NewWave

Forest Hill but on the Dulwich (hilly) side, not the East side of the railway. Horniman primary really good. Lots of parks, the museum and Aquarium, easy access vis the overground to east London and west end. Great Saturday Farmers market, small town centre which still has useful shops, WH Smith,Boots,Sainsbury,M&Co. lots of friendly local cafes, a library and a swimming pool. Lived here 4 years, moved from Notting Hill. Love it. Oh! we've also got a superb local butcher. Honor Oak Park for me just feels a bit 'nothing' by comparison. Brockley has the advantage of being in Zone 2 but for me personally it just doesn't have the nice family vibe as FH. Also I like that I can easily get to Lordship Lane, Peckham (with its up-and coming resturant and bar scene) Brixton and Crystal Palace from here as we have bus routes that go there.

Yes I wonder how they manage to retain the contracts for both Lewisham and Southwark when they are obviously so substandard at even the most basic yet important things such as hygene and cleanliness. and maintainance. Makes me question if some backhanders are involved.

We asked Callow locksmiths and they reccemended a company called first Response, its a monitored system and we've found their service is excellent. Where I lived before I had an ADT monitored alarm and wouldn't have and didn't choose them again.

Fusion are terrible yet they sadly seem to have the monopoly on public pools and gyms in South London. I'm a Lewisham resident and am forever complaining both on the local forum and to the front desk at the pools, I never get a response either way. The changing rooms and toilets are utterly filthy-blocked loos,no toilet roll, I mean truly filthy. classes get canceled at the last miniute-yesterday I rang at 5.30 to enquire wether a 6pm class was on (I've learned the hard way to check in advance of these things)Was told yes, it was definitely on-turned up paid and waited around half an hour with no info to only then be told the class wasn't happening. In addition I've noticed they certainly at FHP favor running day time group classes, with very few at full time west end worker friendly times. I can't afford private gym membership but I feel Fusion are the most inept cost cutting un-customer focused company I've ever come across. In fact I tend to travel to Beckenham where there is a fantastically run and clean community pool and gym. I find it hard to believe that Fusion are able to retain this monopoly considering how utterly c**p they are!

Sorry but who's a 'blow-in?' I'm a Londoner born and bred and my Father grew up in Norwood. If you call me a 'blow-in' because I've lived here four years and moved from Notting-Hill (where I was born and lived for 50 years) because I was priced out of the area then fine...I guess I am a blow-in. I must confess if I won the lottery I'd move back to W11 in a heartbeat-Its much less up its arse in many ways. and weirdly less smug

I am friends with his sister...shes fab!

Overground To Whitechapel then Hammersmith and City to Ladbroke grove tube. My dentist and hairdresser are there (I lived there until four years ago) and I do that journey often.

I would SO love that!!!! We would definitely go...and can we also have some Synth-Pop and Electronica? Please....

Try the Breast Cancer charity shop at the end of Lordship Lane, (opposite Costas-or is it Cafe Nero?) they do re-sell for you where you will get a percentage of the sale-I always take things there-Its called Give and Take

I'm 55 years old and if my beloved mum was still alive no doubt shed help me out if a mishap involved me needing to make a sudden expensive outlay. I don't see anything wrong with that. If I had an adult offspring I would be more than happy to give them cash.

That happened to me when I lived in Notting-Hill, 3 men-two dragged me to the ground one literally pulling me along by the strap of my bag-when they got the bag they passed it to the third guy who did a runner with it. I think guys like that are vile cowards.

I saw the mighty Dulwich Hamlet FC on Saturday- my first live football game and the only full game I have ever watched. My poor boyfriend hasn't yet managed to persuade me to see his beloved Leeds United, so this was a bit for him. Much to my surprise I LOVED IT. I can only recommend this to anyone who wants to see a good game locally. With over 1,000 in the crowd this is serious football. Really really enjoyable. I can't wait to go again. Looking forward to the Stonewall game too. Delighted to see my local team doing another progressive event.

