Sue

Certainly there are issues with immigration which need to be addressed, but setting fire to buildings with immigrants in them is not the way to address them. Many (not all) of these people are fleeing from terrible situations in their own countries, and I can't even imagine what it must be like to finally reach somewhere where they hope they will be safe only to be "greeted" with violence and hostility. It makes me ashamed to be English, not proud. And yes, some of these people are here illegally, some of them are criminals or perpetrate attacks on women or whatever. And are dealt with accordingly. I read recently, and I don't know if it is true, that over 60% of the men arrested at the scene of attacks on immigrants and their temporary homes have previous convictions for or are known to the police for domestic violence. Maybe look at yourselves first, eh, before trying to imply that because a few immigrants commit a crime here therefore they are all criminals and shouldn't be allowed into our country. Why would someone fly the English flag in the present climate for any reason apart from being anti immigration? What is a very unhealthy view? Are you replying to me? Yes the immigration law badly needs to be amended. I completely agree. I don't think I've said anything which implies otherwise?

The difficulty is that the English flag is now irretrievably (in my mind anyway) associated with racist violent thugs. Obviously not everyone who flies it or carries it or displays it on their clothing is a racist violent thug, but unfortunately when I (and probably others) see it flown or worn, that is what comes to mind. And religion is many things to many people, but to say it's for the "lesser minded" folk says more about you than about them.

Whilst all that is true, the "market" is surely what people will pay? And if they have had to reduce their stock by as much as 50%, doesn't that imply that people haven't been paying the prices they have been asking?

The Living and Giving shop had a pair of 90s flares for £250 😮 This £150 "bargain" in the hospice shop was some sort of flimsy parka type thing.

The prices have been ridiculously high since they had the refurb. Maybe they are trying to recoup the money they spent. On the other hand, the quality of a lot of the clothing has improved. There is more designer stuff than there used to be, though certainly no bargains any more. But I took a nearly full box of unused Kilner spice jars in. I think there were 9 of them. You can buy a box of 12 on Amazon for £25 (I just looked). You can probably buy them in Farmers. The hospice shop put them on sale separately at £4.50 each !!!!! I only saw a few of them, so I don't know if they were putting out a few at a time. Though next time I went in the ones I saw before had gone, I presume sold That price is just ridiculous. I'm all for supporting charities and charity shops - both donating and buying - but just because ED has become gentrified doesn't give them the right to (apparently) rip people off. I've seen pictures in there as well that seemed (to me) to be at very inflated prices. I don't know if they get them valued by someone? I've started donating more things to Oxfam. They sell donated stuff online as well. ETA: If the hospice shop is selling everything off at 50%, I assume their policy of increasing prices has resulted in decreasing sales. Unless they have more donations than they can handle, so they've got to get rid of what they've already got. They have several other shops. Have the prices gone up so much in all of them? I can't remember where the other ones are, apart from the children's shop in Lordship Lane. Sorry for long post.

Was the camera in the car?

Thanks, Malumbu, but did you mean "ambulance"? Southwark certainly seem to be planting a lot more trees than they are removing, which is great!

I really don't want to use anything which could cause serious harm to foxes, or indeed to the cats which come into my garden to sit still and silent beneath the bird feeders. This has got worse since rambling roses were cut back by my back fence, so I need to sort that out, though I don't think rose thorns deter foxes. Though maybe you weren't replying to me, sorry if so!

Excellent, thanks! Don't think I want the garden covered in gravel, though, but I will investigate the other options.

The problem is, there are roots of plants in there (now exposed) plus I want to plant more things! I guess it might work as a temporary measure, then when the foxes seem to have given up I could remove the hard materials and fill in the holes?

That has really contributed something positive to a discussion on an an important topic. That was sarcasm btw, in case you didn't realise.

Yes, it would seem sensible to at least find out the reason for the removal. For all we know the school may intend to replace them with other planting. Complaining anywhere seems a bit premature at this point, I would have thought.

As I understand it, Poundland itself has been saved (and is reassessing what it sells and its pricing strategy) but nevertheless is getting rid of a quite a few stores, including the ED one. There was a thread on here about it before it opened, and Lordship Lane always seemed to be a very odd choice of location for what used to be called a "pound shop".

