Posted on

Harrow-on-the-Hill

Our first six weeks here, we stayed in a small, functional-but-not-comfortable flat in Harrow. One Tuesday, I went for a walk and explored the area while Kurt was working. I put on my walking shoes and headed in a new direction, away from the shops and Tube station. I crossed the bridge over the train tracks, passed the police station, and crossed a busy road to go up the nearby hill.

Walking up that hill was like entering another world. The tree-lined street was far less busy, and the sounds of the city faded away. I passed a house built in 1863 and then a letterbox with the royal cypher of King George V. It felt like going back in time. I continued up the hill and realized I was walking through Harrow School. Coming around a bend in the road, a statue of Elizabeth I on the side of a building almost seemed to greet me.

An Adorable Village

I kept walking and admiring the architecture when suddenly school boys in uniforms and boater hats flooded the street as they hurried to class. I couldn’t help but smile. They quickly sorted themselves into the various buildings, and the sidewalks were clear once again.

There was a pillar-style postbox, and curious, I checked its royal cypher—Queen Victoria. I already regretted not bringing my camera, now this! The buildings were beautiful, and there’s a little village beyond before crossing the main street and heading down a smaller street. I admired the façade of an old pub, The Castle, but didn’t stop. I knew Kurt and I would be back for a visit. Continuing down the narrow street, I realized the doors to the homes I was passing were shorter than me. Some of the houses had names; the Hatmaker’s House, the Coalkeeper’s Cottage. Oh, why didn’t I at least bring my phone to take pictures? Spying another pillar box on the other side of the road, I crossed to check the royal cypher—Edward VII. Three different cyphers in one village!

Adventure and Exploration

About the time I decided it was time to turn around, I noticed a sign for a footpath. I couldn’t see where it went, but since this was an adventure walk, I followed the sign. It wound through houses and opened onto a grassy hill. I noticed benches near the top, so I followed a path worn in the grass to a bench and sat down, huffing and puffing. It’s quite a hill (and I’m out of shape). I could see for miles to the west: fields, houses, buildings, roads, cranes towering over construction sites, and multiple church steeples.

After catching my breath and taking in the view, I saw an opening in the trees and bushes behind the bench. I wondered where it went, so I walked over and saw that it leads to the church at the top of the hill. So, up I went. The steep walkway runs along the southern boundary of the church graveyard. Reading headstones as I walked up, I felt the love and grief expressed in the epitaphs.

At the top, stairs lead to the main churchyard. Just to the right of those stairs is a bench and a plaque. Curious, I walked over and read that this was Lord Byron’s favorite spot to write poetry when he was a student at Harrow School. One of his poems is etched in stone next to the plaque. There’s a grave covered with a metal cage to protect it—we learned later that people had taken to breaking pieces off the headstone as souvenirs of their visit.

Byron’s poetry place, St. Mary’s Church, Harrow-on-the-Hill

I walked by the church, its steeple covered in scaffolding, and out the main entrance of the churchyard, which led me right back into the heart of the school. In front of me was a spectacular view of the library with Wembley Stadium and central London in the background. I knew I would be back with a camera the next day.

Harrow School

Walking back to our little flat, I thought about all the pictures I wanted to take. On the website for Harrow School, I learned that Elizabeth I issued the school’s charter, which explained the statue. I also saw that they do public tours three times a year. To my delight, the next public tour was in a few days on Saturday. I bought tickets immediately.

I repeated my walk the next day, and several other days, with camera in hand. But, the real treat was the school tour that Saturday. We can’t recommend it highly enough. On the day of the tour, there was snow on the ground and frigid wind blowing. However, our tour guide gave us such a warm welcome that we forgot about the weather and enjoyed every minute of the tour.

Vaughan Library in the snow
Fourth Form Room at Harrow School
Students traditionally carved their names carved on the wood paneling of the fourth form room, including some famous former students like Byron and Churchill.

Starting in the Fourth Form Room in the original school building, we saw where Lord Byron, Winston Churchill, and many other students carved their names in the wood paneling.

Harry Potter at Harrow School
Fourth Form Room window. Do you recognize it from Harry Potter?

More recently, this was the filming location for a Harry Potter scene. You may recall the students learning to levitate a feather and Hermione saying, “You’re saying it wrong. It’s leviOsa, not leviosA!”

We toured the magnificent D-shaped Speech Room where assemblies, events, and performances are held. There are seven plaques commemorating prime ministers who attended the school.

There are also paintings of famous Old Harrovians including Sir Winston Churchill, King Hussein of Jordan, Sir Robert Peel (founder of the Metropolitan Police), and Anthony Trollope (novelist and inventor of the pillar box). This beautiful room has also been used as a filming location. We recognized it in an episode of The Crown (where it was portrayed as Eton, a rival school).

The Speech Room

The tour took us on a solemn walk through memorials for the many former students lost in military service, particularly in the World Wars. Finally, we crossed the street and visited the church and library, two beautiful examples of Victorian-era architecture. The rear windows of the library sport an even more stunning view to central London, which we learned is preserved by the lands adjacent to the school having been purchased by faculty and staff and gifted to the school in order to preserve the school’s country feel and view.

