Find peace and tranquility in Manor House Gardens with its pond and café ©Scott Wishart
Hot neighbourhoods: Hither Green, SE6, SE13
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By Time Out editors
Posted: Thu Aug 23 2007 -
With its reputation for dullness, and with nowhere decent to eat or drink, Hither Green doesn't look likely to get anyone particularly excited, but it has plenty to recommend it
Hither where? you may well ask. This pocket of south-east London certainly has a low profile, with the exception of its train station, whose large size and high frequency of services to Charing Cross and Cannon Street seem at odds with its sleepy location. Find it tucked in between Lee and the noisier, more urban Lewisham and Catford. Also close to genuinely posh (and beautiful) Blackheath.
It’s the new…
Dulwich. Okay, maybe East Dulwich.Best for...
Young families looking for a decent sized house on a quiet road who can’t yet afford the more desirable Blackheath. Don’t live there if you like a lively street culture.
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What else?
According to local estate agent, A Smarter Move, Hither Green is divided into two distinct halves by the railway lines. The smarter side towards Manor House Gardens and Lee costs about 15 per cent more than the less pretty Catford side, although the housing stock is fairly similar. However, the Catford side now offers an alternative to the standard terraced houses: Meridian South, a major redevelopment at the former Hither Green hospital site on Hither Green Lane. Now well on the way to completion, this has plenty of contemporary one-, two-, and three-bed apartments as well as its own little shopping area.
It’s very, very quiet and residential, full of Victorian and Edwardian terraces. Part of the reason for this is that over a century ago, house-builder Sir Archibald Corbett, who constructed 3,000 houses in the area, wrote leases that prohibited pubs in the area. A century on, not much has changed.
It’s at the heart of what some locals and estate agents call Hither Green Village – the cluster of shops close to the station on Staplehurst Road includes a chemist, newsagent, DIY shop and a barbers. There’s also the tiny but beautiful café/florist You Don’t Bring Me Flowers (15 Staplehurst Road/020 8297 2333). Cards in the window advertising pilates, flute lessons and botanical illustration give a flavour of the atmosphere within.
Hither Green does have a small but very pleasant park. Manor House Gardens, established in 1902, was restored a few years ago with a pond, children’s playground, café, tennis courts and a dog-free area that’s great for picnics in the summer. There’s also an adjacent library, situated in the former Manor House itself. The original ice-house is occasionally open to the public on Sundays.
The Station (020 8463 0367), a pub on the corner of Staplehurst Road and Station Parade, is the best chance of a night out in the area. If you’re after a traditional fry-up, there’s local caff Rosa’s Diner (23 Staplehurst Road/020 8852 2819). The décor might be stuck in a time warp but so are the prices – a bacon sandwich will set you back just £1.10. Otherwise, you can grab a kebab from First Choice Kebab House (020 8297 1829) on the corner of Leahurst Road or try Matahari (020 8695 8823) , a Malaysian and Chinese restaurant and take-away on the other side of the railway station on Springbank Road.Local stereotype
Commuting professional with a young family and nice house who hopes to move on soon to somewhere a bit posher and bigger.Your neighbours
With its dearth of nightlife, this area is more popular with those who’ve settled down already. So it has a thirty- and fortysomething demographic rather than young, footloose and fancy-free profile. It also seems less cosmopolitan than nearby Lewisham.
What to tell your friends who don’t live there
Hither Green is lovely and quiet and you can get a decent sized house here for the cost of a cupboard in Islington. If you really must have something to do, a train to London Bridge only takes 13 minutes.What to keep quiet about if you’re selling
It’s rather boring. With a few exceptions, if you want to eat, drink or shop, you’ll need to go elsewhere.What the estate agents say
'We live in a little village and people just seem to have forgotten it. Prices are shooting up and the 2012 overflow has to come here,' says the proprietor of A Smarter Move estate agents.Historical claim to fame
Hither Green was the site of one of the worst rail crashes in UK history in 1967. Forty nine people died and more than 80 were injured when an express train was derailed.Schools
Brimdishe primary school is the best in the area while Prendergast For Girls is the best performing secondary school with 78 per cent of pupils obtaining five of more GCSEs at grade A-C. Mixed comp Northbrook Church of England isn’t brilliant, with only 49 per cent achieving five or more grades A-C, but is still the best mixed school in the area.You know you’re a local when…
You start to recognise the dogs that are walked in Manor House Gardens.- Add your comment to this feature
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15 comments
I'd second the last comment. The parks are brilliant. Community groups are quite active. Hither Green Week is a good example of that. The good hope cafe on hither green lane has really helped out too.
