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Clearing up confusion over 24-hour bridge closure dates 

Dates for six complete 24-hour-closures of Hammersmith Bridge are due to be announced on Monday by Hammersmith & Fulham Council.

 

However, details of the closures were released on Friday by local MP Sarah Olney in an email to constituents and have also been circulated widely on local WhatsApp groups and other social media.

 

Unfortunately, it seems that one of the dates shared by Sarah Olney (which had been provided in an email sent by the Highways at Hammersmith & Fulham Council to local councillors and Richmond Council officers), was incorrect. After discussions with councils on both sides of the river the Bugle can confirm that the closures will only ever be on Fridays/Saturdays and will start after rush hour commuting has finished. See the panel above for full details of the dates.

 

In addition to the 24-hour closure dates, the email from Hammersmith & Fulham's Highways team revealed that only one of Hammersmith Bridge's pedestrian walkways will be available for people crossing the bridge between 9am and 3pm on weekdays for around two months from this Monday (October 14) onwards.  This is to allow 'extensive repairs' to be carried out on both walkways.

 

A Richmond Council spokesperson confirmed that the information they received from Hammersmith & Fulham Council was not embargoed and had been shared by Sarah Olney in good faith with the intention of giving local residents as much notice as possible.

 

Hammersmith & Fulham Council has been trailing the fact that the 24 hour closures of the bridge would be needed for months now, and initially its website suggested the closures would take place in September and October. To the best of our knowledge there has been no prior indication that the footpath closures would also be necessary.

 

The total closures of the bridge are required to allow the stabilisation works for the bridge's four pedestals to be completed.

Taken to task

Picture: Alasdair Arthur

The last time the Hammersmith Bridge taskforce met was on November 25, 2021. Now, mirroring the glacial pace at which the bridge is being repaired, it looks like it might meet again in the spring of 2025.

 

The reconvening of the taskforce has come about after considerable lobbying of the new Minister for Local Transport, Simon Lightwood, and London Deputy Mayor, Seb Dance, by Putney MP Fleur Anderson and Richmond Park MP, Sarah Olney.

 

Ms Anderson says that it is a significant step in her long-standing campaign to re-open the bridge saying that the ongoing closure is diverting 22,000 vehicles through her constituency daily. She says the bridge closure has negatively affected local bus services and increased traffic and also caused a significant drop in footfall for local businesses.

 

By spring next year, the results of engineering surveys into the viability of the Foster Cowi temporary bridge solution should be available, so the taskforce might have something meaty to discuss. However, it is unclear what the appetite of both the government and the bridge’s owners Hammersmith & Fulham Council is for its full repair and subsequent re-opening to traffic. It will come down, as everything does, to money. It’s been a while since an estimate of repair costs has been released and it seems entirely possible that the repair bill will be north of the £250 million previously quoted – perhaps considerably northward if the Foster Cowi solution isn’t deemed to be viable.

 

Local campaign group Hammersmith Bridge SOS says that it has asked the Department for Transport for more details of when the taskforce will meet and what will be on the agenda. No response has been forthcoming to date, but we will keep you posted in the Bugle if we hear anything.

Better safe than sorry?

If  the bridge taskforce does meet again next spring it is possible that two major milestones will have been passed on the bridge. Firstly, its four pedestals may have been stabilised and secondly, the central span will have been reopened to cyclists, alleviating the sometimes-fractious overcrowding on the bridge’s pedestrian walkways. However, in the intervening period it seems that overcrowding will be even worse given the news that extensive closures of the walkways will be needed during October and November this year (see story above).

 

As the reader survey published in the last issue of the Bugle revealed, the behaviour of a small minority of cyclists who ignore signs asking them to dismount has been causing particular distress to older users of the bridge. It also highlighted a number of concerning incidences of violence and threats of violence.

 

When we published the survey responses last month, we said we would forward the results both to Hammersmith & Fulham Council and to local MPs and pressure groups with the aim of sharing the suggestions of bridge users as to how to calm the situation. Eighty percent of those who responded said they felt that fines for would be an appropriate deterrent to cyclists who fail to dismount. However, the response we received from Hammersmith & Fulham Council did not indicate that the council has any intention of introducing fines.

