their community.

A host of events are being arranged including face painting, live music, children’s games plus a wide variety of refreshments.

The organisers are adding the final touches to the programme – seen above at the field village, from left to right, the Reverend Cindy Kent, vicar of St Peter’s Church, Arkley, Maureen Stevens, Karin Read, Iris Auburn and her dog Amber, Mel Garfield and Sue Rich.

Arkley Village fayre promises to be bigger and better than last year on Saturday May 31 starting at 12 noon

Last year’s fun dog show, which was run by Rachel Burke of dog groomers Beauty Barks of Borehamwood, has established itself as a firm favourite and once again locally owned rescue dogs might be among those competing for the rosettes.

Mel Garfield said they were determined this year’s fayre would be bigger and better than last May with an amazing array of attractions and hot food.

Raffle prizes will include items donated by Morrisons supermarket in Borehamwood which together with estate agents Statons is sponsoring the fayre.

For more information see www.arkleycommunityevents.co.uk or email info@arkleycommunityevents.co.uk

Proceeds from last year’s fayre are helping support several local initiatives including the construction of a safe, accessible entrance to the garden of rest of St Peter’s and the ongoing cost of maintaining the village defibrillator which is available for use 24/7 in Rockways, a cul-de-sac just off the Barnet to Arkley main road.

Karin Read, a trustee of the Arkley Association, said the fayre was the only summer event organised for the village and its revival last year had been widely appreciated by the local community.

Proceeds from the fayre also help to defray the cost of maintaining the village hall.    

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“Dame on the doorstep!” – Dame Theresa Villiers celebrates honours award out campaigning in Barnet Council by-election

Former Secretary of State Theresa Villiers, who was Conservative MP for Chipping Barnet until she lost her seat in last year’s general election, has been made a Dame Commander in Rishi Sunak’s resignation honours.

Four of her ex-colleagues were promoted to the House of Lords.

Ms Villiers is among a group of former Conservative ministers whose honours, including knighthoods, are in line either with their continuing status as MPs or are perhaps a reflection of the possibility that they might wish to seek re-election to the House of Commons.

The day after her Damehood was announced, she was celebrating her new status when out campaigning for the Conservative candidate in a by-election in Whetstone for a vacancy on Barnet Council.

“Dame on the doorstep” was the heading for a post on her Facebook page which contained numerous congratulations for “a well-deserved honour” and expressed the hope that she might one day return to Westminster as the Chipping Barnet MP.

Her website – www.theresavilliers.co.uk – gives details of the speeches she has made since losing her seat and outlines her wish, as a resident of Arkley, to continue taking an interest in community issues and events within the constituency.

A recent example of her engagement in local affairs was joining a LoveWhetstone litter pick in support of the Keep Britain Tidy Campaign.

In responding to the award – Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire – she made it clear it was an honour she believed she would never have received without the support and hard work on her constituency staff and volunteer helpers.

She was re-elected four times as the Chipping Barnet MP – in 2010, 2015, 2017 and 2019.

Her ministerial appointments included serving for four years as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland under David Cameron and then as Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs under Boris Johnson.

Former Chipping Barnet Conservative MP Theresa Villiers is made a Dame Commander by Rishi Sunak in resignation honours

Dan Tomlinson, who won the Chipping Barnet constituency for Labour in last July’s general election, added his congratulations.

The image above is by High Barnet caricaturist and cartoonist, Simon Ellinas (simonelli@me.com) who was in the audience – and who set to work — when Mr Tomlinson appeared at a question-and-answer session hosted by the Barnet Society.

In applauding Mr Sunak’s announcement that his predecessor was now Dame Theresa Villiers, Mr Tomlinson told the Barnet Post that he wanted to add his congratulations to the recognition she had received for her 19 years’ service as the Chipping Barnet MP.

“No matter our political differences, I’m genuinely heartened to see two decades of commitment to Chipping Barnet and public life recognised in this way.”

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Decision on future operation of Barnet Post Office is likely by the autumn as part of a switch to franchising the business  

Barnet Post Office is to become a franchise operation along with another 107 crown offices across the country where the Post Office is to cease its own management and staffing.

Applications to run these businesses as a franchise are currently being considered. New owners could be in place by the end of September.

So far there has been no announcement about the precise future for a franchise for the crown office branch in High Street, Barnet.

The Post Office says it hopes that a majority of the remaining 108 crown offices will continue in operation at their existing locations, but some buildings could be closed if a franchise operator moves to different premises.

Over the coming weeks the company hopes to supply local communities and stakeholders with more detailed information.

By switching to a franchise model – which is already the case with other local post offices – the company says it will mean that towns like Barnet which “currently have a directly managed branch in their area will continue to be able to access Post Office services.”

Over 4,000 applications – from 500 different bidders — have already been received to take over the 108 crown offices.

Among the groups which have expressed an interest in taking over some of the larger branches are Tesco and the stationery retailer Ryman.

Dan Tomlinson, Labour MP for Chipping Barnet, welcomed the announcement by the Post Office that it would continue to provide services to the local community in High Barnet.

He said he had spoken to the Communication Workers Union – which represents Post Office staff at Barnet – and he understood their concern about the switch to franchise operation.

“I will continue to work with and support union members as we find out more from the Post Office about the exact nature of future plans.”

Mr Tomlinson declared that it was his petition – “Save Barnet Post Office” which attracted over 2,500 signatures – which had ensured “victory” in his campaign to save the High Street branch from closure.

“This is a tremendous victory for our community after months of campaigning with residents.

“The Post Office is vital to High Barnet and serves thousands of residents. “Working with residents across Barnet, we have demonstrated what can be achieved when a community unites behind an essential service.”  

The closure of the remaining 108 crown offices – which together employ around 1,000 staff but are said to be losing £40 million a year — was announced last November when the management indicated it was seeking applications from franchise operators.

There are mixed views locally about the level of service offered in post offices around High Barnet which are already being operated on a franchise basis but in some cases, it is said to be quicker and more friendly than in the past.

Barnet Post Office – which was rebuilt in 1905 – has a distinguished history having been a regular stopping off point for mail coaches heading out of London for Scotland and the north.

In more recent years it has regained importance following the closure of several High Street banks and the development of the Post Office’s banking services.

The current building, which bears the ER motif of King Edward VII, was designed by Jasper Wagner.

Franchise operator to take over Post Office in High Street Barnet. Future likely to be decided by the autumn.

Set in the wall, just above the pavement, between the front door and the letter box, is one of the original boundary stones of the ancient parish of Chipping Barnet – which is pointed out during the annual ceremony to mark the Beating of the Bounds of the parish of Barnet

Until the 1930s Barnet was one of the best-known coaching towns on the outskirts of London.

When the mail coach for Scotland left St Martins-le-Grand one of the first stops on the Great North Road was Barnet post office where it picked up mail

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Barnet High Street about to become a much-admired showcase once again for the historic Battle of Barnet banners  

Recently restored and repaired medieval banners commemorating the 1471 Battle of Barnet will once again decorate the High Street during the summer months after Barnet Museum intervened with financial support.

A contractor will start the two-day process of hanging the banners from lampposts the length of the High Street from the evening of Monday 14 April – the 554th anniversary of the battle.

Each of the 76 heraldic banners illustrates the coats of arms of royalty and noblemen whose troops fought in the battle just to the north of Barnet on what is Greater London’s historic battlefield.

The return of the banners is a timely reminder of the annual Barnet Medieval Festival which is being held over the weekend of Saturday and Sunday June 7 and 8 at a new location on farmland off Galley Lane.

A 12-acre field will offer more space for Wars of the Roses re-enactments and camp sites for the opposing Yorkist and Lancastrian armies.

Organisers hope it will be the largest celebration in the town since the start of the recent events to commemorate the battle as more military re-enactors are expected to attend than ever before.

