Author: Nick Jones

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.    

High Barnet is at a crossroads over future developments. Members of the Barnet Society are about to get an opportunity to debate key issues and hear the views of the Chipping Barnet MP Dan Tomlinson.

There are three main areas of uncertainty: the construction of eight-storey blocks of flats on the car park and container yard at the High Barnet tube station; an application by Barnet Football Club to build a new stadium at Underhill; and the continuing uncertainty about the future of The Spires shopping centre and its possible redevelopment.

Mr Tomlinson will take questions after members have had an opportunity to air their views and had a chance to vote on how they would like these schemes to proceed and whether they should be approved.

This discussion, followed by the Q&A, is a members’ only event on Thursday evening 27 February, so if you’d like to come along, join the Society at https://www.barnetsociety.org.uk/membership You will be given details of the meeting.

Each of the main three items will be introduced and debated separately to identify key questions to put to Mr Tomlinson (above).

Nick Saul will open the first short debate by outlining the proposal by Transport for London — through its property subsidiary Places for London and Barratt Homes — to build blocks of flats to provide 300 homes at High Barnet tube station.

This would result in the loss of all 160 car park spaces.

Building flats of up to eight storeys on the narrow strip of land between the tube line and Barnet Hill has raised numerous issues about the safety of the site and future access to the station.

In his session, Simon Kaufman will explore the options that face the town in view of continuing uncertainty over the future of The Spires shopping centre.

Almost two years have elapsed without any further word on proposals to redevelop the centre by creating a new central walkway with six blocks of flats to provide 250 new homes.

BYM Capital, owners of The Spires, became insolvent in late 2023 and administrators are now in charge of the company.

Mr Kaufman is keen to see whether there is support for fresh initiatives towards tackling the need to regenerate both the shopping centre and surrounding area and to explore the future role of Barnet Council.

Frances Wilson will lead the debate over the controversial application by Barnet Football Club to seek permission to construct a new stadium on playing fields at Underhill.

Last December the club chairman Tony Kleanthous announced that he has dropped a plan to site the stadium on the school playing field of the Ark Pioneer Academy and has opted instead for a site further along Barnet Lane.

Although the proposal has been greeted with enthusiasm by Barnet FC supporters, opinion is deeply divided with many in the town opposing the construction of a new stadium on open playing fields, unconvinced about the economic and social benefits to the community.

If Transport for London gets the go ahead to build four high-rise blocks of flats alongside Barnet Hill, they will transform the approach to the town from Underhill.

Plans for redeveloping the land around High Barnet tube station to provide 300 homes have now been updated.

A fresh round of public consultation is planned for late February and early March with drop-in sessions at the Tudor Hall, Wood Street, and an online webinar – for details see below.

TfL’s property subsidiary Places for London and Barratt Homes will outline their latest proposals.

When a public exhibition was held last November, Places for London said they were undecided about the height of the blocks of flats, but the latest image indicates they will be of eight storeys.

They will be built over the station car park and the site of the self-storage container yard between the tube track and Barnet Hill.

All 160 car park spaces at the station will be lost in the redevelopment and the only spaces left remaining will be for disabled drivers and blue badge holders.

When residents had their say in November the loss of the car park was high on their lists of objections, but Places for London said the current policy of the Mayor of London is that car parking spaces will not be replaced in housing developments at tube stations or nearby brownfield sites.

Another issue of concern was the stability of Barnet Hill and whether there was sufficient space for four eight-storey blocks of flats on the narrow strip of land between the tube line and Barnet Hill.

Equally troubling for many of those at the last round of consultations was the developers’ reliance on the existing station approach road to provide the main access route to the flats.

Over the years TfL has been asked repeatedly to work with Barnet Council to improve the approach to the tube station which gets crowded – and often blocked – with cars dropping off passengers and other vehicles waiting for people to arrive.

Disabled access in and around the station has been approved: at great cost space was created for a level footpath around the tracks to provide wheelchair access to all three platforms.

But the lack of a designated dropping-off point and TfL’s refusal to offer a shuttle bus service to Barnet town centre highlight what residents say is a catalogue of broken promises.

2025 is the 85^th anniversary year of the electrified service reaching High Barnet.  The first tube train arrived on 6 April 1940.

Because of cost-savings imposed by the Second World War there was insufficient money to provide an escalator to the top of Meadway or an entry tunnel under Barnet Hill.