 

Their statement reads “We completely understand the frustrations experienced by both pedestrians and cyclists using Hammersmith Bridge. And we’re grateful for the feedback from the recent Barnes Bugle survey.

 

Currently, we are refurbishing the main carriageway so we can reopen the central lane to cyclists next spring. The bridge will then have two separate spaces for cyclists and pedestrians.

 

Unfortunately, both bridge users and our marshals have been the victims of verbal and physical abuse during the works. When severe, we’ve referred these incidents to the police. 

 

We would kindly request that people continue to show consideration for one another. We truly appreciate the patience and understanding of everyone using the bridge during these refurbishment works to our 137-year-old Grade II*-listed bridge.”

 

Responding to the statement, a spokesperson for Hammersmith Bridge SOS said “The Bugle’s survey laid bare what many of us have witnessed on the bridge and it is particularly concerning that the small number of cyclists who fail to dismount seem to be unaware that their actions are frightening for other bridge users, particularly elderly pedestrians who are less steady on their feet or suffer from invisible issues like osteoporosis.

 

“Hammersmith & Fulham Council is spending vast sums of money on marshals for the bridge, but their presence patently isn’t deterring poor behaviour by some users. When fines are in place all over the borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in relation to multiple traffic schemes it seems curious that the council appears to be reluctant to introduce fines as a deterrent to bad behaviour on the bridge, particularly when this is behaviour that affects both pedestrians and its own employees. Suggestions that marshals should patrol the bridge or that no cycling signs should appear on the bridge itself rather than just at the entrances to the walkways also seem to make sense. Having been made aware of the scale of the problem we would hope that the Council would put more concrete measures in place before someone gets seriously hurt.”

 

Local MP Sarah Olney also commented saying: “This data tells the story of too many altercations, near misses, and injuries. 

 

“This isn’t about whether you are a pedestrian or a cyclist, it’s about following rules that are meant to keep everyone safe. However, it’s extremely worrying that the public seem to be the only ones enforcing these rules.

 

“Over the past 5 years, Hammersmith and Fulham have spent £1.1 million on marshals for the bridge, but anyone who crosses regularly knows they are beyond ineffective. 

 

"They don’t have the training or the resources they need to do their job. Hammersmith and Fulham need to step up and secure the bridge for the sake of everyone in our corner of London.”

What they do in the shadows...

One of the findings of our survey was that 75% of respondents felt unsafe crossing the bridge at night. While nighttime security is provided by Hammersmith and Fulham Council, under the cover of darkness it seems that not only are some cyclists failing to dismount but, this September, local residents reported witnessing motorcyclists riding along the bridge’s narrow pedestrians walkways at night.

Also last month, marshals were unable to prevent a group of what we believe to be pro-Palestinian demonstrators using the bridge as part of their protest - letting off flares from one of the bridge's walkways.

Final showdown for Mortlake Brewery plans

The fate of the old Mortlake Brewery site now lies in one man’s hands. Glen Rollings is the planning inspector appointed by the national planning inspectorate who will decide whether developers Reselton Properties will be given the go ahead to replace the old brewery site with a massive residential complex including 1,075 dwellings and a secondary school.

 

The hearing, in which he will listen to arguments for and against the development from stakeholders such as The Greater London Authority (against), The Mortlake Brewery Community Group (against), Richmond Council (pro) and the developers themselves, will run for four weeks starting on November 5.

 

Members of the public can attend but the Inquiry will be held not in Mortlake but Twickenham.

 

All sides in the argument over the eventual fate of the old Brewery site agree that it should become a residential development. The nub of the issue, however, is whether there are too many residential units, in too high buildings, and in too small a space. 

 

For the Mayor of London, who has invested £400k in legal representation at the Inquiry, there is a concern that the development doesn’t offer enough provision for affordable housing (7% versus the GLA target for London  developments of 30%).

 

Mortlake-based campaigners are also very concerned about the effect on traffic and infrastructure from a development that would boost the population of the local area by up to 20 per cent. 

 

All major participants in the Inquiry will be represented by barristers. And while the Mortlake Brewery Community Group can’t match the hundreds of thousands of pounds that Sadiq Khan is spending, they have raised funds via crowdfunding for a specialist planning lawyer to put forward their case. Their arguments will be put by ‘rising star’ barrister Nick Grant.

