The Barnes Village Bugle

Barnes is re-opening for business

The streets are definitely busier - Saturdays in Barnes can even be described as bustling - and June will see the re-opening of many Barnes businesses.
The Barnes Fish Shop re-opened last week (Tuesday to Sunday 8 till 4pm all week 10 till 4pm Sundays) and shops opening on June 15 include Presents, Maze Gallery and the Clothes Room. 
Other businesses including hairdressers, salons and spas will be able to open from July 4.  
Shopkeepers are are doing risk assessments and looking at how they can keep customers safe, so expect a different shopping experience and don’t forget to take your hand sanitiser and masks with you.
Meanwhile many more restaurants have opened for take-aways. The Olympic Studios, The Awesome Thai and Rick Stein are selling take-aways already and Church Road will launch a online ordering and delivery service on its website on Tuesday the 9th June (with meals cooked at its Michelin-starred sister restaurant Elystan Street in Chelsea available on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays).
There’s definitely pent-up demand - as we write this, people are queuing outside the Olympic Café for take-away pastries, salads, cakes, home-made ice cream and afternoon teas (available 8.30am to 5.00pm). At Rick Stein’s they’ve launched an online app for take-away ordering. 
However, the launch of a take-away service at the Waterman’s Arms has stirred up controversy. While some people have praised the way the pub has tried to ensure social distancing, people living nearby have huge concerns about the crowds of people the pub has attracted  on recent balmy days.
The neighbourhood forum NextDoor Barnes has been alive with discussion about the pub and we have been contacted by one nearby resident who says that the pub has been drawing crowds of “well over 100 people” with drinkers standing on the river pathway opposite making it difficult for people to pass safely. She says “It feels as if we are now living across the road from a beer garden with all the disturbance, noise and lack of privacy issues that you expect.” 
As more businesses re-open, concerns about social distancing will only increase. As the crowds in Barnes this weekend have shown some people are now more relaxed about the situation which will inevitably cause anxiety for those trying to observe social distancing more strictly.

‘Tactical Urbanism’ in Barnes receives coverage in the Telegraph

“What’s tactical urbanism?” we hear you say. Well it’s alive and kicking in Barnes and you can find it right outside Londis, & Feast and The Ginger Pig.
With narrow pavements, queuing responsibly was proving very difficult, tempers were fraying and shopkeepers were concerned, but a simple solution was on hand – coning off the parking spaces outside to given more space for queuing. Rather than wait for the council to address the issue the BCA ordered some cones from Amazon and enlarged the queuing space. They are now in discussion with the council about making the change permanent.
Our urbanista response has now received coverage in the Telegraph who interviewed BCA trustee Raphael Zachary Younger. 

Your own private view of some of Barnes' most beautiful gardens

While groups of up to six can now meet in gardens that doesn’t help charity FiSH, which has had to cancel one of its biggest fundraising initiatives - the Barnes Open Gardens scheme. They had been planning to run it on June 7 but now in its place has emerged a rather wonderful project - a virtual open gardens giving access to over 30 beautiful Barnes gardens – even more than you would have been able to visit if the live event had been able to go ahead.
There are some spectacular gardens on display and they range from enviably large gardens designed by top garden designers to lovingly tended smaller plots. There’s a chance to see what’s behind the door at the Barnes Bowls Club (it’s enchanting) enjoy what must be Barnes’ largest garden at the St Michael’s vicarage and to take a sneak peak at garden designer Esra Parr’s own garden.
The site is free to view but FiSH would love it if visitors could make a small donation after visiting. They’d also love it if the combined social media power of Barnes could spread the news about the site far and wide. “Please tweet about it, put it on your Facebook and Instagram feeds, send links to friends” says Fish Director Micky Forster.

