Pugwash

M and S do a nice sparkling non alcoholic wine - its about ?6 I think.

The first supermarket on the now co op site opened in the 1960s - cannot remember whether it was Somerfields but have an idea it was a really naff name.

Not specially Christmassy or local but saw Jason Manford yesterday at the opening night of Curtains at Wyndhams Theatre. Not my usual choice but it was great. Considering he is not trained in singing and dancing he is brilliant and was similarly great in Guys & Dolls at the Albert Hall last year. Good family entertainment if that's what youre after. Jason is a trained singer and also does opera. Was in Sweeney Todd in the west end.

Presents given out after Christmas Lunch - when kids little they had a stocking to open in the morning. My Nan used to have to work Christmas morning (cleaner at the Nurses' home at ED Hospital) so never got home until 2 pm. Father Christmas always rang the door bell after lunch when our kids were young and kids answered the door to find presents. (Hubby in red dressing gown and false beard then raced down the side return and into house via back door discarding the outfit) Youngest person in the room handed out the presents, everyone taking it in turn to open one. Soup on Boxing Day made with leftovers

My youngest daughter stood up to 'bullies' in her school, she made a direct approach to her form teacher and asked that the girls in question be spoken to. Also stated that if the form teacher was not able to do anything, she would take the matter up with head of year. We were very surprised at daughter as always a very quiet person who lacked self confidence. We heard about the 'bullies' via a phone call made by her form teacher to us, who were very pleased at our daughter's actions. The 'bullies' were approached by teachers and their parents contacted. A meeting was arranged at the school with teachers, parents and bullies - our daughter was given the option of being at the meeting- she attended and when outlined the other girls' behaviour, their parents were horrified and promised necessary action. Daughter was not bullied again for the rest of her school life and became a school counsellor with responsibility for a class of 11/12 year olds whom she mentored and helped identify 'bullying' behaviour.

I lived in Spurling Road in the 1950s and 1960s. Council earmarked it for 'slum clearance' twice in that time as flat roof was letting in water, there was one outside wc for 2 families, no hot water system ,no bathroom and not wired for power. We went to Dulwich Baths every week for a bath. Heating in lounge only via coal fire. Winter months we sat in blankets and hot water bottles. For some reason we could use an very old and small black and white TV but not an electric fire. It was not uncommon to have rubbish dumped in the street- was also the terminus for the 184 bus.

Many churches have an 'attendance requirement' before undertaking a christening - this is more noticeable with the local Catholic churches. Christ Church in Barry Road do christenings.

ROOMS IN SOUTH-EAST LONDON / LEWISHAM BOROUGH Available for counselling Counsellors - seeking space for counselling work Currently there are spaces in the SE23 area for self-employed counsellors to work alongside counselling colleagues Spaces are available on ? Monday daytime and evening ? Tuesday daytime ? Friday daytime and evening ? Other days and times by negotiation Fee: From ?10 per hour Nearest rail station: Forest Hill Nearest bus routes: 122 & 185 if you are interested - please PM me with your email and telephone number

Must admit that in the past if there are no loose carrots to be had - I grab one of the cheaper pre packed bags and empty them into the loose carrots box - I only want a few carrots not a kilo.

From experience ward councillors are not informed by council officers of important decisions made about the area. Officers, appear to deliberately ignore councillors and local residents when making decisions.

May be much quieter but many elderly people use the 12 or 197 bus route to get to The Gardens Surgery. They do not have access to cars and cannot afford mini cabs. Only way to get to surgery if you are not on the 63 bus route is bus down LL to Kings Arms, cross road and get 12/197/63. Having done this route myself - took 30 minutes.

I hope all these were reported to the police. Although they may not be able to do anything - they will be able to build a picture of the areas the thieves are operating in, the type of cars targeted, times etc. Some wards appear to have low crime figures but this could be that residents are not reporting incidents. More accurate figures could give police additional resources.

We tend to go to Sainsbury's - admittedly at times shelves are empty. Although I have considered on line shopping - I would only order non perishables as feel that staff do not look at sell by/use by dates on fresh produce. My deceased mother in law frequently had delivered meat/dairy products with a 2 day life span. I also like to pick out my own loose fruit and veg. I feel that the increase use of on line shopping has resulted in too many closures of high streets including supermarkets. Whilst we shop at Roses, Farmers and tend to use ED restaurants and cafes, some of the prices charged are excessive (we are both pensioners) but understand that with the high costs of rent, many establishments have no choice. Lidl is a good alternative to the usual supermarkets in terms of quality and price. Went into co op a couple of weeks ago and the majority of their prices were higher than of Sainsbury's.

