HICKNEY HEATH blazed with excitement.

It is not every day that a thrill runs through a dull London borough, not even every election day.

For a London borough, unlike a country town, has very little corporate life of its own.

You cannot get up as much enthusiasm for Kilburn, say, as a social or historical entity, as you can for Winchester or Canterbury.
You may perform civic duties, if you are public-spirited enough, with business-like zeal, and if you are borough councillor you may be proud of the nice new public baths which you have been instrumental in presenting to the community.

But the ordinary man in the street no more cares for Kilburn than he does for Highgate.