London Transport’s failure to live up to its earlier promises perhaps pales into insignificance compared with the outcry in 1868 when the Great Northern Railway failed to honour its undertaking to extend the line from Finchley all the way to High Barnet town centre – a tunnel was supposed to take the line to the final station to be sited near Ravenscroft Park.

Have your say: Drop-in public exhibitions at Tudor Hall, Wood Street, on Monday 24 February 15.00 to 19.00 and Saturday 1 March 11.00 to 15.00.

An online webinar will be held on Tuesday 4 March from 18.30 to 19.30. To join email HighBarnet@fieldconsulting.co.uk

Restoring the 140-year-old organ at Barnet parish church is proving a massive task — well over 2,000 organ pipes are having to be individually cleaned and if necessary repaired before they can all be re-assembled.

Organ builder Jonathan Wallace (above, right) with his son Daniel, a trainee organ builder, hopes to have the organ rebuilt ready for playing again by the autumn.

Mr Wallace is no stranger to the task of restoring church organs in and around High Barnet – in 1991 he helped with the organ restoration at Monken Hadley church in 1991 and then at St Peter’s Arkley in 1993.

Restoration of the organ at the parish is likely to cost £165,000, half of which has been met by an £83,000 grant from Barnet Council from its community infra structure levy on new development.

An appeal has been launched for the other half and donations can be made via the parish church website, www.barnetparishchurch.org.uk

Parish administrator Tony Long — seen above at the doorway to the organ loft – said that such is the shortage of specialist church organ restorers that it had been some months before repairers Henry Groves & Son Ltd had been able to take on the work.

Installed in 1884 by the famous 19^th century organ builders William Hill and Son, the organ has not been refurbished for nearly 40 years and numerous pieces need replacing including pipes, resonators, buttons and pistons.

Refurbishment will include replacing the perishable sheepskin used for large bellows and valves. Rebuilding the console with the latest playing aids will make it ideal organ students and organ recitalists.

Once the restoration has been completed St John the Baptist Church hopes to extend its programme of musical education with pupils at local schools and host a wider range of concerts and musical events.

When she launched the organ restoration appeal in May last year, the then Mayor of Barnet, Councillor Nagus Narenthira, said the borough council recognised the importance of preserving the organ for its use by future generations.

Team vicar Father Sam Rossiter-Peters also stressed the importance of renovating the organ, which he said was an important piece of High Barnet’s history — “the beating heart of the parish church and the beating heart of our town.”

“It was 30 years when I first saw the organ here at the parish church.

“Then, two years ago, we were called in to undertake a full rebuild. The first task is to strip out all the pipes – and all told there are 2,100 of them.”

Concern about possible harm to great crested newts and bats is on the agenda at a public inquiry which is hearing an attempt to overturn the refusal to grant planning permission for two travellers’ caravans in a field off Mays Lane, Barnet.

Barnet Council has rejected the application on the grounds that it is inappropriate development in the Green Belt.

The lack of a survey into the potential impact on great crested newts is one of the reasons for the council’s continued refusal to give approval.

Any survey to detect the presence of newts needs to be carried out between mid-March and mid-June.

Annabel Graham Paul, the council’s representative, told the inquiry that it would be unlawful to grant permission for the caravans before a risk like that had been assessed.

But Michael Rudd, who is representing Patrick Casey, who proposes to develop the site, dismissed the views of local residents that concern about newts justified rejection of the application.

He said that Barnet Council had now accepted there would be no adverse effect on bats if the caravans were placed in the field. If newts were present in the paddock conditions could be imposed to protect them.

The inquiry is being conducted online as a virtual event with the planning inspector, Graham Chamberlain, intending to take evidence at further sessions in March and April.

The application for permission for two travellers’ caravans and associated dayroom buildings was made by Mr Casey in September 2023.

The site is a two-acre paddock currently used for grazing horses and is next door to the Centre for Islamic Enlightening (formerly a Brethren Gospel Hall).

Barnet Council refused permission on the grounds that creating a site for travellers’ caravans was an inappropriate development in the Green Belt and would have an adverse effect on biodiversity and the openness of the site.

In her opening statement, Mrs Graham Paul said the council believed a caravan site would be harmful.

As there had been no previous development in the field, its only lawful use was for grazing horses.

