“I was never really a punk, I was punky,” say artist Cheryl Gould, who became fascinated with the movement and what it meant when it started in the early 1970s.

The angry and rebellious subculture is not exactly something that springs to people’s minds when they think of Harrow’s history, but a new exhibition Punk Harrow at Headstone Manor and Museum looks at exactly that and celebrates 40 years since those accessorised safety pins and spiked up hairdos first put in an appearance.

Cheryl, who lives in Harrow, was an art student when punk exploded on to the scene and has hundreds of life drawings and several sculptures, many of which will be on display at the museum, that encompass the anti-establishment perspective.

She says: “The impact of shapes of the spiky hair and the Mohawks... it was just the whole punk persona I found very exciting.

“I don’t think I was a ever a punk, because at the time I was at art school, I had my head down and was too busy trying to work. But I was definitely punky and I liked the music and that hard, raw edge it had.

“At the time it was all this jumping up and down, people starting to wear leather, pins, studded ears, spikes and Dr Marten boots. It was a style thing and a turnaround from The Beatles. It was just so different and cool.

“You could go down to Covent Garden and if you tried to take a photograph of some guy, they would put their hand out for money. It wasn’t quite like that in Harrow, it was more a hands-on punk.”

Cheryl attended Harrow School of Arts before studying a BA in Fine Arts and Sculpturing at Kingston College. She explains that she began drawing punks “because they were just there” and presented interesting subjects for life drawings.

“It was when I first got my very own studio in Harrow Weald and I got these punks to sit for me.

“My work has always focused on the body. I’ve taught life drawings for many, many years and I think anything that exaggerates the head, draws attention to it - when you see all these people going round with spiky hairdos, with shaven heads or half shaven heads and bright fluorescent colours, it just drew attention to them. For me it was like they were shouting out to me to be made into a sculpture. I wish I had made more.”

Cheryl adds that she has five sculptures that will be on display along with hundreds of her drawings. Her sculptures were modelled in clay before she cast them into plaster or cement and then painted some in bright colours.

“Not only are these punk heads in one piece,” she says, “but they have been keeping me company in my studio since I made them - they are almost like a constant companion and now they are out at the manor and looking quite amazing too.”

Going back to the punk scene during ‘70s and ‘80s, Cheryl tells me, “It was all about self-expression.

“Young people wanted to be accepted for themselves and yet be part of a group. It was a unification. It was trendy.

“Nowadays I don’t see that sort of attitude or reaction amongst young people. The only thing I think they seem to have in common is they all wear leggings - even the boys and it’s become quite androgynous.”

Despite this, Cheryl, who has recently started working with glass after taking a course, adds that there has obviously been a resurgence in the punk scene.

“I can’t imagine it ever returning back to that really anarchistic, anything goes sort of situation. The Sex Pistols were banned. On the eve of the Queen’s 90th birthday I was researching and I wrote down Sex Pistols, God Save the Queen.

"And I thought crikey, here she is at 90 and there’s Johnny Rotten in the ‘70s yelling 'God Save the Queen, she won’t last'. I had a little laugh to myself.”

Headstone Manor and Museum, Pinner View, Harrow, HA2 6PX. Details: 020 8863 6720, harrowmuseum.org