benmorg

I've been cycling to work for 15 years and haven't had any accidents yet but know quite a few people who've broken wrists and ankles after falling off and one friend who cracked his helmet in half. It gets safer as you get more used to it and also as you get older and less inclined to take risks or cycle home after the pub. I got from Nunhead to the Strand, which takes 30 mins, via Old Kent Road. OKR is much faster than Camberwell Road & Walworth road as there are almost no pedestrians. Am planning on moving to East Dulwich and will need to revise my route - will definitely try to avoid Walworth road if possible and probably go along Rye Lane, Surrey canal & burgess park to OKR. Would like to know if there is a good, relatively traffic free route all the way up through peckham and walworth. There are no decent bike lanes but you can use bus lanes everywhere, which often means you can go down roads barred to most drivers, e.g. north from elephant & castle along London Rd is a great shortcut towards Waterloo Bridge. Sadly it's an ugly ride however you do it. Best bike ride in London is from Notting Hill to Trafalgar Square via the parks & the Mall, which is off road all the way.

you can see at a glance how ethnically diverse Southwark is on these maps: http://www.guardian.co.uk/graphic/0,5812,1395103,00.html It's interesting that Dulwich (though not ED) appears as a white island within predominantly diverse and largely black south London. A lot of people claim to love the diversity of East Dulwich and other parts of south London but house prices tell a different story: the whitest bits of central London are the most expensive and the blackest bits are cheapest. As East Dulwich rises in price and desirability it is likely to become whiter and whiter. See also Richmond on the maps - resolutely white and extremely expensive.

I agree with you about Whateley. But sometimes what makes a street nice is not what you see walking down it but what's hidden behind, e.g. Ryedale looks plain to walk through but as several people point out, one side faces onto green space. Where I currently live in Nunhead (Ivydale Road) is a bland victorian street, but my side backs onto the forest in the cemetery and is utterly quiet, with sound of owls at night and woodpeckers & dawn chorus in spring. I'm sure there are bits of East Dulwich with the same countryified feel, but perhaps with a bit more charm than nunhead otherwise has.

directly east of the station is Peckham rather than East Dulwich. There's a steep social gradient across peckham (conservation areas excepted), and north of Peckham High St/Queen's Road it gets properly nasty. I cycle through there to get into work from nunhead and passed 2 new "shooting incident" boards this week. South Peckham (neighbourhoods to N. of Goose Green) is much better but has been sustained by regeneration money and it could easily sink again. I'm sure ryedale is far better, you're a long way from all the grot.

it's a long walk, maybe 15 mins, but down underhill road which is pretty. If you want green and leafy and quiet, ryedale is probably better than the streets around Lordship lane. I would be interested to know what residents think are the most and least desirable parts of East dulwich or if it's all much of a muchness. judging from house prices, some spots certainly look to be more sought after than others.

yes it's SE22 so must be. Not sure where the borderline with SE23 is. I drive via Ryedale and Dunstans when going from Nunhead to centre of ED and can confirm it is a world away from Nunhead and Peckham. Not that Nunhead is all that bad.. but as I said I've done my time there and want to move somewhere a bit less dead.

maybe "scruffy" is the wrong word, but nunhead is certainly cheaper than ryedale, which is also cheaper than woodwarde road. Ryedale seems a long way from East Dulwich, is it classed as Forest Hill or ED??

I think Nunhead is cheaper and scruffier than Ryedale, but Ryedale is cheaper and scruffier than, say, Woodwarde Road. I'm just guessing of course, it could be the opposite.

Having done my time in Nunhead, I am planning on moving to East Dulwich. Am considering a place in Landcroft Road. Is this considered a safe/desirable/pleasant place to live? Which end is the better end - up the hill or down nearer the action in Lordship lane? There seems to be a subtle social map of East Dulwuch that only the residents understand, e.g. there is a right and wrong side of Barry Road, west of Lordship Lane is uber-posh and east is cheaper and scruffier.