The H18/H19 Routes

Wednesday 22 May 2013

This, our second circular trip round Harrow, was again to be one of the two linked buses, which follow the same route but in different directions (if in doubt, please see the Rules Committee decision outlined with  the H8/9 routes).

 

Mary and I were thinking of Linda, having fun in the eastern counties of England though not, we suspected, sea bathing.

We were off at 10.32, and chose the H18 for its more convenient departure time. Our route took us past the St George’s Centre and towards North Harrow, passing The Harrow Hotel, as well as Shayona Sweets and Savouries. Our fellow passengers were predominantly British Asians, and we thought Linda, who loves Indian sweetmeats, might have hopped off and gone shopping. As we turned off the A 404 to go up Headstone Lane, we were into semi land again, with many hardened front gardens.  Headstone Manor Recreation Ground had signs to the Harrow Museum.  This link is to the Museum of London version, since we gave you Harrow’s with the H9.  We also noted Headstone Horticultural Society’s base  (it does not have a website to share with you). Sadly, the Headstone Inn  has closed, but their Waitrose seems to be doing fine, beside a Household Discount Store.

After this brief interval of commercial activity, we were back among the prosperous houses, several of mammoth proportions, and some with more cars than a carpark. 

Passing the Steiner Training Academy, we thought it might be a place where teachers learn Rudolph’s methods;  but no, it is an organisation for training and deploying fitness staff on cruise ships.  We passed All Saints Church, Harrow Weald, with its handsome hall next door, and then came to the Cemetery extension, before reaching the Seven Balls pub, embellished with those foliage balls (yes, seven of them) that people buy in garden centres:  a neat interpretation of the name, we thought.

  

The next place we came to was Belmont, where we spotted a tile shop which seemed to have strayed from its original home. There had been several parades of shops on this route which offered Asian wedding planning, Ayurvedic medicine, tutoring in maths and even a Post Office, but almost nothing in the way of food shops.

Near to Kenton Station, we liked the thought of the 'Gentle Dental' Practice. We were impressed with how close the golf course is to the town centre, and noted that last tee-off time was 7.30:  the light evenings being one of the few promises of summer.

As we came into Harrow from a different way, we were saddened to see that the Fat Controller, which shut near the beginning of our project (well, when we first visited Harrow on the 114), has still not  become anything.

We reached the bus station at 11.20, not exactly feeling giddy, but ready to chant ‘round and round the Harrow borough’ after our second circuit of the locality.