Pugwash

Sunday lunches at Le Moulin are always good in terms of choice, cost and taste.

Gas works in Friern Road. I assume this will involve closing LL - Etherow Street off for 2 way traffic. What is the plan for the buses? 16 weeks does sound excessive - although when you think that 2 men working M- F 8 - 4pm, with stoppages for rain, tea breaks and discussions around the 'hole', and long absences from the work site - could be about right!! if it takes x men to lay piping x feet 16 weeks, how many weeks would it take 10 men to do the same work? I used to hate those sums in my maths lessons

I grew up in ED (in Spurling Road) where my mum was a single parent ( my Dad having left her for another). Our upper floor flat had one gas fire, mould growing in the rooms due to the leaky flat roof which the private landlord refused to repair. We had no hot water, or bathroom and the only wc in the house could only be accessed by going through the downstairs flat's living room and down the garden as outside wc. When the wc was not working we had to use slop buckets and use the house next door's wc. Spurling Road was designated for slum clearance twice in the 1950s and 1960s. Mum was on the council housing list for 18 years and did not get an offer. School Uniform was a struggle for her - I had a mixture of new and 2nd hand clothing. From the day I left school, I vowed that I would never let my children live in such housing conditions as I was ashamed to bring home friends etc. My wages were ?13 pw with the GLC and I put by ?1-2 pw into savings, the rest going to mum and my fares. I got my first mortgage at the age of 25. My eldest daughter went to Goodrich, and they had regular jumble sales - there was always a table with school uniforms and barely worn shoes - everyone made a beeline for this stall - you could get a complete uniform for ?1. St.Anthony's had a similair set up when daughter No 2 went - and always had a 'spare clothes' cupboard for 'emergencies'. My grandchildren usually wear 2nd hand clothing - they are now 12 and 7, they are not into fashion in a big way thankfully, although the 12 year old usually spends her birthday and Christmas money on clothes. I think many children are raised with values that new is best, you must have the latest fad to be accepted by your peers. When daughter No 1, moaned as a teenager that we did not spend enough money to keep her in fashion, I asked her how fashion trends were started, why become a sheep when she could be a leader. She took this on board and set up her own fashion style (flowing indian/ethnic dresses/materials etc) which within a couple of years - everyone was following. She is now 38, still wears 2nd hand clothing and still likes the 'ethnic' look.

My daughter is/was in a similiar situation as she had lodgers who ran up debts. When they moved out they chucked all the letters in the rubbish bin. Daughter took them out and rang all the agencies involved explaining the situation. Fortunately she had the address of one of the lodger's parents, so she gave this as a forwarding address. She also stated that since all the utility bills were in her name, she would be happy to show any bailiff proof that this was her address - she also a photo ID card from her work which verified her identity. The National Debt Line were good- they gave advice when another company tried to get almost ?10000 from her in unpaid rent from a former student house, where she had moved out a year previously and had given written notice to landlord. Same when an ex boyfriend took out a mobile phone contract in her name and address.

I see my name mentioned - what have I said??

The ground floor of Holmhurst was used as the Day centre, the upper floors are used by the Community Mental Health Team for Older People. Many of the users have been at Holmhurst for years and will be disorientated for a while in new premises. My understanding is that all the users are being reassessed as it was discovered that some had not ben placed by social services and therefore were not included in the community care charging process (effectively receiving free care whilst many other atendees were paying). With the numbers increasing at FFrancis - it is possible that the Holmhurst people will not get the same number of days allocated to them. Most day centres now have older people who are in varying stages of dementia - however those at Holmhurst tended to have Alzheimers or end stage dementia, some with challenging behaviour. I would like to see Labour councillors vote for retaining day centres and scrapping the free meals for primary kids. Cutting back on day centres and similiar will have a massive effects on carers - depriving them of breaks, increasing their stress levels and ultimately forcing more people into care homes as carers physical and emotional health will eventually breakdown. There is a general agreement throughout the country that too many older people especially, are being force prematurely into care by the lack of community provisions. Southwark Council have been advised to cut back on the number of placements it makes and to keep people at home longer. The Tories (in Government) aided by Labour (Southwark)by a combination of cuts and ill thought out policies are determined to make life for the borough's older population more difficult.

