Pugwash

My memories of Woolworths also go back to the 1950s. If you can find a Kellys Directory for the late 1940s (should be in reference library) you can look up Lordship Lane and find all the shops/businesses listed.

If booked in advance and on a weekday - Elaine in the Bread of Life Caf? will do a cream tea for a very reasonable price.

It was more a Citizens Advice Centre and had legal advisors. I remember Woolworths as I lived in Spurling Road just around the corner. It was empty for a while before it came the advice centre.

Can the markings on doorstep be erased?

At my granddaughter's previous school in Orpington (she is now on a gap year) she made friends in the 6th form with youngsters who transferred from independent schools as they were unhappy at the choice of A levels available and found that the state school had a wider choice of subjects. Of these, many of them are now at University and the others are doing a gap year.

I agree you cannot tell a 'good employee' after 2 hours but you can offer a paid trial of one week as 'casual staff' and put it in writing.

We have a drop down kerb as we can keep our car in our front garden. Cannot count the times that I have gone to drive somewhere and found that someone has blocked me in. Our old neighbour used to do this and would always move the car if I wanted to get out so did not mind him. We are near a school, a hostel and a church and at various times of the day and evening I will find a driverless car parked outside sometimes for nearly an hour.

Thames Water are attending the Dulwich Community Council Meeting tomorrow - Wednesday 7 pm at Christ Church Barry Road.

I do voluntary work for a couple of community organisations, one which is a registered charity. neither of them accept cards only cash. The charity will accept cheques in certain conditions, other wise it is cash. It will also accept payments directly to it's bank account.

No water Barry Road/LL. According to BBC news is that Thames Water will be distributing bottled water to all affected customers!!!. Tomorrow I will check that our water butt is not frozen up and get bucket of water to chuck down the loo.

I usually carry a purse with around ?10 in loose change in it. Also a ?5 or ?10 note in my bus pass. I had to go on a course one day and forgot to take my wallet and purse with my cards in. I remembered that I had money with the pass and was able to pay for coffee and a small lunch that day otherwise I would have been stuck in an unfamiliar environment where I did not know the other attendees.

Ballet/Dance beginners or returners 10.30 - 11.30 4th and 6th April ?10 per class Bespoke Body Conditioning Pilates type exercises. maximum class size 5. 11.45-12.45 pm 4th and 6th April ?12 per class. Please email [email protected] for further details. Classes will be held at East Dulwich Community Centre.

We put sand on pavement outside our house - we cannot expect the council to do everything!. Council tax is going up this year due to continual cuts in Government grants. Social Services and Housing should take priority over gritting side streets etc. Daughter from Bromley arrived today - only access for majority of her neighbours is down a steep hill - no pavements or roads gritted in that area. Residents have no nearby shops - and it is a good 15 minutes walk in normal conditions to get to nearest shop.

Trying to judge the need for a class on Ballet/dance for beginners or returners and also for Bespoke Body conditioning with pilates type exercises. I will post full details in the Whats on section.

Managed to get to Lewisham by 185 today without problems - was very surprised how quickly I got to my destination. Have to do same tomorrow but need to get there by 10.30 am instead of 1pm so I imagine this journey will be slower.

You can get excellent hearing aids on the NHS - no point in paying hundreds of pounds and all the costs of new ear mould, tubes, batteries. You are advised to have an audiology test every 3 years.

They may be elderly and not aware that volume is up loud. I have a hearing problem and use teletext all the time much to the annoyance of the family. they rather have that than the TV blaring away. Maybe a tongue in cheek approach ' I heard you were watching xxx last night, what did you think of the programme? Years ago our neighbours (in their early 30s) used to have a 'love in session' at the weekend- they were in an upper flat and we had the house next door - we could still hear them when we were downstairs - worse in the good weather as they always had the bedroom window open!

