Property

On Brook Drive the prices get higher the further you get from Elephant & Castl

Caught between several major routes into central London, and coming to an abrupt end at the Elephant & Castle roundabout, Brook Drive is a surprisingly quiet residential street; a long slab of Victorian terrace, interrupted by the odd new build. The prices get higher the further you get from Elephant, but this street is one of the more affordable of its type north of the ’Phant.

Situated in Zone 1, it’s handy for Waterloo, and the South Bank is within walking distance. Its proximity to Westminster also means politicians such as Paddy Ashdown can be spotted in the many restaurants nearby such as Cotto (89 Westminster Bridge Road; 020 7928 5535), a cheery Italian family restaurant, and Gandhi’s (347 Kennington Road; 020 7735 9015), a great Indian. Feature continues

A branch of East Dulwich institution Franklins (205-209 Kennington Lane; 020 7793 8313) serves excellent modern British cuisine, while Perdoni’s (18-20 Kennington Road; 020 7928 6846) is a classic English-Italian greasy spoon. Down at the Elephant end is the gloriously inappropriate French fish restaurant, the Lobster Pot (3 Kennington Lane; 020 7582 5556). You’ll do a lot of eating out if you move here, because there’s little in the way of food shopping – Tesco on Kennington Lane is your best bet for edibles.

Good pubs are also hard to find. Most (like the Three Stags) tend towards the ‘traditional’, leaving just one gastroboozer, The White Hart (185 Kennington Lane; 020 7735 1061). The Tankard at the junction with Kennington Road is now a branch of beer-and-pizza chain BRB (111 Kennington Road; 020 7820 3682) and, though it can get a bit boisterous, has a pleasant roof garden. Most missed is the Two Eagles, which provided the backdrop for Dexys Midnight Runners’ ‘Come On Eileen’ video, but was knocked into flats.

(click to enlarge) A BRB pub B 'Come on Eileen' was filmed here C The Lobster Pot D Megabowl

Most of the terraced houses on Brook Drive have also been converted into flats, still just about within reach of the average Londoner, but a few remain intact, with a four-bedroom house at the Kennington Road end going for £483,000 last summer. The roads leading off Brook Drive have some decent finds. A one-bedroom ex-local authority flat on Elliott’s Row is currently on the market at £185,000, while on Oswin Street there’s an impressive three-bedroom Victorian conversion at £334,000.

For those with grander ambitions, West Square is a fantastic hidden Georgian square. Four- and five-bedroom houses here go for up to £1 million. On the other side of the road, St Mary’s Gardens and Walcot Square form a cluster of quiet streets where prices are marginally lower. Brook Drive is also home to the Imperial War Museum. Set in Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park, it’s where local resident Kevin Spacey has been known to walk his dog. Prefer something more active? By Lambeth Palace, there are free tennis courts, a football pitch, cricket nets and children’s play area. Not a fresh air fan? Elephant & Castle Megabowl continues to exert its pull on the area’s young families. So essentially something for everyone.

Estate agents
Alan Fraser
(020 7587 1004/www.alanfraser.com).

Bairstow Eves
(020 7793 8885/ www.bairstoweves.co.uk).

Barnard Marcus
(020 7735 0922/ www.sequencehome.co.uk).

Daniel Cobb
(0845 231 4525/ www.danielcobb.co.uk).

Field & Sons
(0845 402 3663/ www.fieldandsons.co.uk).

Transport
It’s in Zone 1, with excellent tube links to Elephant & Castle on the Bakerloo and Northern Lines and Thameslink, as well as the Bakerloo Line at Lambeth North and Northern Line at Kennington. Numerous buses run along Kennington and St George’s Roads or from Elephant, taking you everywhere from Brixton to Euston.