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Hi all I have a small catering business and use Moxons all the time. Their fish and service is always fantastic quality. Over the Christmas period, fish stocks are usually quite low and lots of fishermen do not go out on their boats until after the new year. As such, there is usually a limited supply and for the most part, shell fish such as scallops and crabs are super limited. If you want scallops etc - I am sure you could always get some of the deep frozen Peruvian ones that sainsburys stocks, but even then, Sainsburys sometimes runs out :) Moxons are always really clear that if I need a particular type of fish for an event, I need to order in advance and if supply at the markets for this fish is a bit unstable due to weather conditions, they always inform me as soon as possible, suggesting suitable alternatives if possible. As an alternative to scallops, can I suggest lobster for a bit of luxury NYE dining. Moxons have some fab frozen lobster tails and a little goes a long way...

Hi I too have nothing but bad experience with this clinic. It is nigh on impossible to see a doctor there - December prep-booked appointments have all gone and when you call for same day you have to wait for 20 minutes for phone to pick up only to be told there are no appointments left. I have just been told by them that the Lister clinic is now also no longer walk-in and is referral only. So my choice is to keep trying in the vain hope my child will get a mythical walk-in appointment this side of Christmas, go to A and E with him or pay privately. We have been with the surgery for some time but each time I go through the pain of trying to get an appointment for my children there I vow to leave. Please, please, please can someone recommend a functioning clinic with a South Camberwell (SE5/SE22 border) catchment area. All the clinics around me seem to have one or two stars on the NHS website (although at the moment even moving to a two star rated clinic would be better than Melbourne Grove). James Barber - surely there is something that can be done collectively about the poor running of local surgeries? If this was a school, I am sure it would be in special measures by now.

Just an update on my experience and thoughts. Niko does seem like a nice person and personable (although maybe a little too much perhaps but that is entirely subjective I suppose) and he did help us out with a minor plumbing problem before however our recent major plumbing disaster (wet room pump stopped working, flooded bathroom and whole ceiling collapsed below) was really quite inadequately dealt with by him. He seemed to panic and then disappeared with promises to come round and fix what he thought to be the cause of the issue (which I subsequently thought through and realised even with my non-existant plumbing knowledge couldn't be right) within the next two days. Absolutely no word from him and no call back after I called. Giving him the benefit of the doubt and waiting for him to call delayed moving forward with diagnosing the problem by 1 week. Quite a length of time when you have no bedroom to sleep in due to flood damage. Another plumber has since come in, spent time diagnosing the problem in a much more thorough way and recommended we use a specialist engineer to fix the solution - which is now happening. So I think Niko maybe good at minor plumbing fixes - but basically fled the scene when a major issue cropped up. If he had told me it was beyond his expertise I would have had a lot more respect for him and wouldn't have wasted so much time waiting. One thing to note though - I didn't pay him for his visit and since he hasn't been back in touch, I am assuming doesn't want payment... I don't normally do any form of review on here - but I was completely flabbergasted at how many positive reviews he had considering our direct experience with him on this issue. Or maybe he was having a bad day?!

Sadly, I am beginning to agree with this review. We had a pretty horrendous plumbing incident very recently and called niko out. He was supposed to come back a day later to sort out the cause prior to fixing the damage via home insurance but no word, and have tried to call him but no luck in getting through. So our signfificant plumbing issue is still not rectified and we will now have to look for another plumber.

What a kind and thoughtful auntie. I really hope he makes a full recovery very soon. If you do fancy going out for the day and the weather is ok, the Romney/Hythe steam railway in south kent is supposed to be very good and stops at Romney Sands for a winters day running around the beach (maybe bring a portable bbq and cook some sausages for hot dogs!). I have three boys (5, 3 and 2) who are all train mad and I know (wrapped up) they would love that. If staying in, train set/games are a great idea - if you can get some battery operated ones (TOMY for example) you could do races. also you can get thomas balloons on amazon to decorate the room or from party sites like partyrama. How about a Thomas pinata as well? (http://www.partystuffonline.co.uk/Description.asp?ProductID=14102) This one is perfect as you pull the strings to release the sweets/goodies (rather than hit it) and with four of you it will still work well. Sainsburys DKH also has a Thomas birthday cake as I have bought many times for my boys ;) Hope he has a lovely day!

Hi Many thanks for the information. It sounds like I need planning for the kitchen (and a neighbour who is having similiar work done has just confirmed this as well) so I guess my next stop will be Southwark - good to hear they are amenable. Fingers crossed it goes smoothly!

We are looking to do some conversion work on our mid terrace house and I am a little confused about what is permitted development in Southwark. I was wondering if there were any knowlegeable forumites who could provide advice on this. Essentially we want to do a single storey side return extension to open up our kitchen and also a dormer loft conversion. Our kitchen is approx 18-20 ft in length and so the extension would have to match this in length. I have read somewhere that Southwark have a 3m depth limit for new a extension under permitted development (i.e. no planning permission required but party/boundary wall agreement required) but cant actually find this information anywhere on the Southwark planning portal and that this policy is therefore stricter than national planning regulations. Is this still correct? If this 3m depth limit exists, I assume this would also apply to a dormer loft conversion too? This is less of an issue than the kitchen but good to clarify. Many thanks

Hi I was wondering the same as my husband has been ill for the past two and half weeks and I am getting a little concerned as I can now safely say its not manflu. His symptoms are more gastroenteritis/stomach flu though - he has had stomach cramps and very upset stomach and can barely eat since the begining of December (which is very unlike him!). Sorry - forgot to include - I hope you feel better soon. It sounds like a really nasty bug :((

