Jeremy

I do not understand who would want to live right next to the train line like that... a horrible location! And I assume the 2 bed places must be on for over ?350k??

Well, the DIY shop is pretty useful... saves a drive down to homebase. Never actually been into the lighting and tile shops, but they seem to be doing OK. There are a lot of builders, plumbers, etc based down at this end of lordship lane, which may boost their trade. It also explains the number of greasy spoon cafes, and good-value-but-scruffy pubs.

poppy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I don't think trains into > town every ten minutes can be considered > infrequent, and perhaps if we did have a CPZ it > would deter people from driving simply because > they are running a few minutes late! As stated before, this is simply not the case at peak times - i.e. morning rush hour, where they are more like every 20 minutes. Another option is to drive to Canada Water and park at the cinema, which I also sometimes do. It can often be just too tempting to jump into your car, if you know it's going to save you valuable time. Although to be fair, if my road was always parked up, I'd probably be in favour of a CPZ too.

Last time I was in Le Chardon, they expressed their displeasure when we asked for some tap water (in addition to the bottle of wine). And we had to ask 3 times before they brought our bill. We therefore asked them to remove the service charge, to which their reaction was rather unprofessional. Some of the dishes were good, some were a bit disappointing. You can get better food for the same price in central London.

Le Chardon is not bad I guess, and I do love the interior. But... "good service"???

kingtubby Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Cycle or run to Canary Wharf, usually via > Greenwich foot tunnel. Both of these options are > usually quicker than the rail/tube thingy. I work in the Wharf as well. In theory it looks like a good journey on public transport, but in practise it can take up to an hour! I'm thinking of getting a bike and going for the cycling option myself.

> However I know someone who often > drives to ED station even though he could easily > get a bus down LL! I sometimes do this (maybe a 2 or 3 times a month) if I'm in danger of missing a train. But I wouldn't have to if the trains were more frequent...

SeanMacGabhann Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Jeremy > > busy day such as saturday when parking is a > nightmare - walk to local shops (if poss) > quiet day such as Sunday local shops closed but no > strange cars parked out front of house > > either way no parking hassles > > The police station is arguably the onle building > in britain that would be improved aesthetically by > becoming a car park but if said car park held, > say... 500 cars.. upon which roads would that many > extra vehicles drive? Still don't totally get your point SeanMacGabhann, but I think we're probably in agreement more or less. The multi-storey suggestion was a joke really... although I'm sure many would find it useful... I very much doubt many of the residents would welcome it.

SeanMacGabhann Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Tis true Jeremy but is the parking that bad off LL > on a Sunday? not sure I understand your point, I was just putting forward a reason why people might not use local shops. Anyway, I'm going off on a tangent. I have a solution to this problem: build a multi storey carpark on the police station site!

A lot of local shops aren't open on evenings or Sundays, which make them next to useless for many of us.

I've seen a few on the market, they seem cheap by ED standards... well, under 300k for a 3 bedroom flat. But then, they are miles away from any station. I agree that the building looks quite nice though!

There was a lad sweeping my street this morning, he seemed to be doing a reasonable job... but they could do with coming round a bit more often (something to do with the fact that I live a couple of doors from a pub, maybe).

I have some small ones in the house... I don't think they count though. I'm certainly no expert. The situation does not appear to be good.

I like foccacia, but I don't like the rise in house prices. Where does this leave me on the scale of respect in ED?

To be honest I wouldn't be overjoyed to see a gay pub in ED - I'd rather have somewhere we could all enjoy.

House of Love? Some friends of mine played a gig in the Tunbridge Wells Forum a couple of years ago, and House Of Love turned up as the opening act. It was rather strange.

Agreed... Strada or Pizza Express are both nicer than Zizzi. I've never found the food there unpleasant as such, but the sauces taste like they came out of a jar. Anyway, I find Bells OK, I don't think they are overly expensive. Although the bathroom fitter they recommended to me turned out to be a cowboy of the highest order!!

Administrator Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > "Gents" was aimed at Bob, Keef and Ant, not you > Mockney although I am assured you are a Gent Mr Administrator, that sounds off-topic to me.

William Rose were doing quails for ?1 the other weekend... so I cooked some quails stuffed with onions and pears, with a balsamic, honey and calvados glaze. Quite simple, and very tasty! Beef wellington is always a good one. Or monkfish wrapped in parma ham, with a nice sauce (hollandaise or bearnaise are winners).

Alan - in your post, you ignored the associated costs of buying a property, and interest on the mortgage. Huguenot - you originally ignored the fact that you don't have to put up the entire cost of the property, and you also ignored rental income. Neither of you mentioned all the facts, but at the end of the day, you could still make a good profit on buy-to-let. But this would be dependant on a large increase in property prices, and none of us really know what's going to happen on that front, do we?

Alan Dale Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > They should just bump up the frequency That is the difficult bit, and the key feature which distinguishes network rail services from the tube!

Quaywe Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- Not to mention what > it would do for ED house prices near it. Seriously, enough about house prices Kiwi. The only people who really benefit from this are people who are planning to leave the area and cash in. Which makes the situation worse for those of us who would like to make this area their permanent home.

Bordeaux is a lovely city - would definitely recommend it too, but probably just for 2-5 days though as it is quite small. Found some absolutely awesome restaurants there, hmmmm...

I would recycle, but our recycle box keeps on going missing. I have asked for replacements - and they sometimes arrive - but inevitably just disappear again. Not sure what the solution is though... maybe more recycling banks on street corners, etc?

I'm surprised they've been around as long as they have, given the size of the plot which they sit on! They've never bothered me at all, but it has to be said that they don't fit in aesthetically with the buildings in the rest of the area (not that the replacement will be any more sympathetic).