Barnet’s new local plan had identified zero need for travellers’ and gipsy sites within the borough. Therefore, there was no justification for granting planning permission even on a temporary basis.

Her statement was supported by Councillor Tim Roberts, who represents Underhill ward.

He said Barnet had an outstanding record in providing affordable homes and there was no need for a caravan site.

If this proposal was approved, it would be followed by further applications and the field would be turned into a housing estate.

Objections to the plan were marshalled by the Quinta Village Green Residents Association which represents 150 families living nearby.

Their representative at the inquiry, Michael Fry, said the two-acre field made an important contribution to the Green Belt.

Siting caravans on the land would be an unwarranted incursion into the countryside. The residents believed – unlike the council – that development of the land would increase the risk of flooding.

People living locally had observed great crested newts on the site and they had also seen bats and feared wildlife would be at risk if the field became a caravan site. 

When outlining the case of behalf of Mr Casey, who purchased the field at an auction, Mr Rudd said the council’s original refusal to grant permission had been overtaken the government’s new definition of Grey Belt – former Green Belt land on which development could now be permitted.

He said there was already residential development close to the Mays Lane field and it was clear that it fell into the definition of Grey Belt. The paddock did not strongly contribute to the Green Belt and there was no longer justification to refuse the application.

He argued there was a demonstrable need for gipsy and travellers’ sites within the Borough of Barnet and even if the site did not meet the Grey Belt test, its impact on the Green Belt would be limited due to the small scale of the proposal.

Among the interested parties to give evidence on the opening day was the former Chipping Barnet MP Theresa Villiers who said she lived a mile away from the site at Arkley in Barnet Gate Lane (a continuation of Mays Lane).

She supported the objections being made by nearby residents and agreed that the field was a part of a vital buffer between Barnet and the Green Belt.

She disagreed with the suggestion that the paddock could now be considered Grey Belt land.

As someone who had often cycled and driven along Mays Lane she was concerned about the safety of pedestrians.

There was no footpath on this section of May Lane – just a muddy grass verge – as the pavement only extended along Mays Lane as far as the junction with Partridge Close.

“I have regularly cycled along this section of Mays Lane, and I do worry about the speed of vehicles. Even 30 miles is fast when there is no footpath.”   

After months of uncertainty a deal has finally been agreed: High Barnet’s historic Tudor Hall in the middle of the Barnet College campus has been saved for community use.

A bid by the trustees of Barnet Museum has been accepted by the board of governors of Barnet and Southgate College.

The sale is subject to contract and the museum, which now has an exclusive right to buy the building, hopes to be able to exchange by mid-April.

There will be widespread relief among organisations in the town which feared the worst when the college put the hall up for sale on the open market in December 2023 with a guide price of £1 million.

Working out how to secure community ownership of what was originally the schoolhouse for a free grammar school granted a charter by Queen Elizabeth in 1573 became a top priority.

Barnet Museum and the Local History Society led the way and at their request the hall was declared an asset of community value by Barnet Council.

This gave the museum six months to try to put together its own bid to save the historic building from going to a commercial purchaser.

Sales agents Colliers had revealed that the college had received an offer close to the asking price from an unnamed “private education provider”.

Prospective funding was promised by the Hadley Trust which enabled an offer to be submitted before the deadline under the rules for assets of community value.

John Hall, chairman of the museum’s trustees, told the Barnet Society that he was confident that subject to satisfactory diligence contracts would be exchanged.

“Both the museum and the college are delighted that the sale has been agreed for the future preservation of this unique heritage asset.

“Steps can now be taken to start drawing up plans for the future use of the hall.

“We can begin to think now as to how best to improve and preserve the structure and re-open it for public use to meet the wishes of the Hadley Trust and the wider High Barnet community.”

Mr Hall said the aim was to make hall available for displays and exhibitions organised by the museum as well as opening up possibilities for a wider community use for events and functions.

One of the driving forces behind the museum’s bid for the hall was that ownership of the building would allow the staging of exhibitions about the Battle of Barnet and the possibility of it becoming a centre for displays about the Wars of the Roses.

Barnet Council is to take on the task of helping to promote and support arts and cultural events across the borough — a role previously performed by a network of volunteers.

An online guide is to be published by the council listing a wide range of arts, leisure and sports events.

Council staff will help to co-ordinate attempts to gain sponsorship and advertising.

