This residential neighbourhood of North Leyton is a friendly area situated in the borough of Waltham Forest. It is primarily comprised of pleasant streets of spacious, terraced Victorian houses. The northernmost point lies just next to Whipps Cross University Hospital, an NHS-run institution with an excellent 100- year track record of inpatient, outpatient and maternity services.

Leyton Sixth Form College is nestled in the centre of this neighbourhood, offering a wide range of A-level and vocational courses to approximately 2,300 full-time students. The nearby Abbots Park spans 1.687 hectares and provides six tennis courts, under 12’s playground equipment, and sets of picnic tables. Leyton Midland Road rail station is a convenient walk from the majority of this area’s residential streets. It offers great commuting prospects with easy access onto the overground. Leyton County Cricket Ground is a final highlight of this locale: it is the 200-year-old home of the Essex County Cricket Club and can seat 8,000 spectators.

Leyton might hold the answer to a stormy debate about the Roman occupation of Britain. Camulodunum – now Colchester - was the first place the Romans settled when they invaded Britain in 43AD. However, a decade later another Roman settlement sprang up. It was called Londinium. It soon began to eclipse Camulodunum in importance and became Britain’s foremost city. A lively interchange was struck up between the two settlements as commerce and trade started to flourish. To facilitate this, a fort named Durolitum was built between the two – a place where tired travellers could rest and from where the trade route lifeline could be defended. No-one is totally sure where exactly it was, but historians think Leyton might be the site of the Durolitum mystery. Durolitum can translate as ‘water of Ley’, which perhaps references the nearby River Lea. Also, the nearby ward of Leytonstone reflects the Roman habit of expressing distance in stones.

David Beckham was born in Whipps Cross Hospital on 2nd May 1975. Peter Ashby also hails from Leyton. A new wave musician, he founded the cryptically named bands Frenzid Melon, Spasmodic Caress and The Insane Picnic. He is known for combining experimental, free jazz, and progressive rock genres and his tracks include ‘Register of Electors’ and ‘Hit the Dead.’

This neighbourhood is packed with fantastic activities. The nearby Leyton Leisure Lagoon is a swimming spectacular complete with jets, flumes, and scooters. Also, Leyton residents can sign up for free to an initiative called The Conservation Volunteers Green Gym. The mission is to combine fitness and conservation: Green Gym meet-ups rotate around Waltham Forest’s green parks and spaces every Tuesday and Friday. You can become a superhuman - improve biodiversity and do box fit all in one session!

Crime is admittedly a downside of this neighbourhood: of 827 incidences of reported street-level crime in July 2017, 164 were violent. That said, 0 of these incidences involved weapons. Also, many of these incidences are concentrated out to the extremities of Leyton, on the border of Stratford.

Barts Health NHS Trust has a £520 million plan to redevelop Whipps Cross hospital. The bid would turn the hospital into a healthcare campus with an overhauled layout that more accurately reflects the demands of emergency care. For example, surgery patients currently have to be transferred to the operating theatre along the hospital’s bustling main corridor: Barts Trust renovations would tackle problems like this. The plan is currently being assessed by NHS Improvement. The Council is also completing works to the west of Leyton and Lea Bridge which involve new housing within ten minutes’ walk of the town centre. 1,500 new homes are in the pipeline with the potential for this figure to increase to over 2,500 new homes west of Leyton.