St Mary's, Stoke Newington 11:20 am Sunday October 21 2012
My eldest son lives in Stoke Newington, the next neighbourhood north of Islington. This is part of London, not a suburb, just a pocket in the huge urban sprawl of this great city. It is a very family friendly place and, as befits a football obsessed country in a football obsessed world, the Sunday training sessions for the youth are of critical importance. I speak here of course of what our US friends call soccer.
There is a spectacular park in the borough of Hackney, just up the road from my son's family's place, called Clissold Park. It is a wonderful leafy place and splendidly equipped with tennis courts, football pitches and really everything you could possibly need for healthy recreation. And there is the handsome St Mary's Church presiding over this benign activity.
We all then went off to the excellent Italian restaurant in Stoke Newington, Il Bacio. They are sponsors of the Stoke Newington Under-Eight team. And their name appears, of course, on the shirts of the players......it really is so excellent! And so are their Pizzas.......Stoke Newington Church Street is an undiscovered gem of a place. London never ceases to amaze.
I have a busy more operatic day tomorrow.
I lived there for seven years and miss it terribly! Is the Vortex Jazz venue still there?
M x
Posted by: Mark Doubleday | October 21, 2012 at 11:15 PM