Clerkenwell, the dream location

Clerkenwell is a particularly nice area to live for anyone who likes to live in town. I know that Kensington is most people’s dream location, but there are a lot of things about the lifestyle there which just wouldn’t appeal to me. First of all, there’s all the tourists. You are forever wading through couples holding A-Zs, who stop suddenly in the middle of the pavement. You’ve got nice restaurants, and lots of them, but everyone seems to have to wear open-necked stiped shirts and blazers. And then the whole place is streets and streets of white plastered houses with endless columns. I actually find it rather depressing. Clerkenwell, on the other hand, is a nice mix of lofts, grimy office buildings, quirky bars and restaurants, and every street is different. Actually, I seem to have given a lot more reasons for not living in Kensington than positive reasons for living in Clerkenwell. But it’s also close to the City and most people work in the City, don’t they? Whoever heard of anyone actually working in Kensington - except estate agents? There I go again.

Some of the best restaurants in London are in Clerkenwell. Exmouth market used to be full of workshops. Now as soon as a property becomes vacant it is snapped up and converted into a trendy bar or restaurant.

This is the residential area to the north of the City as far as King’s Cross, Angel and Old Street, and as far west as Gray’s Inn Road. Between Rosebery Avenue, Farringdon Road and Clerkenwell Road is a jumble of small streets containing flat conversions and new blocks, including the Ziggurat Building in Saffron Hill and blocks in Top Street and Warner Street. On the other side of Farringdon Road is Clerkenwell Green, which is the centre of the original Clerkenwell. The main residential roads are Clerkenwell Close and Seckforde Street, both running off the Green to the north. Off here and in the small roads are blocks of flats and converted commercial buildings. Exmouth Market with its fashionable restaurants and cafes is nearby. Seckforde Street contains houses from the late Georgian period. Turn the corner and you can find a tiny terrace of original Georgian houses. Cross St John Street heading towards Goswell Road and you reach the Clerkenwell Estate, developed into a series of new homes and offices. All that is north of Clerkenwell Road. To the south, there are many flat conversions and some new-build infill developments down St John Street and in the roads off it, leading down to Smithfield. Hatton Garden, which is on the west side of Farringdon Road, is still mainly offices and the diamond district, but here too there are flats created from the conversion of commercial buildings in the area leading towards Leather Lane. There are some more peripheral areas. Between City Road and Old Street is an area mainly taken up with council blocks. This is often called St Luke’s.