Thanks for your thoughts AP and for taking the time to write them up.
@JohnF - little has changed since the article except that the primary schools are rapidly improving and one of the pubs has been gentrified. Definitely less edgy than Bow, perhaps boringly so. Good for families, nice park, good Sainsbury's, near-ish Blackheath/Greewich. Southeastern trains generally ok - around 12 trains an hour in rush hour, 6-8 outside. Still affordable but changing quite fast.
Hi,
Any comments on Hither Green?
What's it like 4 years after the article?
How does it compare to Bow?
What are the trains and schools ike?
Looking for a place to have a family that's less "edgy" than Bow.
Cheers
Haha...no.....I'm not the owner. I'm just a customer who know Malaysian cuisine fairly well....I'm just trying to review the place as objectively as possible and from what I've seen there has been no racism there and I stick to my original comments that there are defintely some good dishes on the menu. As I said, I though the sambal was not that authentic but that aside I have no issues with Matahari
Very very surprised at the comments. I doubt that 'Ghanavibe' is the owner unless he was very creative in his choice of name, more likely a very happy customer like me, there is room for different opinions in this world you know. We have been going there for several years now and found Paul the owner very welcoming we have got to know him and his staff well. I just can't imagine him being racist, I'd be interested to learn what constituted racism, no mention was made.
So I'll be specific rather than sweeping here, recommend the shredded fried lamb with lettuce, spicy crispy sotong (squid) and the beef rendang. I won't say it's perfect, decor's not to everyone's taste, had the odd duff dish when we've strayed from our favourites and the wine is a bit dear but the service is very attentive and we tend to feel that we're getting away from it all when were there, important with our busy lives and young family.
I'm afraid if you're contacting trading standards about a disagreement over a chicken dish you've got too much time on your hands or some other issue. Just move on.
I can understand why a person might want to go about sharing a poor experience at a restaurant with others. Online reviews serve a useful function after all, but condemning the character of the owner and manager seems excessive.
Just leave it at a simple, "poor service, poor quality food". That's enough information.
i seriously think the post by Ghanvibe is not genuine.. i think its the owner try to make himself look good...
I have to say I was shocked with the comments about Matahari.
Went there about 2 weeks ago with the Mrs. and had a very good meal. Some of the dishes such as the sambal dishes were not that great but the satay was very good. I found the owner (the rather plump man) to be very friendly and very chatty. I would definitely go back again!
i totally agree with all of you, i was there about 2 weeks back and the owner was so rude, i have no idea how a man like that could run a business, i strongly advise no one to go there, maybe he will learn to be polite once he loses his business!!!! and yea the food is not really Malaysian food, he said its Sabah style, then why on earth would he called his restaurant malaysian, just call it sabah restaurant.... what an idiot the owner is
Well, the owner may be rude and racist, but I bet he can spell better than das. I have never heard of a discrimination biro, thought it was a kind of pen.....
Funny how some people will turn any disagreement or argument into some kind of racist or discrimination thing. All they can think of I suppose....
Villa Bombay
Matahari isn't great but if you walk up to Verdant Lane then there is a fantastic Indian called Villa Bombay. Unfortunately they only do take-out but it is the best Indian take-out that I have had in London. (They deliver as well). I highly recommend you try it.
Matahari isn't great but if you walk up to Verdant Lane then there is a fantastic Indian called Villa Bombay. Unfortunately they only do take-out but it is the best Indian take-out that I have had in London. (They deliver as well). I highly recommend you try it.
As a longstanding resident I wish I could say das
went on a bad night to the matahari but I'm afraid
every night is rather bad there.It's characterized by
the omnipresence of it's cranky and volatile owner and the food
is breathtakingly bad.I like to see the good in everything but I'm afraid in this case I'm compelled to forewarn all within a ten mile radius to strike it offer their gastronomic to do list until it's safely reached it's culinary half life in maybe fifty years time.
i went to matahari after reading this about it in timeout and my cousin also recommended me to it on new year day... just to realise the owner is very rude and racist, as a customer i gave a feedback about a dish ( chicken rendang) as it did not even taste like what it was meant to be insted tasted like chicken curry , instead of taking my comments. he started being very rude and he asked us not to go there anymore...... i am looking to compalint him to discimination biro as well..
Matahari Restaurant75 Springbank Road, Hither Green, SE13 6SS ( 0208 695 8823 ), i can't believe a restaurant owner can be so rude and racist....if anybody else have similar experience pls complaint to trading standards as i have already file a complaint with them...