Barking
WELCOME TO BARKING
The ancient Essex town of Barking, nine miles east of central London and a 15-minute train ride from Fenchurch Street, is a favourite with first-time buyers thanks to good-value homes and thousands of new flats in the pipeline. Barking was also a thriving fishing port until the mid-19th century, with the country’s largest fleet.
Entertainment & Nightlife
The Broadway, Barking’s town centre theatre, puts on drama, comedy, dance and music events. Recent shows have included ballet from Russia, modern dance from France and a children’s show from Finland. The Broadway is also staging Alice — the Musical, based on Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, in Barking Park at the end of the month.
Best place for after work drinks
The Barking Dog! For centuries, fishing was Barking’s most important industry. Its fishermen fished the high seas off Doggerbank and the coast of Iceland. If you shorten ‘Doggerbank’ and join it to ‘Barking’, you end up with the name of this Wetherspoon pub.
Schools
Schools in Canning Town fall under the Newham Local Education Authority. Primary schools standout, as being particularly good, of note is the outstanding Thames View Infants.
TRANSPORT & TRAVEL
Barking is close to the A13 London to Southend Road, and is well connected by Tube and rail to central London. Barking station is on the Hammersmith & City and District Underground lines, and the Gospel Oak to Barking line on the Overground. There are also trains to Fenchurch Street station in the City that take around 15 minutes.
- Barking – Hammersmith& City line, District line, Overground
Parks & Recreation
Barking has two fine parks — Barking Park and Mayesbrook Park. Barking Park dates from 1898, it has a lake that is more than half a mile long and offers boating, and there is bowls plus a miniature railway. Mayesbrook Park has two large lakes surrounded by woodland, making a local nature reserve, plus football, cricket and baseball pitches and an outdoor gym.
Restaurants & shopping
Barking has a busy general market in East Street from Tuesdays through to Saturdays. The local shopping centre, Vicarage Field, has Asda, Argos, Burton Menswear and Dorothy Perkins, but not much else. Barking is not a culinary hotspot, so Christina’s steak restaurant in North Street stands out.
