West Dulwich Forum

[dulwichmum]

There is no competition, I love Southwark, I don't want to be killed in a drive by shooting... OHMYGOD, I live on the door step of Lambeth!!!

How many light bulbs do I have to leave on all night in order to make enough ice bergs to melt to submerge Brixton? I think I shall buy a Range Rover and be done with it!

"Open the fridge door Ana, consider this an emergency..."

[SeanMacGabhann]

Ever keen to discern prejudice - I've re-read the thread again. And Huguenot's post aside I can see people wishing the West Dulwich forum well while at the same time expressing the concern there may not be enough activity to sustain it (a possibly fair point?)

Interestingly the people who have expressed this view most strongly don't come from ED but live much more in the West Dulwich catchment. So I genuinely can't see any divisiveness

I certainly don't see any competitive "our area is better than yours " type stuff going on

[dulwichmum]

Indeed, there is no competition between East and West Dulwich. I am starting to consider West Dulwich to be the bubble wrap which protects east dulwich from Lambeth. We are entirely complimentary!

[dulwichmum]

And further... East Dulwich protects West Dulwich from Peckham! I would consider moving house to Sydenham Hill if it wasn't for the damn doggers!

[Asset]

I certainly don't see any competitive "our area is better than yours " type stuff going on

Um, the whole forum?

[SeanMacGabhann]

tsk tsk - - the "whole" forum is an exaggeration surely and I've told you a million times... etc ;-)

many a debate happens including the pros and cons of many areas but I haven't seen many "my area is better than yours ya boo sucks" - I'm happy to be quoted wrong tho (1 or 2 mentions don't count as the whole forum mind)

Some people have expressed how grateful they are to be living somewhere they like as opposed to areas they have lived where they really really didn't like - I'm an example - East Ham v East Dulwich? Yes, I prefer East Dulwich. Don't think I've said anything prejudicial against any neighbouring areas around here tho

[Asset]

oh alright, but you must admit there is an element of derision regarding West Dulwich. I'm just trying to be devil's advocate.

[TillieTrotter]

This is getting abit heavy isnt it! Theres nowt wrong in having pride in your area. In saying that, I happen to use Dulwich Village alot and it would be nice to include issues about it on here. Chill out guys::o

[SeanMacGabhann]

only from the people who in live IN West Dulwich Asset.... I don't see any ED'ers saying anything negative about WD - the West Dulwichites saying anything negative are also probably more qualifed than I to comment on the area itself. (had a quick re-read of that and it sounds a bit finger-wagging - didn't mean it that way but too tired to rephrase - soz!) For what it;s worth I sometimes pay a visit and find it perfectly ok - (if a lot less focused in terms of businesses) than many other areas

Is it a heavy conversation? - I'm perfectly calm - just trying to redress any misconceptions. I agree with Tillie - this particular forum is well used to covering most of the surrounding areas. And with the exception of one or two pedants it all seems pretty tickety-boo

[downsouth]

Without trying to add any real or perceived fuel to the fire, I have been a bit surprised by reactions by those who are either East or West. It's not the end of the world to have a forum dealing with West Duwlich matters. If this was intended to cover all of Dulwich it would be called "Dulwich Forum". Anyhow, that is not the point of my reply. In terms of this Lambeth thing - I do find it quite disheartening to hear Lambeth being denigrated to the extent that it has. Yes parts of it are not desirable or have their issues but simply saying the supposedly 'tongue-in-cheek' comments are harmless is something I have to disagree with. Lambeth especially West Dulwich, parts of West Norwood and Gipsty Hill are actually quite nice and I suspect quite a few people have never ventured across the Village, as I hadn't before I moved over from the Bellenden area. As such, they are quite reckless/throwaway statements that I'd rather weren't made. If you haven't been over this side take a walk. There are some nice walks along College Road and we do have some nice shops. The Duwlich Trader and Porcini as mentioned by DM are actually on the Lambeth side of the border so do bring your bullet proof vest.

[SeanMacGabhann]

Have to agree with most of what you say downsouth - but just so everyone is clear - the Lambeth commments written by dulwichmum: You are aware that dulwichmum writes a blog? and has a.... how best to phrase this... . range of opinions

Have a look

http://www.dulwichmum.blogspot.com/

You might notice what I mean by tongue-in-cheek...

No need for anyone to feel disheartened (tu)

[Mark]

If a forum can help build a better community then I'm all for it. I'm offering my help to downsouth to set up a forum in a way that I know works and if a bit of healthy competition grows between East side and West side (how Romeo and Juliet or Ali G depending on your preference) then excellent, I look forward to the inter-Dulwich cricket match next year.

