West Harrow

West Harrow
West Harrow
	St Peter's Church on Sumner Road
	West Harrow Location within Greater London
Population	10,373 (2011 Census. Ward)
OS grid reference	TQ145875
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Region	London;
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	HARROW
Postcode district	HA1, HA2
Dialling code	020
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
UK Parliament	Harrow West;
	List of places UK England London 51°34′47″N 0°21′12″W / 51.579710°N 0.353380°W

West Harrow is a locality directly to the west/southwest of Harrow town in the London Borough of Harrow.

Location

As its name suggests, West Harrow is located on the western side of Harrow, roughly covering the area to the west of Bessborough Road, to the south of Pinner Road and to the north of Whitmore Road. To the south east of West Harrow is Harrow on the Hill, to its north east is the town centre of Harrow, to its west is Rayners Lane, to its north is North Harrow, and to its south are Roxeth and South Harrow.

Arts, sports and culture

In West Harrow live poet Tim Dooley,^{[citation needed]} and several jazz musicians, pianist Alex Webb (musician) saxophonist Courtney Pine,^{[citation needed]} and bassist Gary Crosby.^{[citation needed]}

The neighbourhood is also home to Oneforty Harrow. This is a gallery venue space and music studio with a boutique bar and cafe which service various events. Oneforty hosts live music, markets, art classes, wellness practitioners - mind body therapists.^[1]

West Harrow Park has Syd's Pizzeria and Coffee Shop, free gym equipment and has a large children's and under-fives play area. The park also has free to use tennis and basketball courts. The park is also the home of the West Harrow Bowling Club founded in 1928. The club is affiliated to Bowls England, Middlesex County Bowling Association and Harrow and District Bowling Association and enters teams, sometimes mixed, in midweek and evening leagues. Friends of West Harrow Park work with the local community and Harrow Council to promote park amenities. ^[2]

The West Harrow Allotment and Garden Association (WHAGA) started in 1955. The Association aims to provide a voice for the plot holders on the two West Harrow allotment sites (as of January 2022 there are vacant plots available). The Association arranges trips to Wisley, the Royal Horticutural site, and other places. There is an annual plant sale in spring where you can get your runner beans, leeks, etc.^[3]

Archery - the Bowmen of Harrow Archery Club (and Bowmen club) has been established now for 30 years, with one of the few dedicated indoor ranges in the country. The club promotes archery in all its forms (Recurve, Barebow, American Flat Bow, Longbow, and Compound bows), except for Crossbow.^[4]

Demography

In the 2011 census, 55.8% of the population was of BAME (Black, Asian and minority ethnic) background.^[5]

Harrow is the safest city in London, and is the safest overall out of London's 33 towns, villages, and cities. The overall crime rate in Harrow in 2020 was 60 crimes per 1,000 people. This compares favourably to London's overall crime rate, coming in 45% lower than the London rate of 87 per 1,000 residents. For England, Wales, and Northern Ireland as a whole, Harrow is among the top 10 safest cities, and the 2,057th most dangerous location out of all towns, cities, and villages.^[6]

Zoning information

West Harrow is almost exclusively residential, with a few threads of localized commercial zoning around its edges and a small number of corner shops.

History

Prior to the early 20th century, West Harrow was overwhelmingly rural. The construction of the Uxbridge extension to the Metropolitan line in 1904, and specifically the new West Harrow tube station, triggered a steady growth of housing developments in the area, spreading out from the location of the new station. In his 1973 BBC television film about London suburbia, Metroland, Sir John Betjeman stands in Vaughan Road and delivers a piece to camera about the development of the area in the 1900s.^[7] In the remaining clear areas of West Harrow, small council and retirement estates were built in the second half of the 20th century.

Several of the roads in West Harrow are named after teachers at Harrow School, as described by Betjeman in his film: Drury Road (Joseph Drury); Vaughan Road (Charles Vaughan); Butler Road (Henry Montagu Butler); Bowen Road (Edward Ernest Bowen); Sumner Road (Robert Carey Sumner); and Heath Road (Benjamin Heath). Merivale Road (Charles Merivale, one of the pair who started the Boat Race). All the roads on the Honeybun Estate (one of the borough's first Council estates are also named after Harrow schoolmasters.