Your honest opinion on Beckenham!

[welhello]

Good morning mums! I’ve signed up to mumsnet to gather some (hopefully) honest reviews regarding Beckenham. I do want to apologize in advance if my post comes across hurtful in any way, but I just really want to make the right decision.

Here it goes.. I moved to London a couple of years ago from Belgium to be with my husband. We’ve got a 2 year old girl with another one on the way (due in the summer). My partner is White British and my parents are originally from Central America (I am however born and raised in Belgium). The first couple of years were challenging, but I can safely say I’m happy to live here (we live in SW London). My partner has been talking about moving to Beckenham for a while now and with the 2nd baby coming wants to pursue this now more than ever.

My question: is it fairly easy to socialize and make new mum friends within the area? I’ve got a good group of mum friends within the area that I see on a regular base (I work parttime). My partner is self-employed and is a season ticket holder so is away in the weekend every fortnight and with family abroad, I do really need my group of friends to socialize with. I know SW London is not too far away from Beckenham, but I don’t really fancy driving 45 minutes each time I fancy a cup of coffee with a friend ?.

Here comes the potentially ‘hurtful’ bit (sorry!). Someone told me Beckenham is predominantly white & middle class and it might be slightly more challenging to make friends than in SW London. That came as quit a shock as I never thought of race or class as an ‘issue’ to make friends. We lead a very comfortable life and money is generally not something we worry about, but then again, we aren’t in a position that we can afford to send our kids to private school (for example). And also with my Central Amercian heritage which is very obvious in my appearance and my children being ‘mixed race’ I do slightly worry about this. I don’t want to be socially isolated and even worse… my kids become socially isolated. Am I just overthinking this and is the person who said this to me completely mad?

I would love to hear your thoughts! Apologies for the long post!

My sister-in-law lives in Beckenham and moved there from neighbouring but less salubrious Penge. It is quite mixed in Beckenham, more so than where I live in Petts Wood. The school that my nephew goes to in Beckenham has children of all races including mixed. As Beckenham sprawls into neighbouring areas it is quite hard to define a single community. However there are lots of toddler groups, the library runs bounce and rhyme sessions and I don't see it as being a social desert. There are lovely parks in the area. I will however plug Petts Wood, we may not be very diverse, but still have lots of families of different races including mixed race. My daughter is at a Brownie pack that has quite a number of mixed race children. We also have a great community feel with a May Fayre, Petts Woodstock, Christmas Fayre and lots of family events. Travel into London from Petts Wood also has a lot of options as you can go direct to Cannon Street, London and Charing Cross from Petts Wood as well as Victoria and City Thameslink. Wishing you all the luck in finding the right place to hang your hat, and don't be scared of us South East Londoners, we can be quite friendly!

Hi welhello! Thanks for posting on Mumsnet Bromley. We hope you get some useful feedback that will reassure/inform you. We've already had some feedback on Twitter to say that you will love Beckenham because it is super friendly! I have to say this is also my experience - I moved here less than 18 months ago with my family (and mixed race children...) and have fallen in love with the place. Hence my takeup of the Editor post of this site! Beckenham is full of families from all walks of life and we've certainly made lots of friends, had lots to do and never looked back. Let's see what our community says. All the best!

A couple more Twitter responses for you:

twitter.com/workoutpact/status/579429844095750145

twitter.com/handyhughie/status/579425329963515904

Moved here from Sydenham last year. The demographic is different but diverse in many other ways. Very family oriented and lots of friends made amongst neighbours and through the local pre-school. Very happy here and wouldn't hesitate to recommend.

Yes, I agree, do come! Yes, Beckenham feels a lot 'whiter' than, say, Streatham, but it does not feel remotely uncomfortable in the way that I remember feeling years ago in a pub in Dorset when it was blindingly obvious what everyone was thinking and no-one was saying (I am second generation Asian origin). I also think the time you move is important, as previous posters say, there are lots of very friendly playgroups and pre-schools and if you start now, you should find a good group to see you through the next years. As far as being middle class goes, it's mostly state schools round here so although people tend to be able to afford to go abroad for example it's not exactly skiing, if that makes sense. All the schools are pretty good about celebrating all the festivals etc and they have much more mixed looking classes than it sounds as though you are expecting. Good luck with house hunting!

Thank you all so much for your response. My apologies for not updating earlier as I was away on holiday for a couple of weeks. I’m very happy to read that Beckenham isn’t as ‘scary’ as that person described it. We drove through the area right before our holiday and I have to say that I really loved the area. We had breakfast in a pub and yes I was the only ‘exotic’ person in there, but it didn’t feel like an outcast at all.

As so many have been so friendly and helpful, I was hoping to get some more in depth info from locals.

Area – we were looking to buy around Manor Way, Kelsey Lane, Burnhill Rd, Village Way area. The roads look lovely and logistically it would make sense as both husband and myself work in SW London. According to Google Maps there are 3 primary schools around that area – Clare House, Balgowan and Unicorn. Do they have a strict catchment area? I would love to hear your thoughts about those primary schools?

As second one is due in the summer, we are looking to move a couple of weeks after the baby has been born. I will be attending loads of playgroups as I’ve got a very active little toddler. I hope it will be as friendly as described above.

Thank you all for your input!

Hi again, so pleased you are considering the move and good luck with the impending arrival. My niece and nephew attended Balgowan but a while ago now - it is an excellent school. They still live nearby in Lloyds Way. I think the catchment is on distance and as a highly sought after school will be quite strict, but check with their admissions information for certain. For long term look at also being close to Langley Park schools which are highly sought after for secondary. Sorry I can't give much deeper info as I am in Petts Wood which is a few miles away from Beckenham.

I am 'ethnic' in appearance and completing on a house near Kent House Station tomorrow (hoorah!). Beckenham is so close to London that I wouldn't worry about feeling out of place and the few people I have met there have all been very friendly.

Great that you are considering the move welhello. I think anyone would say that there is a lot of competition for the good schools in that area so the catchments can be tight. More primary schools are planned to open and this should ease the situation somewhat but it's definitely worth doing your research upfront. Here's a link to the Bromley school admissions brochure: www.bromley.gov.uk/downloads/file/2034/starting_primary_education_in_bromley_2015_booklet.

The catchment area for all of those schools is very small. You will need to choose which one you like best and move very close to that school. I am pretty sure village way is a fairly long way from being in the catchment of any of those schools.

Hello! I know this thread is a bit old, but just in case I get a response. I'm from Argentina and considering a move to Beckenham from Herne Hill. We can't afford a 3 bed here and have 2 kids in primary school. How did you find it in the end? More diverse than you thought? We are spoilt here with 80 nationalities represented at our primary school and we love that ... And any thoughts on secondary schools? Thanks!