News from The Barnet Society

Barnet sculptor John Somerville, who has captured the image of countless rock stars and writers, is facing what he says is a daunting challenge. He has been commissioned to reproduce the likeness of Millie the Waitrose cat whose death in late January sparked a wave of online tributes to High Barnet’s feline celebrity.

Chipping Barnet foodbank is currently experiencing a spike in demand following the introduction of universal credit which is resulting in some social security claimants finding themselves caught out by the loss of previous benefits.

Well over £1,200 has been donated already by well-wishers towards the cost of a memorial to the 17-year-old tabby Millie who made friends with countless admirers at the Spires shopping centre.

From its new call centre at Bowes Park, volunteers from the North London Samaritans are stepping up their efforts to reach out to help anyone troubled by personal or emotional problems and to advise those most at risk of suicide.

Gary Murphy, landlord at one of High Barnet’s highly-rated real ale pubs, the Mitre, is preparing for the next round of an ongoing campaign to force the pub owners to give publicans of tied houses a fairer deal on rents and the price and choice of beers.

Barnet Band, originally the High Barnet Foresters’ Brass Band, which started performing in 1889 – with just 15 instruments that had cost £42 – is about to reach its 130th anniversary. A special concert is to be held on Saturday 2 February at St James Church, New Barnet, to mark the occasion.

High Barnet’s most precocious feline – Millie, the 17-year-old tabby that has made a name for herself at the Spires shopping centre – is clocking up ever more online fans. After being diagnosed by the vet as having a thyroid problem, Millie is now on medication and back to her usual self.

Barnet’s shock 1-0 defeat of Sheffield United – to reach the fourth round of the FA Cup – has re-awakened tales of other memorable matches from the years Barnet played at the Underhill stadium before the club moved to Edgware in 2013.

“Don’t be mean, keep Barnet clean” is the message on posters which have been appearing outside parks and on street signs around Barnet in a do-it-yourself campaign by local youngsters. Members of a church children’s club have been producing the posters under the direction on their leader Gill Cunnington.

Customers and friends have been paying tribute to High Barnet’s popular milkman, Tam Hughes, whose franchise with Milk and More was terminated at short notice after he had been delivering milk for over 30 years. A collection to say “thank you” has already raised £220 among former customers in Byng Road and Wentworth Road.

Gail Laser, founder of Love Barnet, has won national recognition for the decade she has spent working tirelessly to improve trading conditions in Barnet High Street.

St Mark’s Church, Barnet Vale, is launching an appeal to find out more about the families and relatives of the 29 men whose names are commemorated on a First World War plaque about which little is known.

Paula Gabb says her much-celebrated cat Millie – known locally as Barnet’s “library cat” and latterly “Waitrose” cat – has died “peacefully” after being poorly for some time with a thyroid problem. Millie, a 17-year-old tabby, regularly stationed herself outside the Waitrose entrance in the Spires shopping centre and made friends with countless shoppers and passers-by.

A row of square, flat-roofed houses in Raydean Road are among the buildings in and around Barnet that are highlighted on a website that celebrates modernist and art deco architecture in the London suburbs that became known as Metro-land.

Before Selfies is the title of a collection of photographs taken during the lifetime of Fred Jarvis, Barnet’s oldest and most famous trade union leader.

Fred Howett, a long-standing member of the Barnet Guild of Artists, who helped to organise regular and numerous local exhibitions of members’ art work, has died at the age of 74.

A double-brush Hertfordshire hedge – re-laid in a way passed on by a Romany gipsy who lived at Welham Green – is the latest addition to the Barnet Environment Centre in Byng Road. John Sawkins and his son David have spent the winter months relaying hedges around the boundaries of the environment centre.

Keeping the High Street in High Barnet spick and span gives veteran road sweeper Douglas Shrubb so much satisfaction that he has opted to continue working rather than take retirement. Mr Shrubb, who is 66 in March, has been the dedicated road sweeper for the High Street and Wood Street for the last 13 years.

Millie the Waitrose cat, already dubbed High Barnet’s most sociable feline, has been inundated with good will messages after shoppers at the Spires were told she had recently had a pre-Christmas tummy upset after being given too much unwanted food.

A damp Sunday afternoon did little to dampen the excitement for countless children who enjoyed the traditional fun fair that has become such a popular attraction at Barnet’s annual Christmas Fayre.