Queen Mary University of London grew out of the People's Palace, a Victorian institute built on the Mile End Road to bring education and entertainment to the East End. Today its campus runs along the Regent's Canal, with thousands of students living, studying and training here, and Mile End Park and Mile End Stadium on the doorstep. Minibus hire Mile End customers book is mostly students and sports clubs, with fixtures, society trips, athletics meets, nights out and airport runs.
Mile End sits in the middle of Tower Hamlets, between Bethnal Green, Bow, Stepney and Whitechapel, where the Mile End Road meets Grove Road. From our base in SE1, it's about twenty to thirty minutes outside the rush hour, through the Rotherhithe Tunnel or over Tower Bridge.
Minibus hire Mile End for Queen Mary sports teams
Queen Mary's sports clubs, from rugby, football and hockey to netball, rowing and ultimate frisbee, play in university leagues against teams across London and the south-east. Many of the outdoor pitches are away from the campus, at the university's sports ground in Chislehurst, and teams travel there for home games as well as away.
A sixteen-seater takes a squad, the coaches and the kit in one go. For a season of fixtures, send us the dates and venues at the start of term, and we'll book the runs around them. Wednesday afternoons are the busiest, because that's when most university matches are played. Rowing crews train on the Thames and the Lea, and for regattas outside London the minibus can carry the crew while the boats go on the club's trailer.
Societies, field trips and nights out
Queen Mary's societies book us for trips to conferences, competitions, other universities and days out, and academic departments book us for field trips with equipment, from survey kit to sample boxes and waders. Geography, biology and engineering field work often means an early start and a lot of kit in the back.
For society nights out, the driver collects from the campus or the halls, drops at the venue and brings everyone safely back to campus at the end. The Students' Union building and the campus halls are the usual collection points. Minibus hire Mile End societies book for an away weekend usually means a Friday afternoon pickup and a Sunday evening return.
Mile End Park and the stadium
Mile End Park runs along the canal for more than a mile, with an Ecology Pavilion, an Arts Pavilion, a climbing wall, a go-kart track and play areas. Mile End Stadium has an athletics track, football pitches and a leisure centre, and it hosts school sports days and club meets. The canal towpath links the park to Victoria Park and Limehouse Basin, and the Arts Pavilion's exhibitions draw youth groups at weekends.
Athletics clubs, schools and youth groups book us for meets there and at venues across London. The Mile End Climbing Wall, one of the oldest indoor climbing centres in London, runs sessions for school and youth groups.
The Ragged School Museum and local schools
The Ragged School Museum, by the canal on Copperfield Road, is housed in the buildings where Thomas Barnardo ran a free school for poor children, and it recreates a Victorian classroom for school visits. Mile End's primary and secondary schools book us for museum trips, swimming, sports fixtures and residential trips.
The driver pulls up by the museum on Copperfield Road and collects at the time the teacher gives.
Airports and graduation days
London City Airport is about fifteen to twenty minutes from Mile End outside the rush hour, Stansted about forty minutes and Heathrow about an hour. International students arriving at the start of term, or heading home at the end of it, often have a lot of luggage, and a group travelling together is easier in a minibus. At the end of the summer term, many students fly home in the same week, and groups of friends often share a run to Heathrow with all their bags.
Graduation days bring families from all over the world to the campus, often with grandparents who don't want to manage the tube and a long walk in formal clothes. We collect them from hotels, drop at the ceremony and take them on to lunch or dinner afterwards.
The Mile End Road and the canal
The Mile End Road is busy at most times, with a cycleway along much of its length and bus lanes, and stopping on it is limited. The junction with Grove Road and Burdett Road is slow at peak times. The campus faces the Mile End Road, where the vehicle can't stop, so collections happen at a side gate agreed with you. Mile End sits outside the Congestion Charge zone.
For minibus hire in Mile End, call 020 7183 0567.