by Gordon Hamilton

Created on: February 26, 2009

The town of Uxbridge is located in the County of Middlesex on the Western edge of Greater London. It can of course be reached from London by road but it is also served by the London Underground, being the last stop on branches of both the Metropolitan and Piccadilly Lines. The journey from the centre of London by train takes anything from forty-five minutes to one hour.

Uxbridge Underground Station and Bus Station are located right next to one another, in the very centre of the town, off the largely pedestrianised High Street. There are two large shopping centres but a few hundred yards from the entrance to the underground station, the Pavilions and the Chimes, both of which contain a large number of chain stores and small concern retail outlets. The High Street also contains a number of other shops, the library and the Civic Centre, as well as branches of most of the popular High Street banks, a few pubs and a Tesco supermarket.

Market Street is to be found almost straight across the road from the Underground Station. This is probably the oldest street in Uxbridge and contains the town's oldest building, St Margaret's Church, which dates back to the fourteenth century. The church was once the imposing structure in the town but in modern times has been eclipsed at least in terms of physical size with a variety of office blocks, retail outlets and car parks.

Market Street in Uxbridge contains a number of small shops which have a decidedly old worldly feel about them. There are also two pubs, very different to one another but each excellent in its own way. The Fig Tree is the town's former police station. It is probably the place to go in Uxbridge to watch such as live football as it has two de-coder dishes and can therefore show two different matches at the same time. It also has ample outdoor seating for when the weather is fine and its extensive menu offers a variety of delicious dishes. The burger menu alone makes for some tough decisions!

The Metropolitan is directly across the road from the Fig Tree and also serves food, from breakfast onwards. The Metropolitan is definitely the pub to choose between the two for those who may be on a restricted budget as its prices are more than modest while The Fig Tree can be a little bit on the pricey side.

Further afield in Uxbridge, one can find the RAF base from which the Battle of Britain was orchestrated and where once was stationed the legendary figure, Lawrence of Arabia. The town is also home to Brunel University, the University of West London, named after the distinguished civil engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

There is obviously a lot more to Uxbridge than can be covered in a work of this size but I have always found it a friendly town, with plenty to occupy all tastes, and well worth a visit by anyone who happens to be in the general vicinity.

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