Tell me about Beckenham!

[Tweeeezer]

Looking to move from zone 2 London, and I have been told to consider Beckenham but haven’t been before.

Tell me about it! What are schools like, specifically secondary? (Not a fan of the grammar system.)

What’s the demographic like? DH and I both work in the arts and are politically liberal. Would we find likeminded people in Beckenham?

It’s within our budget, it seems to have a lot of green space around it when I look at googlemaps (!), so my interest is definitely piqued!

Beckenham is lovely. I love just up the road in Hayes, but lots of my friends live there, and it's where my DH grew up. Lots of families, cafés, restaurants etc. It's an area popular with people who have moved out of "proper" London for the schools, so I'm sure you'll find like minded types. Primary schools are good, however choices for secondary are a bit limited. People rave about the Langley schools, particularly the boys school.

Forgot to say, like most of Bromley, it's a safe Tory seat. That's not to say there aren't liberal arty people there too!

We're on the Penge / beckenham borders.

It's fab, a bit more artsy, safe labour seat, beautiful houses, great primary schools. Secondaries are more hit and miss but pretty much good.

We live up the road in Forest Hill but go to Beckenham a bit. My feelings on it have always been that if you’re going to move out of “London proper” then why not go further out still and get more for your money in less ‘burby surrounds. I don’t dislike the place but it does feel somewhat like the people there are a bit scared to take the plunge and so trying to convince themselves that this is the dream.

But that’s obviously a very personal view! The park is lovely and decent shops and restaurants. There are definitely worse places. It’s no doubt liberal in the sense of being home to some affluent champagne socialists (like most more upmarket areas of London) but not in the sense of being diverse.

Positives:

• Beckenham High Street has a lot of nice cafes and restaurants


• The schools are decent


• Clock House (which is near Penge) is a nice and buzzing area


• It has a Waitrose, M&S, Lidl and Sainos


• It's a Tory area with an awful lazy and invisible pro-Johnson MP Bob Stewart (apart from Clock House which is covered by Ellie Reeves, who is great and highly visible).


• Its pubs and bars are generally chains with late licenses and the High Street can get a bit 'lively' and unpleasant on Fridays and Saturday nights


• It isn't very diverse

Hope this helps.

It's a white middle class Tory stronghold and as a liberal lefty professional i wouldn't fucking move back there if you paid me. However, I don't have kids so don't need to worry about schools, gardens and stuff.

However, if I did I would worry horribly about causing ructions at the school gates by being too opinionated.

I lived there temporarily as a young professional and spent my entire life on the train into central London.

Nice high street, restaurants, the park is lovely. My friend lives near Clock House and is part of a local orchestra, and there are plenty other local music stuff if that's your scene.

It's also full of people who very much live in Beckenham and are surprised that you "go to London" regularly.

Thank you for all this advice! It has helped a lot - Beckenham is off the list 😂

@Tweeeezer I live in Shortlands right next to Beckenham and it is a lovely green, family filled area. The schools are really good and sought after, the parks and the restaurant/cafes are great. If you're looking for something more artsy, more in London and diverse I would suggest maybe Dulwich or Blackheath. The three are my top picks for South East.

Oh I just realised you said you're looking to move out of zone 2 so Dulwich would be out then lool

Bloody hell this thread makes weird reading. I was born in Beckenham and at the time it was a horrible run down dump. We had mould on the walls inside our flat and drug dealers for neighbours.
We rented and got priced out when I was 5, moved oop north.
It's kind of nice to know Beckenham has grown up to house the same sort of people as I became, even if I don't think I could afford to buy a family home there in a million years without mortgaging to the hilt.
Crystal Palace Park isn't too much of a jaunt from there and it's probably my favourite park in South London.

Oh wait no I was getting posts confused. People are saying Beckenham is NOT artsy, that's Penge border. D'oh. That's disappointing.

I’m leaving zone 2 because of the ££££, although I don’t think Dulwich will be in my budget. But really, I’d like to stay! So I’m looking for somewhere lovely but cheaper (which probably means a move to a higher zone number!).

Thank you for the recommendation of Shortlands - I don’t know it and will definitely explore!

Oh gosh this! Really research this OP - are you going to make friends there?

Well I live here and don't know any tories! Or are they all hiding?
It depends if you are on the very expensive side or the rest 😊
The post code covers a huge area and so it's quite diverse. Elmers End, Eden Park, (where we are), Clock House/ Kent House - these are the stations with links into central London.
Very good choices of primary. A new secondary, two Harris Schools. Another new secondary planned.
Lots going on, festivals in the park, recently a Caribbean one in the local Rec, there's a Soul one coming up. Lots going on at Beckenham Place Park like cinema, music, fairs,
Tennis screens at the local church green.

We have community choirs, local brewery's. Loads of restaurants.
The tram!
You can get into London in 20 minutes and be in the country in 20 too.

@Tweeeezer Just to add though, the cafes/restaurants and parks I was referring to are the ones in Beckenham 😂 Shortlands itself does not have a great high street but is right next to both Beckenham and Bromley. You could look at Chislehurst, that also has great schools and a very nice looking and lovely high street.

I wouldn't take it off the list.

Come and have a walk round. I think the Penge side might suit you more. Or perhaps have a look at Sydenham.

Yes definitely Penge. Loads of creatives, teachers, charity workers and the like, still proper London, much more diverse. Indie businesses. Beckenham Place Park is nice but you can cycle there from Penge in 10 minutes anyway.

We moved from a very left wing liberal area in zone 2/3 to the posher side of Beckenham. Take what above posters have said with a pinch of salt! A lot of my lovely neighbours rant about the Tories and Brexit. My DC’s oversubscribed primary school is still quite diverse, their best friends are non white!
Yes, it’s definitely more conservative than where we were previously, but you will always tend to gravitate more towards people of a similar mindset, it’s not all one homogenous mass!
We moved for the schools and a bigger garden, and also like that Beckenham is so green and it’s like a self-contained town on the edge of London.
i would definitely not want to move further out!
If I was you I would just come and visit to get a view for yourself.

Puffthemagic

It actually swung slightly towards Labour at the last election.....

And you have Crystal Palace Park and about 7 other parks on your doorstep in Penge. You're never more than 5 mins walk from a green space in Penge

Only a little. It's still comfortably Tory.

One of the largest anti tory swings in the country actually.

Also, the whole Bromley Borough but especially the western parts swung heavily against tories in the recent council election (they still have majority but the change was drastic).

Hmmm. 54% of the Beckenham constituency voters still thought the lazy and inept Bob Stewart was worth a punt. A 14000 majority. I think we can surmise it's still very safe Tory.

I will grant you though that the Copers Cope area, which is basically where the shops are is moving away from the Tories.

I used to live in Penge and before that by Crystal Palace park. Both lovely areas. I moved out of Penge in 2016 due to relocating to West Midlands but it was a really good area, very up and coming. I think it is quite arty.