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Original Text (Annotation: EPW053682 / 2024839)
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Gayton Hall Hotel. This might have been a private residence at the time the photo was taken. This area was clearly a very attractive residential area consisting of commodious Edwardian villas of which the Gayton Hall Hotel building is now the sole survivor. The hotel is now called 'The Junction', which probably rather reflects how far the area has descended. In the manner typical of the 60s and 70s, the villas in Gayton Road, St John's Road and Lyon Road triangle were swept away and replaced with depressingly stark and ugly office blocks including one, for a time, occupied by the National Coal Board. What were the Harrow Council planning department thinking?
The ugly planning continues. On the opposite side of Gayton Road is an area where the library and a car park were situated (probably once the site of attractive metro-land villas). These sites have become available and Harrow Borough Planning have allowed them to be used for a high-rise development, which is currently nearing completion. The skyline no longer exists. Corruption or incompetence? You decide. '