Barnet's credentials as a green borough have been strengthened enormously by the dedication of volunteers who maintain the seven-and-a-half-acre nature reserve and environment centre off Byng Road.
Councillor Tony Vourou, Mayor of Barnet, paid tribute to their work at an event to celebrate the centre’s 50th anniversary.
Citizenship ceremonies held by the borough council already refer to the significance of the 1471 Battle of Barnet and the work of Barnet Museum and now, said Councillor Vourou, they would be able to add the contribution made by the Barnet Environment Centre.
He thanked all those who had volunteered over the years and who had helped to cement Barnet’s reputation as a green borough.
Councillor Vourou opened an exhibition tracing the 50-year history of the centre which is on display in the Barnet Museum centre in The Spires Shopping Centre.
(See above, at ribbon cutting ceremony, from left to right, Bernard Johnson, chair of the Barnet Environment Centre trustees; Irene Nichols, Barnet Museum; Councillor Tony Vourou; and Mike Noronha, curator, Barnet Museum.)
The centre was originally opened in 1975 by Barnet Council at the annex of the Elizabeth Allen School, next to their playing fields off Byng Road.
Over the years Barnet Environmental Education Centre was visited by children from all over the borough for nature advice and to see and work with their animals including two donkeys, Rupert and Smartie.
After the centre’s founder, science teacher Denis Bland, died in 1982 it was renamed in his memory.
Funding became more difficult and was finally withdrawn in 2002 when the Friends of the Denis Bland Environmental Centre, which had been established in 1992, took on the task of continuing its work.
The site was sold to the Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice in 2010 and with the support of a £750,000 donation from the Hadley Trust a new environment centre was opened in 2016.
In thanking the mayor for his support, Bernard Johnson said the environment centre’s success was confirmed by its popularity among school pupils and youth organisations.
During the 2023-24 academic year 2,500 children from 40 schools had visited the centre including students on BTEC, GCSE and A level courses together with members of various Scout and Guide groups.
He paid tribute to the work of the centre’s teacher Robyn Stern and the teams of volunteers who opened the centre ready for school visits, who then tidied up afterwards, and who maintained the nature reserve.
One great improvement in the nature reserve was an accessible rubberised footpath which was wheel-chair friendly and meant that children at the hospice could enjoy being shown round.
On one occasion staff had wheeled around a child in a bed – an indication of the importance the nature reserve played in supporting the hospice.
Mr Johnson thanked all the organisations which had helped the environment centre over the last 20 years and paid tribute to the Hadley Trust who had been “wonderful friends” and without whose support they could not have achieved so much.
He also thanked the team which had prepared the exhibition illustrating the centre’s history through a timeline and collection of photographs: Margaret King, Penny Antoniou, Wenning Meech, Jim Jenkins and Robyn Stern.
Margaret King (right) – seen here with Bernard Johnson and Penny Antoniou – became secretary of the Denis Bland Centre in 1987.
Margaret and Penny, who was a schoolteacher in Finchley, both had fond memories of school visits to the centre and especially the popularity of the two donkeys, Rupert and Smartie, who later lived in retirement in Devon.
One of the greatest thrills for the children was looking at the incubator for chicken eggs.
Staff at the centre monitored when eggs were about to hatch and then the children could see the chicks emerging.
