Walthamstow
It’s only at the end of the Victoria Line but Walthamstow can often feel like it’s miles away from London (in a good way), largely thanks to the Walthamstow Wetlands nature reserve. There’s still plenty to keep you entertained besides birds and fish though, from the neon paradise of God’s Own Junkyard to the William Morris Gallery.
The area has become a buzzy little suburb thanks to people moving out further east in the search for cheaper living but it’s not lost all its traditional identity, with cool indie businesses sitting alongside old-school East End spots. It’s also become a hub for beer drinkers, with a range of breweries in the area forming the Blackhorse Beer Mile.
They love a market in Walthamstow too; the one on the high street is the longest outdoor street market in Europe, and sells everything from apples to antiques, and Lloyd Park Market in the grounds of the William Morris Gallery is a great spot for artisanal produce and street food.
God’s Own Junkyard will light up your world. The neon jungle contains everything from Chris Bracey’s signage for Soho sex clubs in the 60s to movie props – the Braceys started making sings and neons for films with Blade Runner and they’ve been working with on film sets for the past 40 years. It’s blindingly good and worth a trip just for an Insta.
An industrial estate in Walthamstow isn’t the first place you’d look for a winery but it’s where you’ll find one. Renegade is an urban winery that buys grapes from across the UK and Europe and turns them into wine right here in London. Their wines change year on year, depending on the grapes they get, and they rarely repeat a style, so every bottle (instantly recognisable thanks to their face labels) you drink from here really is special. The winery first started in some Bethnal Green railway arches, and there’s still a bar here (grab one of the outside tables in the alley if it’s sunny) but it moved to a bigger site in Walthamstow in 2021, which houses the winery as well as a bar, where you can drink the wine right then and there as well as buy bottles to take home.
The Malt Haus is a new venue, social hub and community space in Walthamstow from the Pillars Brewery team. Part of the working brewery, it’s also a bar that showcases malt-based drinks, including beers from independent breweries and whiskey. There’s also an iceblock ageing cellar on site and a kitchen, which’ll be hosting residencies from guest chefs. The team have taken inspo from 60s and 70s listening bars and cocktail lounges for the Malt Haus, and as well as taking design cues from that era, it also has a low-tech feel – it’s all about conversation, connection and enjoying hospitality here.
In case you can’t work it out from the name, the William Morris Gallery is dedicated to the life and work of English Arts and Crafts designer William Morris. The museum is inside the Grade II-listed Georgian mansion Water House, which was Morris’s family home from 1848-56, in what is now known as Lloyd Park. As well as a range of textiles, wallpaper, furniture, ceramics, prints and paintings, the museum also contains artefacts relating to Morris’s social equality activism.
Walthamstow can feel like a million miles away from London (in a good way) and a lot of that has to do with Walthamstow Wetlands, the largest urban wetland in Europe. The 211 hectare nature reserve has something for everyone, whether you’re looking for a weekend walk or bike ride, or even a spot of fishing. It’s the perfect place to escape the city and it’s just a tube ride away.
SlowBurn sits on a stretch of Walthamstow that’s more grit than glamour – opposite a funeral care centre and next to a petrol garage – but that’s kind of the point. This part of E17’s got character, and behind the corrugated steel doors of Blackhorse Lane Ateliers, you’ll find a restaurant that shares space with a working jeans atelier – and yep, you’re quite literally sliding past spools of fabric before you reach your table. But don’t let the machines fool you: by night this place flips into something super cool. The vibe is relaxed, the menu is vegetable-forward (meat plays backup), and everything feels just a little bit unexpected in the best way. Start things off with the cauliflower fritters, and then go for the black bean gyoza tacos, the ox cheek and tail potato rösti, the hispi cabbage glazed in beer and miso, the Violino pumpkin with cranberry and ancho chilli, and the Cru Virunga 70% dark chocolate and date tart with raspberry sorbet.
