Walford

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Walford is a fictional borough of East London in the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders. The name suggests a conflation of Walthamstow and Stratford, both real places in East London. Walford has a fictional London postal district, London E20, and a fictional tube station, Walford East, which is located on the EastEnders tube map in the position normally occupied by the real Bromley-by-Bow tube station. Denise Wicks also mentioned that Walford has another tube station called Walford West.

EastEnders is actually filmed at Borehamwood in Hertfordshire, towards the north-west of London. Much of the location work is filmed in nearby Watford, a large town in Hertfordshire situated about 8 miles from Borehamwood.

Locations used in Watford are: The cemetery (where most of the deceased characters are interred), most interior and exterior church scenes of various churches, the snooker club, and the County / Magistrate Courtrooms.

It has been suggested that Watford was chosen for much of the exterior scenes due to its close proximity, and that the town name is so similar to Walford. Thus, any stray road signs or advertising boards which are accidentally filmed in the back of shots will appear to read Walford.^{[citation needed]}

Places of interest

Walford's most famous setting is Albert Square, but there are many other places in Walford that have gained notoriety.

Bridge Street

Bridge Street is the main street in to Albert Square and is home to the Walford street market, which includes a fruit and vegetable stall previously run by Pete Beale, Mark Fowler and Martin Fowler. Businessman Ian Beale once planned to remove the market in favour of a shopping centre, much to the dislike of the residents and his family. In 2004, the residents celebrated 100 years of the market.

Bridge Street also includes many the majority of the businesses, there is a mini-supermarket named Minute Mart (formerly First 'Til Last) which is currently owned by Patrick Trueman. There is also a launderette which is owned by Mr Papadopoulos, though he is rarely seen. Dot Branning worked at the launderette along with Pauline Fowler for over 30 years until Pauline's death in 2006, Dot continues to manage the laundrette and has had various people to help cover Pauline's shift, namely: Shirley Carter, Yolande Trueman,Honey Mitchell and now Heather Trott. The launderette is often seen as a mystery for viewers who wonder why nobody owns a washing machine, however Garry Hobbs and Minty Peterson, Ian Beale and the Millers' houses have recently^[when?] been seen with washing machines.

Also in Bridge Street is the Bridge Street Café, which is currently owned by Ian Beale (also known as "Kathy's", after Ian's mother).

It is understood to be given the name Bridge Street because of the rail bridge, the sounds of trains going past are often heard.

Victoria Square

Victoria Square is home to a number of bedsits that are considered to be low-class, these are usually used when characters find themselves homeless. Ian Beale owns a property here that he lets out.

George Street

The houses in George Street would seem to be a step up from the houses in Albert Square. There is also the Argee Bhajee, an Indian restaurant. Ronnie Mitchell currently owns 89 George Street. There is also the tube station. King George House is a Bed & Breakfast Establishment, situated there were many characters have stayed. In April 2009, Danielle Jones was run over by Janine Butcher and died in the arms of her mother, Ronnie Mitchell, after stepping off the pavement in front of the tube station.

Turpin Way

Turpin Way includes the local garage The Arches which was bought by the Mitchell brothers when they first arrived in the Square (it was briefly known as Beale's Wheels when Ian Beale owned it). There is also a community centre (briefly a gym) and nearby is the playground.

Turpin Road

In Turpin Road there is a bookmakers and Beale's Plaice, the local chip shop, owned by Ian Beale. The Turpin Road war memorial is also here, it pays tribute to residents of Walford who perished in the First and Second World Wars. However, in real life the memorial features names of people involved with EastEnders along with past stars.

Walford Video was on Turpin Road for a number of years and managed by Nigel Bates, Barry Evans and later Billy Mitchell, until Phil Mitchell sold it to Manju Patel, who turned it into a Sari shop.

There is also a nightclub called R&R. It was originally named The Market Cellar until George Palmer bought the club and renamed it the Cobra Club. When Palmer moved, he sold it to Steve Owen who renamed it e20 (the club's most well-known title). It was then sold to Sharon Watts who named it Angie's Den. In 2005 the club extended its space when Johnny Allen bought the next door snooker club. It was named Scarlet after Johnny Allen's daughter who died in a fire. In 2007 Ronnie Mitchell revealed her plans to buy Scarlet, which she did with her business partner Jack Branning. Ronnie and sister Roxy Mitchell named it R&R after their names: Ronnie and Roxy.

Gilly's Massage Parlour is also on Turpin Road, where the Post Office used to be. The massage parlour was built in 2009 as a cover for a brothel that is run from there.

High Street

Walford's High Street is often mentioned by characters, who usually go there to buy items not available in the shops featured. However the High Street itself has never been shown.

Other places

Walford is also home to Walford police station, Walford General Hospital, Walford Primary School and Walford High School.

See also

• Albert Square
• Walford East

External links

• BBC map of Walford