As said elsewhere, I was in Bexleyheath for the first time the other day...for a first date! We went bowling, as the article advises, but then wound up grabbing dinner and a (soft) drink at Spoonies. We'd walked down the whole of the Broadway looking for a decent kebab shop or cafe - it's a bizarre street, in fact, stuffed full of clothes boutiques, some not quite so cheap, but oddly bereft of eating and drinking establishments aside from the usual fast food places; even they seemed small and discreet, as if they didn't want to be there. Broadway has a modern feel - it's clean, fashionably cobbled with a broad and open layout, but also completely deserted and unwelcoming at 9pm on a Monday. It was only as I began to pine for the bustle of Charlton or Woolwich that we stumbled upon the Furze Wren (as I later pointed out to my drop-jawed companion, a Dartford Warbler rather than a wren) and were able to avail ourselves a satisfactory second half to the evening.
So yes - Bexleyheath: ok for going out if you stick to the absolute basics, otherwise a completely soulless commercial wasteland (n.b. this might be harsh as I only really saw Broadway and the bits around the bowling alley)
Walking through the Broadway at 9pm on a Monday i'm not suprised it was deserted. How many shopping High St's pedestrianised areas are lively then ?? (bustling Charlton??)
Bexleyheath is a great place to live and tremendous value imo. Great access to London by rail, bus network, close to motorways, Bluewater, 20 mins from the countryside, its the perfect family-rasing commuter area that hasn't seen house prices go silly like elsewhere because it is not on the tube / DLR network. Its got good leisure facilities, a decent shopping centre, cinema and a hugely under rated park on its doorstep.
As for nowhere to eat, i could have named 15 places from the top of the Broadway to the bowling alley, from chains such as Zizzi's, Frankie & Benny, Pizza Express and Nando's, to Blend, Zingara, Bank, Pradas, Twin Palace, Cyprus Village, Aligor, Delicio etc
Would not be the first time we have agreed to disagree over this place would it mate!
The trouble I find with the place, and yes it has 'improved' is what makes you want to go there especially, unless you live there in the first place. Blackheath and Greenwich it aint!........ okay that is a bit unfair, but a decent pub, and a couple of okay eating places, do not cut it for me.
It is more pleasant....... but really only for everyday stuff for me. And everyday I find I can do without it. Not even the Charlton shop there. And the schools, well my wife teaches at the Academy, I will pass on your comments. Neither of my sons could afford any house in Bexleyheath, so have gone further afield. So why do I live around here!...... A question I keep asking myself! ..... North Greenwich may well soon find a prodigal son returning, it is rumoured you can get a decent 2 bedroomed house there for just under £400,000, sounds like a bargain compared to some of the places around here! ( the last bit is a joke!)
Pettgra - you're not Golfie in disguise are you? In which case can you tell the Mrs that we're going out on both Saturday and Sunday so she's not available ;-)
Never liked Bexleyheath. Stupidly long High Street now filled with shops that don't make me feel the need to go there. Place turns into a teenage crèche after nine o clock every weekend. I can see no merit in the place at all.
Comments
The trouble I find with the place, and yes it has 'improved' is what makes you want to go there especially, unless you live there in the first place.
Blackheath and Greenwich it aint!........ okay that is a bit unfair, but a decent pub, and a couple of okay eating places, do not cut it for me.
It is more pleasant....... but really only for everyday stuff for me. And everyday I find I can do without it. Not even the Charlton shop there.
And the schools, well my wife teaches at the Academy, I will pass on your comments. Neither of my sons could afford any house in Bexleyheath, so have gone further afield. So why do I live around here!...... A question I keep asking myself! ..... North Greenwich may well soon find a prodigal son returning, it is rumoured you can get a decent 2 bedroomed house there for just under £400,000, sounds like a bargain compared to some of the places around here! ( the last bit is a joke!)
Now, in and around the fountain and down to Asda it just looks like Jeremy Kyle casting