Narrow lane from South Road to Shipman Road - safe at night?

Hi all,

I’m considering moving into a room in a rather different part of Forest Hill to where I currently live. On my way to view it today (having never ventured down Church Vale and onwards in that direction before!) I couldn’t help but notice that part of the route (the bit detailed in the title) seemed like it could potentially be a little unsafe for walking home at night. It’s a really narrow walking path leading from South Road to Shipman Road. Could anyone who has experiences with this particular area of FH tell me if this is a safe route for regular walking, particularly in the evenings after work or past 9 or 10 at night? Thanks!

Scary stuff. Yikes.

Honestly, its not. I’ve lived in the area for 6 years and walked through at all times of day and night and never seen any problems. It’s actually not that narrow, you can see most of the way through and there isn’t anywhere to hide. It’s a great area and quieter as there is no through traffic.

It is worth adding that, if you don’t feel safe, a detour of less than five minutes avoids using this short path in the dark.

When coming home drunk late at night I used to use the excuse of the chip shop on Perry Vale to avoid walking this way. I’m not sure whether the alley was the excuse to go to the chip shop, or the chip shop was the excuse to not use the alley.

When sober I never had any problem using the alley and never saw anybody acting suspiciously. But I also arranged for the pathway to be straightened and the tree to be cut back to provide better lighting from the lamppost.

Michael - what would the 5 minute detour be according to you? Looking at a map of the area, all the possible detours look rather long…

I don’t know if I’m being too paranoid, but I’m honestly in two minds about whether to take the room or not. It was a gorgeous room, but I can’t help but feel like I would be sacrificing my safety for it. I kind of feel the same way about this path as I do about the footbridge over the tracks going from Dacres Road to Sydenham Park Road (unease about using that footbridge at night is actually the main reason I signed up with Energie Fitness Gym over Forest Hill Pools).

At the moment, my walk home from the station involves Perry Vale and Dacres Road, and while Dacres Road isn’t necessarily the safest, it still doesn’t seem quite as eerily quiet as South Road and its environs seemed to me yesterday afternoon, and cars pass by with a reassuring regularity. I might just be overreacting, as obviously many people live in that area and feel safe. I just don’t know if it’s for me…

By the way, the chip shop is indeed awesome!

From FH station to Shipman Road:
8 mins via South Road
14 mins via Perry Vale / Normanton Street

That’s 12 mins extra exercise per day - so you can cancel that gym membership!