malumbu

This thread has lost me. But I think that this is very relevant as we seem to be lurching to the right, rewriting history and about to embark on something very damaging. So I lived in an Irish area during the 'troubles' and briefly worked in an Irish pub at that time. I remember when we went from "no blacks no Irish" in the mid 1980s to the "this is great, what a craic" (surely not due just to Van Morrison and Shane MacGowan on thier own?) I've enjoyed my various visits both South and North of the (Irish) border And relating to my thread on English footy fans, the English Nationalism thread and this current one - I remember 20 odd years ago being at a match at the end of the season and chants of "no surrender to the IRA" and I thought WTF do you know about Irish politics and would you really fight for your cause? That's not an endorsement of terrorism, just my frustration at mass ignorance and my worry of a pernicious future. Can someone cheer me up please?

Didn't go to see England in 2006. Stayed with a lovely divorcee through a rent a room out scheme by the German authorities. Top marks. Couldn't score tickets for the Argentina/Serbia match at Gelsenkirchen, and sadly neither the Czech Republic vs Ghana in Cologne, but what a lovely setting for a stadium in a park. And talking about great stadia did get tickets for the Switzerland Togo game, which was poor but a brilliant stadium (Westfalenstadion). The atmosphere in Cologne was great, with sets of fans sitting in opposite pavement cafes singing without one drop of lager being thrown. You could feel an edge coming as England fans arrived, the ones I spoke to were pleasantly surprised at the friendly welcome and that the German people did not meet any of the stereotypes they expected. I am just telling it as I saw it. Has the atmosphere got worse? It feels that way after 1996 and 1998 but go back to the wonderful summer of 1990 and it was kicking off in many towns across the country. So is what happened in Dormund just what you see on most provincial towns on a Friday night, and in the popular European beach resorts? I would like to think that we could do better than this. Mates who went to Euro 16 wsw tge Ireland Sweden match which was the opposite, with both sets of fans being so nice that they missed the rivalry and the atmosphere that this created. I wouldn't usually use the Sun as a source but if half if this is true it's rather sad https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/3156302/england-fans-let-themselves-and-the-nation-down-against-germany-in-dortmund/ And as for booing our own national anthem, certainly happened in the cup fnals in the early 70s when we were a bunch of lefties always on strike. It may have been a few whistles rather than boos but it wasn't sung as a chant as now. Anyway the English nationalism thread proably covers my points.

Hmmm Even Radio 5 Live seems to be more interested in this. Caught a tail end of an article about fans throwing beer at the opposition as well as the mindless stuff about World Wars. I was born less than two decades after the end of the war, we played war games at play time, watched war movies, nobody wanted to be a German guard when we played escape from Colditz and we read comic books where the good old Tommy always one ("take that Fritz"). So why do people often 20 years younger that me have this supremecy complex? We are not a very good master race. Anyway do tell me I am wrong, this is all about learning and debate rather than my monologue.

Ah the barmy army. I went to Bangalore in 2002 and expected a load of obnoxious twots, with clearly too much money and very high opinions of themselves. As this was not Australia or the West Indies it was hard core. Around 200 England fans there, some the types I've referred to above, others at the high end corporate, but a fair few who had travelled for days on the Indian railways, some even from the earlier Bangladesh tour, sleeping in dorms or on floors on a shoestring. Respect. I bumped into one at Kandy in Sri Lanka a couple of years later which was a bit strange ("wasn't I shouting to you across the stands, and finding out that you knew people I went to school with?"). Didn't get the same attachment with the footy fans in Manaus.

