willma

Oily Telly Tyke, Just like you, I sold my flat in E Dulwich after finding that I could afford a house in Penge for the price of a two bed flat in ED. I'm really pleased that I've moved here. The area has so much going for it like you say. Penge is definitely on the up and I've noticed that more people seem to be moving from places such as E Dulwich looking for more space and better transport links. ED is still an awsome place but it's only a short bus ride on the 176 when you want it!

Yes, have a look at Penge. Just moved here from East Dulwich 4 months ago and it's got a lot going for it. On the up I'd say!

I used to live in East Dulwich up until about two years ago when I decided to sell my flat and look for a house with my partner. We needed more space so a house was the only option for us. Although I loved living in the area we couldn't consider staying there simply because the price of property was, and still is sky high. We had to consider other areas in our search and started looking in Nunhead, Crystal Palace and Sydenham as these areas appeared to be a bit cheaper than East Dulwich. After losing out on various properties and becoming more and more disillusioned by the lack of properties available to buy, we decided to widen our search a bit more to cover areas which we had never considered before. It was only after looking a property in Penge that my parner and I realised how much more value for money you get there. Under 400k for a good quality terraced Victorian house in a nice tree lined quiet road, 2 mins from the train station. There is Crystal Palace park only 10 mins walk away where you've got a good sports centre and a lovely new cafe which has recently opened up inside Crystal Palace station. I have to admit, Penge itself has a long way to go before it becomes anywhere near a trendy place to live like East Dulwich but it certainly has a lot of potential. The transport links are excellent. We have the choice of using either Penge East station where there are trains every 15 mins to Victoria or there is Penge West for services to London Bridge and south to Croydon and beyond. Although we don't have any kids there are some great schools not too far away. Shopping is ok too. There's a Saisburys on the High Street, a great local butcher, DIY shops as well as many other useful shops. If we need to go out for for a drink or to a restaurant, it's only a short bus ride on the 176 to East Dulwich or alternatively we can get on the train to Beckenham, Bromley or Central London. Sydenham and Crystal Palace is only a short walk away too. I suppose what I am trying to get at here is that people should not dismiss areas like Penge. Perhaps it's because of the unfortunate sound of the name or something? Apperently the name Penge is derived from the Celtic word Penceat which means "edge of wood" and refers to the fact that the surrounding area was once covered in a dense forest. Penge has a lot going for it and the benefits of living here far outway the negatives, so my advice to anyone considering a move into a larger property should consider areas such as Penge an option and not to dismiss it entirely.

The South London Line (the current service operated by Southern from Victoria and London Bridge) will cease to operate from Dec this year. It will be replaced with a London Overground service running from Islington to Clapham Junction via Peckham Rye with 4 trains per hour. None of these train will serve London Bridge or Victoria.

LondonMix Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > A narrower and narrower group of people will be > able to move into the area the higher prices go > which in my opinion will make ED a less > interesting place but that's the clear downside of > gentrification. The truth is, that narrowing has > already been going on for years... There are > still parts of South London that are as affordable > as ED was 10 years ago before the schools improved > and the place smartened up. You just have to be a > brave first mover... I sold my flat in ED recently and decided to buy a house in Penge. A bit of a risk and not as nice as ED but it was the only area that was affordable for me to buy a house. Who knows though, perhaps it will be a desirable place to live one day.

Sounds very interesting Mike. I'll have to look out for it the next time I'm in Rye books. All the best with it!

You may also have tapped in during the evening peak. There is now an evening peak for oyster between 4pm and 7pm so this might account for the extra 50p.

I have also had scaffolding up on my property for about 3 months because a repair had to be carried out on the roof. It seems to me as though the contractors that Southwark Council use (Morisons I believe) take an extremely long time to get around to each job once a call has been logged with Southwark council's repairs hotline. I've lost count the number of times that I've had to call them up asking when the work will be carried out. Every time you call you get a different reference number and nobody there seems to be able to give you a straight answer about when the works will be done. They keep advising that somebody from Morisons will call you back with an answer but nobody ever does. Three months after I raised the initial call to report the damage to the roof, the repair has now finally been carried out. But I still find myself having to call up the council every week or so to find out when the the scaffolding will be taken down. It just seems absolutely ludicrous that I've had to wait for so long to get a simple repaid done. It must be costing us tax payers a fortune if this is happening borough wide. I still wait for an answer from the council as to when this scaffolding will be taken down. I have often thought myself that it could be some sort of scam.

Has anyone had their hair cut at the new barbers on Lordship Lane, near Somerfields? What are they like? Any recommendations??

Looks like the old Surrey Canal is a popular route with a lot of cyclists. I had a puncture along there a few weeks ago (the first one I've had for a long while). I was amazed by the number of cyclists who had the courtesy to stop and ask if I was alright and needed any help. What a friendly bunch of people there are out there!

