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Tea parties and storms in teacups. How Barnes is celebrating the Jubilee 

E ven though the planned centrepiece of Barnes’s Jubilee celebrations – the closing of Barnes High Street for the afternoon of Saturday June 4 - is no longer going ahead there is a dizzying array of Jubilee celebrations to look forward to over the long weekend.

The cancellation of the High Street closure came after local objections to re-routing of buses and led first to a twitter storm and then to a media storm in a teacup in which the story of the cancelled party made it to local newspapers and was then picked up by The Daily Mail and The Times as well as the Chris Evans and Jeremy Vine radio shows.

However, as you can see from our guide below, Jubilee jamborees aren’t thin on the ground, and, despite the High St party itself being called off, shops and pubs along the High Street and across Barnes are still going to be getting out the bunting or - in the case of Orange Pekoe and The Barnes Pharmacy – sporting fabulous painted windows.

The BCA will also be throwing open the doors of Rose House on Saturday June 4 and are hoping that Saturday shoppers will pop in and join them for a glass of Pimms or Prosecco between 2pm and 4pm.

Street parties abound too and 21 streets across Barnes will be closed for parties with sixteen of them opting to hold their parties on Sunday. You can see the full list of roads closed for parties across Richmond here.
 

Our bumper Jubilee guide

The groovy Jubilee at

The Olympic's mini-fest

At the Olympic the Cinema, Café & Dining Room, Club and outside terrace will all open as usual for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Afternoon tea, fit for a Queen, will be served from midday to 6pm daily - with a boozy option available.

DJ Roger and his team from Olympic Records, will be on the decks from 1pm - 5pm on the terrace. There is also a pop-up outdoor bar open from midday serving draft beers, wines and spritzers

There’s even a giant outdoor TV screen allowing you to catch all the Jubilee coverage as you groove to Roger’s DJ selection whilst necking fizz and scones.

Roll out the barrel:

How our pubs are celebrating

The Coach and Horses 
They’re really going to town at the Coach and the centrepiece of their celebrations will be their very own street party in their beautiful big beer garden. The purple bunting is already up and will be joined by long community tables and live music at 1pm. You can choose your own food from the pub’s menu and children can order special Jubilee Happy Meals including a golden crown and a fun toy. You can add to the fun by having your photo taken with the pub’s life-size Queen cut out or seeking out the Coach’s very own Corgi.

There are other Jubilee events on Thursday and Friday too with a burger eating competition on Thursday afternoon – you’ll need to sign up to participate before the event starts at 1pm.

The challenge is to see who can eat the pub’s supersized Monarch burger the fastest and each participant will be rewarded for their gluttony with a pint of Camden Hells Lager. The winner will get a bottle of Rosé Champagne and, says the pub, ‘bragging rights’, glossing over the potential issues of a bout of indigestion.

On Friday there are bacon bap specials on the menu as well as Jubilee cocktails and on Sunday the Coach is offering a Royal Supper with a special lamb roast to round off the weekend’s celebration.

The Red Lion
In honour of the Jubilee, Fullers have brewed a special Jubilee Ale much of which will be quaffed over the weekend. On Friday the pub is offering afternoon tea with all the trimmings and on Saturday there’ll be a Barbecue and the unveiling of a specially baked five tier cake. There will also be an air of ceremony at 2pm on Saturday when Red Lion customers will be summoned by the pub bell to stand and give three cheers for Her Majesty.

The Crossing
There will be no burger eating competitions at the Crossing where the Jubilee celebrations are distinctly upmarket. There will be Champagne cocktails, Coronation chicken brioche rolls, cucumber trifle and Pimm’s  on offer for the whole weekend . On Sunday they will be offering their special Sunday Roast followed by a live performance by the wonderful Trio Manouche.

The White Hart
The spectacular river views from the White Hart’s upstairs dining room are being put to great use over the Jubilee weekend with events ranging from live music gigs to proper sit-down feasts. Their Jubilee weekend starts on Friday night with a Right Royal Knees Up with a performance by the funk band Chronicles of Zee. On the Saturday there’s a banquet, no less, with a ‘decadent and sumptuous’ four course lunch with wine pairings and on Sunday there’s a Royal Roast and a Royal Bloody Mary station on hand ready to offer a hair of the dog to those still recovering from Saturday’s festivities.

