Jump to content

Recommended Posts

hi there

we are going to be living on Wood Vale Road soon - i don't know much about the area. We have 3 young children (oldest 5 yrs) - and I'd love to know a bit of local knowledge so I know where to go and what to do with them. Where would we go for swimming lessons? Cinema trips? Other activities (children's dance classes etc.)? and for us parents - are there any good gyms close by? Are there any local pre-school playgroups to know about?


any advice much appreciated !!!


love Sunny xxx

Link to comment
https://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/topic/47902-living-around-wood-vale/
Share on other sites

- The Horniman museum is an amazing place for kids! Also, they have a lovely farmers market on Saturday mornings. Across the road from the beautiful horniman park is a really nice playground.


- The sydenham hill woods (dulwich woods) is a great spot for a bit of urban forest adventure. You can walk through the woods, up to sydenham hill station, then down college road and through dulwich park home. It's a lovely walk, i do it sometimes with my seven year old. But it is relatively long.


- Forest Hill Pools are fairly close by and they do good swim schools for kids.


- Climb one tree hill for an amazing view of London!


Wood vale is a great location if you have kids. There are lots of cool places to go in your local area.

Welcome to the area - if you're looking for info and ideas mainly about children's activities, you'll likely get a much better response from the Family Discussion room. We live off Wood Vale and you're exceptionally well-placed for the Horniman Museum which has loads of good activities. For swimming I would look at Forest Hill pool rather than ED, but again others in the Family Room will have a better idea on suitability for children.

Depending on which part of Wood Vale you live on and the mobile network you use, mobile reception can be patchy. However, it's a nice road and so close to many amenities which your family will enjoy.


As for a gym, the closest to Wood Vale is Energie on London Road, Forest Hill.


http://www.energiefitnessclubs.com/foresthill/


Forest Hill Pools on Dartmouth Road has a gym also. Dulwich Leisure Centre is around a 10 min drive also.

- Horniman is great as already mentioned, there is also a sand pit in the park opposite the museum which is great for young children.

- Cinema - there is a picture house opening in ED but there is Peckham, Brixton and Streatham nearby

- You can walk to Peckham Rye park and Dulwich Park easily (DP has a better playground but both are lovely, if different) and the cemetry accessible on Wood Vale is excellent for scooter practice (albeit respectful scooter practice) and a walk.

- There is the Lido at Brockwell park as well as a great play area and paddling pool.

- o2 reception is terrible on Wood Vale but EE seems pretty good.

- A great softplay is Gamabsdo (in Beckenham but actually quick to get to), but there is also one in Peckham Pulse which is close

- Gyms -- Fusion in ED and FH, Jags in Duwlich, Dulwich Sports Club along the South Circular and ESPH in ED. If you run, there are great and well used runs between all the parks.


Welcome to the road.. its a great place to live.

"and the cemetry accessible on Wood Vale is excellent for scooter practice (albeit respectful scooter practice) and a walk" .



Excellent for scooter practice ??? - no it isn't - Please keep it as a cemetery and use the many nearby parks & gardens for scooter practice, thanks very much



P.S Welcome to the area Sunny007

Laur Wrote:

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

> "and the cemetry accessible on Wood Vale is

> excellent for scooter practice (albeit respectful

> scooter practice) and a walk" .

>

>

> Excellent for scooter practice ??? - no it isn't -

> Please keep it as a cemetery and use the many

> nearby parks & gardens for scooter practice,

> thanks very much


Very much second this. I saw an incident last month between a very upset elderly gentleman visiting a grave and a boy who was being taught to ride a skateboard by his dad. Agree that most people are very respectful, but even respectful scooter practice doesn't work (in my view) when you are interrupting someone else's remembrance by using the cemetery instead of a park.

Thanks Siduhe....I speak from experience because similar has happened to me.


Whilst visiting a grave I have seen dogs off their leads running all over the graves & ornaments, a father & his 2 children playing football near the graves and just last week I had a young lad on a bike whizzing past - just as you think you can take a minute of silent thought.


I just don't understand why use a cemetery to do these things when there are so many parks around??

thanks everyone for all the welcoming comments and the advice. Any more other local info most welcome too! Esp. good to hear of a picture house opening in ED too.


One other thing - there's a really big pub (closed down) on the corner where Lordship Lane meets the South Circular. I think it's called (or rather, was called) 'The Grove'. Does anyone know what is going to happen to it, are there plans to reopen it as another pub or restaurant etc.?


thanks again xx

Five minutes and you're in Dulwich Park via Fireman's Alley entrance. Excellent butcher near Forest Hill station. Peckham Rye park easy to reach too.


Once you work out your public transport links you're OK (8 years in and I'm still experimenting!) - that's the biggest downside.


