You know, I’ve lived on or near Holloway Rd all my three years in London – I lived right on it for a few months – and I’ve never really thought of it as a place to go; just as a route to somewhere else. Everyone talks about it as vaguely dangerous place, in that way which is basically code for “it’s poor and unpleasant.” A bloke at work – who is admittedly a self-professed Tory Snob – declared yesterday that it would do nothing but good if you stood at Archway, pointed a large flamethrower towards Highbury Corner, and pressed fire.

And yet, odd little things have been making me rethink it recently. At the weekend I was passing through on the 29, and I looked down the road as we crossed the Nag’s Head corner to see the blue Christmas lights stretching down the road. Now, the lights are crap, a dull-blue mess on every tree. But then it hit me, like a jolt: there are loads of trees. Every few metres, all the way down on both sides of the road. Suddenly, where previously I’d only seen a busy, run-down dual carriageway, I suddenly saw a tree-lined boulevard. My flatmate, who lived there for three years, confirms it looks quite lovely in spring.

Then, this morning, I found myself taking Holloway Rd partway to work, having taken a detour via a bike shop to fix a flat. As I whizzed (OK, trundled) down Hornsey Rd, I got my first proper view of the new Emirates Arsenal Stadium. It’s amazing; a real, 21st century sports stadium, like you see in any European city, but in the heart of north London. Behind it, I could see the strange new red-and-grey apartment buildings being developed as part of the Stadium deal. Then I scooted down a side road and came out onto Holloway, opposite several new flat developments. Now, ordinarily, new flat developments means dreary brick-heavy faux-industrial or faux-Edwardian blocks. But these are different: one has a network of interlocking coloured glass cubes on its frontage, another a large orange box offset from its side. I didn’t have time to take pictures, but it dawned on me that, free from the stricter planning rules of affluent Islington, developers were experimenting and playing in exciting ways.

And as I swung left, past London Met’s Libeskind-designed graduate centre, and scooted off down Liverpool Rd, it occurred to me that here, in my back yard, was some of the most cutting-edge modern architecture in London.

Which got me thinking – what else could I be missing? From Archway to Highbury Corner is probably less than a mile, but who knows what shopping, eating, drinking, and just plain sightseeing delights it could contain?

So, I’m going to find out. A whole day in January, devoted to exploring poor, maligned Holloway Rd. Anyone got anything I should check out, let me know.

See more progress on: Explore Holloway Rd

Permalink | 10 comments | Print this post

Email this | Add to del.icio.us | Digg this | Share this on Facebook
See other content filed under: Journal, Posts