SimonM

>>and they sell beer as well as pizza in Mon Petit Chou - pizza = yum, beer probably bottled<< Yup: Peroni or Stella

So is the West Dulwich one closing or are we to be "blessed" with two local Cafe Rouges? or Cafes Rouges...

>>Well I'm glad *I'm* not the resident expert on dogging << Well nor am I of course - I should have made clear I was quoting the person who apparently is B)

>>My old neighbour (on Peckham Rye) had parakeets in her trees. I thought I was hallucinating, but then I saw a report on the beeb about urban parakeets, apparently they're not that rare.<<< Supposedly 10,000+ in the London area. I used to spot the odd one or two in Dulwich Park, but now we regularly get a few calling in the garden (Underhill Road) and had half a dozen on the apple tree on Saturday. It's fun watching them try to stare down the squirrels...

Clearly, - I mean, I am the resident quotable expert on Dogging, just read the South London Press! Would they publish my opinion on shoes? No, obviously not. You need to employ low cunning - offer tham 1000 words on "What Shoes to Wear When Dogging"?? B)

>>I actaully said that line here on the forum - so I am sure they can do what they like! Shame, I could do with a 100 guineas. I could do with a spray tan...<< of course you did - how could I forget? But still...plagiarism is plagiarism, inetllectual property is intellectual property :)) Spray tans are so "Footballers' Wives" though....

I recommend "Animal's People" by Indra Sinha, recently published and available cheap from Amazon. He is a mate and would kill me for not taking up such a blatant plugging opportunity, but it is nonetheless one to get your teeth into! For a laugh, anything by Carl Hiassen For superior crime novels anything by Val McDermid

>>OHMYGOD! I just read the article, and it reads as though I am completely seriously saying that these people should be boiled in oil! Ha, ha, ha!:D

Yes, I have passed it many times and marvelled - I wonder how old it is??

>>>The most exotic thing in my garden? My new Brazilian gardner...<<< I know I shall regret asking this, but how do you know your gardener had has a Brazilian? B)

Locking the Door = "Fale Imprisonment". He will do that to the wrong person one day... A shame as I love the shop - it;s the only local outlet I know, supermarkets included, for strong French bread flour...

Well the 900K houses are certainly already here.... http://www.primelocation.com/uk-property-for-sale/details/id/WAED999000720/

>>my friend the chef who is an authentic Italian chef from Puglia<< Now if he only he could be persuaded to bake some genuine Pugliese sourdough loaves, such as EDD used to sell before they started their own bakery.....mmmmm

>>No it most certainly does not! It's alright if you sing in a choir and want sheet music for Verdi?s Requiem, and definately not alright if you have a musical instrument (that's not a violin, a triangle or a recorder!).:D

>>An independent music store, selling music, guitars, easy-to-play tabs plus a well stocked pants section! - plain/simple and complicated/fancy.<< I keep seeing variations of this cri de coeur in here - does the music shop on Upland Road not fit the bill then?

>> understand the need for a cheap pants shop though, and as it isn't just one empty shop we're talking about, maybe both underwear and music could live happily in harmony?<< On fairly regular visits to Cambridge we also visit the market there for the stalls selling nothing but socks, underwear, records, second hand books etc etc...They all thrive and flourish, as I am sure they do in similar market in other towns. They don't have all the outgoings a "proper" shop premises would involve. Now if only North Cross road market could expand in this direction - perhaps if the bit from Willow to LL is closed to traffic on Saturdays? - then this might be a viable way forward?

As others have pointed out, you have every right to park there, moral and legal. I'd also take with a pinch of salt her assertion that other people in the road are behind her, I think most people know the score abotu car parking on the streets in cities....

>>My understanding is that the original purchaser went bust and Southwark continued pursuing him through the courts even though they knew he was bust. Quite what this was supposed to achieve is anyone's guess. The site is also not properly sealed off as the graffiti demonstrates.<< Why were Southward bringing an action against the purchaser in the first place? Whatever the reason, his being bust would be no grounds for not pursuing any case against him as (my guess would be that) Southwark would have to demonstrate it had exhausted all legal avenues and then, by winning any subsequent action against the purchaser in the courts, they could stick a charge on the land to recover any judgement monies owed when it was eventually sold. Someone has clearly bought it, given the application to demolish and buidl flats.

I cannot, I am afraid, share what seems to me to be an hysterical overreaction to the long overdue demolition of this dangerous structure/eyesore/rubbish dump. I hold no brief for Southwark Council but if the (previous?) owner was determined to let this building slowly rot away until redevelopment was the only option there was never going to be an awful lot they could do about it. Compulsorily purchasing and spending massive sums of money restoring the place would have been a gross waste of Council funding and would have led to justified criticism from every quarter - from the Daily Mail leftwards to residents of poorer areas of Southwark scandalised at such a frivolous waste of limited funding. It was the first concrete house? So what? I have seen the photos of it in its prime and yes I am sorry there has been such sustained neglect over the years. But what is done is done. If no eccentric millionaire in the private sector was prepared to take it over and rescue it then I do not see the Coucnil coud do much else. There was essentially little difference between this property and the ruin that stood for years at the junction of Overhill Road and Underhill Road, and that has now been replaced by a block of admittedly unlovely flats. Unlovely they may be, but at least people can inhabit them.

>>The inhabitants of Underhill Road I was referring to were Mr Hancock (the corner<< I am not sure he has lived there for a while. The house went on the market again very soon after he moved in, and the estate agent's "For Sale" sign remained up for ages as the front garden got more and more overgrown and dilapidated. I am not sure though whether he ever sold up - the "Stoke City FC" stained glass window is still in the bedroom window visible from the rear! - although the house is now clearly occupied again.

That's the second issue in a row they have carried that same ad!

I thought Ms Kidman rented that house for 6 months whilst she appeared in "The Blue Room"?

>>>Nick Hancock used to live five doors down the road from me :D

There certainly used to be one held weekly in Kingswood House... But perhaps some of the pubs and coffee bars could be persauased to supply outdoor tables during the summer. It is so civilied and continental (in a good way) to contemplate the Sicilian whilst sipping espresso and observing the passing humanity no?

Before spending ?70, have a look at Ebay/Gazebos...there are loads of bargains! >:D