Louisa

I'm confused where exactly does foxy say no debate? I think some of you are imagining it. Louisa.

I was bundled into the lounge for having an opinion too. Admin claimed it was because they wish to create a friendly atmosphere with no negativity. But from what I see of a large chunk of General Issues is a semi permanent home for a cluster of middle class nut jobs living in ivory towers. Hardly friendly is it? Oh unless you're part of the club. ED circa 2015. Louisa.

If that is the case foxy then it really does confirm my opinion about the direction of this forum. Louisa.

Get back in the cellar before I go and get my chain flogger. Louisa.

This forum is a bloody dictatorship. You get blocked from talking about things some may find uncomfortable, you get banned from speaking your mind in general issues because it doesn't fit in with the vision of the forum (whatever that is?). Sick of it. We have rights! Louisa.

More like David Dickinson. Louisa.

Loz I am in shock at your sheer splitting of hairs over this issue. Any form of cruelty is wrong surely? we are all animals, we all feel pain. You seem to be bypassing the cruelty aspect and refering to some bizarre class issue. That reminds me, as an aside, hands off greedy that's historically my beef. Louisa.

Snails. Yuck. Or slugs. Bleurgh. Louisa.

Don't personally understand how anyone in the 21st century can seriously be pro anything that involves murdering an innocent animal for the fun of it, then spending most of your time complaining about your human rights when you've been banned from partaking in this so called "sport". This shouldn't been be on the agenda for reconsideration, it was abolished for a reason. Louisa.

Because Labour is the party of the urban elite doncha know. Louisa.

KK which community? Where is it? For decades I knew neighbours on all sides, none of them had moved and even those that did went just up the road. Since house prices have rocketed, I've seen outsiders come in buy places up then sell them on again. Where is the sense of community spirit in that? It's ok for someone who comes from the IOW speaking about community, it's there and probably hasn't even slightly changed in decades. Well Peckham and ED have only changed as a result of the mobility and strength of the housing market, many of the buyers see these places as investment opportunities rather than a home. No need to embrace the existing community, it's only a ladder up after all. It's sad, all am saying. Louisa.

KidKruger Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > FWIW I think there's very much a community in and > around ED and it's environs. > I think a big part of it is that it's what YOU > make it. > I'm constantly meeting people out and about that I > know from here or there around ED, met new people > on Saturday in the park and just bumped into them > somewhere else a few mins ago. > I come from IOW, where if you want to, everyone > knows everyone - it's up to you how you want it to > be. > I get just the same social ride in ED, I'm busier > these days but it's right there anytime I wanna > play. > BUT if you don't want to engage it, it'll pass you > right by. > > So, for me, this DOES sound like moaning about the > 'good ole days'. Totally disagree KK. There are multiple communities, most of the time being ships in the night. It's a pure myth spread by those of the 'G' form, that London is a great melting pot embraced by newbies to 'undiscovered wastelands' - pioneers in mixing with the working man and then championing their cause from said ivory tower. The effort isn't put in to create a community sense, it is put in to reinforce homemade barriers between them and us. Not saying this state of affairs is anything new, far from it. But in the old days it was less obvious because those that had could afford better areas and those that couldn't lived in the undiscovered world beyond the post code of the more fortunate. In other words, we all live together in the same places now and it's more obvious. Louisa.

It must surely be a great view from the top of that Ivory tower over in 'general issues'. I would ask to come up and have a peak from the top, but I fear I may be forced to shop in a sustainable food co-op (organic of course) or be confronted by a playful dog which potentially could traumatise me for life, or even worse, come across someone living in a caravan on a derelict patch of land (heaven forbid what that might do to property prices). Jesus Christ, shoot me now. Louisa.

Otta precisely. If it's live music you want spend a weekend in Brighton, Lowestoft, Reading. These allegedly souless towns are the very places which are now at the heart of culture and creativity. Not inner London, sadly. Louisa.

Foxy don't take everything *Bob* says to heart. Being locked up in my Ann Summers dungeon is enough to make anyone bitter. Louisa.

