St Margarets knowledge?

[movingwest]

As the name says, we are taking the plunge and moving from east to west London. We are renting in St Margaret's to see if we like it there before committing to buying a house, but with 2 DCs (3yo and 5 mo)I want to be organised in advance before we arrive at end Feb.

So any of you lovely locals know of best:
NHS doctor
NHS dentist
Playgroup/nursery/childcare
Speech Therapist for DS
Coffee(!)

And do I need to put DS name down for September nursery class in January?

Much thanks!

We lived in St M's for 2 yrs with 2 under 2.
Crown Road Surgery is the best doctors I found / had recommended to me - 66 Crown Rd - they were great with the kids from newborn and with me.

There are playgroups at a lot of the church halls - some you can just turn up to, some you have to sign up for in advance. There's Gymboree on St Margaret's Road. And there's musicbugs (kids 0-4) at the Turk's head pub each week (To book a free trial contact Mandy at 0844 578 1013 or e-mail at [email protected].
www.musicbugs.co.uk.)

Mandy is great and we loved her, didn't miss a class.

I don't know about local schools for putting names down but the Sunflower Montessori was popular and might be worth looking at.

Thanks for that, did you like living there? It is a completely new area for us and couldn't be more different to where we live now. DH and I worried we will miss the buzz of north London!

We used to live in St.Marg's and loved it - only moved out because we were priced out when we had more children. Although since moving, friends with pre-school children have struggled to get places in infants schools.

Re: your info requests;
NHS doctor - Richmond Lock surgery brilliant
NHS dentist - never found one while we were there!
Playgroup/nursery/childcare - Pebbles mornings at Church near Haliburton Rd (can't remember the name), also has playgroup there on Weds mornings, also one at the Catholic Church in the high street and also one at the Church next to Marble Hill park. All a bit mad but lovely.
Speech Therapist for DS - don't know, sorry
Coffee(!) - loads of places, especially Zoran's

Yes the one at the church beside Marble Hill park - they have open play one morning a week for about 1 pound per family (or 1 pound per person?) on certain days. Good with the babies - but can be a bit hairy in the toddler section - !

yes Moving West I did like living there - its quick to get into central London (equally to walk into Twickenham or Richmond and down to the river) and the playgrounds were safe and generally friendly. It was a bit depressing to see things closing down - shop fronts, cafes etc during the recession (end of 2008) I don't know what that's like now and expect it has been the same in many parts of London / Greater London.

Zoran's is good for coffee but he's not very nice to his staff and he talks too much (unless you're into that).

Just to avoid confusion, Crown Rd surgery and Richmond Lock mentioned above are one and the same (Crown Rd moved to Richmond Lock). They are indeed great.

Amber Dental (in the last parade of shops before the A316 roundabout) take NHS patients

Childcare: there's Brook House nursery on Cole Park Rd (NB not open Fridays and closed over Easter/Christmas) or it's relatively easy to get to Twick or Richmond for more nurseries there. (19mo DD is at one in Twickenham - PM me if you'd like more info.) Orleans infants has a nursery attached but not sure what the deal is there.

Zoran's is best for coffee but if you're willing to go a bit further afield, there's a lovely cafe at Orleans House (not open Mon/Tues though). The cafe in Marble Hill is also nice although the coffee is a bit hit-and-miss IMHO.

Good luck with your move - I'm sure you won't regret it!

There are two great websites to help you in the St Margarets area...

• St Margarets Community Website (stmgrts.org.uk/) which has loads of good local information and a directory

• For Sanity?s Sake (www.forsanityssake.com2) with lots of information for new parents

I have lived and raised two boys in St Margarets for the last 10 years and have been really happy there. We moved from New York City and haven't been too shocked by the suburban feel.

Thanks everyone, really grateful for all the advice and info. Hope everyone is as friendly in St M's!

I'm just moving back to St Margarets after a year working in France, so glad to be going back! I was a nanny there for two years and love the place.

Theres a one o'clock club in the summer in marble hill park, next to the park the church has cheeky monkeys playgroup twice a week and monkey music too. Gymboree is the best resource because of the daily drop-in once registered for a class. A bit further round towards Richmond theres a pottery cafe. And Kew Gardens with climbers and creepers etc is close, as is Syon park and house with a reptile house and garden centre.

The village has a late-opening Tesco right next to the station and plenty of little shops. Pools on the Park is a good place too, lots going on.

Having grown up on Cornwall, I wouldn't want to move further into the centre of London!

So, we are in tw1 at last and feeling a bit shell shocked at how different it is to hackney! Anyone fancy a a coffee and a chat sometime to fill me in on all things St Margaret's?

Welcome! A coffee sounds great. We're a bit hectic over the next couple of weeks but it would be great to meet up on a Monday or Tuesday in the near future. Hope you're settling in OK and the adjustment isn't proving too hard!

Ahh, finally got wi-fi today! Thanks Ktay, haven't had time to properly settle as DH gone to Japan post-earthquake so I am dawn til dusk running after DCs. Lots of trips to Moor Mead park and strong coffee...
Would love to meet up, obv if DH comes home this weekend I will be making him do lots of housey chores but perhaps week starting Monday 28th?

Oh dear - hope your DH is keeping safe. Sounds like you have lots on to distract you.

Would be great to meet up, have some unpredictable health stuff going on at the moment but in theory w/c 28 March is good. Although our paths have prob already crossed at the swings!