Details of the new council-led approach were outlined to arts enthusiasts and supporters at The Bull Theatre, High Barnet, during a commemoration of the achievements of the late Pam Edwards who devoted 60 years of her life to encouraging the local arts scene.

Councillor Anne Clarke (above, left), Barnet Council’s cabinet member for culture, leisure, arts and sports, told the get together that a new strategy on arts and culture in the borough is due to be published in the spring and will set out the new framework.

A new online guide to arts, culture and sports events will be compiled by the council.

It will replace the listings published in Barnet First, the quarterly magazine published since the 1970s by a volunteer team at the Barnet Borough Arts Council.

Ros Staines (centre, above), who took over from Pam Edwards as the secretary of the arts council, welcomed the borough’s decision to take on the task of publicising the listings of local arts events.

With them above is Susi Earnshaw (far right), of The Bull Theatre, which will assist in co-ordinating the volunteer committees which organise the annual Barnet Christmas Fayre and Theatre in the Park at Oak Hill.

These two events were previously organised under the auspices of the arts council which is now to be wound up following the announcement of the introduction of a new borough-wide arts and culture strategy.

Councillor Clarke said the borough council’s aim was to link up Barnet’s cultural and sporting institutions and provide full access to a comprehensive events listing on the council’s website.

“We hope by April or May to be able to launch an arts and culture strategy for Barnet.

“Our aim is to widen access to events in the borough and bring people together, so we are reaching out to cultural and sporting groups to compile the fullest possible listing of future events.

“We have also been getting to grips with the task of seeing how we might be able to encourage sponsorship for events and perhaps support such initiatives with the help of advertising.”      

Susi Earnshaw told the gathering that she hoped that in the future The Bull Theatre – which is the home of the Susi Earnshaw Theatre School – might be able to offer a wider programme of events.

If funding could be obtained, she said she would like to appoint a full-time theatre manager who could build up a wider programme of evening and weekend events.

A look back at the life of Pam Edwards, who was a founder member of what is now the Bull Theatre, was presented by Jenny Remfry, who worked closely with Pam from the 1970s to 1990s and who was a former chair of the Barnet Centre Association.

Pam, who died in July last year at the age of 98, was a tireless supporter of the local arts scene and helped to initiate a range of well-established and much-loved artistic and community events which are now an established part of Barnet’s social calendar.

Of all the challenges she faced, by far the most ambitious was her role as a founder and organiser of the original Old Bull Arts Centre which expanded to become the Bull Theatre.

Among the many successful ventures which she helped to develop were the annual Barnet Christmas Fayre, East Barnet Community Festival and Theatre in the Park.

Answering questions from Barnet Friends of the Earth was a chance for the Chipping Barnet MP Dan Tomlinson to say more about his plans to encourage initiatives such as helping to finance the installation of solar panels on community buildings.

A newly appointed member of the MP’s constituency staff is to be responsible for working with local groups to help develop a range of community projects including schemes to improve the environment.

Many public buildings including schools and community centres cannot afford to install solar panels and Mr Tomlinson’s aim is to encourage the development various initiatives including community energy projects.

“What we would like to do is get behind local initiatives and work with energy providers to support residents and community organisations to cut their fuel bills.

“I am sure there are probably dozens of initiatives already out there intended to help people insulate their homes and as Chipping Barnet MP I want to see what more can be done to help them.

“The same goes for community organisations faced with increasing costs of heating and lighting.

“I now have a member of my constituency staff who can work with the local community, and we want people to tell us how we can best assist.”

Wendy Alcock (above, left) founder of the Barnet community gardening initiative Incredible Edible – one of the many groups which supported the Friends of the Earth question-and-answer event – welcomed Mr Tomlinson’s appointment of a constituency staff member to help co-ordinate support for local schemes.

There was already one community energy project being developed in Friern Barnet and she was sure local activists would be keen to work with the MP and his staff on ways to improve the environment.

Dave McCormick (right) who helped organise the session with Mr Tomlinson, said they had brought together members from a wide range of groups including Chipping Barnet Foodbank, Barnet Green Spaces group, Barnet Beekeepers and Clean Air Barnet.

Mr Tomlinson said that since becoming MP constituency last year he had been surprised and encouraged by the strength of local environmental groups which made him even more determined to do what he could to support their work.

