News from The Barnet Society

In a break with tradition a service of commemoration was held beside the war memorial at Barnet parish church after the ceremonial wreath laying on Remembrance Sunday.

Alice and Michael Kentish hope a micro gallery at their traditional sweetshop Hopscotch will provide the town’s artistic community with some much-needed exhibition space. Artists and creative groups will be able to take advantage of what Alice Kentish (above) says is their strongly held wish to find ways to help inspire and encourage creativity.

Hunting for an NHS dental appointment is a task which should become easier thanks to software developed by a High Barnet dentist with the aim of matching patients with practices which have spare capacity.

Stonehouse Pizza and Carvery has ceased trading at the Red Lion in High Barnet. A drinks service will continue until the pub’s owners Mitchells and Butler complete the hand over to new tenants.

An urgent appeal is being made for commercial sponsorship towards staging the annual Barnet Christmas Fayre on Sunday 6 December to help pay a £4,700 bill to cover the cost of traffic diversions.

Some residents in roads around Queen Elizabeth’s Boys School have registered objections with Barnet Council over an application to construct a new multi-use sports hall. They fear the four-storey building will dominate the area and generate added traffic congestion.

High praise for entries at this year’s annual exhibition was another boost for the Barnet Guild of Artists as members await the completion of their new purpose-built studio.

Concern about threats to the green belt and the loss of popular open spaces dominated a question-and-answer session held at the annual meeting of Barnet Residents Association.

A second High Barnet public house, The Sebright Arms, in Alston Road, is getting a new lease of life after another successful community-inspired bid to take over the tenancy.

Early next year volunteers aim to start planting what is destined to become a community orchard in Underhill situated in a corner of Barnet Playing Fields, between Ark Pioneer Academy and Grasvenor Avenue.

All the stresses and strains – and sometimes laughter – of everyday life in Barnet during the Second World War are captured in an imaginative and often poignant production at The Bull Theatre.

London Fire Brigade has stepped in to help save any remaining fish by adding up to a foot of water into the Brewery Pond on Hadley Green.

A large mural painted by students at Barnet and Southgate College – which features iconic images of the town – will welcome visitors to High Barnet once a site has been agreed.

After four youngsters on e-bikes and e-scooters caused fresh damage to greens at the Shire London golf course, a group of High Banet residents are hoping to discuss with the club’s management ways to prevent further vandalism.

High Barnet’s former Crown Post Office is to be converted into nine self-contained flats if an application is approved by Barnet Council – a change of use which highlights the rapidly changing nature of the High Street.

Former Chipping Barnet Conservative MP Dame Theresa Villiers has decided to leave the political fray of competitive politics to focus instead on an academic career undertaking advanced postgraduate research at University College London.

After its re-opening as a community-led public house, High Barnet’s historic hostelry the Black Horse is now being fitted out with an up-to-date kitchen – the latest investment by the three regulars who set up a new company to take on the tenancy.

While many natural ponds around the town have dried out due to the prolonged drought and successive heatwaves, the water level at High Barnet’s historic Physic Well has remained constant.

A steady and significant improvement in air quality in Barnet High Street is continuing to be recorded by Barnet Council’s scientific services which indicates that levels of nitrogen dioxide should fall at even faster rates with the growth in the number of electric vehicles.

Cast members are going through their storylines before rehearsals start in September at The Bull Theatre for a new play which aims to portray the life and times of the townspeople of Barnet during the Second World War.