| Harrow | |
|---|---|
    Clockwise from top: St. John the Baptist C of E Church, Greenhill; Skipping Katie statue; University of Westminster; Hygeia Building and King's House | |
  Harrow Location withinGreater London | |
| Population | 149,246 (2011 Census)[1] |
| Demonym | Harrovian |
| OS grid reference | TQ145885 |
| • Charing Cross | 11 mi (18 km) ESE |
| London borough | |
| Ceremonial county | Greater London |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | HARROW |
| Postcode district | HA1, HA2, HA3 |
| Dialling code | 020 |
| Police | Metropolitan |
| Fire | London |
| Ambulance | London |
| UK Parliament | |
| London Assembly | |
| 51°35′01″N0°20′47″W / 51.5836°N 0.3464°W /51.5836; -0.3464 | |
Harrow (/ˈhæroʊ/[2]) is a large town inGreater London, England, and serves as the principal settlement of theLondon Borough of Harrow. Lying about 9.5 miles (15.3 km) north-west ofCharing Cross and 5.4 miles (8.7 km) south ofWatford, the entire town including its localities[3] had a population of 149,246 at the2011 census, whereas the wider borough (which also containsPinner andStanmore) had a population of 250,149.
The original settlement was atHarrow on the Hill, atop the 408 feet (124 m) Harrow Hill. The modern town centre of Harrow developed at the foot of the hill, in an area historically calledGreenhill, following the opening ofHarrow-on-the-Hill station on theMetropolitan Railway in 1880.[4] Harrow became the unofficial "capital" of theMetroland suburbia in the early 20th century.[5]Harrow & Wealdstone station on theWest Coast Main Line had opened in 1837, but was more distant from Harrow, lying 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of the hill.[6] Workers were drawn to the area by the opening of several factories inWealdstone;[7] Harrow was the base of the largeKodak factory, used for the manufacture of photographic materials andR&D, which was in operation for more than a century.
Historically in thehundred ofGore in the county ofMiddlesex, Harrow became part of Greater London in 1965. Today, the historic area is distinguished asHarrow on the Hill and is a conservation area withlisted buildings ofGeorgian architecture and home toHarrow School, one of the seven major boys' boarding schools in England as defined by thePublic Schools Act 1868. The modern-day town meanwhile is an established commercial centre of outer north-west London and houses a campus of theUniversity of Westminster.
Harrow's name comes fromOld Englishhearg, '(heathen) temple', which was probably on the hill of Harrow, whereSt. Mary's Church now stands.[8] The name has been studied in detail byKeith Briggs.[9]
The original Greenhill hamlet derived its name from either an unidentified local green hill, or was imported from a manorial surname.[10] It was not recorded in theDomesday Book but was mentioned as early as 1334 asGrenehulle. In addition, one or more families bearing theGreenhulle orGreenhill surname lived there from at least 1247, and are likely to have taken their name from this location.[11] The name Greenhill survives and the local council has continued the name by using it for Greenhill Way, a road which by-passes the mainly-pedestrianised and modernised shopping area based around College Road and St Anns Road. The name is also still used for the localelectoral ward.
