It’s shabbier than its illustrious neighbours, but that’s what makes it what it is
What’s going for it? “Here from my eyrie, as the sun went down/I heard the old North London puff and shunt/Glad that I did not live in Gospel Oak.” What an incorrigible snob John Betjeman could be. He was born in Gospel Oak, but couldn’t wait to escape Lissenden Gardens and, as he saw it, haul himself up the social scale when his family moved home up Highgate Hill. Back then Gospel Oak was a shabbier affair, carved up by railway viaducts. Today, London being what it’s become, it’s a lot smarter, though the viaducts are still there, and after Betjeman left they were joined by council estates he’d have doubtless hated. I love the place. When I first moved to London, this is where I dreamed I’d end up, living the north London life. I’d be a professor. I’d be a connoisseur of council estates. I’d probably have a regular column in the London Review of Books and buy organic veg. I’d be a doughty member of community groups. I’d walk my dog on Parliament Hill and swim daily in the lido. Of course, London being what it’s become, and despite still being cheaper than Highgate, I couldn’t even think of affording to live in Gospel Oak. Funny how life turns out.
The case against It’s still a shabbier affair than its illustrious neighbours, though I think that’s what makes it what it is.
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