Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Moving to Westbury Avenue/Belmont area/Noel park with a young family?
Would be incredibly grateful for some advice. We're a young couple with a baby thinking of moving to the Noel park/ streets off westbury avenue/lordship lane area. The ladder is way too expensive these days and it seems like there are some really nice houses in that bit of n22 but how's the area? Safe enough? On the up? How are lordship lane, Belmont and Noel park schools? Are there any alternative bits of harringay you'd suggest? Thanks! So impressed by this forum btw...
Tags for Forum Posts: noel park
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by ElleCarumba on
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Belmont junior school is rated as outstanding by Ofsted
Catchment areas for primary schools are likely to be very very small (London is having a baby boom and primary school places crisis) so it is unlikely you will have much choice - you are unlikely to be in the catchment area for more than one primary. You can find out the maximum distance pupils (without older sibling already atending) who were offered a place in the school last year lived from the school via Haringey LEA and its admissions information booklets.
But schools can change very quickly (for the worse and the better) so given you have three/four years before your baby is attending school, I wouldn't obsess too much about it now.
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Permalink Reply by Rachella on
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I've lived in Noel Park -- attracted by the prospect of buying a whole house with a garden -- and I love it! I don't have children, but we've also got a website if you want to ask specific questions to parents.
I moved here from Hackney becuse we were priced out of there when it came time to buy a house and I can sincerely say that it's much safer than Hackney and people are really neighbourly. We also have our own weekly market in the school playground, I go to a Saturday yoga class one block from my house and there are two children's centres within Noel Park.
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whoops! meant to say that I've lived here for 5 years.
BTW - here's the website: noelparknet.com
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Permalink Reply by Sharon on
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Have you considered N15? I've lived here happily for 11 years and raised 3 kids. A wonderful community with great schools, transport links and good green spaces.
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Permalink Reply by Abi on
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Seconded. I don't have kids myself (though having a garden is great for our cats!) but most people in my road do and they seem really happy here. My neighbour was telling me how pleased she's been with the local schools despite her low expectations of them initially, and again you get a lot of house for your money around here (even though prices are ramping up from where they were).
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Permalink Reply by Sophie BBARR on
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I had a baby in January and moved to Boundary Road as we were priced out (should I say off) the ladder. We got a whole house (a thirties one) for just a bit more that we got for our flat on the ladder. Sirdar, Boundary and surrounding streets in this area are great. I've met so many lovely people just in the street. One lady I met invited me to go out with her and other mums to the Westbury one evening. Lovely. I may be biased but I think south of Westbury Ave is superior to Noel Park. It just feels a little bit more sketchy there (I am sure I'll get loads of comments to the contrary - it's just a feeling).
I was really sad to leave the ladder but I've found some things that make up for it. Proximity to Lordship rec and Downhills Park (another friendly community around the cafe there and lots of mums I've met live in that area both N15 and N17), proximity to Turnpike Lane. Belmont Park is also lovely. Proximity to lots of children's centres. I use both of the onese in Noel Park -there's a lovely stay and play in the Russell Park one. Similarly a lovely children's centre at Broadwater farm - it has under-floor heating and a nursery with a long waiting list. Lovely massage classes there for free! There are some good Turkish shops with the usual produce - bakery, butcher, olives etc. And Sainsburys means that there is a cash point and those supermarket products that you sometimes need. The Westbury Medical practice is excellent.
On the downsides (I live on the corner of Boundary and Westbury very near Lordship Lane) there is traffic noise. But if you avoided living on Westbury Avenue that would be fine. The shops on Lordship Lane are limited. The buses don't go anywhere useful really - I can walk to TPL and they don't go any further than that. It's 15 mins walk to TPL - which is fine if you're a mum with a buggy like me but if you have to drop at childminder and then go to work that's not great. There are some unsavoury types and lots of dog poo but then that's no different to the ladder to be honest. Can't think of anything else.
It's a little early to be researching schools for us but I hear Belmont is very good and it looks nice. Ditto on catchment areas. We weren't really looking at schools when we moved here.
I hope this is helpful - please feel free to message me or come and visit!
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Permalink Reply by abstractjuz on
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My wife and I moved from N4 (just off the ladder) to N22 (off Westbury Ave.) last year - we're very happy here.
The conservation area is lovely but don't exclude some of the streets that border/surround it.
Our street is a nice mix and our neighbours are great- many of them introduced themselves when we moved in.