We've only got three songs, we've only got three songs, we've only got three songs. I've avoided watching England live. When both in Brazil and in France I was worried that things would conspire against me, particularly the perfect storm of Brexit and England making the quarters in Paris. I'd have been happy with the latter in retrospect. In Manaus I was at the tail end of the English invasion arriving after the defeat to Italy. Educated people, my age, telling me who they were going to give the yanks a kicking (American's were arriving for the Portugal match), presumably for only having one song, and how they threatened the locals as Brazilians had supported Italy in the previous match. In the square some younger fans were shocked when I stood up and booed the UK national anthem - even when I explained (a) it is not the English national anthem (b) I am an atheist © I am a republican (actually not that bothered about the royal family as long as they are just round for ceremonial stuff and get proper jobs and pay bedroom and second house tax (d) we all booed the national anthem at matches in the 70s. I was also struck by a mate who saw England Wales in a few years ago at Wembley, with fans 'baaing' at the Welsh (something to do with sheep) and as he says that Bloody Sheffield Wednesday brass band. I know they are not all like that. Pictures from France when it all kicked off in Marseille shows there were a lot of 'normal' people, dads and lads etc. But it was a pleasure being in Paris with 10,000 Icelanders. I saw some peed up Brits in the Irish bar singing Ingerland Ingerland, and one guy being arested on the station on the way back for taunting the French security (what a bunt). Hmmm, stereotypical? And it got on my preverbials listening to some of the friendly last night with the chanting. Here is mine. "You are a very successful country with much greater productivity and a better work life balance, but actually we are very similar let's have a nice beer together, la la la". Haven't quite got that right yet, and need a tune. I was also in Cologne in 2006 and the party atmosphere took a dive as English fans arrived. Am I being unfair??

Pleased that you are happy. In these difficult times it is nice to hear some good news.

I think we saw this amongst the English fans last night

Discussion has totally lost me - 'you lot' are talking in tongues again. Returning to the original subject I was going to post "Ah diddums, are we a likle bit upset because Peckham is more desirable than SE22" But that would be unnecessarily provocative. I like lists as see them as good fun, noting that they are subjective and info can be manipulated. I quite like 'crap towns'. Also recall a TV programme that had a list of the most dangerous towns to live in. For London they broke this down to the borough level, whilst Nottingham which most think is a lovely place to live in was tarred with one brush based on the drugs and gangs in the Meadows and St Annes and was considered to be the most dangerous place in the country.

next summer? well what a bummer. (Copywrite the Stanglers, Peaches).

Agree with all of this. On the positive side I am now starting to do a separate dogs leg from Lameth Road at the Imperial War museum going South up the dual cycle lane. Whilst I am not a fan of going North on this the synchronisation of lights is great going the other way, and you avoid the dreadful, dreadful, funneling of traffic going left just by the Bakerloo Line tube entrance and the conflict as cars turn left just after the bus lane. That is probably not explained well!

There are lots of the E&C layout that allows shared use of pavements - makes some interesting cut-throughs or ways to bypass red lights. Not illegal but preferable to have signalling that allows smoother flows. Having had my moans I am sure that it is better for pedestrians to navigate and I expect that the layout has reduced congestion from and into the Walworth Road (not that I use this). I'll get back with further thoughts, meanwhile here's a blog from Sunstrans on their views on congestion, sharing road space and the impact of cycling. Came across a little idealistic to me http://www.sustrans.org.uk/blog/cycling-cities?utm_source=Sustrans&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=8085080_The%20Network%20Mar%202017&utm_content=Will%20blog%20footer&dm_i=6EB,4TAHK,A1PZC8,I59MA,1

Maybe been done already but my fave is Vaidas in Honor Oak. I do Evans when really necessary (nice bunch in Wimbledon) and similarly Action Bikes for convenience. I did Brixton Cycles for years, but once I stopped going down that route it was out of my way. Finches in Forest Hill are nice, but prefer them for other leisure activitie, being better than the 'specialist' shops around Covent Garden. Decathlon is odd, half the stuff is excellent value and the rest poo. And quite often empty shelves of the useful things to buy in bulk like brake blocks. Quite helpful though. And of course Lidl when the offers are there. Occasionally on line, which makes me feel guilty. Condor were great at quoting me for the cycle scheme, due to my physical needs (ie size) I actually went out to Pershore (Worcestershire) to buy my last bike. 30 years ago I would have purchased from Halfords, I now only go there for exceptional offers, but again interestingly their customer service was very good when something went wrong so be careful of your prejudices.

