Here Mike Hinchliffe  explains Why He Loves Thornton Heath.

I grew up in uber trendy East London, except that it wasn’t when I was young. I lived at the end of a railway line in an area of town that didn’t always get a lot of love. Yet now that same area of town is one of the most wanted areas of London.

After some gentle persuasion from a friend I visited the very rural sounding Thornton Heath.

What I found upon my arrival was  not the Surrey county parish that I pictured in my ignorance but a place much more familiar. It reminded me of the East End that I grew up in. People were friendly and there was a variety of different businesses, sights, sounds, food and characters.

Previously I had not really ventured south of the river much further than the Academy in Brixton but now I love being perfectly placed to mosey on up to Streatham for a meal and a drink or into the regenerating Croydon for some excellent tattoo work and traditional fruit and veg market. Not to mention all of the fantastic, exotic food that is literally on my doorstep here in The Heath.

Add in to that mix the fantastic green spaces of Grangewood Park and The Rec and I feel blessed to live here with my little family.