Forest Gate
WELCOME TO FOREST GATE
Forest Gate is a residential area in the London Borough of Newham. It is bordered by Manor Park to the east and to the west lies Stratford town centre. The northern half of the busy Green Street runs through it and from 2018 it will have a Crossrail station. The Wood grange Estate Conservation Area is a residential area with predominantly double-fronted Victorian three and four bedroomed houses built between 1887 and 1892. To the north of the railway running through Forest Gate is the “village” with terraced streets named for the Oxford Martyrs (including Latimer, Ridley and Cranmer) running up to the open spaces of Wanstead Flats.
Entertainment & Nightlife
You have Theatre Royal Stratford East, a Picturehouse multiplex cinema and Stratford Circus, an arts performance space. There is a Vue multiplex cinema in Westfield. The two nearest council-owned swimming pools are at the Balaam Leisure Centre in Balaam Street, Plaistow, and the East Ham Leisure Centre in Barking Road.
Best place for after work drinks
The Wanstead Tap, a microbrewery and café under a railway arch in Winchelsea Road, hosts the E7 Supper Club, a pop-up restaurant hosted by Master Chef semi-finalist Michael Sanders
Schools
Elmhurst Primary School in Upton Park Road is judged “outstanding” by Ofsted. Local primaries rated “good” by the education watchdog are Woodgrange Infants (ages three to seven) in Sebert Road; Godwin Juniors (ages seven to 11) in Cranmer Road; St James’s CofE (ages seven to 11) in Tower Hamlets Road; St Anthony’s RC in Upton Avenue; Earlham in Earlham Grove; Sandringham in Sandringham Road; William Davies in Stafford Road, and Salisbury in High Street North.
TRANSPORT & TRAVEL
Forest Gate is well connected with fast and frequent trains to Liverpool Street. The arrival of Crossrail in early 2019 will bring cross-London trains to Forest Gate with a journey time of 17 minutes to Tottenham Court Road. Wanstead Park and Woodgrange Park are on the Overground with trains to Gospel Oak and Barking.
- Wanstead Park – Overground
- Woodgrange Park – Overground
Parks & Recreation
The area backs on to the wild open spaces of Wanstead Flats, the most southerly part of Epping Forest. West Ham Park on Ham Park Road, by contrast, is famous for its displays of bedding plants, now a rare sight in London’s parks. Plashet Park in Plashet Grove is a local park with a bowling green, tennis court and café. The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is in nearby Stratford.
Restaurants & Shopping
The area around Forest Gate’s clock tower and the station is giving local residents hope that their high street shopping scene is improving on the current offering of pawn shops and chicken takeaways. This area now hosts a popular local food and crafts market started by residents and held on Fridays, Saturdays and the last Sunday of the month. Coffee 7 is a popular vegetarian coffee shop and there is another coffee shop, Kaffeine, on the other side of the road.
