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.

After being closed for three months over the summer the former Dory’s Cafe has re-opened as the Corner Cafe at the junction of St Albans Road and Barnet High Street.

High Barnet Islamic Centre, which opened last year, extended its outreach programme of community events with volunteers welcoming over 30 asylum seekers and refugees with a full spread of snacks and refreshments.

Barnet Parish Church was host to family, friends and neighbours – as well as numerous eminent lawyers – for a service of thanksgiving to celebrate the life of former Treasury Solicitor Sir Gerald Hosker who gave Margaret Thatcher critical legal advice at key points during her Premiership.

Access for contractors’ heavy equipment has been established at the site of the former Whalebones smallholding and farmland off Wood Street, Barnet, where Hill Residential are to build 115 new homes.

Local views painted by members of the Barnet Guild of Artists caught the eye of art critic Estelle Lovatt and former guild chair Nichola Hunt on the opening night of the guild’s annual exhibition at the Wesley Hall in Stapylton Road.

This peaceful spinney in Christchurch Lane is a haven of wildlife less than 200 metres from Barnet High Street – but it’s threatened by new building. How can that be? Barnet Council declared a Climate and Biodiversity Emergency in 2022. Its recently-adopted Local Plan contains policies and supplementary planning documents specifically to protect green spaces of all kinds. Mayor Khan has similar planning policies and is currently consulting on London’s first Nature Recovery Plan (LNRS) to reverse biodiversity loss. Surely the spinney’s future is safe? Worryingly, the answer is no.

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.

Despite the widening public provision of defibrillators, the Barnet branch of St John Ambulance is keen to do more to increase people’s confidence in responding to cardiac arrests by embarking on cardiopulmonary resuscitation and defibrillation treatment.

After several ongoing local disputes about the height and density of new blocks of flats residents’ associations have welcomed plans to build 80 family homes on the remainder of the gas works site in Albert Road, New Barnet.

Stephen Kinnock, Minister of State for Care, called in at the brightly lit sensory playroom at the Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice in Byng Road, Barnet, when he met staff and parents. During his visit he confirmed the financial settlement for the next three years for children and young people’s hospices under government funding from NHS England.

A community grocery store where needy residents and families can purchase a shopping basket of items for a minimum payment has opened in North Finchley as part of a growing initiative to provide affordable food.

Delihouse might be the smallest shop in The Spires – and only opened in the summer – but proprietor Jonathan Beecham is already expanding a delicatessen business which started with a Saturday stall at Barnet Market.

Demolition and clearance of the Whalebones smallholding and fields off Wood Street, High Barnet, has moved a step closer with developers having completed the purchase of the site for the construction of an estate of 115 new homes.

After a busy first year organising social events, volunteers at the High Barnet Islamic Centre are planning their next initiative to reach out to the local community – a monthly soup kitchen for homeless people and needy families.

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

Youngsters queued up to sit in the cab of a fire engine and try on a firefighter’s helmet when Barnet Fire Station held its family open day – and it was also an opportunity for parents to learn about other challenges facing the emergency services.

An abundant crop provided an ideal opportunity for the chance to turn surplus fruit into apple juice at an autumn open day in New Barnet organised by the campaign group Incredible Edible.

Honey of exceptional quality collected this summer has been a bonus for members of the Barnet and District Beekeepers' Association during what has been a year of uncertainty for a well-established society.