Known locally as Hatch End, this neighbourhood is a predominantly affluent suburb with a lot of useful amenity and leisure facilities nearby. Central to the neighbourhood is Hatch End railway station, from which the London Overground takes commuters directly into Euston. Clustered around the station is Hatch End’s main high street, Uxbridge Road, where locals can find a range of upmarket restaurants, cafes and shops as well as the usual local supermarkets. The neighbourhood has a number of schools and cultural centres, for example the Harrow Arts Centre, which provides a variety of cultural activities and entertainment for the local and wider Harrow community. Aside from this, the neighbourhood has a dynamic and diverse population which is characteristic of north west London suburbs: indeed, the 2011 census showed that the population of the area saw over 24% of the neighbourhood identify as Indian, up from less than 5% in the 2001 census. The neighbourhood also has a sizeable Jewish population, with two synagogues and a kosher butcher. Overall the area is seen as a desirable place to live, particularly for the leafy, pleasant balance between urban and rural living which it provides.

Hatch End has served predominantly as a suburb of London throughout the 20th century, sharing a similar trajectory to other local neighbourhoods which expanded their residential population during waves of suburbanisation. The area itself has a number of significant historical buildings which make up its local history. One such example is the St Anselm’s Parish Church, which whilst today is tucked away from view off Uxbridge Road, and is a wonderful example of a neo-gothic Victorian Church. The Harrow Arts Centre is another key historical building with an interesting history, having started off as one of the Commercial Travellers Schools started by John Robert Cuffley, a commercial traveller in the 19th century. Commercial Travellers were salesmen who travelled the country in order to sell new technology, and the school was established to provide an education for the children of commercial travellers who fell on hard times.

One famous resident who hails from Hatch End has long been a household name, and in most senses of the word was the first ‘celebrity cook’: Isabella Beeton. Mrs Beeton was a Victorian wife and mother who made her fortune authoring the famous ‘Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management’, a domestic handbook for Victorian women running a household. The famous work was instructive not only in recipes and cooking, but provided guidance on all aspects of running and maintaining a Victorian family. The woman herself had a bright, illustrious, but sadly short-lived career (she died at the age of 28) working alongside her publisher husband, Samuel Beeton, and commuting every day from Pinner into the capital at his company. Whilst the contemporary use of such a book is perhaps less relevant, she remains an important part of the story in the domestic history Britain!

One of the oldest buildings in the area, Letchford House, dates back to 1670. This timber- framed farmhouse has been altered multiple times in the last few centuries, having been used as offices from the 1970’s. It is however grade-II listed and a great historical asset to the area.

Unfortunately, whilst the area generally has some of lowest crime rates in greater London, there have been a number of incidents on the local high street that have raised concern. This includes a recent robbery of the local bookkeepers, and again on the Uxbridge Road, a recent disturbance which resulted in a minor stabbing incident. Despite these somewhat alarming incidents, the police response has been swift and thorough and has been matched by the efforts of a very proactive and engaged local community. The Hatch End Association, for example, is a non-political community group which has existed from 1929. The association is particularly strident in its defence of the ‘spacious, green and leafy’ character of Hatch End, and are very often vocal in objecting to planning applications which may damage this aspect of the area. Indeed, it is clear that the Hatch End Association committee ‘works enthusiastically on your behalf on matters such as planning, traffic, parking, health issues and anything else.’

While there are few recent large-scale developments in the Hatch End area, the borough of Harrow on the whole is set for a total rejeuvenation, with the £690m ‘Building a Better Harrow’ scheme in conjunction with Wates Residential, set to bring 1,500 new affordable homes, a civic centre, numerous new commercial spaces, as well as plenty of new and improved green space over the coming ten years. The focus of these developments will be at Poet’s Corner, Byron Park, and Peel House car park, and will bring new life to the area, even if the projects are not directly within Hatch End itself.