Growlybear

:)I used to love my Friday nights at the Hole in the Wall

As a newcomer to this Forum, can someone just clarify whether this is a serious discussion forum, or if threads such as this are spoofs?

It doesn't feel quite right going into a pub without the stale smoke! :))

I like a nice traditional pub, not one that has been ruined like the Herne, or turned into a ghastly gastro pub full of yuppies with young children in pushchairs. I've lived in this area for over 30 years, and have been dismayed by the recent gentrification and trendification of what was once a nice ordinary area. East Dulwich was always a nice unpretentious part of London and was a world apart from Dulwich Village, but it has changed beyond recognition in the past few years - in my opinion very much for the worse.

I think the only thing that I would have found worse than the idea of having my baby in Kings would have been a home birth!

I think most of the pubs in East Dulwich have been ruined in recent years and there are relatively few traditional pubs left. AFter the Moore Park Hotel in Wood Vale closed, I thought the Herne Tavern was a good alternative, but they ruined that when it was yuppified last year, and now the Forest Hill Tavern has been ruined too. I suppose the Castle has got to be the best pub left round here now.

When I was pregnant, my GP tried to persuade me to go to King's, but having been to visit a number of friends who'd given birth there and seen for myself the filthy wards and the surly and uncaring staff, nothing would have made me consider it. I flatly refused to to go King's and insisted on going to the Mayday in Croydon, and it was a really pleasant experience - or as pleasant as the horror of childbirth can be! I had exceptional treatment from all the staff, the hospital was very clean, I got a private room within a few hours, the staff were warm and friendly, and the food was really good. I would recommend Mayday without hesitation.