Does anyone know if there is an organisation within easy reach of ED that does a basic manual handling course for carers? A relative is applying for paid carers positions and has been advised that before any agency takes him on, they prefer him to have a manual handling certificate .(It saves them paying for the course) From what I gather this will possibly involve correct way to help people from a chair, a bed and support them mobilising and may cover hoist transfers. Relative is on job seekers allowance, so course should not be too expensive and produce a professionally recognised manual handling certificate

St Anthonys delivered a letter addressed to parents and neighbours re planning ideas. dated 29th March and invited everyone to an open meeting between 4 - 7 pm on 7th April to hear about new plans. It is on creamy yellow paper and was hand delivered in Barry Road and Etherow Street and I think Norcroft Gardens - the area most likely to be affected by the building works. Daughter now aged 25 went to St. Anthonys from 5 - 11 (they did not have a nursery class then) parents were from the borders with Peckham, Nunhead, Forest Hill and Camberwell as well as Dulwich. Goodrich was not the intake as it is now and Heber at that time was a 'sink school' so many kids who had at least one RC parent were accepted. Hubby is RC and a regular church attender, and our daughter's name was put on the list when she was 2 years old. Eldest child went to Goodrich and had not Goodrich changed their catchment area (we were the wrong side of Barry Road) youngest daughter would have gone there as well. same problems with parking then as now, but more parents abusive now. The PTA parents took turn in jotting down car regs of poor parkers, those whose numbers frequently appeared had their regs given to the police who would randomly turn up with traffic wardens and issue tickets and warnings.

In my line of work, I have contact with many people who are homeless or seeking a housing transfer. Many have been offered property such as described by LL above, but have turned them down for various reasons. They are unwilling or unable to redecorate, or improve the property in any way. None of them would live in a non central heated property. Many people on transfer list have disability living requirements i.e need for wheelchair access i.e. wide door openings, walk in shower, all on level etc. Disabled Facilities Grant offered by LA usually take 6 months or so to come through after an OT and Surveyor has completed the necessary forms. I believe it is a question as to whether people are willing to accept habitable housing and to make do with a kitchen that might be 20 years old but in usuable condition. In some cases, the council have tried to update the property with new windows and central heating etc, but the original tenant has refused to allow workmen entry to do this. This is surprisingly common amongst elderly tenants who dislike change and are fearful of letting 'strangers' in the property.

It would be helpful to give a breed and area lost in

I would not leave a primary aged child alone in a car or in the house. I was filling up the car once with petrol when another driver pointed out that the 5 year old had managed to get out of his car seat ( he was strapped in) climbed over to where his 10 year old sister was sitting (also strapped in) and was opening the passenger door to climb out. As I was concentrating on the petrol pump on the other side of the car - did not see this happening until the other driver called out. If anything had happened to my grandchildren......!!! Grandson got a good telling off and barred from sweets that day. We could not figure out how he released the safety straps - daughter got a different car seat with more buckles to undo which he never manages.

My MIL only babysat once in 20 years - she only lived in West Dulwich and we used to visit her frequently and hubby phoned her and FIL weekly. MIL always admitted she did not like children and was glad her only child was a boy (which FIL wanted). MIL only liked older children and first (and only time) baby sat when our youngest was in primary school, for about 4 - 5 hours. My mother on the other hand visited weekly most weeks and always ready to babysit either at our house or hers. She retained a strong interest in her grandchildren and great grandchildren until her death in March. Strange thing was I could not say I was close to my mother, my husband was much closer to her emotionally ( even more so than his own mother}. We had different child rearing views and often clashed, but my daughters loved going to Gran's.

When the raised table was first put in at Goodrich and Barry Junctions as there were a number of crashes at this site, all the buses using the route refused to use Barry Road as it meant that they had to really slow down at this point to avoid bashing the bottom of the bus. I cannot remember how long we were without buses as it was many years ago. Southwark after spending thousands doing the work were forced to lower the speed table or deprive an area of buses. TFL are a bolshie lot and have quite alot of power. They can also say where traffic lights can be installed on certain major routes. Give TFL less power and people power and local councils may see improvements.

There is a clothes recycling bank on the Barry Road side of the Plough.

