# What is Ilford like?



## brix_kitty (Jan 8, 2009)

I'm moving back to London after being out of the country for a while and someone has offered me in a room in Ilford. It wasn't really where I was looking for - I lived in Brixton before I left and will be working in Kings Cross so wanted something more central. But I was thinking of taking the room while I look for somewhere else. So... what is Ilford like? Do I want to live there?? All I know about Ilford is where it is on Google maps. Cheers


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## DotCommunist (Jan 8, 2009)

Grey and multi cultural iirc.

Last time I was there I found forty quid, so I have fond memories of the place


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## hipipol (Jan 8, 2009)

Its a bit dull
Its in Essex
I have been there twice
I have no plans to return

All I can tell you I'm afraid
Not very helpful really


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## scifisam (Jan 8, 2009)

It's not London, but the transport links aren't bad, depending on whether the place you've been offered is close to the station. It's a pretty dull place in itself, but might not be a bad idea for a temporary home.


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## mrsfran (Jan 8, 2009)

I lived there for 5 months in 1998. It was a shithole then.


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## joevsimp (Jan 8, 2009)

it's well nang innit blud

like anywhere really it depends on where abouts you are, further out of the town centre towards seven kings is alright, dont really know the place that well apart from their Air Cadets squadron (where one of the bastards tried to half inch my stuff)


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## editor (Jan 8, 2009)

It's truly ghastly.


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## zoltan (Jan 8, 2009)

It is indeed a dump.

sorry to say this Ilford dwellers


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## bluestreak (Jan 8, 2009)

i grew up in ilford and left at the earliest opportunity.

it has nothing but greyness.


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## brix_kitty (Jan 8, 2009)

hmm it sounds delightful  oh well I might keep looking but I might end up there anyway... a room is better than no room and all that.

especially if I find 40 quid.


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## scifisam (Jan 8, 2009)

bluestreak said:


> i grew up in ilford and left at the earliest opportunity.
> 
> it has nothing but greyness.



In my home town, we dreamed of somewhere as vibrant and happening as Ilford.


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## DotCommunist (Jan 8, 2009)

Ilford is where my dad explained usury to me after I'd wondered about all the banks of Foriegn.

Another point in it's favour


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## bluestreak (Jan 8, 2009)

scifisam said:


> In my home town, we dreamed of somewhere as vibrant and happening as Ilford.




Jesus, where did you grow up, in the Ozarks or somewhere Amish?


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## Bungle73 (Jan 8, 2009)

How is Ilford not in London?


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## scifisam (Jan 8, 2009)

bluestreak said:


> Jesus, where did you grow up, in the Ozarks or somewhere Amish?



Grays. Yes, so grey that they actually named it so.



Bungle73 said:


> How is Ilford not in London?



It's one of those places that became a London borough about forty years ago, but still has Essex postcodes, Essex phone numbers and is just thoroughly Essex.


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## Divisive Cotton (Jan 8, 2009)

I've always found Ilford quite nice really London but suburban at the same time

I'm starting work there in a week or two

It's fine you'll like it - and the train links are very accessible


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## Divisive Cotton (Jan 8, 2009)

scifisam said:


> It's one of those places that became a London borough about forty years ago, but still has Essex postcodes, Essex phone numbers and is just thoroughly Essex.



hmmm... not quite mate... the racial mix is not London


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## bluestreak (Jan 8, 2009)

The good things about Ilford:

1.  Valentines Park is quite nice.
2.  From Ilford Station you're in Liverpool Street in 25 minutes.
3. Gants Hill underground station is modelled on the Moscow Metro and is quite nice to look at.
4.  If you hang around outside Faces for long enough you might get to see some pissed footballers.
5. Multicultural.  But only in the same way that all of London is these days.
6.  Serene's Fish Shop - nom nom nom - and the Bagel Bakery a few doors down.

An NME review of a Prodigy gig at a now-demolished Ilford venue described Ilford as a place where the only shops appear to be Chicken Shops and Minicabs.  I doubt that has changed in the years since.

Mind you, I've not been back that way in five years.  It might have gotten better.


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## scifisam (Jan 8, 2009)

Divisive Cotton said:


> hmmm... not quite mate... the racial mix is not London



You're disagreeing with me by pointing out that it's not London, which is the point I was making?


