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stood that the reason for the withdrawal was the charge for admission.
When, however, the question of the number of nursery places required
to accommodate those who needed to be admitted was raised, the analysis
was based on the reduced numbers of children actually attending the
nurseries and therefore did not indicate the true need. In addition the
needs of those in localities in which there were no nurseries had to be
ignored because they were not known. The findings were that the
needs of the district were not much more than the number of places at
one of the nurseries. The County Council decided that only two nurseries,
namely those at Headstone Drive and at Walton Avenue should be
retained; and at the end of 1953 the Spencer Road nursery and the
Kenmore Road nursery were closed.
Children of over two but under five years of age are also admitted
to one of the three nursery schools maintained by the Education Authority,
those being at " Tyneholme," at Rayners Lane, and at Buckingham Road.
Older children attend the nursery classes attached to some schools.
CLINICS AND TREATMENT CENTRES
Although little provision can be made for scattered groups of
families, a local health authority can be looked to to provide a wide
range of services for those in any area. Some who take advantage of
the service will be encouraged to attend frequently and regularly. Others,
and they might be only a small proportion of the population, might have
to attend only very occasionally. For those in the first group the service
must be taken to them. Those at the other extreme can be expected
to travel some distance if necessary to obtain the benefit of the service.
The mother with a young child is encouraged to attend for a while weekly
or fortnightly. She cannot be expected to make this journey regularly
if it exceeds half a mile. In most areas then the health services have
developed by opening sessions in any available hall, these being held
in such numbers and in such places as to be sufficiently convenient for
the mothers of small children and for expectant mothers. In the same
building school minor ailment clinic sessions might also be held; but
treatment services in general can be made available only in buildings
designed for the purpose. The early proposals for Harrow were that
there would be at Tyneholme, Headstone Drive, Wealdstone, a central
clinic building providing a wide range of treatment services, and some
eight or nine peripheral clinics providing varying ranges of treatment
services. It was expected that even when these nine or ten buildings
were erected and were in use, it would still be necessary to use halls in
a few areas for maternity and child welfare clinic sessions. The Wealdstone
Urban District Council had erected clinics at the Broadway, Wealdstone
and at Elmgrove Road, Kenton. The Harrow Council acquired
sites at Honeypot Lane and at Alexandra Avenue on which clinics would
be erected. It was later agreed by the Harrow Council and the Middlesex
County Council that it was desirable that any building erected should
also house a library. As the Middlesex County Council was the library
authority and also the education authority, it was agreed that they
should take over these sites and erect combined buildings on them.
The work on both these sites was started just before the war. The Honey-