This summer’s re-appearance of the banners along the High Street had been touch and go because Barnet Council’s street lighting contractor told the museum that it was no longer able to afford the installation cost.

After the council found an alternative contractor who offered to do the work at a much-reduced rate, the museum agreed to fund the work from its reserves on a one-off basis.

Barnet High Street about to become resplendent once again with display of historic banners from 1471 Battle of Barnet

Museum trustee Scott Harrison – seen above in the museum’s shop in The Spires shopping centre – said there had been great uncertainty as to whether it would be possible to hang the banners in the High Street for what will be their sixth year on display.

“We have been so fortunate in the past in having the annual installation cost met by the council’s lighting contractors, but we were told earlier this year that the company had decided this was no longer a sustainable expense.

“Barnet Council found another contractor who would hang the banners at a much-reduced cost, but the museum is having to fund the bill of several thousand pounds.

“We have agreed to pay up this year, but we will have to find a sustainable source of funding. Perhaps we can arrange an appeal each year or find sponsors who will meet the cost.

“We do hope the people of Barnet value the banners so much that they will help to contribute towards the expense involved in hanging them along the High Street.”

As well as the 76 banners that will decorate the High Street, others from the collection of 107 banners will be on display in The Spires and at the museum.

A team of volunteers led by the museum’s deputy curator Hillary Harrison spent the winter repairing and repainting the banners. Those on display in the High Street are also reglazed each year to given them an extra coat of protection.

Each banner with its emblems or coat of arms belonged to an individual who took part in the battle and the challenge for the museum’s historians has been to bring to life each member of the royalty, nobility and gentry whose troops fought at Banet.

Sometimes symbols were used to represent people’s names or occupations and indicate their wealth and status.

The research conducted at Barnet – and so vividly displayed each summer in the High Street – has attracted considerable interested.

The latest group to visit Barnet for a walk along the High Street to identify – and admire the banners – are members of the Anglia Heraldry Trefoil Guild who are planning a visit in July.

Barnet Museum’s celebration and commemoration of the Battle of Barnet is not without cost. Currently the museum is applying to the National Heritage Lottery Fund for a £50,000 grant towards the cost of installing a new heating system and repairing leaky windows.

Because of the museum’s inability to maintain the correct humidity an exhibit on loan from the British Museum – displaying the Earl of Warwick’s seal and arrows from the Battle of Barnet – has had to be returned until the heating system has been fixed.     

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Warm welcome on offer for new members at lawn bowls club at Victoria Recreation Ground in New Barnet

After being unable to play at home last year because crows had dug holes in their green, the East Barnet Valley Bowls Club is holding open days at weekends during the coming months in a bid to boost their membership.

Lawn bowls has been transformed in recent years as a family sport and the club’s green at the Victoria Recreation Ground is considered to be one of the hidden sporting gems of New Barnet.

New and experienced players are welcome. Coaching will be provided. The open days start the weekend of Saturday and Sunday 12-13 April (from 2-4pm) and continue into May and June.

After the club’s green was damaged repeatedly in the summer of 2023 by crows looking for larvae (leather jackets) of crane flies (daddy longlegs), the lawn had to be reseeded last year, and after considerable care and attention is now ready for play to resume.

Geoffrey Partridge (above, right), captain and treasurer, has been applying top dressing to help restore the grass to tip top condition after the disaster that befell the club in the summer of 2023.

“The green was inundated with crows which were digging holes in the grass with their beaks as they hunted for the crane fly grubs.

“For some reason, the crane flies like to lay their eggs in short grass and bowling greens are often a target.

“The damage was so bad we had to take the top off the lawn and then we reseeded it last year and hopefully the crows won’t come back.”

With the lawn restored ready for playing again, the club is anxious to build up its membership and hopefully by next year have enough members to enter teams in contests run by the Finchley and North London Bowling Association.

Club secretary Dave Mulford (above, far left) said East Barnet was a family-friendly club and offered an active sport for all ages.

In addition to the open days being held over coming weekends – see full list of dates below – the club can arrange other times by arrangement and is open for practice sessions throughout the season.

“We were only able to play away matches last year but now our lawn is back in use we are making a real effort to rebuild the membership – we have already delivered over 700 leaflets to surrounding houses.

“We have 13 playing members at present but we would like at least 20 so that we would have enough to field teams again in the local competitions.”

East Barnet’s clubhouse offers a warm welcome. Richard Aspden (above, left) who joined two years ago, is keen to encourage other parents with young children to become members.

“Hopefully we might have a family open day later in the summer. We are a very friendly group, and we do hope to do more on the social side.”

Colin Harris (above, right) who has been a member of the club for 56 years, can testify to the appeal of watching and playing lawn bowls.

“As a five-year-old my mother used to bring me along to watch bowls being played at the club. 

“I was fascinated watching the bowls – or woods as they were known then – rolling across the green grass.

“I joined the club myself when I was 17 – and here I am at 73 enjoying bowls just as did all those years ago.”

Colin, who was in the East Barnet team which won the local Prentice Cup in 2005, is seen with the club’s oldest member, Don Knight (left), who will be 90 in June.

Don was county president of the Hertfordshire Bowls Association in 1999 and in 2013 was awarded the Medal of Merit for services to bowls by Bowls England.

Another photograph on the wall includes former President Eric Partridge (father of current club captain Geoffrey Partridge) who was in the East Barnet team which won the Prentice Cup in the 1974.

The first home match to be played at East Barnet since 2023 will be in May against Metropolitan Bushey.

The East Barnet Valley club was founded members of East Barnet Urban Council in 1927 – a year after Barnet Council laid out its bowling green in the Old Courthouse Recreation Ground.

Unlike some clubs which are in prominent positions – such as Barnet Bowls Club just off Wood Street — East Barnet is tucked away in a corner of the Victoria Recreation Ground at the rear of the New Barnet Leisure Centre.

It is a six-rink green and was laid out in 1927 with Cumberland turf which was thought to be the best playing surface for flat green bowling.

The club hopes their programme of open days will help put them on the map:

Saturday Sunday 12-13 April, 2-4pm

Easter Monday 21 April 2-4pm

Saturday 26 April – 10am-12noon

Saturday 3 May – 10am-12noon

Tuesday 3 June – 5-8pm

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Inspiration award for years of support and assistance at Dollis Valley in sustaining foodbank and holiday lunch club for school children

A decade long association as a volunteer at the Rainbow Centre, the community hub for the Dollis Valley estate, has been rewarded with a Barnet Council “Inspiration All” award for Patricia Gay in recognition of her dedication and support.

Trish – as she is known to one and all – hopes her award will help publicise the campaign to end the continuing uncertainty over finding a permanent home for what is considered to be a vital resource for residents of the estate.

A weekly food bank and lunch club for children in the school holidays are just some of the many activities which could be threatened unless Barnet Council can find new premises.

Under existing redevelopment plans, the Rainbow Centre’s lease expires in May and the building is due to be demolished for the next phase of the housing regeneration scheme for the Dollis Valley estate.

“Unfortunately, we have been fobbed off time and again,” said Trish, who is a director of the Rainbow Centre’s users’ group.

“The council have assured us that they are actively searching for new premises for us but volunteers who give so much of their time to running a foodbank and children’s lunch club should not have to face uncertainty like this.”

She has arranged for Councillor Barry Rawlings, the Labour leader of the council to visit the centre, and she hopes the centre can finally get some clarity over what might happen.

“Ideally, we would like to stay where we are. We cannot understand why the building cannot be properly renovated or even rebuilt.”

Inspiration award from Barnet Council for dedicated volunteer at Rainbow Centre community hub for Dollis Valley estate

To the great disappointment of Trish – and Steve Verrall, director of the charity Barnet Community Projects – the council has withdrawn an earlier proposal to re-house the Rainbow Centre in a former cricket pavilion in Barnet Lane, Underhill.

