Dulwich/Kingston-upon-Thames - Aircraft noise?

[StrangeGlitter]

Hi. We're thinking of moving to Dulwich or Kingston-upon-Thames from North London to get a house with garden for our kids, but I'm worried about aircraft noise.

Can anyone who lives there tell me how bad it is in either of these places?

We used to live in Blackheath and moved away because of the noise (it doesn't bother everyone but I'm quite sensitive to it) - I've read East Dulwich and north Kingston are bad, but what about Dulwich Village and south Kingston?

Anyone?

Well, I live on the S. Kingston/Surbiton borders near the river and we never are aware of aircraft noise .
I know Richmond is bad, but we seem to be ok .

Good to know, dustwhatdust. Thanks. It's really hard to get a feel for this stuff without living there because it changes day to day and season to season, at least that's what I found in Blackheath.

I also live on the kingston /surbiton borders and you do get some aircraft noise when they switch take off direction at Heathrow due to wind direction. Some of the take off flight paths then come directly ahead, along the river. But it's not often and it's not loud.

Thanks neffi. That sounds bearable. Still very keen to hear about Dulwich also!

I'm in Surbiton too, and aircraft noise isn't unheard of but not often - my two year old comments on it when he hears it, so not the norm,

Lovely here.

Kingston and Surbiton largely escapes plane noise. Would highly recommend, having previously lived in Richmond where the planes go over every 30 seconds...

Living somewhere where a plane goes over every 30 seconds is marvellous for defusing toddler tantrums, though -- you can always conjure up a distraction by pointing at the sky and saying "Look! An aeroplane!".

Not so good when they are older, admittedly...

I live in Dulwich and there is no aircraft noise- certainly not by SW London standards.

Airplane noise is more of an issue in Barnes, Richmond, Kew, and .Twickenham where it can be really loud though apparently you get used to it my friends say!

Thanks LondonGirl83!! That's great to hear. I'm going to have a wander round this afternoon and check out the area. Do you mind saying whether you are in Dulwich Village? I've heard it's much better than East Dulwich for aircraft noise.

I'm on the border between East Dulwich and Dulwich Village. I'm technically in Village ward but I consider it ED. I've lived in ED proper before and it was fine for airplane noise though.

Have fun checking out the area. Make sure to go to Dulwich Park, the Picture Gallery, Lordship Lane and village high street and the Horiman Gardens and museum if you get a chance. Gail's in the Village is a great bakery!

On a Saturday Northcross rd has a nice market and it's a decent shopping street in its own right in addition to LL. The local gym is on Crystal Palace rd and the yoga and Pilates studio is called Push and is worth checking out. The church hall beside Push is being converted into a small Cinema scheduled to open the end of this year.

Let me know if you want to know about schools, other local amenities etc!

Sometimes there is early morning plane noise over E Dulwich and Dulwich Village (they are not far enough aprt for there to be a diference in plane noise). From about 4.30 am or 5 the early morning arrivals start. But not all the time, just sometimes.

It is nowhere near as bad as in SW London, IME, because the planes are higher.

There is a pretty constant 'watchdog' group on the Esat Dulwich Forum here

But the same planes can be heard in Brixton, Streatham and presumably all points en route for H'row.

Fantastic intel, thanks LondonGirl83. I'm taking your tips with me this afternoon and if it looks like we're going to make the move I'll definitely get back to you for the lowdown on schools...hope it's not as bad as north London but I guess everywhere in London's a nightmare...

I'm in ED, and while we have lots of planes going overhead (our house faces east west) I've never really noticed the noise - they're pretty high up. Compared to my friends who live in Twickenham it's very peaceful.

We've just done primary schools application - catchments tend to be small, at least in reception, though I hear it gets easier to slot in higher up as people leave London for the suburbs.

Aircraft noise can vary wherever you are depending on flight paths and atmospheric conditions. I also live close to Dulwich village and despite having windows and doors open, the aircraft noise is barely noticeable now.

Yes, I agree with others, there are planes but not any noise that I ever notice whereas in Kew. I actually gad to stop speaking once stood next to my husband the roar of the plane was so loud. I thought they were falling on my head.

Regarding schools, there are lots of good primaries but some black spots to avoid. Also, if you want a non-religious co-ed secondary try to be on the west side of East Dulwich within a miles walk of the Charter, which is Outstanding. A new co-ed secondary is opening though in all likelihood on the Dulwich hospital site so should provide be more local options soon. The private schools are some of the best on the country if you can afford them of course :)

I lived in surbiton for 12 years and never heard a plane!

My family are in Camberwell, where I was born and bred. I admit I do notice the air traffic noise, but that's because I now live in the country away from all hustle and bustle. The planes appear to have a flight path pretty much over my parents' house.

But - after 24 hours back home I forget about it. It, excuse the pun, goes right over my head. You just become oblivious to it after a short while.

All in all, the advantages to living in the Dulwich area would, imho, outweigh the disadvantage of a bit of noise which you quickly become used to.

Many thanks to all of you for your comments. I went to Dulwich yesterday and it was gorgeous BUT I have to say there were a lot of planes overhead - not noisy like in Kew but constant background noise. I'm pretty noise-sensitive so I'm trying to work out whether it would bother me or not. If you weren't bothered by the noise I can totally see how it would be a lovely place to live - gorgeous houses, beautiful parks, lovely shops.

Going to take a look at Kingston today...

I live in DV with a hugely noise-sensitive DH. We moved from Barnes specifically to get away from aircraft noise.

Over the last few years the noise has definitely got worse. There are a lot of early morning planes which occasionally wake me (and generally I'm immune). Depending on the wind direction, there are some days when the sky is very busy. If it's like that, DH can't stand being outside.

That said, the planes are much, much higher than when we were in Barnes and they are smaller (from City rather than Heathrow) so are a lot quieter than the SW. Most people still don't register them but if you're sensitive like DH I suspect it's not right for you.

Surprised to hear that Kingston is clear; I would have thought that would be noisier.

Thanks GertrudeBell - that confirms my suspicions and rules Dulwich out for me unfortunately.

I was surprised about Kingston too, but this is what HACAN (the Heathrow expansion opposition group says):

"There are not too many but there are some areas which are more or less free from aircraft You’d be right if you came up with places like Uxbridge, Raynes Park, Norbiton, South Woodford, Mayfair,the northern part of Chiswick, most of West Drayton, parts of Kingston, and parts of Barking."

But the document is quite old and as you say, most areas have worsened in recent years (and will get a lot worse if they build a third runway). I'm praying for Boris Island to be built - that would open up masses of options for places to live for us!

City airport pretty much guarantees that nowhere in London is safe from plane noise at some stage.

Don't go to the Richmond side of Kingston, East Sheen is on the flight path and if the wind directions is going that way it is noisy.

Sometimes the weather conditions mean the planes come in from a slightly different approach, but it's not troublesome

Ah yes, I'm not noise sensitive in general so never noticed them. Hopefully Kingston is the answer for you! Living in the city is challenging from a noise perspective.

Just come back on to say that there are planes taking off in this direction today. I've lived here (near the river in South Kingston / Surbiton) for 12 years and it has got busier over time.

But it's not constant. As I said before it tends to be when they have to change take off and landing directions because of wind direction (I looked it up). There's a good graphic here

Thanks guys.

Neffi, cheers for the graphic - the Heathrow website has four for westerly/easterly arrivals/departures - it would be useful if they actually put them on one map but I guess they don't because it would be clear just how much of Greater London is affected!

And of course they don't tell you how loud it is in any given place... starting to fantasize about moving out of London and having done with it, but not really ideal for DH who works long hours and would hardly see the kids.