Sue

I think probably the OP is still on the old non metered system if they haven't actually signed up to the meter which was installed? If so, the amount of water used won't affect their bill. As posted above, water bills in this area have gone up/will go up (not sure which) by more than 30%, so that would be a big increase regardless of a meter, if I've understood it correctly. I think we are paying for the privatisation of Thames Water and their greed and inefficiency, basically, but what would I know?

Sorry to be dim, and sorry if I've missed it, but how could widening the pavement in a place of heavy pedestrian use be part of a council anti car policy?

I think it's usually on a different weekend to the Goose Green fair, so maybe not part of the actual Dulwich Festival and not publicised with that?

No, but as I said, it is a matter of weighing up the advantages against the disadvantages, in this case to pedestrians. So do you think that the disadvantages in this case, as identified by Zak, outweigh the advantages to such a degree that the initiative should not be happening at all? I agree that appropriate action should be taken where possible to mitigate the effect of the disadvantages, but that is different to not proceeding at all?

Yes, it wasn't exactly Lewes, he lived in a tiny place near Ditchling Beacon while he was running Hoopers (maybe he moved to Lewes after Hoopers closed?) Near enough Lewes, though! I can't remember what the place was called, or even if it had a name, there were only a few houses. Which was very weird, because I lived in Ditchling for a time many many moons ago, and I drove up the tiny road which passed near those houses every day on my way to work in Stanmer Park (at that time the local college horticulture department was based there). It was a short cut to the park, and there was a locked gate halfway down the road, which I had a key to. No idea if things have changed now, it was a very long time ago. Very small world indeed. We only found out because at Jamie's request we put on music in Hoopers for a time (including Wizz Jones), so we got to know him. ETA: Very sorry Lulark (and Admin), this has no relevance at all to your post.

No, I completely agree, I was thinking of the guys in it.

At least it can't/shouldn't have been going very fast, if it was turning a corner?

It always amazes me how people choose to live near a pub which is already there, and then make life difficult for the pub because of noise! So it's great that Lulark is checking it out beforehand! Hoopers (R.I.P.) had the same problem. People moved in next to the pub and then complained about noise .... People have different thresholds for noise, so probably the best thing would be to go to the house at different times of the week/day/evening and see whether the noise level is acceptable to you inside (if possible) and outside the house (in the garden, if it has one?)? You could also ask the pub what events (if any) they hold during the week, and check out the size of their garden? Noise from the garden will obviously be more in the Summer and when the weather is fine. You could also ask them if they have had any complaints about noise from nearby residents? I imagine they would be happy to tell you, because they won't want anyone else moving in who is likely to cause them grief 😅 Also, they may have a time after which people have to be inside the pub rather than in the garden, so you could ask them about that. Gowlett Road is a nice area to live (and the pub is also a nice friendly pub!) . Good luck!

That really is an extremely negative view! So you think any initiatives to improve things for pedestrians should be banned? Do you think we should go back to horses and carts because motor vehicles cause accidents and pollution? It's a matter of weighing up the advantages against the disadvantages, surely?

😮😮😮 I hope nobody was hurt?

There is a discount on council tax bills for single people living in a property, presumably because they are using fewer of the amenities provided by the council than a couple or a family would. The discount for people "on benefits", as you put it, is for entirely different reasons. Also, surely one of the points of water meters is to encourage people to use less water, and not to waste it unnecessarily? "Avid gardeners" do not have to use a lot of water. If they have space, they can have water butts which store rain water, and will probably in many cases have changed at least some of their plants to those which can cope better with drought, because of climate change. They are not being "penalised"! If they are on a meter, they are paying for the water they use, along with everybody else! If they choose to use a lot of water on their garden, then that's up to them!

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/jan/30/water-bills-in-england-and-wales-to-rise-by-123-on-average-this-year?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

My water bill halved when I requested and got a water meter. There have been threads on the forum about this before, if you do a search. Households pay for gas and electricity according to what they use, so surely it is fair that water is the same? Single people and smaller households could say that it was unfair under the old system, because they were subsidising families and larger households who were using a lot more water than they were! If you didn't request a meter, and you think other people in the road haven't got one, haven't you asked Thames Water why they installed one at your house?

Well, this is very disappointing. Malabar Feast has changed its menu again. The delicious fish curry with sea bass no longer exists. There is now a fish dish with raw mango, which doesn't appeal. I had dal and spinach instead, which was bland (which I suppose I could/should have predicted). One of my visitors had a "vegetable Biriani" which contained hardly any vegetables. Along with it came two extremely tiny pieces of poppadom in a large paper bag. This was embarrassing, as I had been singing Malabar's praises and recommending we ordered from there. The other mains and the parathas were OK, but I doubt we will be ordering from there again. My granddaughters wisely opted for Yard Sale pizzas, which were fine. Has anybody else had a similar recent poor (or indeed good!) experience at Malabar Feast?

This is probably a stupid question, sorry. Could you contact all the surgeries whose catchment area you are in (and haven't already found wanting) and ask them directly if they have any GPs with the specific knowledge and experience relating to rheumatic issues which you need? Because I imagine there are not many people using this forum who can help, though I may be wrong.

I don't understand this, probably my fault. I thought the Crown offices were going to close completely and the services they provided were going to be moved to local shops with space for a sub post office. But if the Post Office is seeking franchisees for the Crown offices, that implies that the offices themselves would stay. But if they are not profitable for the Post Office, how could they become profitable for a franchisee?

Does anyone know if Tommy Rooney is away? I have a boiler emergency and he isn't responding to messages. I don't really want to use someone I don't know, and I know Tommy is excellent!

Thanks, all good ideas, but I need it for tomorrow! I can't believe there isn't already one online! I will keep looking! There may at least be something I can copy into Word and print out. ETA: Just found this, should anybody else be interested: https://dutchgirlinlondon.com/2016/01/20/street-art-dulwich-outdoor-gallery/ However it's very old so quite a lot has changed since then, I imagine.

I have been trying to find a map of this that I can print out. The Go Jauntly app has a walk, but I'd rather have a printed map. I'm sure there must be one, but I can't find it. Does anyone have a link?

You can Google to find out how often you will be invited for breast screening. It depends on your age. Here you go: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/breast-screening-mammogram/when-youll-be-invited-and-who-should-go/ If you are over 71 you won't be automatically invited, but you can request a screening. It's all explained in the link above.

Could you make that a link? I don't want to Google it or type the www in case I then get inundated with - well, not sure exactly what, but I suspect I wouldn't want to be inundated with it 🤣

That's really annoying! They have deleted their posts. One person quoted one of them, but what was in the other one? Could somebody tell me what they said? Whatever it was, it seems they thought better of making it public! That was only when Cynthia was running her brothel there 🤣 But what would they be vetting them for? My mind is boggling 🤣 My mind is boggling again re celebrating Mother's Day 😀

For some reason I have thought for years that it was just a very expensive restaurant!

Does anyone know of anywhere local where I can hire a large shredder? The new Library of Things in the Leisure Centre doesn't presently have one, apparently because they are in the process of getting new improved ones. I would have preferred to use them, but I need to dispose of a very large amount of stuff, and I don't want to wait indefinitely. There's too much of it to dispose of by other methods, like soaking in the bath, and anyway I want to recycle it once it's shredded.

It was a specific technical comment re the wording of the questionnaire and its likely effect on the results. It was of no concern to anybody else. I posted saying that I had PMed because people don't necessarily see that someone has sent a PM. I thought it was important to feed it back given that the questionnaire was part of someone's major project. But I'm not sure why you seem to have taken this so personally! It has absolutely nothing to do with you!