Cyclemonkey

I am in Forest Hill but have been with Community Fibre for just under a year - the speeds are good and we have not had any issues.

We went to Lambeth Country Show this weekend just gone. It was great as always but interesting as Lambeth Council reused a lot of the infrastructure from the festivals held in Brockwell Park in previous weekends. The better quality was noticable in terms of toilets, washing facilities, marquees and seating areas. The sound for various stages was also better quality. I understand using this for free drastically reduced the cost of the Country Show for Lambeth - so a big benefit for locals.

Ah well I have no interest in debating whether Gala should or should not happen. I just came to report my two different experiences of the events as they had been compared on here. That is all.

So we were given some last minute free tickets for Pub in the Park last night so I am able to offer some comparison. It is clearly smaller than Gala and a very different proposition, a much older and wealthier crowd. It wasn't full at all last night, I would say about 2/3 capacity, if that. Everyone we spoke to also seemed to be there on some sort of freebie like us! It was very well organised, decent amount of bars and toilets, lots of bins and litter pickers, well manged exit at the end of the night (we did see a few men peeing in the park bushes on the way out). It wasn't as loud as Gala as there was hardly any music (and tbf what there was, was pretty terrible - the main act was like a second rate wedding band). I would say it definitely has less impact on the local area in terms of noise and crowds than Gala but (and perhaps I am biased) in terms of imteresting cultural contribution to the area it lagged well behind Gala. Gala presented three days of really interesting contemporary dance music and Jazz from across genres. Pub in the Park is a bit of a bland corporate fest - tired music and a lot of very big anodyne brands - in some places it felt more like an industry trade show than a festival.

Blimey - all I can say is of you think Gala is "problematic and badly run" your experience of festivals and music events must be very scant. I

I am local - I live in Forest Hill and used to live right on the junction between East Dulwich Road and Peckham Rye. My point was I don't live right on the park anymore or in the borough so it is not really up to me whether the festival extends to 6 days or not. And with that I'll leave you to it.

Not really for me to decide seeing as Peckham Rye is no longer my local park and I no longer live in Southwark I just commented I went to the event and it was well run and positive.

Someone trying to get rid of a disposable BBQ perhaps?

Well you can't make festival infrastructure magically appear and disappear in an instantnl. The way people are talking you would think that it took over the whole park and Common and Peckham Rye park is the only green space in the area. There is room for everyone.

We went on Friday and Sunday. As seasoned festival and gig goers we found it well organised - lots of bars and bar staff, hardly any queues for toilets and they were still (fairly) ok at the end of the night. The site was nicely laid out although I agree the different stages could have been better labelled. We spent a while trying to locate the right stages. The crowd were very decent, a good chilled atmosphere, lots of people just happy to be dancing in the sunny weather. The exit at the end was a bit crowded but we got away fairly quickly as we were the minority of people getting a bus up Forest Hill Road away from Peckham. There were big bins and portable toiets on the perimeter so no need for any littering or public urination - I hope the reports of that were isolated incidents - sadly you always get some anti social people who do this (We used to live off East Dulwich road by the Rye and our little street was a regular spot for drunk men to have an alfresco wee.

Blackbird bakery sells very decent bread.

There is a music event at the Horniman - Days Like These - part of the Lewisham Borough of Culture.

Sydenham Hill desperately needs some traffic calming, people drive far too fast on it.

The "we need a SUV" to vist family/our second home in tne country special pleading is kind of funny. This is the UK not the Aussie outback. I grew up in a farm and we were a family of five, our family car was a Volkswagon Golf. I am not particularly supportive of this action but just note we often use one of those irregular verbs when talking about individial responsibility and climate change- Their choices are environmentally bad and indefensible, Your choices are selfish and not needed, My choices are perfectly justifiable due to my particular needs.

It makes sense that litter picking will be the very last job, no point it doing it before all the equipment is removed. As for grass, it will recover, it's remarkably resilient stuff. The festival looked very well organised and I hope everyone who went had a good time.

There is a reason why Wandsworth has very low Council tax - the services aee minimal and you pay extra for everything.

The threat to Roe vs Wade is awful and one feminists across the globe are concerned about. However not really a campaigning issue for local elections in the UK.

Pleaze do. It was early evening last Wednesday (20 April).

Last week my partner intervened when he saw three teenagers harassing a lone woman cyclist on that route. They gave him a bit of lip and slunk off, he reported it to the police non emergency number. Looks like people should be careful when walking or cycling alone on that route.

That development above M&S is rather ridiculous, it always seems to have chunks knocked out of it due to the deliver lorries, suggesting the space is rather over developed. I also realised, having to use E Dulwich station a number of times last month, it is very very close to the station, you can see rifht in to some of the flats

Mine swelled up and went green before popping and turning in to a nasty wound for a few weeks. It was pretty revolting. But as you say, better than TB.

Well said penguin. There are some rare serious side effects of the vaccine and we should not ignore or dismiss that but most side effects are mild and temporary. The yellow card system is well promoted and easy to use and everyone sbould use it to ensure all reported effects are studied and assessed. For the vast majority of people the vaccine is safe and protects against severe covid. Like many people I have a life long side effect of the BCG jab - a permanent scar about a centimeter in diameter on my upper arm. How many people would lose their minds if told the covid jab gave them permanent scarring?

Well having Haemophilia was a key bit of information you neglected to add in. Losing five pints of blood isn't a normal side effect of tooth extraction.

You lost five pints of blood when having your wisdom teeth removed? Ok.

Good the NHS got you the care you needed. Interestingly both of those "lowered" heart rates and BPs are still higher than my normal ones.