Coopers Walk is sandwiched neatly between Cheshunt Park and Lee Valley Park. The core of the area revolves around the Brookfield Retail Park, which also provides key jobs to the local economy. Even so, a great shopping hub isn’t all that this neighbourhood has to offer. It’s also got great access to some of the borough’s best green spaces and lovely terraced postwar housing. The balance of residential space and large shopping amenities is one of the biggest selling points of the area. Lastly, the arrival of a new garden village with over 1,000 new homes is set to bring new life to the area.

This area has Roman origins. The original Roman settlement was huddled around what is today Ermine Street – a key road that the Romans carved out to get from London to the North. The land then passed down from aristocrat to aristocrat for a few decades as the area remained nothing more than a small village. However, its access to the River Lea in the industrial era kick started its expansion into a large town. Notably, during the Second World War, the floodplain nearby was used to gather sand and gravel – key material required to fight the war. The holes left were later filled with water to create the public lakes loved by locals today.

Before the Battle of 1066, this area was under the control of Eddeva the Fair. Eddeva, who also went by Edith, was the concubine of King Harold. Legend has it that she was the one who found his mangled up body after the battle, only able to recognise him through the kinky love bites on his chest that we assume she put there.

One of the biggest qualms that commuter residents have with the area is the lack of reliability of the trains to central London. They have been condemned for being not only slow, but frequently delayed or cancelled. Another lesser issue that others find is the slightly sorry state of some of the retail spaces in and around Brookfield Retail Centre. However, new developments are set to ameliorate these problems.

While the rural, suburban character of this area, along with greenbelt restrictions, have made development typically slow, Broxbourne council have begun to identify a need for new housing and development in the area. As such, large new sites are being developed in the local area, the foremost of which is Brookfield Garden Village, which will comprise 1,500 homes as well as new offices and civic buildings. Looking further into the future this is an area that should undergo significant change with Crossrail 2 currently planned to stop at nearby Chestnut Station. The new line is currently on hold and will likely be a decades long project, but will make the commute into central London significantly quicker once completed.