Born & Bred
Growing Up, growing older and raising a son in London
What’s it really like, growing up in London?
People might come into London on a train, moving first through the beautiful English countryside into suburban and then urban landscapes, and feel deflated at the, well, greyness and grubbiness of it all. Not me. As much as I love a break in the countryside, I cannot wait to get back to London. I love it. Born in St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, and then brought up in the Notting Hill/Ladbroke Grove area, I live and breathe this beautiful city. Flawed as it may be, there is nowhere like it on earth.
I was born and bred here. Not the Instagram version. Not the cinematic one (thank you Notting Hill). The real one. The London of school runs, bus fumes, corner shops, market stalls, Wimpy and Woolworths.
Growing up in London teaches you independence early. You learn to read a room, to stand your ground, to be careful walking home late at night. You understand that the world is bigger than your postcode, because the world is quite literally on your doorstep. Different accents, different cuisines, different lives unfolding alongside yours. Cosmopolitan, international, endlessly interesting.
London in the ‘80s and ‘90s felt grittier, less polished. There was less gloss, fewer curated coffee shops, no-one photographing their croissant before eating it. But there was character everywhere. And community – even if it wasn’t loudly declared. Fireworks parties in the communal gardens I’m no longer allowed access to, riding our bikes up and down the pavement without our neighbours complaining, buying our fruit and veg from Portobello Road market, and of course, the world-famous Notting Hill Carnival.
Fast forward a few decades and I’ve raised my own son here. In the same city, but in a completely different era. He’s grown up in a London of smartphones, soaring house prices, global influence and endless opportunity (pressure, or what?). Watching him navigate it has been one of the greatest privileges of my life, as well as my greatest worry. There’s something extraordinary about raising a child in a city like this. The museums on school trips. The theatre as a normal night out. The creative energy humming through neighbourhoods. Independence comes naturally when the Tube map is practically a rite of passage.
At the same time, London doesn’t romanticise motherhood. It’s busy. It’s expensive. It demands stamina. You push a buggy down crowded pavements and learn spatial awareness like an Olympic sport. You juggle work, school gates and the relentless pace of city life. But it also gives back. It gives culture on your doorstep. It gives resilience. It gives perspective. It gives the quiet pride of knowing you can handle yourself anywhere, and visiting other big cities is never a problem.
Now, in midlife, I see London differently again. I’m not rushing in the same way. I notice more. I choose more carefully. A theatre evening feels like a well-earned treat. A good glass of wine in a cosy pub feels like a mindful experience (well, that’s what I tell myself). Beauty becomes less about trends and more about what genuinely works. Time feels more precious and somehow richer.
London and I have grown up together. We’ve both softened and sharpened in different places. We’ve both evolved.
People often talk about leaving London as if it’s inevitable. As if everyone eventually ‘escapes’ to the countryside. Why would anyone want to escape this fabulous place? Maybe one day I will crave a teeny bit of that quiet. But for now, this city still feels like part of my bloodstream. What I love, too, are the people who’ve chosen to make London their home; like my dad who moved to London from Lancashire after art college and never looked back, I am drawn to those who love London as much as I do. They are as much Londoners as I am.
This blog is an extension of that – a Londoner’s lens on travel, beauty, lifestyle and food. Not from the perspective of someone passing through, but from someone rooted. Someone who has seen the city before social media and is still here, still curious, still finding new corners to love.
London didn’t just raise me. It made me.
Summer at the grill
A restaurant with Soul
