Due to winter weather the Pasture becomes very waterlogged and unsafe in places, and the footfall affects the integrity of the paths. As in previous years, the Pasture will now mainly be open when (weather permitting) we are working there on Saturday mornings between 10am - 12 noon. If the weekend weather is fine, then Wayne may open up on Sundays as well, but he decides on a day-to-day basis. After winter we will gradually open up again and usually aim to be open daily at or before Easter.

We still have 2022 calendars for sale, which you can buy on a Saturday morning for £5, or email us and we will make another arrangement if you can't get there.

We shall be having a stall at the Coppetts Wood Festival on Sunday 19th September 1-4 pm.

Donald will be selling our 2022 calendar (£5), full of his beautiful photos, and Adam, a local bee-keeper will be selling some of his lovely honey. We think it will be cash only. Calendars will also be available on Saturday mornings on the Pasture - or email us if you want one but can't get there.

The Big Butterfly Count is currently running from Friday 16 July to Sunday 8 August and is a nationwide citizen science survey aimed at helping assess the health of the environment. It was launched in 2010 and has rapidly become the world's biggest survey of butterflies. Click here for more info.

Now that spring is advancing and the Pasture is drying out, we anticipate that the Pasture will soon be back to being open daily from 10am until just before sunset, unless there's a massive deterioration in the weather conditions.

Give as you Live - Long Lane Pasture Trust has recently signed up to a scheme called Give as you Live. They are an online fundraising platform allowing users to shop at over 4,200 top stores and raise free funds for charity. The store pays Give as you Live a percentage of your total purchase price in commission and of this, 50% is passed on to charity.

If you already use the Internet to purchase goods, please visit their website: www.giveasyoulive.com and sign up. We would appreciate it if you selected Long Lane Pasture as your chosen charity. It will cost you nothing to join and use, and your local nature reserve will benefit from donations each time you shop!

Currently the Pasture remains mostly closed - it is very soggy and waterlogged and too much footfall churns up the paths making them more difficult for some people to walk on when they eventually dry out. However, as always, except in the worst weather, it is open between 10am - noon every Saturday, should you want to venture in to look at the snowdrops on the bank, or maybe help us with some bramble cutting. Wayne will gradually open it for weekends as the weather improves, and by Easter it should be once again open daily.
We look forward to seeing you in 2018!

Saturday 16th April, 10am - noon - At the spring Pond Day there should be plenty of tadpoles, newts, water beetles, pond skaters and caddis fly larvae to discover. Pond trays, nets and help with identifications will be available.

Saturday 5th December - Come and visit us on our stall between 10am- 4pm at the East Finchley Christmas Festival on the High Road, East Finchley. We shall be selling our stunning 2016 calendar (£5) containing many beautiful images, as well as a limited amount of our local honey, home-made jams and cordials etc. All proceeds to Long Lane Pasture. If you can't get to the Festival our calendars are available from the Pasture between 10 - 12md every Saturday - or email us if you need to make some other arrangement.

Saturday 28th November - If you can spare an hour or so, bring your wellies between 10 - 12 and help us with 'tree maintenance' - mainly clearing grass and undergrowth around young trees and mulching with leaves.

On January 15th Long Lane Pasture was approved unanimously for a Grant which will enable us to construct a bespoke opensided wooden gazebo and a 130 metre long fence. The gazebo will give a much needed shelter to groups of people, work parties and school classes visiting the Pasture, enabling talks and study to take place whatever the weather, and ending the disappointment of events being cancelled due to rain. The fence will allow the grasses and wildlife in the Undisturbed Circle to flourish naturally and survive unharmed.

Saturday 6th December - Come and visit us on our stall between 10am-4pm at the East Finchley Christmas Festival on the High Road, East Finchley. We shall be selling our latest calendar containing many beautiful images, as well as a limited amount of our local honey. All proceeds to Long Lane Pasture.