I very occasionally take the number 12 bus to work but because of the frustration of not being able to get a seat, getting stuck in the Walworth rd. roadworks etc etc. I find it so frustrating and wish I'd cycled in on each occasion. You save money and get fit at the same time by cycling to work.

I agree with you there mattham, cycling really does give you more energy and lift the spirits. I tend to feel quite sluggish throughout the day if I don't cycle in. I have a road bike - a tourer, which is great as it's got the thinner wheels/tyres for cycling quickly along the roads, but also has a tread for taking off road, although there's only so much mud it can take without it slipping all over the place! I do wear a helmet. I wouldn't want to chance it by not having one. You never know with some London drivers what they might do!

I thought it would be interesting to hear from people who cycle to work every day from the East Dulwich area. Where in London do you cycle to? How many miles do you cycle? How long does it take? What do you think of the cycle paths, roads, cycle signs etc. provided for cyclists? Have you had any bad experiences of cycling on your way in to work? What clothing do you wear on your way to the office? I'll start us off....My journey takes 25 minutes from door to door and I usually get to my office in Westminster in approximately 25 minutes. The route isn't too bad, taking me along Rye Lane, the Surrey Canal, Burgess Park, and then on through West Walworth, Kennington and through to the Albert Embankment before crossing the river at Lambeth Bridge. The only section which I don't particularly like is the nasty roundabout on the southern side of Lambeth Bridge with that tight corner around to the left where if you're not careful and the driver of the vehicle is unaware of your presence, you can get squeezed into the curb. Cycling back through Burgess Park in the dark isn't very pleasant either as there are no lights along the path which runs within the park. If Southwark Council installed some lighting along there it would be much more pleasant I think (not to mention much safer), like they have done with the old canal path towards Peckham library. Some of the roads could be better, especially the minor roads which can have some nasty pot holes and subsidence towards the edge where bikes travel along. Drains which aren't level can be quite a hazard too. My journey is just over 5 miles each way which isn't bad, so that's about 50 miles a week (now that does sound alot!). No bad experiences yet, although I've only been cycling to work for 5 months so time will tell. In the summer I wear a cycling top and shorts and now it's got colder I use my cycling top as a base layer with a thin jacket on top of that and a thin reflective waterproof jacket on top of that. Layering is the key I think to staying warm but not becoming too hot! I also wear cycling trousers as I find wearing shorts far too cold for this time of year. Is there anyone who cycles to work in a suit?? Will

Perhaps they'll freeze everyone's membership for the duration of the works. I'm quite fortunate in that I can use Peckham Pulse as an alternative but I guess it'll become more crowded when the ED leisure centre is closed.

Thanks for posting Southern's response Clazza. Another ticket machine at the station should hopefully solve the problems of not being able to buy a ticket. I agree with you ClareC, the ticket office does seem to be closed before the end of the 'Peak period'. I'm sure that on the station posters it states that the office should be open until at least 12.30. I'll have to check the next time I pass through.

When I was looking to buy a flat in the area, one estate agent told me that these two blocks are known as 'the battleships' as when you look at them from a distance it looks like two ships facing each other with funnels pointing out from the tops of them. Quite a good comparison I thought.

Thanks Jah Lush for your suggestion of buying a travel card from the newsagents. However, this doesn't solve the problem if you just want to buy a day return. I think the more people write and complain to Southern and our MP then maybe something will be done to improve the general station environment and service that Southern provides when it comes to buying a ticket. Just to add to others previous comments about the station in general. It amazes me how popular ED station is, judging by numbers of people using it especially in rush hour and yet the ramps up to the platmorms are far too narrow to cope with the shear volume of passengers in peak periods. Not only that, what's the point with the three or four steps on the ticket office side? Surely they could have planned it better to enable a wheel chair to get up to the platform. If the steps weren't there it would be a disabled friendly station.

Hi Does anyone on here often have difficulties trying to buy a train ticket from ED station? My partner regularly gets the train to work from there to Kentish Town (changing at Tulse Hill) and needs a purchase a day return. He doesn't use the train enough to justify buying a season ticket. He regularly discovers that the ticket machine is out of action (plus the permit to travel machine) and there is nobody at the ticket office, even at nine o'clock in the morning. So, how is one supposed to buy a ticket when there are no facilities to do so? The guards on the First Capital Connect service from Tulse Hill where he gets his connection to Kentish Town from aren't very sympathetic with him either and have threatened to issue him with a penalty fare once or twice. Luckily they haven't issued him with one yet, but you can imagine the consequences and the inconvenience of having to justify your reasons for not being able to buy at ticket if you were issued with a penalty fare. Perhaps Southern should consider installing another machine as a back up so that there is always one machine available? At least when they introduce the Oyster system on the overground network we will no longet have these problems!