New Malden High Street

New Malden High Street, 1993

New Malden High Street is a 1 km-long[1] high street in New Malden, the centre of the suburb that grew up around New Malden railway station in the 19th and 20th centuries. It is in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, now part of south west London.

Features of High Street

As well as containing a variety of high street names, New Malden High Street is most notable for its many Korean shops and restaurants, due to New Malden having the largest population of South Koreans in Europe.[2] Also, Mace, a high-end, small department store specialising in authentic English goods such as china and glass,[3] is a frequent tourist destination for Korean businesspeople, especially when the exchange rate is favourable.[2] Tudor Williams Ltd, established in 1913, is a family run department store in the High Street.[4] Regarding supermarkets, Waitrose opened their 131st branch in New Malden High Street,[5] Iceland has a branch on the street[6] and an old branch of Somerfield was in 2009 converted into a large branch of the Co-operative Food.[7] Wetherspoons opened in 2012 on the site of the old New Malden Police station.

Each Christmas the High Street is festooned with Christmas lights with its own switching-on ceremony. The choir from Christ Church School in New Malden sing Christmas carols to the townsfolk.

Fountain

At the end of the high street there is a roundabout known as the Fountain Roundabout because it has a fountain which was originally used for drinking water by horses.[8] The Fountain Roundabout has The Fountain Public House on one corner, and The Watchman Public House on another. From the roundabout are four exits: one to the high street, one to Kingston upon Thames, one towards Cheam and Sutton, and one towards Raynes Park and Wimbledon; the latter two crossing the main London to Portsmouth Road (A3 road).[1]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Premier Stores to Coombe Filling Station". Google Maps. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Doing business in London's Little Korea". BBC. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  3. ↑ The Kolberg Partnership, London. "Mace, 39 High Street, New Malden - China & Glassware Shops near New Malden Rail Station". Allinlondon.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-02-12.
  4. ↑ "Tudor Williams". Tudor Williams. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  5. ↑ "Waitrose New Malden". Waitrose. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  6. ↑ "Find an Iceland Store". Iceland. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  7. ↑ "New Co-op brings hope of New Malden High Street revival". Surrey Comet. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  8. ↑ "New Malden". Surreycraftfairs.co.uk. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
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