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Here is my suggestion: that everyone interested in getting Southwark cemeteries, especially Camberwell OLD to become the most successful green spaces possible, goes to see Tower Hamlets cemetery. A magazine-length piece about it's here on film (excellent recent wildlife programme) =>http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b039tt22/Britains_Big_Wildlife_Revival_Urban/ Let's persuade our local councillors to visit that example of best practice too, James Barber and Renata Hamvas. People spending taxpayers' money on the whole environment of Southwark, investing for now and far into the future, could talk to the knowledgeable groundsmen there, and learn ALL THEY CAN about reducing harm to the precious biodiversity re: day-to-day upkeep. All we write won't do as much good as seeing in reality how beautiful a sensitively managed tree and grassland area can be. A civilised ED shows understanding about choices and requirements for burial. In some families and some religious groups and some cultures, the provision of a traditional grave & tombstone, and regular visits afterwards with fresh flowers and so forth, is inseparable from giving due respect to the dead, and from the importance given to grieving. For others amongst us actual burial is less central - a cremation & later scattering of ashes is fine. The cemetery could contain some sacred woodland for ashes to be scattered, a place where we know our families can always find peaceful semi-wild green spaces and remembrance is a gentle walk and a comfortable bench or two rather than a crisp little formal park. Elsewhere in the UK you can actually have both - the woodland and the burial which is marked by another tree being planted rather than a headstone. In the centre of Camberwell OLD there is a less-mown area with memorial trees being added. But over 300,000 people are already buried within Camberwell OLD. On average every gravesite has already been used 4 times, over centuries. The rules about re-using gravesites being quite strict, the next areas under consideration WILL be beneath the sycamore-thick wild section, which contains many tumbledown graves almost 100 years old, now approaching the time they can be redug. For another few years Southwark will concentrate on burials being in the freshly refurbished section which was planned to take 2,000 new burials. This gives us all an opportunity to research and gather ideas.

MrsTP, the airplanes wake some of us up every morning (& there's another thread about Heathrow, elsewhere in the forum) whether they begin at 4.30, 5.30, or 6.30 a.m. 3 big planes, whose noisy engines have to change gear (or whatever it is they change)to lower altitude, which makes them extra noisy, arrive first. Have been informed these are the Red-eye flights coming in from America. Then there is a little gap before the 90 seconds apart incoming flights start, smaller sized aircraft mostly. The only time I notice ED is free of this, is when the wind is in the East. The approach flight path then has to cross different districts. I believe the policy at Heathrow is to vary who is directly beneath if the wind stays in the West for very many days, directions can veer more towards Brockley, or more towards Peckham, etc

Karavan Eco for homeware. (Lordship Lane just before the closed down Police station). Fair trade clothing, rugs and baskets, non pollutant cleaning materials, safe substitutes for plastic (e.g. for babyfood) - a lovely place to get someone a gift. http://www.karavaneco.co.uk/

Saw lovely crops on Dawson Hill yesterday afternoon. There'll be apples and pears as well, September at the earliest as they aren't ripe yet, but this amazingly strong sunshine is helping. In a Fen childhood I learnt that some varieties are grown which are best not left to ripen on the tree. The old timers would pick the crop just before frost season [generally October] and then store carefully, a necessary science in pre-freezer, pre-imported fruit era. Reviving it would cut the 'food miles'.

Has ED got enough people to form a Neighbourhood Watch group? Definitely wouldn't want to see people cowering indoors and/or getting any more menacing-looking dogs instead of making the area feel safer. Police walking 'on the beat' were always a good idea in prevention measures. Ditto bus conductors. The great advantage they had was knowing lots of local people, seeing and being seen.

This is about Cardiff, not East Dulwich, but I thought you'd welcome this short film, themes common to park wildlife in all cities. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01pvm4n/Iolos_Great_Welsh_Parks_Bute_Park/

Yes I would opt for the sink as well - a good roomy Belfast one. I'd be like shaunag's mum but in this flat have to use the shower cubicle for a second site away from the kitchen sink, and it is a nuisance. Am always in need of the space for gardening extras, pots and vases.

Yes - very thought-provoking. Could I add that everyone, of whatever age, has probably got a bullshit detector. If the praise isn't genuine your ears can pick it up. As an adult I know that means the speaker has got an ulterior motive. That's such a useful self-protective life skill. But if children are taught only through tiny doses of praise (i.e. so they won't get 'big headed', etc) they suffer from filtering out positivity. They can't glow or retain any sense of pride in something, only concentrate on failures and scrambling to do better. In this regard the article raises important points. Environments in which praise is measured as if there is never enough to go round, are often created by abusive and controlling personalities. To give others, including a child, real and spontaneous appreciation seems to be the crucial thing.

Could it have belonged to a carpentry workshop, possibly for glueing up turned wood pieces for chair making?

Part of this section has already been fenced off and brush-cleared, with signs explaining it's to deal with Japanese Knotweed. There's no longer a group of 'Friends of the Cemetery', alas. The local Wildlife trust have various active groups, the one I know about is nearby at Sydenham Hill Woods. It is a horrible thought that the wildlife in the Old Cemetery has not enough protection, especially here in the city. To many it means so much to have a haven - and grieving relatives enjoy the green space of woodland as much as the memorials. Many I have spoken to would prefer to have the left-alone woodland as a site for ashes to be sprinkled, rather than insist on more clearance and tombstones.

You wrote "I appreciate... these four gentlemen are not ...." They cannot have been gentlemen, don't even grace them with the name. Those who think it is OK to be rude to people serving them are invariably what my nanny used to call 'jumped up'.

