Whittler

The butcher by Dulwich Library IS the same guy that used to be in Lower Sydenham.... a 2 page thread from the Syd Town Forum for anyone who's interested http://sydenham.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4100&hilit=butcher+by+the+library&start=20 I wouldn't shop there if you paid me. I totally trust the quality and safety of the meat from Nathan and Ruth at The Butchery and i have never had any problems with anything i've bought from them. Maybe my background of coming from a family of butchers gives me a slightly biased perspective, but i certainly know enough about it to know categorically which butcher of the two i'd trust in terms of where the meat was coming from and how it was being handled.

You will probably be ok to plant them now if they are a hardy variety as red devil suggests. This is a really good website for lavender which i've used in the past (i've just removed an old lavender hedge, but have been carefully taking cuttings from the existing plants for the last 3 yrs so that i can replace them with the same variety - i'm intending to replant in the next few weeks if possible and if the weather holds) http://www.downderry-nursery.co.uk/ There are some helpful tips on the site for care and pruning etc. They recommend planting up until September, after that it's a bit of a risk so i agree, you should be ok now.

Well, the proposed development is hardly massive, and it's in the conservation area so i don't think they'll be able to expand on the site.... a Morrison's 'Local' store is going in to the current M&Co clothes shop on London Rd...

You might want to take a wander round the top of Sydenham Hill, top end of Kirkdale, Sydenham Rise - i've seen quite a few here already this year. Sydenham Woods is a good area for them.

Yep, dovestail's right, that'll be lily beetle grubs.... they are covered in their own poo. See here: http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=553 Pick the adult beetles off (they are bright red, easy to spot, but will fall on the ground as a defensive measure so stealth is required) and, errm, dispose of them before they can do more damage. Personally i've abandoned growing lily's as they seemed to get massacred every year, probably due to the fact that i have fritillaries in the garden and they start the season on those then move on....

The Butchery in Forest Hill (opposite Sainsburys) make their own, most excellent, sausage rolls. Highly recommended.

I think it's safe to assume that people are being quite organised and are stealing the potted plants to sell them on....probably at boot fairs... As Sue mentions above, it's happened in and around the area before at this time of the year, just as the weather warms up and the boot sale season begins. If you have plants in pots outside the front of your house, as others have said, chain 'em down. A trip to a garden centre will tell you just how much well established plants and nice pots are worth, so it's not a surprise that some thieves see it as easy money. I agree, it's very sad.

Yes, Great Brownings is one. Here is an article from the Dulwich Society that covers some (but my no means all) of the post-war developments built on Dulwich Estate land.... http://www.dulwichsociety.com/newsletters/52-winter-2003/64-sixties-architecture As you can see, it mentions that 3,000 new homes were built, and the area covered is very large stretching over to Gipsy Hill and Forest Hill (Little Brownings, Sydenham Rise, Tarleton Gardens). Quite an ambitious programme of quality house building and as the writer of the DSoc article says, not well known even inside the area.

I doubt very much that trees were removed/land reclaimed, or certainly not on a grand scale, in fact all the modern estates had quite specific planting schemes (with specimen trees) around them on the communal amenity areas, so it was all very sensitively designed and well thought through - one of the more visionary things that the Dulwich Estate achieved, in my opinion. I was lucky enough to go to a talk by the architect at Dulwich Picture Gallery some years ago (he was in his 90's by then) and he said the Estate had pretty much given them carte blanche and there was no incentive to overdevelop the sites, which is why they are all so well placed and with plenty of space around them. On our road there is an elderly couple who bought their house off-plan in 1959 and they've never moved, as, in their words, they've never found another house as nice to move to. As i said, it's a matter of taste, and domestic Victorian London architecture has never really appealed to me http://www.historyhome.co.uk/peel/p-health/bricks.htm Anyway, i think what is important in relation to the Harvester is to say that whatever gets built there, i doubt it will happen quickly as the Estate move at a phenomenally slow pace and don't make quick decisions, well, not in my experience!

