Maurice

15, one thanks you.

And all joking aside, any BNP reference is highly offensive.

Marvelous! I'm not sure if the '5' is meant to be an 'S', which is certainly not true. Or if it is an insult to my manhood, which is not suitable for online discussion.

How about AL9 D8L

Oh Bob it is true isn't it? My own postcode? How delightful. What should one choose? I recall when postcodes were much shorter. Was it the 60's when we added the second lot? One does need some help I'm afraid. What should my personal postcode be?

Oh that ghastly dive is a major reason we continue to petition for an independent Camberwell Grove. Local politicians are using police to crack down on our protests but my fellow silver foxes are warming to twitter as a way to let the world know of our plight. Surely news of our struggle beats the usual 'I'm on the train', 'I'm having a pint' drivel tweeted from some of the most ordinary of people.

Ah union busting. Them were the days....

All this political talk and then I see our dear Iron Lady is back in hospital following a fall. Bless. What this country could use is another 5 years of dear Thatcher to put us right. Get well soon.

It all went blank. My new medication is marvelous. I should share.

They've been saying that since the 30's my dear boy. I ought to know. I heard it then!

Alan I indeed like the idea of a bypass from the Grove to perhaps Waterloo? Great idea.

Oh Alan I do recall you. You live in the former council owned estate serving as a dividing line/wall between civility and the bit of Camberwell we must demolish for the suggested park and ride, yes? I forget your name for it but it was marvelous. As for Tory being about self-interest, perhaps it is. But it is also about personal responsibility, even if it may lack compassion. I do bore of hearing so little about how individuals are to blame and instead the Government. Such arguments are generally couched with: 'Not that I don't think what happened is horrible and the person should be punished, BUT....'

Dispense with this horrid notion of a 50% tax rate.

Oh my dearest Chav. I do hope she is faring well in her fight for the least among us. Bless. On the other side of the tracks, I have also noted a new French restaurant just as one approaches the DMZ in Camberwell. Merveilleux!

I have been away indeed, first to hospital then to warmer weather for a long recovery. But I am back and can keep it under control indeed, though I'm not sure if that is what you meant?

Well we do the heavy lifting and fill the treasury so that, every few years, a Labour Government can spend, spend, spend, before we come back to the rescue.

I, along with the majority of Europe, swung away from the left this election. Of course, one has long tended to vote Tory.

I know Ted. I may just have to run for political office ;-) Right re: McCain, though he's been highly critical of the way Bush and Co ran the war pre-surge.

I'd decided to stay away as a new year resolution but just can't keep it. McCain is hardly 'anti war' Carnell. Where did you get that?

On that we agree. Education, education, education. Equal and affordable for all. See? I do have a softer side.

'Tis not my view that assumes class differences, but yours. I say neighbourhoods generally reflect the demand of consumers and the habits of local residents. Live and let live. Those who want to radically impose a 'regeneration' because they don't like the way the majority bahave (shopping habits, preferences, etc.) are raising the class divide. There is a reason those betting shops and cheap off licence shops are booming and tend to survive when our efforts at a gastro organic deli fail. There is a reason pavements are littered with rubbish, gum and dog poo despite cleaning schedules the same as anywhere else. If people choose to live in filth and patron our idea of 'rubbish shops', then who is the one playing the class card? Me saying respect their lifestyle or you suggesting they 'deserve' the same type streets we prefer?

Indeed. And also imposing a middle class design in the midst of a predominately working class area won't instantly change it to Lordship Lane.

AllForNun you've answered your own question. The Bellendon team hasn't moved because it can't. It failed in it's delivery promising such interventions don't work - or don't quite work and certainly don't work on schedule. As a taxpayer, I'm disgusted by the money spent on Bellendon and one thing surely we've learned is not to replicate it.

Again I just don't believe in our current 'if you build it they will come' approach to regeneration. Lordship Lane is an excellent example. They came because demand was high, not because we poured in millions building a lovely parade of empty shops. Peckham remains an excellent example. Bellendon a close second. A new coat of paint covers the cracks only for a limited amount of time.

Absolutely Frisco but my memory fades and all the buzz about ED upped my expectations of what I might find. I also agree completely with the downsides of our islands. Sigh.