Walks Short Walks # 40

Harrow on the Hill walk

History

This is a list of previous times this walk has been done by the club (since Jan 2010). For more recent events (since April 2015), full details are shown.

Updated: Wed, 27-Jan-21

Date	#	Post
Thu, 17-Oct-19	8	Stargazer Evening Walk - Not so Harrowing in Harrow SWC Short 40: Harrow-on-the-Hill Walk T=Short.40 Distance: 3.1 miles or 5 km for those more metrically minded Difficulty: 2 out of 10 Meet: 18:00 at the exit of South Kenton Underground Station (Zone 4 – Bakerloo Line or Overground) Return: Harrow-on-the-Hill Metropolitan Line or Chilterns Railway In contrast to last week’s evening walk on the wild side, this is a more staid outing through a park, the grounds of one of the country’s leading “public schools” and a hanging cemetery. We should have enough daylight to make it to the various refreshments stops on the High Street for a drink and a meal before finishing up the walk at the Harrow-on-the-Hill station. More information about the route can be found here. Enjoy the walk! Stargazer, 18-Oct-19 Six gathered at the exit of South Kenton Station for formalities, including one visitor to London interested in seeing the hallowed grounds of the Harrow school. We set off quickly conscious of the fading light...All concluded that the "hill" in Harrow is of a modest nature but does make a dramatic location for the historic school buildings and church. As we approached the first buildings, we were treated to a group of students in their tails practicing some singing...The buildings looked stunning in the low light...particularly atmospheric were the church and hanging cemetery (in the dark)...we stopped at the inviting Castle for a bevie before continuing along the route...towards the end we diverted off piste to a pub (not far from the station) specializing in very tasty Indian fare, where we met 2 late starters who did a modified version of the walk...All enjoyed a fun evening meal during which we agreed the walk was a very enjoyable exploration of an interesting area...not quite sure what time we left....so, 8 in total under clear skies with some moon and stars.
Wed, 23-May-18	6	Thomas G Evening Walk - Harrow-on-the-Hill (South Kenton or Northwick Park to Harrow-on-the-Hill) [New Walk] Length: 5.0 km (3.1 mi) Ascent: 150m Net Walking Time: 1 ½ hour Meet at South Kenton station at 19.05. Either take the 18.37 Watford Junction London Overground train from Euston (calling, amongst others, at South Hampstead, Queens Park, Kensal Green, Willesden Junction, Wembley Central), arriving South Kenton at 19.03, or the Bakerloo Line (takes 35 minutes from Oxford Street, for example). Alternatively, start from Northwick Park (Metropolitan Line) at the same time, the routes converge after a few minutes. Return trains: frequent and fast trains and tubes (Chiltern Trains services to Marylebone in about 15 minutes; Met Line to Baker Street in about 17 minutes, then on to Algate). This is a short excursion in Northwest London through a park and then the playing fields of Harrow School, one of the country's leading ‘public’, i.e. fee-paying independent schools, up onto the hill that’s dominated by the school buildings, its chapel and Harrow’s church. You walk down from the hill through the hanging cemetery and skirt around the hill to re-ascend through residential streets to the High Street, lined by historic school buildings and tea options. The walk finishes with a descent along a wood and across a grassy open space down to ‘modern’ Harrow and its busy station. For walk directions, map, height profile, and gpx/kml files click here. Tea: plenty of options en-route in Harrow, but no good ones near the station, see the walk directions for details. T=short.40 Sean, 03-May-18 Interesting to see that after crossing the A404 the GPS route takes a zig zag route across Harrow School's sports pitches, rather than the direct line of the public footpath shown on the OS Map. There's been a well publicised 14 year dispute about the school's application to move this right of way and "South East Walker" issue #98 (June 2017, distributed with the Ramblers magazine) reported that an inspector had sided with objectors and ruled against the school. Unless this decision has been reversed on appeal (which would be disappointing) you'd be entitled to walk straight across the sports field. Thomas G, 03-May-18 Indeed. I have decided to use the also signposted and waymarked route as shown, which is less mud prone and does not go straight through the sports fields. The main dispute was/is over another nearby footpath which the school have built a tennis court on (see the photos on the walk's webpage). This is off the route of this walk. Thomas G, 24-May-18 5 started the walk, 1 other (on transfer from the daywalk) was delayed, so 6 in very overcast weather. Near the end of the loop through Harrow, 5 of us descended back down to The Castle pub for dinner, so we finished the walk in darkness. Thomas G, 24-May-18 1 of the group had grown up in Harrow. On the hill. He was able to give us some interesting local 'colour': history, memories, anecdotes...