Louisa

I must agree sean, it's similar in many parts of the north and south-west in supermarkets too, but in London for some reason everything is siratight out the box and stuck on ice.. It just isnt acceptable..

I would have thought a m&s simply food would fit in that retail unit perfectly, isnt it a little too small for waitrose? (sorry for bringing m&s back on topic)

From what I know about Bedford, the water will probably come from the smelly river that flows through the centre of the town.. Bedford really is an awful place..

page 2 of this thread? or is that yet another local trendy bar? lol

Dulwich wood still has wild pheasant so I have been told... All you need is a gun and a labrador and you'll be well away !!

..and yes I am well aware most of the people on here have been around ED for sometime... again it isnt a revelation my love!

DM I do have a couple of pets, one of which lives in the drawer next to my side of the bed, and yes I also have replacement batteries! (and god do I need them) :)

OMG ... pissheads in a pub? whatever next?!! and I disagree about drug dealers, that sort of activity goes on in all sorts of places, including more often than not these indie style music pubs, so dont tarnish the FHT as it was for that! (that's if it did have a problem with drugs which i've never heard of before).

Bob, I am actually a very happy jovial person, but places who take on this gastropub look and feel lose all identity and I dont feel you can have a laugh because everyone is grouped together round tables eating seabass and drinking mineral water listening to music, it's hardly a knees-up is it? I actually go to the Hope in Peckham sometimes.. or even better, the Montague Arms which is fabulous...

I dont have a downie on newbies.. My only issue with them has been over embracing ED as it was rather than trying to enforce claphamisation on it.. however, thats a seperate issue and off-topic here, I was just expressing my opinion on the Clock House!

Ermm actually not just the castle, in fact for those of us who were around here pre 2000 (probably just me currently) the now apparantly trendy EDT also used to have live Irish music because it was an Irish pub, and even knew the guy who played sunday afternoons in there! and Jeremy, I resent live music in the FHT because it has not just taken on live music, but it has go for this dull lifeless restyle to try and fit in with all the other newly created lifeless gastropubs in the rest of ED...

Why is not eating in the Clock House such a revelation? I knew not only never to eat in there, but also never to drink in there, MANY years ago! I always remember that awful couple who were running it in the 80s who banned jeans and trainers and loved pulling up in sports cars outside to show off to the punters... That place was once an off-licence, and the atmosphere is similar even now!

Chantoozie my love, my grandfather used to play the drums in a band many years ago in pubs right up into his 80's, so I know all about music in pubs and how it isnt unusual, Irish pubs have equally been doing it in and around ED for absolutely years!! i'm not completely oblivious to this fact..

How about an EDF visit a proper pub night out? that would be different.. :)-D

I wonder if the rest of the UK could have a day in ED or one of her newly aquired step sister towns like Clapham or Fulham, and see how these people live... I imagine they would be laughing their heads off.. I cant imagine a yummy walking up and down Huddersfield popping into gregs to buy half a dozen chelsea buns and a sausage roll can you?

Keef I cant see that one happening can you? lol... some of the forumites wouldnt be seen dead in Iceland because it doesnt stock fairtrade fish fingers!

"Welcome to the unrealistic and fictional land of ED circa 2007... unlike anywhere else in the UK, it manages to sustain a community of ex claphamites who were forced out of the slightly plusher areas of west London, and a whole host of overpriced independent boutiques and coffee shops which most people up and down the land wouldnt bother wasting their money in.. " God it was all a dream... wipes brow.. :))

Oh dear, I must be fake if I dont agree with the typical ED newcomer who loves listening to jazz music whilst supping on a bottle of organic austrian lager ... lol The Gowlett, yet another fine example of a pub destroyed, keep listing them Sean..

How about an organic juice bar with a fairtrade hot house round the back with a token farmer from some random location harvesting oranges and lemons? B)

DM I am feeling the love now, I may even have a dry cleaning event on Goose Green I am feeling it that much... wish to help me promote the event?

Straight bars/Gay bars music venues boutiques three wheeled prams yummies ARGHHHHHHHHHH HELP ME!!!

DM I just cant understand how all these changes are seen as positive that's all... I will dig out an old tupperware pot and hide under the old wartime shelter in the garden and hope that this was all a bad dream and i'll wake up in ED circa 1997 and everything will be back to normal..!!

Good grief, whatever happened to normal locals who just fancied a quick half on a sunday afternoon? I think the hands of PR comment from you all_star is totally correct, and I cannot believe how damaging these new venues are becoming to the traditional culture of London Public Houses, I guess theres always the castle :)

I shall venture in at some point to experience the newly refurbed and annoyingly pretentious makeover to this great old pub, perhaps on a forum evening, just so I can confirm what I already thought about this!

I have beeen a customer at CSM for nearly a year now, and I must say the new owners are very friendly, offer a great service, and I have NEVER, not once experienced any such difficulties with them. I understand others may feel differently, but I am not prepared to come on here and destroy this poor mans business on the hear say of others. I find it awful that everyone is 'jumping on the bandwagon' about this story, it happened long before these people arrived, and any such difficulties experienced since are clearly being exagerrated and or fabricated, and designed to tarnish CSM. I am having non of it!