This area sits at the beating heart of the bustling north London suburb of Golders Green. Incorporating its principal tube station and Finchley Road high Street, this is the part of town where local business and the community come together to create a regular hub of activity and energy. Particularly notable for its strong Jewish community, Golders Green is one of the best spots in London for some delicious Kosher food, particularly after a morning walk through nearby Hampstead Heath - Bloom’s and Solly’s are both great local spots. The Golders Green Parish Church and local Halal supermarkets demonstrate the area’s great diversity. Friendly and safe, it is a small oasis of community in one of the nicest and most coveted parts of London.

The history of Golders Green is quite unremarkable until the 19th century when the brickmaking industry propelled the then-hamlet of a handful of houses into a suburban microcosm. It was around this time that the first public infrastructures started to spring up in the town, including the hospital, graveyards and other amenities.

The neighbourhood then developed its Jewish community through the immigration of many European Jewish families to the area from the 1930s onwards, many fleeing from the horrors of Nazi persecution on the continent. However, it was during the postwar era that American property developers really consolidated the middle-class suburban nature of the area through the construction of the recognisable leafy streets that remain today.

Golders Green is undeniably lovely, but Spike Milligan seemed to have a qualm with joining all of the other celebrities put to rest at Golders Green crematorium and cemetery. He wrote the slightly morbid poem ‘Death Wish’ in 1944 with reference to the town:

“Bury me anywhere,
Somwhere near a tree
Some place where a horse will graze
and gallop over me.
Bury me
Somewhere near a stream,
When she floods her banks
I’ll give her thanks
For reaching out to me
In my childhood scene;
But please -
don’t bury me
In Golders Green.”

Despite its distance from central London, Golders Green is a very expensive part of town. Sadly, that is the literal price one must pay for a safe, family-friendly town in Zone 3. Additionally, if one is not religious, they might find the closure of Kosher shops on Saturdays limits the number of available amenities on a weekend, although the presence of other supermarket chains mostly alleviates this.

Golders Green has only a handful of recent developments, partly due to the fact that some parts are protected under the Conservation zone. Nevertheless, Barnet Council released in 2020 their strategy document for Golders Green Town Centre with a broad vision including the provision of ‘new homes for a growing and aging population, as well as flexible workspaces for new and existing businesses. It will offer great access to sustainable transport, public realms, healthy lifestyles, quality local services, leisure and learning facilities.’ In 2022, the council also announced that they were seeking a design team for a £1.5 million public realm upgrade of Golders Green town centre. So the neighbouring may have an exciting future ahead!