How rural and secluded still are some parts of Middlesex let this run
show. To roam far from the madding crowd in this essentially “home
county” might seem impossible, but those who summon up the not very
great amount of energy required for following the course of this
tour will see many places sleepier and more retired than in Devon
or Cornwall. They will not remain so very much longer; which is an
inducement to see them without delay.
There are many ready ways of beginning this trip; from London to one
of the Ealing stations by train—Ealing on the District Railway for
preference—or the cyclist resident at Richmond, Kew, or Ealing can
start without depending upon outside aid. Starting, say, from Kew, the
way lies over the bridge, and thence towards Gunnersbury along the
wood-paved road. In half a mile look out for what still, at the time of
writing, remains a countrified lane on the left—“Gunnersbury lane,” as
it is called—where a sign-post directs to Acton. Past market gardens
we go, and come, in little over half a mile, to a turning right and
left. Here a left-hand turn, and then the first to the right, which is
a long, straight road, planted with young trees, leading direct on to
Ealing Common, and straight across it to Hanger Hill.
From here it is a steady rise of a mile up the country road, with
dairy farms here and there. Then a somewhat steep descent, with one or
two tricky curves and loose patches of gravel where rains have made
channels across the road. With caution, therefore, the descent should
be made to the valley of the Brent, the more particularly as the dairy
farms aforesaid are responsible for many strayed cows generally to be
found wandering in the road, and as at the bottom, where a rustic inn
stands, our route lies off to the left, along a lane to which there is
a very acute turning, up a quite short but sharp rise. It is necessary
to have the machine well in hand to negotiate this corner without
dismounting. A mile and a quarter of narrow, winding lane, quite flat
but with tall hedges on either side, like a Devonshire lane, brings us
to Perivale.
[Illustration: Map—EDGEWARE to PINNER]
Now Perivale is one of the queerest little places it is possible to set
eyes upon. “Little” is said, and the fullest sense of the adjective is
to be understood; for besides the church—one of those claiming that
curious wrong-end-of-the-telescope kind of dignity as “the smallest
in England”—there is only one other building at hand; and that the
rectory! Indeed, in the entire parish of 626 acres there are but five
houses and thirty-four inhabitants; and this, let it be impressed
upon the reader, well within nine miles of London’s five millions
of population. Perivale, save for this church and those scattered
farmsteads, is just a geographical expression, nothing more; for there
is no village, no hamlet, no village shop, and no public-house. All
around are the low-lying water-meadows bordering the river Brent.
[Illustration: THE LITTLE CHURCH OF PERIVALE.]
There are those who refer to Perivale’s ancient alias of “Greenford
Parva,” and say its present name is but a corruption of the “Parva”
in its old style; and certainly Parva is a description descriptive
enough, even though its neighbour, Greenford Magna, be of scarce
sufficient size to warrant that adjective of bigness.
Perivale Church is now well cared for, after a long period of spiritual
starvation; a whimsical period when the then rector was in the habit
of offering a pot of beer to the two or three rustics who alone used
to attend service. “It is scarcely worth while to read service for so
few,” he would say; “would you like some beer at the rectory instead?”
That formula became so well known that the sole reason why even these
few appeared so regularly was the chance of being bribed in this manner
with a drink. A little later, however, it became so much a matter of
general knowledge that thirsty and impecunious souls began in summer
time to make Perivale the goal of a pleasant Sunday morning’s walk from
Ealing and the neighbouring villages, and the thing grew scandalous.
But at this point the congregation had grown so large that the rector,
in defence of his cellar, had to resort to his service again, greatly
to the disgust of the thirsty throng.
In winter no one came at all, because the Brent had a habit (and has
it still) of flooding roads and meadows alike, and leaving church
and rectory isolated. At such times the old parish clerk (whose name
was the unusual one of Cain) would take up a commanding position
overlooking all approaches, and would call out, “Can’t see no one
a-comin’, sir; may I put the books up?”
It was this rector who had an incorrigible habit of transposing
portions of words; quite unconsciously, of course, but with the most
grotesquely laughable results. Local gossip still keenly relishes the
recollection of his announcing a hymn, “Kinkering congs their titles
take,” and a little later, in his sermon, saying, “My friends, we all
of us have our little bits of cuppiness.” It was presumed from the
context of his discourse that he really meant “cups of bitterness.” The
story goes that this habit became contagious, and that a lady, finding
a stranger in her pew, exclaimed, “Excuse me, but you’re occupewing my
pie!”
In those days there was no church organ but only a barrel instrument
with twenty mechanical tunes, not so tuneful as they might have been
had some of the cogs not been missing off the wheels. Being missing,
they gave rather a weird twist to the “Old Hundredth” and the others
that made up the repertoire.
The interior of the building was then greatly neglected, and the
lighting was accomplished by the aid of candles stuck on pieces of tin
nailed to the ends of the pews. The church in those days possessed
no font, and when the question of providing one came up at a vestry
meeting, it was resolved that one be not ordered, “because there are
never any christenings for the parishioners of Perivale, nor likely to
be any.” In after years, on renovating the church, the ancient font
was discovered among some rubbish. It is inscribed, “The gift of Simon
Coston, gent., 1665.”