Don't have kids so I can't comment on the schools but there's loads of families on our street and all the kids - aged from knee-high to leaving high school - are very well-behaved and respectful.
My wife regularly walks home from work via Turnpike Lane, she is street-wise but has never felt unsafe.
Like many of the local parks - Russell Park could do with a better clean but I've never heard any serious trouble there. Last month a sound system set up and played Reggae and Dub for 2 or 3 hours on a Friday night!
Downhills Park is a nice walk and lovely.
Lordship Lane isn't exactly glamorous but there's plenty of decent shops, a recently opened Sainsbury's and some great take-aways.
Wood Green does get tutted at here - mainly by folk on the ladder ;) - but unless you're hanging round fast food chains or betting shops late at night then I can't see how you would have any problems.
Good luck!
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Thank you all so much for your helpful advice (do keep it coming if there's more!) Looking forward to hopefully moving to the area!
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Permalink Reply by DrWhams on
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We are refugees from Crouch End -- last year we sold our tiny flat there and bought a really substantial house in this area for not a great deal more. We thought we'd really miss Crouch End and it would feel like a compromise moving here, but I just haven't looked back. We've got two young kids. The eldest has just started at Belmont and is loving it -- it's got such a lovely atmosphere. The catchment area is *really* small though -- a maximum of about 0.3 miles. I did quite like Noel Park school as well when we went to look around -- take the whole Ofsted/Academy issue with a pinch of salt.
In terms of the area, it has been a very pleasant surprise. We get to see lots of the neighbours who always say hello or stop for a chat, and there's a lot of people in the street who have lived here for many years, so there's quite a community atmosphere. When we're out with the kids there are often strangers we pass on the street who say hello or strike up a conversation. The people in the shops on Westbury Avenue are friendly too.
There's some great housing stock -- most of the houses around Boundary Road, Sirdar Road, Westbury Avenue, Willingdon Road, Mannock Road and other side roads are great 3 bed/2 reception Victorian houses that I would say are the same size and style as houses on the ladder but a lot cheaper. There's several different sizes of house in the Noel Park area which tend to be a bit smaller and cheaper. You can walk to the tube in 10 minutes, or the centre of Wood Green (if you take the shortcut).
So I think we were in a similar situation to you, and we feel totally vindicated by our choice to live here. We love it.
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I live in Noel Park and really like it. I have lived here for four years now and have had no problems. As for safety, it is very safe to me. That's all I can say because felling safe is always more of a perception than a reality. If you look at crime maps of London they show more in affluent areas.
I like that I have access to two tube stations, a small park, and an okay high road (I just use for a weekly shop - Morrison's, M&S, and Wilkinson's). I like the new local market - cheap organic veg. I understand the high road will be undergoing a major redevlopment courtesy of TfL and that a £1M grant has been given to the Noel Park Estate community.
I understand that Noel Park School is undergoing some drastic changes - a new headmistress and board.
I came here from Hackney. I was priced out of Hackney and was advised to look further north. I went to the ladder and the housing stock was mostly conversions. I didn't really want to live in another shared setting. Also, the transportation was a concern. When driving around I noticed the Noel Park conservation area and asked the estate agent to show me some non-converted housing. I managed to get a house with 3 double-bedrooms, two w/c's, large bathroom, two receptions, front and back garden and a large kitchen for the cost of a flat in Hackney. I looked at over 40 houses in Noel Park and I can honestly say they are all surprises. I was shocked to find a house of this size.
Best of luck.
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Sophie, I have been trying to reply to your message but it keeps refusing to send (I think; apologies if it has actually sent about 15 times!). It's really exciting to hear such positive things about an area I think we will be moving to, especially on the new mum front - if things go to plan I will still be on maternity leave when we move in the new year and it would be brilliant to meet some local mums and hear what there is to do etc; a bit daunting starting all that from scratch! We really like the area though so fingers crossed. At the risk of getting ahead of myself, do you happen to know of any good nurseries/childminders in the area? I know it sounds bonkers but if it's anything like here in Dalston you need to get your name down months and months in advance so was thinking I might need to get that ball rolling too! Thanks again - hope to see you around before too long!
Thanks also to everyone else for your messages!
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Sophie - did you read my message today on this discussion or via private message? I think I still can't get the direct messages to send. Dunno if its an ipad thing? I can get yours though so if you don't mind sending me your email address I could reply that way? thanks, and apologies to everyone else!
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