Welcome

Well, we're still having a micro-heatwave, so a great opportunity to think gardening/garden centre. We've got you covered.

Also, great new veggie South Indian restaurant, and a cool new play about Finchley's very own Harry Beck.

👩‍🌾 Four Finchley Garden Centres

We'd all love our gardens to look like this | Image Benjamin Cheng

The weather’s looking mostly sunny this week - and a scorcher of a weekend.

Perfect time to pick up those gardening gloves, find that trowel, and get ready for a blossoming summer garden. Here’s our round-up of garden centres and gardening clubs.

Garden Centres

Finchley Nurseries in Mill Hill has a family-friendly cafe The Summerhouse Cafe, as well as knowledgeable staff and a broad variety of plants and garden accoutrements.

Clockhouse Garden Centre in Enfield grow many of the plants they sell, and stock a comprehensive range of top-quality plants, seeds and bulbs, composts and garden sundries.

Sunshine Garden Centre in Bounds Green is an award-winning garden centre, with cool cafe.

If you’re looking for hyper-local The Flower Station Temple Fortune has a good selection of plants and flowers, and a secret cafe in its backyard.

Squires Garden Centre in Stanmore is a little further afield and has fish as well as a good plant selection.

Birchen Grove Garden Centre in Wembley is home to Jane’s Cafe. Garden Centre Insta.

If you’re interested in planting design, they’ve got a session from garden design expert Antonia Couling on Friday, 17th May at 11:00 am, with insights into creating beautiful garden spaces and a complimentary cuppa. Tickets on Eventbrite.

Gardening Clubs

Finchley and the surrounding area is home to three great gardening clubs, all with horticultural events, social gatherings and discounts at garden centres.

Finchley Horticultural Society, N3 includes raised beds available for people with disabilities on the Gordon Road site.

Hampstead Garden Suburb Horticultural Society, N2 hosts two annual flower shows and a Big Seed Swap.

Totteridge Garden Club, N20 holds monthly meetings at the Village Hall in Badgers Croft.

Go garden, Finchley. 👩‍🌾

Events

KIDS

Wednesday 7th August

BACE Summer Holiday - Family Fun Park Day | Wed, Aug. 07 | 10:00 am to 12:00 pm | Edgwarebury Park, HA8 8QJ | TBA | Calling all young thrill-seekers. Discover the exhilarating world of BMX biking in our action-packed sessions designed specifically for children and teens. Under the guidance of skilled coaches, riders will develop confidence and skills as they navigate through various obstacles, ramps, and jumps.

OLDER PEOPLE

Friday 9th August

Movement To Music | Fri, Aug. 09 | 11:30 am to 12:30 pm | Tarling Road Community Centre, N2 8LG | £5 for a class | Whether you prefer to get up and move or enjoy the rhythm from your seat, this is the place for you. The class is designed for all fitness levels, so everyone is welcome. Come along and enjoy a fun and supportive environment that encourages you to move at your own pace. Email: wendy.nutman@ageukbarnet.org.uk

Wednesday 4th September

ARTS

Moco Museum London | Sat, Aug. 10 | 1 Marble Arch, W1H 7EJ | £15 | Modern Contemporary (Moco) Museum is an independent museum with a wide range of inspiring modern, contemporary, and street art – located in Amsterdam (the Netherlands), Barcelona (Spain) and now opening in London on 10th August 2024. Worth leaving Finchley for (and there's a 30% discount if you book before it opens).

SUSTAINABILITY

Monday 5th August

Heath Hands - Litter Pick | Mon, Aug. 05 | 10:00 am to 12:00 pm | Hampstead Heath, Nassington Rd, NW3 2TY | Free | Join other local litter heroes for a lovely summer litter picking session around the Parliament Hill Area. All equipment is provided and all are welcome, including families with children, but anyone under 18 should be accompanied by an adult.

MUSIC

Saturday 7th September

Guitar recital by East Finchley resident David Harvey: Mysterious Barricades | Sat, Sep. 7 | 6:00 pm to 7:15 pm | St Mary-at-Finchley Parish Church, N3 1TL | Entry is free | A fascinating 1-hour programme of French and German Baroque music by Couperin, Jacquet de la Guerre, Weiss and J.S. Bach.

SPORTS

Saturday 10th August

COMMUNITY

Saturday 17th August

Brent Cross Town - Carnival in the Park | Sat, Aug. 17 | 1:00 pm to 6:00 pm | Claremont Way, Brent Cross, NW2 1AJ | Free | A fun-filled carnival and family picnic in Claremont Park Run by Just in Carnival, the event will include a host of exciting free activities including carnival costume making, steelpan workshops, carnival dance class, carnival fitness class, face painting, henna and more.

Big Fun Art - Owl Sculpture Trail | Sat, Aug. 17 | 6:00 pm | North London’s open parks and spaces | Free | A walkable trail of 30 giant (6ft) and 20 smaller owl sculptures all uniquely designed by artists and placed across Haringey. Artists like Children’s author Rob Biddulph and TV personality Matt Lucas.

