The Bunny Park

A Memory of Hanwell.

My parents both grew up in Hanwell - both living in Hillyard Road during the War years. After they married my mum and dad actually had to live in a pre-fab in Braybrook Street, just backing on to the prison in Hammersmith, but eventually when I was 6 months old they were allocated a council house in Browning Avenue in 1955. I will add many memories in here, but this is specifically in regards to The Bunny Park and surrounding area.
As a very small child/toddler this is where we came to feed the bunnies and other small animals kept here. I also loved the playgrounds and we would spend many happy hours here with my grandmother and mum. As I became older, and able to go off to play with my friends, this is where we would come, because it was a whole world of possibilities for the young imagination. The graveyard of the Church was a fantastic place to play hide and seek - weird I know, but playing in a graveyard was just normal to us. The Brent River was just great fun. Someone had tied a rope to a tree and we would all spend summer afternoons swinging over the Brent (not always to the other side!), playing along the banks, having imaginary play fights, making mud pies and paddling. There were no worries about what might be in the water, no concerns about Weils Disease (bourne by rats), no worries about getting dirty or what might be on your hands. And no mobile phones! My mum just accepted that I was going to The Bunny Park and that we would be back before it got dark. The Viaduct was another more dangerous place to play; we used to explore the large supporting pillars which had doors into them (probably for inspection purposes). Here there were bats and it was quite spooky. I wasn't as brave as some to go in these, but my husband did used to play in there. My biggest - and naughtiest - thing was to "run the viaduct". A dare, not for the feint-hearted, in fact from my perspective as a mother, it was downright dangerous and stupid. But we did it all the same. Basically the dare was to run the length of the viaduct before a train came! My God, how nobody didn't get killed or injured I dont know.
In all the years of playing there, I never came across any weird men, or even flashers, they seemed to come later on. We would just pack jam sandwiches and take a bob or two to buy an ice cream, but I spent many days of my holidays playing there, returning home in time for tea, hot and sticky and a bit mucky, but what a fantastic way to spend your time - out in the fresh air, stretching the imagination.