On Line

Situated in the north-west corner of the London Borough of Hackney, Stoke Newington is an area with a long and fascinating history of non-conformism and Bohemianism. From the Dissenters to the Angry Brigade, Stoke Newington has been home to a radical, anti-authoritarian tradition and has always attracted people from all cultures, classes and walks of life.

Today, this raffish, slightly down-at-heel community continues to reflect its cosmopolitan history, with newly-arrived merchant bankers, writers, academics and actors sharing the narrow streets with the original working-class inhabitants and the many immigrant communities. In short, the area is fast becoming gentrified, as can be seen from a glance at Stoke Newington Church Street with its pubs, cafes and restaurants serving menus from India, Thailand, China, the Pacific Rim, France, Italy, Turkey and Spain, and the range of boutiques, delicatessens, clothes shops and specialist, expensive designer outlets. The ‘Church Street effect’ is moving outward and the middle classes are moving in, attracted by Stokey’s proximity to the City and the West End and its air of ‘community’. They are buying up properties in the increasing numbers of apartment blocks, and the soaring house and flat prices demonstrate Stokey’s popularity. Meanwhile, much of the area remains a relatively poor, typically inner-city deprived neighbourhood.

N16 magazine was first published in January 1999 to serve the needs of this diverse and vibrant area and to provide a guide to the local news, events, personalities, issues, opinions and history. That I am writing this in January 2001 shortly after publication of Issue 8 is an indication of the magazine’s success. Our blend of humorous and informed writing, the cartoons and competitions and our regular features – Crossword, Personality of the Month, Speak Out!, Festival News (previewing the annual Church Street Festival in June, the second largest street festival in London with over 40,000 revellers), Restaurant Reviews, Gardening, Our Man in the North Bank and so on – have appealed to our many readers in the area, and within two years we have become a regular part of Stoke Newington life. The magazine is editorially led and we aim to provide our readership with informative, entertaining and often provocative features, rather than simply churn out advertorial copy in the manner of many local freesheets. We also take great care over the appearance of the magazine, employing local company Audiografix to design the pages and and ensuring that our paper and printing quality remains at a high standard.

The magazine is quarterly and free, and is available on the day of publication in outlets across Stoke Newington, Newington Green and specially-selected outlets in Islington. Given that we have no retail price, we are entirely dependent on advertising revenue and we are delighted with the continuing support we receive from our regular advertisers and with the increasing number of new advertisers. We are an entirely independent limited company – n16 Publishing Ltd – and the directors are Rab MacWilliam (Publishing), Tim Webb (Editorial) and Anne Beech (Advertising).

Rab MacWilliam

Publisher

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