Background

The borough of Ealing is a fantastic place in which to live and work. Located in the heart of West London it comprises seven districts - Ealing, Southall, Hanwell, Acton, Northolt, Perivale and Greenford. Each of these areas has unique characteristics, and together they form one of the most vibrant and diverse communities in Britain.

Living in Ealing provides the best of both worlds. It is within easy reach of central London as well as providing easy access to the towns and countryside of the South East and beyond. An excellent place to live in it's own right. Ealing has thriving arts and leisure facilities and more than eight square kilometres of parks and green spaces. As one of London's busiest boroughs, there are all the recreational facilities you would expect in a lively metropolitan centre, with museums, a local theatre, cinemas, galleries and an eclectic mix of restaurants and bars to choose from.

Location

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Housing

Despite relatively high demand there is still a great choice of excellent quality housing available, from newly built luxury apartments to Victorian and Edwardian terraces offering peaceful living in pretty, tree-lined streets. House prices vary across the borough, but an average 3-bedroomed house price is around £340,000

Schools

Ealing has a total of 91 state-run schools and nurseries, plus a number of private schools. Ealing schools are among the best in the country and the borough boasts three of the best teachers in London - at the recent London Teaching Awards ceremony, three of the eleven awards were won by Ealing teachers.

Major improvements continue to be made to school sites, with new or refurbished school buildings opening this term. In addition, approval has just been granted for a new Sikh faith school to be built in Southall. When the school opens in 2008, it will be only the second Sikh school in London, and the third in the country.

A full listing of Ealing's schools can be found at: http://www.ealing.gov.uk/services/education/schools

Shopping

Ealing provides excellent shopping fracilities. Although most of the shops are concentrated in Ealing Broadway, Southall and Acton also have vibrant shopping centres.

Ealing Broadway is home to a wide range of high street stores including Marks and Spencers and Next as well as Primark. Ealing also has an eclectic mix of local speciality stores including clothing retailers, gift shops, organic food stores, top-end kitchen equipment and art shops.

Southall provides a unique shopping experience. Always bustling, shops offer the latest Indian fashions, fabulous silks and gold jewellery. Music shops trumpet the latest Bollywood film tunes, bhangra hits and other music reflecting the wide cultural diversity of the area.

For food lovers, there are fantastic stores selling every imaginable fruit, vegetable, herb and spice. Shops selling traditional sweets are another major attraction not to be missed.

Eating out

Ealing boasts an impressive range of bars, cafe's and restaurants with every possible type of dining experience and taste catered for. As well as a number of upmarket restaurants, there are also many of the favourite chain restaurants in Ealing's high streets and speciality cafes and restaurants can be found in the surrounding roads. Southall gives the option of sampling some of the most authentic and best value Indian food in London.

Arts and entertainment

Local attractions include Pitzhanger Manor and Gallery, the country home of Sir John Soane, architect of the Bank of England. Pitzhanger Manor and Gallery is now a venue for concerts, workshops and highly regarded contemporary art exhibitions.

Ealing is also home to the Questors Theatre, the largest community theatre in Europe, with an audience membership of around 3,000. The Questors Theatre stages around twenty productions each year with a reputation for very high standards of production of both modern and classical drama.

Added to that, Ealing Council produces “Ealing Summer", which has now been running for nearly 25 years. One of London's biggest and best arts festivals it is held over five weeks and includes a week of top comedy (recent years have seen Bill Bailey and Jimmy Carr as headline acts) and the Ealing Jazz Festival which is the largest free jazz festival in Europe. Other attractions include blues and global music days and a range of children's activities. Ealing Summer is brought to a close by the London Mela which is one of the biggest celebrations of Asian music and culture outside the Indian subcontinent and now an established highlight in the capital's cultural calendar.

Cinemas can be found in Ealing Broadway, the multiplex at the Royale Leisure Park in Acton or Bollywood cinema at the Himalya  Palace in Southall. All of the attractions of London's West End are also only 30 minutes away.

Parks and open spaces

Because of its green and leafy feel Ealing has traditionally been known as the “queen of the suburbs" and there are genuine rural places. With so many parks to choose from it may be difficult to decide which one to visit.

Originally the gardens of Pitzhanger Manor, Walpole Park is registered as being of special historic interest by English Heritage and is also host to Ealing's popular Ealing Summer festival.

For the more energetic, a trek to the highest point of the borough at Horsenden Hill provides spectacular views which stretch as far as Windsor Castle, St. Paul's Cathedral and the London Eye.

Other local attractions

Ealing Studios - the oldest film studio in the world and best known for the “Ealing Comedies". Having survived two world wars and advances in technology, the studios are still an important centre for film and television, helping to turn out recent box office hits such as Shrek and Bride and Prejudice. The venue now hosts regular live comedy acts and runs a training school for aspiring actors, aged five upwards.

As Ealing is so well-served by the rail network, with Paddington just ten minutes away and Heathrow airport only fifteen minutes, central London and the West End are just half an hour by tube and the River Thames, Kew, Richmond, Twickenham and Hampton Court are all on our doorstep.