Northwood Hills
Encyclopedia
Northwood Hills is a suburban town
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...

 within the London Borough of Hillingdon
London Borough of Hillingdon
The London Borough of Hillingdon is the westernmost borough in Greater London, England. The borough's population was recorded as 243,006 in the 2001 Census. The borough incorporates the former districts of Ruislip-Northwood, Uxbridge, Hayes and Harlington and Yiewsley and West Drayton in the...

 in west London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

.

The nearest places are Hatch End
Hatch End
Hatch End is a place in the London Borough of Harrow, located north west of Charing Cross in Central London. The suburb is part of the Pinner post town.-Attractions:...

, Northwood, Pinner
Pinner
- Climate :Pinner's geographical position on the far western side of North West London makes it the furthest London suburb from any UK coastline. Hence the lower prevalence of moderating maritime influences make Pinner noticeably warmer in the spring and the summer compared to the rest of the capital...

, Ruislip
Ruislip
Ruislip is a suburban area, centred on an old village in Greater London, and is part of the London Borough of Hillingdon.It was formerly also a parish covering the neighbouring areas of Eastcote, Northwood, Ruislip Manor and South Ruislip in the area. The parish appears in the Domesday Book, and...

, South Oxhey
South Oxhey
South Oxhey is a suburb of Watford in the Watford Rural parish of the Three Rivers district of Hertfordshire, England. It is located in the south western corner of Hertfordshire and close to the boundary with Greater London.-History:...

, Eastbury
Eastbury, Hertfordshire
Eastbury is a settlement in the Three Rivers district of Hertfordshire, adjacent to the London suburb of Northwood in Hillingdon. Other settlements nearby include Moor Park and South Oxhey, and Eastbury is about equal distance between the Northwood and Moor Park tube stations . Northwood...

 and Eastcote
Eastcote
Eastcote is a suburban area established around an old village in Greater London, and is part of the London Borough of Hillingdon.In the Middle Ages, Eastcote was one of the three areas that made up the parish of Ruislip, under the name of Ascot...

.

The population of Northwood Hills was recorded as 11,441 in 2008, by the Office for National Statistics
Office for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom.- Overview :...

.

History

The land on which Northwood Hills, Northwood and Haste Hill Golf Club now stand was once the Great Common Wood. This covered 860 acres (348 ha) in the 16th century, which residents would use for grazing their livestock and collecting firewood. Robert Cecil, the 1st Earl of Salisbury, sold off 568 acres (229.9 ha) of the wood in 1608 for £4000. The remaining woodland became Copse Wood, part of the Ruislip Woods
Ruislip Woods
Ruislip Woods is a wooded area and National Nature Reserve covering in the London Borough of Hillingdon. The woods became the first National Nature Reserve in an urban area of England in May 1997, receiving the Green Flag Award in 2006....

.

Northwood Hills was built during the 1930s by the Belton Estates company led by Harry Peachey, while Harry Neal was responsible for building the shopping parade in Joel Street. The name had been chosen in a competition by a woman from North Harrow
North Harrow
North Harrow is a residential area of North West Outer London. Despite its name, it is actually to the north-west of central Harrow. It has grown outwards from the North Harrow tube station which is on the Metropolitan Line which runs from Aldgate to Watford. It is one stop away from Harrow town...

. The first houses were built in Potter Street.

The Northwood Hills public house (formerly known as the Northwood Hills Hotel) opposite the tube station is accredited as where Sir Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...

 first performed professionally. A picture of the pub appears on one of his album covers.

Each May one of the largest Scout Jumble sales in the country is held by 1st Northwood on the land next to their headquarters called the Hogs Back.

The local residents' association and chamber of commerce joined forces in May 2010 calling for greater recognition of the area. In May 2011, the London Borough of Hillingdon announced Northwood Hills would receive £400,000 in funding for regeneration work.

Education

Northwood secondary school and Sixth Form
Sixth form
In the education systems of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and of Commonwealth West Indian countries such as Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Jamaica and Malta, the sixth form is the final two years of secondary education, where students, usually sixteen to eighteen years of age,...

 is located in Potter Street (the former name of the school). The Olympic boxer Audley Harrison
Audley Harrison
Audley Harrison is a British professional boxer from Harlesden, England who fights in the heavyweight division. At the 2000 Olympics in Sydney he became the first British fighter to win an Olympic gold medal in the superheavyweight division. He stands and usually weighs around .Harrison turned...

 and Big Brother
Big Brother (UK)
Big Brother UK is the British version of the Dutch Big Brother television format, which takes its name from the character in George Orwell's 1948 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four...

 contestant Nikki Grahame
Nikki Grahame
Nicola Rachele-Beth Grahame is an English model, columnist and television personality, who rose to fame in the UK when she was chosen to be a housemate on Big Brother 7 in 2006...

 are alumni of the school.

Haydon School
Haydon School
Haydon School is a comprehensive foundation school located in Hillingdon, west London, England. The school serves approximately 2000 students aged 11–18...

, opened in September 1977 from the union of St Nicholas Grammar School For Boys
St. Nicholas Grammar School
St. Nicholas Grammar School was an English grammar school, located in Northwood Hills, in the London Borough of Hillingdon, England.-History:The school existed as a grammar school for 22 years from 1955 until 1977 when it joined with the neighbouring St Mary's Grammar School for Girls, to become a...

and St Mary's Grammar School For Girls, is also within the town and was named after a local family. Television presenter Fearne Cotton
Fearne Cotton
Fearne Cotton is an English television and radio presenter who is known for presenting a number of popular TV programmes such as Top of the Pops and the Red Nose Day telethon. In 2007, she became the first regular female presenter of BBC Radio 1's Chart Show...

 was once a pupil.

Transport

Northwood Hills tube station
Northwood Hills tube station
Northwood Hills tube station is a London Underground station on the Metropolitan Line, in Zone 6.In the northbound direction the station is served primarily by trains to Watford, and occasionally at peak commuting times by 'slow' Amersham and Chesham trains...

 is served by the Metropolitan line
Metropolitan Line
The Metropolitan line is part of the London Underground. It is coloured in Transport for London's Corporate Magenta on the Tube map and in other branding. It was the first underground railway in the world, opening as the Metropolitan Railway on 10 January 1863...

 of the London Underground
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...

.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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