Mobile car wash in Blackheath

One heath, two councils

Blackheath is shared. Lewisham Council says the boundary with Greenwich runs along the A2, the stretch of Shooters Hill Road that cuts across the heath. South of it, the heath belongs to the Lord of the Manor of Lewisham; north of it is Crown land in the Royal Manor of East Greenwich, which the Royal Borough of Greenwich manages. A joint working party of both councils and local societies advises on how the heath is looked after, and Greenwich Park on its northern edge is a Royal Park in its own right.

For a car owner it is more than a pub quiz answer, because the council decides your parking rules. The Village around Tranquil Vale and All Saints' Church is on the Lewisham side. The Standard is on the Greenwich side. If you are not sure which side your street falls on, the zone name on your bay sign tells you.

Parking in Blackheath

On the Lewisham side, the Blackheath zone, BHA, is enforced Monday to Saturday from 9am to 7pm, and Lewisham says the exact days and hours are on the signs where you enter the zone. So on weekdays and Saturdays every window we offer falls inside the controlled hours, and that is fine: your washer sorts their own parking, so there is no permit for you to buy.

The Greenwich side has several zones of its own, including Blackheath Standard, Blackheath (Lee) and Blackheath (Kidbrooke Gardens). A 2018 traffic order set the Blackheath Standard zone at 9am to 6.30pm, Monday to Saturday, but zone hours change, so treat the sign at your bay as the final word. Greenwich's controls are lifted in most zones on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day.

Market Sundays and big event days

Sunday falls outside the BHA hours, but it is also farmers' market day, when the station car park fills from 10am. And a few times a year the heath itself draws a crowd: the fireworks in November and the London Marathon in spring both bring big crowds to the heath. On those weekends, an earlier day in the week is the easier booking.

London's first conservation area

Blackheath was designated a conservation area by Lewisham and Greenwich together in 1968, the first in London, and it is still Lewisham's largest. Lewisham's appraisal treats the Village as a character area of its own, taking in streets such as Collins Street, South Vale Road, Blackheath Grove and Wemyss Road. A wash that comes to the car suits streets like these: nothing has to be moved, and the washer works at the kerb or on the drive, wherever the car already is.

Who lives here, and the clean that suits

Lewisham's Blackheath ward had 16,429 residents in 7,385 households at the 2021 Census, and the council describes it as one of the borough's more affluent wards, with pockets of social housing. North of the A2, the Greenwich side is Blackheath Westcombe ward.

• A car you want to look its best: the Exterior Detail decontaminates and clays the paint, adds a spray wax and restores the plastics.
• Twice a year, a proper reset: the Super Valet does the outside, the inside and a wax in one visit.
• Long-term protection for a new or newly corrected car: ceramic coating, which makes every wash after it quicker.
• Everyday upkeep between the big cleans: Deluxe Inside & Out.

More on this: is ceramic coating worth it? and valeting, detailing or a wash.