Blog

For all its bustle, honking lorries, rushing city workers and painful inclines, we really love our road. So: we’ve got in touch with as many businesses and organisations up and down our brilliant Archway Road to see what’s going on at the moment. Now, more than ever, it’s urgent that we rally together as a community and support each other. Whether you’re on Archway Road, just off Archway Road, or absolutely miles away, if you love Jacksons Lane, please show some love to these places, however you can.

Medication & Health

353 Archway Road: Hayward Pharmacy is open 9am–6pm, Mon-Sat, closed on bank holidays. 020 8340 2993

351 Archway Road: Medivet (Petvet) is open on a reduced service, with one vet and one nurse practising at any time. The clinic is open for emergencies; they are also carrying out phone and video consultations. 020 8341 4888

Archway Road: Nextdoor, a neighbourhood-based social media channel, has created a platform for many Archway Road road to offer (free) help to neighbours, including picking up medication or shopping, dog-walking, phone check-ins and technological support. Sign up to an account here and find the Help Map here.

Lockdown Love

269a Archway Road: Feeling Good is Jacksons Lane’s follow-up to our Christmas Day event, which brings together around 100 older and disabled people from our community who’d be on their own otherwise. We’re re-engaging with these brilliant people in this difficult time, but need your support to keep doing it. Donate to help us support our community.

183 Archway Road: Sew Highgate’s Rehana has spent her new free time sewing PPE laundry bags for NHS staff and masks. She has also started running online sewing classes (in her words, “an achievement at my age that I’m telling everyone about”), which are learner-driven and tailored to individual skillsets and needs. Many of them are based on Rehana’s make-do-and-mend ethos, teaching people how to upcycle/alter their clothes. Students will need their own materials to hand. Classes run throughout the week 11am-5pm in one-hour slots, to be booked by emailing [email protected].

220 Archway Road: Leaping Lizards are open from 12pm-6pm, with sensible social distancing rules in place. They have launched a new line of masks for £6.95, which can be ordered online and picked up in the shop or delivered. Calling ahead recommended. 07982196640

Talbot Road: All Saints’ Church has set up a community pantry outside its entrance for people to share items and food goods; it is not controlled and free for everyone to use. They want people to continue to support the essential work of local food banks but also to give people an easy and tangible place to support each other more locally. Watch Rev Timothy Miller’s interview about it here.

295 Archway Road: Stantons of Highgate remains open and selling a huge variety of household cleaning products from 10am to 3pm, Mon-Fri. One customer allowed in the shop at any time. Ring the bell for entry. No shortage of any cleaning products, including antibacterial products. 020 8341 9692

270 Archway Road: Harington Charity Shop is planning an online click and collect sale of its bedding and vegetable plants to support wellbeing. Keep an eye on its website for more info.

277 Archway Road: Highgate International Church has kept its Thursday 2pm-5pm support services available to homeless and vulnerable people in the area (though the drop-in Community Café is temporarily closed), with all relevant social distancing measures in place to prevent virus spread.

269a Archway Road: Lockdown Lunches are our Thursday online hang-outs for people over 55, which evolved from our regular Social Lunches. They’re full of art, joy, sparkle and life, and are welcome to those aged 55+ from our community. Email [email protected] to join.

Online: Coffee and Computers is a local free IT tutorial service for technology beginners, which is running an online service and has updated its website with resources. Find more info and get in touch here.

Food and drink

260-280 Archway Road: Sainsbury’s Local is open standard hours, 7am-11pm, Mon-Sun. 2-metre social distancing is enforced, every other checkout is closed, employees wear gloves, and a limited number of people are allowed in. To avoid queues, visit early in the day. 020 8340 0024

3 Highgate High Street: Green’s Highgate is delivering to Archway Road for free; fruit and veg boxes of all sizes, eggs and flowers can be ordered online. They can also pick up goods from other local businesses and deliver them too. 020 8340 0985

216 Archway Road: Zela’s Wine and Deli is open for business from 1pm-10pm Mon-Sun, selling its trademark organic wines and unusual spirits. Common sense distancing rules in place. Wine and pizza are also available to order on Deliveroo and Uber Eats. 0208 347 9006

414 Archway Road: The Woodman is delivering its usual food offer, including Sunday Roasts, every day – and has just added some beverages to its offer. Delivering via Uber Eats and Deliveroo.

