Sue

A photo would be helpful so that we can all see exactly what has been done to the trees!

Has anyone else seen enormous numbers of green parakeets flying over ED this evening? I've never seen so many flying in one place at once!

Good luck Maria, keeping my fingers crossed for a happy outcome for you (and us!)

Yes, good shout. That is usually a better option, though it isn't always quicker. Last time I went there it was unusually busy and I had to wait a very long time. They did say this was unusual. But definitely usually quicker than Kings, even factoring in the additional travelling time. But easy to get there on the train, five minutes walk from London Bridge.

I know it's not the same thing, but if you went to A&E you would be able to get an immediate x-ray if they thought it was necessary. I know two people who weren't going to bother, and in both cases they had broken bones. Alternatively, try phoning the King's switchboard and asking? They might be able to put you through to someone who would know, even on a Saturday? Good luck!

Sorry only just seen this. Thanks, I will check it out and get back to you!

Yes, I'm amazed there aren't more accidents involving cyclists. The other side of it of course is cyclists riding perfectly safely and within the "rules of the road" who get injured or killed by impatient and/or inattentive car and lorry drivers.

How tall were they before? When were they planted? What kind of trees are they? Are you able to post a photo?

Congratulations on the new baby! ❤️

Have they cut them down completely, i.e. including the main trunk, or just cut off some branches?

Teddy, have you also had a late morning? Your OP now says "reprosession" 😂 Forgive me if you did it deliberately.

Repossession? Oh no, that's really sad 😢

That's a really interesting possibility!

At least the situation with rail travel is being addressed.

I think it should be brought back into public ownership. However, I admit that that is not based on any facts at all, just on my dislike of shareholders making money from a business which doesn't appear to be doing what it's supposed to do.

Thanks so much, that's really useful.

Oh. I've been looking into this (online) and it seems I would still have to pay something (at least a fiver) every month even if I wasn't using the phone, because they all seem to be 30 day rolling contracts. Have I misunderstood? I need something for emergency use only.

Why didn't they find out beforehand what the likely take up would be? What a waste of money.

So what would be your preference then, Spartacus, and why?

Did they have their phones out? It would be a bit difficult to film it secretly, surely?

Malumbu didn't quote the OP's words. He was talking about how most people would interpret the OP's words. I agree with Malumbu. I took it as an implicit criticism. Rather than asking, for example, "Does anybody know why this was done?" the OP said "Did this really need to happen?" There's a clear difference in meaning. To me, anyway!

They don't normally come to somebody's front door specifically to stick their tongues out, having had no prior contact with that person. 🙄

Yes, I've never bought a phone that was locked to a specific network. So as far as I know,I can just stick any SIM card in my old mobile. Or indeed my new mobile, but there wouldn't be much point in that; I think the old one still works, but there must have been some reason why I bought a new one. I think I wanted something with more storage capacity, and my new one has loads. It's just occurred to me that I need to double check all my photos etc are backed up. I hardly ever make actual phone calls, I usually use WhatsApp or texts or emails, but clearly if my main phone is stolen I would need to make various phone calls ASAP. I was just going to get a cheap card from Argos, so I'm not sure anybody there would know! The actual mobile I use is on a SIM only contract with iD, so maybe I should just ask them. I don't care about the number as it's only for occasional use. I've had my main mobile number ever since I've had a mobile, apart from a work related one, so around 25 years, and I do care about that number as it's very easy to remember, so I've moved it around whenever I've changed providers Oh, really? I thought there were just two sizes and if you needed the smaller one you just took off the surrounding bit? Surely mobiles take a SIM card for any network, otherwise you could never change network without changing your phone? How long have you had that SIM card in the phone? If I have to make phone calls using the back up phone, the person I was calling wouldn't know who it was! They might think it was spam! I'd have to tell them in advance that I was going to call them 🤣

This presumably hasn't been done by vandals. It's hardly a Sycamore Gap situation. So if it's been done by professionals, unless it was a mistake (unlikely) there must have been a good reason, as it would have cost money. It would perhaps have been a good idea to put a notice on the tree explaining why such drastic work was done, but usually (I think) it would be either because of disease (often not noticeable on the surface) or that the roots or branches were endangering nearby structures. As already said, nobody on here is likely to know. The tree department in Southwark Council are helpful in my (admittedly limited) experience. Please post on here when you have found out, as I agree what's left of the tree looks pretty odd. Depending on why the work was done, possibly they intend to remove the rest as well?

I have a very stupid question. I want to get a SIM card to put in an old mobile as a back up, in case despite my best efforts my mobile gets stolen and I have no way of contacting anybody quickly, eg banks. Can I just buy any old cheap pay as you go SIM card and put say ten pounds on it and it will then be fine for years (with the phone kept charged!) even if I don't use it, or do I have to use the phone every so often to keep the SIM card valid?