It is possible that Greenhill went by an even older name,Norbury, c.1300, but the hamlet of Norbury has not been identified with certainty. The name may have been correspondent toSudbury, being north of what was then Harrow Hill.[11]
The modern town centre of Harrow was formerly known as Greenhill, and was a smallhamlet of farms at the foot of Harrow Hill. For almost a millennium, the centre of Harrow was atop the hill, but this began to change during the 19th century. Circa 1852, the village had 8 houses, 17 cottages, and one inn, with 141 people.[11] This area was part of thehundred ofGore, in the historic county ofMiddlesex. In 1850 alocal board district was established for the central part of theancient parish of Harrow on the Hill, including the old village and the adjoining hamlets of Greenhill,Roxeth, andSudbury.[12]
By 1865, a series of roads had been built in Greenhill, including College, Roxborough, Kymberley, Headstone, Clarendon, Byron and St Anns - but few houses.[14] Aparish church, St John's Church, was built in 1866 on a farm and Greenhill subsequently became a separateecclesiastical parish in 1896. The church building has beenGrade II listed since 1994.[15] TheMetropolitan Railway connection dates from 1880 with the building ofHarrow-on-the-Hill station, which led to a housebuilding boom[16] and a population of 4,892 by 1902.[17] Developments westward along the railway in theHeadstone andPinner as well as Roxborough andWealdstone engulfed Greenhill with new developments, and soon enough there was nothing left of the original village.[14]
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In 1899, the junction of Grove Hill and Lowlands Road is said to have been the scene of Britain's first fatal car accident.[18] There is a plaque to commemorate this at the top of Grove Hill where it meets the High Street and Peterborough Hill.
In Greenhill, there was a workmen's club from the 1860s and a public hall, Victoria Hall, by 1888.[19]
TheLocal Government Act 1894 converted local board districts such as Harrow on the Hill intourban districts. The new town centre which had grown up around the station became known simply as Harrow to distinguish it from the original hilltop village. The name of the urban district which contained both places remained Harrow on the Hill until 1934 when the district was enlarged and renamed just Harrow. The Harrow Urban District was incorporated to become amunicipal borough in 1954, with the same area becoming theLondon Borough of Harrow on being transferred from Middlesex to Greater London in 1965.[19] One of the oldest surviving buildings in what is today Harrow is the Grade I listedHeadstone Manor from the 15th century.
Harrow contributed to the growing photographic industry in the UK; a large industrial premises was built in 1890 by the AmericanEastman Kodak company inWealdstone, and by 1965 there were over 100 buildings on a 55-acre site atKodak Harrow, employing 5,500 people,[20] including a research centre. This facility operated for 125 years. The long chimney has been a landmark in Harrow ever since.[21]
In 1914, a majordepartment store named Sopers opened on Station Road. The site became aDebenhams store;[22] it closed in May 2021 after the collapse of the Debenham's chain.[23] Itsfacade dated from the 1960s.[24]
During the inter-war period Harrow had grown into a suburb.[25] Almost two-thirds of housing stock in the present day Borough of Harrow dates back to the interwar period.[24]
The modern town of Harrow and much of the borough overall has been defined historically by the growth of the railways, as Harrow expanded and saw housing developments as a result of the building of theMetropolitan Railway into what was, in early Victorian times, the rural areas to the north-west of London. The borough now has many railway stations.
Harrow has been the location of several serious train accidents.[26] On 7 August 1838, Thomas Port died from injuries received in atrain accident near Harrow. His gravestone in the parish churchyard ofSt Mary's, Harrow-on-the-Hill, states: "To the memory of Thomas Port, son of John Port of Burton-upon-Trent in the County of Stafford, Hat Manufacturer, who near this town had both legs severed from his body by the railway train. With great fortitude, he bore a second amputation by the surgeons and died from loss of blood, August 7th 1838, aged 33 years."On 26 November 1870, two trains collided atHarrow & Wealdstone station, killing 9 and injuring 44.[27]On 8 October 1952,three trains collided at Harrow & Wealdstone station, killing 112 people.[28] Of the dead, 64 were railway employees on their way to work. This is the greatest loss of life in any United Kingdom railway accident in peacetime.
