This neighbourhood area represents the western portion of Hendon, lying in between the M1 motorway to the west, the A41 to the east and the North Circular Road to the south. The area typifies modest suburban London, with terraced interwar houses along straight roads defining most of the area. The streets are not as landscaped as the eastern, more spread-out areas of Hendon, but still, retain some greenery. To the south, the Brent Cross Shopping Centre dominates – a sprawling complex surrounded by car parks, hugging the River Brent and with connections to the Beach (an amusement park) and yet another shopping complex (Brent South) south of the North Circular. The residential area is, however, segregated from the complex, which is instead more connected to the surrounding motorways. The complex is instead more readily accessible by foot locally. There are railway stations on both the western and eastern sides of the neighbourhood area – Thameslink’s Hendon to the west, by the M1, and the Northern line’ Hendon Central to the east.

Brent Cross Shopping Centre is almost an institution – having opened more than 40 years ago, as its Brutalist concrete architecture will attest to. It opened to a fanfare of “American glamour” at a time where the UK was undergoing an economic recession; it was a pioneer for shopping centres in the UK, being the first out-of-town, standalone, shopping centre in the country. Though many of its stores have changed over the years, the three department stores which opened in 1976 – Fenwick, John Lewis and Marks & Spencer, still remain in the centre.

Boy band Blue singer Anthony Costa went to school in the Hendon area. Blue managed three multi-platinum albums in the years 2001-2003. He would be back in Hendon again a few years later under poorer circumstances, when he ran out of money and into debt following Blue’s disbandment and stayed here on a friend’s sofa. He would often turn to drink in those times, but since then has turned his life around and is now tee-total. Blue has since reunited and competed in the Eurovision Song Contest, coming in 11th.

Brent Cross Shopping Centre’s multi-storey car park was used as a filming location for the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies, being portrayed as an equivalent in Hamburg. 17 cars were used throughout the four-minute sequence. The Brent Cross Shopping Centre complex is home to not one but two amusement centres - Topsy Turvy World, a large indoor play centre for children under 12, as well as The Beach Brent Cross, an amusement park with sandy beaches and water slides for families during the summer.

The proliferation of motorways brings with them cars and congestion, and the large Brent Cross Shopping Centre also introduces more traffic to the area. At the same time, however, this results in a greater amount of facilities for vehicles, including parking as well as convenient access to central London and the rest of the UK – the M1 starts here.

Brent Cross Shopping Centre has expanded throughout the years and is expected to continue this trend with the Brent Cross Cricklewood development, which will extend the shopping centre while creating 7,500 new homes to the south of the North Circular, rebuilding three schools and creating new parks. Connectivity will also be improved by the construction of a new train station on the Midland Mainline. In 2022, a new milestone was reached in this multi-billion pounds regeneration scheme with the launch of the first homes. Early work started in 2020, and the first phase of construction is still under way. Brent Cross West station, which is being built, is due to be completed soon. This phase includes the delivery of 1,000 homes for sale and rent, and up to 1 million square feet of offices, sport facilities, retail, restaurants and a new primary school. The township, which is only part of the Cricklewood scheme and called Brent Cross Town (BCT), has a target of becoming net zero by 2030.