Modern day London consists of 32 boroughs located both to the south and the north of the River Thames. Those places differ greatly from one another in character and face, but one thing is certain – the borough of Redbridge is hands down one of the best areas in the capital today.
The green, leafy borough
One thing that Redbridge is particularly well known for is the high concentration of award winning parks and open green spaces that are to be found within its territory. In addition to improving the way the whole area looks and contributing to the nickname that was given to Redbridge a long time ago – The Leafy Suburb – those parks contributed to the formation of some of the best residential areas in North East London around them. To name just a few among them:
- Hainault Forest Country Park
- Roding Valley Park
- Valentines Park
- Claybury Woods and Park
It total, there are 35 official open green spaces on the territory of Redbridge. Six of them were given the Green Flag Award.
The place that you would want to live in
Redbridge contains many fine residential developments that you will feel much at home at in case you decide to relocate there. For starters, Hainault is celebrated for being one of the best places to live in the capital today. Sitting right next to the Metropolitan Greenbelt, it is an area with a suburban character that is served by two train stations – Hainault and Grange Hill on the Central line. The area is home to the Hainault Athletic Football Club.
Goodmayes is another pretty fine area here. With an estimated population of some 13 069 people, it is among the bigger suburbs of Redbridge. It is a particularly great place if you have kids, because the district is home to some of the finest scout groups in London such as the 4th Goodmayes Scout Group, for kids age 6 to 14, and the 7th Goodmayes, both of which have well over a hundred members in their ranks.
Another fine district in the London Borough of Redbridge is of course Gants Hill. Built around the eponymous hill, it lies some 15.3 kilometres away from Charing Cross. The name of the area comes from the Gant Family, who were stewards of Barking Abbey in the 13th century. Gants Hill is today most notable for the pretty extensive renovations that took place there in the beginning of the 21st century. The first projects were started in 2009, and some of them are still underway. They have had one main purpose – to change the face of Gants Hill and turn it into a modern, desirable suburb.
Barkingside is yet another place that deserves to be mentioned. Part of Ilford this suburban development is additionally known for being the birthplace as well as current home to the children’s charity Barnardo’s. Even though Barkingside has a long and interesting history, today it is best known for being a diverse district with a concentration of Jewish population that has been described as unusually high for London. Notable locals include footballer Trevor Brooking, motor racing driver Scott Malvern and singer Kathy Kirby.
Aldborough Hatch is the last area that we are going to describe at length here. It is a small and pretty nice location that differs from the previous areas that we have talked about primarily because it is semi-rural in character. For a place of such a nature, it has an unusually high population count. According to the last census as many as 14 544 people live here. The first time the area was described was in the 14th century.
Some vital stats about Redbridge
The modern day borough of Redbridge covers a territory of 56.41 square kilometres. According to the last census the population of the place reaches 293 055 people. This brings the population density at 5200 people per square kilometre. This is considerably lower than other places in London. This fact is easily explained by the presence of many open green spaces and portions of the Metropolitan Green Belt within the territory of the borough. The following three postcodes are to be found in Redbridge – E, IG and RM.