AlthoughThe Blitz is generally claimed to have started on 7 September 1940, many sources state that one of the earliest bombing raid from theLuftwaffe occurred in Harrow and Wealdstone on 22 August 1940. It caused damage to cinemas, houses and a bank, but with no fatalities.[29] Although Harrow was then inMiddlesex, it was classed as a London area by the civil defence as it came under the jurisdiction of theMetropolitan Police.[30] The very first air raid on the present day London area is believed to be the accidental bombing ofCroydon Airport on 15 August 1940, which was then inSurrey.[29]
The town was part of theHarrow Urban District, a district council within the county ofMiddlesex, from 1934 until 1965, which also included parts ofEdgware,Hendon,Wembley andPinner. TheLondon Borough of Harrow was formed in 1965 as the only London borough unaffected by boundary changes.[20]
By the 1950s, Harrow was described as the "capital city ofMetro-land".[31] The borough's councilCivic Centre building complex was built in 1970–1972, opened 6 May 1973, on Station Road inWealdstone.[32] Six storeys high and designed by architect Eric Broughton, the building is considered "outdated and costly" in 2018 and was expected to be imminently redeveloped.[33] Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, many new office blocks were built in the town, especially in Lyon Road and the western end of College Road.[24]
In 1974, the Kodak Mural designed byPentagram was completed on the first floor of the recently opened Civic Centre. It contains almost one thousand photographic tiles representing Harrow and designed to commemorate the town and borough's links with Kodak.[34]
The town underwent regeneration in the 1980s with the building of a bus station in College Road and thepedestrianisation of St Anns Road. A statue called "Skipping Katie" was unveiled by the local council in May 1987 to celebrate the completion of the pedestrianisation. The landmark was designed byJames Butler inspired by watching his daughterskip.[35] A plaque on Katie was unveiled in 2004 byQueen Elizabeth II and theDuke of Edinburgh to mark the 50th anniversary of the London Borough of Harrow.[35]
In the autumn of 1987,Diana, Princess of Wales visited Harrow, where she officially opened the newSt Anns shopping centre amid a large crowd of locals.[36] Located opposite the central train station on College Road, the centre was built on demolished buildings includingHeathfield School for Girls, which moved away toPinner in 1982.[37]
Nearby St Anns shopping centre, another indoor retail outlet was built which was opened asSt George's Shopping and Leisure Centre onSt George's Day in 1996. The town'sWoolworths store on Station Road closed and was replaced by a new branch inside St George's.[37][38] Other landmarks built during the decade include the Hygeia building in 1991,[39] which has an erected golden coloured sculpture of Roman goddessHygeia facing the bus station. Furthermore, in 1991, Lower Mead stadium on Station Road, the home ofWealdstone F.C., was sold toTesco and demolished. In its place a new large Tesco superstore was built.[40][41]
The town centre has undergone a new wave of redevelopment. In 2011, the one-way single lane section of Station Road was widened to allow two-way bus traffic.[42] The 11 storey luxury apartments of Bradstowe House were completed in 2016 after long delays.[43] Former office buildings on Lyon Road (including Coal House, once belonging to theNational Coal Board) have been regenerated into new mixed use buildings in the 2010s, whereas on Pinner Road behind St George's centre a new eight storey development called Trident Point was built which includes aMorrisons supermarket opened in 2013.[44] The former post-office sorting building on College Road, next to the train station, remained vacant for some years until plans for a 19-storey skyscraper were approved by the council in 2015. The development, called Harrow Square, was partly completed with 318 apartments across four buildings in 2018.[45][46] It includes a bottom floor 1,450 square metres (15,600 sq ft) library still under construction which will replace the current Gayton Library on St John's Road.[47][48] The building next to it, formerly First National House,[49] has been refurbished into luxury apartments called The Hub.[50]
The borough received a £1 million grant from theMayor of London that will go towards a new public square and a "pop-up test eatery" at the site of the former Cumberland Hotel on Lyon Road, expected to be completed by 2020.[51] The 1930sart deco facade of the Safari Cinema, which has been hidden since the 1960s, is set to be restored from 2020.[52][53] The council aims to invest over a billion pounds in the town centres of Harrow andWealdstone and the Station Road corridor in between.[54]
The borough of Harrow has a leafy, suburban character, much of which is a legacy of it being at the centre of theMetroland developments of the early 20th century.[55]
The town centre is about 220 feet (67 m) above sea level, almost 200 feet (61 m) below the top ofHarrow Hill, which is an outlying knoll.[56] The hill is half a mile south of the town centre, and the settlement contains historic architecture and has a village atmosphere.[57] The steep climb towards the hill is clearly visible from Lowlands Road. Other parts of Harrow are not as affluent but are still mostly leafy, particularly the northern part calledHarrow Weald. The rural northern slopes of Harrow, aroundHarrow Weald Common, are part of theGreen Belt and contain a conservation area[58] and aSite of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) adjacent to another SSSI calledBentley Priory Nature Reserve which comes underStanmore. The area also has the highest elevation in Harrow, as high as 492 feet (150 m) above sea level.
