Teddington Lock marks the point where the Thames stops being tidal, and below it the river rises and falls with the sea. The lock, the weir and the footbridges across them are one of the prettiest spots on the river, and Teddington itself is a riverside town of Victorian villas, independent shops and a High Street that still feels like a village. Bushy Park, with its deer and its great avenue of chestnut trees, is on the doorstep. Minibus hire Teddington customers book is mostly weddings and family celebrations, school runs and fixtures, park days and Heathrow runs.
Teddington sits in the south of Richmond borough, between Twickenham, Hampton Wick, Hampton and Strawberry Hill, with the Thames to the east and Bushy Park to the south. From our base in SE1, it's about fifty minutes to an hour outside the rush hour, along the A316 or through Kingston.
Minibus hire Teddington for weddings
The Landmark Arts Centre, a Victorian church with a soaring Gothic interior, hosts weddings and receptions, and St Mary's, the old parish church by the river, hosts church weddings. Receptions take place at riverside venues, hotels in Teddington and Kingston, and at Hampton Court and Strawberry Hill House nearby.
Guests are collected from homes and hotels, taken to the ceremony, on to the reception and home again at the end of the night. Many couples stop at Teddington Lock or in Bushy Park for photographs, and the driver will wait while the photographer works. The roads around the Landmark and St Mary's are residential, so we'll agree the drop-off and waiting point in advance.
Daily runs and fixtures for Teddington schools
Teddington School, Collis and the other primaries, and the independent schools of Hampton and Twickenham nearby book us for regular runs, fixtures and trips. Rowing is big here, and school crews train on the river by the lock.
Daily runs follow a fixed timetable that the school signs off, with any change agreed in writing. For a match day, the squad and its kit go together and the minibus is waiting when the whistle goes. For trips, Kew Gardens is about twenty minutes away, Hampton Court about ten and the South Kensington museums about fifty.
Rowing clubs and school boat clubs also book us for regattas, at Henley, Marlow, Molesey and Dorney Lake, where the crew and coaches travel with us and the boats go on the club trailer.
Bushy Park days
Bushy Park, the second largest of the royal parks, has herds of red and fallow deer, the Diana Fountain, the Waterhouse Woodland Gardens and Chestnut Avenue, which bursts into flower in May. It suits a nursery outing, a school nature trip or a family picnic.
The park has its own rules on vehicles and gate times, so we'll check the route and use the car park or the gate nearest your destination. Minibus hire Teddington families book for a summer Sunday in the park usually means a drop at the Diana Fountain car park and a pickup in the late afternoon.
The deer rut in the autumn draws visitors, and the park asks people to keep at least fifty metres away, which is worth telling a school group before they step off the minibus.
The National Physical Laboratory and local business
The National Physical Laboratory, on the edge of Bushy Park, is where the UK's measurement standards are kept and where pioneering work on computers and atomic clocks was done. Visiting scientists and teams book us for runs to Heathrow and to conferences, and local businesses book us for away days and client visits.
Broad Street dinners and riverside pubs
Teddington's High Street and Broad Street have restaurants, pubs and cafés, and the riverside pubs by the lock fill on summer evenings. For birthday dinners and anniversary meals, the driver collects from homes across Teddington, Strawberry Hill and Hampton Wick and brings everyone back at the end. In summer, a group might start with drinks on the terrace at the Anglers by the lock, walk over the footbridges to watch the boats and finish with dinner on Broad Street, and the driver collects from the last stop and drops everyone at their door.
Heathrow and the roads
Heathrow is about twenty to thirty minutes from Teddington outside the rush hour, via the A316 and the A312 or through Hampton and the A308. Gatwick takes around three quarters of an hour by the M25. The High Street and Broad Street are busy and narrow, with limited stopping, and the roads through Kingston and over Kingston Bridge slow at peak times. We'll set the pickup on a side road where the driver can wait legally, and for early flights we'll allow a margin for the A316.
For minibus hire in Teddington, call 020 7183 0567.