Moving to East Dulwich (Lounged)

[Ideatori]

Hello everyone!

My boyfriend and I are hoping to move to East Dulwich in January after visiting here recently. We fell in love with the whole feeling of the place, although so far we have seen very little of it. I stumbled across this forum whilst having a look into the area and thought it would be a great place to get some advice/tips for two people brand new to the area, and to London as a whole!

I'd love to hear a bit more about the area, places to go, things to do, etc etc, so any help would be greatly appreciated! If anyone could tell us what the local post office is like as well that would be great, as we run our own business and spend a lot of time in the post office!

Great forum, it has really helped ease my fears about moving to a new place.

Thanks in advance!

[citizenED]

Hi Ideatori,

You've stumbled accross the right place to find out about East Dulwich - just keep reading the forum. It will take you an age to get through the whole thing so be selective, this Gossip section is a good place to start. ED is a great place to live - one of my favourite aspects is that we are surrounded by green space and parks - Dulwich Park, Peckham Rye Park, Sydenham and Dulwich Woods, Horniman Gardens.

Welcome to the forum and to East Dulwich

Impressed by the time of your post, is that bed late or up early?

[SeanMacGabhann]

Ideatori

Moving MUST be playing on your mind if you are posting on here at 4:36 am ;-)

As you've probably gathered from visiting the area and the forum, you will love it here. What sort of "things to do" are you usually interested in?

As CitizenEd points out the green spaces are a great asset, but eating out and bar-hopping are also well catered for (check out the monthly forum meet-ups for evidence of the slippery slope that can be however)

Horniman Museum and Dulwich Gallery are also enjoyable visits

Let us know where you end up and how it goes

best of luck

[jim_the_chin]

Welcome,

You won't regret moving here.

The post office can get very busy, as can they all, but there is a second one near the plough at the upper end of Lordship Lane which is less busy.

edit: er, but don't ask about the postal service right now, bit of a touchy subject.

[snorky]

yer not coming in from Clapham are you ?

[Ideatori]

Hi everyone,

Many thanks for your nice welcome and advice! I have started to read my way through the forum and have found some good advice so far so will definitely carry on doing so.

Reason for posting so late/early was definitely due to worrying about moving! We had put in an offer for a flat in the area after only seeing it for the first time yesterday so I started to worry we had made a rash decision and wanted to read up on the area. Unfortunately our offer was turned down this morning but I think we have decided we would definitely like to move here so now need to find somewhere to live!

Does anyone know of any nice 2 bed flats to rent in the area? We were looking at a place on North Cross road which looked lovely and I think we would like to be in this sort of area, close to the shops and post office. I would be very grateful to hear of anything available.

In terms of things to do, we love art, cinema, good food, pubs and gigs. I've read a bit about the restaurants and cafes around and they all sound lovely. Not sure where the nearest cinema is though or where to go for gigs/clubs nearby.

Not moving from Clapham, this is actually our first time living in London and thought East Dulwich would be a good place to make a smooth transaction to London life as it has a lot of the creature comforts we are both used to from home. I will be moving from Essex, having recently graduated from University of Birmingham, and my boyfriend is moving from his home in Lincoln. Having only seen East Dulwich for the first time yesterday we felt straight away that it was a place very suited to our tastes and somewhere we hope we would be very settled!

Thanks so much for your kind comments, and if anyone does know of any flats available on a nice road in the area we would love to hear!

[Jeremy]

There is a cheap and cheerful multiplex cinema in Peckham, and the Ritzy in Brixton is very good. And the Picture House in Clapham.

Not much live music round here, but there is a night with bands at Dulwich Hamlet football club. And a couple of places in New Cross have regular live music.

[mockney piers]

WElcome to the area I hope cahps.

Keep an eye out here for rentals http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/list.php?22

I know how you feel about the area, I'd gone from pillar to post all around london for 7 years when I ifnally found it (well, huguenot did, an old forumite) and I knew straight away!!

Enjoy.

[mightyroar]

Brixton academy is not too far for bigger gigs

some of the pubs round here do have live bands occasionally.

and live comedy at the EDT on thursdays

[david_carnell]

As a fellow young graduate who chose East Dulwich as their first London base, hello and welcome.

Northcross Rd is a good location, maybe a bit noisy on a Saturday if you're near the market end - which is very good by the way.

I live just off East Dulwich Road and that end is certainly easier if you or your boyfriend need to catch the trains into town. Victoria from Peckham Rye is 12mins and London Bridge from either PR or East Dulwich station is about the same.

Dulwich Picture House is good for art exhibitions and obviously you are close enough to town to go the major galleries. A bus service even runs to Trafalgar Sq for the National and the Portrait if that's your thing.

Pubs and bars are plentiful. There is a list on the "Best Bar in Dulwich 2007" thread and a few other good 'uns just outsdide the se22 postcode bracket.

It took my girlfriend and I about two months to look and find somewhere we liked/could afford so don't get too dispirited over your move. The forum section on property is handy and I think bargains can be had via Gumtree as it cuts out the agents fees.

It seems we are of similar age, interests etc and I've only been here since July so if you want any more opinions on anything or a beer when you arrive send me a PM.

Good luck and hope you enjoy your stay in ED.