There is also agricultural land close by the town, on fields at the eastern side of Harrow on the Hill, on Watford Road. This open farmland is only half a mile away from Harrow's town centre and is adjacent toNorthwick Park Hospital andNorthwick Park open space. The farm borders Harrow Park and other open spaces and golf courses that are within Harrow on the Hill; other open spaces include: The Grove open space and Harrow Recreation Ground near the town centre;West Harrow Recreation Ground;Kenton Recreation Ground; Alexandra Park inSouth Harrow; Newton Park inRayners Lane; Byron Recreation Ground inWealdstone; and the grounds ofHeadstone Manor.
Much ofKenton, and before 1716 all ofPinner, were parts of Harrow. Pinner is now a separate district within the borough of Harrow.Harrow Weald is the district north ofWealdstone, and both of these are historically also part of Harrow. It is the principal settlement of the London Borough of Harrow, which also includes the towns of Pinner andStanmore.
TheHarrow postcode area covers the entire borough and stretches into neighbouring boroughs: west intoRuislip andNorthwood, and east toEdgware andWembley. The postcodes for Harrow town itself are HA1, HA2 and HA3.
Harrow is 1.9 miles (3.1 km) from Pinner, 2.7 miles (4.3 km) each from Wembley, Stanmore and Northolt, and 3.6 miles (5.8 km) from Ruislip.
Neighbouring areas of Harrow (central) | |
|---|---|
Central Harrow forms a commercial hub in the north-west of Greater London, with many retail outlets and commercial offices, and increasingly residential apartments in more recent regeneration schemes. Harrow is classified as one of 13 metropolitan centres in theLondon Plan.[59]
The area has two shopping centres,St Anns andSt George's, containingchain stores typical of British high streets. There are also parades of shops throughout Station Road and the ascending, traditional College Road, and over 300 metres (980 ft) of a fullypedestranised shopping/café streets roads (north of St Anns). A largeDebenhams department store (174,000 square feet (16,200 m2) of floorspace)[60] was on Station Road. After Debenhams was liquidated, the site is to become an independent department store called The Landmark due to open on 14 October 2021.[61] There are also largeMorrisons andTesco superstores. As of 2012, Harrow has 1,128,050 square feet (104,799 m2) of total town centre floorspace, the lowest of London's metropolitan centres.[62]
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The creation of St George's in 1996, less than a decade after St Anns, gave Harrow a stronger competitive retail standing. On one index, the town centre's league position went from 106th (out of 1,000) to 71st (out of 1,400) from the mid-1980s to mid-1990s. Harrow's competing shopping centres were recognised to beWatford,Uxbridge andBrent Cross Shopping Centre. A 2003 council report showed that Harrow was less competitive as a retail centre by comparison.[64]
In 2015, Harrow ranked 99th in the Hot 100 UK retail locations published byCACI; it was 5th in Greater London, behindCroydon,Kingston upon Thames,Bromley andEnfield Town.[65] In 2018, Harrow was ranked 59th in the nationwide "High Street Investment Ranking" carried out byKnight Frank, and 6th in Greater London beaten by Uxbridge andRichmond.[66][67]
TheWealdstone district has a strong industrial connection, having been the location for the manufacturesWinsor & Newton (artists' materials), Whitefriars Glass, andKodak.[54]
The town includes its localities within the Harrow post town:Harrow on the Hill,Harrow Weald,Headstone,North Harrow,Kenton,Rayners Lane,South Harrow,Wealdstone andWest Harrow. The Borough's population was 250,149 in 2011.
