toffeese15

As a non-church going parent whose child goes there and lives much further away than you (admittedly bulge year), I'd be amazed if you didn't get in living that close.

Whoever said the Wishing Well was a shithole 7 years ago was right. It was dying on its arse. However, go back a few years before that and it was the vibrant heart of the local community, attracting a disparate but eclectic crowd. Especially before they made the decision to replace the leaking greenhouse roof with the naff saloon. I think what happened was that as young people got priced out of the area they were replaced by types who wanted a more upmarket place and avoided the Well. So, it being a shithole became a self fulfilling prophecy. It shows an annoying ignorance of the area, though, to dismiss the place based on very limited experience. The General Store strikes me as a satire on the whole Bellenden Village process of gentrification.

RinkyDink, I have a some sympathy with your situation, but the general thrust of your argument appears to comprise: if you have to suffer then so must everyone else. Continue your fight with the council rather than with fellow residents. Also, spare us the melodramatic talk of NIMBYISM - why else are you campaigning for this if it's not to improve your own situation? Incidentally, yes, I am down the other end - Lyndhurst Grove if you must know.

Hi there, I live in the affected area and have spoken to a number of people about this. Not one is in favour of it and most were strongly opposed. I was going to post something about this today as I'd dug out a couple of links that could be useful, but might as well continue with this thread. The local councillor for this ward is Rowenna Davies - rowenna.davis@southwark.gov.uk Local residents can fill in the questionnaire online - http://tinyurl.com/d57tyoe Someone has set up an online petition against the proposed CPZ - http://tinyurl.com/c6rywuh

Another vote for Katy Harris. Lovely woman who's done a couple of parties my child has attended, as well as the resident face painter at the St John's and St Clements school fair.

We just turned the telly up. But seriously, the BT one was really good and 6 years later still works fine. I remember saying 'night night' to her and her always replying, 'night monitor'. We still communicate with her via it if we hear her up to no good when she's supposed to be going to sleep. Never understood the purpose of the video monitors. It just struck me as a guaranteed way of making one feel less relaxed. It's bad enough anyway with a new born, why invite more stress into your house. Someone bought us a movement monitor. I still have vivid recollections of sprinting into her room, heart pounding, only to find her sitting up, blinking, wondering WTF that piercing noise was. This happened on more than one occasion.

My daughter went to the nursery but not the school. However, we know several people who have children at the school and all are very happy with it. From what I've been told it's a lovely environment, which also does a good job of preparing children for prep school entry exams - if that's the route you want to take. My only concern would be the size of the classes. A number of children start at the Villa but are then withdrawn if a place at their preferred state school becomes available. For instance, in the current Year One, I understand there are now only three girls in the class. There are obvious academic advantages to this, but it could be quite detrimental from a social perspective, especially if you happen to fall out with one or both of the other girls in the year. With the new extension, I presume they are planning to increase the intake, so this might not be so much of a problem in future years.

I suppose one of the problems with locking it at night is that it would inconvenience a lot of people who walk their dogs when they get home from work. I'd cycle though the park at night, but wouldn't walk through it. The time saved just doesn't seem worth the risk. As the above poster says, walking through any park on your own at night carries inherent risks.

They sound like horsefly bites. They're like mosquito bites, but far worse and the more you scratch the bite the worse the infection becomes. They're particularly painful on knee and elbow joints.

Actually, we have just had a crime leaflet put through our letter box (on Lyndhurst Grove, backs on to Warwick Gardens) saying it was a "serious sexual assault on a female between 10pm and 10.45." So, not a murder, but something equally grim.

I wondered that, and assumed they were searching the park as it was a logical place to hide a weapon. However, it appears to be a separate incident. According to one of the policeman on duty at the park this afternoon, there was a 'serious assault' in the park between 9 and 10 last night. That would imply that there were two major incidents in the area over the past 24 hours.

My daughter is in Year One at St Johns and St Clements. She loves it there, feels very secure, and and we're very happy with the school. I guess it depends what you?re looking for. For us, at this stage, we just want her to be happy, have friends, like her teachers, be stimulated and feel safe. She has all these and as a bonus we have met some really nice parents in what is a very sociable school. I presume this is the case at most schools, but certainly at St Johns there is a real sense that the school and the parents are working in unison for the benefit of the children. It's a C of E school, which might bother some. Even though I'm not religious, I don't mind her learning about it. As Mrs.Lotte said, most parents will enthuse about the schools their children attend, so maybe take another look to see if there?s anything that might swing it. Ultimately, though, I?m sure either school - or the others mentioned - would be suitable for your child.

You can try this site. Just type in your postcode and the postcode of the school and it will give you the distance as the crow files. Seems pretty foolproof. http://www.freemaptools.com/distance-between-uk-postcodes.htm

I was in there last night after playing football. As some of our group had football shorts on, I was conscious that we probably weren?t the type of people they were looking to attract in the long run, but if that was the case it didn?t show on the face of the smiling bar staff who served us. Seemed pretty quiet in there, although I guess Tuesday?s not a busy pub night anywhere. Garden was a little busier. I do wonder whether they could improve the lighting at the back. It gets very dark out there. Hope they manage to pull in the punters.

Bradlington Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- It's not The Cheapest. But then > if you want The Cheapest then you were happy with > The Vale and all its football-shirt-wearing > skinhead glory. > > Go there! It's new and it's not owned by the same > people that own half of East Dulwich (Bishop, > Actress, Great Exhibition, Rye...) - it deserves a > tenner of your money to make up your own mind. > > Cheers > Brad As someone who has been going to the Vale once a week for the past 15 years after playing my weekly game of football, I'd just like to point out that I can't recall seeing any football-shirt-wearing skinheads in there. It was a failing pub, but for that you can blame the people who ran it rather than the patrons, most of whom attended it for 2 reasons: 1) you could be guaranteed a seat; 2) it was cheap due to the absence of rugby-shirt-wearing types. I'll be in there tomorrow night to see how it's going. I hope it works out because as things were it was a waste of a decent location.

I went to Skaka (just outside exactly a year ago. Stayed in the San Giorgio hotel (which I'd recommend) As others have said, it's a pretty island, great beaches, friendly people. I would recommend a trip to the taverna/restaurant up the mountain in Old Skala as the views are genuinely stunning. It's a long uphill walk, so a car/taxi would be a good option. It's worth it once you get there though, especially to watch the sun go down and the stars come out. The restaurant Old Timer, which is about a 20 minutes walk from Skala, is a delightful, family-run restaurant and provided probably the best meal we ate during our holiday. Lovely hotel, lovely island. I'd happily go back to both.

Of the Lordship Lane lot, Tandoori Nights is probably the best food, but they've crammed too many tables in and I often feel like I'm eating in someone's living room. Surma is good, so too Mirash (which I get my takeaways from), but was disappointed in a recent trip to East Dulwich Tandoori, where I had a particularly greasy meal. Had a few takeaways from Omrith after hearing good things, but been disappointed every time. There's something very heavy handed about their spicing. I love Ganapati. It's the only local one I'd recommend unreservedly.

We're on Lyndhurst Grove and applied for Lyndhurst and Dog Kennel Hill and a couple of others. We were given Camelot - which I'd never even heard of and is about a 40 minute walk away (near Old Kent Rd) - and are way down the waiting lists of our other choices. We're 4th from top of Bellenden list so that looks are most likely, but don't know anyone with any kids there. It's approximately 4-500 meters from where we live.

Hi there, Just wondered if anyone had any experiences/opinions of Bellenden Primary School. My daughter was turned down for her school choices and although we didn't apply for this particular school, she's quite close to the top of its waiting list. Thanks in advance for any info.