General
Originally part of the massive Great North Wood and home to gypsies and highwaymen who threatened the occupants of the coaches travelling to and from London, this often-overlooked area has much to recommend it and, indeed, Tulse Hill was the subject of an article last year in The Evening Standard. Situated between Herne Hill, Streatham and West Dulwich, this little-known district has superb rail and bus links to most parts of Central and South East London. The area has long attracted those in the know seeking large Victorian and Edwardian houses close to excellent schools and available at much less than neighbouring Dulwich and Clapham houses. In addition, young professionals are drawn to the area by the availability of attractive, competitively-priced, easily accessible flats, both for sale and for rent.

Property
The area straddles Norwood Road and really beautiful properties can be found in the roads on both sides of the main road. There are some excellent residential roads close to Tulse Hill station, full of period family houses, both single- and double-fronted, providing a quiet oasis between Clapham and Dulwich. Lanercost Road, wide and tree-lined is made up of double-fronted semi-detached family homes offering 4 to 5 bedrooms with wide rear gardens. The majority of properties in this road are family houses, although there are a few conversions providing a good residential mix. Palace Road is made up of imposing period properties, a mixture of conversion flats and large family homes offering 6 to 7 bedrooms with excellent reception space and fantastic rear gardens. Kingsmead, Northstead and Kinfauns roads are good quiet side roads made up of mainly semi-detached period houses offering 4+ bedrooms with good sized gardens (some conversions).

Check out Lancaster Avenue for enormous Victorian properties with rather grand entrance steps, and Chestnut Road for large Edwardian houses, some still with separate servants’ entrance! Roads such as Ardlui, Idmiston and Chatsworth Way, which link the area with West Dulwich, offer some stunning houses whilst Tulsemere, Hexham, and Lavengro Roads comprise smaller turn-of-the-century houses with 3+ bedrooms, good reception space and manageable gardens. To the Streatham side of Norwood Road lies the oasis around St. Julian’s Farm Road, including Thornlaw, Thurlby and Casewick Roads, which is tree-lined and peaceful, with large houses and interesting conversions. Other roads in this area with really good Victorian semi-detached houses offering 4+ bedrooms include Selsdon, Hainthorpe Uffington and Wolfington Roads. Robson Road, named after the cemetery supervisor, offers diminutive [ex-gravediggers’] cottages lined up across the road from the wall hiding West Norwood Cemetery, Mrs. Beeton’s last resting place, and Ladas Road (more pretty Victorian cottages), further up Norwood High Street, was built with money from a 19th century Derby win. Similar cottages are available in Tivoli Road, and Pyremont and Waldeck Groves.

Other roads worth looking at in and around the Tulse Hill area include Romola, Deerbrook and Deronda Roads which are on the borders of Herne Hill and are a well kept secret, strategically placed for excellent transport links, good schools and a choice of local parks. Those looking for attractive well-located flats (and some really nice houses) should consider Avenue Park, St. Faiths and Norwood Roads and Birbeck Hill which are within ¼ of a mile of Tulse Hill station so great for commuting.

Shops
West Norwood becomes Tulse Hill as the main road moves north towards the South Circular. The area boasts a good range of shops including a local supermarket (Somerfields), a superb fishmonger, often acclaimed as one of the best in South London (they will fill any orders), a flower market, an electrical store, B & Q, Woolworths, a couple of high street banks (Barclays and Natwest), a post office, a great fruit and vegetable stall, a butchers, a greengrocers, a car dealers (Suzuki), a decorators and builders and a hairdressers to name a few. Beamish and McGrue – Deli with cafe which also sells organic and fine foods. There is also some excellent local shopping in close-by Streatham. Also fortnightly farmer's market.

Restaurants & Bars
There are some trendy local pubs, in particular the fashionable Railway pub which has a DJ at weekends and, sometimes, live bands. Lancasters bistro and wine bar has an occasional acoustic night and an Elvis impersonator. They also do very tasty chips, huge home-made burgers and a great Sunday roast. Also worth checking out is the Tulse Hill Tavern, Dominicans Café and the popular new Beamish and McGrue Café on the corner of Lancaster Avenue.

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

State Primaries: Julian’s, Hitherfield School and Streatham Wells, Crown Lane Primary School, Elm Wood School, Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School, Kingswood Primary School, St Luke's Church of England Primary School. State Secondaries: Dunraven (co-educational Foundation School) and, in addition, there are good bus links to Burntwood School in Wandsworth Common, St Martin in the Fields High School for Girls, Norwood School.

Fee-paying schools in the proximity include: 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: schools in Lambeth. A list of all schools in close by Dulwich can be found on www.dulwich.co.uk/schools.html

Other
Hillside Gardens (which has an active residents’ committee) with children’s play area and recently resurfaced tennis courts has been awarded £125,000 (part Lambeth and part fund-raising) for refurbishment. Also, Brockwell Park www.brockwellpark.com with its excellent lido www.thelido.co.uk is an amazing place to spend time. Check out the walled garden, children’s play area, miniature railway and Brockwell Hall. The park fills the area between Tulse Hill, Herne Hill and Brixton and is a favourite with joggers, walkers, parents and dog walkers, as well as those who just want to spend time basking in one of London’s green oases. There is a playgroup at St. Luke’s Church and amazing catacombs at West Norwood Cemetery. West Norwood Library (filmed for use in Kubrick’s Clockwork Orange) is a real find and Rosebery’s auctioneers is one of the largest and best auction houses in South London. Tulse Hill Pottery Studios in the middle of Tulse hill offers an outlet for children/adolescents from 5 to 18 years, and encourages the development of artistic skills, and the popular Film on Thursday at Nettlefold Hall (West Norwood Library Centre) provides a new, exciting film and social night. Close by Streatham provides a cinema and megabowl, ice rink and go karting.

Transport
The Thameslink service from Tulse Hill offers services northbound to Blackfriars (15 minutes), City Thameslink, Kings Cross (gateway to the North) and Luton, or southbound to Gatwick or to Wimbledon (15 minutes), via Tooting and Streatham. The service also stops at Elephant & Castle for either the Northern or Bakerloo lines. The South Central service from West Norwood offers fast, frequent trains to Victoria, Clapham Junction and London Bridge. There are also services to East Croydon for connections to Gatwick and the south coast. Detailed information on train links to Tulse Hill and West Norwood at Journey Checker.

The No. 2 bus goes to Baker Street via Oxford Street, Westminster and Whitehall. The No. 68 bus goes to Russell Square via Elephant and Castle and X68 (faster service/less stops). Also No 196 to Brixton, 201 to Morden, 322 to Elephant & Castle and Crystal Palace, No 432 to Brixton and Anerley, No 468 to Elephant & Castle and South Croydon, No 689 to Wandsworth Common, Clapham, Brixton (and Burntwood School), No 690 to Burntwood School, Wandsworth Common and Brixton. Detailed information on buses (with map) can be found at www.tfl.gov.uk/buses/spiders.