The front page was all adverts as was The Times in days gone by. The make-up of the paper was as follows; page 1 all adverts, page 2 sports and adverts mainly for educational establishments, pages 3 and 4 local news items and adverts, page 5 letters to the editor and the column headed "My Notebook" by Socrates, page 6 all adverts, pages 7,8,9 and 10 news around the area including the League of Nations notes, and lastly pages 11 and 12 property and items for sale.

In the Friday 8th January 1926 edition the whole front page consisted of an advert for the Harrods Six Day sale commencing on the following Monday. A similar advert for the Harrods Six day sale was repeated in the Friday 2nd July edition. Have times changed?

W & E Long (Dairy Farmers) Ltd on telephone number Harrow 607 claimed in an advert to have "the district's safest milk supply", saying, "you should have your milk delivered in bottles thereby ensuring cleanliness, full measure and satisfaction". "All milk sold by us in bottles is bottled under hygienic conditions and untouched by hand".

In early January a Metropolitan Line train was derailed in dense fog at Kenton between Northwick Park and Harrow. Wealdstone Council's ambulance service was criticised for delays in transporting a severely injured man to Harrow Hospital. Wealdstone was a council in its own right and known as Wealdstone Urban District Council. "The Merry Widow" was playing at the Harrow Coliseum, the family theatre.

In late January a special meeting of the Wealdstone U D C at the Council offices in Peel Road was held for "the purpose of considering matters concerning the Council's housing scheme and the lengthy list of applications for houses with a view to the selection of tenants". A long report followed and in late February the Council "passed a resolution that owing to the crowded conditions under which hundreds of people were living it was imperatively necessary to erect some houses".

Harrow Electric Light & Power Co Ltd advertised "Tea without Trouble" claiming the electric kettle is always ready for action and that half a unit of electricity will boil a pint of water a day for a week.

In late February the annual general meeting of the Metropolitan Railway was held. It was reported that one of the largest capital projects, namely the Watford line extension and the works undertaken at Harrow in order to get rid of the junction between the Uxbridge line and the main line and to allow trains from the two extensions to approach Harrow independently, had been completed. The automatic signalling of the line as far as Rickmansworth had also been completed and this was "a substantial advantage in the working of the trains especially since the new service to Watford was inaugurated".

The March meeting of the Harrow Branch of The League of Nations (the forerunner of the current United Nations) reported on the serious outbreak in Syria and the subsequent destruction of a large part of Damascus by the French artillery. "Syria as all the world knows is administered by France as a mandated territory under the general supervision of the League".

An article in April commented on the condition of the approaches to Wealdstone Bridge over the L M & S Railway (London Midland & Scottish). They become more deplorable every day and serious complaints are widespread. It is an ordeal to pass over the road in any vehicle and only by careful driving are accidents avoided. Most ambulances passing over the bridge sway and toss in an alarming manner.

The 140B bus route between Edgware and Pinner was advertised with the first bus leaving Edgware for Pinner at 6.45 in the morning and the last bus leaving Pinner for Edgware in the evening at 9.15. It mentioned the railway stations served namely, Edgware, the Underground and the LNER (London North Eastern), Harrow & Wealdstone, the LM&SR, Harrow on the Hill and North Harrow, the Metropolitan. It also mentioned connections to other bus routes, namely at Edgware route 104 to Mill Hill, the 142B to Cricklewood and Kilburn, at Stanmore the 142A and 142B to Bushey and Watford, at Harrow Weald (the Red Lion) the 93B to Sudbury, Shepherds Bush, Hammersmith and Putney and at Harrow (Station Road) routes 114 and 114A to South Harrow.

The year 1926 was the year of the General Strike and there were many reports in the Observer on the effects locally of the action by the unions particularly on the supply of coal and food. The edition of Friday May 7, 1926 reported that "at midnight on Monday [3rd May] the threat of the Trade Union Congress to issue orders for a General Strike was carried into effect, and on Tuesday the industry of the country was practically paralysed. Reports show that an unprecedented number of volunteers have come forward to assist in the maintenance of all essential services and the Railway Companies are able to run considerably improved services on the Metropolitan Railway between Harrow and Baker Street, a fifteen minute service is being maintained". A special meeting of Wealdstone Council was held at the Council Offices, Peel Road, on Tuesday [4th May]. The meeting was called for the purpose of considering letters received from the Ministry of Health on the subject of emergency measures under the Emergency Powers Act. With regard to coal measures it was suggested that economy should be practised and that an officer be appointed to control the distribution. It was decided that the Council should form a local committee of coal merchants in the district. Mr Holloway, a local coal merchant, attended and said he was willing to fall in with the arrangements made. The coal ration was fixed at one hundredweight per week for each household. The edition of Friday May 21St , 1926 reported on the collapse of the strike.

