This vast tract of the A501 known as ‘City Road’ runs from Angel all the way to Shoreditch. The central location and the mosaic blend of historical architecture featuring medieval street patterns, Georgian, Victorian, post-war, and modern refurbs no doubt make this a highly desirable location for modern 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 out of this neighbourhood area 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 a somewhat unsavoury reputation in the middle of the 19th century as a place full of booze, violence, and general raucousness, 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 their illicit business hub. The police eventually were forced to intervene in order to make this area secure. However, this did not last long. The building was demolished in 1901 before being rebuilt as a public house once again.

The Regent’s Canal to the north of this neighbourhood area was nearly turned into a railway. Originally constructed at the start of the 19th century, the canal was completed just as the railway age 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 that it runs along the length of the A105, which can become extremely 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.