Nigello

Big rat (10" more, nose-to-tail) in the community garden at P Rye Park on Saturday - rather s/he be there than around houses.

Iron

Balls

Alan You are being too sensitive - as well as condescending. Why shouldn't they like it (or even hate it) here, or have a good sense of humour (or not) any more than anyone else who lives in London? I am sure these people, who have had the wherewithal to learn a foreign language and gain and secure employment in a megacity, don't need your guilt complex. It's just too sentimentalist.

I believe the person who has put his name to an official document, probably knowing the background to the controversy. Called me old fashioned, but I do.

Sale

Great response - and this one will keep it up there a bit longer!

Two or three occasions of channels just clicking out and then a sign saying that there is a problem in the area (near Goodrich School) over the past five or so weeks.

I doubt that Deliveroo is evil but I do not doubt that people, kidding themselves that they have the busiest lives to conceal a certain amount of laziness, don't quite appreciate what their actions may bring (eg. death of the high street; gig economy; job insecurity; keeping wages low due to "endless" supply of workers). Deliveroo etc. is providing a service but perhaps it is one that people never actually knew they "needed" until it came along.

By clean, I meant corruption-wise. You have to agree that the UK is, relatively speaking, freer of the kind of corruption that plagues Spain, Italy, former Soviet Bloc countries, etc. True, it must exist but it is of a scale and type that is different.

Spanish politics is not as clean as it is here, centrally or regionally. Both sides have been stubborn and unimaginative. The separatists' leaders may claim a pure, higher moral ground but they are - to an extent - taking advantage of latent nativism and legitimate regional pride (in language, culture, etc.) in their voter base to get what they want. The idea that Catalonia will become EU country 29 anytime soon is far-fetched because Brussels won't let it happen.

I wonder just how big the intersection is of regular gig economy service uses (Uber, Deliveroo etc.) and those who rail against rampant capitalism/zero hour contracts/abuse of workers, especially those who are young/lacking qualifications/foreign. (I don't use Uber, Deliveroo etc.)

Faith schools should be abolished, unless private and then they ought to pay tax.

Go in, ask to speak to the manager in private, let them explain. If you are not satisfied, report them - and tell them that you are and why you are doing so. Ageism is insidious and should not be tolerated.

Here is the response, which although not what I wanted (doesn't she and others at the GLA have the wherewithal to have asked this question already?) was at least fast. I don?t have an answer to that off the top of my head ? I know that some borough officers do enforce. We will table a question to the Mayor to try to find out more Caroline I will give it a fortnight and pursue.

Sue, Done - even before your peppish, good-natured encouragement. I'll report back.

Still would like a Tube station, though. I'd have loved one at Peckham Rye (the Rye itself) or at Camberwell, at the very least, but it was not to be. Our transport is not great - at best it is a 6.5/10.

His Lordship the Mayor could easily cut pollution by requiring traffic wardens/police to instruct car engine idlers to switch off or be fined. (Why they don't do this anyway I will never know.) The fact that simple, easily understood and fair methods like this are not used is baffling and depressing - it could be made to happen very quickly, with no fanfare or fuss, so perhaps that is why it isn't!

I really DNK why bottle water is so popular. Granted, it is nice to have a bit of fizzy stuff every now and again, but British tap water is amongst the best. All that pollution from transporting bottles of water when you can get it out of a tap seems ludicrous. Another sign of the mad(wo)men holding too much sway.

There are plants that look similar to JKW. Is this definitely it? You have to look for alternating leaves on the stem and I cannot quite see whether this is the case. http://www.phlorum.com/services/japanese-knotweed/plants-that-look-like-japanese-knotweed/

Interesting to note that some say the charge will be punitive especially on people with less money because they are more likely to have older cars.

If you get a fast train, you can be in York in under two hours, and the station is right in the city centre. ED to KX is easy on the through train from PRye, or there is the 63.

It can only get worse - unless you try to make it stop. If you see the chance to pull someone up over walking 8 abreast/playing their phone conversation on loudspeaker/dropping litter, etc., then do it. You're (you = anyone who is reading this) old, wise and (psychologically) strong enough to take any nasty comeback if you have judged the situation correctly.

It is pretty friendly - even to the extent that kingfisher have been seen in Rye Park, various raptors in people's gardens, stag beetles and hummingbird butterflies, enough bees for several people in the area to make honey. Small gardens help on their own but they also provide a kind of corridor, so when people cement over in a row, or even every few houses, it can make a dent. I'd say SE21/22/15/23 are well served tree/park-wise but more could help.

Could have something to do with people driving too much and concreting over their front gardens to install their cars, thereby reducing the amount of greenery available to host insects (and do other beneficial stuff). Like many things, each of us can help change it for the better but there's also an excuse, eh?