# whats finchley like?



## Pingu (Sep 9, 2008)

I am looking at a contract atm and the work will be based in Finchley.

given my knowledge of that there london is restricted to jellied eels, pie and mash and the bits inbetween Euston and whatever godforsaken place I am briefly visiting it may well help I guess if I know something about the area before I decide to accept the gig or not. Would be there for 3 months.


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## gentlegreen (Sep 9, 2008)




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## vauxhallmum (Sep 9, 2008)

Finchley is a weird place with no soul.

And the historical home of Thatcher, btw

Just say no.


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## Pingu (Sep 9, 2008)

so its "weird" and thatch came from there...


define weird


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## mysterygirl (Sep 9, 2008)

Living or working?

I work in Finchley, it's OK I guess. It has tube and buses, car parking is a bit of a nightmare i think and the wardens do actually do the rounds but I have allocated parking so it's a bit of a case of 'I'm alright Jack' Im afraid.   There are pubs (expensive! or is that just London generally?) and a Tesco if you're not into the smaller independent corner shops.  Plenty of cafes & sandwich bars, make your own lunch unless you're rich.  Oh, and there's a _very _nice patisserie.  

But work is more about the people you work with than where you're located IMO and to that end it doesn't matter where the contract is, surely?


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## yield (Sep 9, 2008)

It's nice enough. Bit dull and expensive. mysterygirl has described it well. 

Try Atari-Ya in Temple Fortune if you like good fresh sushi.


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## trashpony (Sep 9, 2008)

It's okay 

I think there's a few urbs like there. I live near-ish


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## zenie (Sep 9, 2008)

It's ok, it's not that rough afaik. 

I can't believe you're thinking of working in London again though!


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## Maurice Picarda (Sep 9, 2008)

There are many different Finchleys. East Finchley feels villagey and urban. It could almost be zone 2. North Finchley is a ratty and pikey high street, as you might expect in Aylesbury or Southend. Finchley Central is a souless place with nothing but the tube. Church End has surprisingly nice houses, but nothing else. West Finchley is echt suburbia. 

Which one are you thinking of?


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## Pingu (Sep 9, 2008)

zenie said:


> It's ok, it's not that rough afaik.
> 
> I can't believe you're thinking of working in London again though!



i know...

its purely for the money 

well that and its an interesting project.


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## lights.out.london (Sep 9, 2008)

It's all pretty dull. Better be a good day rate!


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## Pingu (Sep 9, 2008)

lights.out.london said:


> It's all pretty dull. Better be a good day rate!




put it this way:

I hate cities

I REALLY hate london

day rate is good and then at 8 hours kicks into hourly rate at time and half... kerfuckingching. tbh though the project is a very interesting one and its this thats got me considering it more than anything else

first 3 months are onsite doing scoping and preparing the business case, outlining possible solutions then its only 2 days onsite and rest work form home

its  NW11 btw if thats any help


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## Maurice Picarda (Sep 9, 2008)

That's Golders Green, surely?


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## London_Calling (Sep 9, 2008)

Work there by all means, but for fucks sake don't live there. 

I can confirm Penge is nice this time of year.


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## Citizen66 (Sep 10, 2008)

It's as dull as dishwater.

Madusa rates the area though so I couls be wrong.


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## HarrisonSlade (Sep 10, 2008)

The fact that the trash from Wood Green can get to North Finchley has turned that part into a foul crap house, with very dodgy types hanging round. Church End (ie Finchley Central) is losing it's identity due to the loss of the smaller shops, and is filling full of hoodies. East Finchley, however, remains, at the moment endeering, just as long as it stays without a club, or any other kind of dive the scummier parts of London can infiltrate.


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## Pingu (Sep 10, 2008)

Maurice Picarda said:


> That's Golders Green, surely?



how would I know?



to me london is just a huge sprawl of grey things with too many people. tbf I only know canary warf\rothrhithe and the best sight in London is euston station (as it means I am leaving the place). If the money wasnt so good I wouldnt be considering the role - but it is.

not arsed in the slightest about nightlife btw my days will go sleep - work - eat - sleep then go back home at midday on friday


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## Badgers (Sep 10, 2008)

mysterygirl said:


> Living or working?
> 
> I work in Finchley, it's OK I guess. It has tube and buses, car parking is a bit of a nightmare i think and the wardens do actually do the rounds but I have allocated parking so it's a bit of a case of 'I'm alright Jack' Im afraid.   There are pubs (expensive! or is that just London generally?) and a Tesco if you're not into the smaller independent corner shops.  Plenty of cafes & sandwich bars, make your own lunch unless you're rich.  Oh, and there's a _very _nice patisserie.
> 
> But work is more about the people you work with than where you're located IMO and to that end it doesn't matter where the contract is, surely?



About spot on.


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## dtb (Sep 10, 2008)

it's not a very nice place to work or live


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## Pingu (Sep 10, 2008)

mysterygirl said:


> Living or working?
> 
> I work in Finchley, it's OK I guess. It has tube and buses, car parking is a bit of a nightmare i think and the wardens do actually do the rounds but I have allocated parking so it's a bit of a case of 'I'm alright Jack' Im afraid.   There are pubs (expensive! or is that just London generally?) and a Tesco if you're not into the smaller independent corner shops.  Plenty of cafes & sandwich bars, make your own lunch unless you're rich.  Oh, and there's a _very _nice patisserie.
> 
> But work is more about the people you work with than where you're located IMO and to that end it doesn't matter where the contract is, surely?



cheers

will only be working there. plan to stay somewhere else (haven't decided where yet but it will be close as I hate the tube in rush hour).

am going tomorrow to have a shufty round


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## Stanley Edwards (Sep 10, 2008)

Crouch End is walkable for much of Finchley. 

