Sometimes you just want to go for a nice walk, nothing too taxing, a bit of a stroll, lots to see, pretty views, historic buildings, close to public transport, funny hats, won't take long. So here's a classic mile across a hilltop in Harrow, nowhere near enough to make a day of it but a nice walk all the same.
This walk takes place within the environs of Harrow School, one of the nation's elite private institutions, which sprawls across the hill that erupts just south of Harrow town centre. The church got here first so nabbed the summit and the school bagsied most of the rest, its buildings now deeply embedded within the surrounding streets. When you've been going 450 years (1572-2022) and your fees are over £15000 per term, only the finest facilities will do.
Let's start at The Green, a sloping crescent of grass surrounded by shops, restaurants and a surfeit of Georgian buildings. This used to be Harrow town centre before the upstart hamlet a mile to the north got its railway station and dragged the heart of civic life downhill. The building with the longest history is the Kings Head Hotel where Henry VIII allegedly slept, which helps explain the gantry innsign draped across The Green, although the current building is a) only 18th century b) no longer any kind of hostelry c) flats. I managed to turn up just as the Harrow Hill Trust were massing, stepladders poised, to hang decorations from a freshly-erected Christmas tree.
The surrounding shops provide somewhere for local residents to buy broadsheet newspapers, for students to stock up on tuck and for their parents to enjoy a meal after dropping off the sprogs. The oddest outlet to outside eyes is Billings & Edwards, school outfitters, with its windowful of waistcoats, stripy scarves, sensible shoes, lockable trunks and hooped rugby jerseys in approved house colours. And they don't have a monopoly, another outfitters called The Outfitters is located a bit further up the High Street, where the centrepiece of the display is a red and white striped blazer signifying sporting prowess (and no fashion sense whatsoever).
The High Street wends and dips, as befits an ancient lane. Many of the buildings to either side are school Houses, home to approximately 70 boarders during termtime and watched over by a Master and a Matron in loco parentis. I wondered if the high fencing alongside The Park was to permit some obscure Harrovian racket game but no, Harrow's sporting oddity is a football variant and this proved to be just an ordinary basketball court. The view ahead with its twin spires and tearoom could easily be that of some provincial market town, and a particularly well preserved market town at that, if only red double decker buses didn't rattle through every few minutes to dispel the illusion.
Because we're on a heritage hillside the occasional narrow alley squeezes down a flight of steps between cramped cottages. I recommend you descend Short Hill to take a look at West Street, partly because it's quaint down there but mainly because the walk's not going to reach a mile in length without some kind of diversion. Here we find Hatmaker's House and Penny Stones Cottage, plus a warren of narrow winding lanes, plus a pub called The Castle where I suspect some of the Matrons hang out. The drinking fountain at the top of the slope marks the site of the old village well and has been upgraded/restored more than once because former pupils are generous like that.
Ahead now is the educational heart of Harrow School, i.e. the chapel, the library, the Speech Room and the Old School (where Byron, Fox-Talbot and Sheridan scratched their names into the timbers). A lot of Strictly Private No Public Access signs have recently sprung up so don't expect to cross even the most minor of thresholds unless you've come on one of the special open days or have booked a tour. Should notices permit I recommend climbing up to the central terrace and soaking in the ambience, maybe even catching sight of central London in one of the gaps between buildings. That bus stop down there always feels like an absurd intrusion.
Come in termtime and you may find yourself walking amongst pupils coming and going, even on a Saturday. What makes a Harrow student stand out is his straw boater, not necessarily on his head but perhaps clutched in front of him or balanced on top of a pile of books. As hats go they're unusually flat and broad-brimmed, as if the outfitters intended the wearer to feel particularly self-conscious (and/or to develop a bit of inner mettle). The staff meanwhile wear suits and maybe a gown, and can expect a chirpy "Sir!" from their charges as they pass by. If you've ever walked past a Peckham comprehensive at chucking out time, this is nothing like that whatsoever.
Keep climbing past the back of the Speech Room to reach the gate into St Mary's churchyard, where the school quietly blinks out. The foot of the tower is (very) early Norman while the lead-coated spire on top was added in the 15th century and would have been visible across all of Middlesex. George Gilbert Scott got his hands on the church's interior so this looks a lot more Victorian, but still with a lot of ancient tombs and plaques around the walls. My visit coincided with the parish's Christmas fair so I got to enjoy a few scattered stalls selling cards, candles and crockery, but I never managed to broach the church hall because the queue for the tombola was too long.
The churchyard contains magnificent yew trees and also, just out the back, a renowned viewpoint. The student Lord Byron used to come up here regularly for peace and inspiration, and even wrote the odd poem about it, as a plaque by the Peachey Tomb attests. Alas the authorities have allowed the shrubbery beyond to grow too high, obscuring most of Metroland from sight, so there's no longer much to get excited about. And although the council once thoughtfully added a step up to allow visitors a better look, that's not much use if a local fitness addict has plonked their phone on the metal marker and is attempting alternating toe touches when you arrive.
You could head down the path beside the graveyard to the lower viewpoint and from there veer back to West Street but I suggest you end your walk by dropping down to the playing fields on the other side of the hill. The way down is even called Football Lane as a blatant hint to what you'll find at the bottom. On the descent expect to pass specialist facilities for business studies, then maths and science, then eventually music, because future leaders only ever get the best. There again imagine ending every Harrovian games lesson (five afternoons a week for five years) by having to pant back up a long steep hill - that's taking character-building to unnecessary levels.
The playing fields of Harrow include bespoke spaces for tennis, athletics and nine holes of golf, and are currently laid out to accommodate a heck of a lot of simultaneous rugby. I arrived to find all the pitches empty and several teams from visiting schools hurling their sweaty bags into the boot of a coach ready for a steamed-up ride home. The coffee cart servicing spectating parents probably won't be there when you turn up which means, sorry, the nearest refreshments are back up that hill. Or you could carry on across the playing fields because the Capital Ring threads that way heading towards section's end at South Kenton.
Whichever way you go after your nice walk, re-entering the real world may be a sudden jolt.
