Where is little whinging set

Not a lot to go on, perhaps, but I believe it is enough. Paddington Station is the key to the mystery. This has made it rather difficult to identify rail-services from Paddington in perhaps, again, as the author may have intended. However, a most dear friend found for me the relevant British Rail timetable. Unfortunately, this caused me problems! There were no Trains from Paddington to any Station in Surrey!! All that is necessary is it to be the most convenient station for Privet Drive.

In that case, three stations could fit, but the overwhelming favourite is Langley in Southern Buckinghamshire. I suspect that because of the return from work rush-hour his train from Paddington would have been the And this is why Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey, is shown as it is on the map, in the farthest north of Surrey, to the west of Heathrow Airport and to the northwest of Staines.

We know, now, where it is. But to work out what the house itself is like we need to work out when it was built so that its architectural style can be understood and workable floor plans constructed. As has been said, the development of the Surrey suburbs took place in the twentieth century. There were a number of main periods of building, all with their individual characteristics of both house and type of development.

In the UK, before the First World War, large-scale domestic building projects produced town- and city-based mass housing. Closely grouped streets of terraced or semi-detached houses were the norm. Larger, detached houses, were built individually or in small groups. So when was Privet Drive built? Since then, perhaps to an increasing extent, fireplaces are added to the living rooms of modern houses as a luxury feature. There was rationing of many materials and most building development was aimed at the inner cities, repairing bombing damage.

During that move, Harry remembers Dudley once had a tortoise. Apparently, he threw it through the roof of the greenhouse in the back, probably killing the animal. Clearly, Dudley learned his lack of respect for life by watching his parents abuse Harry for years.

The greenhouse is never mentioned again, but it stands to reason that it continues to exist. When Petunia married Vernon, part of what attracted her to him was how thoroughly ordinary he was. When the Wizarding World denied her, she completely rejected it, and fans can see that in her house. The increasingly comical attempts that someone or something? The avalanche of letters coming in through the fireplace and Harry jumping around trying to catch one is especially memorable.

After that, Vernon boarded up the fireplace, along with every other entrance and exit to the house. Sometime after Harry left for Hogwarts, Petunia must have convinced Vernon they needed working doors and windows, but the fireplace stayed boarded up.

That association probably only increased after Goblet of Fire , when the Weasleys arrived to pick up Harry by Floo, destroying the fireplace. By Valorie Clark Published Sep 16, Apr 28, , am EDT. Apr 17, , am EDT. Apr 8, , am EDT. Mar 26, , am EDT. Mar 2, , am EST. Jul 19, , pm EDT. May 10, , pm EDT. Edit Story. Sep 19, , pm EDT.