But one of the biggest pluses for us is our kids go to the Dulwich schools and we didn't have to pay Dulwich village prices but we can walk, cycle or scoot the school run - result!

Dodo1 Wrote:

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

> only 5 mins bus ride to FH- Overground, excellent

> butchers and cafes.


The Overground is great. Many of the "how do I get to" threads on here can be addressed using it. I work in Old Street and it gets me to Shoreditch High Street in twenty odd minutes with a quick walk at the other end when I'm not motorbiking it.

Hi welcome to Woodvale, I live just by the Melford Rd roundabout, and its great, I love Woodvale. The bus connections are great, 363 every 10 mins. P13 from Underhill rd. Butchers and convenience store are an absolute saviour. Forest Hill station and town centre are great.

Re the cemetery we were walking through one day, and there was a funeral, and the pastor had decided to park on a grave????? Ever so slightly disgusted, I asked what he was playing at, and he just walked off, ignoring me. I do think a lot of the people using the cemetery, are respectful, however some users are very disrespectful.

monica Wrote:

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

> Re the cemetery we were walking through one day,

> and there was a funeral, and the pastor had

> decided to park on a grave????? Ever so slightly

> disgusted, I asked what he was playing at, and he

> just walked off, ignoring me. I do think a lot of

> the people using the cemetery, are respectful,

> however some users are very disrespectful.



I went for a jog through the cemetery last week. A visitor to one of the graves stopped me and said "whst you're doing is disrespectful, outrageous and sacrilegious ... I guess he wasn't a hurdles fan.

(? Emo Philips)

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Latest Discussions

    • We needed a bedroom ceiling to be replastered, complicated by the layer of Artex applied by the previous owners.  We applied a primer (Blue Grit) and arranged for John to do the rest. There was a minor problem with the ceiling in one area, which John handled with his usual skill. Great results as always.  John's a great character, and a superb plasterer - experienced, knowledgeable and conscientious. Highly recommended.
    • Back on topic (!),  just a reminder that the new incarnation of the ED Forum drinks will be in The Palmerston TOMORROW Wednesday 11 June from 7pm. Turn immediately left as you come in by the main  Lordship Lane entrance, and we will be in the area there. Hope that at least a few of you will be up for getting to know some of your fellow forum members in real life!
    • For the past 15 years, I’ve been subjected to persistent passive-aggressive bullying and harassment by my upstairs neighbours. Their behaviour has included tampering with my plants, opening bin bags and questioning me about their contents, and interfering with misdelivered post — some of which appeared to have been opened. There has also been consistent noise disruption, like loud door banging and deliberately dropping heavy objects. They often laugh or stare at me when I’m in the garden, creating a constant sense of intimidation. Much of their conduct is subtle and hard to prove, often falling into a grey area that could easily be dismissed as paranoia, which makes it even more distressing. In the early years, I sometimes responded, but I realised this only seemed to encourage them. Since then, I’ve tried to remain calm and avoid confrontation — but unfortunately, this seems to have escalated things. After the recent death of a close family member, they left a condolence note, which at first seemed kind — but it came with a request to cut back my laurel bush, which I maintain for privacy, as I often feel watched in my own garden. The timing and nature of the request felt inappropriate. Still, I arranged for a gardening service and slightly reduced the laurel, though likely not as much as they wanted. Shortly after, one neighbour commented on how lovely one of my potted plants looked — which struck me as unusual, since we’ve barely spoken in years. Just days later, they told me the same plant looked like it was dying and asked if they should water it. Soon after, it rapidly turned yellow, brittle, and died — in a way that looked clearly unnatural. From photos, it appears the plant was poisoned, likely with a chemical weed killer. Access to that area is restricted — it’s behind a locked front gate monitored by a Smart CCTV camera. No one else had access, and it would be very difficult for someone to climb over the wall unnoticed. Given the timing and condition of the plant, I strongly suspect it was deliberately poisoned. I brought this up in a chat with my next-door neighbours, and they revealed they’d lost three trees along the same fence line over the past few months. One of them had previously been asked for access to cut back those very trees. One of the affected trees was a mature silver birch, whose sudden death should leave chemical evidence if tested. I’ve reported the incident to the Environment Agency and requested soil testing to check for toxins. The police have also been notified. I’ve installed another CCTV camera for additional monitoring. I’m not looking for confrontation — I just want to live peacefully and without further interference. But their behaviour continues to feel calculated and harassing. Has anyone experienced anything similar? What steps would you recommend next? I feel at a loss as to how to protect my space and sanity.
    • The Post Offcie certify copy documents. Check with whoever needs it if they would be appropriate 
Home
Events
Sign In

Sign In



Or sign in with one of these services

Search
×
    Search In
×
×
  • Create New...