Trivia

Harrow Swimming Baths

Do you remember the trek from school for compulsory swimming once a week during the summer term? In the middle of a residential area, the open air pool in Charles Crescent was probably a 15 minute walk from Heathfield. We had the double period before lunch, and by the time we got to the pool and put on our bathing costumes, there was little time left for swimming. Most of us never did learn to swim. We would be thrown a float and told to kick our legs while our teeth chattered miserably from the cold. Those who could swim would head for the deep end to learn different strokes and how to dive. At the end of the lesson, the changing huts were as cold and as damp as the pool water itself. We couldn't wait to get back to school with high hopes of a hot lunch.

The pool, which first opened in 1923, was in the middle of a new housing estate. It closed down in 1980 although it wasn't emptied nor was it fenced in for another two years. The abandoned pool became the stomping ground for any child who would stumble across it, especially those keen on hunting for frogs, newts and water boatmen and other pond life which could be found in abundance in the murky pea green water.

Sopers was a major 3-floor department store that opened in 1914 on Station Road. Debenhams bought it over in the late 70s and later modernized the store front . It finally closed its doors in 2021.

Sopers was a well stocked department store boasting a hairdressers, a tea-room, a Santa's grotto at Christmas, fashion, furniture, household items and more. Linens, haberdashery, lingerie and other smaller items were kept in countless drawers behind glass-topped counters. Cashiers sat in a glassed-in payment cubicle where paper bills and coins were put into a brass tube and sent to the back of the shop using a tally chain or a pneumatic tube. Change and a receipt were then sent back the same way.

Sopers Tea Room

Some of us have very fond memories of being taken out for a special treat. Knickerbocker Glories were top choice - served with a long handled spoon in Sundae glasses so tall you had to put them between your knees on the chair to reach inside. Other tempting treats included Devonshire Splits and Treacle Tarts, and so much more.

Somertons (official school outfitters)

On the corner of Station Road and College Road, Somertons was the only department store in the area until the arrival of Sopers. It became the main uniform outfitters for the many schools in and around Harrow.

As a store, Somertons always seemed old fashioned when compared to nearby Sopers. If you ever remember wearing a fleecy liberty bodice with its many small rubber buttons all down the front, then this was probably purchased from Somertons. Lisle stockings, held up by a girdle with suspenders, rubber corsets and long bloomers were also worn. In fairness, they also sold fashionable summer dresses, cardigans etc.

St. Keverne (Heathfield infant school)

St. Keverne used to be Heathfield's infant school and included Kindergarten, Upper Kindergarten and Transition. In its earlier days each class included a few young boys who then moved on to a local prep school for their Junior years. The beautiful old Victorian house is on Peterborough Road, and when Heathfield relocated to Pinner, St. Keverne was sold and divided up into deluxe apartments. The complex is now called Heathfield.

A house called Heathfield at 12 College Road.

Miss Norris wrote A History of Your School, which is a wonderful account of how, in 1900, the school first opened its doors in a small house called The Firs. Within two years it relocated to a larger house called Heathfield at 12 College Road.

Miss Norris’ story is a must read, so click the link above. You will discover her battles for loans and planning permission and her dedicated hard work through the years first as a teacher, and then headmistress of Heathfield School for Girls.

Over the years, her aim was to continue to provide specialty rooms and sports facilities together with a dedicated staff necessary to foster a much needed comprehensive education for young girls. Heathfield soon became well known and greatly respected for its place in a rapidly changing world.

But in 1982 Heathfield was forced to move to new premises in Pinner and the old familiar landmark opposite Harrow-on-the-Hill Station came to an end as bulldozers moved in. The well-known landmark and many of the adjacent businesses (for example the popcorn factory and Greenhill laundry) were razed to the ground, and St. Anne’s Shopping Centre was the result.

The broad steps leading up to Harrow-On-The-Hill Station are still intact. There used to be a small garden nursery just beside the bus stops near these steps and vendors would sell flowers from baskets at the entrance to the station.

Report abuse