Harrow Borough's proportion of Jewish, Muslim and Hindu residents is above average.[68] Theethnic minority population includes a large and establishedGujaratiIndian community, who originally settled in large numbers in the borough after theirexpulsion from Uganda in 1972.[69]
The highest life expectancy (as of 2009–2013) for females was 89.5 years in Headstone North, and for males was 83.8 years in West Harrow. The lowest expectancies were 82.4 years in Wealdstone and 78.6 years in Greenhill respectively. The median age was highest in Headstone North (40 years) and lowest in Greenhill and Wealdstone (both 33 years). The life expectancies for Harrow are lower than both Pinner and Stanmore in the borough.[citation needed]
According to a 2018 survey by theOffice for National Statistics (ONS), the borough of Harrow was the "happiest" in London and scored higher than the English average.[70] Adversely, in another survey by an estate agent in 2019 the borough was found to be the "least friendly" in London.[71]
Average house prices within the borough stood at £479,682 as of 2017.[21]
| Ward | Detached | Semi-detached | Terraced | Flats and apartments[72][73] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greenhill | 4.7% | 18.6% | 11.5% | 65.1% |
| Harrow on the Hill | 18.7% | 19.5% | 51.5% | |
| Harrow Weald | 17.3% | 46.7% | 14.8% | 21.1% |
| Headstone North | 12.7% | 63.2% | 7.2% | 16.8% |
| Headstone South | 5.4% | 36.6% | 20.4% | 37.5% |
| Kenton East | 4.3% | 35.2% | 42.8% | 17.6% |
| Kenton West | 2.8% | 66.6% | 19.7% | 11.0% |
| Marlborough | 4.8% | 30.6% | 20.5% | 44.1% |
| Rayners Lane | 7.0% | 37.9% | 38.6% | 16.4% |
| Roxbourne | 3.6% | 20.7% | 37.6% | 38.0% |
| Roxeth | 4.4% | 49.4% | 25.2% | 20.9% |
| Wealdstone | 4.5% | 28.8% | 34.7% | 32.1% |
| West Harrow | 5.6% | 48.1% | 19.9% | 26.4% |
Harrow Council has been governed by theLabour Party since 2014. The town of Harrow generally is represented by 13wards,[1] each represented by three councillors.
Harrow is in theBrent and Harrow constituency for theLondon Assembly which has been represented since May 2021 byKrupesh Hirani (Labour).[74] Prior to this, it was represented byNavin Shah (Labour) between 2008 and 2021.
Keekira Thammaih was the first Indian and a first Asian to be the Mayor of Harrow, England in 2000 – 2001.
Since the2010 general election, most of Harrow town has been part of theHarrow West parliamentary constituency, most recently represented byGareth Thomas (Labour), but eastern districts such as Kenton fall within theHarrow East constituency which is represented byBob Blackman (Conservative).
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Harrow is best known forHarrow School. An independentboarding school for boys, founded in 1572, Harrow School is considered one of the finest secondary schools in the world.[75] The nearbyJohn Lyon School is another boys' independent school, while another known school is theNorth London Collegiate School for girls located further in the borough inEdgware.
Harrow is also home to a largeUniversity of Westminster campus, located nearNorthwick Park andthe hospital. It serves as the university's base for Media, Arts and Design. The school dates back to 1897 specialising in art, photography and fashion, becoming a college in the 1960s under the name Harrow College of Higher Education. It merged with Polytechnic of Central London (PCL) in 1990, now known as the University of Westminster.[76]
Other educational institutes in or near central Harrow include:Harrow High School,Whitmore High School,St Dominic's Sixth Form College,Salvatorian College andHarrow College.
