‘I never liked Gail’s but that’s not why I’m opposed’: Walthamstow’s revolt and the awkward paradox for middle-class London

In a desirable corner of the capital, residents are petitioning against a new branch of the upmarket bakery chain

If you were looking for a neighbourhood in which a community was primed to take a stand against the incursion of gentrification, then Walthamstow Village is not where you'd start the search. With its smart Victorian streets, pedestrianised cafe culture and seven-figure house prices, it looks like the last word in gentrified living. That renovated ship has sailed.

But last week this desirable corner of north-east London hit the news with a change.org petition to prevent the upmarket cafe and bakery chain Gail's, often seen as a signifier of a neighbourhood's middle-class credentials, from opening a shop in Orford Road, in the very heart of the village. There are already more than 90 Gail's shops in the capital.