Tooting Bec may not be on your list of destinations when traveling to London but when fortunate enough to have the hospitalty of an old friend and a couch to crash on you'll find a new area to explore and recommend. Tooting Bec is part of the London Borough of Wandsworth and roughly a 30 minute Tube journey from Central London. The Bec Abbey in Normandy, France was considered the most influential abbey in the Anglo-Norman kingdom of the 12th century, (C. Warren Hollister, Henry I (Yale English Monarchs) 2001:16). The land now known as Tooting Bec was given to the abbey after the Norman Conquest in 1066. Tooting Bec is located on what was originally a Roman Road constructed to connect London with an area further south named by the Romans as Regnentium, now known as Chichester.
Today Tooting Bec is known for it's multicultural mix and large Muslim and Indian population. There are endless kebab and halal shops to choose from and shops selling beautiful saris and jewellry. Go to the Little India store to buy cookware and spices. Tooting Bec station has a convenient meeting point when coming out of the London Underground, the Wheatsheaf. The Wheatsheaf is located directly across from the Tube station and was saved in 2013 through great community effort and support of Sadiq Khan MP from being converted into a Tesco Metro, of which there are many in the London area. It is a large pub with an outdoor garden that serves a large range of draft beers and gastropub menu. The Scotch Eggs are excellent as is the rest of the early afternoon pub menu.
Tooting Bec is home to the Tooting Bec Lido, noted by the Wandsworth Council as "... the largest fresh water, open air swimming pool in England." Go for a swim in the 90m pool open 7 days a week from 7AM - 7PM. The fee is £6.20 for adults and £3.80 for chlidren.
Tooting Bec is also home to Tooting Common, 92 hectares of land offering excellent trails leading to ponds, tennis courts and great expanses of land. If you're travelling and missing your dog, this is a great place to meet locals and dog walkers.