This was first suggested four years ago.

There we high hopes as late as 2023 that the move would go ahead, but the council has informed the centre that this option would be too costly in view of the work needed to refurbish the pavilion, which has been vacant since construction of the Ark Pioneer Academy School on the site of the former Barnet Football Club stadium.

Trish said the volunteers at the centre – and other users such as a regular martial arts class – find the lack of any clear answer to the future extremely disconcerting.

“Let’s hope my Inspiration All award – which recognises the hard work of women and girls in supporting the community – will alert the rest of the council to our plight.”

Trish – who grew up on the Dollis Valley estate and who became a head girl at Ravenscroft School – started volunteering at the Rainbow Centre after she retired from her work as a secretary in the City of London.

“To begin with I helped at “Make Lunch” – our lunches in the school holidays for children who are on the free school meals register. In those days we were feeding anything from 50 to 60 children a day.”

Assisting with the weekly foodbank was another commitment. Donated food and other supplies are sorted and bagged up each Wednesday and then distributed each Thursday, helping up to 70 families a week.

Another project Trish helped with was a beauty course for young girls teaching them skills such as training to become nail technicians.

 Since becoming a director of the centre five years ago, Trish has helped resolve a range of troubling issues.

“There was a lot of anti-social behaviour around the centre. I contacted the Police and got that sorted. Fly tipping was another problem that had to be dealt with.”

Regular customers at the Sebright Arms in Sebright Road will be familiar with Trish’s regular fund-raising events.

Organising practical assistance is just as important. A Christmas Giving Tree at the Sebright encourages customers to buy and wrap up Christmas presents for the children of needy families on the estate.

Her latest pitch is to raise money for a computer for a Dollis Valley schoolboy who is about to take his A level exams in the hope of getting a place at Cambridge University to study engineering.

Trish was presented with her award by the Mayor of Barnet, Councillor Tony Vorou, at a ceremony in March.

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Reliving the argument when Finchley and Hendon lost out to the three Barnets in deciding the name of the London Borough of Barnet

Information boards celebrating the 60th anniversary of the creation of the London Borough of Barnet are on display at Barnet Museum’s shop in The Spires shopping centre and at the Chipping Barnet Library.

Councillor Paul Edwards (above, far right), who opened the Barnet Museum display, recalled what it must have been like at the height of the disagreement about choosing a name for the new borough – especially when there was a real push at the time for Barnet to remain within Hertfordshire rather than become part of Greater London.

He believed that the Conservative minister at the time, Sir Keith Joseph, made the right decision in 1964 when the three Barnet urban district councils – Barnet, East Barnet and Friern Barnet – were amalgamated with Finchley and Hendon to establish what has become the London borough with the second largest population.

“When I used to work at Barnet Council there were still councillors who thought the Barnets should have stayed within Hertfordshire.

“I think it was the right decision to group them together within the Greater London Authority area.

“Keith Joseph made it happen. We can see now why the integration of the boroughs is crucial for the transport system and for the boroughs working together.”

Councillor Edwards was welcomed by museum curator Mike Noronha (above, left) and deputy curator, Hilary Harrison, who organised the collection and assembly of information for the display boards.

Such was the depth of the disagreement about what to call the newly created borough that a wide array of alternative names was put out for consultation – some of them made up from the local place names.

Instead of it being the London Borough of Barnet, it might have been the London Borough of Finchendon, Barnfindon, Northsex, North Ridge, Northern Heights, Dollis Valley or Grimsdyke, to name but a few.

In the end, when the five district councils failed to agree on a name, Sir Keith had to step in.

Both Finchley and Hendon were insisting they should be the borough’s designated name, but the minister opted for Barnet, despite the combined population of the outer districts failing to exceed either Hendon or Finchley.

In welcoming Councillor Edwards, Mike Noronha explained why there was every justification for naming the borough after Barnet.

The town was granted a charter in 1199 to become a market town; in 1471 it was the scene of the Battle of Barnet; in 1588 it gained a charter for Barnet Fair; between the 1820s and 1940s Barnet became an important transport hub for London with the opening of a rail station at New Barnet and then High Barnet; trams and then trolley buses ascending Barnet Hill; the tube station opening in 1940; and became a football town when Barnet won the FA Cup in 1946.

A Royal Commission in 1921 was the first to recommend the amalgamation of the outer districts around London but no action was taken because of World War II and a second Royal Commission established in 1957 by Harold Macmillan made fresh proposals for amalgamation.

In 1963, Sir Keith began the process of choosing a new name for what became the London Borough of Barnet.

After he rejected all the various alternatives – and the claims of Finchley and Hendon – the Queen approved the name Borough of Barnet in January 1964.

The first elections for the new authority were held in May 1964 and they met for the first time on 1 April 1965 – a total of 56 six councillors and nine aldermen.

London Borough of Barnet celebrates 60th anniversary of its foundation with displays featuring controversy about choosing the name

The museum’s display boards for the 60th anniversary feature photographs of the various former town halls – in Union Street and Wood Street, Barnet; and for East Barnet and Friern Barnet.

Among the newspaper cuttings is a feature based on Hertfordshire County Council’s plans to rejuvenate Barnet if the town had stayed within the county: one project was the construction of a town centre by-pass across St George’s Fields from the ponds on Hadley Green direct to Meadway.

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 Emerging from behind hoardings on the Great North Road will be new premises for what is said to be Barnet’s oldest cafe

Barnet’s popular roadside cafe, The Hole in the Wall, will have a prominent position on the Great North Road (A1000) if Barnet Council approves plans for redevelopment of the Meadow Works industrial estate at Pricklers Hill.

Instead of being hidden behind a line of hoardings, the cafe would be at the road frontage a new self-storage depot which will replace a group of workshops and other industrial and commercial premises.

An application by Compound Real Estate to regenerate the Meadow Works site with what it says will be a state-of-the-art self-storage facility, co-working spaces, and new premises for the Hole in the Wall Cafe, is now open for comment on the council’s planning website.

Support for the project has been indicated by the Barnet Society.

Robin Bishop, lead on planning and the environment, described the contemporary style of the new structure as “refreshingly restrained” for a self-storage facility, which was “nicely landscaped” along the A1000.

Although the original Meadow Works, midway between High Barnet and Whetstone – which started life as the Meadow Hand Laundry – was of historical interest, the society welcomed the improvement the project would deliver to the Pricklers Hill neighbourhood.

In seeking planning approval, Compound Real Estate say the replacement of a cluster of ageing and dilapidated light industrial buildings with a new self-storage facility and flexible co-working spaces will support local small businesses and entrepreneurs.

It calculates that the scheme will support the creation of up to 140 local jobs and deliver an annual financial uplift of £2.4 million to the local economy.

Compound say their scheme reflects the interests of surrounding residents and businesses by “replacing low-quality, temporary structures with a high-quality permanent development that addresses ground contamination, improves safety and enhances the environment.”

One immediate improvement for nearby residents will be the closure of the Dale Close access to Meadow Works, removing commercial service vehicles, to create a residential cul-de-sac.

Residents and interested parties can comment on the application until late April via the council’s planning portal (planning reference 25/1262/FUL) or by emailing planning.consultation@barnet.gov.uk

Planning application for new self-storage facility on Great North Road now open for comments on Barnet Council website

Kevin Callaghan, owner of the Hole in the Wall – established in 1935 as a popular stop off for traffic heading out of London — says he is delighted that the cafe will have a new permanent home.

“This is a real vote of confidence in small, local businesses. The site needs to be regenerated, and it is great that Meadow Works will be given a new lease of life.”