I lived there for about a year. It has a nice non-London feel about it. Almost like a small provincial market town. Good pubs etc. Nice parks very close - the woods, Ali Palli, it's own nice, but small park. Old railway line walks to go on. Close to Holloway for a bit more contemporary London cultural mix and the most interesting park in the whole of London IMO. Fantastic framed views back to the city. Lots of green space for London.

Downside: No tube, but you won't need it everyday. The night bus back from the center of London can take ages.


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## Pingu (Sep 10, 2008)

just noticed i travel through mornington crescent to get to the tube station...

cool


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## zenie (Sep 10, 2008)

Pingu said:


> just noticed i travel through mornington crescent to get to the tube station...
> 
> cool


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## Pingu (Sep 10, 2008)

provided they still want me after tomorrow i think i will take it just so I can say I go to work via m c 

so which urbanites would i be able to stalk whilst in london?


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## Cloo (Sep 11, 2008)

Pingu said:


> provided they still want me after tomorrow i think i will take it just so I can say I go to work via m c
> 
> so which urbanites would i be able to stalk whilst in london?


 Us, we're in Finchley central 

It's OK, dull but pleasant - central is an area of surprising downmarket but nice enough high street for an area of expensive housing.


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## blossie33 (Sep 11, 2008)

Stanley Edwards said:


> Crouch End is walkable for much of Finchley.
> 
> I lived there for about a year. It has a nice non-London feel about it. Almost like a small provincial market town. Good pubs etc. Nice parks very close - the woods, Ali Palli, it's own nice, but small park. Old railway line walks to go on. Close to Holloway for a bit more contemporary London cultural mix and the most interesting park in the whole of London IMO. Fantastic framed views back to the city. Lots of green space for London.
> 
> Downside: No tube, but you won't need it everyday. The night bus back from the center of London can take ages.




What's said about Crouch End is true except I wouldn't agree it's within walking distance of much of Finchley!
Well,  East Finchley maybe but the other parts would be a VERY good walk away and there is not a direct bus route to Finchley from Crouch End.


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## Stanley Edwards (Sep 11, 2008)

blossie33 said:


> ...East Finchley maybe but the other parts would be a VERY good walk away and there is not a direct bus route to Finchley from Crouch End.



I think you're probably right about walking. I'm possibly an exception. I even used to walk to work in Old Street every morning from Crouch End!!!

I very rarely used buses except for the night bus back from Kings Cross which could be very scary at times even for a fairly large ugly fucker like me.

All in all I enjoyed Crouch End a great deal. It has a lot going for it if you don't want full on city living.


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## jonead (Sep 11, 2008)

HarrisonSlade said:


> The fact that the trash from Wood Green can get to North Finchley has turned that part into a foul crap house, with very dodgy types hanging round.



indeed.  i live in N Finchely, and it's as rough as old boots occasionally.  plenty of youth willing to put their testosterone to the test, but they do back down if challenged.  doesn't help that my flat is bordered on one side by a small park which attracts them.

my most shocking moment was when a bottle of bicardi hit my bathroom window shattering it whilst i was in the shower.  if i'd have known i'd have just filled the bath with limes & ice & left the window open.  also lost a couple of wing mirrors to filthy slags with nothing better to do.  hey ho.

couple of good pubs, shopping's crap, tube links are good, getting out of London northwards is easy.  all in all not too bad.



ps.  personally i try to remember it for spike milligan rather than la thatcher


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## blooper (Sep 11, 2008)

Finchley is North London. Nuff said!

Horrible place.


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## Pingu (Sep 12, 2008)

tbh I thought it was OK

wasnt too crowded in and had a few trees.

easy enough to get to and the people at he place seemed quite nice.


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## Pingu (Sep 13, 2008)

oh well

after doing some digging I find that the company has links to proctor and gamble. 

which means I wont take the job. shame really as it was an interesting project and the money was good but i wont have anything to do with P&G so thats that


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## Cid (Sep 13, 2008)

Bloody hell some people are picky... Either too rough or too dull, too empty or too populous. Finchley is fine, not exactly exciting but with easy transport links to better places (or does everyone here live right next to a decent bloody venue or something?). Walking distance from the heath (and a few parks of its own), some places to eat out and not at all violent as London goes*.

I'd love to live in Finchley, far too expensive though.


*North can get a bit nasty as mentioned.


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## i386 (Sep 30, 2008)

i live at the edge of east finchley and highgate. it's 'quiet' nice if u enjoy greens such as hampstead heath, highgate wood. the bishop's avenue, besides its million-pound residence properties, is probably the only single-carriage minor road in london where u can legally drive up to 40mph


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## Yelkcub (Sep 30, 2008)

I amazed that anyone thinks North Finchley is rough. But then I went to school with the scum people are scared of, I guess.

It's a bit pikey I guess. I've got plenty of local friends who do all their socialising in the pubs there and never out of the N12 post code.


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## Streathamite (Oct 6, 2008)

Pingu said:


> i wont have anything to do with P&G so thats that



oh well done!
finchley is dull twinsets-suburbia incarnate anyway


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## Oswaldtwistle (Oct 6, 2008)

vauxhallmum said:


> Finchley is a weird place with no soul.
> 
> And the historical home of Thatcher, btw
> 
> Just say no.



To be fair, it is now represented by a Labour MP- remeber Thatcher now left office some 18 years ago- an eternity in politics.


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