The pretty little church is now well cared for. Notice the very, very
ancient and massive timbering of the belfry, also weather-boarded
outside, and looking a very curiously un-ecclesiastical object across
the meadows. The rectory is also a timber-framed structure of the
fifteenth century.
Having thus recounted the short and simple annals of little Perivale,
we will take the first road to the left after passing the church, and,
crossing the Brent, turn to the right. This is a remarkably pretty
road, with the river on one side, fringed with rushes and pollard
willows. Little humpbacked bridges carry the road over it, and the
wayside is marked with white posts, graduated up to seven and nine
feet, to mark the depth of the floods prevalent here in winter. Now
come the beginnings of Greenford—properly called “Greenford Magna,” to
distinguish it from “Parva” we have just left, down the road. A sharp
rise leads past a left-hand turning, immediately followed by one on
the right, where Greenford village will be found scattered sparsely
along the sides of a steep descent. At the foot of this, just before
coming to the rustic little weather-boarded church, there is a lane on
the left for Northolt, a mile and a quarter distant. Northolt, despite
its somewhat severely sounding name (which, however, merely signifies
“north wood,” just as Southall, originally “Southholt,” stands for a
woodland once standing to the south), is one of the prettiest and most
delightful villages in Middlesex; if it is, indeed, large enough to
be called a village at all. Broad selvedges of common line the road
where its scattered cottages do not form a street, and the exquisitely
weathered and stained and patched little church stands away on a
grassy bank, overlooking the scene from amidst a cluster of windy elms.
The church is just in the picturesque condition the artist loves and
the restorer wants to sweep and garnish into newness.
[Illustration: PINNER.]
A long road of three and a half miles runs straight across from
Northolt to Eastcote, undulating all the way. Reaching the cross-roads,
turn right for Eastcote, which is a hamlet of Ruislip. Here are ups
and downs along a tree-shaded hamlet of a few park-like residences
and pretty cottages, the road bordered by the lazy waters of the
Colne, lying listless, like a moat. Observe, on the right, the queer,
old-fashioned, timber-framed cottage that serves the hamlet for a
post-office.
Bear to the right at the fork in the road for Pinner, entered by a
cluster of cottages and “villas,” built since the opening of the
Metropolitan Extension to Harrow and Aylesbury a few years ago.
Pinner is a large village in process of being spoiled by its railway
facilities. A very broad street, lined with old-fashioned (and some
new-fashioned) houses, leads up to the imposing church, which has a
singular tall cross on the summit of its tower. Note on the way the
“Queen’s Head Inn,” its sign a contemporary (and very bad) portrait of
Queen Anne, dated 1705.
[Illustration: A MYSTERIOUS MONUMENT.]
An odd tomb, in the shape of a tower, is to be seen in the churchyard.
Now thickly overgrown with ivy, it is a picturesque object, but the
peculiarity of it is that the body of the person “buried” here—a
certain William London, in 1809—is contained in a stone-encased coffin,
projecting from the tower, half-way up. The end of the coffin bears an
epitaph, which, however, affords no clue to this freak. Legends, that
may or may not be well founded, tell that the descendants of William
London, a Scotch merchant, retain the property bequeathed by him so
long as he remains “above ground.” This tower is supported on arches
filled in with ornamental ironwork, on which appear the mysterious
words, “BYDE-MY-TYME.” The inquisitive stranger naturally wants to know
what he is waiting for, but the mystery is insoluble.
Leaving Pinner behind, turn left by the church, and so, by the second
on the right, past Pinner, L. & N.W.R., Station, and along a very
good running road, but otherwise featureless, to Stanmore. This is a
good run of four miles. At Stanmore, a beautiful but growing village,
there is the old ivy-covered tower of the demolished church standing
romantically beside the new building. Past this there are many puzzling
roads; an unlikely looking narrow one leads to Whitchurch and Edgware,
but it is practically useless to try to indicate it here. Ask one of
the many people who are always to be found at this corner. The route
lies past Canons Park. Whitchurch Church is an ugly, would-be classic
building. In the churchyard is the grave of the so-called “Harmonious
Blacksmith,” from whose melodious anvil Handel is (incorrectly) said
to have obtained the famous tune. It is decorated with a sculptured
headstone.
Within a short distance comes Edgware, and, turning to the right, along
the road to London, we spin along up Redhill, and then, after doing a
mile and a quarter from Edgware, espy a turning on the right with a
sign-post directing to Mount Pleasant. This is a steep little climb,
leading to a charming country lane down which to coast. Take the next
turning to the left, leading to Kingsbury Green, and then to the right,
and, still bearing to the right, find a lane on the left, leading past
Chalk Hill House and onward, circuitously leftwards to Wembley, around
the park, where the colossal unfinished tower constitutes a distressing
eyesore. At Wembley turn right, as for Sudbury, and, immediately after
passing the station, to the left, coming down through canal-side
Alperton (which every inhabitant will persist in calling “Appleton”),
to the junction with our outward journey.