fitch

Pruning an oak tree once it gets big enough that we realise it may be about to block the view would need tree surgeons. Who would pay for that? It's much better not to plant them in the first place. A lower growing tree would be much better.

i fear you may be right. By the way, you're not Spartacus, I am!

Does anyone know why the council is going to resurface Upland Road next week? The surface seems perfectly fine to me.

My view of the new saplings which have been planted on the hill is first, great, but second that one of the main attractions of the site is the view and any trees planted need to be placed where they will not block the view when they are mature. There's an open area where people can toboggan and species of flowers that need open spaces can be allowed to grow that I think should be left clear.

Yep. The same thing happened to us. I'm not sure whether it was Frank but some guys said they were going to replace a gutter and basically wrecked the whole guttering support system and some slates. I got rid of them but they came back the next day offering to finish the job. I considered the use of a blunt instrument but in reality simply told them they were a load of bastards and that my son works for the fraud squad (he doesn't). They didn't seem to mind. I think being sworn and yelled at is just a normal day for them. It cost us ?450 to repair the damage they did.

No. The guy who came to the door was about 35-40 and coincidentally (?) someone else came today, looking very efficient, with a smart looking brochure asking the same question. In retrospect I should have looked at his brochure but didn't give him enough time to show it to me. I'm not saying they were connected, but the missing guttering is at the back of the house and although it can be seen from the road you have to be looking pretty hard to notice it. Maybe I'm getting paranoid.

It's great that there are new pavements round the bottom of the park, but it must have cost a fortune. Generally speaking the Parks department is great but I've been walking round the park for donkeys years and they've never bothered me. Was it money well spent? Or was there a special reason for doing it?

On Tuesday an Irish bloke rang the doorbell wanting to know whether we needed any guttering replaced. We did and like an idiot I let them start. A couple of blokes turned up, one who called himself Matthew, and proceeded to literally rip off the guttering, the fascia board and the timber underneath. They then said that the rafters were rotten and when I took a look there was absolutely nothing wrong. When I started shouting at them and almost went to fetch a blunt instrument they ran off leaving us with a shambles on the ground and having to find someone to repair the damage. Okay, I was a complete plonker, but please don't make the same mistake.

We needed a camera put down the sewer pipe to investigate where a possible old manhole which we thought had been buried under concrete could be and we found Jon (I don't know his surname) through the ED forum. He is a very pleasant fellow who did a great job at a very reasonable rate. Highly recommended. His number is 07771 586759.

Why not give a ttal business rates holiday to any business doing something remotely useful, and make up the shortfall by doubling the rates on coffee houses? It seems to me sometimes that the almost the entire economy of London consists of people selling overpriced coffee to each. On that subject I had the best latte I've had for years in a Portugese deli in Stockwell/Oval borders and it only cost ?1.

Hi Bella, I think that whole edge of Dawsons Hill was being overrun by suckers from those cherry trees so the council removed them. It seems a bit unfortunate that any route into the blackberry picking area next to it seems to have been blocked by sawn off branches though.

If anyone is interested to meet and discuss the fruit trees up on Dawsons Hill, Ella Hashemi from the Orchard Project is coming tomorrow, Monday 20th Feb at 3pm. Sorry such short notice, but if you can make it come and have a chat.

Hi mynamehere, The council came to remove all those cherry suckers that had spread onto the open area lower down Dunstans road side, and where that massive suckering lot used to be towards the top just below the path, at one time there was just a single cherry tree. A few years ago some lowlife vandal came and cut it down about two feet above the ground causing it to spread, probably in an attempt to survive, The resultant clump of suckers were seriously blocking that amazing view, so out they had to come. Down by Dunstans road someone had planted a London Plane before all those suckers appeared. In all the excitement of removing them the council workers failed to notice that it wasn't a cherry, despite its having blue paint put on it's trunk in anticipation of this clearance. Perhaps it is for the best because had it been allowed to grow to full height it would have seriously impaired the view.

Can anyone recommend a good person to repair a Bosch dishwasher?