The Brown Dog
The team at the Dog will be laying on the barbecue as part of Westfield Avenue’s street party and on Sunday the classic Brown Dog Sunday Roast will have some surprise additions. And if you want to raise a toast to Her Majesty, The Brown Dog is the place to do it as they are offering half price bubbly across the weekend.

More tea vicar?: What's on at our cafés and churches?

From left: Orange Pekoe Jubilee Tea, St Mary's Jubilee Party Poster

What could be more traditional than tea and cakes? Thanks to our cafés and churches you can lift your pinkie finger up with pride this Jubilee weekend.

At Orange Pekoe you can enjoy one of their fabulous cream teas in the café itself or take one home to enjoy at your own celebrations. It features a very special Platinum Jubilee tea blend (created from the finest golden Assam tips blended with large leaf Kenyan black tea) some marvellous cakes and a beautiful Corgi biscuit.

Meanwhile the most quintessentially British celebration of the whole weekend will be held in the bunting-strewn church yard at St Mary’s on Friday June 3 (3-5pm). You can pop in for tea, strawberries and scones and listen to the jazz stylings of the Gerard Gregg-Smith Jazz Quartet. Nice.

The big picnic at the London Wetland Centre

The London Wetland Centre is setting aside an enormous area for a picnic on Sunday June 5 (12 noon to 3pm). You can bring your own food or buy sandwiches from the Wetland Centre’s own Kingfisher Café. 

The party has already started... 

Images: FiSH Twitter

Local charity FiSH got its celebrations underway slightly earlier with a grand tea party at the Barnes Green Centre on Wednesday June 1st. Attendees were greeted with newly planted pots by the entrance with the soil delivered courtesy of the Friends of Barnes Common (picture above) and there was a special visit by FiSH patron Anneka Rice - seen above with one of FiSH's centenarian members Vi.

Toll funding tender moves bridge repair one step closer

In a clear indication that Hammersmith & Fulham Council is looking to fund its share of the repair costs to Hammersmith Bridge via a toll, an invitation has been issued to invite ‘potential contractors, equity investors and debt providers with construction experience’ to express interest in the pending strengthening works on the bridge. 

The Prior Information Notice (PIN) is a kind of ‘save the date’ communication in advance of the formal publication of a contract notice on October 1.

The publication of the PIN came out of the blue and we understand neither local MP Sarah Olney nor the bridge Task Force were made aware of the PIN in advance.

H&FC Council leader Stephen Cowan has always made it clear that external funding would have to be sought by the council in order to allow it to pay its 1/3rd share of the repair costs (overall costs for the bridge works have been estimated at between £80 and £130 million). The obvious solution is a toll and Councillor Cowan has been very clear that any such toll will only be charged to non residents of Hammersmith and Fulham. Any clarity on what the actual toll might be is further down the line but the figure of £3 per crossing has been bandied about before.

Brazen bikers lead to the introduction of chicanes on bridge walkways

Image: Barnes Community Association Twitter 

We’ve all been there, walking along the narrow walkways either side of the bridge only to find ourselves being asked to move out of the way by a cyclist who has decided to ignore the many signs requesting that they dismount. Polite notices don’t seem to cut it for some cyclists who are reluctant to get off their bikes, so chicanes have been introduced at the entrances and exits to the paths to try to impede the progress of rule breakers. Have they worked? We’re not so sure. This week the Bugle saw a bicycle delivery rider in full commercial livery flick a V to the bridge marshal who asked him to dismount, ride quite skilfully through the chicane and then barge his way through the pedestrians crossing the bridge. 

The BCA gets a new director

The BCA has new director who is going to be responsible for the day-to-day running of the BCA’s activities. Gillian de Soyres is a former Barnes resident who now lives in Twickenham and has a background of working for local authorities and local community-based charities. She says she was drawn to the role at the BCA because it unites her passion for “community empowerment and sustainable development”.
We hope to publish an interview with Gillian in a future Bugle so watch this space.

Belgravia comes to Barnes

No, that headline isn’t fair warning that Barnes is about to become even posher, it’s actually about a sustainable initiative from Barnes’s very own internationally-renowned flower arranger Judith Blacklock.

Every year to coincide with Chelsea Flower Show, businesses in Belgravia put on a floral show and as Judith’s flower arranging school is based in Belgravia she is one of Belgravia in Bloom’s leading lights.

