The next public consultation to discuss the future of Waxwell Lane Car Park, where it is proposed to use all or some of the car park for a housing development, will be hosted by Gort Scott Architects and Harrow Council:

Date: 11th September 2017
Time: 3.00 – 8:00pm, drop in
Venue: Waxwell Lane Car Park, Pinner, HA5 3EN

For more information visit www.waxwell.info

On Wednesday 31st May 2017 Pinner again hosted one of the oldest street fairs in the country.   Roads were shut and buses diverted from the evening before to accommodate the many colourful fairground attractions that made up the 682nd Pinner Fair.

There were large rides and attractions all along Bridge Street, in the upper High Street and part of Marsh Road.  People from all over the area were in Pinner and were having  a great time.

The cloudy weather did not keep the crowds away.  Some intrepid fair-goers braved the heights and must have had a great view!

The dodgem cars in Marsh Road displayed the style of driving of that  hopefully we do not usually see in that road.

Pinner Fair is organised by the Showmen’s Guild in liaison with Harrow Council, to which they pay a large fee to cover the road closures, removal and replacement of street furniture and the street cleaning after the Fair has been packed away on Wednesday evening.  It is amazing that all the huge rides and attractions are folded up and driven off overnight, leaving Pinner to become the quiet suburb that we all love for another year.

Pinner certainly would not be the same place without its annual Fair.

Pinner Panto Evening held on Thursday 24^th November was a great success with crowds of people filling the whole of Pinner’s shopping areas.  The Mayor of Harrow, Cllr. Rekha Shah, officially lit the Christmas lights on the two street Christmas Trees (sponsored by The Pinner Association) at 5pm, and the Bridge Street Christmas lights (sponsored by The Pinner Association) and the new High Street light decorations (sponsored by the Pinner Ward Councillors) all created a festive scene.

The school and youth group choirs and dancers, and the Merrydowners Morris, provided street entertainment, and there were many fairground rides for children of all ages.  The finale was a spectacular Fireworks Display in Pinner Memorial Park.   We wish to thank the Pinner & Northwood Business Club and all the Pinner businesses who sponsored this wonderful community event.

The Pinner Association were pleased to sponsor the Traders’ Fancy Dress Competition at Pinner Panto Evening 2016.  The standard of the costumes chosen by the many Pinner shops and businesses who took part was even better than ever and the Mayor of Harrow had a very difficult task to choose the winners.

The three “Winners” prizes of £75 sponsored by The Pinner Association were awarded to:

Pink and Rose – Bridge Street:

Andrew Pearce – Chapel Lane:

Visage – High Street:

 

Highly Commended Certificates were awarded to:
Friends, Pizza Express, Groomerz, Gibbs Gillespie, Dri Blow Dry Bar, Earth White and Robsons.

We wish to thank Cllr Rehka Shah, the Mayor of Harrow, who walked all around Pinner four times during the day, judging the decorated windows and Traders’ Fancy Dress competitions in addition to speaking with hundreds of people during the evening and having hundreds of photo’s taken.  Her warmth and delight in everything she saw and everyone she met did much to make the evening special.

 

We have been informed by the Harrow Public Transport Users Association that Harrow Council are to close part of Bridge Street Pinner, to re-surface the section between the junctions with the High Street and Love Lane, commencing 17th November for an anticipated maximum of 6 days.

Vehicles will not be able to enter or exit Bridge Street from the High Street, Chapel Lane and Love Lane.

The 183 bus route will terminate in Cecil Park, and the H11, H12 and H13 bus routes will use West End Lane to by-pass the closed section of Bridge Street.

The advice is to avoid the area if possible while these resurfacing works are carried out!

On Tuesday 1^st November, the Mayor of Harrow, Councillor Rekha Shah, accompanied by members and a bugler of the British Legion, laid a poppy wreath in the Peace Gardens at Pinner Memorial Park, on the Dove of Peace, newly brightened with white marble dust for the occasion.

Ninety children from West Lodge School attended this important occasion and the head boy and head girl laid a wreath of poppies on the Dove.

Afterwards, the children had the opportunity of visiting the new Heath Robinson Museum and were explained the history of West House and its gardens, now the Pinner Memorial Park, in which the Peace Garden is substantially maintained by volunteers from the Pinner Association for the enjoyment of all visitors to the park.

This was a prelude to the annual Remembrance Sunday Service, organised jointly by the Pinner Association and the United Services Club, which will take place on Sunday, 13^th November, at 10.40 a.m. at the War Memorial, High Street. Pinner.

