please empty your brain below
The Tichenham is an Ex-Weatherspoons, having been sold off last year, I believe

Peter Horne | 30.04.26 - 7:12 a.m. | #

Saying the pond is infested implies that the ducks are an unwelcomed nuisance and I suspect many would disagree.

kev | 30.04.26 - 7:48 a.m. | #

The Tich was sold off last year, its now an ex-spoons. The new owners changed almost nothing except the prices!

Aziz Mohammed | 30.04.26 - 8:32 a.m. | #

I politely suggest that it's better that Swakeleys House is kept private by it's isolationist owners than left to rot because there's no money to look after it, as happens to other stately homes.

dodgem | 30.04.26 - 8:40 a.m. | #

To be fair they probably had you with the miniature railway. The fact that most of Ickenham is only accessible from one road (B466) and has open space/A40/RAF Northolt/Central Line & Chiltern on the other three sides is the thing that gives it character.

Still Anon | 30.04.26 - 8:40 a.m. | #

Breakspear Rd, I think, not Brakespear.

dg writes: fixed thanks.

Artie | 30.04.26 - 8:41 a.m. | #

"HS2 have spent dosh"

£46,000,000,000 to date, to be precise.

David B | 30.04.26 - 9:01 a.m. | #

Are they really slates on the pump roof? They look more like clay tiles to me.

dg writes: fixed thanks.

Alan S | 30.04.26 - 9:25 a.m. | #

I went round that huge HS2 diversion a couple of years ago. Impressive what they have done - they even had to open a big gate at the far end to let us nasty pedestrians out, controlled by a chap in a little cabin. Pity the end result will not be carrying trains in my lifetime despite the ridiculous millions which have been spent. Sure I have been through Ickenham itself but can't quite remember when.

davews | 30.04.26 - 9:35 a.m. | #

It's been a few years since I walked the route of the Yeading Brook and the Pinn (I must have missed the Pynchester Moat or just thought it was the river as it doesn't ring a bell.
It's always a delight on those rare occasions I pass through Ickenham on the bus though.

Cornish Cockney | 30.04.26 - 10:18 a.m. | #

I suspect that tiny yet ludicrously expensive disabled car park is preparation for selling off the main car park for housing and being able to counter one of the main objections. They would otherwise just have designed the step free project differently with an entrance from the car park as at Hillingdon.

Andrew S | 30.04.26 - 10:51 a.m. | #

An article on Ickenham with no mention of The Lurkers? What kind of child of the punk era are you? =;-)

Marshwerg | 30.04.26 - 11:21 a.m. | #

My preferred tube station for driving from the Oxford direction and parking to get the tube now that Hillingdon always seems to be full

John Styles | 30.04.26 - 11:46 a.m. | #

Found the walk I did in 2023. Included the Pinn, Pinchester Moat, Swakelys Park and House as well as HS2 and the huge diversion round the spoil deposit area but not Ickenham itself.

davews | 30.04.26 - 12:22 p.m. | #

Camra has this to say about the Tichenham Inn:

"Originally a Wetherspoon Free House in brand new building on site of petrol station, opened mid-September 1999. Closed briefly in May 2024 and reopened in June under new ownership. Menu similar but more expensive than Wetherspoons but no drinks included. Real ales were £3.50 in June 2024."

Dubidubno | 30.04.26 - 4:43 p.m. | #

Thanks for such a comprehensive description of what was my home village for 35 years of my life. We lived in the most northerly house off Breakspear Road South. We could play in the field, climb the trees, wade in the River Pinn and watch the occasional steam trains on what is now the Chiltern Line. These days, the field is essentially a car park for HS2 workers.

Chris L | 30.04.26 - 5:59 p.m. | #

Re- USAF Ruislip, I believe there is still some form of US military presence within the housing estate. I worked in one of the homes on the former base and the resident told me that there is an office of some sort. (No idea why?)

I remember as a kid watching the American MP's driving around the local pubs to collect the servicemen who were making a nuisance of themselves. Ruislip and Ickenham schools had a fair number of American kids from here and the nearby base in south Ruislip.

Anyoldname | 30.04.26 - 7:52 p.m. | #

I used to work in Ickennham library years ago, and I agree there was a particularly strong sense of community in Ickennham. Everyone seemed very keen to call it a "village" and not a suburb, and it definitely seemed to keep a fairly old fashioned feel, WI meetings, jam sales and the like.

Was quite fond of the local Chippy and summer evenings in the Tich.

As for the USAF base the closest to a memorial you will get is the Gulf garage.

E | 30.04.26 - 9:06 p.m. | #

The Celandine Route is a pleasant walk along the Pinn here. When I was last there 2 or 3 years ago, the HS2 diversions were relatively minor so things have clearly progressed since then.

Parts of the Chilterns have been badly impacted by HS2, though it is also quite interesting to see its construction.

Mikey C | 30.04.26 - 11:21 p.m. | #

Had you visited on Saturday you'd have found the Coach and Horses almost empty, save a half dozen older Southampton supporters enjoying a quiet pint before heading to Wembley!

I've spied someone wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with "Ickenham - it's not just trees and old people" which probably aptly sums it up.
(20+ yrs resident, not yet a 'local')

H | 30.04.26 - 11:23 p.m. | #











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