Moving to Beckenham - tips/views

[teamB2011]

We are looking at moving to the clock house area of Beckenham from East Dulwich and wondered if people could share their views of the area. Are there good gastropubs/independent coffee shops etc? I don't have children yet but plan to start a family in the next year or so and wondered is the area good for a young family. Also, is it safe walking back from clock house station when it is dark, like 8/9 in the winter?
All comments gratefully received.

There's a lovely deli/ coffee shop just down the road from clock house station called Bluebelle, that's worth a look. It's also near the leisure centre and library. Beckenham itself is lively, full of nice little shops and cafes, I'm sure you'll like it.

Walk wise you should be fine, will you be heading towards beckenham or towards Penge? Penge is still not very nice in my opinion..

Good luck :)

I just moved to Clock House so only 10 min walk from train station to my front door. Its been safe never had an issue and I have been arriving home at late hours such as 12 midnight.

Lots of places to eat around Beckenham High Street although I have not had a chance to go to them all. The high street is similar to ED but has alot more shops - you have your independent fishmongers/ butchers along with your chain shops like Boots, Sainsburys etc.

There is a lovely sweet shop which has stacks of old skool sweets from the floor to the ceiling!

I bought because I am looking to have a family soon and would say it a good family area, lots of parks and Beckenham Spa has alot to offer.

There is so much choice in terms of food shopping - being in Clock House area you can go to the Tescos by Elmers End, there is also an Aldi in the other direction. Then you have Sainsburys, Waitrose, Lidl and Marks & Spencer around Beckenham High Street.

Feel free to ask anything else you want to know...

Thanks very much for comments. We are looking at mackenzie road area so less penge and more beckenham. Just hope we get a house now as feel quite settled on the area now. Thanks again.

We recently moved with our 3 young children.It is great for families,lots of parks,playgroups,and activities,etc with excellent shopping as mentioned above.
There is definitely a village atmosphere,and we both still work in central London,which seems a lot more than a 30 minute train ride away in terms of the general pace of life!
There are some nice restaurants,pubs however they have a tendancy to become extremely packed and loud with the pre-nightclub crowd who flock to Beckenham from elsewhere at the weekends.We tend to go by train to Herne Hill(12 min by train!) for the gastropub scene (and quieter pubs with seats!).
However,overall,an excellent move for us.

thanks WildSwansatCoole, that is really helpful. didn't realise herne hill was so close!

Beckenham is great. Parks for kids, different train lines, feels safe and easy to get to other places too. I'm near Mackenzie rd - Cator park is nice. Centre of Beckenham has a couple of new cafes.