civilservant

definitely the Royal Festival Hall on the sofas, or in one of the nooks and corners on other levels where you can be quite private the place is usually full of parents and small children, especially outside concert times i used to go there a lot when Junior Civilservant was tiny

I appreciate that there seems to be only one councillor available to canvass the large area which will be affected by the market proposals. However, the proposals throw up access, parking and traffic issues that affect Crystal Palace Road. We already have big problems with cars speeding across the junction with North Cross Road/Upland Road or parking carelessly around the junction. Crystal Palace Road residents will also need to consulted at some point.

So what are the arrangeements for managing North Cross Road Market? Does it have market officers or does Southwark use a management comopany?

?700k is a huge deficit, even over a period of years, and indicates very poor management Re. costs. Of course there'll be short-term or temporary costs such as traffic/parking/ congestion, and even the cost of an extra dustcart (and street cleaner) and a bit of electricity. But friends who lived near East Street Market used to complain about the mounds of rubbish (especially perishables) generated by the market and the ensuing problems with rats and other vermin. Once rats move in and like it, they tend to stay! More generally, if Southwark can't manage East Street Market, or even consult residents properly, how can it guarantee that it'll be able to manage an extended North Cross Road Market? The great advantage of the present market's size is its ability to self-police. Once the market expands it will be much harder to keep tabs on individual stalls and the hawkers that the market will inevitably attract. I haven't seen any proposals about the kind of stalls that will be allowed, how applications will be vetted, how stalls and licence holders will be monitored, or the criteria for awarding or renewing licences for an expanded market with a wider variety of stalls. Or even about the extra policing that will be needed. If the council can't make it work in East Street, why should it work in North Cross Road? Re. nimbyism. Quite right too. The impact of extending the market will fall disproportionately on the people who live nearest it, so it is only right that they should have the biggest say about the proposal. I notice that the Village people never get upset about the limited commercial opportunities on their own doorsteps - what do they know that we in ED don't?

If councillors are out canvassing opinions about North X Road, they should cover the bit of Crystal Palace Road near the junction with North X Road as well. We received the original consultation and responded to it by Surveymonkey. We were intrigued by the presumption in the consultation doc that the extension to the market would be a good thing - add to the 'weekend vibe of ED' or some such tosh. We were never told about any follow-up meeting though. Then last week I took a petition door to door to houses around the Crystal Palace Rd and North Cross Rd junction. The petition was organised by people living on Lacon Road who'd be directly affected by the proposed road closure (and it looks like Ulverscroft got missed out :'(.) Based on a tiny sample of course, but some interesting results about half the people I spoke to refused to sign the petition, the vast majority of these being younger people living in what I know to be private rented flats on NXRd itself. every older person signed the petition, quoting quality of life issues (noise, disruption, traffic, parking etc) as their reasons. Most of these were long-term residents of houses on CPRd. Worth noting that the antis were resigned to the Saturday extension of the market - they just didn't want to put up with the same on a Sunday as well. Not one of these people, pro or anti, knew about the Council meetings, James Barber. It does look like Southwark's set on pushing this through on the QT.

As Sue (who was crucial to making it all go with a swing!) points out, we had a Big Lunch last year on Crystal Palace Road - see - and on a number of other roads in East Dulwich and Peckham. The date of this year's Big Lunch has already been set. It's Sunday 5 June - see http://www.thebiglunch.com/map/find-a-big-lunch.php - and we'll certainly be trying to organise a Crystal Palace Road Big Lunch again this year.

I've read many of the posts and none of them convince me that we need a Waitrose or M&S. I haven't got any deep-rooted objection to having one, but the main problem with LL seems to be lack of shopping choice for the later shoppers, and I don't see how a Waitrose or M&S would solve that - anyway, I'm sure they've cased the joint and worked out whether it's worth their while. A word of support for the much-maligned Co-op. I've always found what I needed there, or a close approximation, and their special offers are always good value. And the shop assistants are genuinely helpful. As Twirly points out, it's chicken and egg - you don't shop there, they reduce their stock in response, and so it goes.

Thanks to you lovely ED people for your support and good ideas (but beaver14uk - consider yourself excluded. Some people!) The house is finally losing its resemblance to a Horrible Histories set (pre-plumbing and sanitation era), thanks to the lovely Gary from Actual Gas Services, who turned up as promised and fixed the problem. The problem was a frozen stopcock out on the pavement - so actually Thames Water's business. It was all cemented up from the pavement work over the summer, and too close to the surface, which was presumably why it froze up so fast. A kettle of hot water might just be the answer if it ever happens again, or JessKat's hairdryer...:))

indeed, DJKQ! but being a sissy civilservant, I need a specialist to help and all the plumbers we know are out in Kent or Kennington and won't come out to lovely East Dulwich in weather like this do you know of one we could call before it really becomes Thames Water's problem? we would love to be washing and flushing again!

Having just tracked my Amazon parcel delivery status - I followed a link in an email sent by Amazon apologising for late deliveries - I discovered that some of my Xmas pressies are currently "Out for delivery" from a depot in Glasgow Lanarkshire! So still stuck in someone else's snow, presumably But it also turns out that you can't track a parcel if it's been sent by Royal Mail unless it's Express Delivery or Special Delivery. This is what it helpfully (not) says on the Amazon website "Royal Mail 2nd class * No online tracking available. Please wait for possible late delivery until 8 days after dispatch. If there has been no delivery attempt within this time, please contact Royal Mail delivery depot for more information regarding delivery. Your Royal Mail Hotline: 08457 740740. * If the parcel cannot be located by the carrier after this time, please contact Amazon.co.uk Customer Service. Royal Mail 1st class * No online tracking available. Please wait for possible late delivery until 6 days after dispatch. If there has been no delivery attempt within this time, please contact Royal Mail delivery for more information regarding delivery. Your Royal Mail Hotline: 08457 740740. * If the parcel cannot be located by the carrier after this time, please contact Amazon co.uk Customer Service."

