Finger on the Tulse

Jane Cumberbatch fell in love with the easy pace of Tulse Hill

5 April 2012

When my second child decided two years ago that she would like to follow her older brother and go to school in Dulwich, south-east London, the house suddenly had two junior commuters.

So we decided it was time to move from hip-and-happening Spitalfields, where we had lived for 15 years, to the more spacious appeal of the green suburbs, where Tom, 15, Georgia, 12, and Grace, 10, could mess about on bikes or kick a ball around after school. Tricky in traffic-clogged London E1.

Scanning the property agents' lists I quickly realised that the price of our loft would barely cover a fairly standard Victorian/ Edwardian semi with a couple of bedrooms in picturebook pretty (but a bit too smug for an urban girl like me) Dulwich Village, where my rambling wisteria-clad Victorian dream-house would cost a nightmarish £1.25 million.

Then luck struck, in the surprising form of my son who, in one of his more communicative moods, mentioned that an unmodernised house was for sale in Tulse Hill down the road from his friend Oscar. And Oscar's mum had inside info and thought we might be interested.

To cut a long property saga short, I fell in love with it, and, after eight months of tense uncertainty involving indifferent lawyers, damp patches and jumpy purchasers, we completed our sale and purchase simultaneously.

We found ourselves the owners of a worn but, spacious, light and airy late Victorian seven-bedroom villa, with a tongue-and-grooved attic plus a wooden garden room painted pale mint green.

And, best of all, at £500,000, it cost at least 50 per cent less than a posh Dulwich or Clapham equivalent and is perfectly placed for our family's needs: a 10-minute walk from a mainline station and shops, and a five-minute drive/bus ride to schools, open spaces and the open-air lido in Brockwell Park .

"Where on earth is Tulse Hill?" snootily enquired our City neighbours, who rarely venture south of Tower Bridge. Well, once, 200 years ago, it was rolling farmland with far-flung views. Today, Tulse Hill is wedged between Streatham, Brixton, Herne Hill, Dulwich and West Norwood.

Early 19th century developers saw its potential as a private estate of elaborate piles for the wealthy (a sort of grand gated development), but after 1869, when the railway connected Tulse Hill to central London, the area developed more rapidly with cheap housing.

Thus it continued until the 1970s, as the mansions were demolished to make way for tough, monolithic estates - although panoramic views can still be glimpsed through the satellite discs and the roaring South Circular.

But happily, among the urban blight there is our little backwater of untouched Tulse Hill(narrowly escaping as a proposed South Circular route), with wide, tree-lined streets (Palace Road, Lanercost Road and Kingsmead Road are the most handsome), and a mix of spacious Victorian, Edwardian and 1930s family houses.

There are picket fences, and front gardens with rosemary bushes, old-fashioned roses and cats snoozing on sunny ledges, and even children playing in the street (an increasing rarity in these neurotic times).

After the ferocity of the City, my family has settled into a calmer pace of life in the suburbs, and we wake to the sound of blackbirds singing their hearts out. I would be accused of wearing rose-tinted spectacles if I didn't admit that we have our fair share of street crime, but then so do most places in the metropolis.

We fill our lungs with fresh air in Brockwell Park, and around the corner there is Hillside Park where the children play football and I knock a tennis ball around with the girls.

For literary and historic interest there is the brilliant West Norwood library and, next door, the romantic and bucolic West Norwood Cemetery, burial ground of 19th century local worthies, including Mrs Beeton, the original domestic goddess, and Julius Reuter, the founder of the eponymous news service.

It's so much easier to get through the domestic schedule, too, with Norwood Road a 10-minute walk away. This classic Victorian parade has all the necessary shops: chemist, pet shop, fruit-andveg stall outside the Somerfield supermarket, B&Q for DIY, a shoe repairer, and gems such as West Norwood Fishmongers, 326 Norwood Road, SE27 (020 8670 0880), which stocks wild salmon in season, with mussels, oysters, homesmoked trout and other fishy delights.

There are always beautiful blooms for sale at Floral Hall, 370 Norwood Road (020 8670 3200), and its vibrant flower stall opposite. This is my favourite source of hyacinths, which I buy for for early spring scent and colour at home.

Once a week the Salvation Army on Norwood Road has a street jumble sale, which yields great buys, such as my trendy retro Sixties Ercol chair bought for a tenner. And, if I need an espresso or a birthday card, there is Rhythm Design (020 8670 6924), a gift shop and café, at 461 Norwood Road, that also stocks design books, lamps, ceramics and my latest must-haves: vintage fabric bags by Virginia Armstrong and groovy Hairy bags that look like wigs by Liza Remi.

For a girly moment, and when I have the pennies, I visit Phantom, 388 Norwood Road (020 8670 4612), which sells end-of-season Ghost dresses and separates at fantastic prices. At weekends the children's idea of heaven is steaming fish and chips, from Olley's, the best chippy in south London, opposite Brockwell Park at 67-69 Norwood Road (020 8671 8259).

Alternatively, if you can face the hideous traffic, and the extra walking, there is Streatham High Road as another shopping option, although not my favourite. It is the longest high street in Europe (and probably the dreariest), but there's an Odeon cinema, all the usual high-street shops and, at 104-106 and well worth the visit, Slurp, an inexpensive and tasty Chinese and Japanese noodle bar (020 8677 7786).

When we need to go into town, Tulse Hill station has the Thameslink service to Blackfriars and King's Cross (change at Herne Hill for Victoria), or the South Central service to London Bridge - both take 15 to 20 minutes. Or, there is a bus that takes me to Brixton - the excellent street market with Caribbean energy, and the Victoria Line Tube.

In fact, the only criticism of my new neighbourhood is that eating out in Tulse Hill is a challenge - for the very lack of establishments serving anything other than highfat/high-carb takeaways. So enterprising foodies, take note.

Local factfile

Estate agents
Unlike the neighbouring areas of Clapham and Dulwich, Tulse Hill has not seen the same enormous rise in house prices over the past 10 years.

"It is a much more affordable pocket of south London," says Nick Manley of Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward. "The area is ideal for first-time buyers and families wanting a larger family home without having to pay a premium for the privilege."

One of Tulse Hill's most sought-after roads is Palace Road, which offers a number of large Victorian houses. These have mostly been converted into flats and now provide first-time buyers with superb homes; prices start from just £140,00 for a one-bedroom flat.

The area also offers a large number of spacious family houses, with a four-bedroom home priced from £280,000 to £400,000. The same property just two miles away in Clapham could be on the market for approximately £750,000.

Gayle Horne of Townends echoes Nick Manley's view. "Tulse Hill provides a vast array of property styles, and for those families that are unable to pay the prices afforded in Dulwich, but wish their children to attend the private schools, such as Dulwich College and James Allen's Girls' School, Tulse Hill would be the obvious option as both are only a short drive away."

Volker & Volker, 94 Park Hall Road, SE21 (020 8670 8000).

Townends, 5-7 Streatleigh Parade, Streatham High Road, SWl6 (020 8769 9911).

Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward, 93 Rosendale Road, SE21 (020 8761 0900).

State:

Streatham Wells, 50 Palace Road, SW2 (020 8674 3742): the most popular primary school in the neighbourhood.

Dunraven, 94-98 Leigham Court Road, SW16 (020 8677 2431): secondary, mixed comprehensive, sixth-form block being built.

Private schools include:

Dulwich College, Dulwich Common, SE21 (020 8693 3601): boys.

Dulwich College Preparatory School, 42 Alleyn Park, SE21 (020 8670 3217): boys.

Alleyn's,Townley Road, SE22 (020 8557

1500): mixed.

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