I’ve lived in Walthamstow since the summer of 2012. Before that, I was next door to the Hawley Arms in Camden and went to parties where Amy Winehouse would get kicked out.
Walthamstow is everything that’s good about London: it’s tolerant, diverse and kind. Its name means “Welcome Place” in Old English, and it feels very friendly. There are layers of people: old Cockney, Indian and Pakistani people and then it’s also been gentrified, and all the layers co-exist.
I moved here just before estate agents realised it was a hipster paradise and started calling it “Awesomestow”.
EATING AND DRINKING
Collab on Hoe Street is a fun place to hang out; it has its own brewed beer, and I like their chicken burgers. They say you’re never further than six feet from a rat in London and I think the same could be said about sourdough pizza, but Sodo Pizza on Hatherley Mews is a good take on this.
For brunch, I tend to go to The Curious Goat on Old Brewery Way. It does great smoothies and the best cooked breakfast in London. You need to take the afternoon off after eating at Yorkshire Burrito: a roast dinner in a burrito made out of a Yorkshire pudding.
For a cheap drink, I go to Walthamstow Trades Hall on Tower Hamlets Road, an old working men’s pub that often hosts events. Ye Old Rose & Crown Pub on Hoe Street is also a good boozer. My wife is Swedish — there’s a big Scandinavian community here — and her Swedish choir rehearse there.
There’s also Brewery Mile, a line of microbreweries, which has become a destination place.
WHERE I WORK OUT
My gym is in Liverpool Street, but I exercise locally with the kids. Walthamstow Marshes is such a beautiful spot. I love the combination of urban beauty, where the countryside and city meet. There’s a tree which we call “Max’s climbing tree” after my eight-year-old son.
TO COMMUNE WITH NATURE
Stoneydown Park is my local park. We spend our lives there as it’s near my children’s school. We also go to Queen Elizabeth’s Hunting Lodge in Epping Forest, where she and her father Henry VIII would go in Tudor times. You stare out at the same view they stared at.
GROCERY SHOPPING
We get bread from Today Bread on Hoe Street, which does the best loaf. Otherwise, we go to the local Sainsburys. Walford in EastEnders is a mix of Walthamstow and Chingford, and the market is based on Walthamstow Market, the longest in Europe.
CULTURE FIX
Walthamstow is on the verge of a cultural revolution as there’s a theatre opening soon. We also have the Forest Cinema on the High Street, The William Morris Museum, which celebrates one of Walthamstow’s most famous sons, and the Vestry House Museum, containing one of the first-ever cars.
There’s the annual Art Trail, when people turn their homes into art installations and, this summer, we got a Banksy, so our local chippy, Bonners Fish Bar, is now home to a priceless work of art. There’s also God’s Own Junkyard on Shernhall Street, an amazing graveyard for neon signs.
GETTING AROUND
If I’m going into London, I get the Victoria line. It’s the noisiest and hottest line but it’s only 20 minutes. We can hear the Victoria line under our house and there’s sometimes a rumble on my podcast recordings. If I’m local, I use my bike. It’s a very cycle-friendly place.
DREAM STREET
When I moved here, I thought my dream street would be somewhere in Walthamstow Village. Then I realised the houses are quite small and very expensive, so I think I already live on it.
SOMETHING YOU ONLY SEE IN WALTHAMSTOW
I have an artist friend, Maud Milton, who’s created some beautiful, ornate murals of the Underground symbol for each of the Walthamstow stations.
WHAT’S THE CATCH?
Any great place attracts people and it’s very densely packed. It’s hard to get a doctor’s appointment and school catchments are shrinking.
IN THREE WORDS
A welcome place.
⬤ Into the Uncanny, by Danny Robins, is published by BBC Books, £10.99
SCHOOLS
There are several well-regarded schools locally. South Grove Park and St Mary’s are Ofsted-rated outstanding primary schools, while Mission Grove Primary and Greenleaf Primary are rated good. For secondaries, girls can go to Walthamstow School for Girls, while Waltham Forest College is mixed, and both are Ofsted outstanding.
WHAT IT COSTS
Buying in Blackheath
Average flat price: £399,340
Average house price: £664,600
Renting in Blackheath
Average flat price pcm: £1,860
Average house price pcm: £2,570