Worth a Visit

It’s a remarkable school in a remarkable location next to a charming village amid the hustle and bustle of a busy borough of London. It’s off the regular path of where most tourists go, but easily accessible by Tube or bus. If you’re looking for something a little different than the typical tourist fare, whether you like art, architecture, history, or literature, this may be just the thing. If you go, have lunch at The Castle or afternoon tea at The Doll’s House on the Hill.

Posted on

Grocery Shopping

I made my first foray into British grocery shopping very shortly after we arrived. If we wanted to eat and avoid eating at a restaurant for every meal, we needed food and supplies for our temporary accommodations. Iceland was very close, so that was my first stop. It’s somewhat of a specialty store in that they sell predominantly frozen foods and have only a small assortment of other items. That was fine as we only had a small assortment of pots, pans, and utensils at our disposal anyway.

The first challenge was figuring out the shopping carts—they’re chained together. It took a few moments, but we figured out that to use one you put a pound coin in the slot and push it in to release one cart from the others. You get your coin back when you return the cart and reattach it to the rest. The big upside to that system is that there aren’t carts strewn about the parking lot threatening to roll into your car—just be sure to keep a pound coin handy.

It didn’t take long for me to realize that this was going to be a whole new shopping experience and not just because most things were frozen. They sell different things, use different words for things, and arrange things completely differently. English muffins are crumpets—well, sort of but not really. The English muffin is not English at all. Scones are a lot like biscuits, but to the British biscuits are cookies. Fries are chips, chips are crisps, and dessert is pudding—which may or may not be actual pudding. There are courgettes and aubergines in the produce department instead of zucchini and eggplant. Eggs aren’t refrigerated. While most American grocers have an entire aisle dedicated to breakfast cereals from Apple Jacks to Wheaties, British stores have a much smaller section dominated by things like porridge, oats, muesli, granola, and a few cereals like corn flakes, Weetabix (like Shredded Wheat), Cheerios, and Rice Krispies.

Everything is in grams and liters, which might not seem like a big deal since you can see the size of the item you’re buying, except that, like in the US, there’s often a lot of air space in the package making it look like more than it is. Understanding how many servings are in something can be a challenge. We shared a single portion for a couple meals before I got the hang of it. Bizarrely, milk lists how many liters and pints—no quarts or gallons though. And forget deciphering nutrition information. How many calories in a kilojoule? Anyone?

Of course, prices are in pounds and pence. Which makes everything seem less expensive until you do the math. Although, we were pleasantly surprised by prices. Overall, they’re similar to what we’re used to. Some things are more expensive, but that’s offset by other items that are less expensive. Cereal is remarkably less expensive here, especially American brands like Kellogg’s (which doesn’t make sense, but we’re not complaining). Pasta imported from Italy is downright cheap (which does make sense). Bread costs a little less. Dried herbs and spices are much less expensive, but vanilla extract is quite dear.

We were amused to come across a “Mexican food” section. It was an Old El Paso display with some Uncle Ben’s Mexican Rice on the side. Other than tortillas and refried beans, we’d never seen any of these items for sale in US stores or on the menus of Mexican restaurants—smoky BBQ flavor fajitas and sweet paprika and garlic tacos. Huh? I passed on that section entirely.

After making my way through the aisles and filling the basket, I headed for the checkout line—er, queue. We didn’t have a British bank account yet, so I paid with an American bank card, which elicited a reaction somewhat like paying with a stack of coupons and loose change in an American store. It takes longer, confuses the cashier, and annoys everyone behind you. All because the US doesn’t have the chip and PIN system but instead requires signing and presenting the card for the cashier to compare signatures. Old school, cumbersome, and super fun to juggle while bagging groceries. Did I mention that there are no baggers here? You bag your own groceries in your own bags (or buy reusable bags from the cashier and bring them next time).

One of the biggest differences we’ve been happy to get used to is how fresh the food is and how few preservatives are used. They aren’t kidding about “best by” dates here. It’s hard to buy anything that will last more than three to five days. Bread will be moldy the morning after its “best by” date. Salad will be wilted, and grapes will be soft. Between that and smaller fridges, shopping twice a week is necessary.

Which leads me to my favorite discovery, they all deliver! If you spend more than £20 at Iceland, they’ll deliver it to your home for free. The large, regular retail grocers have online ordering and delivery—similar to what’s available in the US, which I stupidly never took advantage of because I wanted to pick out my own produce and didn’t want to have to be home at a specific time for a delivery. I know better now.

I’ve learned a lot since that first shopping trip. I’ve even done my first baking in Celsius (thanks, Google). So, we’ve made adjustments, learned a few things, and found some new favorites to take the place of the old favorites that we can’t get here. And, we effortlessly developed an appreciation for scones and Yorkshire pudding (which isn’t dessert).  So, life is good. No, life and English peas are good; nothing beats English peas.