# Finsbury Park. Manor House, Seven Sisters, Wood Green



## lenny101 (Mar 2, 2008)

I am thinking of moving to this area of north London as its cheap and handy for the Pic & Vic lines. Anyone know the area, any places that should be avoided or any that are nicer than others?


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## Stig (Mar 2, 2008)

We live there. I'd say go as close to Grreen Lanes as you can, for loads of really decent shops and pubs, a great mix of people etc.
West towards Hornsey it goes upmarket, east towards Tottenham it goes downmarket, Green Lanes is nicely in the middle.

Lots of people seem to dislike Finsbury Park and Manor House; I don't mind them personally; but no-one seems to have a problem with Turnpike Lane.


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## Madusa (Mar 2, 2008)

I used to live in Turnpike Lane but didnt really like the area around the tube station/bus station - same with wood green and only went there for the cinema/supermarket/Aroma restaurant and to pick up weed.   

Other than that though, love the area of Green lanes between Turpike lane stn and Manor House for food shopping as most of the shops open all hours although quite prone to burglaries so be careful with your home security at all times.  And yeah, excellent for transport connections.

Hornsey's lovely though. I now live up the road in Mussy Hill.


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## Sir Belchalot (Mar 2, 2008)

Stig said:


> East towards Hornsey it goes upmarket, west towards Tottenham it goes downmarket, Green Lanes is nicely in the middle.



Get a compass


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## Stig (Mar 2, 2008)

Sir Belchalot said:


> Get a compass



Um.. oh yeah arse, I'm shit at compass directions. What I meant was... *edits post*


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## editor (Mar 2, 2008)

Manor House: soulless wasteland. Turnpike Lane: not quite as bad, but still utterly dreadful. Seven Sisters: a whole load of nothing. Finsbury Park: the best of the bunch, but that's not saying much.


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## Stig (Mar 2, 2008)

Editor and Haringey, sitting in a tree, k.i.s.s.i.n.g.


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## manifold (Mar 2, 2008)

Second vote for Green Lanes, although I'm at the Newington Green end.

Stoke Newington wasn't too bad either when I lived there last year (although that's only a 10 minute walk away).


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## Hollis (Mar 3, 2008)

lenny101 said:


> I am thinking of moving to this area of north London as its cheap and handy for the Pic & Vic lines. Anyone know the area, any places that should be avoided or any that are nicer than others?



Depends what you're after really.  Are you renting or buying?


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## CharlieAddict (Mar 3, 2008)

editor said:


> Turnpike Lane: not quite as bad, but still utterly dreadful. Seven Sisters: a whole load of nothing. Finsbury Park: the best of the bunch, but that's not saying much.



don't be a meanie!

turnpike lane has it's moments!

excellent transport links and cheap pubs.
you can also grab a kebab for less that £2.
...can't think of anything more.

to the OP.
finsbury is excellent. it really is.
i love that part of the woods - especially in summertime.

if you can afford. crouch end is lush.


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## Firky (Mar 3, 2008)

Wood Green is fucking awful.


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## TrippyLondoner (Mar 3, 2008)

Wood green aint that bad! I live near wood green/turnpike lane. If you go out there on days like today has been, its quite a nice experience.


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## editor (Mar 3, 2008)

CharlieAddict said:


> turnpike lane has it's moments!
> 
> excellent transport links and cheap pubs.
> you can also grab a kebab for less that £2.
> ...can't think of anything more.


So you can:
1. get out of the place quick
2. enjoy 'cheap' pubs
3. eat cheap kebabs

Don't oversell it now!


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## blossie33 (Mar 3, 2008)

I lived in Finsbury Park for three years when I was first in London - I liked it round there and felt safe, zone 2, good transport to central London and lots of other areas, nice park, the Parkland walk which is brilliant. Cheap shops, good restaurants etc. etc.

Wood Green is NOT that bad, lots of cheap shops, bit cheaper area to live than Finsbury Park. Very good bus connections, near Ally Pally Park.

There are areas in South London you could make the same criticisms about if you want to be picky! 
It's just what people are used to innit


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## FridgeMagnet (Mar 3, 2008)

The area around Seven Sisters tube and to the east, north-east, is a miserable place. You can feel the dead-eyed hopelessness wash over you when you get close enough on the bus - I use to use it to remind me to get off in time.

It starts getting a little better if you go west but not to any huge extent. Finsbury Park's not all that bad I suppose, given that I never spent much time there.


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## Maurice Picarda (Mar 3, 2008)

The area north of Wood Green is quite pleasant. Bounds Green and Palmers Green are comfortable without being gentrified.


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## PacificOcean (Mar 3, 2008)

I lived in Manor House just by Green Lanes station and it was OK but nothing special, though having Finsbury Park on the doorstep was a nice feature.