Her contribution to the floral Jubilee tributes that abounded this year was a dramatic maypole decorated with ribbons and adorned with seasonal flowers. Judith’s own granddaughter Penny, together with some of her friends from Lowther Primary School, came to the visit the maypole and dance around it on May 23rd. Now that Belgravia in Bloom is over some of the plants from Judith’s installation are coming back to Barnes to be planted in Lowther School’s own gardens.

G'day mate

Our brand-new bakery The Lockdown Bakehouse on Church Road has now opened and is giving off distinctly antipodean vibes.

If you’re an Aussie (or a Kiwi) and been missing your Lamingtons, Tim Tams and Minties the Bakehouse is the place to satisfy your cravings. They even have Vegemite on offer and a totally authentic Australian mince and cheese pie.

And if you’ve never been closer to Australia than Bognor there’s still lots of the shelves to tempt you, from freshly baked breads to sausage rolls to all manner of buns and brownies.

Mention the Bugle when you visit this weekend and they’ll give you a free sustainable carrier bag too. Bonzer.

The bigger, better Barnes Film Festival is only weeks away

The Barnes Film Festival is starting to make quite a name for itself in the film world, attracting seriously eminent figures to its workshops and talks whilst also generating a hugely interesting variety of entries to its film competition.  Now in its 7th year, the festival runs from 16th-22nd June 2022 at Olympic Studios and Old Sorting Office in Barnes and Riverside Studios in Hammersmith as well as running content online.

The festival’s focus is on nurturing young talent, and the workshop elements give those who are interested in a career in film the chance to pick the brains of some of the best in the business. This year’s topics include a masterclass in film poster art, the secrets of VFX with Peter Eszenyi (Blade Runner 2049) and a short course covering all the aspects of pitching projects.
 
On Sunday June 19, the festival has events focused on climate change including: BAFTA masterclass – Sustainability in film, Eco Panel on water pollution & the ‘WaterBear’ original documentary People vs Pipeline: The Cost of Crude Oil.

All the films in competition are being shown either at The Olympic, OSO or at Riverside Studios and it’s well worth checking out what’s being shown as you’ll be getting an introduction to the skills and talents of the next generation of filmmakers, screenings are often followed by Q&As with the film makers. Entries range from documentaries to fiction shorts. As well as films from up-and-coming new talents the festival will also be the venue for world premieres of some very interesting films including ‘Speed is Expensive’ - the rise and the fall of the Vincent motorcycle, narrated by Ewan McGregor.

The festival showcases filmmaking talent from across the UK together with award-winning films from around the world and some of the most important films it will be screening this year are from Ukraine. In collaboration with the Guardian the BFF will be presenting a specially curated selection of documentaries made before the current war and shown by the Kyiv-based Ducudays UA film festival.

Whether you’re a filmmaker, or a film fan looking to discover something new, it looks like there’s something at Barnes Film Festival for everyone.

Local charity wins major award

The brilliant local charity Activity Station has been awarded The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service, the highest award a local voluntary group can receive in the UK which is equivalent to an MBE. 

The Award aims to recognise outstanding work by local volunteer groups to benefit their communities. It was created in 2002 to celebrate The Queen’s Golden Jubilee. Recipients are announced each year on the anniversary of The Queen’s Coronation, June 2nd. 

Activity Station provides children & young adults with disabilities access to a range of fun and inclusive activities and social events in Barnes and Richmond. Activities offered include singing, drumming, cookery, drama, music, dance, art, pottery, sports camps, discos and days out. It also holds exclusive events that all the family can enjoy from sensory cinema days to Christmas pantos.

These invaluable sessions would not be possible without the generous financial support of local trusts, charities, local businesses and individuals.

From the first lockdown in April 2020, Activity Station was the first charity in its sector to set up its activities virtually, providing ten different activity sessions each week ensuring that all users had online access to fun and social activities with continual support during and post pandemic.

For many who could not leave their care homes or family homes, these virtual sessions provided a focus to their day, connection with friends as well as stimulating activities.

Activity Station says that it is thrilled and honoured to receive the award and that it would  like to thank all the carers and parents who have supported the charity from 2014 until today.  

This quote from a regular attendee's mother says it all:  "I have to say that Activity Station has been a real lifeline for Nathan. Everything he was used to stopped so abruptly and without him having any understanding of what's going on. Your zoom sessions have been wonderful for him - he loves them and it's been great to watch him becoming more and more confident and joining in everything. I love the fact that although they do slightly different things each week there's a core of familiarity which continues throughout - so important for someone with autism like Nathan - he feels comfortable with the familiar and much happier to join in if he knows what's going on. He loves it all - Music, Drama and Drumming!"  

