fishbiscuits

As always it's never a binary situation... empty properties in London are a real problem, and in some circumstances squatting does reflect a genuine need for housing. But at the same time, the "woke" middle class liberal narrative on squatters tend to be rather naive. Struggling creatives, victims of a dysfunctional housing market, passionate about respecting and maintaining period properties...

Penguin68 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > It seems a shame, since they are evidently such > good breadmakers, that they didn't pursue an > alternative business model of solely baking in a > non-retail premise (potentially much cheaper to > rent) and wholesaling their bread through retail > outlets That's how they started out (Tyrrell Road estate). I'm sure they considered to returning to such a model. Maybe they just didn't have the heart to start again.

I've expressed my reservations about that site before. However - I'd love it if they made a success out of it.

Aneto is the obvious location, as it's a large site (especially including the space next door and the kitchens at the back). However - someone already posted earlier to say that the Aneto site is in some way linked to all this, and has presumably therefore already been ruled out. Also, perhaps there's now a big question mark over the viability of operating a fairly large commercial bakery business from a prime-ish London high street property...

nivag Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > https://london.eater.com/2020/1/9/21056817/brick-h ouse-bread-peckham-closed-levan-new-opening-larrys Well yes... as I mentioned a week ago... a convenient opportunity for Levan. I had a strong suspicion that Levan were the landlords, and wanted in on the commuter business. Speaking of which.. I popped into Levan this morning for my Friday morning coffee-and-pastry takeaway treat. Disappointing coffee, decent pastry, but very expensive. I really, really miss Brick House!! Saying that, Levan is a fantastic restaurant and I'm sure that "Larry's" will be good.

2 months ago! Dammit. Scammed out of a fiver, but if her sponsorship sheet is to be believed, my neighbours got scammed for more!

Your patience - and intentions - are admirable.

Is it controversial to suggest that you shouldn't feel morally obliged to keep a violent creature in your home? I'm not totally averse to our feline friends, but if the thing is actually attacking you even when left alone... well...

A few days ago we had a woman come round with a boy, asking for sponsorship money for some sort of trampoline challenge at Peckham Pulse. I took it at face value (in fact I gave them a fiver), but in hindsight, something about it didn't seem quite right...

The managing agent I use for my rental flat always bill me for pest control. So I guess it's the landlord responsibility. But really it's impossible to keep an old Victorian property completely mouse free. Even though you'd think the tenants would be capable of putting down a few traps!! Oh well.

username Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Redevelopment? If so does that mean Levan, Honest > Burgers and the other units in that building are > on borrowed time too? It may be a good opportunity for Levan to catch a slice of the "coffee and breakfast" commuter pie. One might even describe it as convenient. Maybe there are dots to be joined, but maybe there are not...

Gail's - it's not "crap". It's mid-market. As a cafe it's a definite step up from a Starbucks etc, and as a bakery it's the kind of thing that only 10 years ago would have seemed rather good. But nevertheless, not a patch on Brick House. But as I said, economies of scale probably mean they can pay much more for the site. For bread - Mons cheesemonger and General Store (Bellenden Rd) both sell bread from Little Bread Pedlar... which is good stuff. I dare say there are other local stockists also. For coffee and pastries/cake - I still like Boulangerie Jade, and One & All (Peckham Rye). (Not actually been in Kanella & Co, but it always looks nice!)

Ontherun Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > That is genius fishbiscuits - going to make that > this very eve! Yep... it's good. My mum always gives us a huge chunk of Christmas cake, but the rest of the family don't really like it, so this is usually how it ends up. And there's always other xmas leftovers you can throw in.. chocolate, nuts, biscuits, etc.

St Thomas The Apostle is a Catholic boys school, btw. So clearly not for everyone!

Bloody landlords!!

Gail's would have been a good fit for the Aneto site... Brick and Gail's could have co-existed... oh well.

Indeed. Perhaps Gails gave the landlord an offer that brick house couldn't hope to match. It's a shame as it seems like they're riding on their coattails, cynically muscling in on something they're worked so hard to achieve. (maybe that's not quite the reality, but it's how the situation reads to an outsider). Gail's have a very different business model, with all baking done in a dedicated facility on a much larger scale. So not only will their margins be greater, they'll be able to fit in a lot more seating without the large on-site bakery. As others have said... Gail's is OK but it's certainly a lower quality offering.

Crutches - is FreeCycle still going? Or maybe put them on eBay? Someone will probably find them useful. On several occasions, I've had injuries which make it hard to walk (cuts on sole of foot, running/ligament injury) and the hospital/doctors wouldn't provide crutches.

You could ask Peckham FoodCycle ([email protected], based at All Saints church) if they could use any Christmas cake? If you're not crazy about Christmas cake, you can make very tasty "rocky road" out of it. Crumble it up, stir in melted chocolate and a little butter, and whatever else you have (leftover biscuits, popcorn, marshmallows, cornflakes, etc). When set, you can cut it up and freeze it.. take portions out of the freezer if/when you have family/kids round. Put chocolate mini eggs on top and serve as Easter cakes, etc.

carlafindle Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Thanks for that, yawn. I'm afraid it was your original post which was rather yawn-inducing (and patronising). I think we all realise that this is not some sort of dire humanitarian crisis. As Kruger says, it's all about context. And double-yawn for yet more "yummy mummy" bollocks.

TBH the bedroom tax seemed reasonable to me. Still does. There may be issues with the execution (e.g. the example given above of rooms too small to really use as a bedroom, or no suitable smaller property available) but I agree with the principle.

Gales are OK. Certainly a big step up from a Cafe Nero, etc, but IMO their coffee and pastries are barely comparable with Brick House. I think for me, the best options are now Boulangerie Jade in ED, and Coal Rooms or One & All in Peckham. I do wonder if the Brick House guys would go back to their roots and become a wholesale bakery again?

John, Levan is already there - next door. Where Peckham Refreshment Rooms used to be.

It's crazy. The site has struggled for so many years... what is the landlord hoping to achieve by huge rent increases? Months/years of it sitting empty? Another failed venture?

A good point has been made - why stay in London if you don't need to commute. Somewhere like Bromley might seem appealing with larger/cheaper housing available, major high street and shopping mall. But it's quite characterless and chain-oriented, you'll get a better eating/drinking scene in ED, Peckham, Camberwell (although depends on tastes I suppose). And the mix of people is quite different - more skewed towards the typical Suburban, middle class, Tory voting type (I know that sounds extremely snobbish, but it really is true). Here, your kids will grow up in a more diverse and liberal environment. Of course the downside to that is inner city social problems. Going into Central London is relatively easy from round here. The trains aren't perfect, but taxis/cabs home are affordable and cycling is a realistic option. I've been to Walthamstow a few times, and I don't really understand why people rave about it. It just seems a bit... shit. But maybe it's like Peckham, in that it is scruffy on the surface but with hidden gems... who knows!