The switch to a self-storage depot was welcomed by the former owners of Meadow Works, James and Duncan Morris.

“We are pleased that the site will continue its industrial heritage and continue to support small and medium enterprises within Barnet.”

Jo Winter, development manager at Compound which specialises in developing and operating self-storage facilities integrated with co-working light industrial, said the company was committed to working with the local community and Barnet Council.

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Barnet parish church hosts launch of historical novel by painter and art lecturer with a lifetime’s interest in paintings by Caravaggio

A lifetime’s fascination with the work of the prominent early Baroque painter Caravaggio has led to an unexpected twist in the career of High Barnet painter and art lecturer Keith West.

Because of his frustration at the failure of art historians to provide answers to unresolved questions about Caravaggio’s troubled life, West has written an historical novel – Caravaggio’s Boy – in which he explores the meteoric rise and fall from grace of the greatest Italian painter of his generation.

West is well known locally for his own religious paintings which over the years have been displayed at Barnet Parish Church, St Alban’s Cathedral, St Martin-in-the Fields, St Margaret’s Church, Westminster, and other settings and galleries.

His oil painting depicting the 1471 Battle of Barnet was unveiled at the Barnet Museum shop in 2019 during the 30th anniversary celebrations for The Spires shopping centre.

Holding the High Barnet launch of Caravaggio’s Boy at the parish church was an added honour because West’s painting Majestas Domini (Christ in Glory) is about to rehung in the parish church’s Ravenscroft side chapel which will also display his next painting, a newly commissioned Madonna and Child.

West (77), a long-time High Barnet resident, was formerly a lecturer and head of arts at the Camden Institute.

He came up with the idea of writing an historical novel about Caravaggio during the Covid lockdown, after his retirement from teaching.

“Since a teenager, I have always been fascinated with work of Michelangelo Merial de Caravaggio and his model Cecco de Caravaggio.

“I had acquired so much material during my research and preparation for lectures, that I realised I should have a go myself at answering some of the unresolved questions about his life.

“In the many books about Caravaggio, art historians offer their individual take on the who, when, where and what about Caravaggio, but they don’t answer the why, and they fail to explain why he became such a violent, touchy and provocative man.

“I realised I should not try to write another biography but attempt to fill in some of the gaps in Caravaggio’s life story and the background to the incidents that sent him into exile.

“By choosing the form of a novel I had the opportunity to speculate about the background to his paintings and the role of his favourite model, Francesco Boneri, who was known as Cecco.”

In recommending the book, the Very Reverend Jeffrey John, formerly Dean of St Alban’s Cathedral, said West had “imaginatively and convincingly” filled in some of the gaps in knowledge of Caravaggio’s life and that of Francesco, his model, student and lover.

“It is a rollicking story which vividly brings to life the violent contrasts of their time: the opulence and squalor, piety and corruption, sophistication and degradation of 16th and early 17th century Italy.

“Against this backdrop West’s expertise in art and art history gives fascinating insights into the genesis and genius of Caravaggio’s paintings.”

West’s painting Majestas Domini — which is waiting to be rehung in the Ravenscroft chapel at the parish church – is his reconfiguration of the famous Graham Sutherland tapestry, Christ in Glory, which is on display at Coventry Cathedral.

His commission for the painting came from the Rector of St Margaret’s Church, Westminster, where it was on show as part of the Festival of Christ the King in 2012. Later it was displayed at St Alban’s Cathedral and then gifted to Barnet parish church.

An earlier series of eight paintings by West, The Story of the Passion, was first shown at St Alban’s Cathedral in 2008, then St James’s Church, Picadilly and St Margaret’s, Westminster.

He is now working on a new small oil painting of Madonna and Child which has been commissioned for St John’s by the team vicar Father Sam Rossiter-Peters, and which will be hung in the Ravenscroft chapel together with his other painting, Majestas Domini (Christ in Glory).

“Father Sam wants the Madonna and Child to be culturally correct. I have just done the drawing. The baby’s arms are up which would be an anticipation of the crucifixion, and which would marry my Christ in Glory painting.”

West’s lifetime fascination with religious paintings began at the age of 16 on a school trip to the National Gallery when he first saw Caravaggio’s The Supper at Emmaus and realised it was different from every other painting in the gallery.

“When I became an art student, I went all over Italy to see every Caravaggio I could find, as well as to Dublin and New York. I think I have seen everyone.

“There are quite a few gaps in Caravaggio’s life story with all the tensions his immense talents and unique vision caused him throughout his career.

“From envious competitors who resented his popularity and cardinals who recognised his genius but objected to casting the poor as saints and a prostitute as the Virgin Mary.

“Art historians can’t speculate about these gaps and incidents, but a novelist can.”

Cecco, Caravaggio’s model, was the only companion of his Roman years to accompany the master into exile after the duel in which Caravaggio’s opponent, Ranuccio Tomassoni was killed.

It was after he was abandoned in Naples when Caravaggio left for Malta, that Cecco appears to have begun painting commissions.

West’s novel brings Cecco to life in an imagined career pulled together from scraps of information and a catalogue of paintings which indicated he was a talented painter.

Historical novel about famous Italian painter Caravaggio written by High Barnet artist and painter is launched at Barnet parish church

Caravaggio’s Boy, published by Vanguard Press, £14.99, available from Waterstones and Amazon

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Desperate search for new town centre premises for High Barnet’s free book shop which distributes unwanted books

Yet another smiling recipient…but the days are numbered at High Barnet’s free book shop which is desperately looking for new premises as it is under notice to leave The Spires shopping centre.

Unless another vacant shop or a community space can be found by Saturday 12 April the Global Education Trust will have to close its doors much to the disappointment of the 20 or so volunteers who hand out anything up to 100 free books a day.

Dean Masters (above) was delighted to find a free copy of a book by golfing legend Jack Nicklaus – a reminder of his younger days when he regularly played golf himself.

Book shop manager Jackie O’Brien (right) – seen with volunteer Emma Newby – says that she and her team of assistants are keeping their fingers crossed in the hope that the trust can find alternative premises somewhere in High Barnet town centre.

“We exist on donations and are run entirely by volunteers, so we can’t afford to pay rent.

“We rely entirely on the generosity of landlords to let us use an empty shop or vacant premises where we can display our books.

“We have been so lucky to have had nearly a year at The Spires and the success of what we have achieved speaks for itself.”

At anyone time the trust is operating around 20 free books around the country and they all distribute unwanted books which would otherwise have been pulped or gone to landfill.

Urgent hunt for new empty premises in town centre for Chipping Barnet's popular free book shop

Ms O’Brien said that on most days the shop in The Spires has been giving away anything from 50 to 100 books, all of which have been donated to the trust.

Usually, the shop attracts at least 50 customers a day, but it can be double that at weekends and school holidays.

When it opened in May last year the trust stocked the shop with books from its central warehouse, but the organisers predicted the shop would soon become self-supporting because of fresh donations of books from within the community.

“What is so rewarding about volunteering at the shop is to see how much we are appreciated by local children who can hardly believe that they can take away free up to three books.

“Some of the children are really excited about coming to the shop. Perhaps they are on the hunt for a Roald Dahl or Jacqueline Wilson book

“It is then that we realise what it means to them, because some youngsters come back and donate to us all the books they have grown out of.

“Because all of the stock is donated lots of it is pretty dated or out of print and when older customers come in, they can’t believe their good fortune in finding a book they have always wanted.”

The free book shop is under notice to quit because the unit it is using – formerly a Costa coffee shop – is to be re-opened as a Greek cafe.

Fresh donations of books are no longer being accepted and unless another vacant shop or perhaps unused community space can be found, the shop will close on 12 April allowing a week to shift the stock to the Global Education Trust’s warehouse before vacating the premises on 19 April.

