toffeese15

Slightly further afield, the place on Vestry Road was recently reopened under new owners. I've been there a few times and have really enjoyed it. Everything cooked to order. Only minor complaint is they leave the skin on the fish. I've tried most of the places mentioned on this thread and this is as good as any of them.

SpringTime Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Yep, if this isn't due to an emergency Would've been good to get > Camberwell Grove open before this started > surely...? You'd think. We have been leafleted about tha Camberwell Grove work being done later in the summer. Why they couldn't have done that first before doing the work on Bellenden Road is beyond me. They have created a bottleneck with only one exit. The level of incompetence involved in the planning of this is quite staggering.

Another recommendation for Nico. Came round at very short notice and fixed a temporary problem we had. Was so impressed, we got him to do additional work which he did as promised and on time. Really nice bloke too. Have dealt with many plumbers over the years in SE15/SE22 and he is the only one I'd recommend without hesitation.

Just wanted to add another recommendation for Dave and Patrick. They have just finished a job for me in Peckham. We have had a leaking guttering for years but no one had been able to identify the cause of the problem until Dave took a look at it. He came round promptly to quote us for the job, explaining what needed to be done and why and also why the previous efforts had not been successful. Him and Patrick completed a brilliant job on the guttering and also repainted the front of our house. They were really nice blokes, reliable and carried out the work to a very high standard. Really happy with the work they have done and would definitely recommend.

The Gowlett has been open the last couple of years.

Another thumbs up from me. Was in there on Friday night and thought they'd done a good job with the revamp. Expected the place to be packed, but it was pretty quiet in there. We used to go there a few years ago after playing 5-a-side football, but got fed up with the miserable reception we got from the previous owners and started drinking elsewhere. Be happy to make it our local again.

Leave it as it is. The local shops rely on people pulling over and popping in. You halve that option and with all the other parking restrictions around Bellenden Road, you're going to see businesses suffer. The vast majority of people who drive through there are fine and appreciate that there needs to be a bit of give and take. Occasionally, you have to wait a minute or two until the road clears. Hardly a massive inconvenience.

People are entitled to send their children to private schools, but please don't try and tell us - like some of you are - that you're doing it for virtuous reasons. In the process of buying advantage for your children you are supporting an unfair system. To suggest otherwise or to imply that you are unburdening the state system by going private, is highly disingenuous.

Perfectly fine for kids. Atmosphere is really friendly and lots of people bring their kids along. What I would say though - from my experience of taking my 7 year-old daughter (now 8) - is that it's quite nice for them to have a friend to play with. 90 minutes is quite a long time for young kids to be standing around watching football.

You cope as best you can and do favours for loads of people in the hope they will repay them when you need it. There's also holiday clubs which from my experience work well. Do you have any grandparents you can get to help out? Best of luck with it. At the end of each summer holiday, we always breathe a huge sigh of relief that we've got away with it for another year. Somehow we all cope. I'm sure you will, even though it seems daunting at the moment.

Basically, people are selfish. They will support the school if they think their children will get in but use terms like 'shambles' and 'fiasco' if it looks like they won't. The council can't just magic up land for a new school - they have to work with what they have, which in this case is the Dulwich hospital site. Its proximity to the existing Charter school will surely extend the catchment areas of both schools, thus increasing the chances of people further afield getting into either. I'm in Lyndhurst Grove and therefore close to the outer edge of any potential catchment area. My daughter may get in or she may not, but if she doesn't I'm certainly not going to come on here moaning about it. One thing a new school did not and could not guarantee was a place for my daughter. If she doesn't get in, we will have to look at alternatives.

What can I say? It's a tapas bar on Choumert Road - the Rye Lane end - and it sells tapas. Food was good, wine and sherry very nice. Place had an intimate feel to it, and Spanish woman running it was charming. She said they'd been really busy since they opened a few weeks ago. Not wildly excited by tapas generally, but these were authentic and sometimes it's nice to have a bite to eat and a drink without having a full sit down meal. If you're in that kind of mood, you should go there.

Skimming this, and apologies to those whose contributions deserve more of my attention, but looking at the latest developments, would I be right in assuming that a secondary school on the Dulwich hospital site is looking less and less likely? And, even if such a school was eventually built, it is unlikely to be operating within the next 4-5 years?

ann coley Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I use the Peckham/ Blackfriars train every morning > - usually the 8-42. It has been crammed every > morning this week and was particularly bad this > morning when the 8-36 was apparantly cancelled (no > information on the platform - it showed on the > indicator board but just didn't show up). > I have also noticed that the 18-04 back to Peckham > from Blackfrias has got much busier since > Christmas. > (Long time lurker - it took the trains to finally > make me comment!). I normally cycle to work but have had to use the train a couple of times this year. I was shocked and appalled by the overcrowding on the 18:04 train from Blackfriars to Peckham, and amazed at the patience and good humour displayed by the regular commuters, for whom this must be a frequent occurrence. I know it's an old and overused cliche but you really would not be allowed to transport livestock in such terrible conditions. From my limited occasional experience of using the trains on that line, there is clearly an urgent need for additional trains. I'd re-nationalise the railways myself.

St Johns church by Goose Green is a good deal. You have a choice of rooms - one of which is huge and use of the kitchens (including ovens and fridges), which is quite handy if you're heating up food or want to serve drinks for the parents. Can't remember the exact cost but it was about ?100 in total a couple of years ago for 2 hours. Otherwise, been to a couple of kids parties at East Dulwich Community centre on Darrell Road, which I gather is cheap to hire.

I hired these for my wedding wedding a couple of weeks ago. They looked great, transformed our house, and for the money I spent were an absolute bargain. I would definitely recommend them. Thanks to Hellen for her help.

Yeah, I am in favour of greater provision, but this wouldn't really make much difference to me or many others, who are extremely unlikely to fall within the catchment area of either Charter 1 or 2. It seems strange to be situating a school a very short distance from an existing secondary school and employing identical criteria for admissions. Effectively you are doubling the options for people who already live within the catchment of area of the original Charter school. I can see that it will reduce the pressure for places on Charter 1 and widen the catchment area for both 1 and 2, but it will do nothing for those who live in Nunhead, Peckham Rye, Bellenden areas who wish to have greater choice than the Harris academies.

Not East Dulwich, but not far away. The Villa in Lyndhurst Grove SE15. My daughter went there and really enjoyed the experience. http://thevillaschoolandnursery.co.uk/the-nursery/

Louisa Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I think you misunderstand me sophie_d. I wish > markmc71 and all the co-founders/contributors to > this paper the very best, it surely will be a > positive step for print media and the local area.... Hahahaha! And what you actually said was: "More arty trendy middle class stuff detached from reality. So much is happening in Peckham? Maybe if you're on the cool carriage first class from Shoreditch or Dalston, but what about the real Peckham? Louisa." Is the only acceptable reality a working class one? Is there not room for several different realities co-habiting? Please define the 'real Peckham' for me. Is it Del boys, Desmonds or Damilola's or could it also embrace a scotch egg at the Victoria Inn? I've lived in this area for 17 years, so have seen plenty of changes - many, but not all, positive. I'd be interested to hear if you have witnessed any positive changes at all. Reading through your posts there seems to be an obsession with maintaining a particular incarnation of Peckham. What is this and when was it? I could be wrong, but it would appear that it's quite a narrow definition of what a 'real' place could be, but perhaps you could enlighten me further to explain what you mean.

Who handed in the cash I absentmindedly left in the Sainsburys cash machine on Sunday. Thank you so much you lovely person.