Seven swans a swimming

Our two adult swans and their five cygnets continue to be the star attraction in Barnes Pond as well as on Beverley Brook where the parents take their brood for a daily perambulation. The lovely shot above was sent in by Nicola Salamoney who caught the swans hitching a ride on their mother’s back as she swam along the brook.

Paving the way

Images: Barnes Community Association Twitter

Taking a stroll along Barnes Green and then pausing at a bench to admire the view is one of everybody’s favourite Barnes pastimes. However, after a stretch of heavy rain, the ‘taking a seat’ part of the deal is often not possible, as the areas under benches have been quagmires. All that has now changed. Thanks to work from Richmond Council, urged on by the Barnes Community Association, muddy feet will be a thing of the past as several benches on the green now sit on lovely new paving stones. And as well as newly paved bench bases the Green is now sporting a freshly painted fence – all very spick and span in time for the Jubilee.

Advertorial

High Street works delayed again

Perhaps the word of 2022 should be ‘delay’. As the world recovers from the impact of Covid nothing seems to be going smoothly at the moment and that seems to apply just as much to the planned work on Barnes High Street as to delays to flights at all our airports.

We hear that the current planned timing for commencement of the works (originally scheduled for January) is June 20. Don’t hold your breath. 

Barnes florist's floral rabbit

is the toast of Chelsea

To accompany Chelsea Flower Show it wasn’t just Belgravia that was ‘in Bloom’ (see story above). All across Chelsea itself different premises were festooned with flowers.

One of the very best displays was outside Rabbit (a sustainable field-to-fork restaurant) on the King’s Road. A giant Peter Rabbit lolling in a garden was created by Barnes florist ZuZu of Maison Maioli who took six days and nearly 7,000 flower heads to make the extraordinary display.

ZuZu was commissioned to create the super-sized display by the restaurant's owners who are regular customers at her White Hart Lane shop.

The brief was to produce 'something outrageous' and she more than fulfilled the objectives. "It was one of the most exhausting things I've ever done" says Zuzu. "It was super stressful at the time but now I can look back with pride. It was definitely a one-off commission and there were all sorts of unknowns like understanding how dried flowers react to being left out in the rain. It turns out they dry off and look fine but I had a few sleepless nights worrying about how rain might ruin the display."

Zuzu and the restaurant have been rewarded for their imagination and hard work with a silver medal from the RHS and lots of social media coverage. "We popped up in Instagram feeds for Tatler, Time Out and Claridges and it's really lovely that people liked the installation and have even commissioned me to do other work on the back of it." says Zuzu.

 Calling all young skateboarders

As the planning for the new Vine Road Skate Park is underway, the Friends of Barnes Common are looking to involve young members of the community in the brainstorming for the design and programming. 

As part of this on June 11 they are organising a tour of other local skate parks that will provide examples, and hopefully spark new ideas. After attending this event, those participating will be encouraged to join in a follow up survey/discussion, and be asked to keep in touch for further consultation.

The event is suitable for young people ages 10+, with parental consent and the Friends will be providing transportation to the parks.

This is a free event, but since space is limited, booking is required to avoid disappointment. You can book on Eventbrite.

Did the earth move?

T hanks to generous funding by the Chapman Trust the Friends of Barnes Common have been able to carry out soil scraping on the Common to restore some of the acid grassland on Mill Hill. 

Lowland Acid Grassland (LAG) is a nationally scarce habitat which exists on dry, acidic, sandy soil and can support many species of plants and invertebrates.

Nutrient build up caused by dog fouling, pollution and a lack of grazing leads to a change in the pH of the soil which means that the plant assemblages associated with acidic soils can no longer survive and are outcompeted by other more common species.

Soil scraping removes the top layer of nutrient rich soil to expose the sandy soil underneath. With nearby areas of acid grassland providing a seed stock, the scrape should be restored to its former biodiverse beauty.

As part of the project a Hibernaculum - a shelter for reptiles and amphibians made by covering logs and stones with soil - has also been built.
 

Excitement mounts as the Children's Literature Festival comes to town

More exciting than any circus or funfair is the imminent arrival of the Barnes Children’s Literature Festival whose tents will appear on Barnes Green over the weekend of June 25 & 26.