Greenhill School was built in the 1880s, but the building was demolished in 1967 to make way for shops on St Anns Road. The site is now home to aMarks & Spencer.[77]
The borough'sHarrow Arts Centre is located inPinner and includes a theatre and several meeting rooms for various arts groups.
TheSt George's centre has a largeVue cinema. Formerly Sheepcote Road was home to Granada Theatre, opened in 1937, which became a 3 screen cinema in 1973. The building, interior designed byTheodore Komisarjevsky,[78] wasGrade II listed in 1988.[79] The cinema went through ownership and name changes from 1989 until it was permanently closed in 1996, six months after the other cinema opening at St George's. After a few years in a derelict condition, the building became a health club gymnasium operated byGold's Gym. The theatre's originalWurlitzer organ is retained in the building, although currently not accessible to the public,[79] is reported to remain in perfect working condition.[78]
An art-deco cinema called Dominion opened in 1936 adjoining Lower Mead football ground, on much of the site of Greenhill Farm.[20] It was later purchased byABC Cinemas, and the Dominion's originalart deco design (byF.E. Bromige) was covered in new metal cladding in 1962.[80] In the 1970s the lower floor was converted to a bingo hall and in the 1990s the cinema became the Safari, showing Bollywood films. This closed in the 20teens and it was not until January 2020 when plans to restore the art deco (and building 78 flats at the site) were approved by Harrow council. This is currently under re-construction.[81]
Some of the major churches in Harrow include the Grade I listedSt Mary's Church, St John's Greenhill, All Saints Harrow Weald, Holy Trinity Wealdstone, Christ Church Roxeth, and Kenton Methodist Church.
Harrow has a Hindu temple dedicated to Sri Lord Ayyappa and is known as Sri Ayyappan Kovil, located in theWealdstone neighbourhood. In the same area is the largeHarrow Central Mosque, and a smaller local mosque, Masjid Imam Muqbil, is located inSouth Harrow. On Bessborough Road in the town is theMosaic Reform Synagogue, and there is aUnited Synagogue in theKenton part of Harrow. There is aZoroastrianism centre inRayners Lane.
The 1918 novelThe Return of the Soldier is based in Harrow.[82]
The wedding of charactersPeggy Mitchell andFrank Butcher ofEastEnders in 1999 was filmed in Harrow.[83] The classroom inHarry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was filmed at the Fourth Form Room ofHarrow School. The school was also used to shoot many scenes of the dramaThe Crown.[84] The British Asian soap dramaCloud 9 was shot in Harrow in 2013.[85] The exterior of Clark's house in the 2016 filmMe Before You was shot in Harrow.[86]
TheHarrow Times is a local newspaper for the borough, and formerly the historicHarrow Observer that dates back to the 19th century. TheBrent & Kilburn Times andWatford Observer also cover Harrow.
Radio Harrow is a local charity radio that broadcasts fromNorthwick Park Hospital. Launched in 2015 in its current form, its predecessor Radio Northwick Park had already been broadcasting for four decades before.[87] Astudent radio called Smoke Radio broadcasts from theUniversity of Westminster campus since 2004.[88]
Harrow is represented by theassociation football clubWealdstone F.C., who play in theNational League (fifth tier); they are based inRuislip, moving from their original stadium in Harrow in 1991. Another local club isHarrow Borough F.C. who are based atEarlsmead Stadium and currently play in theIsthmian League Premier Division (seventh tier).
Harrow Leisure Centre andHarrow Skate Park are located by Byron Park in Wealdstone.
There is a golf course atNorthwick Park.
Harrow borough is patrolled by theMetropolitan Police (theterritorial police force in Greater London). The service is mainly provided through Harrow Police Station on Northolt Road in South Harrow, and the borough overall has contact points supported by 22Safer Neighbourhoods teams.[89] Previous police stations at Kirkland House and in Wealdstone have closed down in the 2010s.[90] The borough'sbasic command unit is combined with the London boroughs ofBarnet andBrent.