 

Francine Bates of the Mortlake Brewery Community Group says "We are pleased that the Inquiry is finally getting off the ground. This is our best chance as a community to present our arguments to an independent, highly expert planning inspector. This site has been a political football for years and deciding the future of the Stag brewery site is long overdue. We are disappointed that the Council were unable to find a suitable venue to hold the inquiry in Mortlake, Barnes or East Sheen. There are are currently no plans to live-stream the proceedings which makes it it very difficult for some of us who live our side of the river to take part. We hope that pressure from the community will encourage the Council and the Developers to think again and make the Inquiry accessible online."

 

Information on the Inquiry hearings and the mass of documents that have been submitted for review can be found on a website produced by property consultancy Gateley Hamer.  
 

Westmoreland Road, SW13                                          £5,250,000

Barnes escapes flooding after torrential rains

Monday September 23 was a record-setting day for rainfall with nearly 6cm of rain falling within a period of two hours in the early hours of the morning.

It seems Barnes was lucky to escape localised flooding and that appears to be due to a number of a factors. Timing played its part. Had the rain happened later in the day, when drains would have had to cope not only with rain but with waste household and business water, some local flooding might have been a real possibility. Also, luckily, the inundation came before Beverley Brook reached high tide at 7.30am.

Additionally, it seems that newly installed reed beds on the Common did their bit in helping to prevent the Brook and drains from overflowing.

Every little helps...

When talking about the reed beds on the common and how they can collect water that might otherwise contribute to flooding, Mike Hildesley of the charity Barnes Common explained that “every little helps”. Every front garden that’s paved over increases the likelihood of flooding by getting rid of natural drainage. However, conversely, taking spaces that previously have had poor water permeability and increasing drainage can help reduce the risk. That’s the idea behind the new paving installed in Kitson Road recently and is also the thinking behind a plan for a mini rain garden on the river pathway at the junction of Barnes High Street and Lonsdale Road.

 

Charles Campion who chairs the Placemaking project as part of the Barnes Ponder 2 has successfully applied for funding for hard paving to be replaced by a new mini garden (see artist’s impression above) and the Community Bluescapes team which is looking at ways to reduce flooding across Barnes will be making the rain garden happen in due course.

Barnes Station stabbing victim leaves hospital

Sadly knife crime is a fact of life in many parts of London but it’s not the sort of thing you expect to encounter on your morning commute from bucolic Barnes Station.

The aftermath of the 7am attack at the station on September 29 was apparently an horrific site for those making an early journey into London. It made headlines in the national papers and led to widespread concern for the victim whose injuries were said to be life-threatening.

It’s therefore a relief to report that the victim has now left hospital and that a sixteen-year-old boy from Clacton on Sea has been charged with attempted murder.

We're football crazy

We never stop writing about football in the Bugle. Two months ago, we wrote about the brand-new women’s team at Barnes FC. Last month we reported how the men’s team took part in an historic fixture with fellow founding members of the FA, Thornton Heath Wanderers. This month news has reached us of yet another really interesting football team.
 
Barnes Stormers FC is an inclusive football club with a safe environment for anyone to play football regardless of sexuality age, race religion, and ability.
 
One of the Barnes Stormers teams plays in the London Unity League which is an LGBTQ+ safe league with home games played on Barnes Common and away games all over London. They recently won a London-wide competition played by Barnes Bridge. They also offer 5 aside football in Barnes on Wednesdays.
 
The club has been going since 2013 and the idea of the team came about after a group of like-minded football-loving friends shared a pint in the Red Lion.
 
That group of friends had originally been brought together when their love of football drew them to join a gay football club training session. However, when the training session changed days and venues the Stormers' founders moved to Rocks Lane and started their own club.
 
Over the years the club has changed from just offering training sessions to gay footballers to a social football group open to people of all genders, ages, sexualities, races and religions.
 
Members say it’s an incredibly sociable club and new players are always welcome. You can find out more on their website.

Lights, camera, charity shop!

 

Lloyds Bank adverts always have very high production values so it is no surprise that when the ad agency for Lloyds was looking for the perfect vintage shop to use in a new campaign that they alighted on the Princess Alice Hospice shop on Church Road as their location.