Thursday 22nd August

TMC Barnet Picnic Club | Thu, Aug. 22 | 10:00 am to 12:00 pm | Golders Hill Pond, Golders Hill Park, NW11 | Free | TMC Barnet would like to invite you to the year’s first summer special Picnic Club on the beautiful grounds of Golders Hill Park in Golders Green. All mums, mums-to-be, bumps, babies and toddlers are welcome. There’s plenty of room for buggies so feel free to bring everything you need.

THEATRE

Sunday 11th August

Great Expectations | Sun, Aug. 11 | 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm | Oak Hill Park, EN4 8JS | £16.00 Max | Quantum Theatre brings Michael Whitmore’s adaptation of the Dickens classic to Oak Hill Park in August. It’s suitable for all the family, except the pre-schoolers. Bring blankets and foldaway chairs to sit on and come dressed for the weather. Light refreshments available.

Friday 23rd August

Hadley Green - The Tempest | Fri, Aug. 23 | 6:30 pm | Hadley Green West | £20 | This is a spin on Shakespeare's classic, an outdoor performance by Festival Players International, hosted by Hadley Residents' Association. Make sure you bring your rugs and picnic blankets for a relaxing time. Email: theatreonthegreen2024@gmail.com

NATURE

Wednesday 7th August

Events - Book Ahead

Saturday 14th September

Family Art Workshop With Global Street Art | Sat, Sep. 14 | 11:00 am to 4:00 pm | The Maze, Claremont Park, NW2 1AJ | Free | Produced by Global Street Art, London Mural Festival returns to the capital’s streets this September with over 100 murals to explore, including the Maze in Brent Cross Town.

Sunday 22nd September

Clothing Repair Workshops | Sun, Sep. 22 | 11:30 am to 1:00 pm | The Skills Centre Edgware, HA8 7AW | Free | The Skills Centre‘s workshops will provide expert advice on how to repair clothing, allowing residents who are keen on learning a new skill, reducing waste or simply adding to their wardrobe, the opportunity to learn hand sewing techniques that they can continue at home.

Wednesday 30th October

WIFI Wars | Wed, Oct. 30 | Artsdepot, N12 0GA | From £12.50 | WiFi Wars returns with the live comedy game show where you all play along. Log in with your smartphone or tablet and compete in a range of games, puzzles and quizzes to win the show, and prizes.

Local Lowdown

Veg Chennai Srilalitha has just opened in Finchley

Eating

Taste triumph. Finchley’s food scene just got spicier with Veg Chennai Srilalith. This new gem on 54 Ballards Lane, serves up a slice of South India with a passion for top-notch ingredients and traditional flavours. Stop by to see why the Chef got a Michelin star.

Parking

Back in action, The once-dormant Chipping Close car park, a relic of a failed hotel project, is open again. 40 new spots have opened. This makes 791 around High Barnet. Just swipe your card at the new machine.

Being safe

Sanctuary achieved. Barnet has earned the 'Borough of Sanctuary' status for our welcoming of asylum seekers and refugees. We have hosted more than 1700 Ukranian refugees along with many from the Afghan Resettlement Scheme, and w the Hong Kong BN(O) scheme. We have also placed more than 1000 children into schools.

Commuting

Patience. Unfortunately, Kentish Town Tube station reopening has been pushed back to December 2024. Was originally June 2024, then September, and now we will need to wait a bit longer. Will be great to have it back.

Walking

Walk this way. Camden High Street is set to become a pedestrian paradise. The stretch from Camden Town tube station to Hawley Crescent will be car-free. £13000 of TfL funding is supporting this 18-month trial which kicks off in early 2025.

Finchleyite : Harry Beck

See what they've done with the headshot there?

Harry Beck is both Finchley- and world-famous. And now there’s a play telling his story.

He created the first diagrammatic London Underground Tube map in 1931, after being fired from the London Metro Signal Office.

In the early ‘90s, London Regional Transport established the Beck Gallery at the London Transport Museum. Finchley Central station and Beck’s home (60 Courthouse Road) in North Finchley were commemorated with plaques, installed by the Finchley Society. In 2006, BBC2's The Culture Show viewers voted Beck's Tube map the second-favourite British design of the 20th century, after Concorde.

A play about Harry Beck premieres on the 50th anniversary of his death at the London Transport Museum’s Cubic Theatre. The Truth About Harry Beck explores Beck’s life and his revolutionary design, first issued in 1933, which simplified the Underground network using straight lines and 45-degree angles. Despite initial rejection, Beck’s updated version became hugely popular.

Writer and director Andy Burden developed the play over 14 years, inspired by designer Ken Garland's book and Beck’s letters. The map was voted the UK’s second favourite 20th-century design in 2006 (after Concorde).

The Truth About Harry Beck runs from September 14 to November 10 at the Cubic Theatre.

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Editors' Note - From Tessa

The Davis Family have welcomed a new member this week.

We have fostered a lovely dog, Oscar.

Unfortunately, Oscar's family couldn't look after him any more, and we have taken him to look after him, assess him, and get him ready for his Forever Home.

Can't wait to get to know him.