Peckham - opinions, please!

porlock

First off, sorry if this in the wrong place - feel free to move it.

We are currently looking at finding a new place to rent, and have seen some places we like around the Bellenden area of Peckham, and, as on the whole, the people on this board seem quite level-headed, I was hoping for your input/advice.

Some things to point out:

- We would be commuting through Peckham Rye station daily, neither of us drive.

- We have lived off the Walworth Road, Old Kent Road, and Bricklayers Arms roundabout. Not exactly the roughest parts of SE London, but not exactly the most glamorous, either. Point is, we haven't just got off the tube from Chelsea, we've lived on council estates before.

- I have looked at upmystreet.com at crime figures, etc, but they seem to cover all of Peckham as a whole. Do you think the figures for this area would be different, or am I being naive in expecting them to be any different?

- I have not been taken in by the estate agent guff of calling it 'Bellenden Village'. The price is right, the flat's fabulous, the commutes nippy and the local pubs and shops seem nice. Simples.

- We have friends in East Dulwich - if we were meeting them on Lordship Lane of an evening would we be likely to be OK walking to/from?

I think the simplest thing will be to get the train down there, and have a drink in one of the Bellenden pubs on evening, and see how it feels, but for now I'd like to hear whether you guys think we should give it a bash or run a mile (or 5?)

peterkay

I have lived in peckham for over a year and its a great place i live just at the bottom of peckham rye park and make the daily walk down peckham high street every evening at around 8pm and I have never had any problems other then groups outside pubs (the normal friday night early drinkers) but again never felt threatened. I think its a lot safer then what people say and think. I dont know the 'Bellenden' area particuarly well however theres crime all over london and to be honest I think peckham is a great place to live and work!

Hope that helps

MrsE_2

I was raised in Brixton/Camberwell & educated in Peckham.

I left London about 5 years ago, DH still works there.

Wild horses wouldn't make me return to that area.

If I HAD to live in London, I would go for south west london.

sinister_nutmeg

We live close to there. I (fairly young female) feel safe on my own after dark, and would have no problem walking down Lordship Lane at all. I spent a lot of time as a teenager going out in the area at night and never had any problems.

I think a lot of the 'scary' reputation comes from the tendency for youngsters to carry knives, so when fights happen people get hurt. The fights are, of course, mostly within groups of youngsters. I don't know about figures for muggings etc but one thing going for Peckham is that it is busy and there are generally a lot of people about!

Peckham Library and the Peckham Pulse leisure centre are both good facilities, and the bus service is very comprehensive.

Bargain_Rzl

Hi,

I think if you have found it OK living off the Walworth Road, Old Kent Road and Bricklayer's Arms you'll have absolutely no problem with that part of Peckham. It's nicer than the part of (just outside) Peckham where I live, and I haven't had any problems where I am - I've been there 2.5 years after living for the previous 7 years in various other parts of SE London.

Like anywhere in London it's important to be streetwise and aware of your surroundings when out and about, but having lived in surrounding areas before, you'll already know that. sinister nutmeg's right when she says that the vast majority of violent crime and public "incidents" occur amongst certain groups of people, and you're very unlikely to fall victim to any of that yourself.

(oh, and if you move to Bellenden Road you'll have one of the best Indian restaurants in London on your doorstep - albeit not a cheap one!)

MrsE_2

sinister_nutmeg wrote: »

We live close to there. I (fairly young female) feel safe on my own after dark, and would have no problem walking down Lordship Lane at all. I spent a lot of time as a teenager going out in the area at night and never had any problems.

I think a lot of the 'scary' reputation comes from the tendency for youngsters to carry knives, so when fights happen people get hurt. The fights are, of course, mostly within groups of youngsters. I don't know about figures for muggings etc but one thing going for Peckham is that it is busy and there are generally a lot of people about!

Peckham Library and the Peckham Pulse leisure centre are both good facilities, and the bus service is very comprehensive.

I you "think" you are safe walking around on your own after dark in that area you are mistaken & don't know the area nearly as well as you think you do.
All those people milling about, will walk straight past as you are being mugged.
I had an attempted mugging in daylight in Peckham on a bus, sat near the driver. The only thing the driver did was open the door to let them run off. No one said or did anything. I say attempted because the sheer amount & volume of noise from me made them run off & look for a quiter victim, but those around me sat & watched & I was 8 months pregnant.

trinidadone

i live just off bellindon road, been here for just over two years now. plenty of shops on lordship lane and peckham, I am a stone through from east dulwhich train station, i love the place, very vibrant and safe. the council keeps it clean also

Qualcuno

The Metropolitan Police crime maps are super, hopefully will give you a better idea than upmystreet (URL: maps.met.police.uk)

I live off Walworth Road myself, and agree that if you didn't have a problem here then you probably won't have much of a problem in Peckham.

Bargain_Rzl

Those Met crime maps are very enlightening! I hadn't seen them before.

Interestingly it tells me that my immediate neighbourhood is better than I thought it was, and certain adjoining neighbourhoods which I perceived to be better than mine actually have higher crime statistics.