civilservant

well! Jah Lush, Catriona, hats off to both of you! I should have done my research first - see http://www.southwark.gov.uk/info/200159/history_of_southwark/1020/dickens_southwark/1 "In Great Expectations, Dickens indicates that Camberwell was a more genteel place to live as '...anyone who could lay claim to an acquaintance with people of rank and title had a sure passport to the table of the Maldertons who lived at Oak Lodge, Camberwell' In the southern tip of the present day borough, Dickens was a regular visitor of the Dulwich Club which used to meet at The Greyhound in Dulwich Village, which stood opposite the site of the present Crown & Greyhound. Dickens is also known to have rented a house, under the pseudonym Charles Tringham, for himself and his mistress Ellen Ternan in Linden Grove, Nunhead between 1868 and his death in 1870. In the Pickwick Papers, Dickens describes the wedding of Mr Snodgrass and Emily Wardle at a 'Dulwich Church', after which the wedding party was said to have returned to Mr Pickwick's for the wedding breakfast. 'The house I have taken,' said Mr Pickwick, 'is at Dulwich. It has a large garden, and is situated in one of the most pleasant spots near London.' Dulwich remains much as Mr Pickwick describes it, an almost rural retreat in the middle of the urban sprawl of London, where he was seen 'contemplating the pictures in the Dulwich Gallery, or enjoying a walk about the pleasant neighbourhood....' There is even a Pickwick Cottage in College Road that is commonly thought to be the house that Dickens was thinking of when describing Mr Pickwick's retirement idyll at the end of the book"

so you've just moved to ED, have you Mick Mac? Girl82, what could you mean? Waitrose or M&S couldn't even BEGIN to compete with that star Rye Lane emporium Khan's Bargains (Come In and See the Variety) http://helengraves.co.uk/tag/khans-bargain-ltd/ ETA link and to say - I am so bored with this thread, it could def do with being hijacked

One of the nicest things about Dickens to a Londoner is the London connection. It's especially strong in Our Mutual Friend and Great Expectations - although I don't think he ever made it to ED!

I've finally worked out why this thread exists It's an infallible indicator of an ED newcomer!

paper roses - marie osmond

I quite liked it, and yes, wonderfully evocative. I also liked his (her?) Matthew Shardlake novels to begin with, but just couldn't be doing with the latest - Heartstone - talk about superfluous detail and contrived plot! Fred Vargas and Commissaire Adamsberg, anyone? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Vargas - each one of her books is quirky, completement French and delicieux! I think John at Chener stocks them

If you're new to Dickens,I suggest reading him backwards i.e. start with Great Expectations or Our Mutual Friend and then work back through Bleak House and A Tale of Two Cities. Pickwick Papers is hard to read now - it's dated badly and sags all over the place. I find Stieg Larsson over-rated for the same reason (don't all shout at once!). Good stories but there is so much boring and unnecessary detail - a decent editor would have taken a vigorous blue pencil to his manuscripts. If you're after a good Scandi thriller, try something by Hakan Nesser or Arnaldur Indridason instead.

Homeopathy does NOT "follow the principle that certain plants, minerals, extracts, have medicinal properties" and it was only invented around 1800. It is based on the use of highly dilute solutions of compounds which are believed to cause symptoms similar to those the patient is suffering. Some of these can even be poisonous, such as arsenic. The only reason for the relative non-toxicity of such homeopathic preparations is that the solutions are so dilute that a dose may not even contain any of the allegedly active substance! Clinical trials and meta-analyses, which ARE part of the foundation of modern medicine, strongly suggest that the effects of homeopathic 'drugs' are, as Saffron says, the result of placebo effects. Generally, a belief in homeopathy is a harmless delusion. The danger lies in people preferring homeopathic remedies when orthodox and reliable medical alternatives are freely available. Most people are sensible about the limits of homeopathy, but very occasionally, things can go very wrong. My antennae always start twitching when people ask about homeopathy for their children. See http://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-09-28/parents-jailed-over-babys-death/1445256 - this poor baby only had eczema to start with.

I've just booked some 1-1 classes for my littl'un. It's ?20 a half hour at JAGS pool, which seems to be pretty much the going rate. More info here - http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=jags%20swimming%20lessons&source=web&cd=2&sqi=2&ved=0CDIQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjagssportsclub.co.uk%2Fcms%2Fimport%2Fprivate%2520swimming%2520leaflet%25202.pdf&ei=ijQfT52NEcXT8QOHloTJDg&usg=AFQjCNFfbM06RK55JRsIc15NYvXxMnWwK

James, are you talking about primary or secondary school places? If you can indeed speed up the normal planning schedule (and what did you mean by a 'new government'?), then you may be making provision available just in time to accommodate the bulge classes when they 'graduate' out of local primary schools in 3-4 years' time.