[embellina]

I've lived in ED for about a year and half after moving over to be nearer my friends. I haven't looked back and even enticed my boyfriend down from Hackney (which didn't prove at all difficult actually!).

What I like about it is that you have so much on your doorstep. There are good bars, pubs, plenty of restaurants, a huge variety of independent shops (beauty, sweets, meat fish etc) and, of course, a Foxtons (joke). Being sandwiched between at least three parks (Brockwell, Dulwich and Peckham Rye) gives it a really green feel. Plus it's got a great mix of being bustling and villagey.

I feel much less stressed about living in London because I feel like I'm far removed from town - yet well connected with buses and trains to get there easily enough. It's in easy reach of everything you need as well - chichi shops on Lordship Lane, Peckham's Primark/Woolworths/markets etc, live music in Brixton and New Cross and the quick (if erratic) 78 bus to Shoreditch (if you like hanging out in that part of town). There are also lots of cyclists in the ares too so it has a great, green feel to it. There's loads more to say but I guess I should stop now!

[dulwichmum]

Dear Ideatori,

Welcome to Dulwich. It is the most perfect place on the planet. I have lived in Dulwich for 20 years, over ten in East Dulwich and now in West Dulwich. I think it is the centre of the entire universe and completely perfect in every way. The Forum is super place to help you find your feet.

[Ideatori]

Thanks for all the advice everyone, I'm so glad I found this forum, its such a great way of finding out information before we move! This definitely helps to ease any fears we have of moving to a new city, so we really appreciate your help and advice.

Thanks a lot to David in particular, we will definitely take you up on that offer when we move down. We don't know anyone in Dulwich and not too many people in London as a whole so it would be great to meet some like-minded people in the area!

It does seem there is a lot right on your doorstep which is exactly what we are looking for. I think we will be coming back down next week to have a real good look around to get more of an idea of what is about. Any tips of the best places to check out while we are looking round for a couple of hours?

Our hunt for a flat continues, and we just wondered if anyone could offer advice on the best areas/roads with good access to Lordship lane (close to the end with the larger Post Office)? Is North Cross Road in particular a nice road to live on? We have heard it gets pretty busy particularly at weekends but we quite like a bit of hustle and bustle!

Thanks so much again everyone, we are really excited about our move and just hope to find somewhere soon!

[clare]

Welcome to East Dulwich !

We have lived just off Northcross Road for over 10 years and very happy . All the roads around here are great location wise but pretty dreadful for parking outside your own door - basically you can't. But hey- you get used to it and it's lovely strolling to the shops in a matter of seconds . (My partner often goes to get the papers with a coat on over his pyjamas much to our daughters mortification- but we're also handy for the Maudsley as well so he just looks like he's on day release )

Happy hunting !

ps. Have never met David_Carnell but he has exquisite taste football-wise so he sounds jolly nice.

[Michael Palaeologus]

Oh - thats who he is! Always wondered.

[East Dulwich Angst]

clare Wrote:

------------------------------------------------------

> ps. Have never met David_Carnell but he has

exquisite taste football-Wise so he sounds jolly nice.

He certainly does >:D<

[ratty]

Have you got a regional accent?

[clare]

There's nowt wrong with a regional accent luv.

East Dulwich is all the richer for us folk from up t' north.

(Just can't say carrrrstle or barrrrth but most folks is reet kindly and lets us off like)

[spadetownboy]

aye big man whats wrong with regional accents, any more crack like that an al put me toe up your hole.

[Nero]

You might get more bang for your buck if you move a little further away from NC Road. Moving a few streets up, no more than a 15 minute walk away, could be cheaper and quieter.

Peckham Rye Park is a great place, especially so that it has a new caff. Nunhead and Camberwell Cemeteries are moving places, the former more of a wildlife haven. The Village is lovely to walk around and has my favourite house in London - the blue clapboard one that looks like it should have come straight from Massachussets.

Transport is not ideal, but it is not that bad, really. Biking has its fans, and there are a few threads on this site that testify to that.

My faves to eat are Curry Cabin, Jacks Cafe, and Green and Blue. The best shop is AJ Farmers - everything from bin bags to vitamins.

Nero

[Brendan]

And there are lots of people with accents that come from a place called Regional .

[Catalyst]

As said above East Dulwich is fairly shite for music but the surrounding areas are pretty good. There are decent acoustic nights at the Old Nunshead in Nunhead. Loads of random crazy acts at the Montague Arms near Queens Road-Peckham. Amersham Arms in New Cross (run by the people who operate Lock Taverns in Camden) have loads of greats acts on. New Cross Inn and Deptford Arms also have bands and DJs.

[phss]

This is a great thread! I am not related to the original poster, but I too am planning to move to East Dulwich on December/January, and I am simply delighted to find such board.

I would like to add another question if that is ok: how do you compare the area around the East Dulwich Train to the other end of Lordship Lane. Is it busier, but still safe?

[Muttley]

In my view in terms of safety there's not too much difference between the station area and the library end of LL. Once you go under the railway bridge towards Dog Kennel Hill it can begin to feel less safe, but I can honestly say that although I've heard of many incidents, I have never personally encountered any trouble walking around the area during all my years in East Dulwich - touch wood.

[ibo]

THe areas surrounding ED are muggers paradise . Be careful.