Tuesday 24 January 2017

Ruislip on the Map

Pic of lady's hands holding small London tube map on platform as tube passes

'Where is Ruislip?' This question has been raised so many times that I thought I had better answer it in a blog, especially for my international contacts. Ruislip is very accessible and is surprising close to many places you all know well. It is in the London Borough of Hillingdon with Heathrow airport just 15 minutes away by car. Hillingdon is the white area to the west on the map below.


ACCESSIBILITY
My nearest underground station is South Ruislip. This station is two stops before the end of the Central Line into central London. This gives me direct access to:
  • Oxford Street shopping and businesses
  • Soho's creative sector
  • Holborn for the French Chamber of Great Britain
  • Chancery Lane for the legal sector
  • Liverpool Street and Bank for the City of London and the financial sector.
Pic of Ruislip Manor station and railway bridge with its name from opposite side of streetUnderground Connections
Ruislip Manor and Ruislip Stations give access to both the Piccadilly and Metropolitan Lines. South Harrow via 114 bus is another option for the Piccadilly Line. 

This is an important connection for the French Institute, Imperial College London, a large French community and famous museums in South Kensington.


Railway Connections
South Ruislip also has access to Chiltern Mainline. This means that I have easy access to:
  • Wembley Stadium and business park
  • London's Marylebone station in around 20 minutes.
  • Euston and King's Cross to change to tubes for mainline UK routes to the north of London
  • Most importantly, Eurostar connections from St Pancras International Station to Paris, Brussels, Lille, Amsterdam, etc.
  • The Chiltern Line was extended to Oxford in December 2016.
Accessibility will improve even further once Crossrail or the Elizabeth Line opens. Ruislip is also part of the planned route for HS2.

Road Connections
Ruislip offers easy access to a number of motorways:
  • M40/A40 into Central London going east; Oxford and Birmingham heading north-west.
  • M25 London's orbital motorway to Gatwick Airport.
  • M4 corridor is the base for a number of IT companies heading towards Maidenhead (the Prime Minister's Constituency), Reading, Swindon, Bath, my native city of Bristol and Wales.
  • M1 for Luton Airport and the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI) at Milton Keynes.
Local Business Meetings
For local business meetings the Ramada London South Ruislip Hotel is within walking distance of South Ruislip Station and my home. Manor Farm and Winston Churchill Hall also offer conference and theatre facilities.

MEANING AND PRONUNCIATION
Ruislip’s name probably comes from Old English words for "rush" and "leap", meaning a place where the local river Pinn was narrow enough to jump across.

Ruislip is not pronounced as it looks. My apologies to non-native English speakers! 

[ˈraɪslɪp]
Pronounce the first 3 letters as you would the cereal crop 'Rye'. Audio

HISTORY

Pic of grass mound and moat site of ancient motte and bailey with manor house in background
Ruislip dates back to Saxon times, when Manor Farm belonged to the landowner, Wlward Wit. Following the Norman Conquest in 1066, his land passed to a new Lord of the Manor, Ernulf de Hesdin.


Manor Farm House was built in 1508 and is still standing today. The lordship of Ruislip Manor passed to King's College Cambridge in 1451.


Pic of Ruislip Manor House
Ruislip Manor Farm House

LOCAL MPS
The local Member of Parliament (MP) for Uxbridge and South Ruislip is Boris Johnson. He is the former Mayor of London and is now the UK's Foreign Secretary. 

The MP for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner is Nick Hurd. He is the Minister of State for Climate Change and Industry within the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). He is the eldest son of Douglas Hurd, former Foreign Secretary under Margaret Thatcher and John Major.



Karen Andrews is a freelance French to English translator, transcreator, content writer and editor. She has a strong background in global marketing.

Email Karen for further information via karenanglicityen@gmail.com in French, German or English.

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