Someone tried to mug me round there which has been the only time it's happened to me (and I use to stagger home to Coldharbour Lane at 4am off my face).  But maybe that was just bad luck.

Seven Sisters (South Tottenham, Clapton, Stoke Newington & Rectory Road areas), however, are like a London version of Bieruit.  A horrrible, horrible place.  Though if high streets of borded-up shops are your thing...........


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## blossie33 (Mar 3, 2008)

Don't think Stoke Newington is an area of 'boarded up shops'
Not the Church Street area anyway!


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## PacificOcean (Mar 3, 2008)

blossie33 said:


> Don't think Stoke Newington is an area of 'boarded up shops'
> Not the Church Street area anyway!



Well not that bit!  

However, even Stoke Newington seems to have it's fair share of chicken places, pound shops and Lidl.

But the whole area (how would you describe it?  North Central North or something?)

Is pretty grim.


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## Idaho (Mar 3, 2008)

I lived for 5 years just next to Finsbury Park, halfway towards Manor House tube.

It's a good location for getting about, and to be fair it's no more shit than 98% of the rest of London.


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## marty21 (Mar 3, 2008)

of your choices, i'd go for finsbury park, and try and get somewhere the stoke newington side


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## dolly's gal (Mar 3, 2008)

Idaho said:


> and to be fair it's no more shit than 98% of the rest of London.



heh. innit.


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## toblerone3 (Mar 3, 2008)

Turnpike Lane is an anagram of "internal puke"


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## Lisarocket (Mar 3, 2008)

I live near Finsbury Park. If you're looking in the area i'd go for the North end of it around Stroud Green Road. Loads of good places to eat and drink- some of the best eateries in North London and the posh bit Crouch End is just over the hill 

I'm over near Hornsey Road, which is a bit cheaper, but still within walking distance of Finsbury Park tube and Stround Green Road, and about the same distance from Holloway Road, which is good for shopping...


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## TrippyLondoner (Mar 3, 2008)

FridgeMagnet said:


> The area around Seven Sisters tube and to the east, north-east, is a miserable place. You can feel the dead-eyed hopelessness wash over you when you get close enough on the bus - I use to use it to remind me to get off in time.
> .



I know what you mean!


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## vanityvehicle (Mar 7, 2008)

I live in Turnpike Lane ... and love it. There's lots of green space around - Alexandra Park is a short walk away and is beautiful, especially during the summer, and a longer walk or bus takes you to Highgate Woods and Queens Wood, two of the oldest bits of woodland left within the M25. The parkland walk is a gorgeous place to ride a bike or just go for a walk.

There's great Turkish food and food shops on Green Lanes, cheap shopping around Wood Green, fancy shopping and restaurants in Crouch End, good restaurants and a couple of decent pubs in Hornsey... loads of proper butchers around and fishmongers etc

Also, living on the Piccadilly Line makes you truly pity other Londoners who have lines that are slow/broken half the time, plus there's the overground line into Moorgate/Old Street/Islington and King's Cross, which unlike most overground lines in London is fast, regular and well looked-after.

On top of which it's as cheap as most of south London. Don't be put off by the fact that the area around every Piccadilly Line stop feels dead and windswept, push back into some of the surrounding streets and there's some lovely places.


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## TrippyLondoner (Mar 7, 2008)

You live in turnpike lane eh? very close to where i live!(crouch end)


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## matp (Mar 7, 2008)

We were priced out of Stroud Green area, which has really improved over the last few years. Some nice restaurants and bars and pubs and a nice villagey feel to the place without being too posh.

So we found more for our money on Green Lanes on the 'Ladder' towards Turnpike Lane. It's got its moments. I'm 10 mins walk from Crouch End which is over-rated in my opinion, but does have some nice coffee shops and eateries. Bit middle class feeling for me, but lots of people seem to like that sort of thing. We're also 10 mins from Wood Green, which is a terrible place, but sometimes you need to do that High Street shopping stuff (Game, Jessops, Top-Shop, Smiths, Woolies etc). And there are 2 (main stream) cinemas. Transport links are fantastic (as mentioned) including pic line, 2 overhead lines (including one that goes to moorgate in about 10 minutes). The Salisbury is a GREAT pub on green lanes, really nice period features and a good mixed crowd (young and old), with live bands and DJs at the weekend and a really good quiz on a Monday.

Green Lanes is well lit and there's lots of late night shops. Useful to be able to get a bottle of wine at 2 in the morning sometimes  Turkish community are insular but non threatening and I feel completely safe walking around at any time of the day or night as does my other half.
Fins park within walking distance, Ally Pally a stroll away, Clissold Park a short ride and a nice park in Crouch End with a paddling pool for the kids in the summer - outdoorsy stuff is pretty good. Did I mention the Lido within walking distance?

