Harrow Skatepark

Planning for a skatepark in Byron Recreation Ground, Wealdstone, began in 1976, at the height of the first British boom. Harrow Solid Surf, as it was first called, opened on 15 July 1978, and Tony Alva and Shogo Kubo flew over from California for the opening.

Like the Rom, it was designed by Adrian Rolt of G-Force and built by Skate Park Construction in sprayed shotcrete. The pool was modelled on the keyhole pool at Skateboard Heaven in Spring Valley, California, painted blue with mosaic edging to look like a backyard pool. Around it sit the Peanut, a long slalom run, a four-bowl clover, a snake run and a deep halfpipe with swept-up walls.

When the boom ended the park closed in the early 1980s. The deep performance bowl lost its upswept wall and was filled in, and despite locals' efforts to dig it out it has never come back. The park reopened in the late 1980s under new operators, who left behind the old metal shop kiosk that still stands.

Harrow Council refurbished the park in 2003, concreting over the grass between the eastern bowls so you can flow from one to the next, and timber ramps were added over the old freestyle area in 2009. In 2007 the council proposed knocking it down as part of a new leisure centre scheme, but the plan collapsed in October 2008 when the money fell through.

Harrow is on the council's local heritage list but has no national listing, and heritage researchers count it among the important early parks still at risk. It remains the most heavily skated of the surviving 1970s parks, with long ties to Death Skateboards and its owner Nick Zorlac, a regular for years, and a 2021 jam there was reckoned the busiest day since the 1998 Harrow Jam. It is free and council-run, next to Harrow Leisure Centre, a walk from Harrow & Wealdstone station.