But without knowing why they were removed, I don't see how we can comment. Does anybody know the reason? I thought Malumbu's post was useful information, given the subject matter of this thread I didn't think it was patronising.

It's all those question marks 🤣

The last surgery being discussed on the thread was The Gardens. Keep up 🤣

Do you mean the building next to the mosque? I don't know what on earth they can be doing there that's taking so long, it seems to be taking decades! I've never heard anything from there apart from general construction noise. It used to be a halal (?) grocer. It was very useful for very cheap and good garlic and ginger.

Which surgery?

I've always wondered how people manage with charging, even if you have your own charging point. What happens if you can't park outside or very near your house? Do you have to run a lead down the pavement? Suppose you can't even park in your road, and you are running out of charge? These are probably very stupid questions, as I (clearly!) know nothing about electric cars, sorry, EVs, but I wonder this every time I pass one which is charging!

I'm sure they don't chop down trees just to get to use the chainsaws 🤣 I doubt the people making the decision to chop are the same people wielding the saws, but I might be wrong. Trees are normally only cut down if they are diseased or potentially dangerous, or both. Or if they are in the way of something, of course 😭

You can take your pick of surgeries you are in the catchment area of, grammar. You just register at your surgery of choice. You don't have to tell the old one you are leaving. The new surgery does all the paperwork (or whatever replaces paperwork these days!).

The 20mph limit is to protect pedestrians, and I guess to a lesser extent other drivers. If you don't stick to it, you can't complain if you are fined. I and probably most people have accidentally gone over it sometimes, but I wouldn't then complain if I was "caught". I have had fines for speeding in the past (in a 30mph area) but it just made me more careful in the future. I don't have the stats to hand, but I believe there is evidence that the lowered speed limit has reduced accidents, injuries and fatalities. I stand to be corrected.

You are probably right that bluebottles spread disease from the excrement. I will Google it. I suppose the consequences depend on what disease the excrement may have, where the bluebottles go next, and how and to what or whom the disease may be spread. I didn't say the bluebottles weren't spreading disease. I said they were eating the excrement. It's an important part of nature keeping things in equilibrium, otherwise the earth would be covered in shit. I don't see bluebottles around anywhere else, except on dog mess, so I don't know where they could be spreading disease to, but that doesn't mean they aren't. You may well be right, again, about a few people feeding foxes, but how do you know people are feeding these things you mention to foxes? Have you seen them doing it? Again, I'm not saying they aren't, but I've never seen anybody feed a fox, nor to the best of my knowledge do I know anybody who feeds foxes. Yes, obviously "urban" foxes were not here before humans, for obvious reasons. But foxes would have been, when it was woods and countryside, before London expanded. They have just as much right to be here as us. More, probably. And it's a forum. For discussion. If people agreed on everything or didn't ask for more information, there would be no forum. Why shouldn't I question what you and others say? I was taught to question things. Unquestioning acceptance has led - and is still leading - to a lot of evil and misery. If everyone just accepted everything they read or heard, as you seem to be telling me to, the world would be in a worse mess than it already is. There's a massive amount of false information being put around on social media and elsewhere, a lot of it deliberately. I'm not saying yours comes into that category. If memory serves, you also have quite a track record, but it's of posting statements on this forum which you can't back up, and it isn't just me who questions them. Apologies to everyone else for the long post. Back to foxes!

The bluebottles are getting rid of the excrement. I doubt many people are actually feeding the foxes. What evidence do you have of that? What do you think they are feeding them that disagrees with their digestion? I expect there were foxes in this part of London long before there were people here.

I'm confused. Are you answering me, or Pugwash? If me, my nail with fungus was only knocked off a few weeks back. So the nail hasn't grown back yet. I am not looking for someone to cut my toenails, as the podiatrist at the foot clinic cut them when checking the wound where the nail came off. It is Pugwash who is looking for somebody to cut their toenails, and MattGale has suggested Happy Feet as a cheaper alternative to Woodwarde Road.