thinking about moving to East Dulwich - some questions!

[Polly]

Hi there, my husband & I are thinking about moving to East Dulwich... we're in our early twenties. Have a few questions about your area which I hope you don't mind answering!

Are there good gyms in East Dulwich or very nearby?

If we were planning a day in ED to get a real feel for it, what would you recommend we do and where shoould we go? Where is a good place to go out for brunch / breakfast in ED? Coffee shops, other shops, restaurants, parks, libraries, that kind of thing? Any hidden gems we shouldn't miss?

Food is important to us...where are the good food shops in ED? I have heard of a good deli and butcher... is there a health food shop of any kind? What is there in terms of supermarkets?

What do you think of the transport links? How hard is it to get to central / North London if need be?

What about cinemas? Is there a good cinema nearby?

And lastly & most importantly, what makes ED the best place to live do you reckon? Any other areas you'd compare it to?

Cheers!

[Huguenot]

Lol! - There's no consensus on any of those! Here's a quick summary (but I expect it to get shot down!)

Gyms - there's Dulwich Hamlet FC (pretty good between the wars) which is no nonsense spit and sawdust, Fusion which is undergoing refurbishment and mid-range, and JAGS which is upmarket with a joining list as long as your arm

Restaurants - There's 'upmarket' modern european Franklin's and Le Chardon on LL; upper mid is The Green near Goose Green and Palmerston's Gastropub wannabee on LL; Liqorice (LL) is mid 'trendy', Gourmet Burger Kitchen (LL) is mid 'canteen', The Bishop (LL) is mid 'trendy pub', Green and Blue is mid 'Wine Bar', the Magdala is mid 'All Bar One'; euro cafe style is Le Petit Chou (LL). There are 9+ Curry Houses mostly with lunch buffets, at least four chinese, and plenty of other pub grubs within 5 mins of LL. Loads of Greasy Spoons.

Plenty of other boozers with a motley assortment of themes.

The local green is Goose Green, or you can play footie on Peckham Rye.

There's a great library.

There's the East Dulwich Deli, the Cheese Block, William Rose Butchers and Moxon's fish shop. At least two health shops. There's a local homeopathic practice.

Loads of knick knack shops (well at least 9): Willow, ED, Grace & Favour, Anterior Trading, Mrs. Robinson, Roullier White, Moo Too, Celestial, and the kitchen shop (what have I missed??)

One art shop, one picture framing shop

There's Somerfield 'Market Fresh' mini Supermarket on LL, or a Sainsbury soon to be hypermarket almost nextr door to the station.

At least one place to get booze at 4am ;-)

Train direct to London Bridge / Wimbledon from ED station, trains to Victoria from Denmark Hill, Peckham. Direct Buses from LL to Clapham, Victoria station, Oxford Circus and the City

Cinemas there's Peckhamplex for the kids next to Peckham station (at 4 quid a shot!), or the Ritzy for a bit more adult stuff in Brixton (15 mins by bus)

Is this the best place to live??? What a question, it's the only place to live!!! ;-)

[Amelie]

Dear Polly

Welcome to ED.

Taking your questions in order:

There is a gym in Sydenham and there are gyms at Alleyn's School and James Allen's Girls' School; there is a local council-owned gym at the Swimming Baths but it is not particularly good in the opinion of most of the contributors to this site.

We have several good restaurants and a Caff? Nero, as well as wine bars. There are also good places to eat in West Dulwich, Crystal Palace and various other nearby areas. Brunch could be had just about anywhere, breakfast is a bit more of a challenge. Dulwich Library is located at the top of Lordship Lane, there is a very small library in Grove Vale. ED has its own bookshop, Chener Books, and there is a children's bookshop on Northcross Road. Dulwich Park and Belair Park are both wonderful, there is also Peckham Rye. Dulwich Village has the Picture Gallery, the Chapel and the Mausoleum - all worth a visit. Mrs Jordan's House is in Honor Oak, Horniman Museum is on London Road.

The butcher is William Rose, the fishmonger is Moxon's, the the Deli is the East Dulwich Deli; there is also The Cheese Block, SBS Foods, Pretty Traditional Grocers and the market in Northcross Road on Saturdays. There is also a health shop. Sainsbury's is on Dog Kennel Hill and Sumerfield is on Lordship Lane along with Iceland.

Transport links are very good: both East Dulwich and Forest Hill stations go to London Bridge in about 15 minutes; Denmark Hill goes to Blackfriars. Forest Hill also goes to Victoria. We have oodles of bus routes, including buses to Oxford Circus, Victoria, Aldgate, Putney, Lewisham, Penge and Surrey Quays.

ED has a cinema club called Cinema Paradiso, there is a thread for it on this site. The nearest cinemas are in Peckham, Clapham Common and Charlton.

ED is the best place to live because it is green, quirky, was built almost at once when the railway came here so most of the housing stock is from the same period and has interesting people living here. Better than Clapham. What more could you ask?:)-D

[nylonmeals]

We have just moved into the area, I am a north Londoner by birth and my husband is French.

We had a list of non-negotiables regarding where we wanted to live:

We are huge foodies so we wanted great restaurants and places to buy food (William Rose the butcher, Moxtons the fishmongers, East Dulwich Deli, The Cheeseblock, Green & Blue wines, Franklins, The Palmerston etc etc)

I run so I wanted proper green spaces (Peckham Rye, Dulwich Woods, Syndeham Hill, Crystal Palace Park etc)

We wanted to be close to great transport, so we decided to be closer to Peckham Rye station as that is more useful in terms of transport links

We also wanted somewhere with a real sense of community where you know your neighbours

We also wanted to have decent local schools for the kids who one day might arrive

We could not afford a massive amount for the house, so ED was perfect choice for us.

We also looked at Herne Hill, West Hampstead, Stoke Newington, Crouch End to give you a sense of what other places were interesting

Good luck!

[James]

All I would add to the above is that the only annoying thing is the transport - which paradoxically has probably helped to give it the villagey feel that makes it so desirable now (the same could be said of places like Stoke Newington and Crouch End).

It's worth checking exactly what your commute will be. If you work in London Bridge it's brilliant. Soho or the City is ok but getting to somewhere like Ladbroke Grove is a nightmare. Having said that, I love getting back here after working in the city - it seems so leafy and serene in comparison (loads of lovely parks and green spaces). It's also great to be able to walk down to Lordship Lane for a meal out or have a look around the market on Northcross Road at the weekend.

[timtim]

Commute to the City is excellent - you have London Bridge from East Dulwich or London Bridge from Peckham Rye or Blackfriars from Peckham Rye. All under 12 minutes.

Also many people forget that you can take the train to London Bridge then take a train (every 2 minutes) to Charing Cross or Waterloo East, giving you further options for central London.

Agreed that commute is not good for West London, but this is the case for all of South London.

[louisiana]

Getting to NW London by picking up the Bakerloo or Jubilee at L Bridge is not bad. My hairdresser is actually in Westbourne Grove, as are several clients, and I often go to Paddington station - it's never proved a problem getting there in reasonable time.

Louisiana

[Parker's Folly]

Peckham Rye also has trains going to Victoria in 12 minutes, and from there the district or circle lines will get you into a large part of west London just as quickly in my opinion.