SPOTLIGHT ON EASTCOTE DISTINCTIVE & VIBRANT

Located in Hillingdon between Ruislip in the West and Pinner to the East but is itself a very distinctive town with a vibrant High St located along Field End Road with Old Eastcote village in the North.

The housing was mainly built in the 1930’s as part of the Metroland era. More recent development includes conversion of offices into flats and apartments and a major new build on a former Ministry of Defence site.

The local MP is the Rt Hon David Simmonds. Councillors for Eastcote are Nick Denys, Ian Edwards who is also Leader of the Council & former Mayor Becky Haggar OBE.

History and facilities

Residents and visitors enjoy Eastcote because it packs in so much, into a relatively compact area. It is a popular place to live with excellent shops and facilities.

Eastcote Village surrounds a park-based conservation area that includes the Cricket pitch, Eastcote House Gardens and Haydon Hall Park on the upper slopes of the River Pinn. An adjoining conservation area, Eastcote Park, includes some of the south part of Eastcote Village.

Eastcote has a lot of history with originally three great houses, one of which remains.

Highgrove House now made into flats and Eastcote House Gardens that retains some original buildings and an award winning garden.

It also had an outstation of Bletchley Park called Pembroke Park during WW 2 featuring the legendary Bombe machines. Operations continued on the site, including the use of two Colossus code breaking machines, until GCHQ moved to a new purpose-built site in Cheltenham in February 1954. A commemorative plaque was erected by the Ruislip Northwood & Eastcote Historical Society and Eastcote Residents Assn in 2014. The name of the site changed later to RAF Eastcote & was sold for development to George Wimpey (later Taylor Wimpey) in 2007, with plans for the construction of 385 new homes.

Care and education

There are excellent primary schools in Eastcote: Grangewood School, Coteford Junior School & Newham School. Bishop Ramsey C of E Secondary School is located in the North of the Constituency. GP surgeries and Dentists are mainly located near the centre of town. Alternative medicine includes the practice of Homeopathic Registered Dr Shamini Singh Sacdev, who has her own clinic in the town. There are a number of Churches in the town St Lawrence Church of England, also Catholic and Methodist congregations and nearby the Shree Swaminarayan Hindu Temple - Vadtal Dham.

Eastcote Village surrounds a park-based conservation area that includes the Cricket pitch, Eastcote House Gardens and Haydon Hall Park on the upper slopes of the River Pinn.

Retail and Leisure

The town has two medium sized supermarkets Aldi and Sainsbury, a Tesco express plus a Budgens collocated with the Service station near Black Horse parade in the old part of the town. There is in addition a whole variety of smaller food shops serving the community with delicacies from many countries. The town benefits from a large central car park on the East side of Field End Road and station car parks as well. The Eastcote Post Office is conveniently colocated with the Forget Me Not card & gift shop.

Eastcote has four main pubs. The Ascott centrally placed. Its name harkens back to earlier days when that was the name for the area. The Black Horse is in the historic old centre of Eastcote. The Case is Alerted is adjacent to the River Pinn which flows through nearby, on its way to Ickenham and Uxbridge and like The Woodman is located in an area with a more rural feel.

A hub for business

There is no large industrial area but Agate Glass are famed for their window expertise including creating rare leaded glass replacements and Blind Technique who also manufacture on site, both have customers all around the M25. Other specialist traders include Curtain Gallery with a selection of curtains and blinds and Granito, a family-owned business in Eastcote since 2010, providing a personal high standard of service for the template supply & fit of natural stone, quartz, and porcelain worktops. There is an excellent spread of traders with World of flowers established for over 60 years and V S Foster providing repairs as well as new jewellery and watches. Hair salons and beauty clinics are plentiful including well named Ladies Paradise. Accountants include well known TaxAssist.

There are two major Estate Agencies Robert Cooper celebrating their 42nd anniversary this year. The founder and father & son current Directors, Steve and Brooke Pursey (in the photo). Andrew Pearce is a well-established agency in Pinner & Harrow who have opened their Eastcote premises more recently.

Newer types of businesses include Running World with a comprehensive selection of kit and the more exotic E Bikes from E Scooter Clinic, Hot House Yoga can be found in the South and the TAG Drinks Cafe has achieved wide recognition for service & a Hillingdon Chamber Business award for its category.

There are plenty of restaurants to cater for every taste and Pisces the Fish & Chip Shop is very well regarded locally. Eastcote also has an unusual Pie & Mash Shop in Black Horse parade. This is in area known as Old Eastcote & is found on the Eastcote High Road which branches off then to Northwood Hills & also where you find the Esso Service station. Located on the edge of town in the South is a major Car dealer, WLMG Eastcote MG West London.

Sport and hobbies

Sporting facilities include a well supported Eastcote Cricket Club, Lowlands Tennis Club & Eastcote Lawn Tennis club, Eastcote Hockey Club and Highgrove Pool and Gym.

There are a whole host of clubs and societies including the well established Eastcote Association, Eastcote Art Society, Eastcote Community Association with many activities taking place in Southbourn Centre in the direction of South Ruislip. The Friends of Eastcote House Gardens are very active helping Hillingdon Council to maintain the gardens to a high standard.

There are other extensive parks nearby, including Cavendish and Warrender. Across the East side of Field End Road is the Roxbourne Minature railway. No wonder residents and visitors enjoy the town and village.

Sporting facilities include a well supported Eastcote Cricket Club, Lowlands Tennis Club & Eastcote Lawn Tennis club, Eastcote Hockey Club and Highgrove Pool and Gym.