This little area of south-east London is bounded roughly by the Main Road T(A211), the tail of Wyncham Stream, Station Road between Sidcup station and the town centre in the east and the southeastern railway line. Station Road is an elegant patchwork of large Victorian-era houses on the west side and more compact, contemporary terraced homes on the east side. The rest of the locale follows a similar pattern, mixing the old and the new with a diverse display of suburban architecture. There are two green areas in this neighbourhood: King George and Longlands, with playing fields and leisure facilities for children. With one Roman Catholic and one CofE church in the neighbourhood (St Lawrence’s and Christ Church), the area caters for the Christian sixty percent of the Sidcup ward’s population. Longlands Primary School and Benedict House Preparatory are the two local schools; the latter is an independent school which ranks highly in the Sunday Times league tables.

The same forces which drive Londoners to search for a quiet spot today were present almost a hundred years ago when New Ideal Homesteads Ltd, the country’s largest private housebuilders at the time, led the 1930s housing boom to produce Sidcup as recognised today. Of course, like most of suburbia, the seed was planted with the arrival of the railway station in 1866 and this sparked initial interest in the area by middle class commuters. Prior to this, the area was an outpost for the high society of the 18th and 19th centuries who built their manors and gardens in the surroundings. Many of these houses have since been converted for various uses.

It is perhaps surprising for what remains a modest Kentish town to give birth to a vast list of influential public figures. One such example of a true giant is the Led Zeppelin bass guitarist John Paul Jones. Jones was born in Sidcup and this is where his life was pervaded by music from the very outset. From touring England with his parents as a musical vaudeville act, to conducting the orchestra for one of Dusty Springfield’s early albums, the rock ‘n’ roll legend’s career has stretched much further than just playing bass for arguably one of the most influential rock bands of all time.

In August 2015, TV host James Corden joked that ‘Sidcup’ sounds like the sort of place in rural England that one might visit for afternoon tea. The place name itself actually derives from the old English words for ‘flat’, set, and ‘a hill top, copp. That is, the original use of the name was to mean something like ‘a flat hilltop’.

As this specific neighbourhood area is relatively small, there are no secondary schools directly captured by its boundaries. For more dynamic prospective settlers, Sidcup’s relatively high number of pensioners might signify a less exciting environment than, say, a younger neighbourhood. However, the benefits of being only 20 minutes away from London Charing Cross by train, whilst “having excellent access to countryside parks and walks” as one resident noted, make Sidcup a worthy consideration even for the restless.

In September 2014, Sidcup Town centre had an extensive regeneration programme completed, face-lifting the facades of its high-street shops and amenities. Initiated and supported by the Bexley Council and the Mayor of London’s Outer London Fund, this allowed over 50 businesses to upgrade their infrastructure and encouraged new enterprises to enter the scene. On the private side, developments such as The Fold, an impressive set of 98 ‘Las Vegas’ style apartments, have been bringing in young talent since 2012. In a similar fashion, Hillcross Place on Sidcup Hill by Shanly Homes delivers 36 one- and two-bedroom apartments to the area. In 2021, Developer Purelake announced that they would be demolishing the co-op in Sidcup to begin works on a new residential development. The new build will have an M&S on the ground floor with 59 flats above it; the scheme includes no affordable housing. In 2022, plans were approved for the conversion of a former art deco cinema site in the area into 31 apartments and a new gym. Developer Montreaux Homes have stated in their proposal that they will offer through the development a range of studios, as well as one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments in two newly constructed buildings.