• 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…

  • Exploring the film character statue trail in London's Leicester Square
    days out - Family Life - London - Sculpture trails

    Exploring the film character statue trail in London’s Leicester Square

    March 1, 2020 - By 

    We love a public art trail. They are are a great way to encourage my kids to walk and it’s been a while since we explored the Walking with the Snowman public art trail at London Bridge City last year. Today we spent a day in London as we were invited to watch a preview of My Spy (it’s a really funny film and I will be telling you all about it soon). Whilst we were in London we made a visit to the Lego Store and had time to explore the new film character statue trail in London’s Leicester…

  • A new location for The Handmade Festival
    Crafts for adults

    The Handmade Festival With Kirstie Allsopp

    February 15, 2020 - By 

    September update – sadly The Handmade Festival has been cancelled due to the current situation. Workshops will be help online instead. Find out more on their website. Living in London I’m surrounded by amazing craft events and workshops. I’m pretty picky about the ones I will go to though and spend my hard earned cash on. Location is really important for me though and last year I only went to the Knitting and Stitching Show at Ally Pally. I really wanted to go to the Handmade Festival, what was the Handmade Fair, but trains weren’t running to Hampton Court and…

  • Walking with The Snowman trail, London Bridge City 2019
    days out - Family Life - Local Review - London - Sculpture trails

    Walking with The Snowman trail, London Bridge City 2019

    December 31, 2019 - By 

    We’ve been wanting to get out to explore the latest art trail in London for a while. Did you know there was a Snowman art trail in town this winter?  This year, London’s most picturesque Christmas market, Christmas by the River, has welcomed a festive sculpture trail celebrating Raymond Briggs’ The Snowman. The Snowman story has been an integral part of our book advent for a few years now. We love the story and have enjoyed the animated version to over the last few weeks. So when I heard there was an art trail dedicated to The Snowman I knew…

  • Aladdin at Harrow Arts Centre
    Family Life - Local Review - London

    Aladdin at Harrow Arts Centre, London

    December 20, 2019 - By 

    It’s just not Christmas without panto and this year we were delighted to be invited along to Harrow Arts Centre (HAC) in Harrow, London to watch Aladdin. Following the success of Immersion Theatre’s The Wizard of Oz (2017) and Beauty and the Beast (2018), Harrow Arts Centre are delighted to welcome Prime Pantomimes, a partnership between Immersion Theatre and Selladoor Worldwide to HAC this Christmas. Aladdin at Harrow Arts Centre, London Prime Pantomimes make bespoke, high-energy visual feasts packed with audience participation, call and response, music, and West End-standard performances to create unforgettable shared family experiences. With heaps of audience…

  • vintage Christmas at Hughenden
    Buckinghamshire - Family Life - National Trust

    Celebrating Christmas at Hughenden

    December 14, 2019 - By 

    Before anyone gets excited I should perhaps clarify the title of this blog post. No, we haven’t been invited to spend Christmas Day at Hughenden Manor, but we visited last weekend to meet Father Christmas and enjoy their winter activities. Hughenden Manor is our favourite National Trust property and we try to visit at least once during the seasons. You might think a visit in winter would be a little dull but we love it as the staff and volunteers make sure they pull all the stops out. Having visited Father Christmas there a few years ago, we knew we…

  • A visit to The Museum of Architecture's Gingerbread City 2019
    Family Life

    A visit to The Museum of Architecture’s Gingerbread City 2019

    December 11, 2019 - By 

    On Monday I was lucky to visit to The Museum of Architecture’s Gingerbread City 2019 at Somerset House. I stumbled across this a few years ago and couldn’t wait to visit. Gingerbread City is an annual exhibition, now in its fourth year, organised by the Museum of Architecture. It aims to connect the public with architecture in an exciting way, and spark important conversations around cities and how we live in them. And yes, everything is made of gingerbread – an absolute dream for me! A visit to The Museum of Architecture’s Gingerbread City 2019 The Museum of Architecture challenges…

  • Tutankhamum: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh at the Saatchi Gallery
    days out - Family Life - London

    Tutankhamum: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh at the Saatchi Gallery

    December 8, 2019 - By 

    On Saturday we were fortunate to be invited to see ‘TUTANKHAMUN: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh at the Saatchi Gallery. It had been a while since our last visit to the Saatchi Gallery and we really wanted to go and see this exhibition so jumped at the chance! It was an early start but we jumped on the underground and were soon at Sloane Square for a quick walk to the Saatchi Gallery. Tutankhamum: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh The touring exhibition opened last month (it’s already been to Los Angeles and Paris) and is open until Sunday 3rd May…