Your guide to all the things to do in Stroud Green, including the best restaurants, shops, bars, delis and schools. PLUS our guide to property in N4

Ham & High: Parkland WalkParkland Walk (Image: Archant)

Welcome to Stroud Green

This friendly, laidback area is well and truly on the up, with electrification of the railway through Crouch Hill the latest improvement on the horizon.

Stroud Green Road and Crouch Hill mark the boundary between the boroughs of Islington and Haringey.

In the second half of the 19th century, substantial new housing was built in the area, with the good rail links making it a popular spot for early commuters. Hornsey suffered significant bomb damage during the Second World War with over 80 per cent of houses affected. Consequently there are many council estates in the area dating from as far back as the 1940s.

Ham & High: Wiltshire Court, Stroud GreenWiltshire Court, Stroud Green (Image: Archant)

Ham & High: Florence RoadFlorence Road (Image: Polly Hancock)

Shops

Ham & High: Hettie HollandHettie Holland (Image: Archant)

There’s no dearth of shops in Stroud Green. Whether it’s furniture or flowers you’re after, high-end homeware or Italian cured ham, you don’t have to travel far for a wide selection of shopping options. The Concept sells restored and upcycled furniture, specialist Mylands Paints and home accessories and design gifts alongside their interior design consultancy.

Hettie Holland sells quirky homewares and gifts whilst potter Romilly Graham’s studio is based in Crouch Hill. She creates her own work here and also teaches ceramics courses and offers private tuition.

Ham & High: Mosey HomeMosey Home (Image: Polly Hancock)

For good value upholstery and advice hit CM Upholstery and for contemporary art and prints there’s Atom Gallery. And don’t forget Bud Flowers on Tollington Park for the prettiest home and event flowers in the area.

Organic Food on Stroud Green Road does what it says on the tin, with a tempting display of polished fruit and vegetables piled on shelves.

Ham & High: Atom GalleryAtom Gallery (Image: Archant)

The Italian Farmers is a deli on a mission to provide high quality, authentic and often esoteric, fair trade or organic Italian products, direct from the producer.

Alternatively, try The Deli at 80, which serves up meat, cheese, cake and wine and also hosts evening events regularly.

Ham & High: Italian FarmersItalian Farmers (Image: Archant)

Best for beer-lovers… Craft beer and growler retailer Clapton Craft has just opened a branch on Stroud Green Road.

Best for putting on a spread… New deli Vittorio’s opened in December 2016. Named after the father, and son, of owner Franco, the shop sells a vast selection of Italian cheeses, hams, wines, olives, anti pasti and pasta. The shop also has a batch of fresh Italian bread delivered daily from a Sicilian bakery in south west London and serves coffee to their few tables inside.

Ham & High: The Deli at 80The Deli at 80 (Image: Polly Hancock)

Best for bagging a bargain…Stefan Alexander designer samples women’s wear shop with discounts of up to 75 per cent. Ethically-minded shoppers can peruse at the Stroud Green branch of Crisis charity shop which is packed with bargain clothes and home accessories alongside a cute coffee shop also in-store, staffed by homeless workers.

Ham & High: Vittorio's DeliVittorio's Deli (Image: Polly Hancock)

Restaurants and bars

The area is popular for pubs and local foodie fare. Rodrigo’s Coffee House is a 2015 opening popular for coffee and cake, or try Boulangerie Bon Matin for a continental take on the most important meal of the day. For hipster street credentials head to Vagabond for a coffee in the sunshine on industrial style pavement benches. Jai Krishna is a vegetarian Indian restaurant with tasty dishes at rock bottom prices, as well as a BYO policy. Granary Thai Café also opened recently on Stroud Green Road, serving up traditional Thai fare.

Ham & High: Bud FlowersBud Flowers (Image: Archant)

Best for a pint… At the junction of Crouch Hill and Stroud Green Road, The Old Dairy pub, housed in a pretty 19th-century dairy building, is a local landmark with a restaurant, popular quiz and even life drawing. The Stapleton Tavern is gaining in popularity.

Best for a spot of lunch… Max’s sandwich shop offers a limited menu of – surprise, surprise – sandwiches. These are of the gourmet, sloppy, sophisticated fast food variety, retailing for around £7.

Ham & High: Boulangerie Bon MatinBoulangerie Bon Matin (Image: Archant)

Best for a Sunday roast… Seasons has been touted as the best neighbourhood restaurant in London, for its locally sourced food.

Ham & High: Vagabond N4Vagabond N4 (Image: Archant)

Ham & High: Season RestaurantSeason Restaurant (Image: Polly Hancock)

Outdoors and leisure

The Parkland Walk, a green way following the path of an old railway line running between Finsbury Park and Muswell Hill, crosses Crouch Hill just north of the Overground station.

Ham & High: The Old DairyThe Old Dairy (Image: Archant)

Best for chopping and changing… Chaps and Dames is a hair salon with a retro aesthetic and contemporary cutting and colouring methods.

Best for culture… The Park Theatre offers high calibre fringe theatre to north London’s discerning crowd.

Ham & High: Front Room CafeFront Room Cafe (Image: Archant)

Things to do with children

The Cape Youth Project and Café is a new council-run venture in a disused railway station near the Parkland Walk. An adventure playground built from natural materials is overlooked by the café, while rooftop growing beds grow organic vegetables.

Best for little Olympians… Wray Crescent has a playground, grass cricket pitch and ball court with football goals and basketball hoops.

Ham & High: Parkland WalkParkland Walk (Image: Archant)

Nursery, primary and secondary schools

Coleridge Primary School and St Gilda’s RC Junior School are both mixed gender schools with a high proportion of minority ethnic pupils. Coleridge has an outstanding Ofsted rating, St Gilda’s is good. Early years care is available at Finsbury Park Pre-School & Day Nursery, which is rated good by Ofsted. For secondary education, Islington Arts and Media School is a foundation school rated good.

Ham & High: The Cape Youth CentreThe Cape Youth Centre (Image: Archant)

Transport

Stroud Green commuters are facing troubled times with the closure of the gloriously named Goblin line, linking Gospel Oak and Barking via Crouch Hill station, for electrification of the line and the controversial closure of the Wells Terrace exit at Finsbury Park tube station.

Finsbury Park on the Victoria and Piccadilly lines and Archway on the Northern line are both a 15-minute walk or short bus ride away, while the 210, W3 and W7 buses connect the area to other parts of north London.

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Ham & High: Stroud Green RoadStroud Green Road (Image: Archant)

Property Guide

Postcode

Stroud Green is on the border of Islington and Haringey and has the N4 postcode. It is (mostly) in the Islington North parliamentary constituency, whose MP has been Jeremy Corbyn for the past 30 years or more. Islington council tax is £864.10 for Band A properties, £1,296.15 for Band D and £2,592.30 for Band H.

Ham & High: Chaps and DamesChaps and Dames (Image: Archant)

Housing Stock

Homes in Stroud Green are predominantly Victorian terraces, often converted into flats or used as family homes. There are also several housing estates in the area built between the 1940s and 1970s.

Ham & High: Stroud Green RoadStroud Green Road (Image: Polly Hancock)

Best Streets

Mount View Road

Mount Pleasant Villas

Mount Pleasant Crescent

Ham & High: Stonenest StreetStonenest Street (Image: Archant)

House Prices

Two-bedroom flat – £495, 779

Terraced – £958,274

Ham & High: Thorpedale RoadThorpedale Road (Image: Archant)

Semi-detached –£1,140,833

Detached –£671,900

Ham & High: Victoria RoadVictoria Road (Image: Polly Hancock)