Stretching from West Green to Tottenham Hale, then down to South Tottenham, this neighbourhood is a typically suburban affair. Residential and leafy, it’s not what you’d expect from the area that kickstarted the 2011 London Riots. Instead its quaint, village-esque streets are made up of typically suburban Edwardian and Victorian terraced houses, old parish churches and plenty of green spaces to relax and play. Tottenham Hale Underground station sits on the Victoria line and provides easy access to central London. The area immediately around the station has started to become occupied by new built flats and young professionals who are happy to commute. The whole area maintains an ungentrified, vastly multicultural community feel. Such institutions as the Marcus Garvey Library and parades of independent shops just about allow the locale to keep its collective mindset in the face of deep council funding cuts and the subsequent rises in inequality, unemployment, and crime. As an area singled out for future regeneration, the neighbourhood should hopefully see more money coming into the community in a way that is beneficial to the local population.

The area is split down the middle by Tottenham High Road, once part of the Roman Ermine Street, which would take goods and travellers from York and Lincoln down into London for trade. Both the areas of West Green to the road’s west and Tottenham Hale to its east would have remained rural for the majority of their lives, but Tottenham Hale’s location on the banks of the River Lea meant that is developed much faster than its neighbour. Irrigated and serviced for trade by the vast tributary, Tottenham Hale became Tottenham’s largest satellite by the mid-18th century, and by 1840 is had more than 600 inhabitants living a rural, village-based existence. Development of the railways in the 1860s kickstarted suburban development of the whole area, bringing together West Green and Tottenham Hale, and by the time the suburbanisation was nearing completion, the area’s new-found accessibility made it a prime location for day trips to what was then still considered ‘countryside’. The first half of the 20th century saw the area transformed into an industrial zone with factories and warehouses springing up to meet the country’s growing demands during the Second World War, however by the 1950s many of these had closed down to be replaced with municipal housing and the well-hidden retail parks that remain today.

Priscilla Wakefield (1751-1832) was born and lived for much of her life in a property that is now occupied by 310 High Road and the High Cross United Reform Church. A Quaker and a philanthropist, Wakefield is best known for her writings on feminist economics in works such as Reflection on the Present Condition of the Female Sex from 1798, and on botany, with her very popular text An Introduction to Botany, published in 1796.

Another local who lived just a few doors down from Wakefield at 316 High Road was the English missionary John Williams (1796-1839). Trained as a mechanic, Williams decided to leave work at the age of 20 along with his wife after a commission by the London Missionary Society to sail across the globe to spread the word of God. After reasonable success in Tahiti and other islands in the South Pacific, Williams met a gruesome fate at the hands of cannibals on the island of Erromango, who killed and ate him during an attempt to bring the Gospel to the island!

The area’s local library is named after the influential Pan-Africanist and proponent of Black nationalism, Marcus Garvey (1887-1940). Born in Jamaica, later moving to the US, Garvey founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association, which sought to build a black-governed nation in Africa. He is widely admired by many black communities and considered a prophet by the Rastafari movement.

The area’s crime and unemployment rates are much higher than most of London, due predominantly to its poor council funding and its almost-forgotten status by the rest of the city. It also struggles to escape the negative reputation caused by the 2011 Riots. However, one resident is staying positive and mentions that the area is set for regeneration: “we are so well connected and not many people realise this! Those that do are keen to work with the community to raise the area out of its poor standing. I’m already seeing good changes but I’m excited to help and to see what the future holds!”

Tottenham Hale is one of the key centres of regeneration singled out by the Haringey Council, who state that the area “has significant potential for new investment to create new homes and employment.” The council wishes to improve open spaces and introduce a significant number of new and affordable housing to bring people to the area to help stimulate the local economy. Crossrail 2 is also set to bring significant change to the neighbourhood, with nearby Tottenham Hale planned to be a key station on the northern section of the line. Yet despite £1.8 billion being invested in the project in 2020 it is unclear when the project will materialise as plans have been underconsideration in different forms since the 1970s. As far as housing is concerned the St Anne’s Road development is under construction slightly south of this postcode. The ambitious scheme will consist of 971 new homes built across multiple phases, of which, an impressive 60% will be affordable.