thanks for the helpful suggestions - yes we think that its our supply pipe that's frozen Thames Water's suggestion was to turn the stopcock on and off a few times, because the valves might be screwed:-S But it's very stiff - and anyway needs a special tool? And ours is in the pavement outside and it's rapidly disappearing under the promised six inches of snow So, dear JessKat, that's us too resigned to lovely greasy hair and dirty dishes for the mo (let's not discuss toilets)

It's snowing prettily outside but inside is a scene of squalor and dirty dishes because our taps have run dry! We can't check with our next-door neighbours because they're all out for the weekend, but neighbours three doors down and across the road have got water. Thames Water say not their problem, but keep them posted! Has anyone else had this problem?

went to Liverpool - out this morning and back again today - without a problem all trains running pretty much to time even though it snowed all the way then waited... and waited... and waited... at London Bridge for a train back to ED!

walked past today and it looked like it was closed while having major building work done does anyone know?

thanks, kindaha! and loads of good luck with whatever decision you make.

kindaha, your 6pm post - surely you don't mean it was me that was worrying about how to classify you? I couldn't care less and I'm more than happy to leave that kind of snobbery to others. new mother, the nice thing about Heber was the way that the kids seemed relaxed and to enjoy themselves in the school. We were taken around by the kids themselves and the hall and classrooms were bright and welcoming with their artwork. However, there was clearly a balance being struck between freedom and formality - all the children were in uniform and it was clear that we had to visit the school at set times, rather than just roll up, as was the case at one of the other options.

been grinding away at the day job all day and just caught up on oilworker's answer to my question. Clearly I didn't go to the right university so I'm still clueless after reading it... assume a school catchment area is fixed - then if you've got high-density social housing, usually inhabited by the under-involved working classes, you can squeeze a larger number of families (and hence kids needing schools) into the same space than if you've got middle class houses with gardens etc, presumably lived in by nice posh families. So I wouldn't expect an over-subscribed school as a result of geographical position in say Dulwich Village, and so the only conclusion I can draw is that the middle class rate of breeding exceeds the working class rate of reproduction... kindaha, I'm sorry if I've seemed to hijack your thread, but I've been amazed at assertions made by one or two of the posters, none of which seem to have much bearing on your original question. anyway...I'm delighted to see that everyone else is also giving Heber a good school report!

junior civilservant went straight into Reception, so I can't speak about the nursery from my own experience she settled in well, no doubt helped by being a girl, and not summer-born (both characteristics that work to children's advantage in the early years) but the Reception staff did a lot to help the children's transition into school as well the school usually has two reception classes, but this year had to put on a third to accommodate unprecedentedly high local demand for school places. This is the controversial bulge class that you might have heard about on other threads. Next year, it will be back to a two-class intake, which is why I advised putting Heber top of your list if that's where you want your child to go

I'm a bit worried about the advice to give your baby Calpol as a sedative and/or analgesic, and also the advice about not breastfeeding. The best way to deal with ear pain is to breastfeed - the sucking action helps even out the pressure. We travelled a lot by plane when I was on maternity leave - though only to European destinations - and although it was easiest when the baby was tiny, it was never very difficult. I was never prevented from breastfeeding at take-off, landing or during the flight, not even on Ryanair!

You would do well to put Heber as your first choice - it is a good and improving school, as we know because Junior civilservant goes there. One thing that Heber certainly doesn't lack is parental involvement! Upper/middle/working class, whatever - the Parents and Friends are a very active bunch, and have done wonders to raise funds for the school. I'm also curious to know why "Dulwich Village Infants and Dulwich Hamlet are massively over-subscribed because of the nature of their middle class catchment." Is it because the nature of the middle classes in their catchment is to breed like rabbits? Only asking...

and yet another vote for Dr Prabhakaran - she really takes the time to listen and deal with your problem sensitively and thoroughly

hi, Sophiesofa, one woman did say that she felt unwell, which I perfectly understood. Then there was the woman who asked me - I was standing and hadn't asked for a seat - 'are you fat or are you pregnant?' and when I replied ' I'm afraid I'm pregnant', started joking about it with her male companion... You clearly get all sorts on public transport. But I particularly remember the women who was reading her Bible, looked up and saw me (and of course the bump) and then looked down and paid very close attention to her reading. Charity clearly didn't begin at home for her!

I really don't get the thing about 'being too polite to ask'. If no one got up, I always asked, especially when commuting in my third trimester when I resembled a melon on sticks. Once or twice, a woman refused, but never the men. It doesn't end when pregnancy's over, though. If you're carrying a baby on a bus, because the bus driver's made you fold your pushchair up, there's no way you're going to be able to hold on at the same time! If you're too shy to ask for a seat, it's you and your baby who're going to be rolling in the aisles...

Ours was a November baby and I worried about the exact same things. Our flat was draughty (single-pane sash windows that rattled!). We ended up making her a nest between our pillows with some cellular blankets in a cardboard box - reasoning that we'd have an early alert if she got too hot/too cold/stopped breathing etc. She wore a babygro with long sleeves and feet and a cardigan and was wrapped up in a cellular blanket. Further heating was provided by two massive sleeping parents! The bonus for me was that I didn't need to get out of bed for night-time feeds, nappy changing etc, and she then moved into a gro-bag for the following autumn and winter.

I was idly reading the notices about replacement bus services in Denmark Hill station this morning when I noticed that all of them expressly state that 'prams and bicycles' will not be allowed on. Pushers of prams big or small would need to be aware!