The Barnes Green Players is a group of 75 to 95 year old actors who are based at the Barnes Green Centre - in 2010 they staged a hugely successful play - Voices and this year they are following that up with The Secret Drama Group of the Barnes Green Social Centre a moving and funny play about five ladies of a certain age meet at a day centre for their weekly game of Bridge.   Rather than quietly deal the cards, they decide to shake up their lives by staging a play. But theatre isn’t always that straightforward… particularly when you’re over ninety.   Often sidetracked by memories of family, love and war, they push on through the past and energetically head to the future, dealing along the way with real and present obstacles.   The urge to embark on new adventures never ends. Simply surviving isn’t their thing, they want to live!   

The  play will run at the Old Sorting Office Theatre from April 25 to 27. Tickets are £10 and can be bought in advance from the Barnes Green Centre. The Green, Church Road, Barnes, London  SW13 9HE, 

Tel: 020 8876 2377 (10.00am to 4.00pm, Monday to Friday)

There's exciting news of a new restaurant in Barnes High St in the site of what was the old Henderson's Brasserie. Georgina's will open on May 14 and has already received lots of advanced publicity including a double page spread in The Evening Standard.

The restaurant will be open all day and will offer everything from early morning lattes through to late night suppers. The menu has been designed by award winning chef Adam Byatt and Georgina's owner the well known city investment manager Nicola Horlick. Its day-to-day operation will be overseen by head chef Greig Hunter who spent three years developing Adam Byatt's much lauded Trinity restaurant in Clapham.

If you are a mum who lives in Barnes and are interested in starting up your own small business, or if you're wondering how you can help out by volunteering with a local charity then come along to the Coach and Horses on the evening of April 26.

The informal event is also an opportunity for attendees to meet other parents in Barnes and find out how they can get involved in developing and improving their neighbourhood, through local projects and groups such as the Barnes Women’s Institute, Barnes Community Association, Barnes Business Network and Everyday Barnes.

There's also  an array of unusual treasures to be found, as legendary menswear stylist, Simon Foxton, has donated a selection of coveted pieces he's collected on his travels.

Dear Barnes... is a new and exciting community anthology, which will be written entirely by local people to capture the spirit, identity and culture of Barnes between its pages. And in order to do this, we are asking people to write to us with their memories, stories or observations....by hand! Any style of writing is welcome, whether poetry, stories, stream of consciousness, letters, ditty's or monologues – although the subject must be about Barnes. So if you are an aspiring author, a potential poet or a latent lyricist we would love to hear from you.

Over 5,000 people attended the first ever Barnes Food Fair on October 1st and gave it rave reviews all round.

The nearly sixty stands selling artisan foods ranging from watercress muffins to smoked duck and English wines had all but sold out by the end of the day, and hundreds of people staged impromptu picnics on beautiful Barnes Green enjoying the fantastic food and the sunny weather.

As well as some wonderful food stalls, visitors also enjoyed cookery demonstrations from Michelin-starred chefs and were given vouchers to save money at Barnes' small local food shops.

There have been many changes down at the shops lately and most are for the better, despite all the doom and gloom about retail in the media. Take a trip for yourself around Barnes and see all the changes.

A group of local residents and shop-keepers, concerned at the decline of Barnes High Street, are investigating the possibility of opening a community owned, professionally run supermarket that complements the existing shops and services and caters to the needs of the Barnes community. 

You can have your say by filling in the questionnaire which is available online here.

You may also be interested in the recent story in the Richmond and Twickenham Times.

• It began in the USA. Park Slope in Brooklyn (foodcoop.com) is one successful example.
• The first British example is The Peoples' Supermarket in Lamb's Conduit Street, WC1 whose web site is at www.thepeoplessupermarket.org
• There are other commercial stores with similar principles such as Unicorn Grocery Manchester, Hubbub delivery service, and True Food Reading.

Barnes High Street has been in steady decline for a number of years and with the closure of One Stop 10 months ago it is now in a critical condition.

Some local residents and shop-keepers are investigating the possibility of opening a community owned, professionally run supermarket that complements the existing shops and services and caters to the needs of the Barnes community. Local people will have the opportunity to become members, participate in decision-making, work in the shop and receive a discount on shopping.

For more information on the background to the idea, please click here.

Please take a few minutes to complete the questionnaire (online here) as the views and aspirations of the local community are key to progressing the ideas.

 The fair will be open between 9:30am and 5.30pm with exhibitors' stalls in a marquee near the pond. At the same time, the adjacent Barnes Green Centre will play host to celebrity and Michelin-starred chefs Philip Howard and Bruno Loubet who will share their culinary expertise along with writer Jane Hornby, wine expert Gwen McCann and author and cupcake expert Helen Nathan.

Television broadcaster and BBC's The One Show reporter Gyles Brandreth will open the Food Fair at 10am.

Tickets cost £3.00 and are available from Rose House, the BCA headquarters on Barnes High St, or from fair sponsor Savills estate agents, also on the High Street. Entry to cookery demonstrations is £5.00 extra. Proceeds from the Fair will go to a long-established Barnes cause: the Barn Elms Sports Trust (BEST), the charity set up to raise funds for the much-needed regeneration of the Barn Elms playing fields.

As many people know by now, Thames Water propose to construct a 14 mile long tunnel under the bed of the Thames to help prevent sewage and stormwater overflows from entering the river. On closer examination of all the facts, as we have been able to unearth them, the BCA is now by no means certain that Barn Elms is the most suitable place for a main construction site for the Tunnel.

Local resident Natalie Whitlock has set up the Barnes Book Club and holds monthly meetings covering a wide range of books from the classics, chic lit, sci-fi to biographies. Suggestions for books are welcome too.

The details are in our 'Take Part' section here.

If you are interested in joining do get in touch with Natalie at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 07796 675 950.

The new Barnes Philosophy Club has just held a successful second meeting.

News of changes to shops in Barnes is one of the most popular elements of this site, and those interested in the campaign to support Barnes' shops might find Retail Champion Sue Nichol's blog interesting reading.  She regularly updates the blog with news and interesting information such as footfall counts, the results of her research questionnaires, and articles on retail trends. To find out more visit:

http://retailsue.wordpress.com