Walking with Keilyn: Headstone Lane to Harrow-on-the-Hill... and beyond

Sunday October 18, 2026.

Sunny, turning cloudy with rain in the afternoon. 14°C (57°F).

For today's walk we decided to explore somewhere that was more local, rather than heading into the centre of the capital.

As usual our walk began with a walk to the station, but it was from Watford High Street station that we would be departing for a change. Within a few minutes of reaching the platform we were seated on a Euston-bound Lioness line train, that we took to Headstone Lane.

On leaving the station we made our way along Headstone Lane, before turning along a path beside Headstone Recreation ground. This brought us to Headstone Manor Play Area and our destination of Headstone Manor and Museum.

We headed into the museum entrance, which is housed in the Small Barn, where we learnt the history of Harrow, from the Stone Age through to Anglo-Saxon times. The Small Barn was built in around 1550 and, until the 1920s, was used for housing livestock.

We then headed into the courtyard, with the Granary to our left and the Great Barn in front of us. The Granary was built in 1760 as a home for livestock, while the Great Barn was built in 1506. A small sundial and a unique compass were situated. The compass is a large flat circle embedded into the grass and has fifteen points of interest etched into it. Each number corresponds to a place and how long it would take to get there via various modes of transport. It is a quirky but entertaining object.

From here we made our way across the moat via a stone bridge and explored the grounds of the Manor. Raised timber flower beds with herbs, roses and the such were in a small courtyard, with the lawn stretching out beyond the manor. Although the Manor was constructed in 1310 there were more foundations discovered in 2017, proving that there was a previous dwelling here from around 1233.

We then decided to enter the house itself and found ourselves in the Buttery, where food would have been stored. This room dates to the Medieval period. We then made our way in to the great hall, with its leaded windows, high ceiling and original walls. From here we headed upstairs and explored the various rooms, learning about the changing history of Harrow and the Manor itself.

We explored rooms that dated from various periods of time: Medieval, Tudor, Elizabethan, Stuart, Georgian and Victorian, while always learning about the area. This included the first settlements in Harrow all the way through to the different industries that served the area, such as the Kodak factory and glass-blowing at Whitefriars. 

After fully investigating every room we made our way back outside, exploring the parts of the grounds that we had yet to discover. We then headed back across the moat, before heading towards the The Moat Café. Here we purchased a couple of souvenir pencils and hot drinks, which we drank outside in the sunshine. Gallery

On finishing our drinks we purchased some duck food and set about feeding the various ducks, geese, moorhens and coots who were happily gliding across the still water of the moat. We then continued our walk by following the moat until we reached a landscaped area, where we had spotted a Lens. The Lens turned out to be a sculpture honouring the nearby, now gone, Kodak factory. We both took out turn posing with it, before continuing on.

Duffy Avenue brought us to Harrow View and a choice. We could head towards Harrow & Wealdstone station or make our way to Harrow-on-the-Hill. The latter was chosen, so off we set. Harrow View eventually joined Headstone Road, where we crossed Greenhill Way before heading along College Road. We passed St Ann's shopping centre and eventually reached Station Road, still wondering from where we would buy lunch. 

Keilyn decided that Subway was in order, so we made our way along St Ann's Road and into St Ann's shopping centre and its food court. After ordering our meals we sat in the spacious food court devouring our food, washing it down with drinks that we had also purchased. We then headed down the escalator and made our way out of the shopping centre, where we stopped to plan the next part of our walk. We toyed with the idea of walking towards North Harrow or Kenton, but then decided to catch a train to Rickmansworth instead. Our plan was to walk home from there, passing the Croxley Great Barn on the way.

The first train to arrive was an Amersham-bound Metropolitan line train, so we hurried aboard and grabbed a seat. As we approached Moor Park rain started to spatter on the windows, with dark clouds rolling in from the south. Keilyn, although dressed in warm clothes, didn't have a waterproof coat with her, so I suggested alighting from the train and catching a Watford-bound train. She said that she would be fine, so off to Rickmansworth we continued.

As we exited Rickmansworth station a crash of thunder and a flash of lightning greeted us, just before the clouds released torrents of rain. As there was nothing we could do about it we headed down Station Road to the High Street and stopped at the Age UK charity shop, where I purchased Keilyn an umbrella for £2. We then visited Rickmansworth Post Office, to buy some sweets, before continuing along the High Street to Caravan Lane, from where we began our walk home.

We followed Caravan Lane, which runs parallel with the Metropolitan line, until we reached the historic Croxley Caryvan bridge across the River Chess. It was this bridge, in numerous forms, that would have brought travellers from the Croxley Great Barn into Rickmansworth, and is a wonderful place to stop and admire the river from.

As we continued onwards the rain began to ease, not that it had bothered us too much as the tree canopy had sheltered us from most of it. As we approached Croxley Hall Farm Road we could just make out Croxley Great Barn through the thick pine trees. The Croxley Great Barn was built between 1396 and 1401, making it older than the Great Barn at Headstone Lane Manor. After taking a photo of the barn through the trees, we continued our walk by meandering our way through Caius Woods. 

Soon we found ourselves on top of the former Croxley railway tip, which was where the spoils from the construction of the Stonebridge Park power station were dumped. This resulted in a huge embankment being formed along the banks of the Grand Union Canal, which was later used as sidings for the Metropolitan Railway. 

Following the path we soon found ourselves on the banks of the Grand Union Canal with yet another choice to make. We were just north Lot Mead Lock, which we could head towards and then follow the Ebury Way home, or we could continue along the canal and head home that way. Again, we chose the latter. 

The stroll along the canal was punctuated with clear spells and rain showers, with Keilyn's umbrella constantly going up and down. Fortunately, the towpath, for the most part, was overhung by branches affording us some shelter. 

We crossed the canal at Lock 79. Here we passed the old wharf from where paper from the long since gone John Dickinson Paper Mill was despatched by narrow boat. A little further along we spotted a heron standing with some geese, before making our way onto Blackmoor Lane and the final stretch to home. It was typical that as we closed in on home the clouds parted, allowing sunshine through.

It was yet another interesting walk, seeing some wonderfully historic buildings and taking in the beauty of some of our local area.

Distance travelled:

• Bus - 0.0 miles (0.0 kms)
• Cable Car - 0.0 miles (0.0 kms)
• Car - 0.0 miles (0.0 kms)
• DLR - 0.0 miles (0.0 kms)
• Ferry - 0.0 miles (0.0 kms)
• Overground - 3.7 miles (5.95 kms)
• River Boat - 0.0 miles (0.0 kms)
• Taxi - 0.0 miles (0.0 kms)
• Train - 0.0 miles (0.0 kms)
• Tram - 0.0 miles (0.0 kms)
• Underground - 7.1 miles (11.42 kms)
• Walking - 5.9 miles (9.49 kms)