June 2008 Archives

By Ian Proctor

A rugby club is helping out a cricket club which burnt down in suspicious circumstances.

Pinner and Grammarians Rugby Football Club invited Hatch End Cricket Club - with which it shares Shaftesbury Playing Fields in Grimsdyke Road, Hatch End - to use its clubhouse after the cricket club's neighbouring premises were torched on the evening of Saturday June 14.

These pictures, sent in by reader Michele Lawrence show the defiant club playing a match and flying its flag again just one week after the disaster.

The suspicious fire started hours after a confrontation between players and youths which caused a game between Hatch End and visitors Old Camdenians to be abandoned.

Rugby club president David Hiles said: "They now use our pavilion on Saturdays and Sundays.

"We do sympathise with their position because our clubhouse burned down about six years ago and we had a long battle with our insurance company over two years so we used Hatch End's clubhouse.

"As soon as I heard about the fire I rang up their secretary as we owe them quite a bit. We're returning the favour."

Mr Hiles said anti-social behaviour and wanton damage had been a persistent problem for years on the recreation land the clubs shared.

"We have had continual vandalism. It's just deliberate damage and for the last couple of years in the summer there's always a crowd of kids there on a Friday."

In February, yobs blocked a drainpipe with mud, bottles and timber, causing the rugby club's building to flood.

Mr Hiles added: "You always find bottles, knickers, condoms and needles around the back."

Hatch End CC's social secretary Graham Wild said: "We're very grateful for the generosity of the rugby club.

"We've been able to fulfil all of our fixtures and we're brining together an action plan for fundraising events.

"As a club, we're trying to take this opportunity and make a new start."

He said the full cost of building a replacement pavilion could be as much as £200,000.

Mr Wild said: "It's very likely that we will be back in our pavilion in the next couple of seasons, the real-istic target being 2010."

A Harrow Police spokesman said: "The fire is being treated as suspicious but has not yet been confirmed as arson by the London Fire Brigade.

"There have been no further arrests."

One cricketer and one youth were arrested on suspicion of affray in relation to the confrontation.

Anyone who wishes to donate money to Hatch End CC should contact Mr Wild via email at wild.man@btinternet.com.

People in Harrow can have their say about how they want the borough to look - and could win £100.
Residents can comment by logging on to Harrow Council's new interactive website harrow consult or contact ldfconsultation@harrow.gov.uk or 020 8736 6069 for information.

Dance and drama teaching at one of Harrow's secondary schools could be given a huge boost if councillors approval a new sixth form centre this Wednesday evening.

Members of Harrow Council's strategic planning committee are recommended to grant planning permission for construction of A-level facilities at Hatch End High School in Headstone Lane, Harrow, which is a specialist arts college.

The proposed two-storey block contains three computing suites, office space, a dining room with terrace, a careers room, a library, eight classrooms and a lift. It will accommodate 137 sixth form students.

School officials also asked to extend the Great Hall by adding a dance and drama studio, and because they will have their own toilets and folding partition walls, these rooms can be rented to the community performance groups.

American coffee giants Starbucks could be forced to shut its divisive Pinner branch if councillors heed recommendations and refuse planning permission.

The cafe, at 19-23 High Street, Pinner, has been a cause of consternation for residents angry at what they believe is an erosion of the unique identity of the historic village.

But an officer's report to this evening's (Wednesday's) strategic planning committee advises members to reject Starbucks' application to continue to use the premises as a coffee shop, as it has done since 2007.

The official believes the proposal would result in "unacceptable loss of retail frontage, leading to a loss of vitality of the shopping parade and Pinner District Centre as a whole".

This is the second time the multi-national business has tried to legitimise its coffee house after the first application, for retrospective planning permission to convert the ground floor of the premises from retail to coffee shop, was refused by the council in February.

A Pinner teenager is looking for keen players and fundraisers to take part in a community football tournament.
Jamie Markham, 15, said: "I have lived in Pinner for 14 years now, but not once have I seen a local community-building football tournament.
"So I have planned to make one in Pinner Recreational Ground, Pinner, on August 24.
"What we really need is £300 to boost our chances of it happening, so if you have any ideas on how to raise that kind of money or you want to donate some to our Pinner community football tournament please email me."
For details on entering a team or general infomation email jamie_makham@hotmail.co.uk.

By Tara Brady

A waltzing wife from Pinner is dancing with delight as she celebrates her golden wedding anniversary with her husband this year.
Childhood sweethearts, Ann, 72, and Malcolm Foote, 75, of Murray Crescent, Pinner, first met at a youth club during their teens and tied the knot in 1958.
To celebrate 50 years of marriage, ballroom dancing Ann, was whisked off on a weekend break where the happy couple performed the Foxtrot, Viennese Waltz and Quickstep with Strictly Come Dancing star, Anton de Beke along with actor and choreographer, Lionel Blair.
Looking back on when they first met, Ann said: "I went to a youth club in Bournemouth when I was about 15 and he went too. We became close and started dating.
"We had to wait to get married because Malcolm had to do his National Service and he then went to the University of Southampton. We eventually got married on May 31, 1958, in All Saints Church in Bournemouth."
Ann and Malcolm moved to the borough in 1960 and lived in Kenton with their first child, Christine.
Within a year Ann had given birth to another girl, Susan, and they set up their family home in Pinner where they still live.
Ann said: "When we moved to Kenton I was terribly home sick. I didn't know anybody and I had come here with my baby. But we made a home in Pinner to bring up our children and we have stayed here ever since."
Ann was a legal secretary before becoming a care assistant at Wilsmere House Nursing Home in Harrow Weald for 16 years. She retired three years ago but goes back part time to help out. Malcolm worked for 37 years as an engineer for defence engineering firm, BAE systems, in Stanmore.
They now have three grandchildren, 18-year-old twins Darren and Kerry O'Brien, and two-year-old Rhys James Edwards.
Ann said: "Malcolm has been such a strength over the years. Whenever I have been ill or needed to go to the hospital he has always been there. If I was to explain what the secret to a happy marriage is it would probably be that both people have to give and take. Malcolm and I are completely different but we except each other for the people we are. He really is a power of strength to me."

