Moving From East Dulwich to SE20 area

[koalalady90]

Hello, first time posting on this forum after reading so much useful information over the years. I was hoping I could receive some useful insight/opinions into our situation as DH and I are now making a huge decision.

We are selling our flat in East Dulwich which we have loved, but ready for a house and garden to start a family. We don't have ties to any part of London, except me working west end at present and DH in the city. Since we like independent businesses, we liked Crystal Palace straight away but with a £600-650k budget we cannot afford the most sought after spots. Unsure if we have overlooked other options.

Anyway, we found a house we like on Cambridge Road, just off Croydon Road/Penge Road I believe (not sure what the area is classed as). We like the idea of having CP, Beckenham and even Penge nearby, plus convince of Norwood Junction for trains. Noticed a few nice businesses around NJ (Craft Beer Cabin, Four Brothers, Little Mouse) but expecting to need a long walk or bus the other direction at weekends. Also, been told that Stuart Fleming School for our future little one is good.

We would appreciate any local insight of the area please. Thank you in advance :)

For what it's worth Cambridge Road is in Anerley.

Thank you, some estate agents class it as Penge so wasn't sure.

We moved from Peckham to Penge a few years ago and have met many families that have made a similar move to Penge, Anerley or South Norwood.

don’t know that specific road but we love where we live and don’t regret the move. We also have two little ones who go to SF.

I'd say that's more South Norwood! But it's an ok area, quite a lot going on around the Lakes and you're not far from Crystal Palace park. Croydon road itself is quite busy so bear that in mind if the house is that end. Norwood Junction station is a very useful one and there's a nice little leisure centre in South Norwood too.

Schools are overall decent in the area as well, both primary and secondary. It's obviously significantly less chichi than ED but you can go up the hill to Palace for all that. You could also look down the Beckenham end and nearer Elmer's End tram stop. It's a bit further away again from stuff but you would be near the Country Park.

Thank you both :) that is very encouraging and happy to hear you both have had good experiences. We certainly feel it offers us a nice mix of convenience and plenty to enjoy.

Pleasingly there is a cut through to the Country Park, but yet to check it out, nor the Lake area that I have read people mentioning on other forums - Will certainly take a look once weather improves!

How about mother groups, has it been easy to meet fellow young families? We don't have our family nearby so i'm hoping to not feel too isolated.

Pleasingly there is a cut through to the Country Park....

Is that "the bunny hole" under the railway? Glad to see it's still open. When we lived there Croydon council was forever talking about closing it!

Yes that would be the one. Why did the council talk about closing, safety concerns?

Yep there’s a few Penge, Beckenham and Crystal Palace mums or parents Facebook groups and the Crystal Palace mums what’s app is also really busy. I’m not too sure about South Norwood though.

You’ll also meet lots of other families through nursery and school.

You absolutely can't move for parent and baby stuff in Palace, Penge and S Norwood. There's also a good children's centre on Oakfield Road in Anerley that has lots of free stay n play type things and a Barnardo's centre in palace that has a good toddler soft play rig@. They also have stuff at the lakes I think and there is a cafe there (mine are older and we don't live that side so not sure what there is at the moment).

Cutting down on maintenance costs. There were never any safety issues with it that I ever heard of.

With the railway line being the borough boundary, Croydon reckoned Bromley Council should pay half and Bromley, as always, refused. (Bromley Council is notorious for refusing to co-operate with any of the boroughs that border it.)

Oh wonderful, lovely to hear that there are lots of groups for mothers and the young children. Moving to an unfamiliar area feels very daunting but I'm sure it just takes a little time to settle in, find the little spots we enjoy and get into a new routine.

It's all very exciting and natural to feel a little nervous since moving homes comes with such expensive fees. However feeling pretty confident and exciting to read about the approved plans for Crystal Palace Park too.

It's all a bit confusing but I think Croydon Road is the dividing line. If you are Betts Park side and you have an SE20 postcode, you're in Anerley and if you're the other side like you, you're in Penge. Very few people outside the area have heard of Anerley and usually even when you say Penge, you often have to mention that it's near Beckenham or Crystal Palace to help people get their bearings. Either way, welcome to the area, it's got a lot going for it and where you are you can pop in any direction for shopping, drinking or dining.

It's a nice road with some lovely houses.

Thank you for replying BovineJuice2. That makes perfect sense, so Penge it is but prepared to probably need to mention Crystal Palace and Beckenham when explaining😄

Totally agree, we were attracted with the prospect of having good options in any direction. Cannot wait for our move in date and be apart of the community

Bit of a moot point, but yes a little research confirms that side of Croydon Road with a SE20 postcode would fall into the Constituency: Beckenham and Penge, Ward: Clock House, and the Borough of Bromley (rather confusing, might just say between CP, Beckenham and NJ)

SE20 = Penge (of which Anerley is the western part), Borough of Bromley

SE25 = South Norwood (aka Norwood Junction), Borough of Croydon.

I live in Penge and it's great for:
Transport - I have about five railway stations within walking distance, covering multiple lines, and none of them taking very long to reach destinations.
Bars - Penge has loads of options. Three family gastropubs, two craft beer places incl a taproom, three sports bars and a large Wetherspoons
Eateries - loads of indie restaurant options including French, a proper Italian, Jamaican, sushi, Indian, Nepalese, pizza, Albanian, Turkish and cafes. Plus loads of takeaways
Shops - a guitar shop, a record shop, The Range, Sainsburys, small Tescos, a few nick nack shops, Superdrug, Poundland, Peacocks, etc
A theatre
The taproom that holds cult film cinema nights, comedy, etc