It’s been my home for the past nine years and to me it is the best part of London, so much so that some of my friends at times have called me “Mr Archway” at times given how much I wax lyrical about this patch of North London. By why? Why is Archway the best corner of our great city? Well, I thought I’d finally put these reasons in writing and share them with the world in this short blog.
If I’m to put it simply, I firmly believe Archway has a bit of everything and is a good mix of what London has to offer. The town centre has some excellent places like the Bread & Bean café, Crudough Pizza restaurant and pubs like the Oak & Pastor, St John’s Tavern, Archway Tavern and the Whittington Stone. But there are also usual high street staples like Gregg’s, Costa Coffee, charity shops and bookies, all of which to me show that the area is a microcosm of the diversity of London. As a regular kid from Wolverhampton who has moved to the big city, I feel right at home in this mix. Plus, one of our kebab shops, the legendary Archway Kebab, has won Best Takeaway at the British Kebab Awards… Thrice!
The town centre has also improved greatly in recent years when the square was pedestrianised rather than being a three-lane gyratory. This has given new life to our market which takes place in the square each Saturday as well as revitalising the fortune of the Archway Tavern which also reopened after a period of closure a few years ago.
There is also a strong Irish community in our part of North London. Given my Irish ancestry on my mother’s side, I feel an affinity with that community. Sometimes when I go canvassing with the Labour Party around here, I knock on the door of an old lady who reminds me of my Nan. “Of course, I’m voting Labour” they’ll say with an Irish accent. It’s rather endearing. The diaspora means the new square in the town centre was named Navigator Square in honour of the Irish navvies who moved to England to help build the canals and later the railways. Plus the presence of this community means there are still some excellent Irish pubs in the area such as The Mother Red Cap which can be found partway down Holloway Road.
Then there are the transport options, not only is Archway on the Northern Line, but Upper Holloway is on the Overground just a short distance away. This means that central London is 15-20 mins away by tube but also journeys east and west are made easier by the Overground. Not to mention the multiple bus routes that crisscross the area for more local journeys to places like Crouch End or Muswell Hill. This is supplemented by the fact that the A1 runs right through the area, making a journey by road that bit easier.
Indeed, the etymology of the area is linked to the road, with this route being one of the main ways out of London. It is where Richard Whittington heard the Bow Bells before returning to London to make his fortune, and he gives his name to our hospital, one of our parks and the Whittington Stone pub which I mentioned above. However, as the hill to Highgate became congested by the early 1800s, the need for a bypass that wasn’t so steep uphill was needed. A tunnel was proposed but this collapsed during construction, so the solution was to dig out the area entirely, with John Nash designing a viaduct to carry traffic on Hornsey Lane which marks the boundary between Haringey and Islington. This was replaced by the current cast iron bridge at the end of the nineteenth century and was Grade II listed in the 1970s.
We are also close to some excellent parks and open spaces, with Whittington Park, Waterlow Park, Parkland Walk, Finsbury Park and even Hampstead Heath all being a short trek away. So if you want to escape the bustle of the town centre you can do so relatively easily, I love nothing more than escaping the city for a couple of hours by going for a long walk on the Heath, it does me the world of good. Finally, I would also mention Dartmouth Park Hill is a short walk from Archway town centre, which I’ve written about previously as being North London’s best-kept secret.
So that’s it, a short and sweet set of reasons why I love Archway. I’d highly recommend a visit!
JP
James Potts 