The shop was closed for the day but the charity received a donation for its use and the window and interior was subtly changed by the ad production company’s set designers. It was even renamed for the purpose of the ad as ‘Second Chance’.

The hospice shop manager Colin Powe says he was surprised at how many people were needed to film just a short ad but says that the crew were incredibly helpful and charming. They even passed around smoked salmon sandwiches in a mid-afternoon lull. It’s not certain when the ad will be broadcast but we’re very much hoping it will end up on the big screen in the pre-film ads at The Olympic.

Punditry, profanity (minor!) and perspicacity - the very entertaining Barnes Bookfest

The organisers of this year's Barnes Bookfest are enjoying a well-earned rest after another successful literary festival in September.

 

There was wit (Gyles Brandreth), punditry (David Gower) and a great deal of serious discussion about international and domestic politics (Lord Patten of Barnes, Laurie Bristow the former ambassador to Afghanistan, and historian Vernon Bogdanor). Culture war touchpoints were addressed by Tomiwa Owolade (Black Lives Matter) and Professor Nigel Biggar (decolonialising education) and some exceptional novelists (Abi Daré, Annie Garthwaite, Robert Harris) shared insights into the process of writing their latest novels.

 

However, when we asked one of the Bookfest's founders Anne Mullins about what stuck in her mind after the festival she without hesitation mentioned the session featuring actress Miriam Margoyles discussing her latest memoir. When asked, at the beginning of the talk, about what should be mentioned in her introduction, the actress said she didn't need to be introduced, saying that if people didn't know who she was "why the @#$% had they bothered to come to the talk?". Her talk also touched on the actress's relationship with her mother Daisy, and Margoyles managed to get the entire audience to sing two choruses of the music hall song 'Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do' in tribute to her mother.

Autumn fun for all the family on Barnes Common

To celebrate Apple Day and all things autumnal, the charity Barnes Common is putting on its annual Autumn Fayre on Saturday October 19.

 

A full day of fun has been planned. There are walks for families with young children and loads of activities for kids including crafts and pumpkin decorating. There's a conker competition, a fungi walk and you can even bring your own apples to be juiced.

 

Snacks and drinks will be available including pizzas from The Dough Shack between 12.30 and 2.00pm.

 

The event will run at the Vine Road recreation ground between 10am and 4pm. It's free to attend but some of the activities and walks have small charges attached to them and can be booked in advance online.

 

Find out more and book for some of the activities here.

The 5o faces of Barnes revealed

There's something genuinely touching about seeing people who have  given up their time to volunteer for good causes being thanked for their selflessness.

And that's just what happened at the events stage at the end of the Barnes Food Fair this month.

 

Fifty people who had been shortlisted as a result of anonymous nominations from Barnes residents turned up to receive certificates, which one winner said had the same feeling as receiving a Valentine's card from a secret admirer in the post.

 

The event was in celebration of the Barnes Community Association's 50th anniversary and some of those who received recognition had been actively volunteering in Barnes for nearly all of those 50 years. For the Bugle it was lovely to see people like the Food Fair's founder David Stott and the longtime BCA volunteer Ben Mackworth-Praed being recognised for their work.

 

Elsewhere on the list there were volunteers for the BCA, for FiSH, the Castelnau Community Centre, The OSO, the Scouts, the Literary Society, the bike sale at St Mary's, even the Barnes Bugle and the Barnes White Rabbit got a nod!

 

You can see the full list of the final 50 here.

The early bird catches the bike

Whenever we write about the Barnes Bike Sale in the Bugle we always urge people to get there early as the queues are pretty long. We've never suggested that people should start queuing at 5am but that's just what one enterprising young man (pictured above) did to secure a bike he'd set his heart on after seeing it on Instagram. 

 

This year's sale in September was an enormous success, with most of the bikes going within the first hour and 210 bikes in total sold by noon. The whole event raised over £17,000 for charity thanks to the generosity of people who donated bikes and the volunteers who did everything from bike repair, to marketing to manning the sales stands on the day.

 

The queue this year was quite extraordinary and by the time the sale opened it stretched back to beyond Olympic Studios into Byfeld Gardens.

 

This could be due to the  fact that the sports reporter on the Chris Evans radio show Vassos Alexander gave the bike sale a plug on the show which has 900,000 listeners.

