Neighbourhood Watch London
Whats going on in your Neighbourhood?
Borough Market
Borough Market has been a centre for trading since Roman times, and London Bridge, or versions of it, has been around almost as long. It was the convenient meeting point of all the roads from the south into the City of London, meaning food and travellers alike were in abundance. However, the market was largely unregulated and traffic congestion (fr...Read This Article
Brompton Road
Brompton was originally a village just west of South Kensington, which grew as a result of the house building in the direction of London, and the village was swallowed up into the whole. It was formerly known for its markets and nursery gardens, and for the number of inns along the way, a legacy from its time as a thoroughfare into the main city. H...Read This Article
Charlotte Street
Located in historic Bloomsbury, home to the Bloomsbury group that included Virginia Woolf, Charlotte Street has always been known for its bohemian leanings. In the early 19th century, as the upper classes began to move out west, artists began to move north out of Soho and colonise the area, making it their own - famously the painter Jon Constable ...Read This Article
Crystal Palace Triangle
The original Crystal Palace was a huge iron and steel structure built in 1851 for the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park - the brainchild of Prince Albert, at the height of the Industrial Revolution. It was moved to the then-called Penge Place in Sydenham, which was renamed (and is still known as) Crystal Palace Park. The O2 of its time, it became the f...Read This Article
Frith Street, Soho
Frith Street is situated bang in the middle of Soho, in Central London. It was named after Richard Frith, one of the foremost developers of the 17th century, who undertook, along with a couple of other men, the regeneration of the Soho area, creating neighbourhoods to house the burgeoning population. The area soon became a magnet for the most diver...Read This Article
Greek St, Soho W1
Greek Street, which runs from Soho Square southwards down to Shaftesbury Avenue, probably takes its name from the Greeks who settled here in the late 17th century soon after the street was first built. Soho, originally an expanse of hunting fields (the word Soho is derived from the hunting cry 'so-ho'), was first built over by people escaping from ...Read This Article
Heddon Street, West End
Heddon Street is a tiny pedestrianised area just off the grand Regency sweep of Regent Street. Known as Regent Street's Food Quarter, this tiny lane crams more foodie cultures into its little alleyway than whole boroughs in London. The atmosphere is decidedly hedonistic, with London's coolest hotspot, Absolut Icebar, taking the capital's drinkers b...Read This Article
Islington
The Islington of today was created in 1965, when the former Metropolitan Boroughs of Islington and Finsbury were united. Nevertheless, Islington dates back to pre-Domesday times as Iseldone. Upper Street in Islington (best known for its Blairite associations - remember Granita and the famous deal) has become a bit of a chain nightmare when it comes...Read This Article
Lordship Lane, East Dulwich
Now a foodie mecca in the South London suburbs, Lordship Lane is the oldest street in East Dulwich and was once an ancient thoroughfare through what used to be a very rural part of London. Nowadays, it's all about the food, with a huge variety of delis, restaurants, butchers, fishmongers - you name it, it's there. As you're meandering along, look o...Read This Article
Marylebone High Street
The name of Marylebone comes from St Mary's Church which was built on the bank of a small stream or 'bourne' called the Tybourne - the area itself was called Tyburn. The constant referral to the area as St Mary at the Bourne gradually became shortened to Marylebone. The winding nature of the High Street, in contrast to later Georgian re-evelopment,...Read This Article
Northcote Road, Battersea
The environs of SW11 are traditional yummy-mummy territory, but before you run screaming, bear in mind in terms of eating out, it's a GOOD THING. It means nice cafes with good coffee, child-friendly neighbourhood restaurants, all relatively clean, sparkly and welcoming - if they're not, they'd soon know about it. Known during the day for the excell...Read This Article
Old Spitalfields Market
The actual area of Spitalfields, perched on the edge of the Square Mile, was originally named after a nearby hospital and priory of St Mary's Spital in 1197. The Old Spitalfields market itself was properly established in 1680s after the Great Fire of London, when King Charles II granted a local silk thrower, John Balch, rights to hold a market on T...Read This Article
Portobello Market
Portobello Market is one of the few remaining traditional markets around London, and as such, commands not only a high tourist interest, but also boasts a wide variety of mostly high-quality places to eat in the environs. The market and the road are named after the capture of the Caribbean city Puerto Bello by Admiral Vernon in 1739. Portobello Roa...Read This Article
Shepherd's Market
This tiny little enclave is tucked away between Piccadilly and Curzon Street, in the upmarket borough of Mayfair. Mayfair itself is named after the annual May Fair that took place on the site that is Shepherd's Market today, and which was banned in 1708 due to the fair's revellers' relentless rowdiness and disturbance. A local architect and develop...Read This Article
St John Street
St John Street stretches between Angel, Islington in the north, and Clerkenwell and Smithfield Market in the South. The market here has been going for many centuries and was originally a horse market before becoming one of the most famous and popular meat markets around. St John Street itself isn't that prepossessing: lined with grim office buildin...Read This Article