The festival is now so full of fantastic events for children that it is bursting at the seams and will be popping up in venues all over Barnes including at The London Wetland Centre, Lowther School and St Osmund’s as well as the Barnes Methodist Church and the Castelnau Community Centre. There are book readings with famous authors, fabulous hands-on workshops- including model making with Aardman animations -and some great performances for children.

Famous names taking part include Stephen Mangan, Adam Kaye, comedian and Horrible Histories star Simon Farnaby plus writer and comedian David Baddiel. There are stellar children’s authors and illustrators too, including Lauren Child, Piers Torday and Axel Scheffler.

The Festival is a huge success story and that success is due both to its indefatigable organiser Amanda Brettargh and a team of 150 brilliant volunteers.

Tickets are selling fast so if you want to secure a place at one of the Festival’s many events now is the time to check out the programme on its website.  

Sewing the seeds of love

The gift of flowers has always been an expression of love so what better way for us all to demonstrate our love for our community than to nurture the mini flower beds that have been planted at the base of trees across Barnes?

The planting was carried out with the help of our local Brownie pack (above) and now it is our turn to make sure that the seeds turn into seedlings which thrive and grow by watering the tree bases in our streets.

Otterly lovely

I f you are a feeling in need of a pick-me-up we can’t do better than point you towards some charming pictures posted by the Wetland Centre to celebrate May 25 which was World Otter Day. The London Wetland Centre is home to two otters Honey and Tod who can be visited any time when you tour the lovely Wetlands. Apparently, it is very easy to spot which otter is which. Tod is always active, running and swimming whereas Honey likes to relax especially on warm, sunny days.

If you think June's great in Barnes wait for July...

No sooner have two festivals ended than two more grand fêtes arrive. Now’s the time to put the dates in your diary for both Barnes Fair and the brilliant Barnes Pond Summer Festival.

Barnes Fair will be held on Saturday July 9 returning after a two-year absence. Over 300 hundred exhibitors will be taking part in this year’s fair offering fashion, jewellery, gifts and homeware, and there will be food and drink stalls from local restaurants including The Crossing, Rick Stein and The Brown Dog.

The wonderful Galloper’s Carousel will also return along with the Helter Skelter and mini-roundabout. 

Following on from the Fair the Barnes Pond Summer festival will offer all sorts of open air treats throughout what the organisers hope will be a balmy Barnes summer.
The festival kicks off on Friday 22 July with an outdoor ballet performance of the Secret Garden.

On Saturday 23 July, you will be able to relax with opera on the green from Joe Davies’ Cumbria Opera. The musical entertainment continues into the evening with a Bob Dylan tribute band. 

On Sunday 24 July, the iconic Basil Brush will be performing live. In the evening, the Comedy Store will be delivering their first live stand up comedy show on Barnes Green with sets from the fabulous Zoe Lyons and Paul Sinha. Not to be missed!
Find out more on the OSO’s website.

Oh the glamour!

St Osmund’s PTA is throwing quite a shindig at the beginning of July – a Hollywood Glamour Summer Ball which will be held at the Dukes Meadow Golf Club. There’ll be dinner, drinks and dancing and a live auction. Tickets cost £85 and are available either from a parent of the school or by emailing  stosmundsptfa@live.co.uk

Brought to book

Local crime writer Victoria Dowd has a new book out -  the fourth in her series of Smart Women’s Crime Mysteries - and once again her sleuthing heroines, Ursula Smart and her mother Pandora, need to get to work to track down a killer. This time they have to identify who out of 19 guests on an exclusive party on a private island killed crime fiction author Anthony Lovell.

It's a classic ‘closed room’ mystery in the manner of Agatha Christie and you’ll find it at The Barnes Bookshop.

Could you teach English to a refugee?

One of the biggest challenges for Ukrainian and Afghani refugees arriving in the UK is getting to grips with the language and that’s where LEAH – Learning English at Home comes in.

It provides Zoom based English conversation lessons for refugees and as demand for their courses is so high they are looking for more volunteer teachers.

Barnes local Alison Baker is a volunteer and she now teaches English to a new arrival via one 30 minute Zoom session per week. She says “It’s very fulfilling and they give you training if you’ve never taught English before.”

If you would like to volunteer you can find out more about LEAF on their website.

The orange and the green

When we announced the results of the local council elections in last month’s Bugle we incorrectly stated that Barnes was now represented solely by LibDem councils. In fact The Green Party’s Nicki Crookdale has been elected as a councillor in the Barnes and Mortlake Ward.

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