14 Facts About Forest Gate

1.

Forest Gate is a district in the London Borough of Newham, East London, England.

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2.

Since 1965, Forest Gate has been part of the London Borough of Newham, a local government district of Greater London.

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3.

Forest Gate formed part of the County Borough of West Ham since its creation in 1886.

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4.

Nearby Godwin Junior School in Forest Gate recently picked up a British Council International School Award, while the Ofsted Outstanding-rated Forest Gate Community School remains one of the best in the country, by measure of Progress 8 scores.

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5.

Forest Gate has a local branch of the Women's Institute and is home to the Spotted Dog at 212 Upton Lane.

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6.

Forest Gate will be linked by the Elizabeth Line to Central and West London in 2022.

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7.

Forest Gate has various associations with music and acting: it was for many years the home of the Tonic Sol-fa College of John Curwen, which taught large numbers of people to play music without learning conventional notation.

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8.

Ben Drew aka Plan B grew up in Forest Gate and lived in Hampton Road on the Woodgrange Estate.

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9.

JJ Jegede, the long jumper, was born and raised in Forest Gate and won the silver medal at the 2011 UK Championships and gold at 2012 UK Indoor Championships.

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10.

Mark Hunter, MBE, was born and raised in Forest Gate and won the gold medal in the lightweight double scull at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and gold medals in the lightweight double scull at 2010 and 2011 World Championships.

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11.

Arnold Schwarzenegger was known to have lived in Forest Gate and lifted weights at Wag Bennett's gymnasium in Romford Road before he achieved fame.

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12.

Musicians from Forest Gate include biographer, composer and pianist Norman Charles Suckling, John Ashton, Kele Le Roc and heavy metal vocalist Sarah Jezebel Deva.

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13.

Artists from Forest Gate include Betsy Schneider, John Bowstead, Walter Westley Russell and Barry Windsor-Smith.

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14.

Fashion designer Bubs Mahil runs the famous saree house Chiffons London in Green Street, Forest Gate, and has made costumes for Bollywood diva Aishwarya Rai as well as British Prime Minister Tony Blair – who wore her Nehru jacket in India – and his wife, Cherie.

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