Dear friends and neighbours, the following letter is being sent round from Southwark Council's Service Development Officer, to all of us near Camberwell Old Cemetery: "I write to inform you that excavation work will be undertaken at Camberwell Old Cemetery for two weeks from 2nd - 13th September in order to carry out site surveys. Details of the work: * Survey work within fenced section of Camberwell Old Cemetery West (adjacent to the Underhill Road boundary) * There will be some vegetation clearance to provide vehicle access to the site * Two mechanical diggers will be on site throughout the period * The operation of machinery on site will be restricted to 8am - 5pm & weekdays only * 17 trial pits will be excavated to test soil conditions * All pits will be immediately back-filled once soil samples are collected * A cemetery specialist will closely monitor all activities * This section of the cemetery will remain secured with public access strictly prohibited The area has been identified for development in the programme set out in Southwark's Cemetery Strategy and the investigations are to assess the site for new burial. Once this is complete plans will be developed for the site and full consultation on proposals will begin in 2014. For further information on the Cemetery Strategy please visit our website http://www.southwark.gov.uk/parks and click on the link to http://moderngov.southwark.gov.uk/mgAi.aspx?ID=21262#mgDocuments If you would like to be kept informed, please contact Deborah McKenzie Environment Department Tooley Street london SE1P 5lX 0207 525 5000 "

It will be good to check at your doctors appointment, as it sounds like diet is pretty good already...I do hope the GP listens to your concerns and helps you trace the cause.

Some systems are oversensitive to low-fibre foods. Others are intolerant of wheat altogether - or some other food like milk. Eggs although wholesome are rather a 'binding' food. Chocolate/cocoa seems very low fibre. White rice, refined flour as white bread/cake/biscuits, white pasta, and potatoes without their skins, probably all unhelpful. There are wholemeal substitutes and even if it means doing our own baking I find that preferable to medicine. Also try & stick to regular times of day for meals, sleep and exercise. Unfortunately school dinners haven't caught up with healthy eating, by and large. High fibre friends are: citrus fruit, plums, pears, and juice 'with bits' Dried fruit of all kinds - especially apricots and dates, more popular than prunes! Ordinary wheat bran - (a tablespoonful inside any family-sized savoury or sweet cooked dish will vanish, eg batch of tomato sauce or fruit crumble.) Hope this helps. Did the heat wave affect how well your little boy felt?

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/aug/17/camila-batmanghelidjh-this-much-i-know?guni=Keyword:news A reminder of differences between rich and poor. She never stops work for disadvantaged children even as government funding gets more precarious. here's a link to their Summer Appeal page. http://www.kidsco.org.uk/

This year people are conserving them, - whole country is short of pollinating insects, and wasps form a significant proportion. They will go by themselves when the frosts start, they all die except for a few next-season queens who go off and hibernate in dead trees etc. Also in the base of such nests hoverfly larvae reach maturity, e.g. Volucella Pellucens http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volucella_pellucens Hoverflies are highly valued insects in gardens.

He's probably a bit too young to say what his favourite themes are, but a large cork noticeboard is always welcome, so you can stick up paintings & add cards/posters/favourite pages from comics etc as time goes on. I think those rugs which make it easy to collect up Lego are a good idea, also a light with a dimmer switch, also curtains which do exclude light efficiently, also a foldup bed for when a friend stays over. One single wall can be hung with a decorative paper, keep the rest of the colours soothing and airy. Having read about allergies to fireproofing/insecticidal chemicals in new furniture, would also recommend thorough airing of all purchased pieces, including carpets and underlay. Department stores usually have a system of warehousing material to allow treatments to evaporate - but cut price places can sell you stuff that has sinister odours and effects. A little child receives a proportionately large dose, as well.

Coming very soon London Wildlife Trust leads some nearby walks, in lovely wild places not usually open to the public. for details see: http://www.wildlondon.org.uk/news/2013/08/09/shh-its-secret-wild-london-weekend

Don't know of any gingkos nearby. I think the rows of wheelies by the Mansions could do with disinfectant or maybe a visit from the bin cleaning firm. It's easy for houses in multiple occupation to have no clear agreement about this, and the waste systems get neglected. Every street seems to have a few 'problem wheelies' . Recent heatwave = smells suddenly worsening, attracting flies and wasps and eventually rats. Could Council dustmen stick a hygiene request on the offending bins?

While we're on the topic here's the latest from George Monbiot, encouraging us all to remind Councils to choose what they plant from a list of native species, which are much more wildlife-friendly. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/georgemonbiot/2013/aug/15/trees-native-exotic-wildlife-councils-insects Do keep lobbying the councillors for your wards, folks, this is an issue that affects city dwellers everywhere, and particularly influences the beauty of this neighbourhood, set out with its tree-lined avenues and generous parks.

I saw a good kind of horse-shoe shaped cushion either the mother puts it around her middle while she is breastfeeding to prop the baby in her arms with less weight, or to help the baby sit up on its own more safely.

The wildlife pond is actually a 'closed site' which staff at the Horniman don't want us visiting unaccompanied. There will be a good reason for this - probably vandalism in the past, or unscrupulous foragers. I am sorry to write this, because I know Sue and GC will have had true, magical contact with the wildlife.

The official dog bin is right near where you say, poppet27 - by the bus shelter.

We're seeing more of them because of the weather & wherever JT caterpillars food plants are allowed to flourish. Insects in cities are currently doing better than in the countryside, as townspeople aren't spraying pesticides as much as farmers do. Wildlife areas reward us, although at first glance big clumps of nettles or dandelions mightn't seem like beauties.

Alex, I saw one very briefly a week or two ago - in the heatwave, at the top of Underhill Rd. It sought shelter in the Old Cemetery trees. For anyone interested, this species has an orange underwing. http://www.uksafari.com/jerseytigers.htm please send sightings in to the Butterfly Count project, here http://www.bigbutterflycount.org/