Moving to Clock house area

[Sammiejo81]

Hi all,

This is my first post so apologies if it's not up to scratch!

My husband and I are thinking of moving to Clock House and I wondered what people think of the area?

We are thinking of Churchfields Rd, Gresham Rd or Beck Rd because they're close to the school and station or Elmers End Rd or Allen Rd for Birkbeck. I'd be really grateful for any views or advice on where to live and what the area is like? I have seen the other posts on a similar subject but I couldn't find much about the roads we are looking at.

Many thanks in advance for your help!

Churchfields gets quite a lot if traffic both because it is a cut through and because of the dump.

Beck road presumably Balgowan not churchfields school? Will you enjoy toiling up that hill? Don't know Gresham.

Myself I would prefer Beck to Churchfields, but different people have diff priorities.

Thinks, have I got the right Beck? Might not have.

Beck Lane is Churchfields, the name changes half way down. Neither are in the catchment for Balgowan which has an area about the size of a tennis court! The Beck lane end is more pleasant but the Churchfields end is closer to the high street. Your catchment primary would be Churchfields which wasn't great but I think may be improving as their catchment area has got smaller. There was a time when many of their pupils arrived by bus from outside the immediate area.

If you need secondary schools then I would not really recommend this part of Beckenham.

The area is halfway between Beckenham and Penge which are very different, It is nicer than Penge although not as nice as the rest of Beckenham but then again it is cheaper than the rest of Beckenham. Transport links here are fantastic, the best in Beckenham as there is also Kent House station for Victoria & the Thameslink and the tram to Croydon from Avenue Road, Birkbeck or Elmers End. The 354 bus from Penge to Bromley runs down Beck Lane/ Churchfields rd from Mon - Sat

The roads off of Churchfields are nicer but the long one which joins Churchfields at the bottom (forget the name) is a problem for parking as many of the houses have been converted into flats.

Generally it feels less spacious than most of Beckenham and some of the local shops at both ends look a bit run down. The park is quite nice with a decent playground, great for popping into although not as nice as Croydon Rd or Kelsey. It is not as well looked after by the council and IMO the dog owners are less considerate. There is a shortcut to Clock House station across the park.

There is a little known "country walk" behind Churchfields school which comes out close to Elmers End stn and also the massive Country Park beside Elmers End stn.

It is very handy for the Spa leisure centre and only 20/25 min walk from the cinema & high st depending on where you are. I think there are evening dance and karate clubs held in the Churchfields school hall open to all but this info may be out of date.

The council dump can cause long traffic queues in summer in both directions. It usually means taking a roundabout route to avoid it.

Definitely the most affordable houses in Beckenham and the best transport but not the best schools.

Forgot to say that Birkbeck train station has a very limited service. Clock House and Elmers End are much better.

Now that there is a mini sainsbury at the end of the road it funnily enough feels a bit better.

But yes, secondary could be an issue although quite a few go to Harris in Crystal Palace.