363 Archway Road: Hops ’N’ Pops (trading as ‘Off Licence – Highgate’) is delivering refreshments via Deliveroo.

325 Archway Road: Caffe Eraldo is open 10am to 3.30pm every day, takeaway only. 020 8442 7080

343 Archway Road: Fonseca’s Deli is open 12.30pm to 6pm every day, with maximum 2 people at once, for takeaway only. 020 8340 8632

Worship

277 Archway Road: Highgate International Church continues to meet via Zoom twice a week to support and encourage each other. The church is available to help anyone struggling with the present crisis whether with practical, mental or spiritual concerns. Contact Mark or Paula if you would like to connect, or if you want to join regular meetings, at [email protected] (monitored hourly), or find more info via the HIC website.

200A Archway Road: Highgate Hill Murugan Temple has set up a helpline, 020 8348 9835, to enable devotees to contact the temple to perform special rituals (Pooja) on their behalf during these difficult times. To support this it has stationed two priests and a trustee. A permanent oil lamp has been set up in front of the SivaLingam (an important and powerful god) to send positive vibrations to all affected by Covid-19. The temple has contacted all members of its congregation to contribute to a support fund for NHS workers, which it will also contribute to.

Talbot Road: All Saints’ Church has begun doing live prayers and services on their Facebook page. They do Morning Prayer – using the daily Common Worship prayers through the Church of England – on Monday to Friday at 9am. On Sundays at 10am, they are trailing short services with a little bit of singing, readings, thought/reflection and prayers. They’re happy for any and all to join and will gladly receive and offer prayers for anything that people would like to offer.

Fitness & Wellbeing

381 Archway Road: pH.7 is providing free home workout content on a weekly basis to its email database, which you can join via their website. They are also running virtual fitness classes and remote personal training sessions.

248 Archway Road: K’s Bicycle Workshop is running as usual, open 8am-7pm weekdays, 8am-6pm Sat and closed Sun, with one customer at a time allowed in the shop and queuing outside. 07883 252225

244 Archway Road: Sammy Margo Physiotherapy is conducting safe home visits wearing PPE for people who need physiotherapy services, and safe sessions in the clinic with PPE for people who need physiotherapy. They are also conducting online consultations. Get in touch with them for more info. You can also read Sammy’s article in the Ham & High.

253 Archway Road: Highgate Holistic Clinic are running online consultations and sessions for homeopathy, nutrition advice, psychotherapy, hypnotherapy, coaching and counselling, a well as pelvic floor and core strengthening online courses to keep the body fit and healthy, and to help women with pelvic floor weaknesses. Get in touch through their website.

Parkland Walk: The Friends of Parkland Walk say: “Please continue to enjoy our very special open space, but be sure to observe social distancing, bearing in mind that the path is narrow in places and you may sometimes have to wait to pass slower walkers safely. Respect and consideration are the key watchwords.”

Hobbies & Entertainment

269a Archway Road: JL Circus: Quarantine Sessions are Jacksons Lane’s free long-form online video tutorials, teaching you basic circus skills with only the equipment you’d find in your home. Teach yourself to juggle, balance objects, acrobalance and more. Lessons are led by professional circus artists. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to catch them first.

269a Archway Road: JL Shorts is Jacksons Lane’s short-form series of fun 2-minute guides to a certain circus trick – juggling, handstands, lifts and acrobalance have featured so far – by the professionals, our associate artists. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to catch them first.

269a Archway Road: Jacksons Lane’s Classes and Courses have gone digital, where possible. Class leaders are leading online classes, uploading video lessons or creating resource packs.

162 Archway Road: Highgate Art School has started running online teaching with Zoom arts classes. Email them on [email protected] or keep an eye on their Facebook page for more info.

312 Archway Road: Boogaloo Radio is running as usual. Its roster now includes a regular Highgate House Party slot in conjunction with the Highgate Society, a round-up of local activities, including news from local councillors and Mutual Aid groups – local journalist Dan Carrier presents the show from 5pm every Friday. Listen live.

247 Archway Road: Highgate Flowers, though closed for the duration of the lockdown, are posting beautiful daily pictures of their flowers on their Instagram page.

345 Archway Road: Pluto Press, an independent, radical publisher, is continuing much of its work and hosting book launches and author Q&As online. Keep an eye on their Twitter page for more information.

277 Archway Road: Highgate International Church has produced a series of singalongs for Tots and Toddlers which are uploaded on the Highgate International Church’s YouTube channel.

Takeaway

The following restaurants and cafes are delivering takeaways:

171 Archway Road: Fabio’s Kitchen (Pizza)
178 Archway Road: Milano’s (Pizza)
190 Archway Road: Tan’s Kitchen (Sushi)
232 Archway Road: Cocoro (Japanese)
230 Archway Road: Tootoomoo (pan-Asian)
310 Archway Road: Ristorante Pizzeria Casa Italia (Italian)
373 Archway Road: Mega Grill (Kebab)