Ruislip: What is it good for ......?

Given we experienced flooding in Ruislip on 23rd June 2016,
(yes, Referendum Day),
when approximately 25mm of rain fell on already saturated land.
Friday night's rain fell onto parched soil, with little rise in the level of The Pinn.
Today, hmm,
check out the Pinn's level here.

Obvious crest puns are obvious

I have never seen a pavement display here, ever.

Not so secret beach
https://www.mylondon.news/news/west-london-news/london-beach-ruislip-lido-secret-16628788.amp

All glory to Ruislip - the central line opened it's service to Ruislip a mere 71 years ago today

Uxbridge & South Ruislip,
rather than Ruislip, but,
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2019/dec/12/general-election-2019-uk-polling-day-live-news?page=with:block-5df21cf28f08f521712b4c76#block-5df21cf28f08f521712b4c76

Apologies for missing this when you posted it.
Of course, these days, Ruislip continues to be discriminated against,
as the 'All Night' Central Line service terminates at Ealing Broadway.

Again, apologies for not noticing this when you posted it.
The Council are unable to deal with the volume of parking.
The suggestion of a Park'n Ride service from fields the Council owns was scarcely considered.

Well as an East London resident who has been known to fall asleep on several late night transport services I'm a little happy to know I won't end up too far out of London. Though it may be a warm welcome to wake up in the magesty of Ruislip at dawn rather than a quick and easy trip to my bed.

too far out of London.

I still had to pay the Greater London Council Tax levy to subsidise your Olympics.
When the County of Middlesex was subsumed into the GLC,
London spread from the Colne in the west, (the next river valley over,
from the Glory of Ruislip situated in the Pinn Valley) to the Lea in the east.

However, had the original plans for the Central Line been adopted,
it would have proceeded through West Ruislip,
to a halt at Harvil Road, (for Harefield),
then onto Denham Green , Denham Golf Course,
(now operated by the Chiltern Line commuter services),
and presumably other Buckinghamshire villages on the way to High Wycombe.
These undeniably would have been 'out of London'.

too far out of London

Given the 2019 GE results, it could be concluded that the constituencies of Ruislip, Northwood & Pinner, and Uxbridge and South Ruislip are attitudinally 'out of London',
but they share this with a couple of other London fringe constituencies.
The history of (administrative) London is successive attempts by Tory politicians to add leafy home-owning suburbs to central (Labour-voting) London.
This meant that Middlesex was totally subsumed into the GLC, and now the GLA.

There's seldom a quiet day in the Glory that is Ruislip,
(and I'm not commenting upon the increased aircraft usage of Ruislip International Airport, otherwise known as Northolt Aerodrome, for the Trump/Nato shenanigans).

The Ruislip Residents' association is celebrating its Centenary this year.
That's right, a hundred years of enlightened busybodying.

We're the oldest residents' association in the country. How to celebrate?
Benches, clocks .... get with it daddio!

The defining feature of Ruisip is the National Nature Reserve of Ruislip Woods,
the largest area of semi-natural ancient woodland in London. Multiple SSSIs.

We have to maintain the grasslands amongst the woods,
and,
remove scrub, often young oaks planted as acorns by forgetful squirrels and jays.

A plan developped:
upcycle Ruislip Oaks, from the grasslands and plant them in each school in Ruislip.

Well, today it happened. A Ruislip Oak ceremonially planted by the Mayor of LB Hillingdon,
at Lady Bankes school. (Incidentally, where I started my scholastic career, back in the '60s).
Here's a link to the video and a few pictures I took.

CrossRail/Elizabeth Line is happening down in the south of the LB Hillingdon,
with Hayes transformed near the station.
TfL, have however invested in linked services,
and with the launch of the 278 bus route, there is now a north-south link,
(as long as you don't live beyond Ruislip).

Ruislip Duck Pond, now with added Yew hedge

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I'd get the ivy removed from the trees.. I've seen it spread and destroy a young hedge.

Good point.
Each Winter we lose trees, (often aged, overgrown Hawthorns)
from unmanaged Ruislip hedgerows.
They are routinely overrun with Ivy,
whose leaves act like a sail in the wind,
and topple them over.

I will ask LBH Green Spaces if they intend to prune the leaders on the
Yew saplings, to make them 'bush out'. If it hadn't ocurred to them.
I'll offer to do it, and deal with the Ivy at the same time.

A Thursday well invested.

Have you tried introducing beavers? Nice work there, we could do with more leaky dams to slow the run-off.

Unfortunately, the majesty of the Ruislip Woods National Nature Reserve,
is,
essentially bounded by residential areas.
The River Pinn, into which that stream, (Beech stream), with the two leaky dams,
ultimately flows, only has about 5 miles upstream,
of Eastcote, Pinner, Pinner Green and Hatch End.
Downstream from Ruislip we have,
Ickenham, Hillingdon (Circus), Uxbridge, (St. Andrews village), and Yiewsley
where it joins the River Colne.
So not a lot of space for beavers to expand into.
The Colne could conceivably support a beaver population,
as it arises in London Colney, (south of St. Albans),
and flows through much more farmland/local nature reserves/golf courses,
and,
road names reveal a previous era of wildlife,
like Otterspool Way northeast of Watford.

I did have correspondance with the Gloucester Wildlife Trust when they were finalising their plans to reintroduce the Pine Marten into the Forest of Dean.

The Ruislip Woods NNR 726 acres, it turns out are at least an order of magnitude too small to support a self sustaining Pine Marten population of 200 breeding pairs.
And, that's before anyone considers the inevitable deaths caused by vehicles on the roads that sub-divide the woods.
However if the Chilterns ever reintroduce Pine Martens,
we might, eventually get an overspill population.

What a lovely idea, pine martens in the Chilterns. We have otters out here near Aylesbury, but martens are in a different league.

Otters?! Where are the otters, I want to see the otters! (I’m in Tring)

Also - great thread, I love discovering stuff about the place we’ve now decided to settle and raise a family.

Not just otters,
you've got water voles out there as well.

Not forgetting the pesky Glis glis that Rothschild let loose in Tring that established in the wild too. Saw the local kingfisher the other week and it stops me in my tracks every time.

Anyway, I like Ruislip too (grew up not far from there)...taken the lad to the Lido beach thing on more than one occasion.

Kingfishers are wonderful. In flight all you have is your brain asking 'Did I really see that?',
as the flash of blue fades from your retina.

I've only seen one, once, along the River Pinn along the northern edge of Ruislip Golf Course.
It was 6 or so weeks after the June 23rd 2016 floods. The Kingfisher had been forced to hunt upstream, as the flood waters had flushed all the small fish down through Yiewsley into the River Colne, thence into the Thames at Staines.

We continue to ask the EA for any flood alleviation works to include 'dead end' meanders to provide refuges for our aquatic life to shelter in, the next time we have a flood.