After starting out as a pop-up stall back in 2011, Dan Birch has now grown sustainable pizza brand Sodo Pizza to four standalone sties and two pub kitchens across London. Its base is what really sets Sodo Pizza apart – it’s made using 48-hour fermented sourdough and heritage grains milled into flour on-site – but Dan has put just as much effort into sourcing toppings from local producers and growers too. They include mozzarella and burrata made in Acton, pepperoni and nduja cured in Islington, honey from Walthamstow and leaves from a salad farm in Dagenham.
Deep in the heart of Walthamstow, just off Blackhorse Lane, you will find one of the city’s biggest beer gardens, Big Penny Social (and the inside is just as massive too). They’ve got a range of their own brews on tap alongside a classic cocktail list, and a crowd-pleasing menu of burgers and pizzas plus roasts on Sunday, so order up your fave and find a spot in the sun to enjoy it.
Eat17 isn’t just a supermarket, it’s a grocerant – that’s a hybrid of the best local suppliers, staple Spar products, butchers, bakers, florists and restaurants together all in one place. The famous Eat17 Bacon Jam can be found here (that’s onion jam having a love affair with smokey bacon), sushi by Ohba Leaf, refillable wine stations as well as all your daily essentials. The Clapton branch inside the beaut Art Deco building that’s also home to the Castle Cinema and the Walthamstow branch even has its own restaurant, home to the famous Eat17 cheeseburger.
The team behind Victoria Park Market expanded to E17 with Lloyd Park Market. Held every Saturday, the market features fresh seasonal produce, meat, fish, baked goods and booze from the likes of Ted’s Veg, Picks Organic Farm, Breadwinners, Finest Fayre, Borough Olives, Natural Born Wine, Hush Hush Chefs and Galeta. There’s also a rotating selection of street food traders like Ehla, Filigrillz, and Kolkati so you can eat whilst you shop.
Tonkotsu is the best of the ramen wave that swept London back in 2013 and testament to that, they’re still going strong and opening new sites all the time. The signature Tonkotsu ramen, with its thick creamy broth, fresh noodles (made in house), and slices of pork is a thing of beauty and has got us through many a day and night. One to come back to time and time again.
CRATE, the company that offers commercial premises and workspaces to businesses a little bit like Boxpark, opened on the site of a disused car park on St James Street. Residents include Green Choy, Walthamstow Cycles, Long and Short Coffee, Cove17, No-LOGO Hair, Comalera and The G Bakery.
Mother’s Ruin Gin Palace is Walthamstow’s best-kept secret. Housed in a WW1 munitions factory, this place specialises in fruit liqueurs and cocktail bitters made from locally grown and foraged ingredients. Think spicy rhubarb & ginger gin, and sloe and damson gins. All in all, it’s a tiny, no-frills bar that does a bloody good tipple.
A Yard Sale Pizza is kneaded in everyone’s life. After kicking things off with Macaulay Culkin doing a set at their opening, Yard Sale set the standards high. But leaving their dough to prove for 24 hours and cooking out their tomato sauce on the pizza to deepen the flavour, they definitely aren’t ones for cutting corners. Whether you wanna dine-in or take-out these handmade beauties are available as 18-inch sharers or 12-inch pizzas and can be found across London. From the regulars to the guest pizzas, whether you’re holy over your pepperoni or all over the squash, Yard Sale is where to get a pizz’a the action.
Browse over 20 stalls at every Sunday from 10am – 2pm at the top of Walthamstow High Street. You can pick up everything from honey to organic veg to fresh pasta, from traders including The Flour Station, Ted’s Veg, Giggly Pig Co., Happy Bees and The Tomato Stall.
Dalston fave 40FT Brewery has gone east for site number two and joined the Blackhorse Beer Mile in Walthamstow. A much bigger space – room for 100 inside and another 100 in the courtyard garden – and opening in the brand’s 10th anniversary year, the new 40FT will be hosting everything from family-friendly daytime events and food pop-ups to DJs and comedy nights. Of course, it’s also a place to grab a cold one, with 40FT beers like Disco Pils, Dalston Sunrise, hazy IPA Main Squeeze, West Coast IPA Rewind and nitro-stout Deep available to drink.
