Located north of the Grand Union Canal and Wormwood Scrubs, the Harrow Road flows through the centre of the area which goes eastwards to Central London and west towards Wembley.

Harlesden has been praised for its vibrant Caribbean culture and unofficially named London's reggae capital for its contributions to the musical genre.

[2] The town centre contains a large number of multicultural independent businesses, while industry exists by the canal, most notably a McVitie's biscuit factory that has been operating since 1902.

[3] The population includes people of Afro-Caribbean heritage most notably, as well as Irish, Portuguese, Brazilian, Somali, and smaller Latin American and East African groups within the community.

In the 19th century, Harlesden, then a rural village in the parish of Willesden, began to develop some of its urban appearance with the arrival of the railways.

Willesden Junction, Kensal Green and Harlesden stations on the London & Birmingham Railway all had an effect on the developing village.

A mainly middle class population resided here who enjoyed the availability of numerous churches, cinemas, a court, a library and recreational pleasure at Roundwood Park.

From late Victorian times until the 1930s, housing completed its spread across the area, and Harlesden became part of the London conurbation.

[4] Harlesden gained excellent transport links by the train stations as well as a frequent horse bus service to Paddington as early as 1890.

Much of the working class in Harlesden suffered from poverty, with the Willesden Chronicle mentioning "nearness to starvation" of those people in 1908.

[5] Mainly after World War I, one of Europe's biggest industrial estates was constructed at nearby Park Royal, and large factories there and within Harlesden included McVitie & Price (later United Biscuits) from 1910, and Heinz from 1919.

[8] In the 1950s, the transport of coal from Durham and steel from Sheffield became a main contributor to the local economy, these industries employed a mass of labour from Irish and Jamaican immigrants.

At the same time, immigration from the West Indies and Indian sub-continent led to racist articles in a national newspaper.

[19] The diversity of Harlesden is apparent in the high street which houses various businesses such as the likes of Afro-Caribbean hair and beauty shops, Somali restaurants, Portuguese bakeries and Brazilian cafes.

[27] In the late 1990s, Harlesden and the nearby Stonebridge estate, witnessed a high number of murders and became a crime hotspot, because of several rival yardie gangs.

During this time Harlesden turned into one of London's main crack cocaine trading centres, and one of the yardies' strongholds.

[35] Harlesden and some of its surroundings in Brent played a key part in the development of the reggae music business in the UK.

In the 1960s Planetone Studios Sonny Roberts the heartbeat of Rhythm & Blues and Ska recordings, releasing and distribution followed by Trojan Records who became a major reggae label, producing successful artists within and in Jamaica, such as Desmond Dekker and Toots and the Maytals, and numerous top 20 UK singles during the 1970s.

[40] The Cimarons, England's first home-grown reggae roots band, was formed in 1969 at Tavistock community centre in Harlesden.

[44] A London Safari: Walking Adventures in NW10 is a 2014 paperback book authored by local Rose Rouse about Harlesden.