Throughout the '60s Harrow continued to have the enviable reputation of a hard playing Club both on and of the pitch. The renowned Harrow choir, ably led by the Welshman Gary Abraham, raised the roof late at night in many a NW London clubhouse. Links with other local clubs were cordial: Finchley. Mill Hill, Roxeth Manor OBs. Osterley. Old Gayts, Pinner, Barnet, West Herts. Hendon. Ealing. Ruislip, Borderers (now Uxbridge ) were all popular venues for much after match socialising. No Ist XV member left before the skipper or did so on pain of buying a jug!

The early part of the decade also had favourite long haul trips to Southend, Old Westcliffians, Portsmouth, Brighton. Old Silhillians and Maidstone. Most of the trips were accomplished by courtesy of British Rail, the returning party often missing the last tubes back to Harrow. The original 'Hole in the Wall' at Waterloo whilst nor a spiritual home came close to it!

During the era the Club had a number of entrepreneurial activists. The John Sayer spaghetti evenings and the turkey Xmas dances in the old Clubhouse were high points in the Club calendar in the early sixties. Annual Club Dinners were invariably held at the Headstone Hotel, North Harrow, and a Ladies Festival was regularly held at the Rest Hotel, Kenton.
As the mid-60s came planning for the new Clubhouse required fund raising activities and the Club organised a succession of summer events: Donkey Derbys, Rickshaw Derbys and Go-kart Derbys with attendant sideshows which brought to the fore the talents of club members such as Tim Carnegie and Malcolm Churchil. Wine and cheese Sunday lunch parties were popular events until the majority of the Sunday Swallows side failed to make the field one afternoon through an overdose of Spanish sauterne. One infamous event, the Guys 'n Dolls match, with the Guys in drag and a champagne start in The Vine, courtesy of the landlord John Gough, had the unexpected result of a mixed bath for some at the end of the game.

Mention of the new Clubhouse (as members know it today) could not pass without linking it with the name of John Hart, who as Chairman of the Development Committee from the mid-60s until the opening in September 1969 negotiated financial assistance from various sources and saw the project through from conception to completion. Today's Club members can still enjoy these first class facilities 20 years on.

Bearing in mind that the new Clubhouse was not opened until the start of the 1969 season many members of the 60s will remember with some affection, or otherwise, the old clubhouse. The overriding memory for most must surely be the floor, which, being lower than the ground level outside soon became a puddle, then a lake as the evening wore on. Dance nights were particularly memorable and inviting the fair sex to a Saturday night hop had to have the aside "...and bring your wellies" Many a pair of high heels and stockings were ruined through not heeding this advice. A favourite pop song to dance to at Saturday night hops was the Dave Clark Five 'Glad all over' number, which required stamping in time to the beat during the chorus by those participating. Many a partners' stockinged legs needed drying off by concerned 'gentlemen' after that.

The bath also had a mind of its own, and the outflow, having been cunningly linked to the sewage disposal system, suffered after periods of heavy rain when a blow back had indescribable results. Finally, the telegraph pole close to the front door was an important focal point as the evening progressed. It was a relief to all but a wonderment to many that the base has not rotted away with the continual application of uric acid.
Twickenham, because of its close proximity, figured much on the social scene during the '60s. Parties would set off after Saturday morning matches to take up position on the old South Terrace. No one dreamt of taking a stand seat although they only cost £l.10s (£1.50). Then, after the match, and when the ground Bars had closed, on to the White Cross riverside pub in Richmond, where the partying and singing went on late into the night and swimming competitions sometimes took place to the Island opposite.

England results over the decade were not spectacular but there was always hope, and moments like Richard Sharp's 3-dummy try against the Scots in 1963 and Andy Hancock's last minute 90 yard try to draw with the Scots in 1965 made it all worthwhile.
The highlight of the end of the season, as now, was the Middlesex Sevens. All seats were 7/6d (37.5p) Rover tickets which allowed you to sit anywhere. Always highly organised on such occasions, Harrow despatched an advance guard early in the morning to claim the prime seats, the back two rows in the middle block of the East Upper Stand. Much was eaten and drunk before the final and much more was drunk afterwards in Richmond. As for the rugby, London Scottish were masters of the decade, winning the competition five times and being runners up once.

Two other features of the 60s were the Sunday matches and Easter Tours. Sunday rugby at that time was not officially recognised and the matches could not be played under the auspices of Harrow. Wearing the Saturday strip, the Sunday team was impelled therefore to change its name to Stanmore Swallows. This name was in recognition of the colouring of the bird but more appropriately was a reflection on the after-match drinking capacity of the team.