B&G

Following with interest. We went for a tour recently and I was quite unimpressed with a few things. Staff turnaround is very high (longest serving staff member has been there for 2 years) and, when I asked a question, was told to wait and ask the question again at the end as someone else might also want to know the answer too.

I didn't find the admissions emails very welcoming either ("Don't arrive late as we won't repeat what has been said. Don't arrive early else you'll have to wait outside - yes even if it is raining").

For ?1700pcm I expected a little courtesy!

Congrats Monkey and Birne!

Is anyone else in the family suffering? Scabies is real and itches like nobody's business. Usually starts around the hands and spreads. Good luck in your search for a diagnosis. Sounds horrid.

Thanks Rendel. Banning this wasn't the purpose of the regulation though, which is why it's frustrating (that is, I'm not sure it was considered a "rip off" charge, unlike the ?2-?5) routinely charged by airlines and theatres etc.

Cash only businesses (nail bars and hair shops etc) always look pretty suspect to me. I wouldn't use them.

I agree. I don't mind being asked to pay 25-50p, but I resent the minimum spend. My two closest shops are a fab independent Turkish supermarket and a crappy co-op. The Turkish supermarket has a ?10 minimum spend which I think is unreasonably high. The cash point is outside the co-op. If I'm popping out for milk or bin bags or whatever, there's no point walking down the hill to get cash just to walk back up again.

Wish they'd see the light and just charge the fee!

@DK87 How could I forget!?

Sure. There are two places:

Karavan Eco (opposite Mrs Robinsons) does Ecover cleaners in bottles or refills if you take a container. We get handsoap and washing up liquid from them.

Health Matters (almost opposite Coop) does laundry detergent though I can't remember the name of the brand.

Would also like to see a decent selection of cosmetics and cleaning products. There are two places on LL that do refills of cleaners (but each place only does about 3 items), but I'd love to see someone offering refills of hand soap, shampoo, shower gel, laundry detergent.

We would definitely use it, particularly for oats, rice, pulses, seeds etc.

Yup. A three hour commute for me this morning. Still, nice to get to use a range of trains and tubes, and enjoy stations previously unvisited. Pah.

Table booked at The Actress pub, from 6:30pm, on Monday. See you there.

We should be easy enough to recognise..!

I'm at Kings and have had exceptional care from the Harris Fetal Centre at every antenatal appointment. World class facilities that picked up on a a few issues identified at early scans. The community midwives have all been wonderful so far. Not given birth yet so can't comment on the labour care.

I'm going to flog my 2014 'eco' bluemotion golf and buy a 1972 banger. Sorted.

Move closer to Peckham - transport links are a lot better generally, and it'll be easier for your commute.

I'm impressed you managed to get through the door! My experience with the admissions team so far has been appalling, and really put me off. Seems to get good reviews (which you'd expect for ?1700 pcm!). I think most of the complaints seem to be in relation to the admin, but I'm not sure what the Ofsted complaint is about - would be keen to know.

Hi Anna. I agree - the choice is overwhelming! We've signed up to The Group (beginning end Feb), but I also have no idea which is the 'right' one. They all cost about the same so far as I could establish. Just hoping to meet some nice people (and all the learning, of course!). Good luck.

We had a sharing plate to start, a bowl of pasta each and a bottle of wine. Not that excessive for two! And there are plenty of places that are nowhere near that: Mr Bao, Miss Tapas, ToastED (before it changed).

I wasn't criticising it, but I couldn't have afforded to eat there regularly and I'm clearly not the only one.

You can go to the drop in at King's Sexual Health clinic (which does involve queuing in the street!), but best place I've found - by a country mile - is the Margaret Pyke centre at Kings Cross. It's bloody miles away, and makes for a sore bus ride home, but they are fab and you can make an appointment.

We recently had a loft extension done and the builders were around for about 10 weeks. But they were all local workers so there was never a van. The exception was the odd lorry coming to drop off materials but they soon bugger off. Are you sure your builders actually need a parking space? They don't tend to pack up their stuff at the end of each day (basically just arrive with a packed lunch that can be perfectly easily carried on the bus).

Delicious food, though at ?80 for a dinner for two, certainly not cheap. Only went once as a result.

Hi Claire. I'm looking for pregnancy classes at the moment but struggling to find anywhere at a time that suits. Can you let me know the prices please?

Thanks

Bridie

I can't go to a collection office without thinking about this. Perhaps if we all imagine that this actually goes on, the queue time will make sense..!

Have just joined the FB group.

Tis a misery. I felt awful for the woman trying to sell the place we wanted.

I agree Penguin - it's impact has been exaggerated. But lenders don't lend on a house with it (as we found out at great expense), so it's something that does need to be taken seriously when found.