Postcode Guides

We’ve been gathering mini-guides to London on a postcode-by-postcode basis for a while now, we have around 20 in total. There’s another 100 to do, but the info we have so far is really pretty useful. We’ve put it together in one place on this google map. Click on the pins and get linked right through to the blog guide. Nice.

View Postcode Guides in a larger mapThere are nearly 100 more London postcodes to cover, so we’d like to invite you to take part. If you want to answer some questions about YOUR favourite postcode and have them added to our super London guide, just do it! The questions can be found below:

What’s the best thing to eat in your postcode?

What’s the best smell in your postcode?

I have 3 hours in your postcode. What do I do?

If your postcode wasn’t in London, where would it be?

What’s the best thing in your postcode?

Talk dirty to your postcode. Go on… what would you say?

Best bus route in your postcode. Where does it start and where does it take you?

Has anyone written a book about/set in your postcode?

Have you seen your postcode in a film or on tv?

Trading up or trading down?

So, we’ve long been fans of NW6, not least because of its tendancy to give rise to rather wonderful locals who love their postcode so much they feel compelled to start blogs about just how great West Hampstead is. And it is. Encompassing everything from the down and dirty kilburn high road to more refined pockets of grown up cool, it’s got something for everyone. And it’s totally, and utterly ‘London’. Brilliant.

A piece on NW6 has been a long time coming, and who better to ask than two of NW6’s finest bloggers: Whampstead blogger and new kid on the block NW6 blogger. They’ve gone head to head in our 10 questions ’series’. We separated them, fired out the same questions and this is what we got back. No conferring, nothing. So what’s great about NW6? Let’s find out shall we…

What’s the best thing to eat in your postcode?

Whampstead:As you’re casually passing through, then a Moroccan pancake from Café Bon on West End Lane. Oh, you have time to linger? Perhaps check out Vijays on Willesden Lane for some of the best South Indian food in London, and certainly in NW6.

NW6blog: That would have to be some sort of tea-time treat from Bake-a-boo. Don’t be fooled by its pink exterior and smile-wearing staff; the cakes are lean, mean, gluten-free wrecking machines.

What’s the best smell in your postcode?

Whampstead:If you’re that way inclined, perhaps the smell of the police horses from West Hampstead station as they do their daily exercise. If that’s too much, then the coffee aromas in The Wet Fish Café are hard to beat.

NW6blog: Diversity – no, not the dance troupe, that other thing. Also food. For late night olfactory stimulation, you can’t beat the kebab shop Woody Grill, aka Woody’s, which I discovered much to my delight is an ever-growing franchise, with grills in Camden Town and Shepherd’s Bush, as well as two on Kilburn High Road (its spiritual home). While you’re there, pleasing your nosebuds, you may as well buy a lamb donner shish. Alternatively, if you like the smell of fresh air, Kilburn Grange Park is a great green space, with some tennis courts and a basketball court thrown in for good measure.

I have 3 hours in your postcode. What do I do?

Whampstead:Wander around the misnamed Hampstead Cemetery with its dash of neogothic. It’s a far cry from its more illustrious counterpart in Highgate, but it has a quiet beauty (and the odd famous name dotted in and among). Stroll down to Davids Deli for an epic salt beef sandwich before zipping over to Kilburn and seeing a film or a play at the Tricycle Theatre. If you’re lucky you’ll just have time on a Sunday to scoot over to Queens Park farmers market to buy some gorgeously fresh ingredients for dinner.

NW6blog: Get creative: paint a plate. Decorate some ceramics at Art4fun in West Hampstead, whilst enjoying a nice cup of tea. Celebrate your achievement with a tipple down at the North London Tavern. A warm little pub with a couple of cosy sofas, an eclectic (and not too loud) selection of background music, decent rotation of Real Ales, and some delicious food & snacks. Once you’ve warmed your mitts, pop down to the Tricycle Theatre, if you’re short on time, maybe just sneak a peek at their gallery, but if you can, catch a film or see a play. At certain times you can see the latest flicks for under a fiver, and there’s all sorts of theatre-related offers, including the ocassional ‘pay-what-you-can’ nights.

If your postcode wasn’t in London, where would it be?

Whampstead:Somewhere with a friendly community and the occasional grubby corner. A sort of more ethnically diverse Seattle perhaps with its cafés and live music aplenty.

NW6blog: Probably New York or Barcelona, but that’s what everyone says, right? It has its scummy bits, its edgey/trendy bits, and its swanky bits. Like most places in zone 2.

What’s the best thing in your postcode?

Whampstead:The independent shops and restaurants that cling on in the face of the chains, but also the fact that there’s a massive Sainsburys.

