Following the path of Highgate Hill, Junction Road, and Brecknock Road, the area of Upper Holloway stretches across a wide variety of city spaces, from the picturesque open greenery of Waterlow Park, through the hustle and bustle of central Archway, to the quaint residential areas of Dartmouth Park. With Tufnell Park and Archway tube stations both in Zone 2, and the multitude of bus routes which travel Junction Road, the area is incredibly well connected. The town centre feel of both Tufnell Park and Archway provide residents with all the conveniences and amenities one could wish for in the culturally diverse range of independent, community minded shops and restaurants, as well as the larger chain stores and supermarkets. There is no shortage of green space, with Waterlow and Dartmouth parks and part of the world famous Highgate Cemetery, providing not only idyllic retreats from the busy town centres, but a great amount of space to get some fresh air. Despite the business of the main roads which pass through, the area maintains a sense of community in its abundant local pubs, small but well-established music venues, and quiet residential streets.

With much of the area falling within Tufnell Park, it is likely that the land was used as dairy farms, offering the whole of London a steady supply of milk. It was deliberately kept rural so that it could support the huge amount of cattle needed to keep London’s milk-drinkers happy up until the mid -nineteenth-century, when serious residential building work began to house the population that came to the city on the new railways. Unlike nearby Camden and Kentish Town, though, the area was relatively untouched by the railways themselves, with much of the line travelling through an underground tunnel. The building of the Whittington Hospital in the Archway end of the area in 1848, would have brought with it better health care to the surrounding streets, making the area incredibly desirable, and urging the building of many terraced houses to accommodate the rising, predominantly Irish, population. The whole area survived heavy bombing during the Blitz and the subsequent regeneration has helped maintain the community feel that it once possessed.

One resident who has been in the area since 1883, and is likely to be here for many centuries longer, is one of history’s most influential and controversial figures, Karl Marx. Most notable as an intense critic of capitalism, and for his works The Communist Manifesto and Capital, Marx is buried in Highgate Cemetery, and is commemorated with a bronze and marble tomb built in 1956. Despite being a target for attacks by some opponents of Marx’s ideas, the grave is one of the most iconic attractions in north London.

The service information board at Tufnell Park tube station has been charmingly converted into ‘Poetry Corner’ which displays a daily selection of poetry by local residents, local school children, or famous poets. They say that it is to give “passengers something to read while they’re waiting for the lifts”.

Given its foundations as a fifteenth century leper colony, The Whittington Hospital has long been considered a prime location for ghost hunting. In 2012, a man visiting his hospital-bound wife was told by nurses of a “strange presence” in the nineteenth century arches, and when he went to investigate, he saw a flashing trail of light that he believes is the ghost of a 10 year old boy named William who died in the leper colony.

One of the city’s most well-established gig venues, The Tufnell Park Dome, is hidden above the fantastic, sprawling community pub, The Boston Arms, and is sometimes even host to the UK’s fastest growing pro wrestling promotion, Progress Wrestling.

Much of the area is considered industrial and grimy, with busy main roads passing through almost every bit of it. However, the amount of green space means that you can always find somewhere to get away from the main roads.

One of the biggest developments to happen to the area has been the ongoing modernisation of the historic Whittington Hospital. Originally built as a workhouse and infirmary in 1870, the facility has seen extensive works in recent years. With an additional 100 million pounds invested earlier in 2022, this work is set to continue in the coming years as plans for a new extension for maternity and neonatal services are top of the agenda. Opposite the hospital sits the 1.4-hectare Archway Campus site. Plans have been approved for a mixed use development which will provide over 300 new homes, community and commercial buildings. Slightly south of here the plot at four Vorley Road is awaiting development, with plans for a residential development consisting of 72 flats confirmed. Meanwhile, the Quarter development on Bertram Street is a similar scale, consisting of 41 as well as flexible commercial space, and is expected to be completed later in 2022.