She adds “While lockdown eases for many of us, our older more vulnerable neighbours remain isolated at home and will need FiSH’s help more than ever. Currently our buses are ferrying food and medicines and taking people to hospital. Our volunteers are shopping and manning phone lines. Every donation from the virtual open gardens will go towards these very important services and help us resume our normal services once all of this is finally over.”
The project wouldn’t have been possible were it not for local volunteers including the Bugle (our business Great Little Websites put together the site). Some of the larger gardens were filmed by director and cameraman Chris O’Donnell and FiSH volunteer Ian Hancock filmed many others. Another local business, Mindplan Productions, edited  footage and the result is a selection of beautiful films on a wonderfully charming website (if we do say so ourselves).
Kate Levy who runs Mindplan Productions says: “I fell in love with some of the gardens while I was editing the footage. My company normally produces videos for corporate clients and we also provide a service where we edit self-shot videos for retailers and smaller businesses to sit on their websites and social media accounts, so we were very well placed to support this project.  It was a real privilege to be able to help FISH. We really hope people enjoy their garden visits, share the site  with their friends and of course donate! These gardens are a  treat."   

More blooming news

Many thanks to Jane Cockerill for this picture

While the Open Gardens project has mostly celebrated back gardens, any stroll around Barnes will reveal how beautifully presented some of our front gardens are. Each year the BCA celebrates this with its annual Barnes in Bloom front gardens award. Volunteers from the BCA will be walking the streets identifying gardens with charm and great planting.
“As well as making Barnes beautiful, lovely front gardens do so much more” says BCA Chair Nicki Urquhart. “With so many gardens being paved over to make way for cars we’re losing spaces for wildlife and important soak-away areas for rainwater which help prevent flooding. We hope that by celebrating front gardens with our award certificates we’re encouraging people to continue to look after these very valuable spaces. We’re really grateful to have sponsorship from Laurent Properties to help us run this important scheme.”

From this to this...

Recent glorious weather and a fourfold increase in visitor numbers has meant that areas of the common have had to be fenced off to protect our special ‘acid grassland’. The Common is a local nature reserve and the acid grassland is a very rare piece of habitat – hence the fencing.
Mike Hildesley of the Friends of Barnes Common says “Many people have been visiting the Common for the first time and it is understandable that some of them weren’t aware of the damage they might have been causing to this fragile habitat.
“We’ve been enormously encouraged to speak with people who had discovered he Common for the first time: one person, self-employed and living on his own in a small flat, said his new daily walks  stopped him 'going mad in lockdown' and made him feel better than he has felt for a long time, mentally and physically. We are sure he is not alone.
“We love seeing so many people enjoying the Common and would like to invite everyone (whether enjoying the Common or Leg o'Mutton or Vine Road Rec) to become a Friend - it costs nothing - and is easy to do via our website, where people can learn much more about the Common and what we do.
“We have done some mowing under trees in the meadow to provide picnic areas, but we are keen not to mow more than necessary as we want as much as possible to survive to seed, given the challenging conditions. Border areas could be critical this year.”
Other issues the Friends of Barnes Common are contending with are litter, the proliferation of rope swings and increased risk of fire.
Litter – the increased volume is almost entirely due to picnics and drinks cans. The litter bins can be clogged with pizza boxes and overflow. It’s worth knowing that litter collected from Common rubbish bins isn’t recycled and if you do take a picnic to the Common it’s best to take your rubbish back home with you.
Rope swings – Somebody apparently put up a sign purporting to be from the Friends of Barnes Common to say that the FoBC was keen to protect them. In fact the FoBC is under instructions from the Council to remove them - they are not permitted in parks at any time.
Fire risk - So far there have been four fires, with one needing a fire brigade call out. The FoBC say two of these were deliberately set. The others they suspect were due to cigarettes.
All fires and BBQs are prohibited in any open space by a general Public space protection order.
Mike Hildesley says “we’re actually very pleased with how few BBQs we have had to deal with - the count is so far just four, and those responsible were understanding once the issues were explained. One of the biggest problems is how to extinguish them safely after use as they can take a long time to burn out/cool off and need to be supervised: few users ever think to bring enough water to douse them. The scorched area beneath them can take years to recover and disposal into a bin or bushes is a recipe for disaster! 