NW6blog: It has live music coming out of its (imaginary, Will Smith-esque) ears. On Kilburn High Road alone, on any night of the week, you’ve got unsigned bands playing at Power’s Bar and at the Good Ship, with bigger names at the deservedly London-renowned venue, the Luminaire. The Westbury often mixes it up nicely with DJ sets from the likes of Hot Chip and DJ Format.

Talk dirty to your postcode. Go on… what would you say?

Whampstead:With so many train lines, the answer to “Your place or mine?” is self-evident

NW6blog: I respect NW6 far too much for that. Plus, a gentleman never tells… But, West End Lane’s got some killer curves, and there’s more than one Brazilian on the High Road, if you catch my drift…

Best bus route in your postcode. Where does it start and where does it take you?

Whampstead:If you’re a tourist and you want a bit of London glamour then sure, hop on the 139. Won’t take you through much of NW6 though. If you want a real NW6 bus then it’s the 328. One of London’s finest routes and never passes through Oxford St. Board at Golders Green station and sail majestically into the postcode at Fortune Green Road. Enjoy the shicanes of West End Lane and see how many celebs you can spot donating clothes to charity shops. Hang a right at Quex Road and brace yourself for the full-on Kilburn experience. If the traffic’s bad the next quarter of a mile might take a few minutes, but just sit back and soak up the buzz of Kilburn. You’ll see the pirate DVD sellers, the market traders, the poundshoppers, but also the coffee drinkers, the.. er… drinkers, and the mobile phone cover stallholders. Swing past the tiled exterior of the often overlooked Kilburn Park tube station before exploring some of the large council estates around Carlton Vale. Sadly the NW6 portion of the trip is over, but the delights of Westbourne Park, Notting Hill, Kensington High Street and Earls Court all await before finishing (aptly enough) at World’s End. This isn’t a bus in a rush, but it’s one that captures everything about London living – and NW6 life.

NW6blog: The glorious 139 is the finest in the fleet, and the perfect bus for a hop-on/hop-off sightseeing tour of London. Starting in our very own West Hampstead, it drifts along Abbey Road, ocassionally held-up briefly by the tourists trying to capture their own zebra-crossing moments opposite the iconic studios. Past Lord’s Cricket Ground, it then meanders down to the south-western corner of Regent’s park, stopping at Baker Street – ideal for those wanting to visit the Sherlock Holmes museum, or seeking to leave their wallets at the door of Madame Tussauds. If shopping is on the cards, then where better – rhetorical question, mind – than Oxford Circus? Down Regent Street to Picadilly Circus, and on to Trafalgar Square, it’s one touristy photo-op after another, or perfect for a trip into Theatreland. Finally, it’s time for the best river-crossing views in town as it heads over Waterloo Bridge. Alight at Waterloo for a walk along the South Bank, taking in its many pleasures. As if that wasn’t enough already, it runs all 24 hours of the day. Forget the best route in my postcode – the 139 is the best route in London!

Has anyone written a book about/set in your postcode? Have you seen your postcode in a film or on tv?

Whampstead:There are writers and actors galore in the area, but generally they seem to understand that it’s better to send the geeky location seekers away from your own front door. Let them bother people in Hampstead or Notting Hill.

NW6blog: I can barely read, so you’re asking the wrong person. The lovely folks at local, independent bookshops West End Lane Books and Kilburn Books would be happy to enlighten you though, I’m sure. As for films, the only one I know of is the DVD – now available on Blu-Ray – of The Who: Live at Kilburn. It’s a recording of their 1977 show which was, by most accounts, bloody awful. They played at the Gaumont State, which later became a bingo hall, and is now lined up to be a church. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

Trading up or trading down?

Whampstead:Up up and away.

NW6blog: Undeniably trading up. All the scummy old pound shops on Kilburn High Road are being replaced by new, fresher pound shops. Restaurants, bars and hip-hop-happening night spots are popping up left, right and centre. Even celebrity types like them ones off of Peep Show have taken up residence here. Unfortunately, trading up means pricing out, and it’s becoming increasingly expensive for young’uns like me to keep enjoying the area’s many delights.

Phew! Thanks for that amazing roundup of NW6 life… if that wasn’t enough to make you want to pop over and have a ganders, then really, check your pulse.

Beg to differ? Do let us know what other NW6 highlights you’d recommend and we can post those up too.

Don’t forget to check out the blogs and the twitter feeds. Details below.

West Hampstead Life blog:http://westhampsteadlife.blogspot.com/
And Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/WHampstead
In Whampstead’s own words: news, views and venues (plus loads of marvellous things like get togethers, hyper local twitter newsfeeds and much more)

NW6 blog: http://nwsix.wordpress.com/And Twitter feed: http://www.twitter.com/NWSixDan
In Daniel’s own words: NW6 the blog is news, reviews and interviews, it’s tips, pics and tiddly-bits, and best of all, it’s, like, well good.