He faced some challenging questions from his Friends of the Earth audience especially on emerging government policies on climate change, house building and protecting the environment.

Labour’s proposals to limit the ability of activists to continue mounting legal challenges was a necessary step if the government was to succeed in speeding up investment in new energy and infra-structure projects.

At present there could be as many as three legal challenges to plans for wind farms, solar farms or new nuclear power stations.

The government’s aim was to limit this to one judicial review in future to stop projects being blocked for years.

“We will keep the ability to mount a challenge in the courts, but if a judge says there is no merit in a further challenge, we will not let that case go to appeal.”

Mr Tomlinson said the construction of a £100 million tunnel on the HS2 rail line to shield bats flying overhead in ancient woodland in Buckinghamshire illustrated the difficulties encountered with the current rules which said there could be no harm to wildlife in such locations.

“Rather than developers being required to spend money on projects like a bat tunnel, the government favours the creation of nature restoration fund.

“What we will probably say is that a developer must contribute money into a nature restoration fund, and it would be experts in the natural environment to say where that money should be spent. “

Mr Tomlinson said the government hoped to start consultations on such a scheme before Christmas and it would enable the country to do so much more to protect the environment because the money could be targeted on where it would achieve the most benefit.

He insisted that Labour’s push towards increasing housebuilding would be driven by a policy of releasing land in a sensible and rational way.

The government was trying to encourage a sense of optimism about what could be achieved.

“Young people in London are spending half their income on rents; some are spending more than that.

“So, we have to have a bold target on housing.”

Daily life in High Barnet well over a century ago has been re-imagined for a new play which looks back even further in time to the years when the Victorian explorer Dr David Livingstone and his wife Mary lived on Hadley Green.

A plaque on the front wall of what is now known as Livingstone Cottage records that he lived there in the year 1857.

Mary Livingstone, I Presume? has been written by local dramatist Claire Fisher who has lived in the cottage for the last 11 years and who believes Mary Livingstone has not had all the recognition she deserves.

Very little has been published about Mary’s life. She was the daughter of missionaries, became a missionary herself and was accomplished African linguist.

Her knowledge of African people and languages was considered crucial to the success of Dr Livingstone’s travels.

Rehearsals by members of the High Barnet drama group the Blue Door Theatre Company are well underway for a production which is to be staged at the Bull Theatre with four performances at the end of February. (see full details below)

The play recreates events in 1913 when some of High Barnet’s well-connected residents decided the town should install a commemorative plaque at Dr Livingstone’s home on Hadley Green.

A grieving widow living in the house, Mrs Isabelle Harrington, played by Brigid Hekster (left), takes an interest in the life of Mary Livingstone, played by Sarah Munford (right).

Isabelle finds herself in conversation with Mary – a storyline which explores the lives of women in different times and places, and which presents a “feminist look at women’s hidden voices”.

Cast members take on the role of residents of the town including a butcher’s daughter, schoolboy and other local characters living on Hadley Green and at Monken Hadley.

A vital prop in the drama is a magnificent Victorian phonograph, a model of which was made by sculptor and artist Cos Gerolemou, seen here with writer and director, Claire Fisher (left).

Cos said he had studied illustrations of phonographs of the era and was impressed by the way they were decorated with acanthus leaves, an effect which he was anxious to recreate.

Claire acknowledged the challenge she has in getting Mary Livingstone, I Presume? ready for its premiere at the end of February.

“This is the first play I have written and directed, and I am so in awe of the cast in giving it their all.

“Many of our drama group have full time jobs and here they are at rehearsals, giving their time to help bring the play to life.”

Livingstone Cottage is a regular stopping point for guided walks and people visiting Hadley Green and Monken Hadley.

Since moving in Claire has been busying researching the history of both the house and the Livingstone family.

She was fascinated by what happened in 1913 when the high and mighty of Barnet decided to put up the plaque to mark the centenary of Dr Livingstone’s birth and record that he lived in the house in 1857.

Claire says she is indebted to the advice and support of Susi Earnshaw at the Bull Theatre and artistic director Siobhan Dunne. 

There will be four performances at the end of February at the Bull Theatre, High Barnet – on Thursday and Friday, 27 and 28 February, at 7.30pm and two performances on Saturday 1 March at 2pm and 7.30pm. For tickets and more information: www.thebulltheatre.com

Sarah Parish, well known for her role in tv series such as Peak Practice and Pillars of the Earth, and her husband, actor James Murray, are supporting drama therapy sessions at the Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice in Byng Road, Barnet.

