On Sunday 21 April Pinner High Street was full of activity with families enjoying themselves, cheerfully ignoring the cold wind. The highlight as always was the Wheelbarrow Race with a record number of teams competing to become champion racers.
The bells of the Parish Church rang out from midday heralding the arrival of St George and the Mayor's car leading the Scout Parade. At the top of the High Street the various sections took turns to renew their Promise, reaffirming their commitment to help other people.
During the afternoon we were entertained by Capital Connection performing a cappella popular songs and the colourful Merrydowners Morris dancers with their traditional dance routines. Simply Gray, who have a loyal following for their classic rock music, had toes tapping and young and old dancing in the street while David Wilde and his Punch & Judy Show provided lots of fun and magical tricks to the delight of his young audience.
At three o'clock the crowds parted to make way for the Wheelbarrow Race. 19 teams set off from Little Common, down Bridge Street and up the High Street to Church Green, pausing at various refreshment stops to down a half pint of beer. The defending champions, Ryan and Chris – aka “Curse These Metal Hands” - triumphed again, with "Norfolk and Chance" winning the best dressed competition for their classic St George outfits.
Our thanks to the Mayor of Harrow, Cllr Ramji Chauhan, for attending the celebrations and presenting the prizes. He was accompanied by his wife the Mayoress, Mrs Meena Chauhan.
Throughout the day the High Street was very busy and members of the public generously gave over £1,000 in our collecting buckets, our final total of funds raised is expected to be around £3,000. This will be donated to charities supported by Pinner Rotary including the President's charities Mind in Harrow and Purple Community Fund.
Pinner Rotary St George's Celebrations are generously sponsored by Gibbs Gillespie estate agents. Our thanks also to the Queen’s Head for their support.
Watch a short video of this year's celebrations created by The Filming Unit
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back Our annual celebration of St George's Day held in Pinner High Street and featuring the Wheelbarrow Race