Residents' stories
In 1947 a small band of railway enthusiasts started the Harlington Locomotive Society. One of them was Peter Tarrant (76), who is still one of its most active members and keen to see the Society thrive.
The Society's Clubhouse and track are on Harlington High Street, very close to the end of the proposed third runway and therefore under threat from high levels of noise and pollution. The new roads system is also likely to have a major impact on the area.
Yet Peter remains optimistic and keen to look ahead. At the annual Christmas Mince Pie Run, on 16th December, Peter was still making plans for further improvements: slopes rather than steps up to the station platform and a new picket fence around the track.
Numbers visiting the open days increase each year, with the gardens becoming a popular party venue. Any profits are put back into improving the facilities and, with characteristic generosity, the Society members run special open days to raise funds for local charities.
Peter still vividly remembers the early days when Mr Shackle, the local squire, landowner and retired Civil Engineer with the Great Western Railway, became the Society's first President. He offered to show members a railway built on brick arches that he was constructing in his orchard. Ever willing to roll up their sleeves and tackle a project, the members offered to help - and haven't stopped their perpetual programme of care and repair ever since.
Peter might be known for his love of locomotives but, having lived in West Drayton all his life, he does have a connection with the airport. As a budding musician of about 13, in 1944, he joined his father in a band that performed concerts at Heathrow. The musical evenings were arranged for Irish workers who were involved in construction on the site.
Peter could not have imagined in those early days, when the airport was just a few huts, that 60 years later it would threaten to engulf the surrounding villages.
NO THIRD RUNWAY ~ Heathrow is Big Enough