It’s been a while but we have another mini-London guide. This time it’s for the very special EC1 thanks to food blogger extraordinaire Krista, whose blog Londonelicious is one of the great joys of the food blog world. Yummy words and yummy pictures.

Anyway, Krista really digs EC1, and here’s what she has to say about it:

What’s the best thing to eat in your postcode?
Oh you’re torturing me…Sedap on Old Street does awesome char kway teow (dense noodles packed with flavour). The Market Cafe on Whitecross Street makes a fantastic bacon, egg, and cheese on ciabatta. And I could eat the Welsh rarebit at St. John every day for the rest of my life.

What’s the best smell in your postcode?
Smithfield Market at night once all the lorries from all across Europe have arrived. Some people might not like the smell of raw meat, but I’m not one of them.

I have 3 hours in your postcode. What do I do?
Go for a walk. Start at St. Paul’s station and walk your way up through St. Bart’s hospital to Smithfield Market. From here, I like to wander towards Farringdon Station and up Farringdon Road. (Maybe dropping into The Gunmakers for a pint–they do great ales.)

Afterwards, continue up to Exmouth Market. Drop into Brill for a coffee and to check out the music selection. Then pop over to Moro for some pimentos de padron, a glass of rioja, and some crispy bread. From there, wander up Roseberry Avenue (be careful you don’t venture into N1) and then down St. John Street. My Sugarland is a beautiful shop full of great fashion finds. Oh, and Bobbin Bicylces is awesome if you’re into totally retro biking. Later, check out the library. And then maybe head down to St. John for one of those Welsh rarebits!

If your postcode wasn’t in London, where would it be?
Brooklyn, NY! (Coincidentally, where my family hails from. So I like to think I speak with authority.)

What’s the best thing in your postcode?
That would be St. John. And its Welsh rarebit. Oh, and the raisin bread from the bakery. Can you tell I like St. John?

Talk dirty to your postcode. Go on… what would you say?
Hmmm…I’ve never been good at this. Um…you are so hot?

Best bus route in your postcode. Where does it start and where does it take you?
Thank you for changing the subject. I was getting a little uncomfortable. So…The number 4 will take you down Goswell Road/Aldersgate down the Strand and all the way to Waterloo! Great during Ascot when all of Islington turns out in their finery.

Has anyone written a book about/set in your postcode? Have you seen your postcode in a film or on tv?I’m American. What do I know? (ooh, good point Krista, and we don’t know either. Anyone care to help?)

Trading up or trading down?
Depends on which side. I’m on the grotty side. (For all of 2008, I lived upstairs from hookers.) But for the rest of Clerkenwell, definitely trading UP!

A bit about Krista:

Krista is the force behind Londonelicious.com, one of London’s most popular restaurant blogs. When she’s not eating, she’s definitely not cooking. She likes data, Danish furniture, and Cabernet Franc.

Thanks Krista – we love EC1 too, and will be checking out all the tips next time we’re there.

Today is a very special day, for two reasons.

Reason 1: We’re introducing our second Intern, Esther Deustch, who is working as our Press Assistant for the next month.

Reason 2: We’ve broken all the ILMP blog rules, thrown out the London A-Z, and gone all out for a post about Manchester, England, England.

See, Esther’s spent the last few years living in M16 and has almost literally just moved to our fair capital. So, while she finds her way around, we thought we’d let her tell us what’s so great about M16 up north. In the meantime, she’s living in Walthamstow, so has our lovely E17 guide from Laura Porter to guide her. Over to you Esther…

Firstly, welcome to the love of my life, and my second home, Manchester. Welcome to the land of gravy on chips, Oasis, dodgy haircuts, Moss Side and Mr. Scruff.

What’s the best thing to eat in your postcode?
Trof on a Sunday morning for a veggie fry up is pretty damn tasty. Also trundle on over to the curry mile in Rusholme for some cheap and tasty falafel at only a couple of bob.

What’s the best smell in your postcode?
Curry, although the smell of stale beer and student vomit does overpower that on many an occasion.

I have 3 hours in your postcode. What do I do?
I’d say take a stroll round Platt fields Park, grab a falafel sandwich and then head to the central Manchester Art gallery to peruse the beautiful Victorian collection on show.

And for the evening I’d hit the Ram and Shackle pub, before heading out to such epic nights as Hot Milk and Hit and Run to dance your cotton socks off. Manchester has a cracking collection of club nights for every day of the week, catering for the infamous dnb and dubstep heads to the bottom (and ground) shaking bashment fans. Whatever you fancy a wiggle to, Manchester is bound to have it on offer.

