Edmonton
Serviced by both the Greater Anglia trains at Angel Road station, and the Overground at Silver Street station, this part of Edmonton is a favourite amongst commuters. While the area’s housing options might not be anything special, they are still relatively affordable. Many of the streets are lined with council flats and post-war semis, and for families in search of a more suburban feel, they’re able to find that and more in Edmonton. The neighbourhood has the beautiful and historic Pymmes Park - which locals love strolling and jogging through. Others spend time in the smaller, but lush, Craig Park and Florence Hayes Recreation Ground. During those colder months, you’ll find families attending events at the Angel Community Centre, while others are indulging in a round of pints at The Gilpins Bell. With all that is already going on in the area, it’s easy to see why so many developers have been noticing its potential.
Angel Road, a central route through the neighbourhood, was originally called Watery Lane in 1557. It wasn’t until the 1870s that the road was renamed for an inn located at the corner of Fore Street. The station that had opened up there years earlier had unfortunately not been enough to inspire people to move to the neighbourhood as many Londoners found the area to be too far from the inner city, and the trains too infrequent. Later on, development picked up because of its swathes of highly affordable marshland and numerous factories moved in, taking advantage of the inexpensive land. In order to accommodate the in flux of workers, the council built housing throughout the 1930s. Today, the area continues to boast a large proportion of affordable housing options.
Pymmes Park was once a private estate owned by the well-known Cecil family. In 1589, Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, even spent his honeymoon there!
Unfortunately, the neighbourhood is bisected by the busy North Circular Road. This can make the area feel a bit noisy and transient at times. For many residents though, they don’t mind the proximity - as they’re reliant on driving to most appointments.
Crossrail 2 is planned to service Angel Road station, providing quick transport links into the centre of the city, and attracting new development. Nonetheless, despite £1.8 billion being invested in the project in 2020 it is unclear when the scheme will materialise as plans have been underconsideration in different forms since the 1970s. In preparation, the station is already undergoing a £122 million refurbishment project led by Network Rail, this will allow for more trains per hour. However, with this new infrastructure still distant on the horizon private development has generally been slow in this neighbourhood.