An exciting and diverse neighbourhood full of character, this south Leytonstone area is situated roughly between Wanstead and Stratford. Leytonstone High Road Overground station is the main transport link, running to Barking in the East and Hampstead in the West. Leytonstone tube station sits on the central line, and is also a short walk away, making travel into the city easy. The High Road itself serves as a boundary for the area and features typical high street amenities: takeaways, grocery shops and a good dose of hearty local pubs – head to The North Star at the top of the high street for an intimate “old school east end boozer”. Across the road is the quirky bookshop and café, All You Read is Love, which is said to be representative of the neighbourhood’s warm community.

The housing on this side of the Wanstead Flats (southernmost portion of Epping Forest) is a collection of well-preserved yellow-brick Victorian terraces lining compact streets not lacking in greenery. The flats constitute a large open grassland, perfect for long Sunday walks, ball games, or feeding the ducks residing in the pond. It also shelters two residential areas pertaining to the westernmost part of the Edwardian Aldersbrook estate, although the portion east of Blake Hall Road (A114) is comprised of some 1960s council blocks. Among many other primary schools within the area, Buxton all-through school is rated ‘good’ by Ofsted.

The early town was a gateway to London, travelled by the 10th Roman legion and later by more dubious individuals such as the notorious highwayman Dick Turpin in the 1700s. Another bastion of local history is Leytonstone House just east of the Tesco, by the Green Man roundabout. This was the home of a conservationist MP, Edward Buxton, who played a key role in the protection of Epping, Hainault, and Hatfield forests during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The mansion would later be converted into a workhouse for Victorian children, and then a mental hospital before being converted into offices.

Having been left relatively unaltered over the previous century, this area is predominantly a residential pocket for early commuting city clerks and traditional East Enders. On the other hand, the High Road has gone through a series of transformations over the past fifty years: from a bustling commercial hub in the 60s and early 70s, through a period of decline coinciding with the death of the high street, and now through a period of rejuvenation following the regeneration of Stratford and the introduction of new transport links.

Bobby Moore was a pupil of local Tom Hood School where he played for the school football team. He went on to play for West Ham, and then to be the youngest captain for England, leading his country to the nation’s only mens football trophy in 1966. He died aged 51 from colon cancer and since then a fund has been set up in his honour by Cancer Research UK.

Like many places in London, there are specific streets with high crime rates, like those surrounding the overground station. However, in general rates of anti-social behaviour and petty crime are in decline. This has been largely attributed to the increased funding the area has received following a period of decline which saw many shops close.

In the south of the area, work is underway on a new housing development which will be six stories high in places, with a mix of 1, 2, 3 and 4 bedroom apartments. The council has also agreed to help fund a full regeneration of the nearby Avenue Road Estate after residents voted overwhelmingly in favour of the proposals.