I did the probate for my Great Aunt and only had a solicitor when it came to the house she jointly owned with me. Since that time, I have also dealt with my mother's affairs - since there was no property involved was fairly simple. I had lasting Power of Attorney for my father who was partially sighted who later developed dementia. When I presented all the necessary paperwork to his bank Nat West - they did not know what to do. I had to explain that they needed to take a copy of the LPA and that my address was to be used for all correspondence. I was issued with a cheque book with my name on it as attorney for DJC (my father) and also a Cheque card. Some time later - I discovered that my Dad had a few thousands in a Barclay account. I made an appointment with Barclays in Lordship Lane as my Dad lived in Sussex, and they were a bit confused by the LPA. They took all photocopies and sent them up to Head Office who lost them so I had to go through the whole thing again. Usually the bank will allow funeral expenses to be paid out of the account before going to probate. With one relative, a copy of the death certificate and the Funeral Director's invoice was sufficient and the bank paid directly to the Funeral Director. When my father went into a care home, I encouraged him to take out a Funeral Plan which saved us a lot of aggro when he died. My mother also had a funeral plan and now both my husband and I have funeral plans which will save our kids some worries. I would complain to the Banking Ombudsman re mix up re accounts.

Drove up to FH this morning, massive traffic jam going south to ED as the cars could not go up Dartmouth Road, tail back to Catford. Was aware of this as a client turned up 25 minutes late for her appointment due to traffic.

I had both of my daughters at Kings as I refused to go to Dulwich. My best friend had both of her boys there - first son was recalled as it was found one of the staff had TB and all babies born around that time had to be monitored. The next baby a few years later was rushed into intensive care at a week old and discovered to have meningitis thought to have caught it whilst in Dulwich. Both boys are fine now and have children of their own. I worked in Dulwich Hospital around 1996 onwards and hated the wards so dingy and ancient, toilets and bathrooms were not nice and clean as too old to keep spotless.

My relative was plunged into depression - loss of confidence, it also caused a relationship breakdown as he could not contribute to household expenses. Also advised as 'sacked' not eligible for benefits.

Kings have a very good team of Dementia Nurse Specialists and are based in the Betty Alexander Unit. GP can refer. Mental Capacity Assessments can be carried out by GPs/Nurses/Social Workers/OTs as to whether person is able to understand, recall, weigh up and communicate decisions. If GP feels after seeing the older person, that they do not have the capacity to make decisions, then in the person's best interest - they can be referred to a specialist clinic. I recommend that anyone who wants to find out more about care and nursing homes, the costs, whether they are eligible for social services funding, what happens if you are owner occupiers, deferred payments, 12 weeks disregards etc to seek out Age UK fact sheets. You can down load them or request copies. Also recommend Independent Age publications. Telecare is more that just a pendant alarm, you can get various door alarms, movement sensors, etc - GPS tracking systems etc. Personal Budgets - If want to provide own carers - ask for assessment by social services for this, they will calculate how much care your relative needs i.e 4 hours per day and calculate this into a weekly budget which means you can employ carers of your own choice. Obviously I am simplifying this information but there is a lot of information out there (especially on line) which goes into greater details.

It is not just youngsters they are using for cheap labour. A family member in his 40s signed on with Reed Agency and was given a job with the Post Office in Bromley in the sorting office. He did 3 days work starting at 7.30 am and on the 3rd day, the sorting office refused to keep him on as they wanted someone with sorting office experience. He had told Reed that he did not have the experience and was told that the PO would train him. He asked for 3 days wages and was refused on the grounds that he had not completed a full week. As he was effectively 'sacked' by PO he was not entitled to any money.

Where I worked in Love Walk Camberwell, our offices were built around a large garden and for several years we had a white squirrel living there. we named him Albie and colleagues regularly put out nuts etc for him as the other squirrels used to bully him. We hoped he/she would find a partner and were delighted when we saw him/her running and playing with another squirrel. He disappeared for some time, and we looked in the gardens of D' Crespigney Road in case he had moved 'house'.

I changed careers at 40. Took redundancy 1n 1990 ( I was middle management but having had financial oversight of the office - I guessed that new employer would get rid of the some of the managers within 2 years - so took redundancy) Took 5 years out - degree and post graduate professional qualification. Spent the next 20 plus years in a profession that I loved. I found out that colleagues who stayed with new employer - were laid off within a year.