Thomas Barnardo opened his Girls' Village Home in Barkingside in 1876, a village of cottages where hundreds of girls lived in family groups, and the charity he founded still has its head office here. The town around it is a busy suburban centre at the top of Redbridge, with schools, sports clubs and two big country parks on its doorstep. Minibus hire Barkingside customers book is mostly about schools and clubs, with fixtures, tournaments, swimming galas and trips, along with family events and runs to Stansted.
Barkingside sits in the north of Redbridge, at the end of a Central line loop, between Gants Hill, Clayhall, Fullwell Cross, Hainault and Newbury Park. From our base in SE1, it's about fifty minutes outside the rush hour, through the Blackwall Tunnel and along the A12.
Minibus hire Barkingside for school travel
Barkingside and the surrounding area have primary schools, secondary schools and several grammar schools nearby, and they book us for sports fixtures, swimming galas, museum visits, theatre trips and residential trips. The South Kensington museums are about an hour away outside the rush hour, the Olympic Park about twenty minutes and London Zoo about fifty.
For a school booking, send the class sizes, the staff numbers, the destination and the times, and the details come back in writing. For regular runs, such as weekly swimming or transport to a specialist school, the stops and times stay the same through the term. Primary school sports days at the country parks need runs for several classes, and a minibus can shuttle between school and park through the morning.
Sports clubs and fixtures
Barkingside's football, cricket, hockey, rugby and athletics clubs, adult and junior, play across Redbridge, Essex and east London. Clubs book us for away fixtures, cup finals, summer tournaments and end-of-season tours, and the squad, the coaches and the kit travel in one vehicle. Cricket clubs play in the Essex leagues on Saturday afternoons, and the minibus suits a team with its bags and a scorer.
For a junior club with several teams on the same morning, the runs can be staggered so each side arrives in time. Minibus hire Barkingside clubs book for a weekend tournament can include an overnight stay, with the driver's hours planned around the fixtures.
Redbridge Sports Centre and swimming
Redbridge Sports and Leisure Centre, on Forest Road in Barkingside, has sports halls, courts and a pool, and it hosts badminton, netball, gymnastics and martial arts competitions. Fullwell Cross Leisure Centre, by the roundabout, has another pool. Swimming clubs and schools book us for galas at both and across east London and Essex.
For a gala, send us the warm-up time as well as the first race, and we'll plan the drop for when the swimmers need to be poolside. The centre also hosts county and regional championships, and visiting teams book us from Newbury Park or Gants Hill stations.
Fairlop Waters and Hainault Forest
Fairlop Waters, on the old Fairlop aerodrome to the north, has a sailing lake, golf, adventure golf, a boulder park for climbing and open grassland, and it hosts outdoor events in summer. Fairlop was an RAF fighter base in the Second World War, and traces of the airfield remain around the lake. Hainault Forest Country Park, a little further east towards Chigwell, has ancient woodland, a children's farm and wide open space for sports days and picnics.
Schools, scouts and youth groups book us for outdoor learning days at both, and the boulder park and adventure golf make a good end-of-term treat. The driver drops at the car park and comes back when the group is ready.
Family events and the High Street
Barkingside High Street has shops, restaurants and cafés, including several kosher bakeries and Indian sweet shops, and the area's Jewish, South Asian and long-standing Essex families hold weddings, simchas and birthdays at halls in Barkingside, Gants Hill and Ilford. Guests are collected from homes across Barkingside, Clayhall and Hainault and taken to the event and back. Hainault and Clayhall have wide streets where pickups are straightforward.
Stansted and the roads
Stansted is about thirty-five to forty-five minutes from Barkingside outside the rush hour, via the A12 or the M11. London City is about twenty-five to thirty minutes, Southend about forty-five minutes and Heathrow about an hour or more. The High Street and Fullwell Cross roundabout are busy at school times, and the A12 at Gants Hill and Newbury Park is slow at peak times. Tomswood Hill and Forest Road, the routes north, are busy at school times. Families heading to Stansted for early holidays often book the run out and the run back together. Pickups happen at the school or the club, or on side roads near the High Street.
For minibus hire in Barkingside, call 020 7183 0567.