If you're buying, you might want to consider St Anns ward - it's the other side of green lanes, deeper into to Tottenham which is less appealing. But you can probably get a house for the price of a flat. It's very early days, and a bit of a gamble, but it's ripe for regeneration/gentrification, and there's quite a few teachers/nurses types moving into the area as they've been priced out of Green Lanes. The Oakdale Arms is a good boozer in that area and has good beer and CAMRA type festivals on in the summer.

Vanity Vehicle, where are you in Turnpike Lane?


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## Badger Kitten (Mar 7, 2008)

Been a north Londoner since 1994.I have lived in Wood Green ( got too scary after I was attacked there) Bounds Green ( nothing to do but Ally Pally being nearby was great) and for the last 6 years have been in what I would call the Arsenal area - near Finsbury Park/Arsenal tube.

Just off Blackstock Rd there are some great roads to live in, the transport links are great and there are plenty cafes and bars a short bus ride away on the 4 or 19 to Upper St area,  and some good local restaurants ( especially Yildiz, a cheap fire-grilled lamb place) on Blackstock Rd. Clissold park and Finsbury Park and Highbury Fields are all very close and have things to do - Stokew Newington Church St is a short walk away, and there are tons of greengrocers & buchers selling gorgeous bread, fruit, veg, pastries, baklava, and what have you. Green Lanes, Crouch End just up the road.

There are some problems with scrotey little gangs of youths at the Finsbury park end of Blackstock Rd but I wouldn't live anywhere else in London now.


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## Hollis (Mar 7, 2008)

Badger Kitten said:


> Been a north Londoner since 1994.I have lived in Wood Green ( got too scary after I was attacked there) Bounds Green ( nothing to do but Ally Pally being nearby was great) and for the last 6 years have been in what I would call the Arsenal area - near Finsbury Park/Arsenal tube.



Can understand that.. but I've found it very safe/unthreatening in Wood Green.. If you aint part of the Tottenham or Wood Green Dem Men then you tend to stay clear of the Gang Violence. The kidz just aint interested.


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## vanityvehicle (Mar 8, 2008)

Live on Wightman Road ... the longest, most winding ramshackle ratrun in London ... bang opposite the Greek Cypriot church where there will no doubt be a wedding tomorrow...


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## sally_sally (Mar 8, 2008)

matp said:


> We were priced out of Stroud Green area, which has really improved over the last few years. Some nice restaurants and bars and pubs and a nice villagey feel to the place without being too posh.
> 
> So we found more for our money on Green Lanes on the 'Ladder' towards Turnpike Lane. It's got its moments. I'm 10 mins walk from Crouch End which is over-rated in my opinion, but does have some nice coffee shops and eateries. Bit middle class feeling for me, but lots of people seem to like that sort of thing. We're also 10 mins from Wood Green, which is a terrible place, but sometimes you need to do that High Street shopping stuff (Game, Jessops, Top-Shop, Smiths, Woolies etc). And there are 2 (main stream) cinemas. Transport links are fantastic (as mentioned) including pic line, 2 overhead lines (including one that goes to moorgate in about 10 minutes). The Salisbury is a GREAT pub on green lanes, really nice period features and a good mixed crowd (young and old), with live bands and DJs at the weekend and a really good quiz on a Monday.
> 
> ...



I lived for a period in Stamford Hill. It must be the most boring place. There is nothing going on. Stoke Newington was the only good thing about the place.

Sally


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## sally_sally (Mar 8, 2008)

vanityvehicle said:


> Live on Wightman Road ... the longest, most winding ramshackle ratrun in London ... bang opposite the Greek Cypriot church where there will no doubt be a wedding tomorrow...



Thats where I live now, the opposite side from Greek church, just up from the Mosque. I quite like it as its easy to get to places.

Sally


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## matp (Mar 8, 2008)

I'm on Falkland Road - which is just round the corner from said Greek church and Mosque. Maybe we should organise a Green Lanes meet-up.

There's quite a good local community if you've managed to tap into it. There's some kind of party most years (has been in the park and in the streets). One year we closed the street off to traffic and some-one had a projector and a screen and we all sat and watched Wallace and Grommit sipping wine and letting the kids run wild. It was good fun!


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## cyberfairy (Mar 8, 2008)

matp said:


> I'm on Falkland Road - which is just round the corner from said Greek church and Mosque. Maybe we should organise a Green Lanes meet-up.
> 
> There's quite a good local community if you've managed to tap into it. There's some kind of party most years (has been in the park and in the streets). One year we closed the street off to traffic and some-one had a projector and a screen and we all sat and watched Wallace and Grommit sipping wine and letting the kids run wild. It was good fun!