Just tell me what the limit is. A concern for me is getting a speeding ticket, if the limit varies with no logic it makes it less easy to just drive and concentrate on driving safely. I can set my car to have a speed limit and I would set that to 20 if that was the universal limit but it isn't. I aim to keep up with the flow of traffic.

Sherry Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I think a nice bed and breakfast/ boutique hotel > pub type business would be of much more use... But > I imagine the investment needed for that puts the > idea out of the running... But wouldn't it be > nice!? Thats whats happening to the Crown and Greyhound in Dulwich village

I am an OK swimmer and the fast lane is the best suited to my pace. In the old days when you caught someone up you would gently brush (I was going to say stroke and that sounds even worse) their feet. The slower swimmer would then stop at the end of the length allowing you to overtake them. Nowadays if I come up to someone slower I slow down until the end of the length and usually the other swimmer realises "Mark Spitz" is behind them and let them pass. We can all vary our speed when walking or driving so a little bit of that would work wonders in the pool. Once you get into the groove with the other swimmers in the lane the faster ones can get on with it and the slower ones can go at their pace. Yes it is a bit annoying at times but view the changes in pace as an addition to your training pattern. Backstroke is fine, as long as your shoulder is close to the lane rope and you bend your arm (as you should) under water then you are no wider than a breaststroker. If you are standing in the way at the end of a lane and a backstroker is coming towards you common sense will dictate they won't be able to see you so move. If you are swimming backstroke then work out how many arm pulls you take after the 5m warning rope or markings. Then you can roll onto your front to do a proper turn or stop before you bash others/your head or arm. I hope these new rules of engagement will help!!

I used to live in New York in the 80's and 90's. I always felt safer there than anywhere in London whilst walking round especially at night. And before anyone assumes I was in a salubrious area no-it was SoHo pre-gentrification, Lower East side, and China Town. There were always cops a few blocks away, and no shortage of taxis waiting vacant should you not wish to walk home from a bar late at night. In London....Theres never any police on the streets. And forget getting a taxi on the street at night, especially if you are south of the river or want to travel there.

i always get spooked by people running up behind me, and invariably move aside to let them pass. The reason behind this is when I was mugged the perpetrator run up at me from behind. As a rule men walking behind me don't unnerve me, unless they are very very close.

I'm so shocked at how some posters chose this thread to nit pick at the OP and make flippant comments. I'm grateful that the OP alerted us to this individual. I do hope she rings 101 and hasn't been put off by others comments. Imagine if she didn't report it, and next time someone gets raped or murdered? Either way characters such as this man should be brought to the attention of the police, and female readers of this forum.

There was a post on the SE23 forum a few months ago of a young man,olive skinned harassing and following women in the Forest Hill area...please report. If its the same guy he may have moved his patch due to people reporting him to 101 there. http://www.se23.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=10715 this is the thread

The prices seem average for a good Japanese restaurant with a decent menu. Yes..it IS more expensive than 'Wasabi' which is the japaneese version of pret-a-manger, but the ingredients will doubtlessly be superior. Try eating in a decent Japanese restaurant in the west end or Notting Hill and you will see that this is not overpriced at all. I lived in Tokyo and yes, you can eat great food reasonably but like any big city there are some shockingly overpriced and pretentious but mediocre sashimi and Sushi places too.

Small world, I knew the guy who organised the party and lost three friends, One an ex flatmate.

go to Roullier White on Lordship lane, they are great at giving advice and have lots of lesser known scents. I would sneak in a bottle of her current perfume and then the sales associate can identify the notes within it and pick a scent from the same olfactory family.

I passed today on the bus and there was a note taped to the door..couldnt see what it said though, It looked handwritten

Spoke to some friends today who came with us for Sunday lunch there back in January, They really enjoyed it and so when they had family over a couple of weeks ago took them to The Patch. They said it was REALLY disappointing,empty, lacking in atmosphere and the food was pretty grim with tiny ready made looking Yorkshire pudding. on their feedback its hardly surprising its failed sadly.

Drove past today..it looked closed. Has it finally closed? Sad because it started well but went downhill.