This northern half of the overlooked Lewisham suburb of Lee is a family-friendly, up-and-coming neighbourhood, just down the road from the popular area of Blackheath. With plenty of new, local boutiques, cafes and bars popping up along the southern end of Lee Road, and with reasonable transport links into town, it won’t be long before the suburban terraces and new housing developments are occupied by commuters! There are a number of nearby schools, which attract families young and old, and the quaint, leafy Edwardian streets provide large living spaces that are wholly more affordable than in Central London. The abundant, village-esque greens and local pubs help to cultivate the community spirit that this neighbourhood prides itself on.

Lee was a parish of the Blackheath hundred all the way up until 1900, when it merged with the parish of Lewisham, forming the Metropolitan Borough of Lewisham. A rural outpost of London, the neighbourhood was rural, with a few roads that ran north into town, and a couple of inns to accommodate travellers. Piecemeal suburban development kicked off in the early 19th century, which increased with the arrival of the railways.

A bridge was built over the oddly named Quaggy River to the north in the mid-19th century, which helped the town develop into what we know it to be today. This was because it reduced the risk of flooding and improved road transport into London.

The famous publisher Sir Stanley Unwin (1884-1968) was born in the area at 13 Handen Road. Unwin’s publishing house, which opened in 1914, had success publishing books by Bertrand Russell and Gandhi, but was best known for publishing The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkein. Unwin paid his son a shilling to read the manuscript, whose positive response prompted him to publish the novel. Unwin himself was a life-long pacifist, and a conscientious objector to the First World War.

The River Quaggy, which runs through the northern end of the neighbourhood, was named after the boggy land that surrounded it. This has its own place in literary history as it has been referenced in numerous works of British fiction, such as Edith Nesbitt’s The New Treasure Seekers, published in 1904! Did you know that The Tiger’s Head public house, opened in 1766, was famous for its bowling green but was also a notorious hangout for smugglers and highwaymen, and a well-known venue for bare-knuckle boxing! Today visitors to the area might be interested in visiting the Museum of Neoliberalism - a small independently run institution satirising modern society.

Lee has remained reasonably unheard of, in part due to its lack of a town centre, but also because of the location of its station to the south. Residents have mentioned that this can often make travel and shopping inconvenient; however, they also like this as it keeps the neighbourhood quiet and community-centred.

The Leegate Regeneration scheme is set to transform the area with the introduction of almost 400 new flats, numerous shops, and the provision of new amenities. The site at the Leegate shopping centre has recently made it through the planning stage and construction on the 15-storey tower is set to start in 2023. The overall scheme is however more extensive than just one tower, with some local residents worrying that the ten other large apartment blocks could affect the character of the neighbourhood. Ironically, the Meuseum of Neoliberalism is set to fall victim to these extensive development plans.