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## bluestreak (Jan 8, 2009)

Bungle73 said:


> How is Ilford not in London?



It is really.  It's part of London Borough of Redbridge, and has been part of Greater London since the 60s.  It is 0208.  But it retains the Essex postcode, IG.


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## bluestreak (Jan 8, 2009)

Also, growing up there, we generally thought of ourselves as being from Essex.


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## mattie (Jan 8, 2009)

bluestreak said:


> Also, growing up there, we generally thought of ourselves as being from Essex.



It must be pretty fucking bad if you identify with Essex.


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## scifisam (Jan 8, 2009)

bluestreak said:


> It is really.  It's part of London Borough of Redbridge, and has been part of Greater London since the 60s.  It is 0208.  But it retains the Essex postcode, IG.





bluestreak said:


> Also, growing up there, we generally thought of ourselves as being from Essex.



Yeah - it's a bit of both, I guess. I guess I just wouldn't consider it, er, _culturally_ London, if that makes any sense. That is, if someone wanted to live in London, this place wouldn't occur to me, but it might if they asked about suburbs near London. 

Some of the areas that became 'London' in the 60s are about as London, to me, as Cornwall is. North Ockendon's part of London, and that place is almost entirely fields. But I guess even places like Bethnal Green weren't London once.


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## Divisive Cotton (Jan 8, 2009)

bluestreak said:


> It is really.  It's part of London Borough of Redbridge, and has been part of Greater London since the 60s.  It is 0208.  But it retains the Essex postcode, IG.



the racial mix is not essex i meant


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## bluestreak (Jan 8, 2009)

Divisive Cotton said:


> the racial mix is not essex i meant



Nah, but that's because it's really suburban London!


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## scifisam (Jan 8, 2009)

Divisive Cotton said:


> the racial mix is not essex i meant



It's pretty much the same as some areas of Essex too. 

It is London and it isn't London. Both are true statements, even though they seem to contradict each other.


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## mattie (Jan 8, 2009)

scifisam said:


> It's pretty much the same as some areas of Essex too.
> 
> It is London and it isn't London. Both are true statements, even though they seem to contradict each other.



The South East's Schrödinger's cat.   Pretty much the only time Quantum Theory will be discussed in the same breath as Ilford.


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## scifisam (Jan 8, 2009)

mattie said:


> The South East's Schrödinger's cat.   Pretty much the only time Quantum Theory will be discussed in the same breath as Ilford.



I was just waiting for someone to pick up on that.  I knew it'd be that or doublethink, but I prefer Schrödinger.


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## Stobart Stopper (Jan 8, 2009)

Ilford is ok, the houses around Valentines Park are quite nice, but I would avaoid the Seven Kings area as it's a bit crappy. Ilford Lane is great for curry cafes and restaurants, fabric shops etc. Ilford town centre is where I always shop, the Mall is really clean and there's Bodgers department store just outside which is excellent.

Ilford is a multicultural area with a high population of asians. I prefer Ilford to Romford shopping centre which is full of chavs who smoke everywhere.

Valentines Park is ok, but it gets a bit dodge after dark, quite a few robberies around there.
In the town centre there is the Kenneth Moore theatre, a cinema, Esporta and Fitness First gyms.


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## fogbat (Jan 8, 2009)

I went clubbing in Ilford once. Jeeesus


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## Stobart Stopper (Jan 8, 2009)

fogbat said:


> I went clubbing in Ilford once. Jeeesus


Was it full of  tattooed, orange oompah loompahs?
That's usually the case at clubs like Faces at Gants Hill or this new one called Funkymojoes at Woodford Green.
Why do almost all Essex women who go clubbing have orange skin and tattoos on their backs? It's horrible.

Like this:


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## fogbat (Jan 8, 2009)

Stobart Stopper said:


> Was it full of  tattooed, orange oompah loompahs?
> That's usually the case at clubs like Faces at Gants Hill or this new one called Funkymojoes at Woodford Green.
> Why do almost all Essex women who go clubbing have orange skin and tattoos on their backs? It's horrible.
> 
> Like this:



It was in Jumpin' Jacks, back in about 2002. 

The interior walls were covered in plastic "logs", to create some sort of freakish log-cabin effect.

