The A13 runs straight through Barking and Dagenham, and almost everything in the borough connects to it, from the Ford engine plant by the river to the estates of Becontree and the new homes at Barking Riverside. It's a borough of big families, grassroots football and schools full of children from dozens of countries. Minibus hire Barking and Dagenham customers book reflects that, with Sunday league and junior football, school trips, weddings and family events, and runs to London City Airport, which is only a short drive west.
The borough covers the towns of Barking, Dagenham, Becontree, Chadwell Heath, Marks Gate and Barking Riverside, between Newham, Redbridge, Havering and the Thames. From our base in SE1, Barking is about forty to fifty minutes outside the rush hour, and Dagenham about fifty minutes to an hour, through the Blackwall Tunnel and along the A13.
Minibus hire Barking and Dagenham for Sunday league
Parsloes Park, Central Park, Mayesbrook Park and the playing fields across the borough host hundreds of football matches every weekend, in all weathers, from adult Sunday league to under-nines. Clubs book us for away fixtures across east London and Essex, cup finals, tournaments and end-of-season trips.
A full squad with coaches and kit travels together, and the driver waits through the game. For clubs with several age groups on the same morning, the runs can be staggered so each team arrives on time. Dagenham and Redbridge FC, at Victoria Road, draws supporters' groups and junior clubs on match days. Our Dagenham page has more on grassroots football. Girls' and women's football is growing fast here too, and girls' teams book us for leagues and tournaments across Essex.
Valence House, Eastbury and the abbey
The borough's primary and secondary schools book us for museum visits, theatre trips, swimming galas, sports fixtures and residential trips. Local trips are close at hand. Valence House, the moated manor house that holds the borough's museum, tells the story of the Becontree estate and the women of the Ford sewing machinists' strike. Eastbury Manor House in Barking is a Tudor house with links to the Gunpowder Plot. Barking Abbey's ruins date back to the seventh century.
Further afield, the Olympic Park is about twenty minutes away, the Greenwich museums about thirty and the South Kensington museums about an hour. Barking and Dagenham College, on Rainham Road South, has vocational and sports courses, and its students book us for competitions and visits.
Minibus hire Barking and Dagenham schools book for regular runs, such as weekly swimming or transport to a specialist school, keeps the same stops and times through the term.
City Airport from Barking and Dagenham
London City Airport is about fifteen to twenty-five minutes from Barking outside the rush hour, and twenty to thirty from Dagenham, along the A13 and through Beckton. Stansted is about forty to forty-five minutes, Southend about forty-five minutes and Heathrow about an hour or more.
Families flying to Lagos, Accra, Vilnius or Bucharest, often via Heathrow or Stansted, travel with a lot of luggage and gifts, and a minibus with room for it all saves several cars. Teams working at the riverside industrial estates and at Barking Riverside book us for runs to City for business trips.
Nigerian, Lithuanian and east London weddings
The borough's Nigerian, Ghanaian, Lithuanian, Romanian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and long-standing east London families celebrate weddings, christenings and birthdays in halls, churches, mosques and restaurants across Barking, Dagenham and Ilford. Guests are collected from homes across the borough, taken to the ceremony and the reception and brought home at the end. Lithuanian and Romanian weddings often run into the early hours, and Nigerian weddings can have several hundred guests and more than one outfit change, so timings need planning. If the guest list is very large, we'll add a vehicle.
Parks, the river and day trips
Barking Park, Eastbrookend Country Park and The Chase nature reserve, and the riverside at Barking Riverside, suit family outings and school nature trips. Mayesbrook Park, the country's first climate change park, has wetlands and lakes that suit a science lesson. Community groups, mosques and churches book us for days out to Southend, about forty-five minutes away, and the Kent coast, about an hour and a quarter over the Dartford Crossing.
The A13 and the junctions
The A13 is quick outside the rush hour and slow during it, with queues at the A406 junction in Barking, at Movers Lane and at Chequers Corner in Dagenham. The Becontree estate's long avenues are lined with parked cars, and some closes are narrow. Barking town centre has a pedestrianised core and a tight one-way system. Pickups happen on side roads or at the club or school, and for early flights we'll allow time for the A13.
For minibus hire in Barking and Dagenham, call 020 7183 0567.