Living in London
Leisure
Within Brentford, there are a wide range of leisure activities.
You can choose from sports and fitness centres (Fountain
Leisure Centre, Brentford Football Club) to art centres and
galleries (Watermans Art Centre).
In particular, there are a number of parks nearby:
- Boston Manor Park
- Gunnersbury Park
- Syon Park
The famous Royal Botanical Gardens of Kew are also close, along with the Kew Gardens Museum which you can visit.
Food and drink venues
Whether it is Italian, Chinese, Thai, Indian, or fish and chips that you are after, the local area of Brentford has a take out or restaurant that will suit you. There are also a wide number of bars and cafes in the area.
Local public services
Local public services include:
- Barclays and Natwest banks on Brentford High Street
- Numerous places of worship for various religious faiths
- Brentford library
- A post office
Public payphones
Wherever you find yourself in the UK, you will never be too far way for a public payphone, and these days they can often offer a lot more than simple telephoning services including email, mobile phone text messaging, and internet services. Most payphones accept 10p, 20p, 50p & £1 coins. Some payphones accept £2 coins. Calls are charged to the nearest 10p. Only unused coins are returned so you should avoid using 50p, £1 or £2 coins for short calls. Some payphones accept 50c, 1 Euro and 2 Euro coins. The exchange rate is 1 Euro = 60p and Euros can only be used for directly dialed calls. Major credit/debit cards and country calling cards can also be used from most payphones.
Payphone charges
Domestic calls cash calls to domestic numbers cost 30p for the first 15 minutes, then 10p for every 7.5 minutes after that. If you use a credit or debit card, the minimum fee for domestic calls is 95p. Calls to premium-rate numbers, mobile phones or calls made via the operator are £1.20p
- International calls the minimum fee is £1.20
- Internet Access £1 for the first 15 minutes, then 10p per 1.5 minutes
- Web based email £1 for the first 15 minutes, then 10p per 1.5 minutes
- Text messages 10p per standard 160 character message
- Instant email 20p per message
Mobile phones
Most dual and tri band mobile phones that have GSM 900 or 1800, will work via roaming in Britain. Check with your mobile phone provider before you leave that the roaming function is activated on your phone. You can buy a British prepay mobile phone including phone number and SIM card for as little as £10 in many high street shops. You do not need to provide identification to purchase a prepay phone, but you will need to provide identification and proof of address in Britain to set up a mobile phone contract.