Let your love grow

Earlier this year we mentioned the charming micro bakery project at Holy Trinity Barnes. Once a month, the Nourish & Grow team bakes loaves to raise funds for local community growing initiatives. Anyone can order loaves, from sourdough to rye bread, in advance, and you can find details of the next two baking weekends here. The team also donate their bread to the local food bank based at The Castelnau Community Centre.

 

However, bread is not the only thing the Nourish & Grow project gives to the food bank, they also distribute fresh fruit and vegetables grown at allotments and community gardens across Barnes. It's a fantastic initiative. As any allotment holder knows sometimes it is impossible to use every last apple/courgette/tomato when faced with a glut, and the Nourish & Grow scheme makes sure that all the food that's grown goes to a good home.

 

As is entirely to be expected, the project, and the team behind it, has received recognition for the effort involved and this year Holy Trinity Barnes was Highly Commended in the Church Times Green Church Awards and also received an RHS neighbourhood award.

The beauty of 'Secrets', love and second chances...

From left: Samantha and Rupert, Samantha's mother Jean Condon

What makes a perfect Bugle story. Local interest? Of course. A touch of retro celebrity? Absolutely. And a love story worthy of a romance novel? Now you are talking. Anyone familiar with 80s DJ Simon Bates' Our Tune  segment can hum along to the theme tune while reading this story which would have been right up his alley.

 

When beauty therapist Samantha Brind got in touch with the Bugle to let us know that she was returning to Barnes after many years in New Zealand, it was nice to hear, but then she told us more.

 

Samantha grew up here and her mother ran the beauty salon 'Secrets' on Church Road. It was no run-of-the-mill salon and had a certain cachet as Samantha's mother, Jean Condon, was a 1960s Vogue model who, in retirement, retrained in beauty therapy. Samantha would end up training at the famous Joan Price's Face Place in Chelsea and then come to work with her mother at the salon.

 

Secrets was established in the 1980s and was right next door to Mike Bayon's garden design studio (now Olympic Records). Samantha's mother would warn her teenage daughter not to consort with the handsome young men - many of them Kiwis and Aussies - who worked for the landscaper.

 

You will have already guessed that Samantha ignored her mother's advice and became enamoured with a young Kiwi called David. Adding yet more retro celebrity to Samantha's tale is her recollection of spotting Paul McCartney emerging from the Olympic Studios and running across the road to get him to sign David's guitar.

 

Inspired by tales of the antipodes from the hunky young landscapers next door, Samantha then took off for Australia and New Zealand where she opened her own salons and finally settled with a Kiwi husband in Queenstown.

 

Now forty years later and divorced, Samantha has returned to Barnes and is working at The Peach Tree beauty clinic, also on Church Road. And what brought her back? Well, love of course. After her divorce she reconnected with her first ever boyfriend Rupert after being invited to a school reunion at prep school Cumnor House. Romance blossomed and she decided to sell her NZ businesses, rent out her house and move back to the UK to be with him.

 

He proposed at Cumnor House in August and Samantha's life has come full circle. She says she loves working back in Barnes. She says "I am getting to meet some of the clients that knew my mum- I feel very at home now. I think that Barnes hasn’t changed that much , I love walking from the station through the park and I sit by the pond most mornings as that is where I feel my mum’s whispering wisdom is. I look forward to connecting to old friends and people who knew me, mum and Secrets."

Sounds familiar?

The  psychological thriller Speak No Evil that’s currently entertaining  the audiences at The Olympic and attracting five-star broadsheet reviews may be set in Italy and the West Country but it has its roots in Barnes in more ways than one.
 
Its director James Watkins lives locally and the accent adopted by lead actor James McAvoy has a very specific Barnes inspiration. Watkins not only directed the movie, he wrote it too, and it was very much his intention that the lead character played by McAvoy’s character should have a warm and beguiling voice.

 

He settled on a West Country accent but when casting around for the right soft burr for McAvoy’s character he wanted to avoid ‘mummerset’  intonations. It took a while to find the right accent to inspire McAvoy and he found it not in Bridgehampton but in Barnes.

