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If all the lockdowns have left you wanting a little more green on your doorstep, don’t feel like you have to move beyond Zone 6 to get it. London has loads of foresty, residential areas to find a new home in.
1. Sydenham Hill Wood
What’s it like? The discreetly pagan Sydenham Hill Wood is a doomy ancient woodland complete with a ruined Victorian folly – the perfect location for shooting your next heavy metal music video.
Best places to eat and drink? Country-style pub The Wood House is the one for cosy pints and slap-up Sunday roasts.
Any downsides? Maybe it’s just a bit *too* quiet?
How much would it cost to rent a place here? According to Zoopla – which has provided all the rental prices for this article – you’re looking at £1,187 pcm.
And to buy? Rightmove has supplied us with all the average property purchase prices, and for Sydenham it’s £492,847.
2. Epping Forest
What’s it like? ‘Epic’ Forest isn’t just big, it’s absolutely ginormous: 8,000 acres of majestic green space. It has extremely climbable trees and a pop-cultural past as the leafy location for the Black Knight scene in ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’. Nerd paradise.
Best places to eat and drink? Guzzle fresh shellfish at the legendary Oyster Shack & Seafood Bar, and drink transformative cider at The Woodbine Inn.
Any downsides? Well, it seems to be quite a popular place to dump dead bodies.
How much would it cost to rent a place here? £1,591 pcm. And to buy? £608,393.
3. Highgate Wood
What’s it like? In the hinterland between East Finchley, Muswell Hill and Highgate, this petite woodland is perfect if you’re not ready to go the full Ray Mears and would rather a casual dip into the land of mulchy rambles.
Best places to eat and drink? The Grocery Post is a deli of dreams. Get pints at The Woodman.
Any downsides? This isn’t quite the rural idyll – there are an awful lot of cars around.
How much would it cost to rent a place here? £4,493 pcm.
And to buy? £1,225,994.
4. Forty Hill
What’s it like? A pandemic episode of ‘Antiques Roadshow’ was filmed in the classy environs of Enfield’s Forty Hall, a Jacobean manor house in the middle of bucolic Forty Hill, which has gorgeous grounds that run the gamut from moody woods to lovely lakes, and feature a Victorian pet cemetery. Ideal.
Best places to eat and drink? The quaint Forty Hall Farmers’ Market and Farm Shop will make you think you’ve been teleported into an episode of ‘The Archers’.
Any downsides? It’s a bit like being stuck in the 1920s, and not in a fun way.
How much would it cost to rent a place here? £1,749 pcm.
And to buy? £453,168.
5. One Tree Hill
What’s it like? Nothing to do with the naff 2000s teen drama series and everything to do with the flirty foliage of Honor Oak, a niche nature reserve with one of the best views of the capital.
Best places to eat and drink? The Blythe Hill Tavern is an old-school Irish boozer of repute.
Any downsides? If you don’t like hills, you’re screwed.
How much would it cost to rent a place here? £1,630 pcm.
And to buy? £540,956.
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