General
Herne Hill is one of the smallest postcodes in London and is situated between Brixton, Dulwich, Tulse Hill and Camberwell. The beautiful leafy expanse of Brockwell Park dominates the skyline running along the south side of Herne Hill. Its 124 acres of parkland (described as the most underrated park in London) offer a wide range of activities including tennis, football, bowls, childrens’ play area, walks and regular free (and paying) festivals. Sometimes called the ‘Brixton Beach’, the park is also famous for its Lido, one of the few outdoor swimming pools left in London. Built in the 1930s and still clinging to life despite several closure attempts. Herne Hill is particularly well known for its Velodrome which is one of the few remaining purpose-built Victorian sports stadiums in London, now the only remaining cycle racing track in the Capital. The area incorporates both Southwark and Lambeth boroughs and is only 10 minutes by train to Victoria and 10 minutes by bus to Brixton and the Victoria line.

Property
With fantastic transport links to central London and within easy reach of Dulwich and its excellent schools, Herne Hill is popular with families and young professionals. Seen as more urban and less genteel than neighbouring Dulwich this area is a definite property hot spot.

Half Moon Lane connects Herne Hill to Dulwich Village and is lined with fine Victorian houses many of which are still single family homes. Roads running off here and forming what is known as the North Dulwich triangle include Ardbeg Road, Beckwith Road, Wyneham Road and Elmwood Road. In these roads there are large double-fronted period houses and smaller semis and terraced houses all dating from around the same period. In addition, along Half Moon Lane itself is a group of 3-storey 1960s’ townhouses, similar to those in West Dulwich, which provide great living space and offer the opportunity to indulge in cutting-edge contemporary design as exemplified in some of the current popular property TV shows and lifestyle magazines. These offer a really good residential mix and are again popular with families looking to be close to both North Dulwich and Herne Hill stations.

Roads running up from Half Moon Lane onto Herne Hill itself include Carver Road, Ruskin Walk, Holmdene Avenue and Hollingbourne, Elfindale, Frankfurt and Danecroft Roads where you will find a mixture of highly coveted Victorian and Edwardian houses again bordering North Dulwich.

To the other side of Herne Hill a pocket of good residential roads made up of late Victorian and early Edwardian detached and semi-detached houses can be found in roads like Brantwood Road, Kestral Avenue, Cosbycote Avenue and Fawnbrake Avenue. In many of these streets the houses have large rear gardens.

Croxted Road is another popular road with a choice of single and double fronted houses, a number of which have been split into attractive conversion flats, Guernsey Grove and Hawarden Grove are 2 popular streets off Croxted which are made of period properties less than ¼ mile from the open spaces of Brockwell Park.

Shops
Herne Hill has a wide selection of shops on offer. Whilst the main commercial streets are in the area around the railway station, Norwood Road and Half Moon Lane, there are pockets of shops scattered around the area. At the far end of Half Moon Lane there is the sister shop of West Dulwich’s La Gastronomia, an Italian coffee shop and deli, off licence, newsagent, hairdresser and fabulous fish and chip shop. The main shopping area is made up of a myriad of stores including a Sainsbury’s Local, Olleys (winner of countless awards for the best fish and chip shop in London), green grocers, fantastic bakers, veterinary surgeon, post office, Lloyds Bank, 2 chemists and a video store to name but a few. Tales on Half Moon Lane (children’s bookshop) and Just William’s toyshop. Fourways Pharmacy has recently won best pharmacy and is a mine of information for homeopathic remedies as well as the more traditional. Wish, Stardust and Artemidorus offer a wide range of gifts, cards and presents. For the green-fingered, the Croxted Road Garden Centre is full of a huge selection of plants and flowers as well as gardening equipment and supplies. Mimosa is a great deli and coffee shop offering gorgeous cakes and chocolates as well as a huge range of French foods. There is also the Classic Bed Company selling a variety of beds, mattresses and bedroom furniture and Herne Hill Bicycles with a selection of bikes and accessories. Jo Partridge has recently moved to West Dulwich and Kids Partridge, a childrens' clothes shop, is now in its' place.

