Not a lot of people know that;

Southgate's name derives from a medieval southern gate which once enclosed Enfield Royal Chase hunting grounds used by King Henry VIII. This area is now called Trent Park and is one of the largest parks in London.  A plaque marking the position of the original South Gate can be found on the side of the Wimpy burger cafe in Chase Road.

Southgate boasts it's own tapas bar which regularly has live Flamenco dancing, a Pizza Express and an excellent restaurant called Ristorante Gorgonzola. It has a number of antique shops and an auctioneers.

Salsa is danced just round the corner from where we live at the Southgate Club in Crown Lane on Sundays and Wednesdays.  Nowadays Raquel and I go to a salsa club at Trent Park Golf Club opposite Oakwood tube on a Wednesday night for our Salsa fix.

Southgate's tube station is a listed building due to its unique architecture reminiscent of a flying saucer

General Pinochet lived here in 1998 (not in our house - in Southgate) until the authorities paid him a visit.

Southgate-Enfield constituents dumped Michael Portillo (the Tories golden boy) as their MP in the 1997 general election.

Southgate has its own public swimming pool, an LA fitness and a Marks & Spencer food store. These are all 5 minutes walk from our house.

It takes just less than half an hour to drive to Southgate from the West End late at night.

Try the Southgate Web Site for more information on the town itself.