I used to live in Frobisher road until my house burnt down.


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## Hollis (Mar 8, 2008)

sally_sally said:


> I lived for a period in Stamford Hill. It must be the most boring place. There is nothing going on. Stoke Newington was the only good thing about the place.
> 
> Sally



Walking distance to the Lea Valley innit.


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## trashpony (Mar 8, 2008)

toblerone3 said:


> Turnpike Lane is an anagram of "internal puke"



finsbury park is krapy rub snif backwards


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## matp (Mar 8, 2008)

Oh no. I hope nobody was hurt. Was it arson or an accident?

That's where the screen party was! Did you go? It was a joint street party between Frobisher and Falkland. Really good to get out and meet your neighbours. Quite unusual in London in my experience.


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## cyberfairy (Mar 8, 2008)

matp said:


> Oh no. I hope nobody was hurt. Was it arson or an accident?
> 
> That's where the screen party was! Did you go? It was a joint street party between Frobisher and Falkland. Really good to get out and meet your neighbours. Quite unusual in London in my experience.



Was stoned flatmate using bin full of pizza leaflets as ashtray on way to pub accident Missed the screen party as not lived there for years now-sounds good though. I remember Frobisher road could be dead unfriendly. I found a dead run-over cat on street once and knocked on so many doors to try and find out who it belonged to and no-one opened their door(cat was not in arms at time!) Made me want to leave London but then again our immediate neighbours were lovely-an old Greek couple who made the best dolmades for me.


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## matp (Mar 8, 2008)

Haha. Happened to a friend of mine when I lived in York. He fell asleep with a spliff in his hand and woke up with the duvet on fire!!! Thankfully he wasn't hurt.


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## ChrisFilter (Mar 8, 2008)

vanityvehicle said:


> I live in Turnpike Lane ... and love it. There's lots of green space around - Alexandra Park is a short walk away and is beautiful, especially during the summer, and a longer walk or bus takes you to Highgate Woods and Queens Wood, two of the oldest bits of woodland left within the M25. The parkland walk is a gorgeous place to ride a bike or just go for a walk.
> 
> There's great Turkish food and food shops on Green Lanes, cheap shopping around Wood Green, fancy shopping and restaurants in Crouch End, good restaurants and a couple of decent pubs in Hornsey... loads of proper butchers around and fishmongers etc
> 
> ...



Ruddy heck! When did you reappear?!


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## rich! (Mar 8, 2008)

*probably should be elsewhere...*

and, Wood Green just got a shiny new bookshop.

I counted - 72 foot of science fiction and fantasy, 100 foot of literary fiction.

I asked - "there will be more SF".

yay!


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## matp (Mar 9, 2008)

rich! said:


> and, Wood Green just got a shiny new bookshop.
> 
> Is this the one the managers of the other book shop that was closed down went and set up themselves?


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## marty21 (Mar 9, 2008)

matp;7219678][QUOTE=rich! said:


> and, Wood Green just got a shiny new bookshop.
> 
> Is this the one the managers of the other book shop that was closed down went and set up themselves?


i think it is


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## TrippyLondoner (Mar 9, 2008)

Whats the name of the book shop?


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## Xanadu (Mar 9, 2008)

Where exactly is this new bookshop?  Is it on the old Ottakars/Waterstones site?


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## Kid_Eternity (Mar 9, 2008)

blossie33 said:


> There are areas in South London you could make the same criticisms about if you want to be picky!
> It's just what people are used to innit



Very true South London has some of the worst areas in London if not the country.


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## rich! (Mar 9, 2008)

matp;7219678][QUOTE=rich! said:


> and, Wood Green just got a shiny new bookshop.
> 
> Is this the one the managers of the other book shop that was closed down went and set up themselves?



yep.

nice job they seem to be making of it, too.


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## rich! (Mar 9, 2008)

Xanadu said:


> Where exactly is this new bookshop?  Is it on the old Ottakars/Waterstones site?



Nah -  that's another H&M now.

It's on the road that used to lead to Ken's Cat's Cafe - Brockwell Park Road? (just north of the McDonalds).

http://bp1.blogger.com/_rlhQxFXofGw/R7sSTP3Q2wI/AAAAAAAAAYk/UDBhVp-H19k/s1600-h/MAP.jpg


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## matp (Mar 9, 2008)

Huurah for them. Is there a coffee shop as well? I will take a look next time I brave hoodies.


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## Stig (Mar 10, 2008)

matp said:


> Huurah for them. Is there a coffee shop as well? I will take a look next time I brave hoodies.



No, but they make you a cup of coffee, they have a kettle out the back somewhere.


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## Dowie (Mar 10, 2008)

try holloway tbh...

tis still affordable and close to central but not as bad as finsbury park etc...


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