Forestdale is a residential neighbourhood of southeast
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
in the
London Borough of Croydon
The London Borough of Croydon () is a London borough, borough in South London, part of Outer London. It covers an area of and had a population of 397,741 as of mid-2023, making it the most populous London borough. It is London's southernmost ...
. It is sometimes considered to be part of
Addington, its
ancient and ecclesiastical parish.
It is located south of
Upper Shirley, east of
Selsdon, south-west of
Addington's historic centre, north-west of
New Addington
New Addington is an area of South London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon. It is located 5 miles south east of Croydon and is adjacent to the Greater London boundary with Surrey.
History
Until the 1930s, the area now known as New ...
and north of
Farleigh and is east of
West Wickham.
Geography
Forestdale has public green verges and a nature reserve with diverse walks. Adjoining are Addington and Croydon's closest golf courses. Forestdale is linked to
Croydon
Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...
via Addington by Featherbed Lane and is also linked towards Croydon or Orpington via
West Wickham which skirts the suburb on one side.
The suburb consists of
cul-de-sacs running off four main roads, the cul-de-sacs being subdivided into several 'neighbourhoods'. All houses within a cul-de-sac are of the same style, but differ from other cul-de-sacs in style and materials, such as
weatherboarding,
brick
A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...
colour and arrangement, and so uniformity of style is achieved within one cul-de-sac but differs from the others.
Forestdale contains a community centre (The Forum) on Pixton Way.
There is a small row of shops at the junction of Featherbed Lane and Selsdon Park Road, which contains a pub (The Forestdale Arms).
The fish & chip shop here (McDermott's) was voted the best in London and the South-East in 2005.
History
Most homes were built here between the late 1960s and mid 1970s on previously open ground containing a number of
smallholding
A smallholding or smallholder is a small farm operating under a small-scale agriculture model. Definitions vary widely for what constitutes a smallholder or small-scale farm, including factors such as size, food production technique or technolo ...
s.
, a construction firm heavily involved in many of the homes' construction, won an award in 1972 due to the
solar heating
A solar thermal collector collects heat by Absorption (optics), absorbing sunlight. The term "solar collector" commonly refers to a device for solar hot water panel, solar hot water heating, but may refer to large power generating installations ...
panels they installed in three of the houses.
Transport
Two
London Buses
London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus s ...
serve the village; routes
353 and
433
All parts of Forestdale are within a mile of
Tramlink
Tramlink, previously Croydon Tramlink and currently branded as London Trams, is a light rail tram system serving Croydon and surrounding areas in South London, England. It is the first operational tram system serving the London region since 195 ...
tram stops:
*
Fieldway
*
Addington
*
Gravel Hill, which is also connected via the buses.
Nearest Stations
All parts of Forestdale are within a mile of these following National Railway Stations:
*
West Wickham railway station located two miles east of Forestdale which is connected by bus routes that serve the Forestdale area.
*
South Croydon located three miles north of Forestdale.
*
Sanderstead railway station
Sanderstead railway station is on the Oxted Line in the London Borough of Croydon, from Sanderstead village. It is in Travelcard Zone 6, from . The station is managed by Southern (Govia Thameslink Railway), Southern.
On the up (London-bound) ...
located three miles south west of Forestdale.
Education
Primary Education
Courtwood Primary SchoolForestdale Primary School
Notable people
*
Rachel Chinouriri, singer
Gallery
File:Forestdale_shops.jpg, Shops on Selsdon Park Road
File:The_Forum,Forestdale.jpg, The Forum
File:Forestdale_pub.jpg, The Forestdale Arms pub
File:Forestdale_Shopping_Centre.jpg, Forestdale Shopping Centre
File:Forestdale_school.jpg, Forestdale Primary School
File:Forestdale_housing.jpg, Typical housing in Forestdale
References
{{LB Croydon
Districts of the London Borough of Croydon
Areas of London