Through the Murray Parish Trust, established after the death of their daughter, they help to fund children’s mental health care projects.

On a visit to Noah’s Ark the couple met Christina and her two sons, Arthur aged one, and nine-year-old Joseph, (see above), who both attend drama and music sessions at the hospice.

The trust is to fund a total of 300 drama therapy sessions — the latest initiative to get their backing since they started raising money in memory of their daughter Ella-Jayne who died in 2019 at the age of eight from a congenital heart defect.

Sarah said their trust – which has directed over £4 million to healthcare projects since it was established in 2014 – was there to help families at their darkest hours.

“When our daughter was in intensive care for four months, we witnessed at first hand the unmet need for emotional and psychological support.

“If the mounting trauma of having or being a seriously ill child isn’t properly processed with professional help, it can have devastating consequences.”

Sarah met Pasha Wild (above left), drama and movement therapist at Noah’s Ark, who stressed the value of therapy in helping children explore different parts of themselves and untangle and unpick things in a way which is helpful for them.

Christina Lucas-Dodsworth, whose son Arthur was referred to Noah’s Ark, was full of praise for Pasha’s support.

Arthur, who has severe hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy had to be transferred to a neonatal intensive care unit, and it was thought unlikely he would survive coming off a ventilator.

He was referred to Noah’s Ark, became less critical, and now attends a drama and music group, Tunes and Tales.

His brother Joseph also has drama therapy with Pasha to help him deal with the issues which can affect siblings of seriously unwell children.

Christina said Joseph was now much happier at school.

“When we told Joseph his little brother might not be here that long, it was a very difficult conversation to have. 

“Now, he is able to start opening up to his teachers and tell them what is on his mind, saying things like Arthur is in hospital today and that he’s feeling a bit worried.

“After the session with Pasha he’s much more comfortable talking about these things.

“I think the drama therapy is good at tackling the prospect of loss and it is definitely helpful for a child who doesn’t want to do the talking at that age and for whom it’s probably just far too much.”   

During their visit, Sarah and James were briefed on the challenges facing the children’s palliative care sector.

Only 17 per cent of Noah’s Ark’s income is funded centrally through the Children’s Hospice Grant and the rest is raised through voluntary donations.

Currently the hospice’s running costs stand at approximately £18,000 a day.    

Regular customers at The Queens Arms, Barnet, have been fearing the worst with the doors remaining locked and no sign of life inside. However, they have been assured that the closure — and also the closure of the Kings Head in Barnet High Street — are both only temporary.

Hertford brewers McMullen and Sons say they have recruited a  new tenants for the Kings Head but are still in the process of lining up a new tenant for the Queens Arms.

The Kings Head has been closed since September. McMullens told the Barnet Society the company hopes to re-open the pub by late spring or early summer.

Several potential tenants have expressed an interest in taking on the Queens Arms and the aim is to have it re-opened at the latest by the spring.

The Queens Arms, with the Everyman cinema on one side and a BP petrol station on the other, is mid-way between the Northern Line and the Great North Road.

There has been speculation on social media that this large site, which includes a car park, might be sold off for redevelopment as flats.

But McMullens stressed that the closure was only temporary.

Local concern about the future of the Queens Arms has been heightened by the grim statistics about the difficulties facing the licensed trade with reports from across the country of an average of 34 pubs closing every month.

Another McMullen pub just a few hundred yards away, The Old Red Lion at the bottom of Barnet Hill, was closed in 2015 and replaced with a group of town houses.

East Barnet village has been without a pub for almost a year since the Stonegate group closed the Prince of Wales – but locals have been encouraged to see that work has started on refurbishing the premises.

The prospect of losing the last pub in the village was such a blow, that campaigners succeeded in registering The Prince of Wales as an asset of community value – only to find that there was a last-minute reprieve. 

Stonegate Group finally confirmed that the pub had been to the sold to another pub company, Heartwood Collection, a hospitality group which runs upmarket inns and restaurants across southern England.

Heartwood have promised a “multi-million-pound refurbishment” with the bar and dining room enhanced to provide a combined capacity of 150 covers. In the rear garden there would be a terrace for up to 55 covers.