Winchmore Hill- What is it like?

[Northlondonlassy]

So sorry to post in AIBU, but it gets the most traffic!

I'm possibly moving to Winchmore Hill in North London. I already live in Zone 2 London and have all my life. What is Winchmore Hill like? I have two kids, one primary aged as of this year. Where i am now, i have a really good community and i'm scared to give that up.

Can anyone tell me what actually living there is like?

Oh sorry didn't mean to enable voting

Bumping and following

I don't live there but also am from Zone 2/3 London and used to babysit a small child in Winchmore Hill. It's very lovely. But very different if you're used to zone 2/being able to get around easily. Impossible to live there without a car!

I also went to a North London College where teens attended from all over North London- never anyone from Winchmore Hill though, and tbh I can't imagine being a teenager living there...I am very glad my mum kept raising me in Zone 2 even if it meant no garden, less space etc.

But I'm sure there will be other people along shortly who have better insight and experience/can answer you better than that.

Will you or your OH/DP/DH be working from home, and if not, how far will the journey to work be? First thought was that being nowhere near an Underground station, you would be at the mercy of Great Northern, who have longstanding reliability issues.

The villagey bit of Winchmore Hill near Grovelands Park is lovely if expensive, very green and leafy. The Green Lanes side towards Edmonton/Enfield less so. It's not really very far from Southgate Tube for the Piccadilly Line which is more frequent than the train. Latymer School a couple of miles away is one of the best Secondaries in the country if your children are bright enough to get in.

Best thing is to look around and see for yourself how it compares to where you are.

I lived there for a while.

It's a bugger for transport if you need to get into central every day.

Nice pubs.

For Enfield/Southgate, it’s very much considered the posh and affluent bit. Nice pubs on the green.

Nice pubs/restaurants. Quite affluent. A nice family area.
The train is actually great for the City - maybe 25 minutes into Moorgate with a frequent service, but not so great for the West End (although there are tube interchanges at Finsbury Park/Highbury). Not too far from Southgate for the Piccadilly line though.

Depends where you are. I spent my teens there and went to Southgate College. From the Southgate side, transport into London is fine because you have the rail services from Winchmore Hill station or can walk up to Southgate tube (Piccadilly line). I agree that the side between Green Lanes towards Edmonton is less nice but I think everywhere else is lovely and would move back in a instant if I could. If you have any particular bits in mind and want to message me, I'm happy to help.

Have you considered Palmers green? Don't know much about it - maybe someone can shed some light on it. Winchmore Hill in terms of area is quite small..so you might also be spilling in to Palmers Green?

@Roundtoedshoes

Nice pubs/restaurants. Quite affluent. A nice family area. The train is actually great for the City - maybe 25 minutes into Moorgate with a frequent service, but not so great for the West End (although there are tube interchanges at Finsbury Park/Highbury). Not too far from Southgate for the Piccadilly line though.

I live on that line, slightly closer into town than Winchmore Hill. The change on to the tube (Victoria line) at Highbury and Islington is just crossing the platform, it takes literally seconds. Very, very easy access to the West End.

OP, it really depends on your current lifestyle, job requirements, how/where you like to shop. What is it about the community where you are that you like?

And whether you are talking about moving within Greater London or from another part of the country. Community-wise, London within the M25 is much of a muchness, but it can be a shock if you are used to, say, Somerset.

When I say “much of a muchness” I don’t mean all of London within the M25 has the same community (or lack of community) feel, I mean that the bits with similar architecture and income levels (eg the Victorian suburbs or the 1930s areas) feel similar whether in the N, S, E or W of G London.

@HaveringWavering agree - the interchange at H&I is very easy for the Vic line. But it’s quite busy. Not done the Finsbury Park interchange for years (did the spiral staircase many a time) and it’s obviously longer. Totally doable, just pointing out that the train line for the City is an easier/quicker journey with no changes/need for the tube.

[quote Roundtoedshoes]@HaveringWavering agree - the interchange at H&I is very easy for the Vic line. But it’s quite busy. Not done the Finsbury Park interchange for years (did the spiral staircase many a time) and it’s obviously longer. Totally doable, just pointing out that the train line for the City is an easier/quicker journey with no changes/need for the tube.[/quote]
Only busy at rush hour. I wasn’t imagining that OP would use it to commute, I meant for weekends, shopping and entertainment. We commute to Moorgate and use Vic line for leisure.

Hi it’s OP here. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to comment, I didn’t end up moving to WMH in the end as out house purchase fell through (grrr!) we are staying in crouch end for now! Thanks everyone.

We lived there for 7 years with our two boys (from their birth), having moved out from Islington. It’s a very safe, family-friendly area with nice pubs, cafes and a great open space in Grovelands Park. It definitely has a village feel and there are a lot of young families. Streets off the Green are the nicest IMO and a short walk to the station - lots of lovely Edwardian homes.

Yes, the trains could be temperamental at times, but generally ran a good service and 28 mins to Moorgate, 15 mins to Finsbury Park where you can change for the tube. I always got a seat at Winchmore Hill in the morning (moving down to the end of the platform) - it is the last stop that that is possible, the seats are all gone by Palmers Green and always got a seat home as Moorgate is the beginning of the line. When things went haywire, it’s a short car journey to Southgate tube or the other mainline train at Bush Hill Park.

Primary Schools are excellent, though the most convenient for the station is CoE (St Paul’s), which requires 2 years’ church attendance. There’s also St Monica’s (Catholic) - note that distance is measured from the Church rather than the school (at least it did when I lived there). There’s also state options, Eversley and Firs Farm, which are very good but have small catchments. There’s also good private schools - Keble and Palmers Green Girls.

Secondary schools are more difficult. It’s a Grammar School area but entry is highly competitive and parents going this way usually start tutoring from year 4! Unfortunately, living in central WH means you likely fall out of the catchment for Highlands, which is the best state option. Winchmores has improved in recent years though. There’s a new Wren Academy opening soon I understand.

We moved in the end to be closer to family but we had a very happy life in WH and I would recommend it.

Strange that posts are obsessed with how you get away from WH!

• I used to live in Southgate; it was a while ago, but there were a couple of good family run restaurants that we used to visit in WH.

Oh I love Crouch End! Much better than WH!!

I moved from somewhere v close to crouch end to not too far from wh! PPosters have covered a lot usefully. Schools/catchments and thinking ahead to secondary probably the top concern. See your move plans have changed. Ce is lovely and I miss that area. High streets up here aren’t half as nice. But if you’re in a similar situation to the one we were in - wanted to stay but couldn’t get a house without moving to the other side of the north circular - then we definitely feel it was worth losing a trendy high st for a family house. There’s lots to recommend this part of London too. Especially the amount of parks and green spaces nearby. There are lots of crouch end /muswell hill refugees in winchmore, Southgate and Palmers green!

@HaveringWavering came across your username and thought I'd ask if you're from havering. I'm in Havering at the mo and moving to WMH - touch wood the house purchase goes through. What are your thoughts on WMH in comparison to Havering? Thanks!