Back in June (hold tight, you’re going to be seeing a lot of “back in [month long gone]” bits this coming month), I lived in Crouch End, near the Harringay train station, for two weeks. In retrospect, I regret never walking into the library, which was on my way from the station to my house. Still, those first few weeks — months — were rough, so it’s understandable. I was very stressed. One of the days I was there, to make myself feel a little better and recharged so I could work, I went out for a photo walk around the neighborhood. That may be a generous term for how far I went, to be honest. Two-block radius, maybe. I was really busy, and stressed, and I didn’t want to get lost.
It was lovely, because Crouch End is really lovely, and it was summer, which is good here in England, not a braincell killer like it is in Spain, and I really needed it. And I took a lot of pictures. Which I am sharing with you today.
In case you haven’t heard of it before, which is entirely likely and I hadn’t either until I replied to someone’s tweet looking for a flatmate, Crouch End is a residential suburb in North London. It’s not super far out, but it is fairly far out. It’s zone 3, and you should never believe anyone advertising a room there that praises its transport links. In my experience you need a minimum of two transportation methods to get from Crouch End to anywhere else in London, whether it’s two buses or a train switching to the tube or overground switching to the tube. And the thing about trains is that they run way less often than buses or the tube.
The buses, though, have a whole “hail and ride” thing for sections of their route, which I’d never seen before in London. They basically stop at every corner if you press the button or someone’s waiting for it, which is very handy, especially when you’re carrying bags full of groceries from way down the hill. Those hills are steep.
Because of the hills and the tricky transport, you feel a bit like you’re in a bubble, and that feeling gets even stronger in a really cool way when you go to the shopping village. It has this vibe like you’re in your own actual town, and it has everything. It’s something I’ve missed since I moved to Hampstead — I love it here, and I’ve found some nice places, but nothing beats having literally every chain supermarket on the same street.
So that was very charming, though I have zero photos of it. Alas. What I have photos of is the block where I lived, which was entirely made up of residential houses and buildings. Very pretty ones. And flowers.
We’re starting off with the view from my bedroom window:
But quickly moving on to the outside world. This is a rail outside the house where my flat was. It was such a nice house. And such a nice flat.
And that’s the end of that. Lovely, isn’t it? So charming. Sometimes I miss it.
Note: As always, if you want to purchase a print or product (cards, phone cases, pillows, etc.) featuring any photos I post, just say the word and I’ll make it available on Etsy, Crated and/or RedBubble!