The masked marvel

Not surprisingly one of the biggest topics of conversation on the WhatsApp group that many of our local shopkeepers belong to is how to keep their staff safe once non-essential shops are allowed to re-open.
Face-masks will be essential and thanks to the efforts of optician Natasha Beckwood of Focal Point many of our retailers will be wearing clear plastic faceguards.
Natasha has made the guards herself using cheap spectacle frames and clear plastic book coverings. She’s been lent the tools to make the masks by local bookbinder Mark Cockram and has sold the masks to her fellow retailers at cost price. She’s made nearly 160 facemasks so far and given how uncomfortable most PPE is to wear she’s been very careful to make them as comfortable as possible

Who needs Chelsea Flower show when we have North Worple Way!

When the Chelsea Flower show had to be cancelled this year it meant a disappointing end to the dreams of many exhibitors and particularly garden designers who had been given the rare opportunity to build one of the prestigious show gardens.
One designer who missed out was Mortlake based Tom Massey who had collaborated with Yeo Valley to design a garden inspired by the wildlife friendly habitats at Yeo Valley’s organic dairy farms.
Had the show been able to go ahead, visitors would have been treated to a garden featuring a stream and naturally planted pasture with a wildlife lake and egg-shaped steam bent natural hide.
Instead some of the plants destined for the garden have ended up making a wonderful display outside Tom’s North Worple Way offices and the remainder of the plants were donated to hospitals.
You can see a feature on the planning for Tom’s garden on the Chelsea Flower Show’s online virtual flower show (all the rage these days!) and it’s worth popping up to North Worple way to see the lovely display outside his offices.

Fund set up to replace stolen defibrillator

All crimes are sad but some are pretty despicable, and the theft of the defibrillator outside the Essex House Surgery on Station Road is definitely the latter. 
A witness saw a man in his twenties wearing a blue hoodie take it off the wall and run down the High Street and then Stanton Road with it. She assumed he was taking it to help somebody who was unwell because she couldn’t believe anyone would steal a defibrillator.
The BCA is appealing for any information that might lead to its recovery to contact the police quoting crime number 0704916/20.
Thankfully local residents have decided to raise funds to replace it and their GoFundMe page has raised a fantastic £1500. Nicki Urquhart of the BCA says “It’s fantastic that such a large sum of money has been raised so quickly as it will cost £2000 to replace the defibrillator.”

Bridge update

With TfL receiving a government bailout of £1.6 billion as a result of a loss of fare income, speculation is rife online about the fate of Hammersmith Bridge in the fallout from the Coronavirus crisis.
With a potential bill of up to £120 million for the bridge’s repair to be covered and a huge government deficit on the cards some people are speculating that the bridge may never be re-opened to traffic.
However speculation is all it is, as, with many things these days, it is impossible to predict what is going to happen.
The cost of the current works on the bridge and potentially the costs of the proposed new pedestrian bridge are apparently covered by the initial £25 million grant made by TfL before Covid-19 hit and work is continuing on the assumption that bridge repairs will continue. 

Cocktail-loving Barnes man’s lockdown diary ‘sets the internet on fire’

There’s nothing like a disingenuous headline and the one above is a classic example of that, for the lockdown diary in question belongs to Barnes’ very own A-lister Stanley Tucci.

Tucci is holed away in Barnes with his wife, 5 children (aged between 2 and 20) and a university friend of his older children. It is, by all accounts, not a quiet life.
His highly entertaining diary published in the Atlantic magazine has been receiving all sorts of media coverage including pieces in The Times and The Independent.
The diary reveals that 5pm is cocktail hour in the Tucci household, and as a public service during lockdown, he has made an instructional video, passing on the secrets of a perfect Negroni. According to chat show host James Corden, who interviewed him recently, this video “set the internet on fire”. You can see the Negroni recipe here and as a special bonus Tucci gave a Martini masterclass on Corden’s show which you can find here.