By Elaine Okyere

A Pinner charity is in the running to win a national competition and the chance to star in a TV show.
Transitions, a charity based in Dawlish Drive, is in the semi-finals of the National Lottery Awards 2008 and has the chance to win £2,000 and be featured in a BBC1 programme.
The charity, which is now in its second year, focuses on helping young people with learning disabilities deal with the challenge of finding a job and adjusting to life after leaving school. The scheme seeks to find 16-26-year-olds work placements in businesses so they can get the experience of working in a professional environment, which will hopefully lead to permanent employment.
Ranu Mehta-Radia, the Transitions development officer, said: "We're so pleased that we've reached the semi-finals, we're hoping the public really get behind us and vote, it would be amazing to win.
"For these young people it is difficult and we seek to engage people with learning disabilities when they are leaving school or trying to find a job."
Transitions runs workshops and courses for young people, these include First Impressions, a beauty and complementary therapies course to pamper women with learning disabilities and teach them how to make themselves more presentable for job interviews.
Emily Minney, of Boxtree Lane, Harrow Weald, did a work placement at a community project, Link Up, through Transitions and also completed the First Impressions course, which helped her secure a job. The 25-year-old who has Downs's syndrome works now for Starbucks in Pinner after completing a work placement there last year.
She said: "I really enjoy working, I get on with everyone. It really helped me, if I hadn't had got this job I would still be working at Link Up but thanks to them I have a job."
Mrs Mehta reasons that things most people find easy are a challenge for those with disabilities.
She said: "I found we would send someone to an interview and they wouldn't know how to get there.
"Each person has their strengths and I want to show that the employers. I don't like saying they have a disability as they all have abilities."
Transitions is one of 10 projects in the best education project category. Public voting for the semi-finals starts ends at midday on Friday 4 July. To register your vote for Transitions call 0845 386 6146 or log on to www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk/awards.

Nower Hill High School will hold a summer concert on June 27, in aid of Teenage Cancer Trust.
Pupils at the school in George V Avenue, Pinner, will be joined by professional musicians and dancers in a series of performances throughout the night.
Tickets are £10 and can be purchased by calling 020 8428 6061.

By David Baker

Just days before seven brothers set out on a charity bike ride in memory of their dad they were told their mum had little over a week to live.
The Norris brothers, one of which is from Pinner, had prepared for months for the London to Brighton trek on Saturday (14) to raise money for the British Heat Foundation - to commemorate the two year anniversary of their father Sean's death.
But just two days before the race they were given the devastating news that their mother in Ireland was terminally ill.
The family, which is also made up of six sisters, has been hit by a series tragedy in recent years and the Norris sons had also dedicated the 54-mile ride to another brother Paul - who died after being hit by a car in 1996.
John Norris, of The Squirrels, Pinner, organised the team's entrance and labelled the group Seven Rides for Seven Brothers.
The 54-year-old said that despite the devastating news they took part in the event because they knew that's what their mother would have wanted.
He said: "One of my brothers, Peter, who lives in New Jersey pulled out at the last minute to spend time by our mum's bedside but that was a personal decision made because he rarely gets to see her.
"But we all discussed what we should and decided we should go ahead with it.
"When we spoke to mum after the race she was really proud of us and was delighted we had done it for dad.
"We are all really pleased to have done it and despite the circumstances we knew the money was being raised for a good cause."
The other five brothers, Michael, 55, of Oxford, Gerard, 46, of Reading, Eugene, 43, of Swindon, Hugh, 36, of South Woodford and David, 34, of East London all signed up for the race and spent nine hours on Saturday racing to the finish line.
They have now all flown out to Ireland to spend time with their mum.
Between them they have already raised more than £1,000 but hope to raise a total of £7,777.
To sponsor them visit www.justgiving.com/7rides_for_7brothers.

by David Baker

Hundreds of people flocked to Pinner on Saturday to get a taster of works being done on one of the village's biggest projects.
West House, which is based in Pinner Memorial Park, opened its doors to the public for the first time and nearly three hundred people turned out for guided tours.
Almost £900,000 has already been raised to turn the building into a museum and art gallery which will showcase illustrator Heath Robinson's works.
However, money is still desperately needed to complete the building, which could be finished in six months if the remaining cash is raised.
Cynthia Wells, who is a member of the trust which has campaigned to carry out the project was delighted with the success of the open day.
She said: "It was absolutely brilliant, I think people were very surprised at just how fantastic West House will be when it is complete.
"Money is still desperately needed to finish it though and we are always extremely grateful for donations."
West House will open again for tours on Sunday (22) which will run from 11am to 1pm.