Thinking about moving to Ealing

[Reasontobelieve]

We are thinking about moving to Ealing. School is not an issue, as my dd already attends a secondary school there. I've been looking at Pitshanger, which has a great community feel and West Ealing - near Cleveland Road, where the houses are larger.

I'm particularly interested in Pitshanger, though feel that it's a bit of a journey to the nearest tube. on the other hand, I feel that it seems to be a friendly area. I 'd be interested in hearing what you all think about living in Ealing.

We're the big church on Pitshanger Lane.

Pitshanger is a great area. Lots to do - restaurants, cafés , tennis in the park, etc. Brentham Club has a youth group for teenagers and tennis, cricket, football. Innovation Dance has lots of groups that run up to secondary school. We run lots of concerts, films, etc (including termly teen film sessions). It has a real community feel - so rare in London - a community party in the park, Light Up the Lane, May Day parade, etc. The local shops are also excellent - baker, butcher, greengrocer, like a proper village!

Is your daughter very musical? We have an excellent choir that would welcome her.

You can reach all the benefits of Pitshanger from Cleveland Road if you're a walker (10 - 15 minutes tops), so it may depend what you value most in terms of being in the centre of it versus size of house.

The distance from the tube is not a big deal. You can walk it in about 20 minutes or there are lots of buses. Most people who move to Pitshanger worry about that before they get here but then soon forget.

As your daughter gets older will you value being on a night bus route?

Come along to St Barnabas one Sunday and we can introduce you to plenty of local parents to discuss it with. Our coffee is good, and I'm sure they'd be happy to chat. Weekly services are 10:30 am, but if you just want to chat after that is more like 11:45 am.

I live just outside Pitshanger but find the walk up to the area well worth it. We shop at the butcher, baker, fishmonger, and green grocer every week. There's a decent pub, several good cafes (we like Oscars) and a really lovely independent book shop with excellent selections for kids. The Brentham Club is a gem - tennis on offer for young and old but I take a fab yoga class there on Thursday mornings. I write an Ealing-focused 2nd hand style blog and find the 2 charity shops on Pitshanger Lane little fashion gold mines - huntresslondon.blogspot.co.uk. Buses seem readily available in the Pitshanger area but the walk to Ealing Broadway station isn't bad at all. If we could afford it, we'd live there in a heartbeat!

We moved into the Pittshanger earlier this year and so far have found it exceptionally friendly. Sometimes I forget I'm in London as it is perfectly acceptable to start chatting randomly to people on the street??
I've a toddler which does give me an excuse to start chatting and toddler groups and the playground are good for meeting people but there is plenty on in the area for all ages. The residents association is very active and as mentioned above there is the Party in the Park and other events organised yearly. There are fitness classes in halls and the park, there's a weekly walking book club, art classes and much much more (that having a toddler doesn't allow me to attend!).

Initially the tubes felt like a draw back but we're a 15 minute walk (or 5mins by bus) to Ealing Broadway. We also got a car and now rarely think about tubes.

The conservation area by Pittshanger means that many of the older houses are smaller and have restrictions on expansion but if you keep an eye out bigger properties do come up particularly to the south of Pitshanger Lane.

A lot of people from other parts of Ealing have told me that they find the shops on Pitshanger Lane very expensive but we moved from Central London and I find them great value in comparison??

You can also get to Hanger Lane tube, depending on where in the area you are (again about 10-15 min walk).
I live in Perivale (a much more affordable area as I could not afford to live in Pitzhanger) but often walk or get the bus to the area because the local shops and amenities (park, family friendly pub, local shops, dance studio) are lovely there. There are also several very good state schools in the area.

...Oh and West Ealing has only fairly limited overland trains, so you'd still take a while to get onto the actual Tube itself? The station is almost a red herring, when DH lived there we found it quicker to walk to the Tube of a morning!