The Gallery - Home

I had come on my blog to post about something different but as usual, i got caught up reading everyone elses latest posts and was immediately tempted into joining in with this weeks Gallery whose theme is Home.

For the most part, i love where i live. I have lived on the outskirts of West London all my life.
Situated somewhere between Heathrow and Watford, i live in a little village called Denham, in South Bucks.
I have very long and strong roots here. My parents both grew up in Denham, and therefore so did me, my brother and all our cousins.
It was very much a 'it takes a village' childhood and if you got in trouble, your parents would soon come to hear about it from the neighbours they had grown up with themselves.
The great thing about it is that people rarely tend to move away from Denham and so the kids you grew up with, are still here now as adults, and some are parents themselves too. It is now our kids that are going to school together and forming the life long friendships that we all have.

Denham is a beautiful place. Idylic, old fashioned and traditionally English, it is a place to be proud to call home. It has country pubs, a country park, a huge golf course, a beautiful tradtional church where many family celebrations and also sad events have taken place, and is even home to several celebrities! One being the late Sir John Mills whose final resting place is in our church yard.
My own children have enjoyed the same sort of childhood that i have, paddling in the stream, running across the old wooden bridges and partaking in the century old 'Denham Fayre' every May bank holiday.

The photos i have chosen to assist this post are ones that both made me smile and bought back memories for me, so im glad i decided to take part!

Lovely country pubs

The church of many memories

Part of the Country Park

The canal

Seeing one of these is a common occourance!

My girls collecting for Children In Need sitting in front of the War

Memorial

The large golf course

The girls enjoying a summers day

Hot summers paddling!

Exploring the wood

Happy kids on the bridge :)

Denham is also within 5 minutes drive from our local town of Uxbridge (West London) where you will find your usual city centre and everything that goes with it.
Its there that the London Underground tube lines begin and you get a bit of the city hustle and bustle that just gets busier the more into London you move.
We also have local shops! Shops that have been there for as long as i can remember. Some have come and gone but a few still remain. We have a local butchers, hair salon, newsagents, an indian, spanish and thai restaurant and a 'fine food store' that is locally known as Veeno's (which is the name of the man who has owned it for many years and is known by everyone in the community) and everyone in Denham will tell you that it is only at this shop that you can find the very best crusty rolls.
My children go to the local and very small school and nursery and they recently built a under 11's play area just at the end of my street which is popular with lots of children in the summer.

Enjoying an ice cream in the little park with their cousins

And so that is my little corner of the world! The place i have and always will call home. The place i grew up with alongside my cousins who i am still close to now and who still all live within walking distance from me.

The private jokes everyone has about the Total Garage and the various states people have turned up at it in, 'The bench' which has seen many things and would have many tales to tell if only it could talk! and the old now derelict pub where many Sunday afternoons were spent badgering Grandad for money for drinks and crisps while our parents socialised.

All of these things make up the place i call 'Home' and I always breathe a sigh of relief when having come out of certain areas of London, i am back in the safe haven that is Denham!