Sue

Yes, there have been goslings this year ❤️

At least there were still two adult geese with them. Hopefully they reached somewhere green and safe. Well done to the people who stopped the traffic for them to cross! I recently read a very sad story of a similar goose family where one of the parents had been run over by a car, and the other goose and the goslings were standing at the side of the road wailing 😭

I'd forgotten about that place. It wasn't a market as such, it was just run by one couple. They did have some quite interesting things. I still have a mirror I got from there, which had been put inside an old painted shuttered window frame from somewhere in India. Mumbai I think. There also used to be occasional indoor markets in the church hall where the cinema now is, next to where the Irish shop used to be. But if memory serves they were usually either jumble sales (do they still exist?) or craft sales before Christmas. There have also been occasional indoor markets at the church hall in Dulwich Village and the church hall at the church in Barry Road up by the Plough. There never seemed to be many people buying things at them. But it does all depend on what is being sold, whether it appeals to the local demographic, where the market is located and how it is publicised. And, obviously, whether it is profitable for the traders.

It was a weird place, and there never seemed to be many people in it. Stalls/selling areas (they weren't really stalls as such) came and went. For a while there was an area upstairs as well. Around the beginning of ED gentrification, someone opened a champagne bar near the entrance. I think it also sold oysters, though there was another oyster place in the market, possibly not at the same time. Whether it did or not, unsurprisingly it didn't last long. I can't imagine they had done any market research, or even wondered why anybody would want to drink champagne in that kind of environment. I'm not sure an indoor market would work now, but what do I know. It would depend on what it sold and whether people wanted what it sold, I suppose. It wouldn't get much passing trade in somewhere like Zenoria Street, so it would have to be very well advertised.

🤣🤣🤣

Their prices have shot up .. What with that and the above, shan't be ordering from there again. So sad 😭

Perhaps they only use it once a year to go to Glastonbury?!

It was lucky nobody was on the bridge beneath the tree when it fell. It's hard to see, but it doesn't look like a whole tree, but a branch? Or else it's a relatively thin trunk? What seems to be the point where the branch (?) joined the tree - or else the point where the whole tree broke off - (on the bottom left of the picture) looks like quite a clean break. It couldn't have been deliberate, could it? Or has someone trimmed it after it fell? It's hard to see how this could have happened accidentally. It has been a bit windy, but surely not enough to cause this. Shouldn't there have been a risk assessment when the bridge was built, to include assessing the risk of nearby trees falling?

Please keep us posted about the bees! And enjoy your new shed!

Why, in case a tree falls on them?!

I'm glad we agree on at least one thing, Cancerian 😀! How do you think Farage should be pronounced, then? Do you agree with Malumbu? What do you think is a "hard g" ? Good to be discussing the important issues of our time 😀

Could you describe what a "less liberal" Christian church might look like, Jazzer? Whilst still adhering to the basics of Christianity (the church, not you).

If all the details about it are known, surely rather than removing it, the council should contact the owner if they think it's causing some problem (though if it's legally parked there, I fail to see what that has to do with the council or anybody else).

But presumably "Bellenden Village", however ridiculous the name, is the area around Bellenden Road?

But only the first g in garage is a "hard" g? The second one is a "soft" g whether you pronounce it "j" or (not sure how to write it, but even softer, like a cross between "sh" and "j"?) So surely Malumbu's hard g in Farage would be like the first g in garage, not the second one? I can't believe I am wasting my time writing this irrelevant drivel 🤣

I'm disappointed. I was hoping for a Trans pope. Or even better, a Trans, American, anti Trump pope. Of course he might be anti Trump. Will we ever find out?

No, you've got adj For a hard g you need Faragg. I think. 🤣

How on earth could a tree fall on it?! Was it diseased? Surely someone checks the health of the trees in the wood?

It's really heart warming that you care about the bees ❤️

You could try leaving a gap in the new shed floor until the bees leave their nest at the end of the summer (assuming that's what they do? Mine seemed to) No idea if that's feasible!

I don't think trade deals work like that?

Ground nesting bees are different. They don't swarm in the same way. https://beehunterma.com/how-to-safely-get-rid-of-ground-nesting-bees/#:~:text=Using a hose%2C gently soak,labeled for ground-nesting bees. Sorry I think that might be American bees. But so far as I can see the method for UK bees with water would be the same. It seems the most humane way, as it just encourages them to relocate. I had a nest of white tailed bumble bees in my garden last year. It was fascinating watching them go in and out of the ground. But then I didn't need to put a shed over them!

So. Last night Royal Mail customer service kept me waiting a quarter of an hour with no indication of the wait time, then closed the service down at 6.30pm. This morning I waited half an hour to speak to someone. First they told me to make a claim via their website, then reluctantly agreed they could do it on the phone. They required both my and my daughter's name, addresses, postcodes and email addresses, plus my phone number. WHY? THEN they told me a CHEQUE for £9.85 would be sent to my address!!!!!! No compensation for everybody's wasted time, just the Special Delivery (hollow laugh) fee back. I did point out a) we weren't in the Stone Age and b) this cheque would probably either never arrive or be stuck for months in the local delivery office beneath mounds of other mail which never gets delivered. I felt very sorry for this guy. I hope he is well paid. What a terrible job to have. So now, assuming I ever get the cheque, I will have to queue up at the Post Office to pay it in. Having already queued up to post an item for a non existent service in the first place. GRRRRR. Can I be bothered to write to the CEO? No, probably not. I'll just get some bland standard letter back sent by some other poor person with a terrible job.

Yes, and it's dangerous and worrying.

It has stairs and a ramp!