So I’m moving house. From a large rented flat on the borders of West Dulwich, to my very own little house in West Molesey, 15 minutes away from Hampton Court. That’s the reason I haven’t really posted recently – I’ve been busy planning all sorts of things and sorting out a lot of paperwork and packing, packing, packing.
We should be in the new house in time for Christmas, and there will be a lot of work to do before we are more or less settled (and I suspect I will not have broadband access for a while; I’ll be checking emails on my iPhone, but that would be pretty much it). So I won’t be posting for a bit after the move.
For now, I just wanted to remember all the things I like about West Dulwich and all the things I’ll miss.
I’ll miss the Dulwich Park and the 15 minute walk to get there, past a small Italian shop with tasty coffee and genuine Italian olive oil, past the Dulwich College and the Dulwich Picture Gallery where I used to volunteer a few years back.
I’ll miss a 40 minutes door-to-door journey to Holborn and I’ll miss staff shortages at First Capital Connect, making this journey so unpredictable.
I’ll miss the Dulwich Trader and all the cool things they sell – things I like to look at, pick up and admire, but rarely buy (I’m trying to limit the amount of STUFF I have). I’ll miss The Rosendale and the fact it’s only 1 minute walk from my flat, and the tastiest (and the most expensive) 1kg of ribs I’ve ever eaten.
I’ll miss the West Norwood Cemetery – our quiet neighbour. I’m weird like that, but I just love London’s Magnificent Seven and I was lucky living next to one.
And although I’ll be missing it all, I am very much looking forward to moving into my own place, and 2010 which is promising to be the most exciting year ever! I’m facing some big decisions and big – but oh so exciting – challenges and I’m hoping you’ll stay with me on my journey.
I’ve put together a small slideshow with my favourite pictures I took of West Dulwich. And while choosing the images for it I realised I didn’t really take enough pictures of my neighbourhood, and I am certain to change that at my new place. But here’s what I’ve got. Enjoy!
I might be moving to East Molesey. :) We’ll have to go for a coffee if that happens!
How fantastic! East Molesey is such a nice area!
If it’s a long way away though (the move I mean), maybe we should consider coffee before that time ;)
Hi Antonina, May I ask you what’s it’s like to live in West/East Molesey area’s. I’m currently living in Chiswick, but looking for properties in Esher area. On the face of it West/East Molesey seems to be a little gem in price comparison to say Esher/Weybridge which I kind of aware of. We are a mid 30’s professional couple thinking of starting a family in next few years, so not looking for exclusive shops say like Richmond etc The closest we have been to the area is Hampton Court. If you have any comments around crime or schooling be greatly appreciated. I know this is not in relation to your work, but I can’t find much on-line information about the area until I stumbled across your website. Many thanks hopefully in advance Martin
Hi Martin,
we just moved here just a short while ago from very much more up-market Teddington. East Molesey is considerably smarter than West Molesey, but with prices to match. West Molesey is considerably more modest, but it has a really relaxed, friendly, down-to-earth feel to it. Housing stock decreases in quality and price tag, the further West and South you get: there are quite a few 70s maisonette blocks and identikit estates around, but also some nice 1930s houses at very affordable prices. However, across the area people seem genuinely considerate, happy and friendly, and there are quite a lot of outdoorsey things to do. It is very close to the Thames but also to the little river Mole, and as there are so many wide open green spaces (partly due to the reservoirs) it offers some opportunities for wildlife watching literally on your doorstep: you regularly see herons even in residential streets, and how many houses in the London area do you know that still have housemartins nesting in their roofs? (there seems to be quite a few here!)
Regarding shops and cafes, the Walton Road stretch of East Molesey offers a good selection of villagey shops: there is an old-fashioned chemist, quite a few cafes (though none of the Starbucks variety), a couple of restaurants, and dry cleaners, hardware stores and a selection of some slightly more eccentric shops, and as both Kingston and Walton are just 10-15 minutes by car you don’t really need anything else. Free and unrestricted parking is still possible to find even near shops (though obviously slightly more limited directly on the ‘high street’ and right near Hampton Court).
We did research crime rates, and they seem to be quite low across the area (including Walton) with West Molesey being particularly safe. The Tesco’s in East Molesey village on Walton Road seems to be targetted by frequent organised theft (apparently something to do with gaps in their security guard schedules) but this doesn’t seem to affect other shops nor shoppers and appears to be quite an isolated issue.
What also really striking is that there is very little graffiti anywhere
and the many playgrounds, which are very well appointed, are very neatly
kept. There really seems to be still a true sense of community, which is sadly so rare nowadays. As our son still goes to school in Kingston, I can’t speak about
schooling from first hand experience. However, I did google Hurst Park
Primary, which seems to have above average results.
Our original motivation for moving was really the opportunity to live mortgage free (which is more easily achievable in this area than any of its neighbours), but we have since really learnt to appreciate the area in its own right: each time I turn off Hampton Court Bridge onto the river road, which runs along Hurst Meadows a feel myself noticeably relaxing. It’s definitely a wonderful place to bring up children and to live a more relaxed life!
I hope this helps…