“Unfortunately, we have been told by The Spires that they have no space for us and our only hope is that a landlord might come forward and offer us another temporary home.

“We have asked the Chipping Barnet Town Team to help us relocate so perhaps we might be lucky,” said Ms O’Brien.  

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Mayor of Barnet pays tribute to the “amazing achievement” of the founders of a welcoming home for overseas students  

A small village community of flats and bungalows established by two Holocaust survivors has provided a home over the decades for hundreds of students from all over the world – an achievement celebrated with a visit by the Mayor of Barnet, Councillor Tony Vourou.

Barnet Overseas Students Housing Association, which is based at Nansen Village in Woodside Park, will be celebrating its 55th anniversary next year, to the great delight and satisfaction of the surviving co-founder Charlotte Weinberg.

Charlotte, who is 94, and her late husband Kurt — who was rescued by the Kindertransport – began a life-time mission to welcome and help provide accommodation for foreign students staying in London, first by hosting students in their home and then by building the village in Woodside Avenue. 

Their dream was to create a community where overseas students arriving in London could live together while completing their university studies – a vision which Councillor Vourou said had become the couple’s lasting achievement.

Councillor Zahra Beg, chair of the Nansen Village trustees (above, left) joined the mayor and Charlotte, who is 94.

Councillor Beg is a ward councillor in Underhill and Barnet’s cabinet member for equalities and the voluntary and community sector.

She said that once Kurt and Charlotte began looking after students from around the world, they marvelled at the sense of togetherness generated by young people from different religions and cultures sharing their lives.

“We know there are generation after generation of students who tell us they won’t ever forget their time living here at Nansen village – a legacy from the dream of Kurt and Charlotte that is continually being taken forward.

“As trustees we have tried to ensure that the focus of the founders stays true and that a community from diverse backgrounds can come together and share that experience.”

Brian Trainor (above, far left), chief executive of the housing association, took the mayor on a guided tour of the village which was established on what was once the site of two Victorian houses and which is named after Fridtjof Nansen, the explorer, humanitarian and Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

With the help of a grant from the British Council, two blocks of flats and some bungalows in the gardens were constructed in the late 1960s and in 1971 the first tenants moved into the first 66 homes to be completed.

Currently there are 130 students in residence, 35 of whom have families with children. Since its opening, 380 children have been born to parents at the village.

The majority of students are currently from South America and the Middle and Far East.

The housing association is organised on a non-profit basis and rents are kept as low as possible to accommodate students on low incomes, with or without children (under the age of eight).

Laila Kasuri, who is in the second year of a PhD at Imperial College, expressed thanks on behalf of the students residing in the village and congratulated Charlotte and Kurt on what they had been achieved.

She and her husband — and their two children aged five and two – were originally from Pakistan and had moved to London from Canada so that she could complete her studies in water governance.

“I am so grateful as a young parent for all the support I get at Nansen Village. The community here is very special.

“Last year we had a visitor at our bungalow from California. He said he was two when he lived in the very same house.

“He was the child of a PhD student then living at Nansen and said his childhood in the village was the best five years of his life. 

“Apparently, he was always in the playground and the sandpit. My children are often out there too. All the children know one another socially and together we all have such a rich social life.”

Mayor of Barnet joins celebration of work of community village for overseas students at Woodside Park

After being congratulated by the mayor for all she had done to encourage students from different cultures and religions to live together, Charlotte said she did feel proud of what she and Kurt had achieved given all the troubles in the today’s world.

“I often wonder what so many of the students who have lived here are doing now.

“Our aim is to give them a sense of security, especially when facing life in a big city and we hope they have taken the name of Nansen Village around the world.

“People who survived the Holocaust don’t forget the support that we were given, and that ethos became our driving force.”

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Vandalised ULEZ camera pole left littering grass verge at Arkley – a reminder of the campaign of sabotage around High Barnet

Arkley’s much admired volunteer litter picker is having to admit defeat when confronted with an abandoned ULEZ camera pole which was left lying on the grass verge after being cut down during a wave of sabotage.

Because of High Barnet’s position as an entry point to the ULEZ zone, roads in and around the town were regularly targeted by vandals protesting at Transport for London’s £12.50 charge on vehicles failing to meet the new ultra-low emission standards.

After two poles were felled in Rowley Lane, Arkley, close to the junction with the A1 fly over, TfL finally gave up in August 2023 – but the last pole to be erected, minus its camera, was left on the verge, and was partly submerged in last summer’s undergrowth.

Lying there forlornly, the abandoned pole is an eyesore – and TfL’s failure to take it away does hamper the work of Peter Lassman who does all he can to keep Rowley Lane free of rubbish.

Peter, who lives in Rowley Lane, has been a volunteer litter picker for the last ten years and takes great pride in keeping one of the main approaches to Arkley as free of rubbish as possible.

“As one of the older residents I’m very happy to do my bit trying to keep Arkley clean and tidy. I do my best to collect litter all along Rowley Lane right up to Barnet Road.

“Most of the rubbish is discarded cans and bottles together with a lot of plastic waste. The verges look so much better after a clean-up, especially now that spring is coming, but there’s not much I can do about the camera pole.”

Mr Lassman’s dedication is a reflection of the community spirit within Arkley which prides itself on its village identity – a point which is reinforced with the Arkley village signs on the main approach roads.

Volunteer litter picker at Arkley finds unexpected item -- an abandoned ULEZ camera pole lying on a grass verge

After giving up on its attempt to install a ULEZ camera at the A1 fly over end of Rowley Lane, TfL erected a substitute at the junction of Rowley Lane and Rowley Green Road which has remained standing for the last nine months.

At the height of the anti-ULEZ protest, camera poles were cut down with angle grinders last year at the junction of St Albans Road and Stapylton Road and on Hadley Green at the junction of Drury Road and Sydney Chapman Way.

There were numerous cases of vandalism to the cameras in the summer and autumn of 2023.

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Main through route from High Barnet to Arkley closed to traffic as Thames Water repair collapsed sewer

Motorists and bus passengers are facing severe disruption for the rest of March because of the closure for sewer repairs of Barnet Road, Arkley – the main road from High Barnet towards Arkley and Borehamwood.

A collapsed sewer between the junctions with Rowley Lane and Barnet Gate Lane means that this section of Barnet Road will be closed until at least Friday 28 March.

The closure has prompted widespread complaints because of the absence of clear directions for alternative routes and the withdrawal of bus services along Barnet Road.

Through traffic is having to make a lengthy diversion either via Quinta Drive, Mays Lane and Barnet Gate Lane or via Rowley Lane and the A1 Barnet bypass.

Three bus routes are also on diversion – the 107 (New Barnet-Edgware), the 384 (Cockfosters-Edgware) and 614 Uno (Hatfield-Queensbury).

Diversions needed as main road from High Barnet to Arkley closed to through traffic for sewer repairs

Residents living in the vicinity say there was a lack of advance notice and consultation, and they are worried about the inability of large vehicles such as fire appliances to enter side roads such as Rockways.

Bus passengers have been facing confusion, due the lack of clear advice on diversionary routes and alternative bus stops.

The well-used 107 service has been diverted in both directions via the St Albans Road and the A1 Barnet bypass.

Motorists have deplored the absence of clearly signposted alternative routes. Lorries and large vehicles are having to make larger detours as some of the roads on nearby alternative routes – such as Rowley Lane and Mays Lane – have width restrictions and barriers.

Contractors working for Thames Water have put up a sign at the junction with Wood Street and Well Lane warning of the closure ahead along Barnet Road until March 28 but there are no clearly signposted alternative routes.

Residents say their calls to Barnet Council, Transport for London and Thames Water have largely resulted in buck passing with no-one taking responsibility, although Thames Water have now said their traffic management team has been alerted.

