Ian Walford Popular Books

Ian Walford Biography & Facts

Walford is a fictional borough of east London in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. It is the primary setting for the soap. EastEnders is filmed at Borehamwood in Hertfordshire, towards the north-west of London. Much of the location work is filmed in nearby Watford, which was chosen for many of the exterior scenes due to its close proximity and the town's name being so similar to Walford. Thus, any stray road signs or advertising boards which are accidentally filmed in the back of shots will appear to read Walford. Locations used in Watford include most interior and exterior church scenes of various churches, the snooker club, the County Court and Magistrates' Courts courtrooms, and the cemetery (where most of the deceased characters are interred). The name Walford is both a street in Dalston where one of the series' creators, Tony Holland, lived and a blend of Walthamstow, where Holland was born, and Stratford. The suffix '-ford' is found throughout Britain (for example, Bradford, Guildford and Telford); it just means the first place you can cross a river. Walford's London postcode district is E20 (real East London postcode districts only went up to E18 until 2011, when E20 was introduced to serve the London 2012 Olympic Park). Walford's fictional tube station, Walford East, is located on the EastEnders tube map in the position normally occupied by the real Bromley-by-Bow tube station. As part of the 2010 Children In Need charity appeal, Walford became twinned with Weatherfield in a special programme uniting the two soaps EastEnders and Coronation Street called "East Street". Locations within Walford Albert Square The main setting of EastEnders is Albert Square, where many of the characters reside. Central to the Square is the garden. The garden is home to Arthur Fowler's (Bill Treacher) bench, which was placed there in memory of him. The bench is also known as the 'Bench of Tears', as it is often the place where characters will go and cry. One corner of the square is taken up by The Queen Victoria Public House. There is a B&B and a car lot. The square's design was based on Fassett Square in Dalston, and was given the name Albert Square after Prince Albert. The Queen Victoria, was also given its name due to this. The Queen Victoria public house, known to residents as the Queen Vic or simply 'The Vic', stands south of the square at number 46 Albert Square, where it joins with Bridge Street. East of the pub is a building with 2 flats and west of these in the southwest corner leads off to a walkway through to Turpin Way, on which the Walford Community Centre and Playground are found. To the west of the Queen Vic, across the junction with Bridge Street, is the Beale house, 45 Albert Square. Next to that is 43 Albert Square. In the southwest corner of the square is number 41. Between numbers 41 and 43 is Daisy Lane, a pathway connecting Albert Square to Victoria Square. Daisy Lane was named after the daughter of Series Designer Steven Keogh. On the west edge of The Square there are two houses 18 and 20 Albert Square, which have been knocked through as a single property and then later separated again. It was previously Walford's B&B, 'Kim's Palace'. North of the old B&B is the rear of 55 Victoria Road. A row of five terraced houses line the north edge of Albert Square. The westernmost house is number 31. The property next door is split into two flats. Number 25 is the home of Dot Cotton (June Brown). The easternmost property in the terrace is number 23, which was destroyed in September 2014 by a fire. On the northeast edge of Albert Square is a car lot, south of which is another terrace of three elevated properties. The northernmost house is number 5. A road leads north at the square's northeast edge, passing by the car lot. The middle house is at 3 Albert Square. Most southerly of this terrace is number 1, originally flats with the doctor's surgery on the ground floor, which later became a single house. Bridge Street Bridge Street is the location of the street market and shops including the café, launderette, and mini-supermarket. The café is originally named Al's Cafe and owned by Ali Osman (Nejdet Salih) and Sue Osman (Sandy Ratcliff), where they also operate the taxi firm OzCabs. When Ali develops a gambling addiction, he is forced to sell the café to Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt), who manages it with his wife, Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins), until he sells the business to his mother, Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth). Ian buys the café back following the birth of Kathy's son, Ben Mitchell (Matthew Silver), although loses the business when he becomes bankrupt years later. Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) buys the property and employs Laura Beale (Hannah Waterman), the estranged wife of Ian, to manage it. She renames the property to Laura's Café. Laura dies and Phil is falsely imprisoned so when Phil signs the café to his sister, Sam Mitchell (Kim Medcalf), she naïvely sells the business back to Ian. Ian manages the café with his wife Jane Beale (Laurie Brett) until they divorce and Jane wins the business in the divorce settlement. Jane sells the café to Phil and he lets his partner, Shirley Carter (Linda Henry), manage it. She names the property Shirley's Cafe. Phil sells the business to Ian, and he renames the café to Mandy's Café. When Ian has a nervous breakdown and leaves, his daughter Lucy Beale (Hetti Bywater) takes control of his businesses, calling the cafe Cindy's Café. Upon his return, Ian regains ownership of the café and when she returns to Walford, Jane manages it. A few years later, Kathy returns and when she begins managing the café, Ian renames it to Kathy's Café. A year later, Ian sells the property to Weyland & Co, a property development company, which upsets Kathy. Weeks later, Fi Browning (Lisa Faulkner), a business consultant for the company, gifts the café to Kathy after discovering that her father, James Willmott-Brown (William Boyde) raped Kathy. The launderette is owned by Mr Papadopolous until his death in 1992; the business passes to his son, Andonis Papadopolous and in 2016, it is passed to Andonis's son, Apostolos Papadopolous. Apostolos sells the launderette to Phil Mitchell and Kat Slater (Jessie Wallace) in 2021, and Kat also sets up a taxi company called “Kat’s Cabs” in the backroom. Turpin Road Turpin Road is the location of a war memorial, bookmaker, chip shop, funeral parlour, restaurant and an upmarket bar as well as several other businesses. The name Turpin Road was chosen after the show's creator read that the East End was the haunt of notorious highwaymen, such as Dick Turpin. The nightclub on Turpin Road is originally named Strokes Wine Bar until George Palmer (Paul Moriarty) buys it and renames it "The Cobra Club". He uses the club as a cover for his criminal business. Annie Palmer (Nadia Sawalha), George's daughter, takes over the control of the club when he leaves; she renames the club "The Market Cellar". A.... Discover the Ian Walford popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Ian Walford books.