News from The Barnet Society

Members of Barnet Guild of Artists are preparing for their 74th annual show in October – in what might become their final year in their unique and much-loved art studio.

A bumper crop of apples and plums is being collected for foodbanks across the London Borough of Barnet by volunteer fruit pickers from Barnet Community Harvesters who save and redistribute surplus produce. Despite record summer temperatures and a prolonged drought, many trees have been fruiting far better than expected.

A familiar face in Barnet High Street, Pragna Raghwani, who is store director at Specsavers, has raised well over £1,000 for the international medical health charity Sightsavers.

Graffiti vandal “Morty” who has sprayed a tag on countless doors, walls and hoardings might be about to be unmasked after a two-month spree of damage to premises in and around Barnet.

Dory’s, High Barnet’s celebrated family run cafe which provided refreshments and a warm welcome for generations of satisfied customers, has closed for business after the retirement of its proprietors Guiliano Cardosi and Angela Casali.

Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice, which provides palliative care for over 350 children from its base in Byng Road, Barnet, depends on a continuous programme of fund raising together with community financial support from across north London and parts of south Hertfordshire.

High Barnet’s acclaimed drama group is busy rehearsing for their autumn production -- an imaginative presentation of The Tragedie of Macbeth, William Shakespeare’s play about the destructive consequences of unchecked ambition and political power.

After missing out on the award for several years, Barnet’s oldest hostelry Ye Olde Mitre Inne has been voted pub of the year for 2025 by the Enfield and Barnet branch of the Campaign for Real Ale.

Displays and training demonstrations by reservists and cadets filled the parade ground at the Army Reserve Centre in St Albans Road, Barnet, in celebration of Armed Forces Day.

A celebration of the joy of growing and eating beans organised by members of Barnet’s innovative Incredible Edible campaign group was a journey from start to finish – from seed to plate.

Barnet’s long-established international folk dance club is being relaunched to take advantage of the growing popularity of the traditional folk music and dancing of the Balkans with the hope of attracting a wider membership.

Since the start of the year police officers in the neighbourhood team for High Barnet and Barnet Vale have spent most of their time in plain clothes targeting persistent offenders including shoplifters and drug dealers and have made a total of 55 arrests.

An art workshop arranged as part of the London Festival of Architecture combined the idea of dreams and visions seen through notable window frames of historic buildings in and around High Barnet.

A purpose-built space where young people can be themselves has been built in the grounds of Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice in Byng Road, Barnet.

Seven Barnet winners of the King’s Badge – the highest award in the Boys’ Brigade and Girls’ Association – were honoured at a special service at Barnet United Reformed Church after an official presentation at Guildhall in the City of London.

Mock battles with weapons made from foam were one of the highlights for children attending the annual Barnet Medieval Festival at its new and enlarged site on farmland in Galley Lane.

Arkley’s annual village fayre attracted even more entrants than last year for its all-comers dog show – and the class for golden oldies among local canines proved especially popular. First prize went to Tracey with Teabag, her eleven-year-old Bichon Frise. Another old timer, Raffi, took second place – Sue’s 15-year-old Chinese crested hairless.

Fire engines and crews from around north London were called to a massive fire which engulfed one of the large Georgian houses beside Hadley Green. Such was the ferocity of the blaze that for several hours water had to be pumped from Brewers’ Pond just across the green.

Tucked away at a wildlife site in the Barnet green belt is an enchanting array of community gardens which were developed in the 1950s, and which played a part in the early development of organic gardening.

Barnet Environment Centre’s three wildlife ponds are one of the most popular attractions for school pupils and students who visit the seven-and-a-half-acre nature reserve and environment education centre off Byng Road.