There has been considerable congestion at rush hour with traffic jams caused by reversing cars and lorries.

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Barnet Football Club’s supporters hoping their team’s top-of-the table position in the National League bodes well for a return to Underhill

Leaflets promoting Bring Barnet Back are being distributed across the town as the campaign hots up to persuade Barnet Council to approve plans for a new football stadium at Underhill.

If playing form is any guide, the club might be hoping for a warm welcome: Barnet is currently top of the National League and well placed for promotion to League Two of the English Football League.

Barnet haven’t been beaten in their last 21 National League fixtures. The Bees have now established an nine-point lead at the top of the table after their stunning mid-week 5-0 defeat of Yeovil Town at The Hive (4.3.2025).

However promising their performances on the pitch, the chances of Barnet playing again at Underhill are finely balanced.

The outcome depends on whether Barnet Council can be persuaded that there is a special case for a new stadium to be built within the Green Belt on playing fields at Underhill, close to the site of the original stadium which was demolished to make way for the Ark Pioneer Academy.

Opponents to the project, who are against the loss of Green Belt land and who fear traffic congestion generated by a new stadium, are rallying support around a petition which has attracted over 18,800 signatures.  

A strong case is being made for the new site on the grounds that careful landscaping would reduce the visual impact of the stadium, and that the environment and biodiversity would be greatly improved with extensive tree planting and the creation of a pond between the stadium and the Dollis Valley green walk.

Supporters hope Barnet Football Club's top of the table position boosts chances of return to Underhill

Seen above with an artist’s impression of the site are Sean McGrath (left) of consultants WSP and architect Manuel Nogueira of AndArchitects

Much of the emphasis in the club’s campaign to play again at Underhill is based on the economic impact.

Club chairman Tony Kleanthous has promised to finance the building of the new stadium, at a cost of around £14 million, and the estimate is that it should sustain the equivalent of 78 full-time jobs when taking into account all those working part time on match days.

On some estimates the return of the club could add £6 million a year to the Barnet economy, including £2.1 million from extra business for the town’s traders over a 23-week season.

If the application for a new stadium fails to get approval – and Barnet are denied a chance to rebuild the strong local support which they once enjoyed – there are stark warnings that the club’s long-term future is in grave doubt.

Representatives from community groups including the Barnet Society, Barnet Residents Association and Love Barnet have been advised that attendances at the club’s current base at The Hive Football Centre are not sufficient for long-term financial viability.

What was described as “a considerable financial shortfall” is having to be made up by Mr Kleanthous, the Barnet FC chairman and owner.

The Hive, midway between Edgware and Standmore, which is also owned by Mr Kleanthous, is a separate financial entity.

Its pitch, training facilities and diagnostic centre are used by a range of other clubs as well as Barnet and because of its proximity to Wembley it is often used as a training camp by visiting teams.

Since moving to The Hive in 2013, Barnet have failed to match the attendances at Underhill.

Currently the average gate is around 1,800. A move back to Underhill could increase that to around 3,500 given the strength of local support with the new stadium having a maximum capacity of 7,000 spectators.

Additional revenue from ticket sales could bring in an extra £500,000 a season and that could be matched by an equivalent amount in sponsorship which together would be make up the current shortfall which on some estimates is around £1 million a year.

If the club fails to get approval for a new stadium there are doubts as to whether Mr Kleanthous would be prepared to make a fresh attempt to return to Barnet.

His view is that if the community are against the club’s return and there is not the support which Bring Barnet Back believe there is, then there is little more that he can do.

But without the injection of additional revenue, the fear is that within four to five years’ time Barnet might no longer be sustainable financially.

With help from the distribution of funds from the Premier League, the club says it would establish a new charitable foundation at Barnet which would offer a range of activities with an outreach to local schools and support for local clubs.

Once back in Barnet, the club’s aim would be to establish community initiatives and there any number of possibilities, including, for example, the possibility of providing space for a local foodbank or other projects.

The club would open a new diagnostics and imaging centre at the new stadium in line with the facilities provided at The Hive which a said to be recognised as one of the best screening facilities at a football club.    

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Adventurous programme of lakeside concerts is planned for this summer in support of Monken Hadley Common 

Preparations are well underway for the most ambitious programme so far for the popular summer season of concerts beside Jack’s Lake at Monken Hadley Common.

Since the festival was launched in 2021, there has been ever growing support for the open-air musical evenings which are held in a woodland glade beside the lake.

Ilona Domnich (above right), the New Barnet opera singer whose idea it was to give people an opportunity to enjoy music and nature in a magical setting, has arranged dates for four concerts over weekends in June, July and August.

Her aim this summer is to feature more singers from musical theatre, to explore the versatility of the voice, and to include a greater variety of instruments for the chamber music.

Andrew Walker (above, left), chair of the Monken Hadley Common Trust which hosts the concerts, believes the expanded programme will appeal to a wider section of the community and increase attendance.

“We hope the concerts will bring along people who perhaps have never been to the common before.

“That will help us spread the word that the Hadley Common Trust which cares for the woods and lake is run entirely by volunteers.”

The concerts are free, but cash and card donations (£15 suggested minimum per adult) will be collected.

Proceeds will be shared between the trust for the upkeep of the common and for a bursary for a young musician at the World Heart Beat Music Academy in Nine Elms.

The four concerts will be on Saturday 14 June at 7pm; Sunday 6 July at 7pm; Sunday 20 July at 6.30pm; and Sunday 3 August at 6.30pm.

This summer’s theme is to explore different genres with concerts which explore the versatility of the voice in opera and musicals and bring in more musical instruments.

Ilona will be accompanied by Charles Mutter, leader of the BBC Concert Orchestra as well as other talented musicians. All being well they will include a harpist and an accordionist.

“We want the concerts to appeal to a wider audience and attract people who have never been before.”

Each summer Ilona finds the concerts are introducing people to classical music for the first time, including the anglers from the Hadley Angling and Preservation Society who share use of the lake.

“Often, after the concerts, anglers fishing around the lake come along and thank us. One told me that he usually listens to hard metal or rock but had loved the classical music and opera.”

For more details about the Jack’s Lake contacts: https://ilonadomnich.com/projects/hadley-woods-festival-music-on-jacks-lake/

Andrew said the importance of the concerts was that they introduce more people to the common and that gives the trust a chance to spread the word about how the upkeep of the common depends on volunteers.

“There is always a new challenge for us, trimming trees, maintaining footpaths, and looking after the dam to the lake and the weir – all sorts of different tasks.”

“The trust is a charitable institution, and it is the members who elect the trustees who are responsible for the common, so we are always looking for new members to come and join us.

“Holding concerts beside the lake is just one of the ways we can raise our profile and attract the attention of people who can give us financial support or join a working party.

“What better way to get to know Hadley Common than bring along a picnic and a bottle of wine or whatever and sit beside the lake and listen to amazing classical musicians.

“It is a chance to make a donation towards caring for the commons and supporting a bursary for a young musician.”

For details on how to join the Hadley Common Trust or to become a benefactor or concert sponsor go to the trust’s website www.mhctrust.org.uk or email treasurer@mhctrust.org.uk

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Compost bins and another bug hotel are all on the itinerary when visiting New Barnet’s innovative community garden

A guided tour of New Barnet’s much-cherished community garden by Wendy Alcock, founder of the Incredible Edible campaign, was a highlight of the group’s annual seed swap at St John’s United Reformed Church.

Wendy (above) gave gardening demonstrations as she went along – all part of her aim to encourage residents to make 2025 the year to grow more of their own food.

The seed swap is a chance to come along with seeds, small plants, tools, pots etc. and to swap them for free with someone else.

An extension to the community garden and green space – along three sides of the church at the junction of Somerset Road and Mowbray Road — was officially opened last year.

