Ko

I too complained to the council about the recycling being dropped all down our street. Once I complained, it definitely got better. Call 0207 525 2000. I'm always amazed at the laziness of some of the collectors. Sometimes I'm given 3 boxes back (when I only have one) - we leave them on the road and everyone normally gets their own ones back.

Interesting to read the personal account - very sad. It takes you back to another time in ED. I wonder if Hammetts, the butchers mentioned, is the one next to Southside Lighting. Its now a Chinese acupunture/therapy place, but it was once a butchers and it still has the old tiling on the walls.

Well I guess the people in punch ups and causing trouble will be barred. That should help a bit. Haven't tried the new Plough yet but I will pop in soon.

We want a viable school. Its very poor of Harris to not attend local meetings.

trinity Wrote: > Sorry Ko - I think your facts are wrong - there is > no swimming pool at Waverley school - certainly > not an enormous 100m one. (Olympic size pools are > 50m as is the Crystal Palace pool). > > Indeed I think the sports facilities at Waverley > are very poor. Fitness facilities perhaps - sports > facilities no. They compare badly to the > facilities at some of the local private schools. > So the idea of the boys' school benefitting from > excellent facilities does not hold water. A bit > like the non-existent swimming pool. Thanks for the info Trinity. I've been getting mine from Waverley's website and from speaking to the school directly. Is this not true? Seriously, I would like to know! :-S I'm not sure if we can compare state school facilities with facilities at local private schools, but that's just my opinion. I rang the school and they said they have got a swimming pool and they are currently refurbishing it. The website also says this and states it is a 100 metre pool and it looks quite large on the plan of the school. Maybe they got the size wrong on the website?? The Dec 05 Ofsted report states, "The school offers an exceptionally wide range of sports activities to other schools and organisations. The school takes full advantage of opportunities to gain external funding. Students benefit from good sources, particularly the sports facilities." The website says, amongst other things: "All students take part in at least two hours of physical activity each week ? from swimming and basketball to athletics, dance and gymnastics. In recent years more than ?10 million has been invested in our buildings and facilities, including new outdoor courts, a large sports hall, fitness suite and dance suite. We also have our own swimming pool." "Sports colleges aim to raise standards of achievement in physical education and sport for all their students, leading to whole school improvement. They are focal points for promoting excellence in physical education and community sport, extending links between different schools, sports bodies and communities, and spreading good practice across a region." "Our superb facilities could be just what you need, including a 200-seater sports hall, dance studio and outdoor tennis courts." "Join our gym: As well as a state-of-the-art technogym, we offer a range of exercise classes, yoga, aerobics and pilates. And you can also book our brand new sports hall for badminton, five-a-side football, volleyball or basketball. Our 25 station technogym includes resistance machines and the latest cardiovascular equipment." "Sport and fitness play a key part of school life and we offer a wide and balanced range of activities. From year 9 students make choices about their sport and fitness activities and we also offer many extra-curricular clubs including basketball, football, trampolining, athletics and rounders." Website has a tour and you can click on the icons of the plan for more info on the facilities: http://www.hrsgraphics.com/hrs-waverley/tour.html# Any info people could provide on this would be good.

Ok, I know I've a few posts on this subject but I read through lots of info last night and it made interesting reading! On the Edge campaign website, one resident talks about having a smaller school site so that there is room for an on-site car park. That speaks for itself. During any consultation, as well as considering the impact on local residents, we need to look at the impact on the whole local community and its need for a viable school.

I've just copied this from a link on another thread (there's different bits about this topic in 3 different threads!) "Following the 5th June consultation another leaflet has been dropped to the doors by the usual 4 residents of Upland Rd. It reads: Harris Boys Academy Following the appalling ?consultation? meeting on Tuesday evening we are proposing to meet up to plan how to take our concerns forward. This is VERY URGENT given the short timescales. Submissions to the planners by 15th June. The main concern appear to be: Size of school 900+ boys ( original school size 350 girls ) Traffic ? entrance in Friern Rd ? up to 100 staff. Size, design, position of building: - 4 storeys high+ - Right up against the end of our gardens. Meeting Sunday 10th June East Dulwich Community Centre Darrell Road SE22 6pm-7.30pm Please come along and give your support !" From this there appears to be a major concern about the impact on immediate residents. E.g. traffic, buildings right up to the end of their gardens. Yes, the impact on the immediate residents has to be considered and there has to be consultation. My personal opinion is that provision of education is more important than, for example, worries re increased traffic. Yes the latter does need to be considered. However, in making any decisions about the school, I would like to see the most relevant influencing factor to be what is in the best interests of the children's education. We need more school places, in schools which will work and have a good chance of success, and there has to be a long-term view re educational needs. Schools expanding on their sites is not a new thing. I went to a Victorian school that doubled its size by extensions in the 60's, 70's and 90's. The land belongs to the local authority and it is not unusual for them to built bigger schools on existing sites. Increased traffic to the area around the school has always been a long-term possibility. That's my view, but there still has to be consultation and a look at any other viable options. Let's take a positive view on this. Its a new school which the area needs!! Let's come up with some suggestions that can be discussed with the Harris Federation. Rather than just saying 'there's no outside space', let's ask 'will they share Waverely's great sports facilities just up the road?'

EDbrummie - I had the same thought as you!

Another interesting few statements on the Waverley website: "Reaching out Waverley is at the centre of a plan to link Southwark?s secondary schools with their nearby primary schools. We also encourage other local schools, clubs and societies to make use of our superb new sports hall, fitness suite and dance studio. Our superb facilities are also open to the public after school, at weekends and during school holidays. Sport at Waverley In recent years more than ?10 million has been invested in our buildings and facilities, including new outdoor courts, a large sports hall, fitness suite and dance suite. We also have our own swimming pool." There is already the mindset that some facilities should be shared. My secondary school shared facilities with a school across the road from us, even though the other school was a convent girls-only school - this didn't stop them sharing facilities with our mixed-sex school. We even had shared lessons to widen the subjects available to pupils from both schools.

