Nigello

I think this place http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/reserves/centre-for-wildlife-gardening has an area set aside for stag beetles.

Then there are two problems with that part of SE22.

I liked it, and was always served quickly and politely. I liked the cakes and the discounted breakfast. I really do hope that Boulangerie Jade won't just do pastries for breakfast: I've ever seen the attraction of eating cake as first meal of the day. The Barry Road caff closed and was replaced with a "French bakery" so I hope this isn't a case of history repeating itself.

Seconded. My cab "driver" pulled out, causing another driver to plough into the back of a stationary car on LL about two months ago. The police came, so all was sorted on the morning, but it could have been worse. More double yellows on LL adjacent to both sides of Goodrich are needed!

Handbrake turn...Can you please James, chase up the overgrown trees on Barry Road, the pollarded ones. They all need a good chopping back. It's bad enough if you are able bodied but it must be a right pain, even dangerous, if you are less able-bodied or with poor sight. I've reported it, but nothing has happened yet. Thanks.

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Illegal parking there after 1600 during weekdays really slows down the traffic. Just one vehicle can cause a mini-jam, yet the usually keen-as-mustard attendants are rarely there. I wondered whether the council deliberately doesn't send them there because it's glad that Sainsbury's took over that empty lots vacated by the car shop.

I like the idea of allotments, but prefer the idea of more, cheaper housing. If the choice was allotment or Peabody-type flats, I'd go for the latter, though I wouldn't be as happy if the choice was allotment vs major company. Land for housing is at a premium here in Zone 1 - 6, especially 1 - 4 and something has to give.

I have sympathy with those in need, but I also don't want to encourage the normalisation of people rooting through other people's bins, especially when they intrude on private property. Who knows the real motives for these - or others' - people's rooting? Perhaps they are amazingly entrepreneurial, green-minded-but-badly-shod to boot, or maybe they are ground-agents for an ID-theft operation. Nobody can know unless they ask them, and they might not be willing to tell the truth if it is the latter.

That's a good point, KK. Is the answer to cut right back back earlier in the year so any further trimming isn't likely to be as radical and therefore disturbing?

Literature can be as much about culture and history as it is about the art, emotion etc, so Dickens, Woolf, Jonson, Thomas, du Maurier, Austen etc deliver a "triple whammy", if you like, that could help pupils in their other areas of study. (British) English literature is so diverse that I don't see the need to go to the US, Australia, Canada etc for GCSE or 'A'-level. A good teacher can recommend such texts for personal reading or - get this - an inspired pupil could discover what they really like themselves. Such curiosity, though, does depend on parental and school input to an extent.

Newts

Good on you, tfwsoll! A few others have been strimming and trimming, too. Others - yes, that includes you opposite The Actress, with your rampant honeysuckle - really CBA, it seems. Now, if only the council would do its bit?

Depends where you are in ED. If you are nearer to the library or Forest Hill Road, then perhaps HOP is the best way to go. I've taken the bus from the end of Dunstan's Road/LL to Forest Hill, then Overground to C Water, then Jubilee then DLR. It sounds a faff, but it's not. Pack light!

I heard that the Post Office owns the property where Gastronomia was and the corner shop (now being done up) next to Le Moulin and the grocer's next to Sainsbury's which has a small branch in it. Perhaps it is cashing in on its assets.

Thanks, Renata. It is much easier for you to pass this along than for me to try to find out and then pass it on.

Agreed Renata, James, but surely the council has to know that trees that have been pollarded (like those on Barry Road) are likely to grow back apace from ground level. That's what's happened on Barry Road but nothing's been done, which is disappointing and annoying. Is there any joined-up thinking? Do pollarders commit to follow up a year later? If not, they ought to!

Congrats. Please do your best to get the business in your ward to avail themselves of the tagging-removal service, or ask them to do it themselves. The parade of shops opposite the bus stop, on the same side as the library and some of the shops along Rye Lane look a complete disgrace. Most of the shop fronts have been tagged and cleaned but others' owners seem not to be bothered.

More success: I asked a neighbour to oblige, and offending branches and foliage were removed within a day. Just ask, MissKing and others, as you might be surprised at the reaction.

Going early in the morning (0800) to the office at Victoria and then picking it up the same day - for an extra thirty quid or so - is a good option. I'd prefer to do that than spend extra on the checking facility, especially since my experience at the office was fuss-free and quick. They even have photo booths there.

Off The Wall - Michael Jackson (ow!)

Slate

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-26920222 and http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-27519536

ArtiE - I reckon if you knock on doors and/or do a leaflet drop and offer a discount for repeat trims you'll do really well. Best of luck!

Goodrich/Upland corner has been drastically cut back, as have a couple of others very nearby. Is this an example of the power of the EDF or just a spooky coincidence?