downsouth

And has a fantastic range of restaurants - I love South End/Brighton Road.

- A great caribbean restaurant - A comic book shop - A good trainer shop - A men's groomer/spa - A shop selling really good bottled beers - A good sushi place - A viewing platform with a restaurant

And I thought it was just me. I was contemplating starting my own thread. A friend and I went to Black Cherry last night after taking a stroll of the Lane. EDT seemed a bit sticky and the food menu was poor. Black Cherry was great. Perfect in fact. Definitely my fave place on the lane so initmate and relaxed and friendly waitress who was on her third day. Anyway I digress, afterwards we went to the Green so i could show my friend some of their wine and beer. But each question we asked was met with derision and contortions of the waitresses face. plus she was busy on the phone to an acquaintance. Needless to say we were only there for a few minutes but knowing my friend if we had received decent service he would have bought a few good wines to take home. Can't say I'm in a rush to be made to feel like that again.

Shame the Rye Hotel can't feature. Or can it?

Anyone know of a good self-defence class? or perhaps we could have our own version of the Guardian Angels? Back on topic, don't be so sure that all the 'runts' come from Peckham. Some/most of them more than likely live in ED - as hard as it is for some to believe.

Just be thankful you're not in Lambeth borough. Now that's real waste...

It would depend on the situation and whether or not I thought they were armed. Instinctively I would fight them off but bearing in mind their physicality (i.e. male; female; large; small) I would exert as much force as I thought was necessary to get away or, if only one person, apprehend.

Now that's what I call a lady.

Oh, well in that case that sounds quite good. A nice incentive for parents to forgoe the manic morning drop offs (less cars ont he streets) and for the girls to get some exercise - god knows they need it!

Maurice - I am finding it very hard to ignore you rantings particularly when you train them in the same directions every time. CWALD hasn't done anything to you so why must you keep attacking her? I find it really distasteful. For such a 'traditionalist' you lack chivalry instead you're more akin to amisogynist. Get a life, get an interest, for **** sake and rejoice! You remind me of Alf Garnet character who has forgotten to take prozac. Even if CWALD doesn't object to what you say I do. Maurice Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > You'll be proud to know I just had a read of the > Green Party's website. Very convincing, in a rose > coloured sort of way. > > I was especially keen to find out what the party > thinks about population growth. It seems to > suggest the number of children one chooses is > 'personal choice'. But then dances around the > issue of 'too many people' and 'overcrowded, > overstretched planet'. > > You've four children, which is your free choice > wholeheartedly supported by your party. Is there > a conversation to be had about how many is too > many?

I'm all for cycle lanes in the right place (I cycle to work from time to time) but this looks as though it will be on the pavement. There's a similar set up in Waterloo and the cyclists act as though they own strip. I'd hate for this to be the same thing particularly with school children and parents walking with children also useing this path.

They weren't always. They 'were' all separate Dutch towns including Harlem and the then New Amsterdam - they are all bar NY anglicised Dutch names. *puts Times History of the World down*

Blue just to echo others' sentiments. Glad you're ok, there really is no excuse. Fractionater - without trying to hijack the thread there are different forms of rap music so please don't label an entire genre. Also, in my yoof I listened to stuff far worse than what I hear being played nowadays however it didn't suddenly make into an OG (Original Gangster). The issues are a bit more complex than that but often relate to discipline and supervision of one's own children. occassiolly they are sometimes just nasty so and so's. Blue hope you get better soon.

Back on topic: I was in Sainsburys a few weeks back and a group of ten mid teens (15-17) were wondering around the shop trying to lay their hands on alcohol and all sorts. To be honest they all seemed half stoned. From their attire and speech they were well to do but they were very loutish. something about them seemed to suggest they were that bit more important than the next person. Needless to say the security guards had their hands full. So yes I have seen a change but like this morning's BBC Breakfast programme kept on banging on about we're in the middle of an alcohol binge bubble. They repeated it so many times today and said that someone who drinks one glass of wine a day is as bad as a binge drinker that I am now abstaining until I go to a beer festival this Saturday.