I walked a third of the Camino (Pamplona to Burgos) a few years ago and have planned to return for the rest of it ever since - however real life gets in the way! I must emphasise that I did it because of the walk rather than because of the religious connotations, but there is nonetheless a strong spiritual aspect to the whole adventure. Having said that, it is well worth the effort. As you'd expect from a centuries-old pilgrim/tourist route, much of the noteworthy art and architecture of northern Spain is concentrated along the way - it's a UNESCO World Heritage site. There's a wide range of accommodation from the basic (mostly free) pilgrim hostals to 5-star paradors. You'll also find that pilgrims get a lot of respect and support from local people. The walkers/pilgrims themselves are a very diverse bunch. Some creeping Jesuses, but thankfully these are a tiny minority. My year, the walkers were mostly French and German, with a healthy sprinkling of Italians. Very few Brits - and not a lot of Spanish, interestingly enough. Many of the French walkers had started in Paris or further north and were doing it in stages, walking down branch routes that start as far north as Normandy. Many of them alternated nights in hostals with nights in better class accommodation! There is loads of information and you don't need an organised walk as the way is well marked. There are dedicated guidebooks that tell you about the route in quite minute detail, the best time of year to go, which hostals have hot showers and decent accommodation, where to get your credencial stamped etc. If you only speak English, you might want to take a friend along though... See also this website http://www.caminodesantiago.me.uk/ and the wikipedia entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Way_of_St._James for more info.

ok, then - I've nothing more to contribute to this thread. I'd rather have my skin peeled off slowly in one-inch square strips than attend a private dinner party (as opposed to a 'kitchen supper') but, new mother, I'm curious - if an outside provider is catering, why are you seeking forum approval for your disapproval of 'selfish' guests? You could just provide a different menu option for each guest. After all, you're not cooking!

Are we talking about 'dinner parties' or having friends round for a meal? I would make a distinction between the two. Dinner parties have always smacked of compulsion to me - people have them because they have to, for example to return an invitation. The cutlery and crockery must match, and a proper thank you letter afterwards is de rigueur. As you've probably guessed, I don't do dinner parties - because my parents did. Having friends round to dinner is very different - the main aim is to ensure that everyone has a good time, including the choice of food that they can actually eat and enjoy. I do do these, again because my parents did. I'd definitely check with guests that they are happy to eat what I plan to put in front of them, and although thanks are nice, would think it very churlish to expect these as a given.

I got plenty of nothing - gershwin

The point, Gimme, is that sometimes people are getting fingered through no fault of their own. A parking ticket may be a minor inconvenience. And if it's a fair cop, then fair enough. But if it is isn't, then there's no shame (and it may even be essential for one's sanity and self-respect) in saying 'not fair', even if there is no redress in sight.

peace on earth/little drummer boy - crosby/bowie

thanks the-e-d! much easier to get to a computer than to FH

can you get them in ED or do you have to trek as far out as FH to buy a pair?

There is a socio-economic context to this as well - spices, being imported, were of course expensive in England. Pepper was once worth its weight in gold. So spicy food was a taste that could only be indulged by wealthy people. The poverty of what poor people eat, and the way that cheap spices (and fats and sugars) are used to jazz up rubbish food - now that's a subject for a proper discussion, not the insidious infiltration of foreign muck into 'English food'. I think Tarot's original point got lost somewhere along the way.

I wish it could be Christmas everyday - wizzard

anyone implying that spices are a non-English taste is talking nutmegs... I haven't yet been able to find any reliable sources spice-based medieval or Tudor recipes, but this http://www.pepysdiary.com/p/6902.php points out that Samuel Pepys enjoyed hippocras - which is wine mulled with sugar and spices including cinnamon, ginger, cloves and 'long pepper' - which would probably have both Philip Whoever and his Granny weeping buckets.

Fuschia, :))! DishandtheSpoon, we didn't bother to challenge. We thought about it, but through bitter experience know that Council Bureaucracy will squeeze you through the mill before admitting defeat. P.S. Does anyone remember the car-pound at Vauxhall in the days before they built the ugly luxury-flat towers over it?

edcam's post reminds me of when we parked round the back of the Old Vic on a Sunday afternoon after carefully reading the sign to see if we could. In spite of all our care, the car go towed and we spent Sunday eve traipsing to the back end of East London to retrieve it from a car pound. Being the nerdy thing I am, I went back to check the sign and it's true - the info it gives is ambiguous. Either it was written by someone who eats, shoots and leaves, or by someone whose aim is to maximise council revenue at any price.

kids love e-cards, especially the animated ones (cards, I mean, not kids) They like them better than the paper ones that need chucking out/composting/whatever. Much easier to delete.

Mr CS has had just the same - abdominal cramps, upset stomach and a cold that just stays and stays. We put it down to dodgy buffet fare at a work Christmas do (though that didn't explain the sniffle), but he'll be relieved to hear that it's just another seasonal flu bug. Hope you get better soon, it's a nasty one to have!