[Nero]

Peace breaks out twixt rival forums! *Wishes there were a dove icon* Nero

[Administrator]

Lounged

[downsouth]

-- moved topic --

[Louisa]

What is West Dulwich? Where is it? must be missing something here. I know of Tulse Hill.. the Village area (which kind of incorporates North Dulwich station)and of course ED, but after that I am lost. More importantly, if someone like me has not even heard of the place, why on earth is someone making a forum about the place!

[Keef]

You're all crap, Sydenham rocks! ;-)

[downsouth]

Keef, I think you may be on to something ;-)

As some of you have never heard of West Dulwich or are unsure where/what it covers I have annoatted a very basic perimeter in orange. The area of turquoise is 'South Dulwich' which many consider West. Croxted and South Croxted Road run down through the centre and mark the boundaries of Southwark (on the right) and Lambeth (on the left) boroughs. Lordship Lane is in the far right hand corner with only a tiny part of it visible (peach coloured main road). The fact that West Duwlich is on a different train line to North and East Duwlich (Victoria to Kent) is perhaps part of the reason for it not being well known on the Eastern side of Dulwich altough those in the Village - who are within walking distance - are quite familiar.

http://img379.imageshack.us/img379/4460/westandsouthdulwichaj4.jpg

As you can see it is quite sizeable - albeit nowhere as large or densely populated as East Dulwich. West Dulwich Train station (on south circular) is encircled in pink, main shopping area on Park Hall Road/Croxted Road in red and shops on Rosendale in blue. To the West of West Duwlich north of the cemetery is West Norwood - no there's not an East Norwood although they have an upper, South and junction. The roads between the two are indistinguishable until you reach Norwood Road itself which is very different - think Peckham High Street on a much smaller scale. Louisa - Tulse Hill is the next area to the West of West Dulwich along the south Circular. In terms of your question why bother set up a forum, the point would be for those who live in the area to develop an online community. The fact that you haven't heard of West Dulwich doesn't negate the point. There are plenty of people who haven't heard of East Dulwich but that's not a reason for this fantastic forum to not exist.

Other things of note over this side include: Belair Park which is very pretty and has the 200 hundred year Beauberry House see the link for a good guide to its history http://www.beauberryhouse.co.uk , the nearby West Norwood cemetery is one of the orignal great victorian cemeteries that were bulit as London began to expand with the industrial revolution http://www.fownc.org/index.shtml It houses many famous residents and their memorials/mausolea of that era - Mrs Beeton, Sir Henry Doulton, Dr William Marsden, Baron Julius de Reuter, Charles Spurgeon and Sir Henry Tate of the Tate family. We also have the Grade 1 listed All Saints Church, originally intended to the be the Cathedral of South London. Gutted by fire in 2000 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/3681077.stm this gargantuan church has been redeveloped following successful fundraising their current website is down but here is some information http://www.southwark.anglican.org/parishes/305t_a.htm as many of you know there is Dulwich College itself http://www.dulwich.org.uk/ which is a beautiful building and it hosts a farmers' market on Sundays

Thatch and Co one of our local estate agents has a good albeit now slightly out-of-date summary which could have saved me the trouble of typing the above! http://www.thatchandco.com/locations/West_Dulwich.htm

Hopefully this will make you see that there is a bit more to 'Dulwich' and it will encourage you to see more of it.

I will be taking up Mark's kind offer of assitance and perhaps in a year or two we'll also have a great forum just like this one.

Cheers

Downsouth

[SimonM]

Excellent summary. May I make a small correction though? The Farmers' Market at Dulwich College is not every Sunday but (usually) the fourth Sunday of each month.

[mamafeelgood]

lordy lord, i had hoped that the ;) would refer to it all being a bit of fun, i hate using proper smileys so i shall force myself in the future so then they cannot be missed! plus i was just trying to make downsouth feel like they had someone laughing at this forum.

no offence meant, but i do hope that more than one mum is allowed to be tongue in cheek :)) smiley added for guaranteed understanding that this is meant to be fun.

[dulwichmum]

What a super map! A little less than half of West Dulwich is taken up by green space (schools/parks/sports grounds/my back garden), approximately another third is taken up my Lambeth (OHMYGOD, I may have to go and lie down)and a third of it is residential streets - good luck with your forum sweetie. I hope the local pensioners are into their IT, or you could be really quiet. What are you going to talk about? The problem with farmers? (markets - clearly...)

Why don't you just join in with us? We are terribly nice...

[mamafeelgood]

blimey, a lot was posted before i got my one up there. i understand why downsouth feels or has felt a bit miffed and mr sean you are doing a great job of umpiring (sp my south west london state education showing up there) the many comments.

nero, we do need the icon of a dove so i have been on t'internet and found this to symbolise the peace settling on the western front...

[mamafeelgood]

can anyone tell me how to get the pesky dove imbedded in the message?!

[mamafeelgood]

http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&q=dove&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2

is this it, have i succeeded to embed the dove of east west love?

[dulwichmum]

Why don't you crush him between two books and then stick him to your screen with blu tack?