Incredible Edible was started by Wendy to encourage home cultivation in gardens and unused land.

The community garden around St John’s demonstrates what can be achieved by clearing and preparing what was previously an unusable rubble-strewn area.

A second bug hotel has been created in the corner of the newly cleared land with the aim of encouraging more insect life.

Another recent innovation – now in its second year – are the compost bins which were installed to produce leaf mould.

When Barnet Council ground staff collect leaves from the borough’s parks, the community garden is an eager recipient.

New Barnet community garden leading the way in campaign to encourage more home cultivation

Rotting leaves from last year were displayed by Dave McCormick, an Incredible Edible volunteer, and long-standing member Barnet Friends of the Earth and Barnet Clean Air.

An extra compost bin was added last autumn when the council delivered a total of 50 bags of green leaves swept up from parks around the borough.

“After rotting down for a year those 50 bags will produce ten bags of leaf mould which is so important in adding structure to the soil.

“We could take many more leaves from the council and what our community garden demonstrates is the great potential there is.

“We hope more groups can establish composting arrangements in the hope the council can be encouraged to give us even more of the leaves that have to be swept up each autumn.”   

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Warm applause for another imaginative drama retelling events from the rich tapestry of High Barnet’s historic past  

Claire Fisher’s first play – Mary Livingstone, I Presume? – tickles the audience with a joyous array of gossip and small talk between the Hadley Green gentry of yesteryear, their servants and the townspeople of Barnet.

The Bull Theatre was packed with highly appreciative audiences for the latest production by the Blue Door Theatre Company.

An ingenious script imagines the ghost like presence of Mary Livingstone inside Livingstone Cottage, the house on Hadley Green which in 1857 was the home of the Victorian explorer and missionary Dr David Livingstone, his wife and children.

A plaque dedicated to the centenary of Dr Livingstone’s birth was erected on the front wall of the cottage.

Claire’s story line imagines a sequence of events that led up to the official unveiling ceremony in 1913.

The re-appearance of Mary (played by Sarah Munford, see above) in a magnificent and voluminous crinoline style dress triggers challenging conversations which become the all-absorbing pre-occupation of Isabelle Harrington (Brigid Hekster) who moved into Livingstone Cottage after she returned to the country following the death in South Africa of her mine investor husband.

What actually happened in the everyday reality of today was that Claire Fisher and her family moved into the cottage 11 years ago.

Finding herself living in a house inhabited by such an illustrious famous predecessor developed Claire’s interest in researching how the famous explorer and his family came to live at Hadley Green in the 1850s.

The inspiration for the play – the first she has written and directed – grew out of Claire’s realisation that the role of Dr Livingstone’s wife Mary had been largely ignored.

In fact, it was Mary’s knowledge of local African languages and her standing among local people that was crucial to the success of Dr Livingstone’s travels, yet little was known about her contribution in propelling her husband into the pantheon of historical figures.

Claire started to wonder whether there were any women residing in Barnet in 1913 who had dared to suggest that Dr Livingstone’s wife deserved at least a mention – as there is no reference to her on the commemorative plaque – and her play tries through the drama that unfolds to put the record straight.

Isabelle Harrington, the central character, is the grieving widow who has returned to Hadley Green and who moves into Livingstone Cottage.

While navigating her grief she is determined to find out more about the Livingstone family.

She is also determined to continue working on work on her “causes” – votes for women, and campaigns like the attempt to ban the wearing of ostrich feathers on women’s hats.

Isabelle finds comfort in conjuring up Mary and the repercussions of their imagined conversations interact with the lives of the other women in the play, ranging from Caroline Penman (Val Golding) the formidable mother of her brother-in-law, to their long-standing servant Kitty (Jan Parker) who as a 20-year-old was a servant in the Livingstone household.

Kitty recalls working in the house while Dr Livingstone wrote about his missionary travels. She remembered how the couple’s children used to play on Hadley Common.  

Claire says her aim in the play was to portray the lives of women who had to manage their lives and hopes through the whims of men who treated them as second-class citizens.

Warm applause at Bull Theatre for another imaginative drama retelling events from rich tapestry of High Barnet's historic past

In thanking the cast at the curtain call, Claire (above right) paid tribute to the dedication to the members of Barnet’s successful community theatre group and especially for the encouragement and support she had been given by Siobhan Dunne (left), the artistic director of the Blue Door Theatre Company.

Mary Livingstone, I Presume? is the latest in a series of locally inspired productions including The Boy I Love set in the 1880s in High Barnet around the arrival of the annual Barnet Fair and Fog of War by local playwright James Godwin set in 1471 in the heart of the Battle of Barnet.  

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MP says Barnet’s councillors should take final decisions on blocks of flats at High Barnet tube station car park and possible new football stadium  

When responding to the debate over the two most controversial development applications to have emerged since he was elected Labour MP for Chipping Barnet seven months ago, Dan Tomlinson is insisting he will maintain his neutrality.

He says final decisions on whether to construct blocks of flats at High Barnet tube station car park or build a new stadium for Barnet Football Club at Underhill should be taken by Barnet Council on the advice of its planning officers and committee.

When members of the Barnet Society discussed the two projects – immediately before hearing Mr Tomlinson’s response – there was a unanimous vote against Transport for London’s bid to build flats on the tube station car park and a split vote over a possible new stadium.

In reply, Mr Tomlinson – seen above with Robin Bishop (left) and chair John Hay (right) — was adamant that as the town’s MP he believed his duty was to address the concerns of residents and try to secure for them the best possible outcomes.

Personally, he thought a ten-storey block of flats at the tube station was too high.

He felt the football stadium was unlikely to get planning approval from the council because it would mean taking Green Belt land.

But he would not be intervening directly himself either in support or against the two projects.

“It is up to the elected Barnet Council to decide whether these schemes are in accordance with the local plan and whether or not they should be approved.”

He acknowledged that his predecessor, the former Conservative MP Theresa Villiers, had taken firm positions either for or against certain planning applications in the past, but this had resulted in local residents being “marched up the hill and down again” only to see schemes being approved in the end.

He believed his task was to help ensure that the views of his constituents were expressed to Barnet Council and to the developers and that he worked in conjunction with them and the residents to see how such schemes could be improved for the benefit of the community.

When it came to the blocks of flats at the tube station, he was keen to persuade TfL to keep much more space for car parking.

He would be following up ideas to see if underground car parking spaces could be provided beneath the development.

Mr Tomlinson was also in full agreement with tube passengers on the importance of providing a bus service direct to the station entrance and moving the north bound bus stop on Barnet Hill closer to the pedestrian crossing at the station approach road.

He was challenged over why he had not been influenced by the fact that no one in the room at the society’s meeting had voted in favour.

MP says Barnet’s councillors should take final decisions on blocks of flats at High Barnet tube station car park and possible new football stadium

An outline of the scheme had been given earlier by committee member Nick Saul (above) who said the development was unacceptable. The blocks of flats would utterly dominate the town, and he doubted whether the project was viable.

Mr Tomlinson reminded his audience that the land at the station was already allocated for 292 homes in Barnet Council’s local plan.

Building on station car parks was also included in the London plan, so there was a strong presumption in favour of the High Barnet scheme, but a ten-storey block of flats was too high and was not in keeping with the local plan’s recommendation of more than seven storeys.

“But if we can’t build flats for young people here on this site, where are we are going to put them?

“As your MP I will try to make the scheme as good as possible.”

When it came to the controversial application to build a new football stadium at Underhill, he was personally split 50/50 over whether it should be approved.

When discussing a return of the club with residents of the Dollis Valley estate he found there was strong support among some of those he spoke to.

Nevertheless, it was one of the few large open play spaces in the town and he did not think it likely Barnet Council would give approval because it was a site within the Green Belt.

