This neighbourhood starts in Beckenham High Street, extending down to South Norwood Country Park and is crossed by Tramlink Route 2 and a National Rail line, with two tram stops and two train stations (Clock House and Elmers End) dotted across the area, as well as nearby Birkbeck that offers both tram and rail access. The high street is home to several interesting businesses, including the Spa at Beckenham, a modern activity centre with two swimming pools; the headquarters of Capita Registrars Limited as well as Beckenham Market, specifically Venue 28, which is a regular makers market featuring local produce, trades, artists and artisans from the community. The community vibe is emulated in the numerous parks around the area as well as the Beckenham Social Club, a members’ club dating back to 1921. Another community enterprise is Azelia Hall. It was endowed to the Azelia Hall Charity by a former resident of Beckenham, and is used as a meeting point for numerous local clubs and groups.

At the start of the 1800s Beckenham was a small Kentish village, with several manor estates around the area built by landowning families, a benefit that still holds today as the area is blessed with beautiful landscaped gardens and pleasant looking villas. The railways came in the mid-1800s, and with Beckenham being a short distance away from central London, the area rapidly grew in the late-1800s. New neighbourhoods such as Clock House and Elmers End were built nearer to the Edwardian era (the 1900s). There’s a Malory Close near Clock House station, which gave its name to Enid Blyton’s Malory Towers series. The Enid Blyton Society gives occasional tours in the area, should you ever be so inclined to know more.

The Beckenham Crematorium and Cemetery, at the far edge of the postal sector, is the resting place of several notable figures – perhaps most famous of all are W. C. Grace (one of the greatest cricket players) and Thomas Crapper, who gave his name to the toilet, though his name did not actually give rise to the common swear word.

With property prices increasing dramatically in the area after a long period of going unnoticed, Beckenham is starting to move out of the preserve of the middle-class suburban family and into a wider spectrum of residents. The 2015 Autumn Statement, declaring the area to be a growth zone, has helped catalyse real estate investment and projects in the area. Still, many bits of the countryside have been preserved, such as South Norwood Country Park, which was used by the ARP as a training area in the Second World War.

Perhaps the greatest testament to the quaint, almost nostalgic feel of Beckenham is the fact that Enid Blyton lived within this postal sector – residing in 5 different homes from 1897 to 1917 on 95 Chaffinch Road, 35 and 31 Clock House Road, 14 Elm Road and 13 Westfield Road. Enid Blyton, of course, needs no introduction – having written over 600 children books in her lifetime, including Noddy, the Famous Five and the Secret Seven series. In Beckenham itself, she wrote poems including “Have you —-?” as well as “My Summer Prayer” in Nash’s Magazine.

The suburban setting of Elmers End means that large developments are rather rare in the neighbourhood, though like the majority of London and its surrounds there are still projects underway to increase the number of people who can live in the area. The Gables is a recent residential development on Beckenham Road right by Clock House station that comprises of 24 one- and two-bedroom apartments. Alongside The Gables, the area has also seen Stables Yard, a modern, innovative and environmentally conscious build consisting of 6 interlocking low-carbon, flood resistant timber-framed homes designed by Stolon Studio.