News from The Barnet Society

After a seven-year campaign New Barnet community activist Ros Howarth finally says farewell to the last remnants of the abandoned public house The Jester which was left wrecked after a fire in 2018.

Such is the depth of local concern over the continued closure of the Black Horse public house that a petition has been launched to gather support for its future to be safeguarded by Barnet Council with an order to declare it an asset of community value.

Artistic director Siobhan Dunne takes the applause at the final performance of Macbeth at The Bull Theatre...and already she is planning the next production by the Blue Door Company, High Barnet’s highly acclaimed drama group.

Kevin Callaghan, proprietor of the Hole in the Wall Cafe – said to be Barnet’s oldest cafe – is temporarily transferring his business to the premises of the former Dory’s Cafe, another local institution, which ceased trading in the summer.  The Hole in the Wall, established in 1935 and hidden behind hoardings on the Great North

Barnet Football Club has launched an appeal against the refusal of Barnet Council to approve an application to build a new stadium at Underhill.

Work is about to begin removing charred debris from inside a fire-ravaged Georgian house on Hadley Green after completion of a delicate operation to construct a framework of scaffolding and supports to stabilise the outer walls.

An award-winning engineer in the development of offshore wind technologies, visiting professor Emily Spearman – who grew up in High Barnet – returned to Queen Elizabeth’s Girls’ School to present prizes at the annual celebration of excellence.

Barnet’s Crown Post Office, which is about to become a franchise operation, will move across the High Street at some point in November to new premises in a former toy shop.

A massive crane has been brought in by contractors to help install scaffolding and internal braces to stabilise the walls of a large Georgian house on Hadley Green which was gutted in a disastrous fire over the May bank holiday.

A little over a year after being elected Labour MP for Chipping Barnet, Dan Tomlinson has been promoted to become a junior minister at the Treasury. In a reshuffle announced by the Prime Minister on the day MPs returned to Westminster, Mr Tomlinson was appointed Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury.

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.

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.

Barnet Museum’s trustees have had to withdraw their bid to save High Barnet’s historic Tudor Hall for community use because of a lack of financial resources to repair and then maintain the building.

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.

The UOE Store group which operates a chain of franchised Post Offices around London and the Home Counties – including at Potters Bar and East Finchley -- is to take over the operation of Barnet Post Office.

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.

Moving the Barnet Medieval Festival – to be held on Saturday and Sunday June 7 and 8 – to a new site on farmland off Galley Lane has attracted heightened interest among military re-enactors who are looking forward to having more space for Wars of the Roses camp sites and displays.

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.

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.