If Barnet FC was refused permission, he undertook to work with the club and the Bring Barnet Back campaign to see if an alternative site could be found.

Green Belt land should be protected and if the housing target could be met with developments such as High Barnet station, then the council would not be under pressure to encroach on the green belt.

When challenged by one questioner over whether his stance of being neither for or against planning applications – and leaving it to the elected councillors – would protect the Green Belt, he gave this assurance:

“If there is a really abhorrent scheme, I won’t be agnostic.”

In his opening remarks, he said he had been working members of Chipping Barnet Town Team and Love Barnet to see whether more could be done to improve Barnet High Street.

One idea being explored with the Greater London Authority was to have a rental auction of empty High Street shops.

Under such a scheme, if a property had been left vacant for more than 12 months, Barnet Council could auction off a rental so that empty retail premises could be brought back into use.

An earlier discussion at the meeting had explored ideas for rejuvenating The Spires shopping centre.

As a previous redevelopment scheme was now in abeyance because of the financial difficulties facing the owners of the centre, Mr Tomlinson said he would be delighted to work with community groups to bring forward alternative proposals.

Barnet Council owned the freehold of the shopping centre site and there was every reason to open a discussion about the future of The Spires.    

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Planning surprise from Transport for London: construction of ten storey high block of flats next to entrance to High Barnet tube station

Revised plans for blocks of flats to be built over the car park at High Barnet tube station show that the highest would be ten storeys in height.

A total of five blocks ranging from eight to ten storeys would be constructed alongside Barnet Hill with the tallest opposite the lower entrance to the tube station.

There would be a new re-aligned approach road to the station and the siting of the ten-storey block (see above), positioned below Barnet Hill, was said to compensate for the extra height.

Transport for London’s property company Places for London and developers Barratt say the scheme will provide 300 new homes of which a minimum of 40 per cent will be affordable either through social rents or shared ownership.

A planning application for the development is due to be submitted by April or May with the hope that approval might be gained by the end of the year so that construction could start in 2026.

The revised plans were on show at a public exhibition at Tudor Hall which will be repeated on Saturday 1 March (11am to 3pm) followed by an online webinar on Tuesday 4 March from 6.30pm to 7.30pm (contact HighBarnet@fieldconulsting.co.uk)

A visual representation showed a new look bus stop on the station side of Barnet Hill.

A new pavement, which would be created beside the flats after the removal of the existing retaining wall, would extend down Barnet Hill with a new pedestrian crossing at the junction with Underhill.

Another illustration showed the position of the new flats when viewed from Underhill.

The proposed height of the blocks was criticised by Robin Bishop, who leads on planning for the Barnet Society. He considered the development was “entirely out of character” with the existing neighbourhood where most of the houses were of two to three storeys.

“These proposed blocks are three times taller than is normal for housing in the area and if the development goes ahead, it will alter the identity of the neighbourhood.”

Gordon Massey, planning officer for Barnet Residents Association, shared the society’s concern about the proposed height of the blocks.

Under Barnet Council’s local plan for the car park site, buildings of eight storeys or more would not be acceptable.

“This is an elevated site on Barnet Hill and if blocks of eight to ten storeys are approved this will drive a coach and horses through the local plan.

“The station site application is the first big scheme since the local plan was developed so this scheme is a real challenge for Barnet Council.

“If this development is approved it will set a real precedent. What would stop developers trying to build blocks of flats all along the Dollis Valley?”

Brendan Hodges, Places for London planning manager (above left) defended the proposed height of the blocks. He said the developers’ argument would be that local plans allowed for a case to be made and for flexibility.

“This development ticks all the boxes. It is a brown-field site with 300 homes, 40 per cent of them affordable, going to be built next to a tube station.

“It is a scheme which takes the pressure off surrounding land in the Green Belt and meets the government’s objective of building new homes.

“I think the fact that we have a local council, the Mayor of London and a government which are all aligned in wanting to achieve the same objective means the wind is blowing in our direction.”

When Places for London and Barratt held their first consultation on the plan in November last year the issue that caused the greatest concern was the confirmation that if the flats are built the tube station will lose all its 160 car park spaces.

A survey conducted since that exhibition disputed the contention that the loss of a car park would cause considerable inconvenience for passengers. It showed that the car park accounted for only eight per cent of the total daily entries to the station.

The survey showed that 42 per cent of those drivers who used the car park had a walking time of less than 30 minutes to the station and that 89 per cent of the drivers started their journey within 500 metres of a bus stop.

Gordon Massey dismissed these findings. Removal of all car parking spaces at High Barnet would have a detrimental impact on the town because more drivers would try to park within the town centre which would in turn cut the number of spaces for shoppers.

Despite the developers’ intention to create a dedicated drop off point outside the tube station entrance, he feared the loss of the car park would lead to even more congestion in the station approach road.

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Coming Soon: Barnet Society is updating its website

This is the new front page of the Barnet Society’s website — a long-planned upgrade of our online presence.

We have made it easier to use with improved access and simpler procedures for new members joining the society.

Our aim is to present a cleaner and more elegant design with an improved home page setting out how the society organises itself and which explains who we are and what we aim to achieve as a community-based organisation.

Our news page is now searchable so looking for a news story or for information should be easier. Various filters will help locate the item concerned.

There is also easier access to the society’s quarterly newsletter and past newsletters are now listed in a more attractive format.

Our archive of well over 1,000 news reports and stories has been transferred to the new site along with the comments which were made at the time – a fascinating chronicle of news and events about Barnet over the last decade.

We hope the changes made to the membership area will make it easier for news members to sign up and get involved in the society’s work.

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New television production facility offers Barnet College students chance to gain skills for jobs on offer at expanding film studios

Barnet and Southgate College students on creative and media production courses can now gain hands-on experience in tv, sound and animation at the Studio, a new multi-media production facility at the college’s Barnet campus.

Opened at a cost of £2.2 million – including specialist equipment valued at £1.4 million – the Studio allows students to create their own tv shows, soundtracks and visual effects.

Investing in a multimedia centre offering students real-world experience in developing their own content coincides with the rapid expansion of film and television studios within the UK and the opening of many employment opportunities.

Close to High Barnet are the well-established Elstree Studios and BBC Elstree Centre which have now been joined at Borehamwood by the recently completed Sky Studios Elstree complex – see above — which has 12 sound stages.

Thousands of new jobs are due to be created or are in the pipeline.

Sky is developing a Future Talent programme offering 12-month on-site placements and an academy to take young people behind the scenes.  

A planning inquiry is to be held in March into an application by Sky Studios for a second phase of its Elstree complex with an additional five sound stages.

Since the completion of its south studios in 2022, Sky has been hosting production teams from several major film companies but an application for a 71,000 square metre extension to the north, with another eight buildings, was rejected by Hertsmere Borough Council in March last year.

The extension, on land between Rowley Lane and the A1 Barnet bypass, was considered an inappropriate development within the Green Belt.

Sky lodged an appeal last November – objections must be submitted by March 4 and an eight-day inquiry is due to start on March 25.  

After officially opening the Studio at the Barnet campus, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, met some of the college students

Over 40 guests attended the ceremony including producer and songwriter Pete Waterman, Rebecca Hawkes, from Elstree Studios and Barnet College governor Adam Morley.

College chief executive officer and principal Neil Coker said the college was excited to see the Studio become a reality – “a true hub, where the industry can connect with the provision of skills, enabling the college to offer new talent and increased diversity in the workforce of the tv, sound production, animation and VFX sector.”

“Students can learn in a real-world environment, using industry-standard equipment and develop hands-on experience, from producing their own tv shows to creating bespoke soundtracks.”

He expressed his gratitude to London Assembly member, Councillor Anne Clarke, Barnet Council leader, Councillor Barry Rawlings, and the President of the college, Lord Levy.