worldwiser

Perhaps there's finally a bit of public momentum towards getting something done. To misquote Hugo, there's nothing like a problem whose solution's time has come.

I love how the loss of parking is being used as one reason not to reform a dangerous junction. No way they'll put road humps on LL. If they had any real balls, they'd raise the level of LL to that of the pavement. This is standard practice all over Europe where accident rates are far lower. They've done it in K&C and achieved just that. It doesn't have to be a double lane on both sides. James. All you need is a short filter section on the southbound side (a la EDR/CPR). No need to put a second lane on the northbound side as left-turning traffic has nothing impeding it that would require a queuing lane. The other issue on Crawthew is people routinely flouting the one-way system. The signing isn't adequate enough and drivers are always parking against the flow or just thinking it's still two-way to LL.

Many, a very long time before this appalling crash, highlighted this location as being dangerous and if something had been done, this lady could well have been saved an appalling ordeal. I stand by my previous suggestion for a 3-way, traffic-light controlled junction with crossings on three sides. Others have endorsed this as an approach. But I ask again - why on earth are you seeking potential remedies from the general public? A qualified road designer could come up with viable and implementable options in a morning. Raising the road 'table' by a couple of inches and installing 20mph signs have done precisely nothing for safety at this junction. These measures have only given the council cover on the cheap so they could demonstrate they'd done something if/when someone got hurt. Well now someone has been, it will happen again and near-misses are going unrecorded every single day. Get the council to take this bloody seriously: engage a qualified professional instead of asking the public what they'd like to see, spend some proper money and get it fixed once and for all.

They should make it a 3-way stop, traffic lights on 3 sides and three crossing points. It's actually quite unusual in London to have such a busy junction without lights.

I agree, that crossing point is wholly unsuitable and extraordinarily dangerous. I and many others have tried to get Barber to have the appropriate authorities look at it, unsuccessfully. He has asked for people to suggest solutions and I have offered the occasional response but ultimately the general public are not road layout designers. James, we need to get someone qualified to look at this and solve the problem before someone else is injured.

I regularly walk all over ED. I have never once encountered canine faeces and therefore I can only imagine this is both rare and potentially vulpine.

Speaking of holidays, the bin men provide a wonderful visual incentive to potential burglars by not returning bins to their proper place. One may as well hang a sign saying 'we're away, fill yer boots!' Same goes for postpersons and flyer droppers who don't push the mail right through the letterbox.

Well, you've only to look at the eye-watering failure rate of startups to understand the perfect logic of wanting to favour my support towards a newbie. And that's not to say I'll never go to Ayres again - I thought it was lovely - but it's over a mile away and not on my way to anywhere I usually go either. Ayre's charge ?3.95 for a sourdough and Brick House is ?4 at Franklins although I've no idea what the price list will be at their new location. As for the rest of their loaves, they had about a dozen different types there and I didn't ask them.

My car was crashed into on Spurling Road sometime Saturday night. Massive insurance bill to come. No note, no witnesses.

Well Mustard, the point was made (repeatedly) on here that anyone buying a ?4 loaf was wasting their money and that better value at more established local businesses could be found. This is patently not the case. Like for like, they have basically the same prices as everyone else. And, I might add, a bakery that has been around since the 50s hardly needs much additional support. So I'll gladly support the newcomer that's more convenient and I don't expect to be vilified for it!

Ok, so I finally got over to Ayres and bought a sourdough. Delicious, no question. On a par with Brickhouse even. Me for a whopping 5p cheaper. A tray of 6 mince pies: a fiver. They're lovely too. But the idea that this place is offering cheaper, equivalent products to anyone else is just plain incorrect. They charge the same! So while recognising they're a very decent bakers, I'll continue to support the one that's closer. And let's hear no more about new businesses charging eye-watering prices when they're just charging the same as the more established ones.

Totally agree. Except half the width of the pavements (at least on one side) are privately owned by dozens of different landlords. Refurbishing the publicly owned section would probably look ridiculous. Oh and a CPZ is an absolute inevitability. Ridiculous that we're the only bit of zone 2 (North or South of the river) that doesn't have one. ED isn't and shouldn't be a special case.

To his employers, the owners of that house. There's no way he's covered for insurance purposes and someone could easily find a reason to sue them too. That's utter madness!

You find this kind of thing all over Italy because all Italians are fastidiously uncompromising when it comes to the quality of their food. It's the national conversation on a par with the English and the weather. Even service stations in Italy serve mouth-wateringly, heavenly food. Memorable food is for everyone whereas in the UK it's apparently only for snobs with too much money: people who have foolishly and misguidedly come to live in East Dulwich rather than the more obvious habitat of Chelsea where they clearly belong.

Do you have a mailing list? We'll probably be your best customer :-)

I do find it hard to understand 'anger' towards new businesses who will be creating employment and providing a service to people who will enjoy their product. They're also filling an empty unit by the way that was doing nothing for anyone. You're under no obligation to use them, especially while there clearly remains ample retail diversity on LL as evidenced by DF's list of long-standing and hardly Chelsea-like businesses (what does that even mean?) No area of London is static in either population or economic terms and I think it's really rather sad that some are so unwelcoming and frankly prejudiced towards people who have not lived here as long as you may have. Poke fun at people who like a ?4 loaf if you want, but anger? And I doubt the new Italian place will be duplicating much of anything currently available. As if all Italian restaurants were identical! By the way, I'm planning a trip to the Ayres bakery this weekend - I look forward to sampling your recommendation which I asked of you in good faith.

We've been here before: 25 chains out of the 216 retail units in ED is not anywhere close to full. Large stores support the viability of smaller stores. For goodness sake, stop whinging.

Fair enough - a bit out of my way, but in the interests of being open to new things, I shall make a point to give them a go and report back. I would mention that supermarkets have been duping people for decades with the 'baked on site' approach. It's pretty much all pre-frozen dough made with the same ingredients that the pre-packed branded stuff is made from. Do Ayre's or Kindred's actually make their own dough?

I also take some offence at the idea that I'm wasting my money on a product I enjoy and which is of extremely high quality. And, by the way, also supporting a fledgling local business while I'm at it. Having said that, I'd be delighted to try one or two of these local bakeries you refer to if they're as good as you say. Names?

What an unpleasant welcome to the occupant of a previously derelict and economically useless unit. The independents you mention have already affirmed there's enough business to go around. So be nice.

A bargain is simply something that you can buy for much less than you'd expect. I don't know how the thing being 'cool' can possibly be part of the definition! Not that FM isn't cool as it clearly is :-)

I look forward to hearing where you can go and get 2 delicious pizzas and wine for twenty quid. Until you can do that, I'm going to agree that FM is a bargain. Hell you can't even get the pizzas at any of the major chains for that money. And they're also crap.

'Overpriced fashion trend breads.' The product they make is real bread that tastes of something other than cardboard. Made the way it has been made for thousands of years. Hard to label something so old 'trendy.' I personally wonder why the crap that's sold in supermarkets is even allowed to be called bread.

I doubt it, no. Free range still means cramming 9 hens to a square metre with no requirement for the bird to actually get outside. Sometimes you have to look at your food and realise when it's just not quite expensive enough. If the free range tag makes you feel nice and wholesome about your choice, it really shouldn't.

Have to agree with peckhamrye. Please God, devote your worry to other things.