Westow Street

From Virtual Norwood

Westow Street makes up one side of the Crystal Palace Triangle. The northern end meets at a crossroads with Gipsy Hill, Central Hill and Westow Hill. The southern end meets with Church Road.

The general impression of Westow Street is that most of the shops appear to be food or property related. Notable exceptions are The Bookseller Crow (bookshop), Crystal Palace Reptiles,The Hollybush Stores (hardware and household supplies), South of the River (gifts and clothing, jewellery and cards), Glitter and Twisted (gifts especially glassware and china), The Picture Palace (picture framing and art).

However, the most noticeable feature of the street is the shopping development that is now home to Sainsburys supermarket (formerly Safeways and then Morrisons). Closure of the Morrisons supermarket in 2005 created a lot of uncertainty about the viability of the Crystal Palace area as a shopping district and the loss of shoppers had a huge impact on the turnover of local traders. On 11th April 2006 Virtual Norwood found out that the store was acquired by Sainsburys and the news prompted celebratory parties and news coverage in the national media.

Tucked behind Sainsburys and the Phoenix Community Centre is a multi-storey car park. Access is via Coxwell Road, opposite the Greek church. This road also leads to The Secret Garden (garden nursery), a small outdoor car park and recycling facilities.

The Evergreen Trust charity shop that once stood opposite the supermarket was destroyed by fire on 13th August 2002. Fortunately the adjacent properties were left standing. Norwood Post Office is now based in Kims Newsagent. The original Post Office building can still be seen but now in the guise of Los Toreros (restaurant)

The side streets coming off Westow Street offer a great deal of interest and charm. Haynes Lane has a quaint row of cottages. Paddock Gardens has the highest street level spot height in the area of 112.27m and an artist's co-operative at the far end of the road. Ovett Close, Child's Lane and Carberry Road are predominantly residential streets. Victory Place, between Los Toreros and Way Ahead (hair salon) is currently earmarked for redevelopment.

[edit] Postcodes

SE19 3AF, SE19 3AH, SE19 3RW, SE19 3RY, SE19 3SD

[edit] Map