Whittler

... it seems it's likely that plastic waste from Britain is ending up in the ocean... Reduce, reuse and ummm, try to keep it to an absolute minimum for recycling. https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/uk-plastic-pollution-oceans-recycling-export-waste-malaysia-vietnam-thailand-a8400761.html Aga and Anna (of Aga's Little Deli, Dartmouth Rd) are indeed opening a zero-waste greengrocer just a bit further along from the deli/cafe on Dartmouth Rd at the start of next year. Very exciting, as I know they are researching and sourcing a lot of great products for the shop.

Farr & Wyde in Forest Hill (Dartmouth Rd) have fantastic mid-century, 60's, 70's furniture and all sorts of unusual decorative stuff. Great cards and candles too. Check our their instagram which has updates on available products @farrandwyde

Another recommendation for Dave from 'Down the Drain' - what a fantastic guy. Called to ask if he could come earlier to our appointment then inspected and advised on a course of action. Same as a previous post, we have a shared drain and the blockage was severe (a raw sewage flood!) so Dave stayed and spoke to Thames Water to explain the problem and to ensure that they would come out to fix it as an emergency. I certainly wasn't aware before this that shared drains were TW's responsibility and that work can be carried out by them for free. Lots of drain companies probably do take advantage of the fact that people don't know this... Dave's honesty and calm and straightforward approach in a stressful situation was greatly appreciated and i fully recommend him. He's in my very own 'trusted trader' address book now! David Alldis www.down-the-drain.co.uk 020 8314 5244

Can't add anything about a finished project here yet, but interested to hear that jimbo1964, as we are in the process of using London Door Co to make a new back door (with very specific design and security requirements)and two interior doors... expensive, yes, but so far we are very pleased with how the survey and design stage is progressing and with the incredible attention to detail and time spent on making sure everything is taken into account. Having tried to get a quote from a few local joiners (one of whom told me he wasn't interested..charming)we decided to go with the London Door Co on the recommendation of someone we know, and in the knowledge that they are at the 'premium' end of the scale. Feel confident we've made the right choice so far...

As singalto says, it may be a health and safety issue to do with how many bags of donations the volunteers can take and sort in one day. If their 'sorting and pricing' area becomes clogged and overloaded with bags of donations waiting for sorting, it poses a H&S risk to volunteers. It's a balancing act for volunteers who may be deluged with donations at particular times - as someone has already pointed out, holidays are prime times for people to have a clear out - and they have to make sure there are enough people to sort and price and manage the shop floor. I doubt very much that it was a case of shunning your donation for no good reason, and perhaps next time if you have a lot of stuff it may be better to divide it and take it to a couple of charity shops that are close to each other to spread the love!

Just for interest, it's a well researched fact that culling of urban foxes just does not work. It has been found to lead to increased numbers, if anything, as fox populations are self-regulating and the breeding rate will inevitably increase in areas where there is a smaller fox population. Mange is more of a natural threat to the urban fox population, and recent theories as to why it seems more prevalent in urban rather than rural foxes have looked at the poor diet (discarded fried chicken bones and the remains of takeaways etc) of the city dwelling fox, which means they are not getting their vitamins! Interesting article here: https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23167-culling-urban-foxes-just-doesnt-work/ Hope you find a good (and humane) solution to your particular fox-related problem, katgod...a 'safe box' where the delivery can be left securely seems the best option.

https://www.yell.com/biz/trees-r-us-london-6518593/ I can highly recommend George Nelson of Trees R Us - fully qualified tree surgeon, he's fantastic, knowledgeable and thorough and is very reasonable with his prices. Always does a great job, in my experience.

"And are extremely expensive." I disagree. It depends on whether you value quality or not.... it is not expensive if you consider how the meat is sourced, prepared and retailed and the care and attention with which all of this is all done. http://thebutcheryltd.com/index.html Nathan and Ruth (and their fantastic team) will be able to tell you exactly where their meat is from, what breed it is and if necessary, how to cook each cut and as they are 'whole carcass' butchers (meaning that they buy and butcher every single bit of the animal) it's perfectly possible to get cheaper and more economical cuts from them, as i often do, for stewing and slow cooking etc...something you generally can't get from cheaper butchers/supermarkets. Wouldn't get my meat form anywhere else, personally, and i'm a butchers daughter!

And neighbour borough Lewisham is also a smoke control area. Lewisham has consolidated it's 'smoke control order' and it's pretty clear what you can't, or shouldn't, do as the gov website link posted above shows. https://www.lewisham.gov.uk/myservices/environment/air-pollution/Documents/SmokeControlOrder2010.pdf I had a woodburner fitted, like a lot of people have done, purely to be able to burn logs, but it's obvious that lots more people are burning wood in open fireplaces now. Might be worth thinking of the potential ?1,000+ fine for doing so as part of the cost of fitting a woodburner, which is a good investment if you want a nice log fire in the winter and keeps you within the law.

These guys deliver great, well seasoned logs http://thelondonlogcompany.blogspot.co.uk/p/free-delivery.html ..and i can also recommend this lot http://www.greatnorwoodlogs.co.uk/

We all know (or should know!)that flytipping is illegal and anti-social, so if you do have quantities of waste to dispose of after small building jobs or garden clearances etc PLEASE use a registered and licensed carrier to remove it if you cannot take it to a recycling centre yourself. There are no cheap shortcuts to disposing of waste which don't involve that waste being illegally dumped or it being generally not disposed of properly and responsibly. It seems that a lot of fly-tipping now does relate to short term rental and tenancy agreements, so the more civic minded folk out there that can 'do the right thing' when disposing of those few bags of rubble, odd bits of broken furniture or that big mound of garden waste, the better. Or as people have said, use the Councils collection service if you can, and yes, you will have to pay for it. If you have a recommendation for a 'man and a van' or have found a company that you wish to use to remove waste, you can check the registration of licensed waste carriers here: https://environment.data.gov.uk/public-register/view/index

If you haven't found someone to fix this already, Dave the Cooker Man is fantastic - details here https://www.yell.com/biz/pegasus-domestic-appliance-repair-ltd-bromley-7853745/ and he has recommendations on this forum if you do a search.

Shannons is well worth a visit, as has been already been mentioned, as is Alexandra Nurseries in Penge

Dave the cooker man is the chap to fix it - look on the forum for recommendations, he has many! His number 07506104882 (http://www.pegasusrepair.com/contact-us.html)

This has been discussed a lot here https://sydenham.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=13543&p=129217&hilit=quad+bikes&sid=1c80f80e5a16b8908cb399a08f18754f#p129217