The barstaff wore lumberjack shirts.

They had a live band, who sang various chart hits all night.

I think it might have been before the Rise of the Orange, but the locals were still scary.


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## joevsimp (Jan 8, 2009)

the one in the middle still looks human but the other two...


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## joevsimp (Jan 8, 2009)

fogbat said:


> It was in Jumpin' Jacks, back in about 2002.
> 
> The interior walls were covered in plastic "logs", to create some sort of freakish log-cabin effect.
> 
> ...



i'm no longer sad they knocked it down then


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## Daniel (Jan 8, 2009)

I live in Ilford, to be honest its not particularly great, but IMO has gotten better now in the last few years, as I don't have the urge to move out as quickly as I did.

As mentioned, the transport connections are good, and Ilford shopping mall ain't so bad.

Good variety of different restaurants.

I've always considered myself London (even though my I guess I'm technically not)along with a lot of people I know, opposed to Essex, just because I refuse to be an "Essex Boi"


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## upsidedownwalrus (Jan 8, 2009)

brix_kitty said:


> I'm moving back to London after being out of the country for a while and someone has offered me in a room in Ilford. It wasn't really where I was looking for - I lived in Brixton before I left and will be working in Kings Cross so wanted something more central. But I was thinking of taking the room while I look for somewhere else. So... what is Ilford like? Do I want to live there?? All I know about Ilford is where it is on Google maps. Cheers



Don't.


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## Divisive Cotton (Jan 9, 2009)

fucking hell the metropolitan mindset is oozing out in this thread... "Ilford is so out of it, darling"


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## Griff (Jan 9, 2009)

It kills me that the huge county of Essex gets tarred with the same brush.

to quote mattie:

_It must be pretty fucking bad if you identify with Essex.  
_

Keep the broad-mindedness up people.


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## scifisam (Jan 9, 2009)

Divisive Cotton said:


> fucking hell the metropolitan mindset is oozing out in this thread... "Ilford is so out of it, darling"



I think you must be reading a different thread to me.


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## fogbat (Jan 9, 2009)

scifisam said:


> I think you must be reading a different thread to me.



I don't think it's permitted to dislike places outside central London


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## Stobart Stopper (Jan 9, 2009)

Ilford has teh cannabis house as well!

http://www.ilfordrecorder.co.uk/con...ewsilford&itemid=WeED09 Jan 2009 12:04:43:070



It's not all boring!


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## Griff (Jan 9, 2009)

I was quite amazed as to how much of a shithole it's turned into the last time I was there.

It was a nice place when I was a kid, Valentine's Park, the nice Italian ice-cream shop, the Odeon, Harrison Gibson the furniture store etc.

Now it seems like a soul-less, ghastly, transient fucking dump. 

Don't do it.


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## GarveyLives (Jun 29, 2022)

Zara Aleena: Family pay tribute after 'unimaginable' death






*Zara Aleena was the 16th woman in London to be killed by a man in 2022.*


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## GarveyLives (Jul 2, 2022)

Why isn’t *Zara Aleena’s* name on everyone’s lips?

‘She had no fear’: friends and family to tread last walk of *Zara Aleena*





*The meeting place for the silent march is opposite Cranbrook Rise, IG1, on Cranbrook Road at 1.30 p.m. The silent march will begin walking at 2.17 p.m. to finish Zara's journey home to Gants Hill. *
*
A large attendance is anticipated for the march, and significant traffic delays are expected. Buses along the route will also be diverted to aid the walk

With that in mind, those who plan to join the Silent March are strongly encouraged to travel by public transport. Gants Hill Underground Station and Ilford Station are within proximity to the starting location of the march.
*
*If people plan to travel by car, they are advised to use Ley Street multi-storey car park.*


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## Magnus McGinty (Jul 2, 2022)

I’ve never stayed on the no. 25 long enough to venture there although I suppose I should.


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## ouirdeaux (Jul 2, 2022)

I have never been to Ilford. I have been to Dagenham and to Barking. Which of the two is it more like?

The only thing I can think of that I know about Ilford is that it has a hospital that doesn't treat vast categories of people, which is one way of keeping the numbers down.


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## Puddy_Tat (Jul 2, 2022)

ouirdeaux said:


> I have never been to Ilford. I have been to Dagenham and to Barking. Which of the two is it more like?



