Warlingham

Warlingham is high enough on the North Downs to see Canary Wharf on a clear day, which is the ideal relationship with London: close enough to commute to, far enough above it to look down on. The old psychiatric hospital on the edge of the village was knocked flat and rebuilt as executive homes called Greatpark, a rebrand so confident only a property developer could have signed it off. Joe Strummer moved here as a boy and went on to front The Clash. That is one way to react to a childhood spent watching the city from a hill.