I am a trustee of a counselling charity which until this year received the bulk of it's funding from the CGG. This provided access to counselling for children, young people and adults with emotional problems etc. This was a preventative mental health service as well. This financial year the funding was removed from the charity, along with many other counselling/psychological services in the borough. This has resulted in the redundancies of 3 staff members and a greatly reduced service. The charity also provides counsellors to a number of primary and secondary schools.

One year we were on a coach holiday in Yorkshire and stopped at a pub on the moors for coffee and toilets. We were surprised when we walked in the find the saloon bar full of police. The publican and coach driver laughed at our expressions and said that since the police were spread out in this rural area, the only time they could get together for a meeting was to have an early lunch time meeting every month, and that the pub was the only venue which could accommodate the numbers.

Hustings at both general and local elections tend to happen in more than one venue - I recall at the last general election that there were at least another four venues at different times/dates around the constituency. These are generally organised by other interest groups i.e businesses/shopkeepers/local discussion groups etc. If you cannot make the EDCCA hustings there is bound to be another somewhere in the area. Hustings are open to all and do not require booking. Each party organisers their own publicity and canvassing - they tend to undertake a specific area and flood them with volunteers delivering leaflets and door knocking, then move onto another defined area. If you have shown interest in the past - you may get email communications.

Jonathon Bartley is the Green Candidate - he is the co chair of the Greens. This was announced on TV last week. The original LD candidate elected is now standing for Lewisham East More employers should offer flexi hours or job shares. I remember during a transport strike many years ago I offered to work from 11 am - 7 pm at my office (I was a car driver) which enabled me to see callers/staff. This only lasted during the strike period but my boss was very happy to know that he could offer a good 'customer service' In my professional life, we were allowed to work from home - especially if we had lots of report writing, many of us had our professional data base uploaded to our home laptops/computers and some had a works mobile phone. I would rather a more flexible working contract to a 4 day week. As a professional worker - our department had to operate a 7 day working week with core hours being 9 - 5. Staff offered or were specifically appointed to do Friday - Monday (with the option of an additional day) Many of my Mon - Fri colleagues opted to do the weekends for travelling reasons (less crowded trains/roads) less incoming calls allowing them to concentrate, more options of seeing clients/family members who would normally be working during the week) Proportional Representation would give a more balanced political scene - depends to the type of PR as to how this would work i.e overall national votes giving x number of MPs from each party, or voting for individual candidate and then additional MPs depending on percentage of votes.

The daytime timetable may attract parents at home, older people not wanting to go out in the dark, some students? Admit the last Hustings at the Centre was not as well attended as previous. When Tessa Jowell was MP the attendance was high. The local elections hustings have been more variable and the ward changes may have added to a poor turnout.

I think that the off timing of the Hustings at the Community Centre is due in part to the candidates time table.

I am waiting for an operation after which means that I cannot drive for 4 weeks or carry heavy bags. Husband currently in a wheelchair. I was going to order on line from Sainsburys so that they can deliver to my kitchen (down 2 steps)but reading this, it looks as though I will have to consider alternatives. Does anyone have deliveries from Iceland?

Proposals include re siting bus stands, extended pavements, reducing parking spaces. Possible increase in Friern Road for buses terminating, proposal for night bus stand in Barry Road being taken back to Etherow Street ( it was originally moved from this street due to noise and pollution). Traffic calming measures in Friern/Goodrich Roads

As a car driver, this roundabout really annoys me as cars do not indicate which direction they are travelling and many a time I have had to brake sharply . Many years ago Southwark wanted to change the roundabout - cannot remember whether they wanted to reduce it or replace it with traffic lights ( this was about 10/15 years ago) Local residents argued against this as it made ED different to other Southwark areas (retained its 'village appeal!)

if it is the same as trees - you are allowed to cut back any overhanging branches etc in your garden. I think you have to notify neighbours that you intend to do this and am supposed to return cut branches to them (this bit I am not sure of!)

there are 2 Lidls in Sydenham - one in the High Street and another one up from Bell Green going towards the Bromley Road. I generally go to the Peckham one, but the Bell Green one has good parking and also the Beckenham one.