This neighbourhood occupies much of the heart of the charming Pinner area, as well as the northern parts of Rayners Lane. At the centre of the neighbourhood are the main shopping parades, at the intersection of Bridge Road and High Road, where locals can find an abundant selection of shops, supermarkets, restaurants, cafes and other useful commercial outlets, making the area very well- suited to most needs. Towards the north-west of the area is Pinner Memorial Park, around which are dotted a number of key local assets – one of which being the Heath Robinson Museum which was opened in 2016. There is a lot of open green space in the Pinner area, typical of its leafy, suburban location, and locals have a number of great parks and walks nearby to choose from, including Pinner Village Gardens which provides 6.58 hectares of grounds. Overall, this is a well-regarded neighbourhood which is popular with families and those looking live in less central locations.

Pinner is itself centuries old, having been one of ten hamlets that made up the medieval Harrow Manor – the name of which is thought to be Saxon. The hamlet remained for the most part fairly rural in nature up to the 19th century, at which point the expansion of the railways facilitated population growth as well as increased tourism and visitors to rural London-outposts. It was the arrival of the London and Birmingham Railway that really pushed through the development of homes, particularly between the two World Wars when a number of garden estates were created. Taking the heart of Pinner as the centre, a number of smaller suburbs, such as neighbouring Hatch End and Rayners Lane began to sprout up as well, and these individual areas have now got their own distinctive identities today.

One famous resident who has helped put Pinner on the map – and is still honoured today with his very own museum in Pinner – is Heath Robinson, the esteemed cartoonist of the 20th century. Robinson started his career as an illustrator, producing illustrations for books, but is most famous for his satirical pieces which humorously comment on the complex mechanical workings of seemingly simple tasks – often making a dig at the unnecessarily complicated bureaucratic processes behind decisions and actions made by people in positions of power. He is generally quite warmly regarded, and has become an essential part of the 20th cultural heritage of the UK – and was also a Pinner local.

Robinson’s name is actually in the English dictionary, and has been since 1912. The term ‘Heath Robinson’ has been for the better part of a century synonymous for a ridiculously over-complicated design for something simple – and is still used today to describe engineering designs which fit this description.

Another Pinner resident who has gained popularity is not of the, er, human variety. You probably didn’t know that in 2009 a very special and beloved canine, Rufus the Pyrenean Mountain Dog, made headlines for his regular commutes into central London from Pinner Underground Station. Rufus’ owner regularly travelled on a commuter service from Pinner, and gained many fans as a result of bringing his huge fluffy friend with him – including celebrities Barbara Windsor and Matt Lucas who have both stopped to pet him!

Recently, there has been a strew of minor crime in the area, unfortunately resulting in burglaries and some break-ins. The worst of the incidents saw the local WHSmith branch broken in to in the early hours of the morning, on a usually busy and popular local street, Bridge Street. Despite this, the police in the area have been very proactive in seeking to reprimand the perpetrators, and in general, the area has a very strong community organisation working to keep the neighbourhood safe and pleasant for residents.

The conservation area of Pinner is well-protected from develpoments that may affect its quaint village aesthetic. As a result it has been difficult for developers to attain planning permission for any large-scale building projects. The closest is that of Troy Homes, who are currently developing a new residential building on Uxbridge Road. The project is set to bring 26 one- and two-bedroom apartments with parking facilities to the area. While this may seem like a relatively big addition, it’s nothing compared to the borough of Harrow as a whole, which is set to see some widescale regeneration over the coming years. Thanks to its outer London location but fantastic TfL transport, Harrow will receive 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.