A Rare Treat Seeing Harrow Celebrities' Pictures At Harrow Civic Centre and The Mayor's Parlour

The Mayor of Harrow, Mrinal Choudhury was invited by President Ruth Vishnick to Harrovian Speakers (a branch of Toastmasters International) where he gave us an amusing speech about multi-cultural Harrow.  He reciprocated by inviting our members to the Mayor's Parlour at Harrow's Civic Centre, to see the pictures of local celebrities. The Mayor of Harrow has a packed calendar and can visit two or three groups a day, so he has three speeches in his pocket, moving the next speech to the front, the speech he has just given to the back.

I learned this when I went with members of Harrovian Speakers to visit Harrow's hideous Civic Centre. Many, having seen the modern building only when driving toward historic Harrow on the hill, regard the civic centre as an ugly pair of oblongs. So it was quite a surprise to learn that the complex won an award. As you get nearer it starts to improve progressively. From the outside, it's first best features are the flowers, shrubs and trees reflected in water at the entrance.
Just inside the entrance is a picture of HM The Queen in front of a wall of tiles, so many, all different, that we had no time to see them all.

Upstairs is a third attraction, photographs of previous mayors. Most wear their ceremonial black hats and the fancy lacy white jabot. One mayor did not wear the frippery, but later regretted his decision when he realised that the people of Harrow, from the tiny children to the elderly, loved the ceremonial costume.

Alongside are the fourth attraction, pictures of Douai, the French city with which Harrow is twinned, in the hope that links of friendship will prevent wars. Photos show Douai's giants in a costumed parade.

Only in retrospect did I start counting the numerous groups of things to see in the Civic Centre.
At the time I thought that the first major point of interest was the stained glass windows made by Whitefriars Glass. The most memorable window shows Winston Churchill, who went to Harrow School when he was aged 12 in 1888. I have a speech on the subject of my visit. I wondered how to remember the date 1888. Easy. The Chinese think three eights are lucky. For the East End of London 1888 was an unlucky year, the year of Jack the Ripper, when you were far safer outside London at Harrow, which has now been given the title London Borough of Harrow.

Across the Bridge is the Council Chamber. I shall write a second blog on the council chamber, Anne Frank, and the mace. I shall write a third blog on the Mayor's Parlour, Gilbert, librettist, who wrote Gilbert and Sullivan operettas and how he reputedly died with two naked ladies.