Insuflo

I didn’t think so but National Rail planner says 16 minutes, including 5 minutes to change platforms at Peckham. Quite surprising.

The Montpelier in Peckham has always been reliable and has plenty of table space in the afternoon.

Thanks for the warning, I was going to use the P13 to get a big shop from Sainsbury’s tomorrow. I can’t find anything on the TfL website either.

I believe it is a 25 year lease, so that would mean it was taken out in 2000. Wetherspoons were trying to offload the place as far back as 2014 but there has never been any serious interest. It must have been a loss maker since at least then.

It is if a “colourful enfilade of rooms” is included. I thought enfilade was a way of cooking fish.

I think the lease is still held by Wetherspoons and they are responsible for paying rent and rates until late 2025. It’s the remainder of the lease that is for sale. Wetherspoons had been trying to sell the lease for the best part of ten years, so I’m guessing the place was never really profitable.

While the owner is being paid six figures by spoons for the next 18 months they have no need to worry, so the place will probably sit empty.

Wetherspoons only rented the place. I think (but don’t know) that it’s owned by AMC, a US firm that claims to be the world’s largest cinema operator. AMC bought out Odeon, which bought out ABC, which had owned it  from the 1930s, if not built it. Local historians please correct me.

If AMC is the owner, then an independent cinema (do such things exist?) sounds unlikely. But what can be done with a listed cinema? A church? What can be done with a listed church? A cinema? Both are buildings built for a fad that has had its day.

Just been charged a full £6.45 for a pint of Amstel in the Great Exhibition (£5.20 ish in most places in ED or Peckham). There was rugby on a small telly. Is this dynamic pricing in action? The bar person was embarrassed to charge me it.

“Listen to them - the children of the night. What music they make!”

Thanks for posting. This explains all the  barking I’ve been hearing. I’ve seen a couple of officers on the hill but not seen the dog.

I get the 63 regularly and so far have found the new EV buses really comfortable even in the hottest weather.

I’m fairly sure they don’t have conventional air conditioning, as this would require a separate petrol or diesel motor to power it or a considerable drain on the battery, so reducing the range of the vehicle. Instead they use a heat pump, which draws in heat from the atmosphere as required in colder weather. This should be run in reverse in hot weather to extract warm air. There is also forced air circulation.

it might be that either or these were not working. I’ve noticed that about 50% of the time on the 63, the countdown display screen on the top deck is not working. I don’t know if this is symptomatic of technical issues with these buses.

Whatever cooling system is used on a bus, it won’t have much impact when passengers obsessively open the windows, drawing warm air in. We just don’t seem to get the concept of air conditioning in this country yet. Hence air conditioned premises will often have their doors jammed open at this time of year. Pubs are the worst for this misappliance of science.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/jun/04/what-sprocket-left-that-bike-there-my-life-as-a-pedestrian-in-badly-behaved-britain

Southwark Council is not the freeholder and hasn’t been involved with the estate since the last century. It’s owned by a housing association.

In other news:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-65602293

Southern are blaming an overtime ban by ASLEF drivers and say an amended service will operate until 20th May.

It’s a consequence of trying to run the franchise on the cheap (thus maximising profit) by employing fewer drivers than the service requires, leaving themselves dependent on drivers agreeing to work voluntary overtime on their days off.

I can only speak for my experience of audiology at Guys, which I found to be exemplary. But I don’t have your T-loop requirements and haven’t tried private providers. However, when I first encountered rapid hearing loss, I found a lot of useful guidance on the RNID website. My GP was very proactive re referral to specialists, thankfully. The very best of luck with your treatment.

Actually, the Lloyds on NCR did used to text me when my script was ready but that ceased when the staff changed during the pandemic. It was very efficient and convenient for a while: request prescription from my GP online, GP sends prescription to Lloyds, they text me that it’s ready and I would collect on the way home from work. Vale Pharmacy doesn’t text but they’ve yet to let me down.

After years of using them, I abandoned the NCR Lloyds during the pandemic because they seemed to be in ever worsening chaos and confusion. The last time I used them, I spent 55 minutes waiting in the shop for them to make up a prescription, which they had had for 3 days. I didn't want to leave and come back because I had queued for half an hour to get in.

I've now used the Vale Pharmacy at Goose Green for about two years for my monthly prescriptions with no problems or complaints.

Helen Hayes, MP for Dulwich & West Norwood , tweeted about this location and several others around the constituency this morning. She said she is chasing Thames Water over these leaks.

Should there be a picture of a VW van on the signage for you? I haven't driven regularly for years but I am still familiar enough with the Highway Code to understand road signs.

You include a screenshot from the Zip website which states that their van should never be taken through the Rotherhithe Tunnel. It is disappointing that you took to the roads in a vehicle the dimensions of which you were ignorant but please do not abuse or demean public servants for enforcing the rules which apply to us all. You broke the clearly stated rules, that has consequences.

From Dulwich Hill MPS on Twitter; I presume they are referencing this incident:

Pure guesswork on my part but could the fact that these are RAF photos of the late 40s be at the root of this mystery? At that time(before satellite photography)aerial photos taken from planes would be examined by eye for hostile military installations, troop movements, airfields etc. Those examining these photos would need to be trained. Could it be that there was no plane but that it is a plant to be found (or missed) by the trainee spotters? As such, it was perhaps superimposed on the photo, painted onto the negative or however such things were then achieved, for training purposes; the enemy plane hiding in plain sight. It would need to be placed on a big enough piece of land but not where it would easily stand out, like the middle of Kennington Oval or the boating lake in the park, a villa's carriage drive being ideal. Just a thought.

Another possibility occurring to me was that it might a dummy (inflatable? or partly so?). A lot of dummy aircraft were positioned around England during WW2 to confuse German spotter planes as to the disposition of Allied airbases and reserve fleets. Columns of inflatable and mock up tanks were also common, particularly in north Africa. There must have been many surplus dummies knocking about in 1946. Quite why one might end up in this garden is another thing.