I’ve been in FH for about 18 years so I can remember when it was considered the backside of South London - that is if people had heard of it at all. There has been a lot of changes over that time - most of them for the better. I am currently loving the new found spirit of FH which this site epitomizes.
I genrally don’t post much personal stuff on the web and this username is not one I generally use but I am sure that some bright folks here will be able to associate them!
Anyways - I am 51 and mainly interested in beer, food, cycling, growing my own and making my own stuff. I work in IT doing sysadmin stuff (not the bright shiny stuff that @anon5422159 does so well!) with servers and systems at a local(ish) well know independent school - pays the bills but looking for a new venture as I type - something local. I moderate an allotment forum and I am secretary of a private allotment association in Brockley. I spend most of the summer in the garden or down the plot talking rubbish with a load of silly old men and women who should probably all know better.
I ride my bike very day - mostly going out of my way to get to work on time but taking in the hills of SE London. I love watching and, to the dismay of my wife, talking about cycling. I love the old punk spirit of DIY and helping yourself and others - this site seems to fit the bill for that so well done @anon5422159.
So I make my own stuff - bread, soap, hand cream, bath bombs, bacon, wine, chorizo and of course I grow a lot of what I eat - just need to get my own brewery up an drunning.
I started working life as a courier back in the 80s
Here is me posing for someone’s graduate photo course assignment!
Spent some time travelling, got into IT through doing print ops and then my mate naffed off to Africa to drink for a living and gave me his job and I have been doing IT systems stuff for the last 20 years. Still time for something new!
Local shops that I love are Finches (which is possibly the greatest shop in London), Crafty Beer, Shannon’s Garden Center and the Proud Sow which is a fantastic butchers for both meat and banter!
This is a nice site - looks original, well programmed and content is developing nicely. I’m sure you could make a bob or two syndicating this round London postcodes!
Lovely to find out more about you @Foresthillnick. Sounds like we have a lot in common! Thanks for sharing.
Regarding syndication, I own a lot of postcode.life domains across London and I am always on the lookout for an enthusiastic and IT-savvy co-admin from a neighbouring postcode to kickstart the next .life venture with.
The team and I have learnt a lot from the first couple of months of SE23.life and there’s still lots to learn, but once we’ve cracked the local forum formula (which is far more about community / people / processes than technology itself), we’ll see neighbouring “.lifes” popping up all over South London and beyond.
Wowza, I have to say, when I first started this thread I was not expecting so many deep and detailed replies from so many people.
I just want to thank everyone who has posted and introduced themselves for being so open minded and sharing so much with a bunch of strangers, or is that friends who have not yet met?
Either way, howdy neighbours, hope to meet a few of you at some point.
I’m Andrei, 29 years old and moved to Forest Hill (Gaynesford Road) 3 months ago from Selhurst. Quite new to the UK as I’ve arrived just one year and a half ago. Originally I’m from Romania and I work as a business analysis in the city.
Regarding hobbies, I love music (mostly old Hip-hop, jazz, raggae and old rock music), technology, video games, beer and football. Would be great to get in touch and make friends as this is the hardest bit of moving countries.
By the way, if you guys need any sort of help with music production just give me a message.
A good way of meeting up with locals is by coming to an SE23.Life monthly meet up.
On another note you might be interested in getting involved in Forest Hill Arts, give me a shout or just pop in to my shop for a chat if you are interested
@Pauline thanks for the sugestions, I’ve already cleared my schedule for the proposed meet up dates. Will try to drop by this weekend to get verified as well.
My name is Villem and I have lived with my girlfriend in Forest Hill (on Stanstead Road close to the Forest Hill fire station) for almost four years now.
We are both originally from Estonia, but moved here as I started my BA Media & Comms studies at Goldsmiths in 2012, graduating in 2015. The decision to move here and go to Goldsmiths came through my sister as she has been living in London for more than 20 years, most of this time in Greenwich (even though she recently moved to New York via Muswell Hill, so gave up the SE London life a bit - I’m sure she’ll come around though, lol).
A lot of my coursemates are from around here - one lives in Catford, another one near Blythe Hill Fields etc.
I work in Central London at a digital fabrication start-up, where we make (create) all kinds of things with laser cutters, 3d printers and general model making techniques. My girlfriend Kay works as an ENT nurse in Central London as well.
We are both really into films (I even specialised in sound design for films at Goldsmiths) and regularly visit all kinds of rooftop and pop up cinemas across London - is there anything exciting happening in Forest Hill film screening wise? Any suggestions would be more than welcome! I am also strongly into electronic music - sampling from vinyls and producing music (drum&bass mostly) on my makeshift studio setup (the wonders of renting a flat - can’t turn it into an acoustically treated studio that looks like a Star Trek spaceship control room).
We would love to take part of any cool activities around Forest Hill so we will try to be active in this forum, happy to stumble upon it randomly.
Welcome Villem and Kay! Your job sounds really interesting. I think you’re in good company here - lots of creative types in SE23. Hope to catch you at our meetup (or the gin club, or the games night!)
Welcome to the forum guys. Just down the road from me I see.
Fantastic introduction there, thanks for sharing so much. Some cool work and hobbies there.
Hello! Belatedly introducing myself… I’m Amy, I’ve lived in FH for three years and I work as a digital producer. I’ve lived in west, east and north London and now feel very at home in the southeast. I’m half Kiwi and have spent exactly half my life here and half in NZ.
Favourite local places: St Davids, Stag and Bow, the Archie Parker, Babur, Pure Gym in Sydenham. Least favourite: Forest Hill Pools (does anyone know if they’ve finally fixed the women’s dry side showers?!) Big fan of On The Hoof coffee on the platform at FH and really wish Catford would get something similar (I commute from both). Oh and I HEART the Horniman
My girlfriend and I moved to the area last year and we’ve been thoroughly enjoying it ever since.
We both like to spend evenings after work catching up over a beer or glass of something cold on the high street (Donde, Mamma Dough’s etc), and look forward to sampling the revamped Chandos soon.
I work as a consultant in financial services, mainly based in London but it involves a fair amount of travel too (unfortunately!).
Welcome to the site, Aaron! I’m a contractor in financial software development so I’m sure we’d have one or two things in common to discuss over a beer. I’ll be in Chandos tomorrow, so hope to see you there if you can make it.
Has been a crazy week.