At this interdenominational service, some 40 wreaths will be laid by representatives of various branches of the armed services, of national and local government, local community, business and professional organisations, sports clubs, the Scouts and Guides and local schools.  The bugler, as has been the case for many years,, will be a pupil of Nower Hill High School.

It is hoped that many people will once again attend this annual Pinner event.

We have been informed that the works to relocate the pedestrian crossing at the bottom of the High Street and the adjacent pedestrian crossing at the bridge at the bottom of Bridge Street will finally be completed within the next two weeks (hopefully starting on the 24th October).

The long delay in completing these works has been due to the damage that was inflicted to the frontage of “Swags & Tails” when a car ran into the building in the summer of 2015. The damaged building had to be stabilised before it was safe to carry out the required works to complete the relocation of these pedestrian crossings, and it has taken this long for that necessary task to be done.

 

BENTLEY PRIORY MUSEUM – Battle of Britain Memories

Do you have memories of the Battle of Britain?

Bentley Priory Museum is keen to speak to people from around Stanmore and nearby areas who have memories from the Battle of Britain period.

Staff at the museum have collected stories from people who worked on the RAF base and are interested in the recollections of people who lived nearby.  Did you live in the area in 1940?  Perhaps you knew someone who worked on the base. Or had air force personnel billeted in your home. Maybe you remember seeing planes flying overhead and hearing reports of the battle.

The museum is developing resources linked to Remembrance Day for schools and community groups.  The resources will explore the stories behind Remembrance and how we remember the past.

Museum Director, Eleanor Pulfer-Sharma said: “Bentley Priory Museum was created as a Commemorative Museum, and it’s important that we remember all those involved in, and impacted by, the Battle of Britain.  The new school resources provide an invaluable opportunity to collect stories and memories from local people.”

Between 10 July and 31 October 1940 the Battle of Britain was fought in the skies above southern England, between the fighter planes of the Royal Air Force and the German Luftwaffe.  Bentley Priory was the RAF’s Headquarters Fighter Command during the battle, communicating vital information between observers on the ground and the fighter squadron HQs. The victory successfully halted Germany’s plans to invade Britain.

Long the spiritual home for veterans of the battle, Bentley Priory Museum opened to the public in 2013 to tell the stories of the heroic aircrew and the dedicated men and women who supported them. It continues to act as a place of remembrance and welcomes visitors from all over the world.

Anyone interested in sharing their story can contact the museum on 020 8950 5526 or email:   enquiries@bentleypriorymuseum.org.uk

See the website for more information about the museum and visiting: www.bentleypriorymuseum.org.uk

The Pinner Association was pleased to be invited to the Grand Opening of the new Heath Robinson Museum in Pinner Memorial Park.

The rain held off and a large crowd gathered at 2pm on Saturday 15th October to observe the ceremony which was MC’d by a Pinner resident Daniel Edward, and at which Cynthia Wells, Acting-Chairman of West House & Heath Robinson Museum Trust, Cllr. Rekha Shah, the Mayor of Harrow, Stuart Hobley, Head of Heritage Lottery Fund London, and Peter Higginson, Chair of the Heath Robinson Trust, all spoke to thank the many volunteers who had worked so hard for so long to achieve the creation of the first purpose built museum in London for the last 40 years.  The Heritage Lottery Fund was thanked for the grant of £1.3 million and the National Heritage Memorial Fund and Art Fund for the funding to purchase additional works by William Heath Robinson.

Michael Rosen, the well known writer and broadcaster, who was brought up in Pinner and who attended West Lodge School, then formally opened the new Museum, with the help of an ingenious contraption designed and built by the “Heath Robinson Inventors’ Club” of St Helen’s School:

 

After the formal opening ceremony the museum opened its doors to its first paying customers, who on this special day benefited from a half price entry fee and who received a “golden ticket” to commemorate being one of the first visitors to the Heath Robinson Museum.   In the park the crowds were entertained by the Harrow Steel Band and the Merrydowners Morris Dancers, there was storytelling and activities for children, and refreshments were supplied by Carpentier & Co and Daisy’s in the Park.  A great time was had by all!

The Museum will be open on Sunday 16th October 11am-4pm and then for the same hours on Friday-Sunday until mid-November.  Full information may be found on the Heath Robinson Museum website:  https://www.heathrobinsonmuseum.org/visit