• Cranford Country Park, Hillingdon
    Family Life - Hillingdon - Local Review - London

    A trip to Cranford Country Park, Hillingdon

    May 22, 2020 - By 

    Last week we were able to visit Cranford Park, another Green Flag award winner (in 2002 and every year since then) in the London Borough of Hillingdon. The weather was amazing and we were all excited to visit somewhere new. We took the puppy and were excited to learn something new about the borough we live in. Cranford Park, Hillingdon Cranford Park was the former seat of the Berkeley family, and is now the surviving remains of a former country estate easily accessed from the M4 motorway. The 144 acre (58 hectares) park features a number of historical relics including a…

  • exploring Ickenham Marsh
    Family Life - Hillingdon - Local Review - London

    Exploring Ickenham Marsh

    May 17, 2020 - By 

    The major benefit of life right now is the chance to explore our local area. Living on the edge of London means the best of both worlds – a quick hop on the underground into town, and fields and woods on our doorstep. Over the last 2 months we’ve been exploring all the paths and byways around our village. We’ve kept the kids busy with geocaching and collecting leaves and flowers to press when we get home. Hillingdon Trail We live in the middle of the Hillingdon Trail, a 20 mile path though Hillingdon’s countryside from Cranford in the south…

  • Looking for the Battle of Britain House, Ruislip
    Family Life - Hillingdon - Local Review - London - Ruislip

    Looking for the Battle of Britain House, Ruislip

    May 9, 2020 - By 

    We’ve lived in Ruislip for a good few years now and were intrigued when we heard about the ruins of a house in the heart of Ruislip Woods, where agents of the Clandestine Operations Division were trained for secret operations in occupied France! Doesn’t that sound like an amazing story!? We’ve wanted to look for the ruins for years and finally found the time. I wrote a little about Ruislip Woods a few weeks ago. There are numerous paths through the different woods and we’ve had fun exploring them over the weeks. This is my favourite time of year and…

  • West London Racing Centre
    days out - Hillingdon - Local Review - London - parenting

    West London Racing Centre {exploring the local area}

    June 3, 2017 - By 

    I’ve mentioned a few times that my husband and children have a collection of model cars they like to race (this is on top of the model cars and model planes!). When we moved to West London we began looking for somewhere to race the cars, other than the woods or local park. Someone recommended the West London Racing Centre. The West London Racing Centre is in the corner of Pole Hill Open Space, a park in the London Borough of Hillingdon. The WLRC is designed to provide an organised venue for racing 1:10th Scale Electric On-Road radio control model…

  • Dog's Trust Harefield
    days out - Hillingdon - Local Review - London

    A visit to the Dog’s Trust Harefield {exploring the local area}

    May 13, 2017 - By 

    Living on the outskirts of London we’re lucky to have so much on our doorstep. A quick hop on the tube gets us into London, or we can take off in the car to the country. We’ve mused about having a dog for a few years now but it just doesn’t seem practical. So instead we visit the Dog’s Trust Harefield, which is only about 10 minutes away. The Dog’s Trust Harefield is an animal centre belonging to the Dog’s Trust, the UK’s largest dog welfare charity which aims to help abandoned dogs. Their Harefield Centre is one of 20 re-homing…

  • Cafe Rouge Spring menu review
    eating out - Hillingdon - Local Review - London - parenting - Ruislip

    Enjoying the new Spring menu at Cafe Rouge

    May 7, 2017 - By 

    We have a lovely Cafe Rouge on our local hight street. It’s in a beautiful old building – for some reason this always ticks all my boxes when I’m eating out – and I love to eat local. We were invited along to try the new Spring menu at Cafe Rouge so yesterday, after a day of gardening and relaxing at home, we went along to try it out for ourselves. We’ve been to Cafe Rouge quite a few times now. It’s our go-to place when we have family and friends round as we know there’s always something on the…

  • Eastcote House Gardens
    days out - Hillingdon - Local Review - London - parenting

    Eastcote House Gardens {exploring the local area}

    April 13, 2017 - By 

    We’ve now lived in our present house for 4 years. The time has gone so quickly but we’re still discovering local places. I thought it would be fun to write about some of favourite places, and record the new ones we discover too. As the weather is getting warmer we’re so excited to get out and about more. Eastcote House Gardens Eastcote House Gardens is actually one of the first places we visited when we first moved to the area. It’s a large public park, formerly the site of Eastcote House. The house was demolished in the 1960s, leaving a…

  • DK ProduKtions and London Borough of Hillingdon presents Dick Whittington 2016
    Christmas - Family Life - Hillingdon - Local Review - London

    Boxing Day panto – Dick Whittington {Compass Theatre}

    December 26, 2016 - By 

    Last Christmas we went to the pantomime with some friends which we all really enjoyed. It’s nice to get out of the house on Boxing Day and if it’s too cold for a walk then the panto seems like the next best thing. This year I was organised and booked us all tickets to see Dick Whittington at the Compass Theatre in Ickenham. According to Wikipedia pantomime (informally panto), is a type of musical comedy stage production, designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is still performed throughout the United Kingdom, generally during the Christmas and New…