I am incredibly conservative on my routes. For 15 years I did Dulwich Village, Red Post Hill, Herne Hill Road, Loughborough Junction, Brixton Road. Essentially as I once lived off Herne Hill Road and knew the route. Then I did a bizarre one - Champion Hill, Grove Lane, Camberwell, through a bit of Burgess Park, coming out near the Elephant where I went behind Southbank Uni and eventually onto Blackfriars Road. Funnily enough never experienced danger on either Blackfriars Bridge or more recently the Elephant, even though they are known accident hotspots. One day I saw that a colleague had beaten me and I found out that she went down the canal path, OKR etc. Looking at the map this was the flatest and straightest route. Embarassingly I was worried about Peckham at the time - despite having no issues in going through Loughborough Junction which was far more dangerous. On dangers, the main one from my Brixton Road route was road rage; something I am far more aware of now. The other was the hit and run on Red Post Hill that slammed me into a back of a parked car. No helmet in those days, and very lucky at the bike was a write off not me. Now - as I discussed above the odd vehicle that runs a bit close - not always men, and a mix of vans, cars and taxis at say once a month. And genuinely you can hear them coming. For a time I went down the back roads on traffic calmed routes. Two incidents - the funny one when a family ran out in front of me, I banged the anchors on, went 90 degrees and fell on one of the school kids. He wasn't hurt and I was angry at the parent for letting them run across. An no apologies to the zombies who walked across tonight on their phones without looking near Lambeth Palace. Yes did cycle at you on purpose. Perhaps you may look in future. Anyway I digress. The other bother was two accidents in quick succession when they relaid the roads around Heygate street, and the white lines were too slippy causing me to come off twice in quick succession in the rain, ironically on the cycle marking. Thanks to Southwark Cyclists - and particularly the late Barry Mason. Thanks to the cycling solicitors who gave me free advice. And thanks LBS for settling out of court. And Southwark Cyclists, we had a good on line chat aobut a NKR cycle lane which I very much argue against. So where does that leave us? I started cycling in London 30 years ago when there were far less of us. I have a small number of routes which I know off the back of my hand. Cycling super highways generally go in the wrong direction for me so I cut across them, only once gettng grief from a cabbie for not using the segregated route. I am out of my comfort zone when I go down the embankment and see zillons of cyclists hammering it - I prefer the road as the cars generally get less close to you than bikes coming the other way on segregated routes! I get confused on Blackfriars Road on which side I should be on. I get frustrated at the bottle necks, for example by the Royal Vauxhall Tavern and peed off when tubleweed and debris blow across the segregated routes making them more dangerous than the main road. But just because I am happy cycling with the cars, shouldn't mean that I don't see the benefits to the masses of some of the cycle routes. My favourite useless cycle route is the A4 going out to Heathrow - cracked paving stones and junctions/drives every few yards whereas you can do 15mph on the nice road surface of the A4. And talking about pants, Heathrow access is exactly that, where I cycle through the tunnel waving two fingers up at the CCTV (did that in 1995 and returned last year to find still no cycle access.). Another great ride was the A13 cycle path, great cycling next to an urban motorway.... In case you couldn't tell I work in environmental transport and know shedloads. I had a 20 minutes conversation with Ashok, CEO LCC one summer, poor chap! But I still drive occasionally, have a motorbike licence and only got back into cycling by mistake (as is most of my career) so understand that apart from London the masses aren't doing this elsewhere and on a cold wet day when I am going to a meeting and have the choice of sitting in my wet clothes or having to bring a change of clothes and change in the toilets I understand the challege. Thanks LJC56 - I'll check it out. And thanks to "you lot" (I mean this politely) for listening. Always enjoy the debate.