Virtual Children's Literature Festival attracts the stars

Stanley Tucci has been doing more than just making cocktails: he's also one of the many people that have lent their star quality to an online version of the Barnes Children's Literature Festival.

The virtual festival goes live today (June 9) and online treats include Stanley Tucci reading Britain's favourite picture book 'The Tiger Who Came to Tea.' Tiger was of course written by Barnes' own Judith Kerr who died last year and another unmissable festival event celebrating her life will feature Lauren Child and Axel Scheffler remembering their dear friend's remarkable life and work with the children's books editor of The Sunday Times, Nicolette Jones.

Other famous names taking part include the current Children's Laureate Cressida Cowell of 'How to Train Your Dragon' fame, TV historian and author Dr Lucy Worsely, paralympian Ade Adepitan and Countryfile star 16 year old Dara McAnulty.

Barnes is the only top tier literature festival that is completely organised and delivered by more than 130 volunteers from every major Barnes school, charity and community organisation and book fans from all over London. No-one receives any payment for their time or contribution including founder and director Amanda Brettargh, who describes the Festival as 'literacy lovingly wrapped in community.'

'We're very proud of the fact that Barnes is organised by families for families and we have faced the same challenges they have over the past few months, juggling working from home with caring for little ones, as well as home schooling, fitting in the vacuuming, the supermarket and volunteering in their communities. They've done such a wonderful job of staying at home that we wanted to support them by bringing the best of Barnes to them for free. Families will be able to enjoy all their favourite authors together at home as well as a few new events we're bringing to the kitchen table! 

Cyclists return to Richmond Park

Cyclists have now been allowed to return to Richmond Park on weekdays before 10am and after 4pm. The immediate families of children aged 12 and under will also be allowed to cycle with them.
Cycling was temporarily banned in the park (other than for under 12s and NHS workers) at the end of March to help with social distancing and prevent congestion at the park gates.
The latest changes mark a gradual reintroduction of cycling to provide access for weekday commuters, but key workers on their way to work will still be allowed to cycle through at any time.
The Royal Parks will monitor and measure the impact of the re-introduction and whether any further measures are required. 

Crisis Kitchen serves 1,000 meals a week

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When the OSO had to close as a result of social distancing their cafe kept going, switching operations from providing lunches at the OSO to cooking for people affected by the Covid-19 crisis. They are now cooking 1,000 meals a week which are being distributed by frontline agencies to individuals and families in need. Many children who have been missing out on free school meals have benefitted from the Crisis Kitchen and the NHS staff from Charing Cross Hospital who have been given free accommodation at The Bridge pub have also been receiving meals from the kitchen.

The project which will continue until the end of June would not have been possible without funding coming from The Barnes Fund who have contributed £12,000 for ingredients, as well as council grants, donations from local residents and Vipin Patel at Natsons.

The OSO has also been providing a useful donation point for our local foodbank and over the past couple of months they have received a staggering 3 tonnes of food in donations from Barnes residents.

You can drop off food at the OSO between 10.00am and 12 noon Monday to Saturday.

The OSO's huge programme of online arts events has been going from strength to strength and there's now a wealth of content on their website. Their 'The House is Now Open' initiative has featured an abundance  of acting, writing and music talent that's well worth checking out.

There are some wonderful stories available as part of the The Bedtime In Barnes channel and the latest is a very local affair featuring radio actress Jasmine Hyde reading local author Andrew Wilson's Arnold and Friends - a story featuring the animals around Barnes Pond. You can find more details on the OSO web-site www.osoarts.org.uk.

A sad goodbye to one of our cygnets

Very sadly we are down to just one cygnet. The body of its sibling was found floating in the pond at the end of last month and it is thought that rather than being the victim of a predator (dogs, foxes, stoats and other predators can target cygnets) that it maybe have simply been ill or a weak cygnet that wasn’t meant to make it.
You can read more at the wonderful Instagram account Barnes Pond .