We are proud to announce that for a second year running, Long Lane Pasture has gained a prestigious Community Green Flag Award - the national award for well managed, high quality green spaces. 182 sites around the UK have received a Green Flag Community Award in 2013, 35 in London. Long Lane Pasture is the only one in the London Borough of Barnet. The Community Award is for green spaces managed by voluntary and community groups. For more information visit: greenflag.keepbritaintidy.org

Long Lane Pasture took part in the Big Garden Birdwatch on 26 January 2013. Unfortunately it was a cold day with few birds around, but we did record twelve species - the usual suspects including blackbirds, robins, blue tits, great tits, carrion crows and magpies. In recent weeks it has been good to see fieldfares and redwings at the Pasture, both winter visitors to the UK. With the wintry weather there has been snow on the ground and ice on our ponds. We have been putting out food for our birds - and would welcome donations towards the cost of this, or gifts of bird seed.

Long Lane Pasture is one of the good causes being supported by Community Matters at Waitrose, Ballards Lane, North Finchley, for the next month. Every time you shop here you are given green tokens (if not please ask!). Even if you don't usually shop at Waitrose, do drop in, buy something, and pop a token in the box. The way it works is this. Each month three charities are chosen, and at the end of the month a sum of money is divvied up between the three, in proportion to the number of tokens each has received. So the more tokens go in our box the better. This is a great opportunity to raise some much needed funds at the beginning of the year.

The Pasture is very wet at the moment and after rain is likely to be closed because of flooding. Apologies for any inconvenience this may cause. Work parties are continuing every Saturday morning - if you could spare any time to help we would love to see you.

Happy New Year to all our Friends and supporters.

Our very attractive Long Lane Pasture 2013 Calendar featuring 13 colour photographs of Pasture life and landscape through the seasons is now available. The Calendar costs £5 and is now for sale at the Pasture every Saturday morning, 10am-12noon. To order by post (cost £6 each including post and packing) send payment (cheque payable to Long Lane Pasture Trust) to 1 Princes Avenue, Finchley, London N3 2DA. Don’t delay – stocks are limited! We will be at the East Finchley Christmas Festival in East Finchley High Road on 8th December where calendars will also be for sale.

An Exhibition of over one hundred photographs and paintings of Long Lane Pasture has opened at the Finchley ArtsDepot. It features the winning entries in our Centenary Competition. Prizes were awarded at the Open Evening on 4th October by Councillor Ross Houston. Also on display are drawings and photographs from the Chestnut Class at Tudor School – all pupils have visited the Pasture this year. The Exhibition runs until 31st October 2012 (from 10.30am till late, 5.30pm on Sundays). Exhibits are for sale to benefit Long Lane Pasture. The Arts Depot is at 5 Nether Street, Tally Ho Corner, North Finchley, London N12 0GA.

Long Lane Pasture has gained a prestigious Community Green Flag Award - the national award for well managed, high quality green spaces. The Pasture is one of 43 community green flags awarded across London, and this year the only one in London Borough of Barnet.

Communities Minister, Andrew Stunell said: “Great parks and green spaces are fundamental to our quality of life, whether in cities, towns or villages, and the Green Flag Award scheme seeks to help raise the standards of them all. Well done to all those involved in creating these inspirational places for everyone to enjoy.”. For more information visit: www.greenflagaward.org.uk

The Pasture has now been a public greenspace for one hundred years. It was purchased on 22 February 1912. On 22 February 2012 the Mayor of Barnet planted an oak tree to mark our centenary. The oak tree also commemorates the death of Octavia Hill (a founder of the National Trust) in 1912. She lived in Finchley, close to the Pasture, for part of her childhood and passionately believed that green spaces should be kept for the enjoyment, refreshment and rest of those who have no country estate. For this special year, Long Lane Pasture Trust has launched a Photo & Art Competition to create a visual record of the site in 2012.

2012 is our centenary year. One hundred years ago the Pasture was purchased by the Finchley Urban District Council for public enjoyment and recreation. By saving the land from a housing development, it is today still providing pleasure for local people and a refuge for wildlife. We will be celebrating this year with a series of special events, the first on 22 February which is the day the deeds were signed over to the Council in 1912.