I don't know any of them that well, but not sure Ilford is that like either of them, really

As very broad generalisations, Barking and Dagenham were traditionally more white working class (the huge Becontree estate was built by the London County Council, and largely initially occupied by people moved out from inner east london) and a lot of the residents worked at Fords' plant.

Ilford had more of the middle class commuter land development, and has been more multi cultural for longer - Gants Hill in particular gained quite a big Jewish community mainly from the 1950s - 70s as people moved out of inner east london (some of the younger generations have moved further out now.)  

I have only been to Ilford a few times, and can't really say it's left any sort of impression on me, to be honest...


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## davesgcr (Jul 2, 2022)

Ilford was developed by two entrepreneurs - Griggs and Corbett , who harnessed the traffic hungry Great Eastern railway and between them laid down swathes of terraced and semi-detached solid Edwardian housing - (and also in Catford south of the river) ,which were clearly aimed at the "something in the city" brigade of the Edwardian era. The only down side was the Haussman style of terminally long streets. 

An area that has seen some changes post war - but it took a pounding in WW2 with flying bombs etc.


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## Puddy_Tat (Jul 2, 2022)

davesgcr said:


> The only down side was the Haussman style of terminally long streets.



and a lack of pubs?  

the corbett estate between catford and hither green is noted for a lack of pubs, corbett having disapproved of booze


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## davesgcr (Jul 2, 2022)

Puddy_Tat said:


> and a lack of pubs?
> 
> the corbett estate between catford and hither green is noted for a lack of pubs, corbett having disapproved of booze



Yes - very much so on the various private estates ! (but that was not uncommon in those days - think Queens Park for example) - Ilford Town Centre had a reasonable mix of licensed premises.


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## ouirdeaux (Jul 2, 2022)

When I was unemployed, I did a few gigs as a mystery shopper visiting a well-known bookmaker; it wasn't exactly lucrative, but I had my bet paid for, a couple of quid in my pocket and possibly the opportunity to see a new part of London. At the very least, a bit of exercise walking about, a few pictures of whatever seemed memorable, the feeling that one's day had amounted to something. But I can't remember anything about Dagenham, apart from long streets of nothing much. And then there's Foots Cray, but that's another story.

Barking, which I feel I know better than I'd have chosen in an ideal world, seems quite jolly by contrast. An amazing market, a choice of bookmakers who have disappeared from many other London areas with a more or less comparable demographic, and what appeared to be good if tediously long connectivity with places further west. People don't seem to like it much, but I don't know why. I've probably missed something, as I often do.


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## weltweit (Jul 2, 2022)

ouirdeaux said:


> .. I did a few gigs as a mystery shopper


I've done that, I really enjoyed it too  

I worked in Romford for a while and Ilford was one village next on the way to London. I always thought of Ilford as a hole, even more of a hole than Romford


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## GarveyLives (Dec 14, 2022)

GarveyLives said:


> Why isn’t *Zara Aleena’s* name on everyone’s lips?
> 
> ‘She had no fear’: friends and family to tread last walk of *Zara Aleena*
> 
> ...



The streets of Ilford - and the world in general - are a tiny bit safer this evening with the removal from circulation of this savage for at least 38 years:





​

Rex -v- Jordan McSweeney, Sentencing Remarks of Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb, Central Criminal Court, 14 December 2022




*George Carter-Stephenson KC, defending, told the court McSweeney knew CCTV footage would be played at the sentencing hearing and that he did not want to “relive” the incident.*


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## scifisam (Dec 14, 2022)

GarveyLives said:


> The streets of Ilford - and the world in general - are a tiny bit safer this evening with the removal from circulation of this savage for at least 38 years:
> 
> 
> 
> ...




I think this might have been posted on another thread somewhere as well, but I didn't want it to seem like nobody here cared. 

I think the case got less publicity at the time not exactly due to racism but because the suspect was caught quickly and there was so much evidence against him that there wasn't all that much to discuss. 

I'm extremely glad his sentence was the maximum allowed.

It also sounds like he was probably not really safe enough to be out in the community getting drunk, and everyone knew it. 69 offences, some of them violent - I mean, that's a fuck of a lot, isn't it?


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