Reporters can sometimes get far too caught up in the present. What is happening? Where? Why? And how?

We also spend far too much time speculating about the future, trying to get to the big scoops first.

The point is: it can be easy to forget about the past, but this was a visit that will live long in the memory.

There is a wealth of historical sites in Harrow, but when I was invited to choose one to visit as a part of Harrow Heritage Open Days, Bentley Priory was the only one for me.

It is hard to even imagine a place in which so much history was created, and so much of our future was shaped, than right here, in this beautiful (and I really do mean beautiful) country house at the tip of Stanmore.

Refurbished and tastefully reimagined, the museum tells the story of Fighter Command, which co-ordinated the valiant defence of these islands during the Battle of Britain.

The Bentley Priory Museum, where our reporter John Shammas learned all about radar mapping during the Battle of Britain

Sharon Ward, our tour and fount of knowledge for the day, greets us at the entrance, which is decorated with distinctive stained-glass windows, paying homage to the heroics which resulted in Britain being victorious.

What follows is a two-hour crash course in the history of the battle, its mechanics, and the role played by Fighter Command in this very building.

How did the radar work? How did they communicate with each other? What was at stake?

It is all answered in the majesty of the place on which the survival of our liberty depended, in the face of the Nazi war machine.

The stand-out moment for me was when we were given a peek into the office of Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding, the Commanding Officer of Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain.

His letters back and forth to the leading politicians in Westminster at the time give a real sense of the backroom bickering that made this not only a battle for the skies, but also a battle for funding, equipment and support for the belief that should France fall – which of course it did on May 10, 1940 – our air force would be the last bastion of freedom in western Europe.

I was delighted to see that the museum offers tours for schools, because this is a special place that has such an incredible story to tell about a key time in our past – and one that should never be forgotten.

For more information, visit www.bentleypriory.org.