An intricate web of suburban streets, this neighbourhood is a dense residential seat for home-owners. It is situated comfortably between Erith and Welling while Bexleyheath, the borough’s shopping and civic centre, is a five-minute drive southward. Roaming the winding streets, one is overwhelmed by the area’s uniqueness as characterised by the heavy bungalow presence; the one-storey houses and the flat terrain certainly make the area an ideal opportunity for the retired and fewer mobiles. The Pantiles, roughly in the centre, provides for all of one’s local needs. This street benefits also from a pleasant aesthetic, with a display of a couple of mock-Tudor houses, including the highly-esteemed pub – The Earl Haig. Just as generous on the exposed timbers is the mini high-street on Long Lane, in the southern part of the area. Here you might also stumble upon the not-so-hidden gem, the Yacht – a chain pub and grill with a very reasonably priced array of food and drink and a spacious garden for kids to be kept occupied. The two local primary schools are Belmont, just outside the area boundary and Bursted Wood, in the south-east corner; both are rated ‘good’ by Ofsted.

The area’s history follows the trend of the borough: prior to the 1930s housing boom, the land would have been either common or belonging to some grand estate. In particular, at the turn of the 19th century, the British army general and aide-de-camp to the Prince Regent, Samuel Hulse, had erected himself a fashionable home in the area just north of this locale. The legacy of this aristocrat’s estate is two-fold: the second rendition of his house stands at 150 Woolwich Road, now a self-contained flat complex in an elegant Georgian mansion; and the peculiar, dog-legged shape of Bedonwell Road which stretches from Lesnes Abbey Wood, down to King Harold’s Way. Hulse was perhaps a good example of the sort of socially oblivious ‘genteel’ portrayed in Thackeray’s Vanity Fair. Fined for encroaching on public land, the general could not be content with a fixed portion of land, constantly trying to enlarge his estate. It is estimated that for this reason, Bedonwell Road is not the linear trajectory it should have been.

The history of pop music may be said to have been contoured by those individuals who broke the contemporary boundaries and inspired new fashions. Certainly, the eclectic Kate Bush of the late 1970s can be counted as one of those individuals. At the tender age of 19, she released her debut, self-written single ‘Wuthering Heights’ which went straight to number one, thus making her the first female artist whose own song would become a chart-topper. Bush was born into a medical family at the Bexley maternity hospital, which was active near to the area from 1921 to 1978 and attended St Joseph’s Convent Grammar school which was based, at the time, not too far from this locale. Taking her artistic influences from Irish folk music and from karate training alike, Bush would come to define a unique, experimental, progressive rock flavoured niche which would, in turn, serve as inspiration for the likes of Ellie Goulding and Coldplay.

Although not strictly in the area, perhaps the most fascinating road name within several mile radii is Burcharbro Road. It originates from the trio of housebuilders who in the 1890s decided that a rather more ‘hipster’ take on the name of their street could be formed using the first syllables of their names: Burrows, Charlesworth and Brodie.

Surprisingly for a Bexley neighbourhood, this locale is not laden with green spaces and recreational grounds. It is true also that the streets themselves do not have as much greenery as Joyden’s Wood. But this should not be a deterrent for nature-lovers as Abbey Wood Open Space, just north of the area, caters for all one’s needs. One local shop-owner agrees that the area is not as busy as some more commercially focused hubs, such as Bexleyheath.

In virtue of the area’s dense planning as well as the high rate of home ownership, there are no construction developments projected for this neighbourhood area. In addition, the Bexley Core Strategy highlights that due to the larger number of Victorian terraces in the West Heath area, the focus will be on listing and preservation which will likely make it more difficult to obtain planning permissions. From May 2021 to October 2022, Bexley Council established their High Streets for All Programme, securing funding from the Mayor of London’s High Streets for All Challenge, to develop and enact a new vision for Bexleyheath Town Centre.