The Knowhere Guide

Other Stuff in Harlow, Essex*

Harlow, Essex Stuff You Don't Get Anywhere Else

The Stuff We Can't Fit In Somewhere Else

• Poo plop wee bum
• Only people who live here are the elderly and single mothers of the world. Everybody else had the sense to move. Quick escape now before it's too late.....
• If you have kids and are thinking of moving to our town remember,that parks and swings are the first things to disapear when they run out of money(too many fact finding missions to america e.t.c)so bring your own!
• Keeping fit can be cool. Check out Harlow Running Club's website at www.thehrc.org.uk. er, they also like a few bevies.
• i would like to add this although im sure every town has this problem and that problem is "NIGHT CLUB BOUNCERS", why do they think they are so special?? oh and sorry but the go kart track has gone now!!!!!
• DJ Franky known as Frank O'Hare.. Why can no one meet him anymore.. Is he too famous for his own good??
• Puffers Green used to be known as Perverts Green!
• There are Three Dance Schools in the Town, Makin Steps School of Dance, The Brenda Taylor School of Dance and The Harlow Ballet Association.
• I've recently moved away from Harlow, although my parents are still there, and I can safely say that I'm glad I got out! There are not many people that I know who actually like living there. I think the worst thing about Harlow is the mentality of the people living there. It's one of a kind. If you're thinking of working there don't get involved in any sort of customer service work!
• It was a crime when the Sainsburys went up by the sportcentre. that was the best chance the council had to improve the towns facilities. There was room to expand the current sportscentre and also add a much needed bowling alley and ice rink,this would have created budding sports stars instead of graffitti artists. What did we get instead, a shop thats really too small, just enough parking,extra congestion where it was least needed and another roundabout!!! The football club was nearly driven from the town, the American Football team was driven out and the rugby club, despite its successes is stuck on a ground were it cannot expand. The town could do with a succesful team to get behind, the council should foster this where attitude whenever it can. Now thats of my chest, the pubs are good, public transport aint bad. I lived in Harlow a long time and would move back if circumstances permitted. Who mentioned the Orange Footman pub? Sadly thats been bulldozed to make way for some shops. They should have auctioned of some of the interior for the nostalgic types!
• Easy to slag it off, but as someone who went to school there (many years ago) and now lives nearby, it's got a lot going for it.
• Best place to meet a man whose idea of originality is a white and blue checked Ben Sherman shirt (as opposed to a blue and white one) who has one GCSE in CDT and thinks you should be impressed by his mating cry of "nice Bristols" - Every pub in Harlow.
• The Orange Footman was burnt down during the mid-80's, and replaced by 'Ringletts', which used to be a good laugh when you were 17. The whole area has now been pulled down and replaced by a 'lower concrete content' Staple Tye shopping centre.
• I spent a lovely three months in Harlow many years ago when I was 20. It was back in 1980 and maybe there is nothing to do now but when I was over there on holiday from New Zealand I had a ball. I worked in a pub that was then called "The Orange Footman" and it seemed to be party party party all of the time. I knew lots of really nice guys, worked in what I thought was a happening pub and had a lovely holiday. Britain is not a place I would want to live all of my life because of the temperature and I think that Britain is into the pub scene whereas in NZ we are more into the beach and barbeques which is better when you have a family. But don't put down Harlow because I have many fond memories of the place and the people who lived there when I was there. By the way graffiti is a world wide thing and Auckland where I live is pretty bad.
• The only good thing to come out of Harlow as far as I am aware has been the band Collapsed Lung ( the name says it all). However, the second hand camera stall on the Monday market is worth a look.
• I think that most of the people who have supplied the info so far must be rather young and limited in their experiences. I am not young, have lived in other places (I now live in Harlow), work in London, and regularly travel to other parts of the UK.
  Harlow appears to be a quiet place unless you know where to look. Most sports are catered for, other leisure amenities are very well catered for (the town park is a good example), and the shopping facilities provide for most needs.
  Because Harlow looks to cater for local communities, some of these facilities are not easy to find unless you are part of that community. This can lead to a spartan look to outsiders who are not prepared to look.
  Graffiti has been mentioned. It is very noticeable that there is less graffiti in Harlow than most other towns of the same size or larger. When it does appear, Harlow council are very quick to clean it off.
  The worst thing about Harlow is the image given to it by people who do not live there, who have nothing to compare it with, or who have a very narrow view of life.
• The best clothes shop is not Littlewoods... unless your'e 89 years old... there is River Island, Next, and loads of other nice clothes shops which I can't remember the names coz I havent been there for over two years. Don't slag off Harlow, coz I was brought up there, and now that I don't live in England anymore, I really miss it, and think that it's one of the nicest towns in England.
• There's an indoor karting track which is brilliant. To get there drive from Gan to Burger King, straight on at that roundabout, and take a left at the next one. It's about half a mile down the road in a massive warehouse.
• And, yet another view: "BEST: Shark, Willow Beauty, Plume of Feather [pubs]. Square [venue and good place to drink when nothing's on -- not too packed]. Town Square on a summer's evening is a great place to sit and watch the sunset. It also has the highest number per capita of sculptures of any town in the UK. WORST: Employment prospects, underaged teenagers who think they're 19 etc... It also has the highest number of graffitied sculptures per capita of any town in the UK."
• But Stuart East writes: "I was disappointed to see that somebody could not find any good points to say about Harlow. I lived there for 19 years and it was really good. There are good pubs such as the Willow Beauty for students or the White Horse for old people and a friendly atmosphere. The Square has had some really good bands play live. There are lots of fab places to eat, my favourite is the Little Chef on the A414. The best clothes shop has to be Littlewoods."
• Well, there's no market on Monday or Wednesday, although on Monday the market stalls are rented out to anybody who wants a stall to sell whatever they want. A bit like a car boot sale without the cars really. The worst thing about it is the fact that there are loads of little groups of Essex girls walking about who are aged about 10 and they try and pretend that they're much older and they are VERY annoying to say the least. There is basically nothing to do in Harlow. Unfortunately there ARE no good points about the place so that's all the info I can tell you!

The Knowhere Guide started out as a list of places to skateboard in the UK. It is a compilation of (unedited) information and views supplied by users like yourself. It is not a conventional tourist guide!

In most cases, the information in each section has been submitted by more than one contributor (the credits at the bottom of the page list some, but not all, of the contributors) and some of it dates back to the 1970s.

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Credits

Last updated: 2007-08-09