Northolt

A Memory of Northolt.

I lived close to Greenford Grammar (GCGS) and went to school there between 1963 - 1968. Many of my
new schoolfriends lived in Northolt or North Greenford so I found myself spending much of my early teens there.
In particular, I have fond memories of the Racecourse Estate - I would go round my schoolmates houses, meet up with their friends, play football behind the garages, go to discos or see live bands at
St Richards Hall and go to the Odeon cinema at South Harrow.
I remember Sean Milner and Steve Warren who both lived in Cheltenham Close. Sean was in a band with Chris Pike (Thirsk Close) along with Phil Griggs - the son of Griggs the Greengrocers on the Estate.
The band practiced on Thursday nights at a small school on Church Road opposite the Targett pub - the school has since been knocked down for the Targett road interchange. I was friends with Phil Griggs at
GCGS, we had Saturday jobs (age 14) at his dad's previous Greengrocers shop. Steve Warren was
friends with a Pat (possibly Cliff) who drove a Vauxhall Cresta in 69/70.
I remember going to St Richards Hall and seeing the British rock group The Birds - in their line up was the then unknown Ronnie Wood of Faces fame.
I went to the Oriel club (table tennis) and also went to a club next to St Barnabas Church on The Fairway
which leads to where my other schoolfriends lived near the Oldfield Tavern (now flats).
Looking back I can see the families on the Estate shared a common sense of purpose and belonging
which created the community spirit referred to in people's memories. In those days we had no
knowledge of material things, we had pocket money or Saturday jobs for spending money - that's all, we were care free able to walk, play and go places without any thought for our safety and we didn't even need mobiles.
Roger M