Well do you think a Dulwich rat would be seen going to Lidl? Nay, nay, & thrice nay!

The figure is actually ?2000, and the grant is for further planting and maintaining trees up there to create a mini arboretum, and recreate the orchard which used to be there. The plan is to restrict the trees to natives, of which there are already many, so if anyone has views on how to further this project, which is being done in collaboration with Southwark Parks Dept, get in touch, and maybe we could get together over a pint (or two!). By the way Dimples, there is already a quince, and there used to be a mulberry, and a crabapple, both of which were vandalised. Unfortunately a certain amount of ill will and ignorance towards plants seems to exist in some people. Not alot we can do about that.

Anyone interested in getting involved in decisions about planting/maintaining the trees up on Dawsons Hill?

Thanks, Rod! The middle classes are backbone of old Blighty>

Nigello, The True Service tree is on the left hand end of the site, viewed from Dunstans Road. It is below where Donkey Alley comes out, next to those Field Maples on the right as you start to walk down. It has a white irrigation pipe, and is about 5' tall at the minute. The foliage is rather similar to a Rowan, with bigger leaves, and when it is more mature should have fruit that resemble small pears. Like the other Service Trees, and the Rowan, it is a member of the Sorbus family, and was found quite recently growing on the crags of the Avon Gorge. I believe that there was, or maybe still is, a very old one in the Forest of Dean. There must be others, but I don't know about them. Apparently they are more common in Ireland - maybe they like the milder climate. Until a few years ago, it was thought to be an imported tree, bit like the Beech, but now the wisdom is that it is a true native.

Down on Akerman Road, just the other side of Myatts Fields/Mostyn Gardens, where that massive new housing scheme is being built, there is a sign painted on the road reading 'Cyclists are encouraged to use the centre of the road'. Has anyone else wondered what is going on here? Is someone having a laugh, or is it a genuine attempt at population control? I cycle most of the time, but I think that's pushing it a bit.

We have been planting native British trees up there over the last fifteen years or so, in a guerilla-ish sort of way, including fruit trees on the lower right side, viewed from Dunstans Road. In fact it's a fair way to becoming a mini arboretum. As I suppose we should expect, some have been ripped out or vandalised, but there is now a very wide variety In fact there are probably examples of most British trees, including a disease resistant Elm, some Wild Service trees, and a very rare native, a True Service tree. There is no Alder as far as we can see, although we have planted two over the years, but both died. Maybe it's too dry for them, though the willows seem okay. Two or three years ago there was some nutter up there chopping some of the cherry trees with a machete. I think the police nabbed him, but since that time those trees seem to have sprouted loads of suckers which are a devil to get rid of without harming the parent tree. Anyone got any ideas? We have had talks with Paul Highman and Jon Best, and chatted about their plans for wild flower meadows, which sound great, and I hope they succeed, except that the smaller of the two is planned for where the fruit trees are planted. Maybe they can coexist. They also say that the area up there is a registered park, and is protected against anyone developing on the site. Because it has to be one of the best views of London, they even mentioned putting up one of those 'what you can see from here' diagram things, but realised that the skyline is changing so fast it would need to be updated every month or so! Anyone interested in the trees there, let us know.

Thanks everybody for your thoughts. It is much appreciated. We will check with Southwark planning to see whether the work was signed off properly.

A few years ago our neighbours had a loft conversion with dormer built. The side of the dormer, (at the back), sits on the party wall. At the time we were not at all clued up on building regs, and we were not approached about any party wall agreement, so we just let it go ahead. Well....I know what you're thinking....the man's an idiot! That's probably true, but someone mentioned to me recently that it COULD NOT have passed building control, and may even be illegal, with the result that if we want to sell the house, or the neighbours try to do so, any search will flag up this ommission with immediate and embarassing results. Has anyone got any printable thoughts or suggestions as to how to get this sorted?

If Foxtons sponsored a cinema on their site in Lordship Lane, perhaps the Foxton name could be rehabilitated (a bit).