To celebrate 100 years of public ownership, we have produced a Long Lane Pasture 2012 Calendar featuring 13 colour photographs of Pasture life and landscape through the seasons. The Calendar costs £5 and is now for sale at the Pasture every Saturday morning, 10am-12noon. To order by post (cost £6 each including post and packing) send payment (cheque payable to Long Lane Pasture Trust) to 1 Princes Avenue, Finchley, London N3 2DA. Don’t delay – stocks are limited!

Blackberry Pick is now in full swing, every Saturday and Sunday. There is a huge crop this year with plenty for pickers and wildlife alike. We have a few punnets for your crop, but it is best if you bring your own. We do appreciate a donation in return for your harvest. There are some jams and jellies on sale too, but supply is limited and these are usually available only on Saturday morning from 10am.

Moth records at the Pasture now exceed 100 different species. The latest, number 101, is The Gothic, not common in the London area and identified after the very warm night of 27 June 2011. There have been plenty of butterflies too at the Pasture this year – they enjoyed the long hot period of dry spring weather and appreciate an increasing number of summer nectar producing plants in our Butterfly Border. Brimstone butterflies were seen laying eggs on alder buckthorn bushes here for the first time. Orange tips were plentiful in April, and the Small Tortoiseshell seems to have made a come-back. On Saturday 23 July we are holding a Butterfly Day (moths too!) – come along and see them for yourself.

On 11th and 12th June Long Lane Pasture is one of many gardens and squares all over London taking part in the Open Garden Squares Weekend. At the Pasture you can purchase a weekend ticket (£10) allowing entry to all 200 participating gardens open over the entire weekend and includes a free guide. Visitors will gain privileged access to glorious historic spaces, traditional private garden squares and little-known surprising places. The Pasture is the only participating 'garden' in the London Borough of Barnet. Palaces, prisons, roof and community gardens await exploration elsewhere Surplus from ticket sales is shared between participating gardens and the London Parks and Gardens Trust: you will help support our work at the Pasture if you can come along for this event. To find out more visit: www.londongardenstrust.org

Marvellous news! The Big Lottery Scheme ‘Awards for All’ has given Long Lane Pasture a grant of £9,582 to undertake important works. Removal of an area contaminated with oil can now go ahead, another noticeboard will be placed at the small entrance gate by the railway bridge, visitor counters will be installed, and further plants purchased for the embankment and butterfly border. All will take place by the end of 2011.

We have now received £250 from the Community Matters scheme at the Waitrose store in North Finchley, following our participation in March. We extend a very big thank you to everyone who voted for us with their green tokens – it is a very welcome donation to our funds.

On 27 November 2010, in National Tree Planting Week, 65 trees and shrubs were planted on the Pasture in very cold weather. Hazel, wild service, hawthorn, cotoneaster and wild rose were established on the embankment, parts of which had been previously cleared of rubbish and bramble. Elder, rowan and alder trees were dug in elsewhere. On Mitzvah Day a week earlier, 35 volunteers from the New North London Synagogue planted hollies, in addition to raking up hay and clearing ivy.

Our wooden bird table was unfortunately attacked by vandals and burnt to the ground in October. It has now been replaced with a new multiple feeding pole and ground table (with a cage to keep out pigeons and crows). This facility is proving very popular with blue tits, great tits, robins, dunnocks, goldfinches and blackbirds.

On 19th June 2009 Long Lane Pasture re-opened to the public after many years of closure and neglect. It was a very special day for everyone who has been involved in the Long Lane Pasture campaign. A big thank-you is due to all our Friends and supporters. You, with your belief and determination, made this possible.

Eleven long years ago 1,213 local people signed a Petition: “We, the undersigned, object to proposals to build flats on Long Lane Pasture and ask the London Borough of Barnet to reject the application from Fairview Homes. We want the site restored as a Public Open Space for the benefit of the people of Finchley.” Well, miraculously, we’ve done it: a 25-year lease to run the site for community benefit is now in the hands of the Long Lane Pasture Trust.