And I didn't even mention any of the usual suspects either. Louisa.

As Otta pointed out with Soho, the examples you can use are much bigger than just some old timer like me being reminiscent about a by-gone era. Brixton, Peckham, Hackney the list goes on, we aren't even refering to one place! It has to be fuelled by a game changer, a shift, and I reckon that's the property prices and commercial rents. I know we find humour in the whole "it's not like it was in my day when we all had an outside toilet and mice running around" etc but it's a cultural shift that I had not seen in my lifetime until the last decade or so. Other great cities like Manchester, Leeds, and Birmingham have not taken the punch quite so dramatically as London. Speak to anyone outside of London and they recognise this shift too. Creativity and variety are what made London so special as it spread its wings in the 19th century out into suburbia. We all laugh at zone 9 Bromley, Croydon, Enfield, Wembley but they've to a degree kept some of these pioneering characteristics as they are the remote pieces of the puzzle yet to be touched. Having a place a bit scruffy, down at heel, cheap to live they're all the ingredients for attracting the creatives, immigrants etc once we have whole areas where only one type of person lives and works, goes to a safe gastro pub where no one speaks to anyone outside their group, it just gets boring. Louisa.

Reading through some of the topics and comments on ED General Issues makes me realise just how suddenly and dramatically the face of East Dulwich (and London) has changed (and is continuing to do so), beyond all recognition. I can't necessarily pin down all of the specific changes I talk of, some of them are unwritten experiences. I really do miss the days of variety, excitement, fire in the belly. All the things that made our great city thrive for generations. It's all just gone, overnight and not even with a big fanfare, just like someone blowing out a candle. We've had the debates many times about the 'G' word, the fact that London is a city in a state of constant change etc. but I genuinely believe this is something bigger, maybe caused by globalisation and the crazy property market. The London I spent my youth in was a dynamic, vibrant place. Wealth and poverty to the extreme, siting cheek by jowl. All underpinned by a sense of a whole host of small village like communities, often going back generations siting side by side. Street markets with loud voices and barrow boys, significant groups of different people from all over the world. All of these characters black and white old and young mingling down the pub, not always getting along either, but that was part of the character and face of the city. It really has all just been replaced by a very samey, mostly white outsider, homogeneous culture. Not necessarily alien to the city, because I'm sure this city has experienced and housed every culture there has been at some point in its long life. But it's a culture which has taken over and replaced all others, almost becoming the homogenised 'norm', a replacement of everything that was fun and vibrant. I am trying not to be rose tinted about this, but I genuinely feel London has lost its soul. It's really sad. What does everyone think? Louisa.

I still call the junction of PR/EDR 'King's Arms'. Historic association with a hostelry going back to days of old. I often wonder if had the original pub survived the blitz would the building still be a pub today? Probably some gastro joint. Louisa.

I hate how pickled eggs are so hard to come by in pubs these days. Louisa.

A man. A home wirhout a male prescence isn't a home. Louisa.

Oh bloody hell yeah I hate those giant mushrooms!!! I like my button mushrooms fried and crisped up a bit. Bloody poncy giant mushrooms. Louisa.

The contempt of Nicola Sturgeon and how isolated the 50% who didn't vote for her must now be feeling. she basically has Scotland in the palm of her hands, a one party state. Louisa.

KK that's a bit harsh. Only edible? I have been to many other chain pub/restaurants and this is by far the best value for money. The likes of Harvester, Beefeater et al are offering the same food for pretty much double the price- and you don't need to be pissed to eat there either. I don't get why you'd need to be off ya jugs to want to order a sandwich and chips? I mean how amazing do you expect a ham and cheese panini to be for 4.95 with a drink? Louisa.

I don't get anyone else's experience of Wetherspoons grub to be honest. All the deli range is fresh and serviceable, and unlike that posho burger joint on LL you actually get cuttlery and a drink thrown in for a set price. You have to pay extra for the chips I hear in that rip off GBK place? I get the feeling a lot of the dismissal of Wetherspoons food is pure snobbery. Louisa.