Harrow is served byNorthwick Park Hospital and specialistsSt Mark's Hospital andRoyal National Orthopaedic Hospital (inStanmore), which are run byNational Health Service. The localHarrow CCG manages public provision of homecare throughout Harrow which is state funded.[91] A private hospital called Clementine Churchill is located in Harrow-on-the-Hill.
Harrow is served by manyLondon Underground andNational Rail services:
Harrow-on-the-Hill is the town's central station, located on College Road/Lowlands Road. The station provides direct Underground and rail links to theWest End, theCity,Uxbridge, and through theChiltern Hills toAylesbury. The other major station - and both the largest and busiest of Harrow - isHarrow & Wealdstone, a short distance north from the town, which has direct trains to the West End,Croydon,Gatwick Airport,Watford,Hemel Hempstead and beyond towardsBrighton andBirmingham respectively. Both stations are inLondon fare zone 5. Trains towardsGerrards Cross are served by the smallerSudbury Hill Harrow station which also provides an alternative route towards theWest Midlands.
Harrow-on-the-Hill is a much busier tube station compared with the town's other principal station, Harrow & Wealdstone, recording over 10.3 million London Underground passengers in 2018/2019. However, the latter is served more extensively by National Rail services, as well as the London Overground and because of this it's a busier National Rail station.
A short railway line called theStanmore branch line formerly ran from Harrow & Wealdstone viaBelmont toStanmore Village, but this line was closed in 1964.[92]
On 23 December 1991, theIRAexploded a bomb on a train atHarrow-on-the-Hill station; there were no injuries.
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Harrow bus station is adjacent toSt Anns shopping centre andHarrow on the Hill railway station.[93] All buses are managed byTransport for London and links are provided toRuislip,Watford,Edgware,Northwood,Golders Green,Wembley,Ealing,Hayes andHeathrow Airport. Many local buses have a H-prefix in the range 9–19.
During theprivatisation of London bus services, Harrow was one of the first places with its ownLondon Regional Transport operating unit, called Harrow Buses and operating from November 1987 in red and cream branded livery.[94] The scheme was not successful and the service gained the nickname "Harrowing Buses" from the local press.[95]
Harrow was the place where the first major electronic contactlesssmart card technology was being tested on buses. In a £2 million trial that started in February 1994,[96] cards were provided byLondon Transport at the bus station and could be used on 21 bus routes in Harrow, the largest trial of its kind in the world. Within two months, 9,000 smart photocards were issued. The scheme was a success by the time it ended in December 1995, and led to the development of theOyster card in 2003.[97]
There are notrunk roads in the vicinity of Harrow. TheA312 road starts in Harrow as Bessborough Road - however the A312's section in Harrow is merely an urban road, and the primary trunk road starts over 3 miles away inNortholt. It is here where there is a crossing with theA40Western Avenue. TheA406 is 5 miles away viaNeasden,Wembley orHanger Lane Gyratory. There is access to junction 2 of theM1 motorway 6 miles away via theA41 inEdgware.
![Royal Oak public house on St Anns Road has existed since the early 20th century[98] and is locally listed[24]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aRoyal_Oak_Harrow.jpg)
![Former Fat Controller pub, closed in 2010[99]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aFat_Controller%2c_Harrow.jpg)
![Premier Supermarket on Station Road (1963), now an Iceland supermarket; the site was originally home to the Harrow Coliseum cinema which was demolished in 1956[100]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aPremier_Supermarket%2c_Station_Road%2c_Harrow_-_geograph.org.uk_-_380202.jpg)
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![The Time Building on Station Road with a Miller-branded clock - formerly home of Time nightclub in 2000; today part converted into residential use[101]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aTime_Building.jpg)
Some notable people who were born and/or grew up in the Borough of Harrow are shown below.
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