Local Treasures: Life in the London Suburb of Enfield
When I say I’m a Londoner, I should really qualify that a little bit: I’m a ‘zone 5′ Londoner. All this means is that I didn’t grow up with Big Ben on my doorstep and in fact going ‘into London’ was a bit of trip in itself. I grew up far enough outside of London for it to feel like a whole different town with its own feel, community, even its own accent.
Once I was old enough to do things for myself, I spent pretty much all of my time in zones 1 and 2: working, shopping, eating and partying in ‘proper’ London before dragging myself on the long journey back to Enfield. London’s public transport means that it’s pretty easy to get into the West End and the City from the ‘burbs. It’s just a pain getting home after midnight, unless of course night buses that take two hours to wind their way through all of London picking up the drunkards eating kebabs along the way are your thing. They’re definitely not mine, even if I am prone to a kebab after a tipple.
So now I’m back in the home I grew up in, right on the edge of London, in what used to be known as middlesex and, if I fall asleep on the train and miss a stop, turns very quickly into Hertfordshire.
As a young person I used to complain a lot about living in the sticks but it has its benefits and I can understand the appeal for people to move out here. Living on the outskirts where house prices are more reasonable, there’s a local community feel, but with very easy access to the big fog is not a bad option and, Enfield, is actually a really lovely place to live, or even visit.
Since Jono and I are in post-wedding travel downtime while planning the rest of the year, I’ve decided to be a tourist in my own town, show off what Enfield has to offer and appreciate the local treasures all the way out here in zone five.
Growing up here I saw more and more small businesses closing down as local supermarkets opened up and drove them out of business, but there’s definitely a turning of the tide as good small businesses are starting to thrive again. One of my favourite local treasures is the Holtwhites Bakery, a local bakery that recently opened and is the only reason I have able to painlessly ween myself off French food. With bread and cakes that are up there with the best that the French boulangeries in Montpellier had to offer, it’s worth waiting in the queue to pick up a sourdough, fruit bun or chocolate buns. Thank you Holtwhites Bakery for keeping my carb levels satisfactorily up to French standards.
It’s also one of the places that has started selling local ingredients, something a few other shops in the vicinity are doing to support the local farm at Forty Hall. We don’t have a farmer’s market here yet but I imagine its something that would be very popular if it does turn up.
The other thing we have an abundance of round here are bric a brac and charity shops. Overflowing with pre-loved goods, if I was starting a home here I would go crazy buying vintage furniture, old teacups and little treasures. Then there’s shops like Deja Vu on Chase Side (pictured) which are filled with gorgeous little frames and boxes and gifts that I could spend hours on.
There’s also no shortage of pubs, which tend to be a lot quieter than those central London but are still usually pretty full, especially the Crown & Horseshoes along the river which, on a sunny day with its huge beer garden, is where the cool kids, and ducks, hang out.
I’ve been tagging my local treasures on instagram and I’d love for others to join in, so if you feel like joining in add the hashtag #localtreasures when you share yours and tag me @annaeatseedo, so I can share it too.
Do you have any local treasures in your part of town that you could shout about?
