This neighbourhood is located in south Orpington in the London borough of Bromley, and also spans the village of Goddington. Key aspects of this neighbourhood include St Olave’s Grammar School - a highly selective boys’ secondary school with a prestigious reputation. Orpington Hospital is situated to the south of this area, and the 112-year-old Westcombe Park Rugby Club is also nearby. Meanwhile, residential spots around Felstead Road, Hillcrest Road, and Park Avenue add spacious semi-detached family houses to the many appeals of this neighbourhood.

Orpington Hospital opened in 1916 as the Ontario Military Hospital, to care for soldiers wounded during the First World War. Total admissions over the war numbered over 30,000. The hospital played a particularly important role in the conflict from Canada’s point of view. Canada had sent 560,000 men and women to the war effort (many from Ontario) and immense casualties led the Canadian authorities to open the hospital in Orpington. 116 Canadians who died in Orpington are buried at All Saints Church nearby. On a similar note, Orpington War Memorial is a landmark in this neighbourhood, and was unveiled in 1921. Designed by local architect Charles Heaton Comyn, it bears the names of 111 locals who died in the Great War.

There are several noteworthy residents from this area. Barry Knight, a famous Premier League referee, was born in Orpington. Also, the grime/hip hop extraordinaire Dizzee Rascal spent some of his childhood in Orpington. Speaking of Dizzee Rascal, at one point the world’s oldest cat was living in Orpington, and by a strange twist of fate was exactly the same age as Dizzee.

In 2013, Cola the black cat was 28 (140 in human years): she was born in the same month as the celebrity grime artist. Walulel regrettably has no conclusive information on Cola’s health to date. However, in 2013, she was a historic record breaker. Her owner described her as ‘a very happy cat.’

Some areas of Orpington are rather run-down, but this neighbourhood feels predominantly well-kept and welcoming. A resident of Repton Road said they ‘love the area’ and that, having moved here 10 months ago, they have settled in very quickly.

The council’s 2016-17 budget installed 16,000 modern energy efficient street light bulbs which should save over £400,000 per year. The council also built 150 new affordable homes using a government grant. In December 2021, developer Areli submitted an ambitious but highly controversial proposal to Bromley Council involving the demolition of Orpington shopping centre to build 19-storey tower blocks and a new shopping centre, which would have included up to 990 homes, a new town square, mall, leisure complex and day care centre (to actually replace the mall, leisure and day care centres that would have been bulldozed). The proposal was so unpopular with locals that the council received more than 3,000 objections, leading to developer withdrawing their application in Autumn 2022.