News from The Barnet Society

Record hot weather in late April coincided with the earliest reported sightings of swifts who are considered by far High Barnet’s most popular avian visitors each summer.

After the success of last year’s revived Arkley village fayre, the organisers are planning an even more ambitious event for Saturday 31 May at the village field in Brickfield Lane, Arkley.

Former Secretary of State Theresa Villiers, who was Conservative MP for Chipping Barnet until she lost her seat in last year’s general election, has been made a Dame Commander in Rishi Sunak’s resignation honours. Four of her ex-colleagues were promoted to the House of Lords.

After being unable to play at home last year because crows had dug holes in their green, the East Barnet Valley Bowls Club is holding open days at weekends during the coming months in a bid to boost their membership.

A decade long association as a volunteer at the Rainbow Centre, the community hub for the Dollis Valley estate, has been rewarded with a Barnet Council “Inspiration All” award for Patricia Gay in recognition of her dedication and support.

A lifetime’s fascination with the work of the prominent early Baroque painter Caravaggio has led to an unexpected twist in the career of High Barnet painter and art lecturer Keith West.

A small village community of flats and bungalows established by two Holocaust survivors has provided a home over the decades for hundreds of students from all over the world – an achievement celebrated with a visit by the Mayor of Barnet, Councillor Tony Vourou.

Preparations are well underway for the most ambitious programme so far for the popular summer season of concerts beside Jack’s Lake at Monken Hadley Common. Since the festival was launched in 2021, there has been ever growing support for the open-air musical evenings which are held in a woodland glade beside the lake.

An appeal to provide a Christmas present for children living in poverty across the Borough of Barnet is hoping to distribute well over 300 parcels each containing a gift. Presents can be purchased online for distribution by the Young Barnet Foundation as part of its Secret Santa Appeal.

A new leaflet has been published that brings together all the contact details and opening times for urgent medical attention and hospital care that will be available across the Borough of Barnet during the Christmas and New Year holiday. Copies are available in health centres, surgeries, pharmacies, libraries and other public buildings.

The fate of the car park at High Barnet tube station and a critical shortage of general practitioners across the borough were two local issues – in addition to Brexit and climate change – that produced lively exchanges at the Chipping Barnet constituency election hustings.

An ambitious and imaginative portrayal of local history delighted packed audiences at a Son et Lumiere held at Monken Hadley to celebrate the 525th anniversary of the parish church of St Mary the Virgin. Audiences at six performances were warned there would be flashing lights, smoke effects and loud noises inside the church.

Motorists tooted their horns and pedestrians waved back when children at Underhill School held up their “Save Our Planet” posters all along the school fence in Mays Lane, Barnet.

A community farm being established next to Totteridge Academy held a well-attended half-term family day when parents, pupils and children joined working parties to help prepare land and start planting.

Final rehearsals and editing are underway for a Son et Lumiere production at Monken Hadley Church which will celebrate the 525th anniversary of the church’s restoration and which takes its inspiration from the history of Barnet.

A Barnet Museum information sign that told the history of the coaching taverns that once lined Barnet High Street was removed within days after Barnet Council’s highways department declared it was a hazard for pedestrians.

A packed programme of productions has been lined up for the coming months at the Bull Theatre, High Street, Barnet, to help raise £8,000 that is still outstanding for the cost of new seating.

A school and community farm in a six-acre field next to Totteridge Academy is a step closer to being established after the success of a fund-raising appeal.

Barnet Environment Centre is planning to install three bat boxes to help increase the biodiversity of the Byng Road nature reserve.

Councillor Caroline Stock, Mayor of Barnet – and the borough’s wellbeing champion – launched the first of six healthy heritage walks which are being promoted by the council to encourage exercise and an interest in historic points of interest.