Litterbugs blight towpath

Barnes Common isn’t the only place where litter bins have been overflowing, bins along the tow path have been packed to bursting. These overflowing bins get incredibly smelly in the warm weather and attract flies and vermin, and what’s more absolutely none of the contents will be recycled.
The Tidy Towpath voluntary group has been unable to meet due to social distancing so has had to look on in sorrow as these eyesores blot the landscape.
The group have been in touch with the Waterman’s Arms to discuss ways of reducing waste following their re-opening for take-away service (they say the pub has been very responsive to suggestions) and have also been appealing to the council for help.
However they’d like to appeal to everyone using the towpath to think about taking their rubbish home with them. They say ”All of us, including our young people, care about their planet and their future. Everyone wants to help. What a difference we could make if everyone realised just how important it is to take our rubbish home."

Huge queues at Townmead Rd

Speaking of rubbish, the opening of the Townmead Road tip has inevitably led to huge queues. At one stage the council was reporting a waiting time of two hours to get into the tip. Things have calmed down now but you can still expect a long wait if you have rubbish to get rid of. If you do need to go to the tip, there is currently a Twitter account with updates throughout the day reporting on the length of the queue. You can find it at twitter.com/CentreTownmead
If you have garden waste you can avoid a hideous queue by signing up for the council’s garden waste collection bag scheme. £16.40 will buy you 10 special bags which will be picked up outside your house in a fortnightly collection – read more about the scheme here.

Murder at the bookclub

If anyone has ever dreamt of murdering a member of their bookclub (perish the thought) a new crime novel from local author Victoria Dowd is just the book to choose for your next get together.
The Smart Woman’s Guide to Murder is a modern day take on the classic Agatha Christie locked room murder genre. A young woman is an unintended guest at her mother’s book club annual trip away to a suitably gothic mansion only to see the thin veneer of the bookclub’s members’ friendship being washed away after the house is snowed in and a body is discovered in the garden . The plot is full of twists and turns and online reviewers have called it light, entertaining and witty and a treat for lovers of Agatha Christie.

You can order Victoria's book at the Barnes Bookshop.

The long and the short of it

Lockdown has proved to be creatively fruitful for some and unsurprisingly led to a slew of entries into the Barnes Literary Society's Short Story competition. The challenge was to write a story with the title 'Almost too late' and the the winning entry came from Julian Walford. It won rave reviews from judge Roger McGough who described it as 'A chilling tale set in pre-war Germany, and we sympathise immediately with poor Wilhelmine and Otto. But not for long. With the Sicherheitspolizei in the background,  it is a story taut with fear and betrayal.’ Read Julian's story below:

New shop for Church Road and new restaurant in White Hart Lane

A very cool new fashion shop will be opening in the site  previously occupied by the Barnes Bookshop on Church Road
owner Nikki Kirsopp is opening the second branch of her Sheen emporium Editor 37. Expect cutting edge fashion brands for men and women (at last men’s clothes to buy in Barnes) including Reiko Jeans, Paper London, Far Afield and Unfeigned.

Meanwhile over on White Hart Lane the site that was Annie's is being refitted and a brand new Thai restaurant is about to open (albeit for take-away only at the moment).

The new restaurant's owner Camile says "We are committed to the idea that fast food doesn’t have to mean unhealthy food. The research, planning and care that goes into the food we produce and serve is what makes our world go round. Because we want to support balanced food choices, our calorie and macronutrient counts are lab-tested by a certified nutritionist and we have food that caters to vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free and, of course, treats days. 

"With 100% biodegradable and compostable packaging, we are committed to make a change and reduce our environmental impact by going the extra mile.

We have been waiting a while to open a restaurant in Barnes and whilst it seems like a crazy time to do so, we have decided to just open for collection and home delivery for now."