The Clooper Guide To Walthamstow
A real gem of quintessential East End charm, Walthamstow is up and coming and ready to welcome new prospective locals.
Full of luscious greenery and rustic architecture, populated by bustling fruit and veg stalls, and sporting very reasonable renting prices, Walthamstow is fresh back on the market as a very desirable place to live after an impressive transformation.
THE WALTHAMSTOW WETLANDS
This spot of greenery is actually London’s newest and biggest nature reserve. Coming in at an impressive 211 hectares, this reserve is also a Thames Water reservoir fact. Fun fact: it actually is the main water supply for 3.5 million people!
Trivia aside, the Wetlands are open to the public, and provide a lovely day out for the family and even just for solo trips. This reserve is home to a huge variety of wildlife, birdlife and flora, so holds extra allure for the animal lovers among us. There are even bats flitting around! The Engine House, home to the Visitor Centre and local Café, was recently upgraded with a unique tower to attract bats and swifts. Maybe you’ll see a few on your own visits!
A real treat for the nature lovers out there, the Walthamstow Wetlands even have their own website. Here, they regularly update with upcoming events and any new exciting developments.
AMENITIES
Not only does Walthamstow boast a huge nature reserve, there’s also an impressively lengthy market. It runs from the High Street in town all the way to St James Street Station. That’s around a kilometre, and over 350 pitches. You can find a diverse array of household goods, fruit and veg, clothes, Pie & Mash here, as well as much more. Locals love the East End feel as they stroll through the market, with vendors calling out cheerily as they pass.
For your daily needs, 17&Central has you covered. Smack bang in the town centre, not too far off the market, this whopping mall is home to a wide variety of shops and facilities. Here you can find multiple well known names. Lidl, Aldi, CEX, Pret-A-Manger and the like. For a full list of their shops, click here.
THINGS TO DO
Walthamstow not only has your basics covered, there are multiple fun venues and activites to be found outside of those. Here are just a few to name:
- Gods Own Junkyard is the most famous tourist attraction. This quirky collection of neon signs is a sight in itself, and you may recognise some signs from your favorite movies! If you get hungry, they even have their own cafe. You’ll never guess what they called it, too. The Rolling Scones.
- Restaurant Eat17 and its mini-market sell the famous Walthamstow bacon jam.
- Mothers Ruin is a popular gin palace where you can find E17s ‘very best gin and cocktails.’
- Walthamstow Village is more of a rustic, quaint area in the district. Here you can find what locals boast to be some of the best pubs, and specifically Sunday Roasts, around.
- Ye Olde Roast and Crown is a local favourite pub that hosts frequent comedy nights.
- Crate Street is a boxpark-esque urban village with over 30 containers full of unique stall vendors and their crafts. Not familiar with Boxpark? Read more about it in our Shoreditch area guide, here.
TRANSPORT LINKS
Walthamstow Central and Blackhorse Road are stations at the very end of the Victoria line. This means your journey may be a touch longer, but at least you’ll have first pick of your seats. This would be a great boon, particularly for morning commuters.
You can get to Liverpool Street from Walthamstow Central, too, as well as from St James Street Station. Blackhorse Road is on the Overground, running the line from Gospel Oak to Barking, and so is Walthamstow Queens Road. The majority of the stations are in Zone 3, but Wood Street is in Zone 4, marking up the cost of a travelcard significantly.
