Local Area Guide

Overview

Often named as the " Queen of the Suburbs " Ealing is considered a commuter's paradise with Ealing town centre in particular being a 'transport hub' for West London with excellent access to central London. Not only is the borough well-served by the London Underground with the District, Piccadilly and Central lines, it also provides direct access to Reading, Slough, Paddington and Heathrow. In fact Ealing sits within the 'Heathrow corridor'; just 8 miles away from Heathrow.

Passengers can get from Ealing Broadway, Hanwell and West Ealing stations to Paddington in just 10 minutes, and to Heathrow in 20mins, The Borough also provides good access by road, including the M40 to Birmingham or Oxford, and the M4 to Bristol and Cardiff. The North Circular (London's Inner ring road: the A406) runs from the south to the north of Ealing Borough, and links travellers to the M4 and M40 as well as the A1 and M1.

Ealing Broadway is the borough's main shopping centre with 2 large shopping centres and many well known high street retailers having a presence, West Ealing, Hanwell, Southall all have high streets with the Northfields and South Ealing areas being popular for cafe's boutiques and more unique independently owned outlets.

Facts

Ealing is situated at the heart of six Greater London boroughs, collectively known as West London. It borders the Boroughs of Brent and Harrow in the north, the Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in the east, Hounslow in the south and Hillingdon in the west. Geographically, Ealing covers 55 square kilometres (over 21 square miles); 1.4% of the total land area of London.

Ealing is the 11th largest London borough in area. In terms of population it is the third largest London borough and the largest of the six West London Boroughs.

Ealing has seven distinct town centres, which developed from Saxon villages and settlements. Today these are known as: Ealing, Hanwell, Acton, Southall, Greenford, Perivale and Northolt. Borough-wide there are over 500 buildings listed as having special architectural or historic interest.

Hanwell

Hanwell is a hidden gem with beautiful green areas west of Greenford Avenue having a very rural feel. South of the Uxbridge Road is the popular" Olde Hanwell " area which consists mainly of Victorian cottages and houses and is within easy reach of Boston Manor Tube ( Picadilly Line ).

Hanwell BR station provides access to Paddington and Heathrow and the proposed Crosslink development will see Hanwell having direct connections to the City and Docklands.

To the north of the Uxbridge Road lies the Greenford Avenue, Hobbayne Primary School and Drayton Manor High School are situated here and are regarded as the "best" schools in the borough with very good OFSTED reports.

There are a good variety of properties that make the area quite unique coupled with great canal walks/ open spaces for cycling and lovely parks.

Hanwell remains a popular choice for buyers and renters as it gives more choice and value than Ealing Broadway and Chiswick yet still benefits from excellent transport and schooling.

Above all Hanwell has a very good community spirit, good transport links, highly rated schools and a variety of good affordable housing making it a very attractive place to live.

Ealing

Ealing is a busy town centre with a good array of bars, shops and restaurants. It's also well liked for its number of parks and open spaces, the best-known Walpole Park holds a number of events every summer including the Ealing Jazz Festival and Ealing Comedy Festival.

It's access to Central London and close proximity to major motor routes make Ealing a very popular choice, it's widely regarded as the last borough that retains a suburban feel travelling towards Central London .

Northfields and South Ealing both have tube stations servicing the Piccadilly Line, Ealing Broadway is a main station with District and Circle underground Lines as well as an over ground service.

Ealing is made up of several quite unique areas such as Northfields, Pitshanger, South Ealing and Ealing Broadway itself. All have a distinct and unique feel but have good schools, shops and a wide variety of housing in common. There are a wide selection of restauarant's in Ealing from Polish to Indian eateries with many of the popular chains and well known fast food outlets also having a presence in the borough.