Dulwich Village has a very distinctive look and feel with its wide verges, quant finger post signs and grand villas. It was a manor bought by a famous Shakespearean actor in the seventeenth century inspiring a set of historic London schools; an area attracting the moneyed classes as an escape from the City; a home to England’s first purpose-built art gallery and a hub for artists; but also an old path through ancient woods and later a route up hill to the Crystal Palace exhibition site.

And there is the oddity of London’s only remaining Toll-gated Road, how come that survives?

Richard’s walk plots a very scenic way from the centre of the village running south up College Road. The walk includes some wonderful architecture from the College buildings and grand villas to humble cottages; features names such as Charles Dickens, Camille Pissarro and Ernest Shackleton; includes a curious connection to the historic telephone box design and attempts to explain the surviving Tollgate Road.

Photo: Copyright: Peter Trimming licenced for reuse under creative commons through Geograph.org.