Ealing has often been known as the 'Queen of the Suburbs', but why?

Ealing has always been known for its many parks, like Walpole, llamas, Pitshanger and hanger hill, to name a few. They are what make it the greenest borough, and also mean it has lots of wildlife, like foxes, parakeets, squirrels, and a variety of birds. The parks have also made Ealing a very sporty borough, with cricket clubs, like Brentham, rugby clubs, like Trailfinders, and football clubs, like Pitshanger and Hanwell. These mean Ealing has produced sports stars, like Fred Perry, the tennis player, who lived in Pitshanger, and played at the Brentham club and Peter Crouch the England footballer, who also trained at the Club. An England cricket captain also played at Brentham, Mike Brearley.

One of the things they mentioned was that although Ealing has changed in some aspects, it has kept many things nearby boroughs haven't, like green areas, to the extent that it is the greenest borough in London, and there are still areas, like Pitshanger, that have kept a 'village feel' through all this time (Tesco wanted to open a branch there, but local opposition was so strong that they had to abandon plans) keeping a fishmonger's, a fresh fruit shop, and many other small, often family-run, businesses.

Ealing has also always been a borough big on the arts. The Ealing jazz festival is the biggest of its kind in Europe, and the Questors theatre has been there for over 48 years. The famous silent film actor, Charlie Chaplin, was from Ealing, he went to school in what is now Hanwell community centre, and has a ward in Ealing hospital named after him. Ealing has always been known for Ealing studios; Downton Abbey, Shaun of the dead, both St Trinian's films and parts of Doctor Who were made there, and its films date back to the early 1930s. Franz Ferdinand, Coldplay, and Blur have also made music videos there.

But how does this affect the everyday Ealing resident? All these famous people barely enter the daily life of an Ealing resident, so what does it matter if a few famous people lived there?

Well, the riots showed the country another, more important thing about Ealing that isn't often seen. This quote from a resident who lives just a few streets away from where the riots took place, and even witnessed it on his own street tells it best, "The night of the Ealing riots sent shockwaves through the community- but we bounced back immediateley the next morning. Seeing all the residents of Ealing come and clean up the shops and streets the next day was truly inspiring. It's a memory i'll never forget." It just shows the closeness of the community, how all the diverse cultures in Ealing can, and do come together. Because none of the things mentioned above would be possible without  Ealing's most important aspect- it's people.