A Rev Courtney C Weeks was a speaker at the Wembley Branch of the Brotherhood. The subject of his remarks was "God's masterpiece-the human brain". He said he had chosen his subject because he had been lecturing on the results of alcohol on the human brain. Alcohol could to some people give a real amount of pleasure, but he himself was a teetotaller because he believed a man could get the best of life only if he remained so. The brain was the organ or instrument of the mind, and received or recorded its impressions. The first thing alcohol did was to cause some disorder in the upper part of the brain, or help to destroy self-control. All impressions, such as wounds or pinpricks, were registered by the brain. The greatest power in human life, and the most marvellous, was the power of sexual attraction. It was God's own attribute, but under the influence of alcohol that power was blunted and destroyed, and away went the music of desire. Every interference with the brain destroyed many of its functions, or made the instrument of the mind useless. All the powers a man possessed were ultimately dependent on the brain, and it was clear that alcohol should never be allowed to blur the judgement. From first to last alcohol had proved to be nothing but a narcotic, or a disordering power. The brain was the instrument of progress, which alcohol hindered. It was most illusive in its action, it made the user more inaccurate and yet it was pleasing. A man's judgement would be interfered with, for alcohol was an enemy that stole away men's brains.

Dr William H Spencer, a prominent surgeon, was an enthusiastic advocate of the chewing gum habit and recommends its use particularly after tonsil operations. In June 1926 Dr R P Bluett, Medical Officer of Health for Wealdstone in his annual report declared that the health of the district as evidenced by the slight decline in the death rate is excellent.

The edition of the paper of Friday 28th May reported that Saturday [22nd May] marked the opening of an additional amenity in the shape of an 18-hole miniature golf course on the Wealdstone Recreation Ground.

An article headed Catholics Efforts stated that in spite of the unfavourable weather conditions Catholics at St Joseph's are looking forward to a successful result of their garden fete in aid of the church and the proposed new Catholic school. The rain on Wednesday [28th July] proved most disheartening to both visitors and helpers, but the disappointment was to some extent compensated for by the pupils of the Sacred Heart High School. The various competitions organised by the stall-holders proved productive of a useful influx of revenue, and the guessing contests included the enigmatic contents of an incredible pie were exceptionally remunerative. This together with a raffle for two pairs of pictures was organised by the Children of Mary stall under the direction of Miss Sparks and members of the Children of Mary. A tea tray, which was also raffled was won by Miss M Green, a cake by Mr Butterworth and a large basket of fruit and flowers by Miss Doyle. Miss H Goddard-Brown deserves special mention for the work she did in connection with the serving of the refreshments.

Early August was memorable in that the paper reported The Earthquake and its Alarming Experiences and the Harrow and Wembley Shocks. Pronounced earthquake shocks were felt in many parts of the county about 5o/c on Sunday morning. Reports of tremors have been reported from places as far apart as Bath, Peterborough, Ludlow and Aylesbury, but no practical damage was done.

Complaints were made to the Wealdstone Council of the nuisance caused by ice cream vendors ringing their bicycle bells on Sundays. The Clerk was directed to communicate to the firms concerned.

Adverts appeared in the editions of Friday 20th August and 3`d, 10th, 17' and 24th September stating that The Salvatorian Fathers of Wealdstone will open a Catholic Secondary School for Boys in September; for a programme apply to The Rev Gabriel Enderle, SDS Superior, Salvatorian College, Wealdstone.