 

The character’s West Country cadences were partly based on those of the co-owner of the Olympic Studios, Stephen Burdge, who sat down for a recorded chat with Watkins to help give McAvoy a feel for the tone and timbre of his accent.

 

However, Watkins is keen to emphasize that McAvoy’s character – a charming psychopath – in no way resembles that of Burdge’s and that there’s no reason for anyone to approach the affable Burdge with a sense of impending doom.

Heard it on the grapevine

A local landscape gardening specialist has just celebrated the vendange – grape harvest to you and me - as grapes from his East Sheen allotment were harvested at the end of September ready to be turned into wine by the enterprising negociants at The Urban Wine Company.

Gary Hazell – otherwise known as The Barnes Gardener – is a great believer in the healing power of gardening and also in the power of communal gardening to foster friendship and collaboration. Joining forces with his fellow allotment holders to grow grapes for harvest is just part of this philosophy.

The Urban Wine Company ensures the grapes are professionally pressed and the resulting grape juice blended by a professional wine maker. The result is sparkling rosé which apparently has ‘a note of summer berries and a refreshing tongue-tingling balance of light fruit’.

Any grape grower can join the wine company for a small fee and, once the wine has been made from a smorgasbord of garden-and-allotment-grown grape varieties, be eligible to buy an allocation of bottles depending on the number of grapes contributed.

Gary harvested 89kg of grapes from his allotment this year so will expect to get six cases of Chateau Tooting (named after the original start up area of the Urban Wine Company) in May next year.

Oom Pa Pa - There's a Bavarian Fair coming to Barnes

F or one day only this month (Saturday October 26)  the Coach & Horses' beautiful beer garden is going to be transformed into a Biergarten as they celebrate all things German at a Bavarian Fair.  In a collaboration with their fellow Youngs pubs, The Bull's Head and the White Hart, the team at the Coach will be laying on an authentic  Bavarian experience, with a variety of fantastic beers from great suppliers, delicious German food, and a Bavarian market to explore.

There'll be a raffle too with exciting prizes, and its proceeds will support the Wooden Spoon Pass the Plate initiative — to raise funds for food banks across the country.

 

The whole shindig starts at 3pm on October 26 and sounds enormous fun. 

Flower power

T he Barnes Community Gardeners are a wonderful bunch of volunteers. They help in the gardens of elderly Barnes residents who can no longer keep their plots tended, they help out at The Vine Road recreation grounds veg plots, they teach gardening at local schools and encourage children to learn about where food comes from by growing their own produce. They also work with residents of local housing estates to maintain and beautify their communal areas.

 

They always need to raise money for plants and equipment and  they came up with a very apt fundraising scheme at last month's Barnes Pond collectors market. 

 

Susie Pugh, pictured above, bought some beautiful bulbs in bulk and then divided them into manageable small packets for resale. She even offered people the chance to buy bulbs that could be used on one of the gardeners' local housing estate projects.

 

The Bugle couldn't resist buying a few packets and our garden will be full of alliums and tulips next spring thanks to Susie's efforts.

Cool for school

If you think the images above look super cool you would be right as they have been taken by Barnes-based photographer David Thomson whose work can be seen in Vogue, the New York Times and has also been displayed at the National Portrait Gallery.

 

But who are his enigmatic subjects? They are all alumni of Barnes' very own Swedish School.

 

The images were revealed at an exhibition held in Chelsea in September where 17 portraits of remarkable former students of the school were displayed.

 

Among the alumni featured in the exhibition were Felicia Maxime, celebrated for her role in "Young Royals’’ on Netflix, games entrepreneur Jonas Eneroth, award-winning film producer Pelle Nilsson, known for his work on "Midsommar" and "The Beauty Inside," and Alexander Malmeaus, Chair of the Anglo-Swedish Society.

Since its founding in 1907, the Swedish School in London has been a cornerstone of Swedish community in the UK. Alongside institutions like the Swedish Embassy, The Swedish Church, and The Swedish Chamber of Commerce, SSL has a rich tradition of cultivating young talent. Other famous Swedes such as the golf legend Annika Sörenstam and Swedish TV news anchor Cecilia Gralde are among its alumni.

 

The school says its ethos of treating each student as an individual, with a strong emphasis on academic excellence and global citizenship, is reflected in its impressive track record – with Ofsted awarding it an  'Outstanding' rating for 14 consecutive inspections.

