Taking a trip on the train from London Waterloo to Barnes for business, leisure and to discover the area’s remarkable place in musical history
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Finding genuinely stirring locations for business events or celebrations can be challenging in the capital.
Take the South Western Railway service to Barnes, a few stops from Waterloo, however, and you’ll be close to more than 100 acres of habitat quite unlike anywhere else in the city.
The Wildfowl And Wetlands Trust’s London Wetland Centre opened its doors in 2000 – a sprawling site based round four disused Victorian reservoirs that’s home to hides, boardwalks, reed beds, ponds, large stretches of open water and plenty of vegetation.
The complex at its entrance includes a wide range of facilities including rooms for corporate hire suitable for 20 to 150 delegates.
Spaces include the Water’s Edge Room for large theatre-style set-ups and H20, a 90-delegate meeting room equipped with smart screens and a covered decking area with views over the site.
The surroundings are, of course, the main attraction.
The centre is perhaps the only place in London where those attending corporate events can combine business with an opportunity to discover a breathtaking array of wildlife.
The site is not a zoo.
While some animals are looked after at the centre – including a charming, boisterous pair of otters – the majority are free to come and go as they please.
Walking around the site’s extensive network of footpaths, this makes for the constant and genuine thrill of the potential for a wild encounter.
The air is often thick with the calls of chiff-chaff, blue tit, crow, Egyptian goose, reed warbler, magpie and greylag goose.
On a recent visit to the site, my companion and I were astonished to come over a bridge and find ourselves a few feet from an almost completely motionless grey heron semi-camouflaged amongst the reeds.
The encounter lasted several minutes before the great bird took to its wings and flew a couple of leisurely circles around us before heading off over a hedge.
a place to visit for leisure and business
The centre can also be visited on a more casual basis with day tickets starting at £17.10 for adults and £11.12 for children.
In addition to spotting a wide range of species of bird – think swifts darting over the waters to gobble up insects on the wing, swans preening and oyster catchers rearing chicks – there are plenty of activities to get involved with.
Pathways on the site include bouncing rope bridges and elevated walkways.
There’s also a picnic spot with percussion instruments, pond dipping, a well-stocked cafe and a gift shop.
Visitors can also attend daily talks on the centre’s two resident otters – Tod and Honey – and watch them being fed, while learning about this remarkable apex predator.
The glass-fronted enclosure offers plenty of space for the audience to see and capture the animals’ playful movements as they scurry about, swim and roll in the dirt.
Everywhere there’s information, facts to absorb about the white headed duck (which has an iridescent blue bill) who loves to dive, for example.
Then there’s the water boatman who is the loudest animal relative to its size in the world.
Hides come fully equipped with bird guides and one is always staffed by a volunteer who’s ready with a telescope to help visitors get the most from the experience.
There’s a wealth of information to absorb, probably too much for a single visit, which is why many choose to become members at the centre.
This costs £54 a year for adults and includes unlimited access to WWT’s 10 sites.
You can find out more about the WWT London Wetland Centre on its website here.
dine at Olympic Studios
>> Going beyond the London Wetland Centre, Barnes is an attractive, quiet area of the capital to explore.
One absolute must-visit is Olympic Studios, a cinema, recording venue and brasserie with a storied history.
Music by an incredible list of artists has been committed to tape on-site including Prince, Adele, T-Rex, Queen, Bjork and many more.
The venue even has two police truncheons that were once used as percussion instruments by the Rolling Stones.
It’s also a pretty decent shout as a place to find refreshments.
I tried the Hot Dog, which comes juicy in a toasted brioche stuffed with pickles and sauerkraut.
This is served with fries for £16 , which is a steal.
Other top picks on the menu include ham and cheese croquettes for £7.50 and crispy fried squid for £8.50.
Located a short walk from the London Wetland Centre, this warmly appointed venue is all generous hospitality and good value.
Visit the venue’s website here for more information
visit Marc Bolan’s shrine
>> T-Rex lead singer and guitarist Marc Bolan has a deep connection to Barnes, having recorded elements of Prophets, Seers And Sages: The Angels Of The Ages at Olympic Studios there.
Tragically, the star also lost his life after the car he was travelling in left Gipsy Lane and crashed into a tree in 1977.
Today the site of the accident is marked with a shrine decorated by fans with statues, white swans and memorials to other members of the band who have since passed away.
It is located a few minutes walk south from Barnes station
Visit between 8am-10pm
key details: SWR Business Direct
SWR Business Direct is free to use and allows companies to book, plan and manage business travel across the whole of Britain.
There are no hidden fees or charges and no booking fees on tickets purchased via the service.
You can find out more about the platform here
on track with SWR’s Joe Thurgood
Q
Many ticketing platforms charge fees for their services when I’m booking rail tickets.
How is SWR Business Direct different and how can it operate without charging them?
A
If you’ve ever booked a train ticket online, you’ve probably felt that little sting of annoyance when you get to the checkout page and see a booking fee tacked onto the price.
It feels like paying extra just for the privilege of buying the ticket.
This happens because most third-party platforms are middlemen – they have to charge those fees to stay in business and cover their overheads.
With SWR Business Direct, the most common questions I get are: “What’s the catch? How can they offer a full corporate booking suite for the entire National Rail network without charging a single penny in fees?”
The answer is actually pretty simple, once you look behind the curtain.
SWR is a train operating company, not just a middleman.
Our Business Direct tool isn’t built on skimming a couple of pounds off your transaction, it’s built on getting people onto trains and then supporting them after they have purchased the tickets.
By providing a high-quality, fee-free platform, we remove the barriers for businesses to choose rail over road or air.
It’s essentially a value-added service that keeps corporate clients loyal to rail.
SWR Business Direct also operates under a National Rail Contract with the Government.
Our goal is to incentivise railway travel by making it more efficient and accessible for everyone.
By offering tools like carbon reporting and automated expenses at no cost, we can help businesses meet their own sustainability goals while fulfilling their mission to modernise how we all travel.
There is no quick win by adding on a booking fee – the aim is to be your long-term partner in transit.
It’s a win-win where you get the same prices you’d find at the station kiosk alongside the heavy-duty reporting companies need.
Read more: How Wharf Wellness is back with a packed programme in June 2026
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