Is London suburb Mill Hill a British version of Hong Kongs affluent Kowloon Tong neighbourhood? W
It is just before noon on an uncharacteristically balmy Tuesday in September and I am not looking forward to the long, stuffy Tube ride I am about to embark on. Mill Hill East Tube station is the lonely terminus of a single-track branch of the Northern Line – which, unfortunately for me, is a 30-minute journey from Central London. To my relief, the train I board holds only a smattering of passengers, all of whom are masked and socially distanced. The hint of a breeze wafts through the carriage windows, making the ride a tad more comfortable.
Emerging with just two other passengers from the small overground station, I am greeted by a sprawling construction site. Formerly home to a military barracks (unlike Kowloon Tong, whose People’s Liberation Army Kowloon East Barracks are still in use), the site is being given a new lease of life as Millbrook Park, a residential complex of around 2,200 new homes, including the Plaza Collection development.
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The apartments are in varying stages of construction, with some still clad in metal scaffolding and others bearing bright red “Sold” signs. Squint hard enough and some flats vaguely resemble those in Kowloon Tong – think low-slung buildings with boxy balconies.
The main street, Bittacy Hill, bears the hallmarks of British middle-class suburbia: a multistorey Virgin Active health club and a large Waitrose supermarket, both of which are surprisingly quiet given the time of day.
I soon discover that Mill Hill proper – both literally and figuratively – is a fair distance from where I am in the modern residential district of Mill Hill East. It requires a 45-minute walk (or a 12-minute bus ride), but the route is scenic, taking me through quiet residential streets and verdant swathes.
Along Devonshire Road (note that Kowloon Tong has a Devon Road) is a row of mock Tudor houses with pitched roofs and half-timbered facades. Further afield, Mill Hill Village, a bucolic corner of the suburb dating back to at least the 1320s, is characterised by Georgian residences, weatherboard cottages and even a village green – a far cry from the gleaming apartments springing up in Millbrook Park.
There are notable schools aplenty in the area, too, including St Vincent’s RC Primary School and Belmont Mill Hill Preparatory School. Posh houses? Check. Prestigious schools? Check.
From Mill Hill Village, I cross Arrandene Open Space, a 25-hectare tract of conservation woodland in which I encounter nary a soul, save for a silver-haired man walking his overexcited labradoodle. It is almost as deserted – a couple of joggers and a solitary sunbather basking in summer’s last hurrah – in the adjacent Mill Hill Park, a leafy public space dotted with green and gold trees.
My energy flagging in the midday heat, I am glad to reach Mill Hill’s high street. Mill Hill Broadway is a short but bustling strip lined with supermarkets, independent boutiques and more than its fair share of hair salons. A decent range of cafes and restaurants includes a kebab house, a sushi takeaway and a fish-and-chip shop.
The cheery, colourful interior of BAW Café, a pan-Asian joint serving up Thai-inflected dishes such as Panang curry and pad Thai, is tempting, but in keeping with the theme of my investigation, I have lunch at an elegant Cantonese restaurant situated at the end of the street.Opened in 1981, The Good Earth is a stalwart of the neighbourhood’s dining scene, attracting an older, well-heeled clientele. Inside, the decor ticks all the boxes, with Chinese watercolour paintings adorning the walls and lazy Susans on the tables.
Most of the staff appear to be Cantonese speakers – the laconic head waiter, Fai, tells me that he emigrated from Hong Kong decades ago and has been with the restaurant for 12 years. The food is suitably authentic, too, with wonton soup (£7.40/US$9.40), garlic pak choy (£11.40) and sweet and sour pork (£19.20) featuring on the menu.
I order a platter of chiu yim squid (£9.40) and a bowl of egg fried rice (£6.40), both of which are served up promptly. The meal is satisfactory – the squid is lightly battered and well-seasoned, and the fried rice, while bare bones, is accentuated by some fiery chilli oil. But I cannot help but balk at the bill, which is markedly higher than that which a typical restaurant in London’s Chinatown would charge – although it would perhaps not be too much of a shock for Kowloon Tong’s Festival Walk shopping mall crowd.
Revitalised, I explore the recreational attractions in the wider area, which include Hendon Golf Club, Belmont Children’s Farm, Allianz Park (home to the Saracens rugby team), the London Equestrian Centre and the Royal Air Force Museum, which is an almost-empty bus ride away, in the neighbouring suburb of Colindale.
Standing on the former Hendon Aerodrome, the museum’s hangars are filled with a broad range of aircraft, including a Short Sunderland “flying boat” of a type older emigrants might remember having seen floating in Kowloon Bay, and a Westland Wessex helicopter, which would not have looked out of place in the skies over the Shek Kong Airfield once upon a time.
The museum is an illuminating end to an enjoyable afternoon, even if I am a little footsore.
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Despite its posh houses, prestigious schools and peaceful streets, Mill Hill is not quite a London equivalent to Kowloon Tong, and not just because of its lack of love hotels. However, for Hongkongers – especially those with young families – craving a bit of space and seeking to dial down the pace of city living, this slice of sleepy suburbia has charms of its own.
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Slice of sleepy suburbia
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