General
Still within easy reach of London Victoria (approximately 14 minutes), Sydenham Hill is the next stop after West Dulwich on the Orpington train. Offering unrivalled views of the city, the area grew in popularity during the 19th century as wealthy Victorians sought a healthier lifestyle away from the smog. The architecture from this period is often impressive and now mixes comfortably with more modern town house developments favoured in its neighbouring West Dulwich. Lower Sydenham is now the site of the main shopping area and is supported by fantastic transport links to Victoria, London Bridge and Croydon.

The area is split between the London boroughs of Lewisham and Bromley and is surrounded by parks, including Crystal Palace Park, Mayow Park, Sydenham Hill Woods and Sydenham Wells Park. Sydenham’s wealth of green spaces and realistic property prices (and the tube is coming - the existing East London Line is being extended - work should start later in 2006 and will finish in 2010 with 8 tubes an hour going through Sydenham on the existing railtrack). are only part of the reason that the area is fast becoming one of south east London’s most desirable places to live.

Property
The big attraction about property in Sydenham is that you get much more for your money! There is some great architecture and the views can be amazing! The area covered by Sydenham Hill stretches up from the southern tip of West Dulwich as College Road meanders up the steep hill (a challenge for joggers and cyclists!) to Crystal Palace. Large detached houses overlook the beautiful Dulwich and Sydenham Woods and, at the top, Sydenham Hill skirts the other side of the woods towards Kirkdale and the descent into Sydenham itself; Longton Avenue (between Sydenham Hill and Longton Grove – good selection of modern townhouses here) is made up of large mid-war and Victorian family houses (and some stunning flats) many overlooking Wells Park. The next turning, Westwood Hill, leads straight down the hill (another challenge!) into the main shopping street of Sydenham.

Sydenham Hill is made up of a mixture of different property styles from modern flats to enormous Victorian (and some modern) houses. Woodsyre is a development of larger-than-average 1960s' townhouses which offer lots of living space, small patio-style gardens and the additional advantage of beautiful private communal gardens.

Peckermans Wood offers more townhouses in a mature woodland setting. As you reach the Dulwich Wood Pub, Crescent Wood Road is a real find. It is wide, quiet and tree-lined with a mixture of modern houses and Victorian (and earlier – there is a Georgian coach house hidden up one of the drives) houses and flats.

Dulwich Heights is a 19th century mansion recently converted into very high-spec apartments (check out the penthouse – currently available to rent or buy -- for a truly stunning view of the London skyline).

Westwood Hill, Kirkdale and the roads in and around these streets offer a variety of property styles ranging from modern flats and townhouses to period flats and large 4-5 bedroom houses. Check out Jews Walk and the Lawrie Park triangle (Lawrie Park Gardens, Lawrie Park Road and Lawrie Park Avenue).

Hall Drive is a private road (watch the horrendous bumps!) with white picket fences at both ends. Off the high street itself are what are locally known as the thorpe estate, Queensthorpe, Kingsthorpe Bishopsthorpe, Princesthorpe and Dukesthorpe made up of solidly-built Edwardian family houses.

Shops
Sydenham Road is the high street and offers a surprisingly wide variety of retail outlets including the wonderful Kirkdale Bookshop with its small art gallery. Those looking for an unusual gift, a particular piece of furniture or even to furnish an entire house should be sure to check out Oolaboola (antiques) at the Sydenham end of Kirkdale, which is a real find for collectors and amateurs alike. Ring O’ Roses, the wedding dress shop which draws soon-to-be-married women from all over London and the South East in search of the perfect dress; The Outback Hair Salon opposite the station; Sydenham DIY which ingeniously stocks almost everything you could ever need for home improvements in a surprisingly small space; Well Being, the health food shop sells everything from fresh organic produce to food supplements; a medium-sized Somerfield situated opposite Slatters Cake Shop; the enormous and wonderful Whites Pet Shop and the Flowersmith flower shop are situated at the lower end of the Sydenham Road. Travelling out of Sydenham towards Bellingham, one arrives at Bell Green where Savacentre is based.

Restaurants and Bars
That’s Amore and Montecassino Restoranto offer good traditional Italian food and both are popular with locals. The Dulwich Wood House pub on Crescent Wood Road offers a great pub menu. It’s a wonderful location in the summer as its secluded garden has a small children’s play area and masses of picnic tables, Zucker is a tiny café serving sandwiches, home made soup and cakes, Fez Osakbasi is a relative newcomer to Sydenham and very welcome it is too. It serves top notch Turkish cuisine and is really worth a visit. The Balti King Tandoori is a fantastic local takeaway with friendly staff and delicious Indian cuisine. Gurkha’s offers delicious Nepalese food.

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

Sydenham has several strong and improving state schools at primary stage including: Elliott Bank, St Michaels Church of England and Our Lady and St Philip Neri Roman Catholic School. State secondaries: Sydenham Secondary School, Cator Park School.

Fee-paying schools: Sydenham High School on Westwood Hill (4 to 18 years).
Other private schools in the area include Dulwich College (separate but affiliated kindergarden - DUCKS - and junior schools) (nursery to 18 years), Dulwich College Preparatory School (nursery to 13 years) (confusingly, not connected to Dulwich College), Oakfield Preparatory School (nursery to 11 years) and Rosemead Preparatory (nursery – formerly Noah’s Arc -- to 11 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). A list of all schools in Dulwich can be found on www.dulwich.co.uk/schools.html

Other
One of the best things about Sydenham is Sydenham Woods (which links with Dulwich Woods) managed by London Wildlife Trust (and from where the artist Camille Pissarro painted A View of Lordship Lane Station). At the edge of the wood bordering the golf course, is a path called Cox's Walk that once led to the Green Man public house (now the Harvester). This path was apparently created by the publican of the Green Man in the early 18th Century when the golf course was farmland. Wells Park is a pleasure to visit throughout the year. A new state-of-the-art water-play fun facility with fountains and mists opened in May 2005 and apart from its entertainment value, the facility includes a special system to reduce the amount of water used as well as keeping it clean. There are lots of things going on in Sydenham! Apart from selling a great selection of books, Kirkdale Bookshop holds regular exhibitions of art and photography. Sydenham Library runs a children’s reading club for 8-10 year olds on the second Saturday of every month between 2.30pm and 3.30 pm. There is a Sydenham Summer Music Festival (a classical music festival in the spring), the Sydenham Wheelers Cycling Club, Sydenham Total Tennis (5 floodlit hard courts, 2 squash courts for squash or racketball and croquet lawns) with club nights every Wednesday between 6 & 9 pm (ask for Geff). There is Sydenham Dance Centre for Ballroom & Latin Dance Classes, and Beckenham & Sydenham Cricket Club (technically located in Beckenham). All these clubs have web sites. And, for fitness fans LA Fitness at the Sydenham end of Kirkdale.

Transport
Sydenham is 15 minutes from London Bridge and the trains run every 10 minutes. In the evening the service is reduced to a half-hourly service. Detailed information on train links to Sydenham Hill and Sydenham can be found at www.sydenham.org.uk. Buses to and from Sydenham are 75 West Croydon & Lewisham, 176 Penge to Oxford Circus (also night bus), 194 Forest Hill to West Croydon, 202 Crystal Palace to Blackheath, 312 Peckham to South Croydon, 450 Lower Sydenham to West Croydon, N70 Trafalgar Square to Norwood Junction, Detailed information on buses (with map) can be found at www.sydenham.org.uk