An article in the Observer and Gazette of Friday, October 22, 1926 reported on a meeting to consider "The Future of Harrow Weald". At a Parish Meeting held at the Memorial Hall, Harrow Weald decided to support the Hendon Rural Council's proposal to amalgamate with Wealdstone in one urban district. The question of amalgamation was not new, for it had been before the parish for many years. The years 1910 to 1911 were crucial, for at that time Wealdstone had ambitions to take over one-third of the Parish of Harrow Weald. Following an inquiry and an appeal, however, the Wealdstone application failed and the parish of Harrow Weald had been left intact. It was now the feeling of the Ministry of Health that larger areas should be formed, as they considered that smaller authorities were uneconomical and expensive to run. The County Council [Middlesex] had held conferences on the question, and the idea was to get various smaller authorities to amalgamate and thus avoid expense. Harrow had great ambitions of becoming a bigger authority; and Wealdstone, their immediate neighbours, had for years and years had ambitions of extending their area, as they had only about 1000 acres. The Wealdstone area was an industrial one and was getting somewhat cramped as regarded vacant spaces for building. Wealdstone's wish was to embrace Harrow Weald and Stanmore, a proposal which adversely affected the rural district of which Harrow Weald formed part. The reason the Rural Council seriously considered co-operation with Wealdstone was because, in addition to being immediate neighbours, the Wealdstone recreation ground, cemetery, and part of the sewage works were in the Rural District. Wealdstone's rateable value was fairly considerable, and the Rural Council felt that if they could influence Wealdstone to co-operate with them in an amalgamation scheme it would be advantageous so far as the Rural Council was concerned. After several conferences Wealdstone consented to co-operate with them in a joint application to the County Council.

The rural area was developing very rapidly. At Edgware during the last twelve months a new Tube had been opened and the population was growing week by week. Considerable development was also taking place at Little Stan-more, and Great Stanmore was important as a residential area. Harrow Weald had not gone to seed, but year by year was growing, and with improved `bus services and the widening of the main road, more estate development would result. Pinner, the other parish in the Rural area, had grown rapidly, and in the last two years plans for 2000 to 3000 houses had been passed. The services supplied to a district depended to a great extent on the yield of a [old] penny rate. In Harrow Weald a penny rate produced £100, and in Wealdstone £466. In the event of an amalgamation the yield of a penny in the six combined districts would yield £1,442, which would enable additional amenities to be provided. The proposed amalgamation would give a population of approximately 33,000.

In the November 12th edition of the Observer it was reported that the Middlesex County Council had approved the widening of the High Road, Wealdstone, from Spencer Road (North) to the boundary of the UDC, north of Meadow Way at a cost of £21,500.

The Salvatorian School had an advert to advise that the next term "begins on 12th January", adding that one could apply for a prospectus from the Rev Superior, Salvatorian College.

The next edition of the paper (November 19th) contained an article headed High Road Flooded. "On Saturday the heavy rain caused a portion of the roadway in front of the Parish Church to become flooded. The water rose to a depth of several inches and much inconvenience was caused to shopkeepers and pedestrians. The flooding began at midday and abated at 9.30p.m. There were exciting scenes in the Uxbridge Road at Hatch End on Saturday afternoon and evening, the road being flooded in the vicinity of the new shopping centre to a depth of about two feet. The heavy rain caused the River Pin to overflow its banks flooding fields and the low-lying roadway. In the early afternoon the road was impassable. Planks were placed across the road for the convenience of pedestrians and it was found necessary to board up the entrances to several of the shops to prevent water entering. The premises of Howard Roberts were most affected, and some of the water flowed into the wine cellar."

In the same edition the Poppy Day collection at Wealdstone proved a great success, the sum collected being an increase of £24 over the previous year. The amount collected was £140.2.9d.

J H Dewhurst Ltd., butchers, of 341 Station Road, advertised their, "this week's special offer of choice delicious beef' at one shilling [5p] per pound for prime scotch, nine and a half pence [4p] for best chilled sirloin and at seven and a half pence [3p] for choice chilled ribs. Their telephone number was Harrow 0534.

The Harrow Catholic Church of Our Lady and St Thomas of Canterbury held a Christmas Bazaar in aid of St Anselm's Catholic School at The Schoolroom, Roxborough Park. The event attracted a large number of people, who spent generously at the stalls. In opening the bazaar, the Rector, Dean W Quaife, emphasised the need of money for the fund, and said it was hoped to pay the debt on the schools by January 1927. In the evening an excellent entertainment was given, the artistes being Miss D Sharp, Miss Phyllis Wing, and Mrs E Walsh. Mr Satterley and Mr J Berry accompanied at the piano.

And finally, the edition of Friday 17th December 1926 advertised an excursion on the LMS railway to Chelsea for the Chelsea v Hull football match on Christmas Day. The fare was 1/3d return from Wealdstone. Also "Flights from 5 shillings" were available from Sheepcote Road (opposite Green's Cottages) and in a "sensational display the acrobatic aviator would walk along the wings in mid-air against a wind velocity of 100mph!"
A visit to the pantomime might seem tame after that!

And that I hope gives readers a flavour of the times in Wealdstone in 1926 in the year that the Salvatorian College was founded.

D P Mulvany /April 2001