Restaurants and Bars
The area has an ever-growing selection of great places to eat and drink. The 3 Monkeys is a very fine Indian restaurant with an exciting modern twist. It has a well-designed interior with an extensive menu and is very well priced (it also does a home delivery service). Pullens, by Herne Hill station is the coziest and friendliest venue of all the Herne Hill options. It is an all-purpose restaurant, bar, breakfast spot, gathering place, coffee shop – you name it …! Nearby is the Escape Bar and Art, a stylish bar with contemporary art exhibitions decorating the walls. Various DJs play at weekends with live music on Thursdays. Reasonably priced food is also available. The Commercial, next door to Escape, has had a major facelift. It’s very popular with locals, is open usual pub hours and offers food too. Round the corner in Half Moon Lane is the Half Moon pub. Not your average pub on the inside. It comprises 3 separate bars, 2 of which are open until 1am on Fridays and Saturdays. Live Indie bands from across the country come and play at weekends and these usually get the crowd going. Number 22 is an elegant lounge bar and restaurant that combines Spanish flavours with London savvy in a relaxed non-smoking environment. Lombok is small but has built up a very good reputation for itself. The menu offers a good selection of standard Thai dishes in a cosy atmosphere. For a more provincial vibe there is Café Provencal, a brightly decorated, very busy restaurant and bar. Bandidos, the Mexican restaurant round the corner, has got a great party feel and is very popular with the locals. It has a cocktail happy hour and sombreros on the tables!! Brockwells bar and restaurant is a pleasant surprise. The décor is comfortable and stylish with giant sculpted hands for bar stools. Olleys, winner of the best fish and chips in London for 2 consecutive years is nearby also offering an eat-in restaurant as well as take away. A couple of new additions to the expanding selection are The Florence and refurbished Prince Regent.  The Florence offers great modern British food with regular guest ales (some of which are brewed on the premises) and an outside seating area.  The Prince Regent has been lovingly renovated and offers freshly made food all day with brunch in the mornings, an a la carte menu and a selection of specials from the blackboard throughout the day and boisterous Sunday lunches for all the family at weekends.  On Monday evenings two courses are only £10!  Upstairs there are two beautifully renovated function rooms available for parties.  One has its' own bar and the other is perfect for a private dinner for up to 30 people.  Tuesday nights is quiz night with a sizeable £150 pot for the winner.

Schools
As with all parts of London, catchment areas cross boundaries and, included in this list, therefore, are schools where the catchment areas include Herne Hill. In addition as children from the area use the nearby Dulwich Schools, these have also been included.

State primaries: Bessemer Grange Primary School, Dulwich Infant School, Dulwich Hamlet Junior School, Corpus Christi Catholic Primary, Jessop Primary School, Rosendale Primary School, St. Judes Cof E Primary School and St. Saviours Cof E Primary School. State secondaries: Kingsdale Secondary School, The Charter School.

Fee-paying schools in the proximity include: Herne Hill School (nursery to 7 years), Rosemead Preparatory (nursery – formerly Noah’s Arc -- to 11 years),
Streatham Hill and Clapham Girls School (nursery to 18 years), Dulwich College (separate but affiliated kindergarden - DUCKS - and junior schools) (nursery to 18 years), Dulwich College Prep School (nursery to 13 years), Alleyns (4 to 18 years), James Allen Prep School (mixed nursery to 7 years, girls only 8 to 11 years), James Allen Girls School (11 to 18 years) and Sydenham High School (4 to 18 years).

For details of school results (SATS, GCSE & A level) together with addresses and map visit Southwark-local-education-authority (for schools in Southwark) and Lambeth-local-education-authority. (for schools in Lambeth). A list of all schools in Dulwich can be found on www.dulwich.co.uk

Other
Brockwell Park’s 124 acres of land is used annually to host the Lambeth Country Show, now the biggest free event of its type in South East England. Offering a huge selection of fairground rides, performance stages, community stalls and local attractions, a Parade of Steam, Medieval siege re-enactments and Falconry displays! The park now also boasts a miniature railway (open in the summer months only), as well as the Lido, paddling pool and tennis courts. Every year there is also a huge (free) firework display on 5 November which is spectacular. Within the Lido building there are a host of activities in including yoga, pilates and kids music session called ‘whippersnappers’ amongst others. The Herne Hill Harriers can also be seen training in the park with their cross country headquarters based here. There has been a club since 1889 when a group of local boys decided to form an athletics club. Another gem which belongs to Herne Hill is the Velodrome which has been here for 120 years! Its future is hopefully secured with regeneration proposals focused on cycling and complementary recreational use.

Transport
Transport links into central London are good. There are fast, frequent services from Herne Hill to Victoria (9 minutes) via Brixton (Victoria line) and there is a rush hour service to Blackfriars calling at Elephant and Castle for the Bakerloo and Northern lines. There is also the CityMetro service operated by Thameslink via Kings Cross and Farringdon to Luton. Detailed information on train links to Herne Hill can be found at Journey Checker. The No. 3 bus goes to Oxford Circus via Westminster and Whitehall. The No. 68 bus goes to Russell Square via Elephant and Castle and X68 (faster service/less stops). Detailed information on buses (with map) can be found at www.tfl.gov.uk/buses.