It's all a dog's dinner. I had no issues before as whilst busy it was fairly predictable and the light sequencing worked well. It's added time to my journey, bus journeys and those tin boxes. The cycle path next to the new development and the coronet is just bizarre, being so peacemeal and as with all cycle paths on a pavement people just walk out in front of it without looking. The dogs leg where you come back on yourself heading from the gryratory is weird. I don't use the segregated bits either way on the gyratory as I don't see any need for them. Going further into town Lambeth Bridge south is a disaster, and again the light sequencng makes things worse. Oddly all the attention is on the Lambeth Bridge South roundabout. The flows were fine with just one set of lights. What's good? I'm very fond of the canal path and unsure why others aren't fans. Generally co-exist with the pedestrians with no issues. Chourmert Road area, but haven't quite memorised that one. In is a quiet route but lots of junctions. Southwark cyclists - I am sure that you are active with regards to air quality. A good driver is a safer driver, sharing road space, not wasting fuel, and causing less pollution. Fortunately you can hear the poorer drivers, as they are racing in a low gear, and you istinctively know to get closer to the curb. It happens once or twice a week.

This is great, not deep but just funny and a nice small theatre too (you wont be stuck up in the Gods) http://www.thecomedyaboutabankrobbery.com/

A geezer laid a new patio for us last summer (legitimate garden company). It sorted of looked OK but finshing was iffy and now it is falling apart. He laid it on dried sand and grouted in-between. The grout was soft, water is getting in, the slabs are lifting and eventually fauna and flora will get in. I of course have have office worker's hands so will know nothing (despite repairing houses, cars, motorbikes and bike for 40 years) so our follow-up convesations will be interesting. I'd rather just say give me half the money back and I'll get somebody in decent. Questions: I know that you can lay on dry sterilised sand and grout, but I'd prefer to use a wet mortar mix (say 4:1)- views out there? What do I do will all the old sand (can soft sand go into the garden, sharp sand is good in clay areas) Recommendations for a small patio job? Should have gone with my instinct and not used this local company. I'm not in a postion to name and shame quite yet.

Used to love the India Club in the Strand Continental - closest I have experienced to sub-continent dining unlike the formulaic curry houses. A certain tatty charm, and not licensed so you could either go to the bar upstairs or bring your own. Last time wasn't so great so was it just a case of being over-familar, a bad night, or a drop in standards. Love to know what others think. Google reviews are polarised, most love it, some hate it.

Happy to have a go at the Daily Hate and the Daily Brexit at any point. Irrespective whether we buy them or not, their stories end up being sydicated on-line to numerous sources.

Have I dreamt this or has someone really put this thread up. Society is falling apart, we are on the brink of economic collapse, we will be caught in a battle between the axis (US and Russia) and China) but it's all OK as there is a M&S in Camberwell. Rejoice.

Drinking first thing in the morning is in deed a pleasure. Been to the Market Porter once, usually go to Smithfields but last Xmas I think that they were down to only two pubs open early morning. Biggest issue is knocking back too many, they go down surprisingly easy!

CAP's been a mess for years (or always) so I was alwasys suprised how little airing this got during the campaign. If we don't subsidise farming/guarantee prices (whether nationally or across Europe) we stop growing stuff as we did in the early part of the 20th century risking food security, particulaly in the heightened liklihood of war across Europe (yes I am milking this). Good metaphor. I get all my info from the Archers, so I expect the market to be flooded with cheap Polish lamb.

One of my teams is still in the FA Trophy and another through to the semis of the FA Vase. Perhaps both will make it to Wembley for the double header http://www.thefa.com/news/2016/nov/24/non-league-finals-day-ticket-news-241116

Great fight-back by Dulwich after almost throwing it away early on, and pleased that Palace got the points even though I destest BFS.

It's gone too far. But then you'd expect me to say that. For a very diverse area Brixton Village didn't seem very diverse. Same too about Peckham. Not that you can engineer this in my Utopian world!

You store it in your garage. What, we don't have garages??! Dunno, perhaps they could be like Zipcars and you'd hire them when needed (a one-up on Boris Bikes). About half of new cars come with automatic stop starts but it doesn't stop meat heads from pressing the button to disable this As cars become more sophisticated they will communicate more with their surroundings. 'Geofencing' is already there for example New York cabs operating in Manhattan can only run on electric mode for the meter to work