> BigDad Wrote:> > > Anyway - if its supposed to be a SPORTS > > academy, where are the SPORTS facilities? > buggie Wrote: > I stated in my post that the girls school is a > sports academy - not aware of the proposed boys > academy being a sports academy too. Some facts (which are always useful): The girls school, Waverley, has - an indoor 100m swimming pool - a running track - flood-lit all-weather sports pitches for tennis, hockey, basketball, football etc - fitness suite with a modern gym - indoor full-sized sports hall for indoor football, basketball, badminton etc - a dance studio It would be good to know if there are any plans to share these facilities.

Jah Lush Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Old Fish factory? Where? In another thread someone said the building around the corner from St Thomas More Hall was a fish factory once.

Email environment@southwark.gov.uk. They take it very seriously when businesses let their rubbish float onto the public roads (because it adds to their clenaers' workload). They usually send someone around to have words. I hate to sit in dirty coffee shops and it puts me right off. Also people should try to be tidier themsleves.

is the corner of the building on the left the old fish factory??:-S

PP - have you tried the Dulwich Society's history sub-committee? If not, contact is: www.dulwichsociety.org Local History history@dulwichsociety.org.uk Brian Green, 133 Burbage Road SE21 7AF, 020 7274 1996 The Dulwich Society people are always very helpful.

PP - give yourself a big pat on the back! (tu)(tu)(tu)I will definitely go in and look at the church some time.

At secondary school I went to (outside London) - we played hockey, football etc and did cross-country running in the park next door. Did orienteering in another park down the road. Had tennis courts that doubled as netball courts. Autumn was gymnastics in the gym. Were off-site activities like canoeing and golf. Use Peckham Rye Park for sports!!! Also, does Waverley have any sports facilites that can be shared?

James Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Anything involving ostrich feathers would be great > (as long as the ostriches were not harmed) Ooh ooh, I've got an idea! A piano bar, with Barry Manilow look-a-like, flamingo feathers (so much better than ostrich) and a kareoke machine! And then every night can end with dancing the congo up and down LL! Back on topic - maybe a bakery? Hot beverages plus nice pastries? And smoothies/fresh juices.

capt_birdseye Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Might take a DDB (double-decker bus) to work > tomorrow so as to avoid the LRT (late running > train) Like this one! What's NTV? :-S

Went down to Ramsgate on the Kent coast. Lovely to see the boats bobbing up and down in the sunny harbour. I didn't dip my toes in the sea though. May have to borrow my friend's lovely dogs sometime (I think one of them is in love with me) and take them for a walk on the beach (and no doubt a swim in the sea! - wet shaggy retriever anyone? ::o) Had meal at a lovely Thai place there. Looks a very unassuming place but superb food - regularly in 'top 10 lists' for best Thai in south-east. Owner said she's currently practising her lines for a part in a Channel 4 film about Chinese gangs!? A man from Harry Potter films was also eating there. I didn't know who he was and was a bit miffed when kids wanted his autograph - I think he may have been in Auf Wiefesen(sp?) Pet. He had a very very deep voice which sounded a little scary! I also learnt how to say thank you in Thai (koppen ka!) Drove through some lovely Kent villages on the way there - masses of poppies evrywhere. Was up early and back late on Sat, so Sun was a lazy day.

mockney piers Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Or maybe a gay piano shop? He he - the piano bar! The Barry Manilow and ostrich feather image is scary. I often stay at a friend's house and her neighbour used to be a star in one of the big symphony orchestra's - she's almost blind now but tinkles away perfectly at the piano for a couple of hours every day - listening to her is absolutely amazing. Not sure anything on LL could live up to that. By the way, saw that they are doing various concerts at Crystal Palace Park thios summer - similar to the ones they do at Kenwood up on Hampstead Heath. I'm really not that keen on Starbucks. How about one of those healthy juice/smoothie shops? Sure that would do a roaring trade in the mornings.

A bit odd that they still have some people's clothes. Ask inside the chippie or kebab shop or the corner shop opposite - they're all lovely friendly people and they should know how to get hold of the launderette people.

Yep, Britannia is great.(tu) They also own the kebab shop next door to their fish and chip shop.

I'll bring some chocs from H&G (does '&' count?) on NCR and some wine from G&B on LL (only 2 letters!) Mine's a VRB (vodka red bull)! Then we can have a BBQ in PRP.:))

MW74 - I agree with Big K that your plants are probably suffering from drainage problems. I think the clay soil doesn't help - it is more likely to get waterlogged I think and the roots won't like this. Not good for us in ED/South London as there's lots of clay soil around here (sorry::o - is this still on-topic-ish as we are talking about ED and types of soil???! - exciting topic that it is?!) Anyway, move your plants elsewhere in your garden and see if they do better - if the roots are still good, you may be able to revive them. Re poor drainage - hard to get a quick fix - you really need to dig up all the beds (go very deep) and add lots of of sharp sand and I'm sure there's other things you should do as well. Try replanting where there is plenty of sun (if the plants are sun-loving) so that rainwater gets more of a chance to dry out before the next lot of rain soaks the soil. Alternatively, put them in pots for now. Good luck! PS Hold off giving the plants a feed to pep them up - they are already under a lot of stress and the feed will be too much for them to cope with at the moment! We are probably going to get sent to the lounge so send me a PM with what plants you have if you want some further advice and I'll try my best! Its rubbish if your plants die. :'(

Sounds good. I will pop by and have a look. Good luck with it!