I like them, in fact i moved to the area SPECIFICALLY for a mid-century house that happens to be on the Dulwich Estate - here's some info on the architects that designed most of the Estate properties built by Wates from 1959 onwards http://www.themodernhouse.net/directory-of-architects-and-designers/austin-vernon/ if you're interested. Most of the modern estates were built on the sites of existing, large properties whose leases had come to an end and most had fallen into disrepair after the war, so i don't think any existing woodland was taken to build them, in fact more land was probably given over to the woods as the gardens attached to the old properties became absorbed into them. They are lovely properties to live in. All a matter of taste, but 'crappy' they are not.

Otta, if you're a fan of ale, and if you don't already know about Late Knights (Penge based brewery) check them out. They occasionally hold events at the lovely Alexandra Nurseries http://www.alexandranurseries.co.uk/late-knight-21st-december/ - goods things happening in your new home patch.

I wouldn't be too sure about Honor Oak, Forest Hill, Penge, Sydenham being 'a lot' cheaper.....the areas along the Overground line are all zooming up in price. Or should i say catching up? http://sydenham.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=10750

Shannons are my favourite (Stanstead Rd off the Sth Circular Forest Hill) http://www.shannonsgardencentre.co.uk/5.html They are always very helpful, knowledgeable and reasonably priced. A family business that celebrates its 25th birthday this year too, so they must be doing something right....!

The allotments in Southwark Borough are all self managed (as far as i'm aware) so it means finding the sites nearest to you and contacting the relevant committee/organisation - maybe someone else on here can help with that?? http://www.southwark.gov.uk/info/200073/parks_and_open_spaces/532/allotments_contacts/1 Lewisham Council allotments are run slightly differently with a proportion directly managed by the council and others self managed on council land, but i know for a fact that the waiting lists are long (i live near the Horniman, so just in Lewisham, and i waited 6 years for a plot) and now plots are only given to those living in Lewisham Borough due to long waiting lists....

As someone who owns a property on Dulwich Estate land, which means having to deal with them on a fairly regular basis, all i can say is that this: "Foresight is needed with this one. Come on Dulwich Estate put those thinking caps on please" is a wildly optimistic request. Glacial is the word i would use with regard to the pace at which things happen with them. Glacial. And stifling.

Here's a link to Dave's website (Pegaus Domestic Appliance Repair, http://www.pegasusrepair.com/)although he should really rename it 'Dave the Cookerman'!

Classic Trophies in Kirkdale/Sydenham do engraving http://www.cinderellaofficeservices.co.uk/classic/index.html

Go for Dave - he's the best, and i'm sure he'll sort the door problem. Highly recommend him!

Or try the Hetas website http://www.hetas.co.uk/

If you need a cooker repaired (especially if it's a Smeg model) Dave is your man. By a weird coincidence we reckon it was Dave who fitted our range ten years ago as he worked for the Smeg installation team back then! He's thorough, careful and explains the whole process clearly. He ordered the spare part and even called me on a Sunday to arrange a visit for Monday morning, so i wasn't left waiting around. Reasonably priced and a great bloke. Highly recommended. http://www.pegasusrepair.com/

A typically measured, objective piece in the News Shopper about this very issue http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/10733408.Poisonous_ladybirds_living_in_News_Shopper_area__will_bite_humans_/?ref=ms

"Am I missing any more potentially affordable areas which aren't too bad?" Penge. Decent transport links now it's on the Overground line and this area (see link) is lovely http://www.alexandracottages.co.uk/

Stag and Bow (Dartmouth Rd, Forest Hill) stock a good range of quality knitting wool (and needles etc), also some sewing/craft items, but worth a visit for all the other lovely and interesting things they sell too. A really great shop. The hand spun Orkney wool they stock is a real speciality - i made a couple of super warm woolly hats with it last year! http://stagandbow.com/yarns-lovely-lovely-yarns/

Was it this lot http://www.londonglider.com/about-us/ ??

"If you are interested in becoming a stallholder at the Horniman Farmers' Market, please email [email protected]." ....from the Horniman website, which also gives a list of current stalls http://www.horniman.ac.uk/visit/events/horniman-farmers-market