November 2008 Archives

Harrow and Wealdstone Swimming Club has set itself ambitious new goals under the leadership of Olympian Marc Spackman.

The Harrow Leisure Centre-based association unveiled its vision in a document which said would soon be the "toughest and most competitie team in London".

Mr Spackman said he would soon be concentrating on the club full-time and that he would ensure HWSC the most professional team at every meet attended.

Teenage girls turned engineers and mechanics to build a unique solar-powered car from scratch by hand.

It took members of The Sacred Heart Language College's engineering club eight months to assemble the environmentally-friendly motor using a kit specially imported from the US.

The challenge was designed to test the skills of some of the school's most gifted pupils.

Fifteen Year 9 girls (13-14 years old) from the single-sex college in High Street, Wealdstone, spent up to three hours a week after lessons putting the golf cart-sized vehicle together in teams.

Each was dedicated to a different function, such as electrics or mechanics.

John Lockwood, head of design and technology, said: "They've done extremely well, doing everything from the mechanical side to cutting out the plastic livery.

"The car just came on a very big pallet in bits so we had to identify all the parts and set it up.

"The actual work and going out and driving it has been great fun."

Sacred Heart's right hand drive two-seater car is a SUNNEV (Sun Neighbourhood Electric Vehicle) - the brainchild of a US-based mechanical engineer - and has pride of place parked up outside the design and technology department workshop, although it is street legal.

Mr Lockwood said: "On a full charge, it will go for about 30 kilometres and has a top speed of between 25 and 30 km/h.

"Quite a lot of staff and several of the students have been driving it on open evenings."

Hate crime in the borough has risen, according to the latest figures from police and a hate crime watchdog.

Statistics compiled by the Harrow Hate Crime Forum (HHCF) show from April to June 2008 there were 59 offences committed, an increase of 43 per cent from the same period last year.

It reported a total of 246 racist incidents and 136 racial offences in Harrow over the financial year 2007-08.

HHCF chair Arpita Dutt, giving a presentation to the borough's Police & Community Consultative Group on Monday, said Marlborough and Edgware were her main concerns.
She told the audience at Harrow Civic Centre: "In Edgware we are not being assisted enough by the agencies involved, victims still feel unsafe.

"The increase could be because of community confidence in reporting incidents or it might indicate a higher number of incidents.

"My aim is to encourage reporting of race and religious hate crimes, it enables us to get a better picture of what is happening."

The HHCF's yearly figure is taken from police data, Harrow Council's crime reduction figures and information from council-organised reporting sites, where people can drop in to shops and community groups to report concerns confidentially.

Although Harrow police's figures also showed a 31 per cent increase in hate crime from April until June 2008 compared with the same period last year Mrs Dutt's findings were attacked by a Conservative councillor as "alarmist".

Susan Hall, responsible for community safety in Harrow, said: "I am extremely disappointed, people will think we are living in chaos.

"I don't know where she (Mrs Dutt) is coming from at all, the levels of crime in borough are low. I found it alarmist."

Harrow's police borough commander also said rejected the picture painted by the figures.
Chief superintendant Richard Walton said: "I completely refute the Harrow Hate Crime Forum.

"We always have challenges of people reporting to us as they do not want to go through court, but we have a very effective unit who deal with these crimes."

In September Harrow Council hosted a launch event to encourage residents to report incidents of hate crime in order to stamp out racism and listen to residents' concerns.

At the time Councillor Chris Mote (Conservative), portfolio holder for community and cultural services, said: "In Harrow we are committed to providing quality of life for every resident.

"We want to encourage people to work with us and our partners to stamp out this despicable behaviour."

For more information on reporting hate crimes or to find the locations of third party reporting sites, visit

A conceptual artist and his team have left art on borough streets in a generous one-off art happening.

Adam Neate claimed the streets of London as his gallery as dusk fell on Friday night, leaving 1,000 artworks scattered across the city, visiting all 32 London boroughs.

Find out more at

Were you lucky enough to find one of the pieces? Tell us what you found and where you found it and send your videos and pictures to http://www.harrowobserver.co.uk/west-london-videos-pics/

A man was stabbed in a street brawl in the early hours of Sunday morning (November 3).

A 36-year-old man was slashed in the chest during a fight with two other men in Hindes Road, Wealdstone.

The victim was treated for the one inch cut and taken to St Mary's Hospital, in Westminister, by ambulance were he was in a stable condition. No arrests have been made.

A group of masked attackers is being hunted by the police after a teenager was stabbed in Wealdstone.

The 16-year-old was approached on September 23 by three or four men near Sam's Chicken Shop, in High Street, Wealdstone. One man punched him in the head and he fell to the floor. The man then stabbed him twice in the leg.

The robbers, who were wearing balaclavas and masks, stole a mobile phone and some loose change from the victim before running up the High Street towards Riley's snooker club.

Detective sergeant Nigel Burnell said: "This incident occurred at a very busy spot on the High Road, Wealdstone, at a location where many people often congregate, and I believe that someone may have seen the events of that evening.

"I urge anyone with information to call us."

The victim was taken to Northwick Park Hospital, in Watford Road, and later released.
Another teenager also had a head injury and was treated by London Ambulance.

The man who stabbed the victim is six foot and was dressed in black.

Anyone with information should contact Harrow Police on 020 8733 3485 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

Harrow and Wealdstone Swimming Club is holding its sprint night on November 30 at Harrow School from 5pm to 8pm.

To find out more about the club visit www.harrowswim.org

Restoration of an unsafe moat bridge at Headstone Manor will help bring the 14th Century attraction back to its full glory.
The three-arched 18th Century brick bridge is the only way across the watercourse onto the island where the Grade I listed building, constructed in the 14th Century, stands, but has been fenced off recently due to its poor condition.
Harrow Council now proposes to address the bridge's structural defects, vegetation growths and damp problems, and provide gates and fencing akin those present in the early 1900s, in order to bring the crossing back into use for pedestrians and vehicles.
The channel will be partially drained to allow experts to examine the bridge's foundations and discarded historic bricks dredged up from the bottom of the moat may be used to patch up the bridge's walls.
The conservation plan for the Scheduled Ancient Monument site is contained in a planning application that the council has had to submit to itself for approval.
Reports submitted in support the scheme say: "These works will also provide the opportunity, wherever possible, to record and evaluate the existing bridge, moat and retaining walls., in order to provide additional historic knowledge and evidence about the site.
"In particular, it is hoped that some evidence of earlier structures or artefacts may still remain in the moat, which could verify its age and previous usage of the site."