Upper Street

Upper Street is the main shopping street of the Islington district of inner north London, and carries the A1 road. It begins at the junction of the A1 and Pentonville Road and City Road, and runs roughly northwards past Angel tube station, then past the Business Design Centre, then splits at Islington Green (where Essex Road, formerly named Lower Street, branches off), then past the Screen on the Green cinema, the town hall, ending at Highbury & Islington tube station on Highbury corner, where the A1 carries on as Holloway Road. The southernmost 500 metres (0.31 mi), from the junction to Islington Green, also carries the historical name of Islington's High Street.

It contains many fashionable shops, pubs, restaurants and theatres, including the now closed Granita restaurant where Tony Blair and Gordon Brown were said to have made their deal on the future leadership of the Labour Party.

The hilltop village of Islington originally consisted of two streets in addition to the High Street: Upper Street and Lower Street, which diverged from the High Street at Islington Green and both date back to at least the 12th century.Henry VIII hunted duck in the ponds off Upper Street, while Walter Raleigh lived in Upper Street and owned a pub in Lower Street. Lower Street has since been renamed Essex Road.

St. Mary's Church, Islington was rebuilt in 1754 and dominates the Islington skyline. It is still in use today, and is a major venue for performances of traditional religious music. The Little Angel Theatre is a children's puppet theatre in a former Temperance hall, behind the church. Directly opposite St. Mary's Church is the King's Head Theatre, founded in 1970 by the late Dan Crawford. It was the first pub theatre in the UK, located in the back room behind the bar at the King's Head pub.

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