Beginning in Bullsmoor and stretching south-east through Freezy Water, this suburban neighbourhood features a range of open green spaces as well as an extensive tract of green along the River Lea. Housing styles are both post-war and modern, accommodating a wide scope of budgets. This area boasts significantly cheaper housing prices than the rest of London, and the city centre is connected directly via Liverpool Street. Overall, an ideal location for first-time buyers as well as runners, cyclists, and nature-lovers who just can’t quite bring themselves to forsake the city.

This neighbourhood area was traditionally farmland for most of its history, but began to be absorbed into London during the early 20th century when The Great Eastern Railway was connected to this area. The central part of this neighbourhood, ‘Freezywater’ gets its name from a long since vanished pond which used to freeze over quickly in cold weather. Chesterfield School in the area of this neighbourhood was hit by a bomb in World War 2, which had been aimed at the Royal Small Arms Factory. Fortunately, none of the schoolchildren were harmed in the bombing.

The Ark Academy in this area is named after the English Romantic poet, John Keats. Keats is most famous for his series of odes, although these were not well-received at their time of publication. Keats’ reputation only grew after his death, becoming one of the UK’s most popular English poets by the end of the 19th century.

This neighbourhood area suffers from poor transport connections due to its positioning on the outskirts of London. Despite there being direct trains to central every 30 minutes, these train lines suffer from frequent delays due to hold-ups further down the line. The Crossrail 2 development plan aims to alleviate this problem by tripling the amount of trains per hour within the London-Cambridge-Stansted corridor, with works expected to start in the next few years.

Enfield Council has identified Freezy Water as a growth corridor, and aims to optimise this area through a number of developments. These include the building of more housing, expanding transport networks, protecting open space, and encouraging the multiple use of buildings. The only drawback to this is that improvements to rail services are being phased over the long term. This means that Enfield will have to wait some time to unlock the development potential afforded by better transport links. Despite this, the large-scale redevelopment of the Alma estate to the south of this neighbourhood is underway. The old 1960’s housing project is set to be replaced by 993 new homes, shops, cafes, and 14,000m2 of public open space including a new park.