Sue

Well, what has the postal system got to do with the Royal Family? Decades ago there was a discussion about potentially changing the name, but it never happened. I think they decided to stick with a traditional type name.

For some reason post boxes feel like something from another age. The only time I seem to use them is to post my used ink cartridges to HP for recycling, or my used contact lenses and cases to Vision Direct, ditto (I don't buy the lenses from there, but they take them anyway). I hardly ever send physical cards any more, and I can't think of anything else I'd ever post which didn't require me to queue at the Post Office to get proof of sending and/or delivery. And it also feels ridiculous in the twenty first century that we are still calling our postal system "Royal Mail"!

Have you read the OP?

I would go out of my way to avoid it if I knew where it was 🤣

Eh? I'm not sure whose post you are responding to, but if it was mine, you "clearly do not know how much it costs"? I have two granddaughters who have frequently stayed with my partner and myself in London, since the younger one was four. I wasn't commenting on the cost of taking children out in London. I was asking exactly what a holiday science club was doing with the children to warrant charging £242 for five hours! You "clearly" did not read my post! You don't have to take children on expensive outings. As you say, there are plenty of free/cheap things for children to do in London, and children enjoy choosing things to go in their packed lunch which they can carry themselves in a little backpack. As for buying toys etc, you can give them pocket money at the start of their stay, to spend how they want, and if they make poor choices and then run out of money, it's a learning experience, isn't it. And I suspect I am at least as old as you, and quite possibly older! But in any case, Pugwash was not asking for general comments, s/he was asking for specific suggestions for a specific boy with specific interests.

£242 a DAY? For 5 hours? What on earth are they doing with them, alchemy to make gold to take home?!

Thank you for that information. I will google. Though I don't know why people should be legally allowed to take cuttings from, say, plants in a herbaceous border in a public park. They may not uproot or "damage" the plant (depending on how you define "damage") but they could certainly remove enough plant material to affect the plant's appearance. And suppose everybody was to do it?

The plane noise seems to have been really loud lately. Have they been flying lower for some reason? Or are there more of them? Or is it more noticeable because there's less road traffic noise? Or am I imagining it? I don't usually notice plane noise, I thought I had got used to it!

Thanks but I'm looking for a camera which records, rather than sitting up all night with binoculars in case something visits! But thanks anyway! You could post in the For Sale section, I'm sure someone else will be interested!

So is it still going on? I live very near there and walk there often, but the only bleeping noise I've ever heard is from the alarm near the dentist. And I have very good hearing. Though I'm beginning to doubt that now, if there's a constant bleeping in the area every 60 seconds!!!

But doesn't "public" land belong to somebody? Sorry to go on about it, but I'm confused. Some years back, someone/some people picked all the lovely daffodils growing along the edge of Peckham Rye (adjacent to the main road). Do you think that was OK, because it wasn't on private land? It spoiled the potential enjoyment of them by a lot of other people, including me. And what is the distinction between "plants worth growing" and those apparently not worth growing? And why is it relevant to the theft of plants and flowers and cutting material? Or have I totally misunderstood your point?

Thank you, that's really useful.

Aren't all places with plants or flowers someone's property, or have I missed something somewhere?

Maybe so, but in both cases it is theft, in my view.

This happens in nurseries and garden centres as well. I imagine they think nobody will notice 🙄 Not quite the same thing, but years ago I had three fully planted window boxes stolen from my front bay. The police said someone was going round East Dulwich with a van. I think it was Mother's Day or something. I also knew someone in North London who had two very expensive planters (and plants) stolen from outside his house. He had to get the replacements chained down.

That's dreadful. There are snipping sounds. She must have come out with scissors or secateurs specifically to steal other people's flowers. What road is this?

The alarm outside the dentist hasn't been bleeping when I've passed it a couple of times recently. OP and others, have you heard the mysterious noise in the last few days?

Chern now sells alcohol including wine, and has Thai beer (Singha) on draft. And yes Chern is lovely and really good value!

You have an opportunity to set up a scheme to buy people's books,do you mean? And you will pay someone a huge amount to be allowed to set up the scheme? I don't understand. Is your final sentence unfinished? I buy a lot of books secondhand. If there's a particular book I want I always google to see if I can get it secondhand first. Quite often the book I get looks virtually new and unread, but much cheaper than if I had bought it new, even at a reduced new price. There are loads of places online with a huge selection of secondhand books. At least one of the websites sells them via a number of different secondhand booksellers who all apparently gain potential customers via their search online for a particular book. But I also give away a lot of books, either to friends or to charity shops (especially the Oxfam book shop in Herne Hill). It would be a huge hassle to send them somewhere like you are suggesting, especially if you have to put in the details first. I suppose at least these days you can easily google to find out if any of them are worth anything. When my dad died, on behalf of the family I took a carload of his books to Hay on Wye (I lived not far from there at the time) plus some of my old childhood books. They cherrypicked the ones they wanted and wouldn't take most of them, and I strongly suspect I wasn't given anything like they were worth.

I'm confused, sorry. Do you mean it's staying the same but just changing its name?

Does anyone have an air purifier they no longer need? Ideally combined with an ioniser, but not essential.

Ah, sorry, I missed the "French" bit on their ad. DUH! Thanks for the extra info!

I am not sure what the French have to do with this?! And I wasn't suggesting they change their existing potatoes, which was why I said "expand their range" ! Hopefully the Castle do still have an arrangement with Yard Sale as well. Does anybody know?

We enjoyed ravioli at Due Fratelli (near the bus stop on Lordship Lane which TFL for some reason calls Goose Green) the other evening. Though they seem to have more pizza options than pasta, and not many pasta options for vegetarians (though obviously that won't worry you if you aren't a vegetarian!)