This long tract of the A501 known as ‘City Road’ runs from Angel all the way to Shoreditch. The central location and the blend of architecture features mediaeval street patterns, Georgian, Victorian, post-war, and modern refurbs no doubt make this a highly desirable location for the businesses which fill this neighbourhood from top to bottom. Ranging from catering and cleaning to property and publishing, this diverse collection of over one hundred businesses forms an important part of both the local and global economy. A dense cluster of pubs and restaurants are present in the eastern side of this area where City Road meets Old Street, forming a popular after-work social hub for those who work in this area. If that wasn’t enough, Graham Street Garden and Shepherdess Walk Park are only a short walk away which provide excellent green spaces alongside Regent’s Canal.

Constructed in 1756, City Road was London’s first-ever bypass, known as the New Road from Paddington to Islington. Significant along this road is The Eagle, a pub that remains active to this day best known from the nursery rhyme ‘Pop Goes the Weasel’ (“Up and down the City Road, In and out the Eagle…”). Originally built as a tea garden in the 18th century before becoming a music hall in 1825, the venue later began to cultivate an unsavoury reputation in the middle of the 19th century as a place full of booze, violence and depravity, which is around the time that ‘Pop Goes the Weasel’ was first recorded. The verse was a reference to having to sell one’s suit after all their money had been spent on drinking in the local area. Today the rhyme is proudly displayed on a board outside The Eagle.

The founder and first general of The Salvation Army, William Booth, purchased The Eagle pub in this neighbourhood area in the late 19th century. Done as a deliberate act to purge the sinful place of evil, the Salvation Army produced a medal to commemorate their victory. However, the locals did not take kindly to this well-intentioned act, and Booth received many threats of violence from many of the pub’s ex-patrons who had lost out on illicit business. The police eventually were forced to intervene in order to make this area safe, but this did not last long. The building was demolished in 1901 before being rebuilt as a public house once again.

Regent’s Canal to the north of this neighbourhood area was once nearly turned into a railway. Originally constructed at the start of the 19th century, the canal was completed just as railwaymania began to come into full swing. Luckily this fate was narrowly avoided, as the canal proved enormously useful in transporting large quantities of timber, coal, building materials, and food in and out of London.

The main downside to this neighbourhood area is the heavy traffic which is almost constant along the A501, which can become especially busy during rush hours and on holidays. People who worked in the area did not seem troubled by this, however, as “the transport links are excellent, and Angel and Old Street tube stations are very close”.

Islington Council has identified City Road and the area surrounding it as a key area for redevelopment as a new urban quarter, and aims to build a mix of new homes, with a focus on family housing, as well as more business floorspace for small and medium- sized enterprises at affordable rates. This is to be combined with a number of improvements to City Road and the surrounding roads, which aim to promote pedestrian and cyclist safety and movement as well as improve the efficiency of public transport. The recently completed Atlas development exemplifies the council’s plans for intensification, containing over 300 new homes within its 40 floors. Looking forward, the Angel Square development on Torrens street in the north of this postcode is underway and will contain over 128,000 square feet of new office space.