 

The school's head teacher Jenny Abrahamssom says :"This exhibition not only celebrates the achievements of our alumni, but it also reflects the core values of our school. By nurturing each student’s unique potential and encouraging them to become global citizens, we proudly witness the positive impact of our educational approach. We are thrilled to honour these outstanding individuals who embody the success and spirit of our school.” 

Remember, remember the 9th of November

The ever popular Barnes Sports Club Fireworks display will take place this year on Saturday, November 9. 

 

There will be traditional bonfire, hot mulled wine, a large bar, a BBQ selling hot dogs and burgers and a spectacular firework display.  You can also take part in a 'Best Guy' competition in which the winning entry gets a chance to light the bonfire.

 

There will also be music from a DJ  as well as live performance from the legendary band The Connection throughout the evening. Tickets are available online only and can be bought here.

It's jumble sale time

The BCA's brilliant annual jumble sale will be held this year in a new venue - The Castelnau Community Centre - in Stillingfleet Road, North Barnes on Saturday November 2 between 10am and 3.30pm.

 

There will be a whole range of items on offer from clothing to household items, jewellery and electrical gadgets.

 

By shopping at the sale, you will also help to make a positive impact on the sustainability of our community. All proceeds from the Jumble Sale will go toward supporting the BCA’s community projects. 

 

If you would like to donate some jumble you can drop off your used or nearly new items at Castelnau Community Centre from Wednesday 30 October - Friday 1 November, between the hours of 9am - 5pm (smaller items can be dropped into Rose House between 9am until midday on the same days).

We would value your thoughts...

When we first started the Bugle in June 2012 it was a tiny thing. There were four or five stories in an issue and we had a few hundred subscribers. Twelve years on and now it’s the big beast you've read today and it has well over 5,000 subscribers.

It takes a lot of effort to put together and, as it is free to subscribe, the only revenue we get is from advertising which makes us £5-6k a year.

As we press the send button with a sigh of relief and a feeling of trepidation (have we got the date for an event wrong, will someone be incandescent about a story we’ve written?) we think should we try to cover more of the costs of our time by getting people to pay to subscribe? Or could we add one of those slightly annoying begging paragraphs that you see at the bottom of Guardian articles or Wikipedia entries asking for donations?

It's a dilemma. We know that if we put the Bugle behind a pay wall we would lose readers and, for a publication whose aim is to spread the news about what’s happening in Barnes widely, that would be a bit of an own goal. However, if we ever decided to stop producing the Bugle we doubt if anyone else would take it on.  Having a paid subscriber base would secure its future.

We haven’t decided what we should do, and we’ve concluded that we should ‘ask the audience’. So, if you could spare a moment to fill out a short questionnaire to honestly share your thoughts, we’d be really grateful. Just click the button below.

Take part in our survey

About the Bugle

The Barnes Village Bugle is an independent publication. People often think it's produced by the Barnes Community Association, but no, they have their own excellent email Prospect Plus. 

At the Bugle we endeavour to simply report what's going on in Barnes in as comprehensive and entertaining a way as possible. We have no agenda apart from spreading the word about the huge number of genuinely interesting things happening in and around Barnes and sharing information about local campaigns and news events.

If you have a story you would like to see featured in the Bugle do email us by clicking here.

We can't guarantee that we'll run it, but if we think it's going to be interesting to our readers then we'll publish your information.

If on the other hand you want to publicise a commercial venture then it's easy to advertise with us. Our mailing list has over 5,300 subscribers so you'll reach lots of people in Barnes very inexpensively.

The Bugle is a labour of love, not a profit-making venture. We pay to send it out and our mailing costs are covered by the fantastic support we get from Winkworth and our other advertisers. We'd love to get more advertising as that would at least go some way into covering the costs of our time, so if you advertise with us you'll not only be reaching a large audience you'll be keeping a local resource going.

At the Bugle we endeavour to check information for accuracy to the best of our abilities. However we are reliant on information provided to us by third parties. On occasion, dates and times of events may be subject to change and we would urge Bugle readers wishing to attend events, or use a service mentioned to verify information in advance. Where possible we provide links to websites to allow readers to double check the most recent information available, as details can be subject to change.

 

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