Try contacting your local councillor for further advice. See an earlier posting on this topic by Peckham Rose - Leaseholder Association.

This happened to me last autumn, around 7.30 pm put my shopping in the boot and placed my handbag underneath my car seat. Got in the car went to belt up and noticed that a car had blocked me in, then in the mirror saw a hand grab the back door and my handbag (from under the seat) and my work bag on back seat. I jumped out and got hold of the guy who was sitting in his car, tried to grab my bag back, yelling you bastard at the top of my voice, punched the guy in his face and tried to hang onto the car door whilst he sped away.Landed on the tarmac, sustained a cut forehead but loads of people rushed up including security, police there in less than 5 minutes. Gave description -light skinned older black guy in his 40's, one of the Sainsbury's staff saw the car and thought it was an old type Fiesta. Police checked CCTV but nothing was shown. Police and staff very helpful - stated that this was a one off incident - there had not been any reports of similiar things in the area. Had about ?170 on me as had to pay a workman the next day for a job, lost usual cards, cheque book, driving licence, phone. Work case looked like a computor case but only held papers and diary. Had to claim well over ?300 from my insurance company and had to borrow money for a couple of weeks till I got my cards reissued.

Am a bit peed off as hubby sent cheque to the Dulwich Festival PO Box as stated in the festival programme in April for the Gala Jazz (14/5) and enclosed SAE. No ticket has arrived. He does not use a computor - so I checked a few minutes ago on line to see if ordered tickets can be collected at the venue (All saints)to find that the printed PO box was incorrect and gave the correct POBox. How the hell are non computor owners/users supposed to find this out - I could not see any notices on EDF, not seen any in the press. I am not impressed that someone did not proofread the programme contents before having thousands printed. Will now have to check with the bank - if cheque cashed and by whom and he will have to take pot luck that he can get in so the concert tomorrow ( we have 2 friends playing in the band).

If you attended the community council meeting last week at the East Dulwich Community Centre you will note that most cars after 2001 (I think that was the correct year) conform to the co2 emissions and generally the residents parking permits work out slightly cheaper.

When you say your house is not accessible in any way - how do you mean? Long flight of steps to the front door? No downstairs loo? Some people use a wheelchair because they cannot walk very far - my mother did but we managed to get her walking up and down a few steps into the house and into the loo - took 2 of us and she was very slow. Or are you looking at overnight accommodation? Places like Premier Inn and Travel Lodge usually have a disabled suite/rooms - I think the nearest Inn is around Tower Bridge.

Have 4 cats so will need to be careful - perhaps jam jars with lids with holes pierced in. Will try the Nippon trick Am always washing down surfaces and putting away food. Found my glass cupboard running with ants one night all I keep in there is glasses and it is a wall cupboard well away from the back door.

My daughter and her partner could not agree on a girl's name but decided girl or boy it would be called Morgan. So we have Morgan Heather. There was only one other female Morgan in her primary school. Baby number 2 was threatened with Travis or Lennon, but after he was born Morgan was asked whether he should be called Euan/Ewen or Owen - we now have Owen John and he is one of several Owen's in his school Some names suit 'young people' only can you imagine a 80 year old being called Chardonnay/Tracey/Paris? If we had a boy the choice was Marek, Luke or Matthew. ( We had 3 girls)

For the second time in a year, I seem to have an ants nest in the kitchen. They appear to have eaten into the plaster (again)and got into the wooden door frame which seperates the kichen from the downstairs shower room. There is a daily pile of 'dust' by the frame (the same as last year) Last year they ate the wooden supports behaind the plaster and we had to shovel up the ants with a dustpan and put them into a black sack- took several cans of ant spray and powder to kill them all off. They are back again ................. Anyone got an idea how I can prevent this happening? PS they have eated away the bottom of the back door as well.

heard today that the chap had died- not sure how correct this is

The Rye Raving Ranters are a group that the East Dulwich Community Centre and Christ Church have used for Barn dancing. Not sure where they are based but I know that one of them (Mark) is in ED

From what I gather from hubby - no buses are coming up LL and being terminated at the roundabout at Goose Green. Hubby currently walking home. have not seen any 12 or 197 so imagine these are terminating at the Rye. Wondered why LL seemed extra busy with walkers.