If your postcode wasn’t in London, where would it be?
MANCHESTER!!!!! Indeed, ‘Manchester has everything except a beach’, but it doesn’t half rain a lot!

What’s the best thing in your postcode?
It’s got to be the people; northerners are the friendliest people on earth. Old ladies give you cups of tea and everyone always says thank you to the bus driver, no exceptions. Although get on the wrong side of a Mancunian, and you’re dead meat!

Talk dirty to your postcode. Go on… what would you say?
I’d butter your bacon buttie any day of the week (obviously uttered with a Mancunian accent). Manchester is pure filth, believe me.

Best bus route in your postcode. Where does it start and where does it take you?
The Magic Bus 143 to the city centre, complete with Manchester’s own crazy bus lady who believes the freemasons are after her, and a strange OCD man who used to swing his arms around whenever the bus started moving again.

Has anyone written a book about/set in your postcode?
It was the heart of industrial Britain, so a lot of the books are about Britain’s industrial life and conditions and the various politics involved. Engel’s stayed in Manchester for a while and wrote about the condition of the industrial working class in Manchester. There’s also Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell, and I’m sure Hard Times is also supposed to be set in Manchester as well.

Have you seen your postcode in a film or on tv?
There must be tonnes of stuff out there on forgotten film reels, but to name a few: 24 hour party people, East is East, Control and Velvet Goldmine. And last but not least, Shameless.

Thanks Esther! Good luck with your internship, and hope London turns out to be as great for you as M16! You can contact Esther at: esther@ilovemypostcode.com

Ah, E1… the smell of curry, the banter of market traders… what a fine, fine postcode it is. The honour of answering our postcode questions for this glorious ‘code falls to Alex Crawford, radio journalist, cycling enthusiast and general girl about London town.

What’s the best thing to eat in your postcode?

Every kind of curry on Brick Lane and some gret Turkish offerings too.

What’s the best smell in your postcode?

That of sweet spices wafting out of nearby restaurants. (That of wee on a Sunday morning is considerably less pleasant.)

I have 3 hours in your postcode. What do I do?

Visit Whitechapel Art Gallery and its fabulous book shop. If it’s the weekend, mooch around the top of Brick Lane where you can buy everything from bikes to mango smoothies. Go on a Jack the Ripper history tour. Have a curry – but chose wisely! Tayyabs, Lahore, Chillies and Aladins are really good. Go for some drinks in Vibe Bar or 93 Feet East and maybe see a band at the Rhythm Factory.

If your postcode wasn’t in London, where would it be?

Bronte Beach, Sydney, Australia – quite a leap!

What’s the best thing in your postcode?

The unusual old street names: Petticoat Lane, Fashion Street, Chicksand Street, Portsoken Street and my White Church Passage.

Talk dirty to your postcode. Go on… what would you say?

‘How you confound me, tease me, amuse and disgust me, with your many faces – rugged and bejweled – with your mysterious alleyways, exotic smells, shouting, thronging arteries. I love you but I some day soon will leave you.’ (Blush – Ed)

Best bus route in your postcode. Where does it start and where does it take you?

Bus? Pah! I cycle everywhere. Though should I ever find myself without my bike, I think the # 40 would take me all the way down to Camberwell to see mum.

What’s the best cycle route in/out of your postcode!!

If you go directly north past Spitalfields and on to the Kingsland Road you’ll get to Finsbury Park and Haringay in 20 mins.
Go west of here and you’re in the winding streets and cobbled passages of the city in five minutes. 30 St. Mary Axe (The Gherkin) is breathtaking close-up.

Or, follow the canal path from Limehouse and you can wile aways hours pootling along the water, observing all the life and activity the waterways imbibe. Depending which way you go, you’ll end up in Woolwich or Little Venice.

Has anyone written a book about/set in your postcode?

Yes, many: Monica Ali’s contentious ‘Brick Lane’ of course, and a plethora of books about Jack the Ripper.

Have you seen your postcode in a film or on tv?

Er, only films of the above!

Trading up or trading down?

Depends what you can get your hands on – there are some very swanky properties, riverside penthouses and lush warehouse conversions round here as well as some really rough ‘studenty’ dens. Where I am isn’t bad and all my friends seem to think this area is ‘very beat’ but I reckon I’d have to have a bit of garden to say I’d traded up!

Thanks Alex, you’ve covered a lot of the glories of E1 but I suspect there’s yet more to say. Want to step in and do Part II? Just email in and tell us what else you love about E1. Columbia road flower market? A specific stall at Spitalfields?

You can see Alex modelling our garb here and read about her beloved Southwark Cyclists here.