As I was growing up in the Bermondsey Simon Hughes first became an MP for the area. His opportunistic and scaremongering (BNP-lite) may have endearded himself to some in the area but definitley not me - I can't stand the man. Only since he achieved a national reputation - a momemnt I deplored - did he suddenly become an MP for all. He is all about power, worse so than other politicians especially seeing the Lib Dems are hardly going to get into power.

It's cheaper to flee to myspace - she'll never find you there.

What you mean Battlestar Gallactica? - it is an awful footprint on the landscape. But like you say maybe it's had an effect.

According to that article Lewisham is either tea-toller central or a refuge for pacifists.

MrBen Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- The Bishop was full of runny > noses the other night and one guy doing lines out > a bottle right in front of the bouncer! > > are CCTV camera everywhere now (noted when I scrapped a graffiti attempt to > replace the "W" of White stuff with an "S" - I can > live with drunken behaviour but not pastel > yachting sweaters which I find deeply offensive). EDF - a mine of information for the local bobby on the street!

Just be grateful they didn't have THE sandwich. Otherwise your gold card services would have been required on pain of dish washing...

There are problems as are highlighted here but to be honest it is certainly no worse then elsewhere in south London. I think folk tend to forget where it is they live. The internet (EDF) manages to raise awareness and sometimes unintentional hysteria/lamentation but in effect it's really not so bad. For one the prices on the Lane will put many propsective punters off. Whereas if there was a Weatherspoons on the Lane you might actually see a real increase in 'undersirables'. I've never really seen rowdy behaviour, that might be because I go the LL on Saturday/Sunday mornings or Friday nights. Never Saturdays nights when I might want to shake a leg - there are much better areas to go to for that sort of thing which is a view I assume other people would share.

Sean as I said I don't agree with the policy. Privatisation works sometimes but there are glaring excpetions some of which we are lumbered with in our daily grind. But it won't change. Unless the public truly objects it won't change. It's not the place of the unions to stop it happening if that is government policy. I already know of a number of companies large and small who are reviewing their Mailing strategies i.e. (a) what do they really need sent by post and what are the alternatives i.e. e-mail, internet, telephone, advertisements or not sending types of communication at all, and (b) identifying rival carriers for specific types of post - especially corporate post in the major cities. The problem that we have is that the tax burden keeps rising - more and more quangos, more and more civil servants and hence pensions and other liabilities for joe public to fund, hence the government, barring rising direct taxation by x pence in the ?, is trying to rid itself of some costs it believes will revlieve the public purse (exchequer) and at the same time provide another spur of cash like other privatisations in the past. In some ways we only have ourselves to blame as we (the electorate) demand new bodies to be set up all the time to investigate this, monitor that and someone has to pay for it. It's the same with the BBC which will now be downsized because some people object to the TAX of the licence fee and because the government again wants to reduce the BBC in size. For the record I am against the imposition on BBC as well as that of royal mail and post office - they are services that ought to be provided by the government to a standard we all would like to see. If they need to increase the price of a stamp by 5 pence or the licence fee by a reasonable amount then I think they should just go ahead and do it.

Used to go there about 4-5 years ago when I was in the Bellenden area, every time I went there they were without exception rude and displayed terrible customer service. Back then there weren't too many places like it so we kept trying - plus they did a really nice Eggs Benedict. Eventually I gave up and started to use the Cafe Rouge in West Dulwich as they have got to be the friendliest team of waiters around.

Hi, it was really good/interesting to meet some of you on Friday. I didn't get enough time to talk to even half of those there - it was only as I was leaving that I saw that the action had moved outside. Despite my short cameo appearance i still had a good time. I will be sure to stay longer next time - although from the comments above I'm just glad that my head wasn't thumping in the morning.

I like them. When it's nice and warm outside what better way to enjoy getting from a to b? No, not walking, or train or any of the other witty ripostes I can sense are headed this way.