Visited this today with two of my children (4.5 yrs and 18 mths) and thoroughly, thoroughly recommend the museum, inc the pirate exhibition. We went by train and river bus (via London Bridge to canary wharf) to make it even more of an experience and took just over an hour from ED. Came back via tube and train (less than an hour). The museum was fantastic - spent 4 hours there and loads to do for children of all ages, even under 2s. You pay to get into the pirate exhibition (?7 for adults) but under 5s go free but entry to the rest of the museum including an excellent children's interactive/activity room (with soft play corner for toddlers) are all free (you need to book in for this though when you arrive). There are also daily activities/workshops throughout the summer with a pirate theme and today the lady who does the Horniman storytime was there telling pirate tales. I have to say I think it is a real bargain for what you get and really interesting from a grown up point of view too. Dont miss the main museum exhibitions. Great little cafe with books and crayons.

I doubt very much St Anthony's is taking many if any, non-southwark children. We live in ED/South Camberwell area and our son has only just a got a place at the school after the wait list shakedown in May (and then only because St Anthony's is having a bulge class this year). I should also point out, the local community state school application process "failed" for us. In addition to St Anthony's we also applied to the two nearest local community schools to our house (i.e. non-faith schools), one of which is under 300 metres away but failed to get places at either of these and in fact, fell further down the wait lists after the shake down. St Anthonys is serving Southwark children and rightly deserves to receive the funding required to make these necessary improvements.

I have a cricket mad 4.5 year old who is desperate to start learning how to play the game. I have been searching for cricket clubs/coaching in the East Dulwich area but there doesnt seem to be anything available for under 7s. Does anyone know if there is such a thing available in the local area?

In answer to your question Chantelle, quite conveniently for Southwark LA (and no doubt their legal team), only they will be able to tell you the actual distance measurement (down to the last metre) that they will then use to calculate your home's distance to your chosen schools. This is because while they use a commercially available GIS software system called Hometrack SMART, Southwark themselves decide where to plot the point in each school from which each distance measurement to applicants' houses are made. I have found all this out after our child missed out on a Sept '11 reception place by a mere 3 metres (which was by far our closest community school). We did extensive research into how Southwark undertakes its distance calculations and contacted the GIS company (Hometrack) directly. While the GIS software uses underlying large-scale Ordnance Map Data and the GIS software itself is incredibly accurate (partic in calculating crows flies distances), Southwark are able to select the measurement point in each school. I have found that in the case of our school, this point is different from the point used by publically available school locator websites - including Southwark's own public school finder site! If you use Google Earth to calculate crows flies distance, then the results will also probably be different (even if you know what point Southwark are actually using) as Ordnance Survery data automatically discounts building heights and also has a margin of error of at least -/+ 1m. Finally (and quite crucially), the point at which the SMART GIS software uses within houses to calculate distances to the school is arbitrarily placed within houses. This means that in some houses, the point could be at the front door and in others it could be in the middle of the house or even the back door. We live in a long, thin house - so the 3 metre difference between us and the furthest successful applicant to our child's school could have been easily absorbed by our living/dining room! We used all of this information in our appeal to Southwark (which we have yet to hear back from Southwark on) - however we have now secured a place at a faith school for our son so will not proceed with the appeal. I am still very annoyed at the system however and do think the use of crow flies measurements as unfair and quite ridiculous.

Fuschia Yes I have thanks. However, we have such a tiny difference between us and the furthest successful applicant we are appealing on these grounds. While we now have a place at another local school, I am so angry about what has happened over the last week and in particular, the publication of these stats which as far as I can see, Southwark are using to cover up a less than adequate school application process. I dont see why parents have to put up with it. Why should we have to accept allocations that are frankly unacceptable while we wait for the system to sort its self out.

I am sorry but I dont think I have ever been as upset and distressed as I was last week when I received notification that: a) Peckham Park Primary had been erroneously put on my chosen preference list b) It had been allocated to my son as we had failed to get into our 3 selected schools meaning all other local schools had been automatically discounted when looking for alternative local school for my son As I was able to respond quickly to the situation, I have now managed to secure a place at a local school in the interim while I wait to appeal my preferred schools (one of which we believe we have a strong case based on questionable distance measurements). However, before this we were evaluating private schools, leaving London and homeschooling. But I am still waiting for an explanation (and apology) from Southwark as to why Peckham Park was included in the first place and given my upset and distress last week, I am getting increasingly annoyed by the continued use of these stats. I certainly hope no ones bonus is tied to them. Its all very easy to say accept what you are given and then wait to see what happens in the shakedown, but when its your child that has been given a school miles away and that doesnt have a very good reputation, then it becomes hugely stressful.

Hi Coach Beth I think that is wise advice indeed and only wished I had done this three months ago. However, my main point here is that the stats of "94% got one of their preferred places" is inaccurate if it is including me/my son's application as my application mysteriously included Peckham Park Primary which I didnt even know existed until yesterday. I wonder how many more people have experienced this error. On the point of crows flies distance, one of the schools my son has missed a place out of from is our local community school - we are 3 metres further than the furthest successful applicant using this measurement method and less than 300 metres from the school. However, at least two successful applicants who have succeeded on distance and not on older siblings being at the school have to physically walk past my house to get the school in question due to the geography of the roads/paths.