dulwichquine

Thinking of taking the plunge and cycling to work. Would need an electric bike. Six miles each way. Does anyone know a company I could hire one/test one for a few weeks to see if I could hack it? Most grateful for any advice. Haven?t cycled since teenage years and pretty nervous!

Thank you !

Thank you

Hello Could anyone tell me if there are any good weekend pilates classes in Dulwich area? Most grateful for suggestions. Thanks!

Thank you, KatieJ. May I ask where you found your help?

Thanks, Pugwash. They're pretty self contained. The main duty is preparing and cooking the tea - they're too busy to do that and to be a responsible adult in the house until I get home.

Good point - it's after school care I need. Did you mean ?15 per hour?!

Hello Just wondering if anyone had any thoughts on what would be sensible hourly rate to advertise for a babysitter who could cook tea, tidy up kitchen afterwards, supervise homework and so on. We have two boys, both at secondary school. We'd need two/two and a half hours per day from about 5pm. Thanks!

We pay ?8 an hour.

I've just been to the Peckham sorting office and it is not fit for purpose. They simply haven't the capacity to deal with so many customers. I will be emailing Helen Hayes. Dreading Christmas.

Hi Our new au pair from Nice arrived and keen to make friends. Why don?t you pm me with contact details and I will put her in touch? We live in East Dulwich. Tks.

Watching this thread, our extension is like a pizza oven. We can't put up internal blinds over our huge roof light. We so regret not thinking about this when we were planning it!

Lionel at Nousha Photography does our family pics. Now got a studio in Clapham. He really is superb and great with the kids.

The ELT in Clapham is excellent. Not the cheapest but very good teachers.

They did our lunch loft about 9/10 years ago. Good company. High standard of work. Had major issues with their architect at the time but I imagine he?s gone by now.

Just used Aston after finding him in the forum. We had a very small job, fixing a kitchen cupboard where the hinges had come off. Desperate to get it done before Xmas. Aston came to the rescue. Quick, efficient and reasonable.

I would not suggest using an au pair to look after babies or toddlers. We have had nannies and have moved onto au pairs now kids are at school. Live in nanny is a better way to go, more expensive but you get what you pay for. Or perhaps you could find someone with a bit of experience who might be a helping hand for a few hours here and there. Just speaking from personal experience.

We've just had a letter from the ELT in Clapham informing us that the school is having to close at the end of this term. The landlord wants to develop the spaces into flats and the owner can't find suitable new premises for his school. Bit of a blow as I know it is very popular for East Dulwich au pairs. If anyone has any alternative suggestions do let me know. We have sent an au pair to the language school in Greenwich in the past but it's not very easy to get to, esp for their early lessons.

Our child went right through from nursery to end of Year 2 and loved it. We found the staff incredibly caring and the teaching first class. For what it's worth, he never felt any pressure.

My son really loved Herne Hill. Felt like a very happy school with lots of great teachers. Must say from our experience we didn't feel he was under any pressure at all. Very kind and caring.

I wouldn't say extending a house is an extravagance. We can't afford to move but need more space. Building seems to be the best thing to do, or so we hope. I find there are lots of helpful threads on EDF with folk who've got useful info/experience to pass on.

Thank you @rockets I will take a look. @mikeb That is clearly the idea but it's not often easy or practical to do so with kids and shopping and so on. It doesn't sound like it's been very well thought out, either! I am just trying to figure out the alternative roads that can be used to get around.

I drove through along Loughborough Road today, turning left off Brixton Road. Didn't want to chance driving through Loughborough Junction heading to Herne Hill, so I turned right into Barrington Road to go to the end of the road and turn left onto Cold Harbour Lane. However, nearing the end of Barrington Road, there is now a no entry sign! I ignored it and kept going as clearly other cars were doing the same. Can anyone explain if this no entry sign is correct and how on earth we get to Herne Hill/Dulwich if you come off Brixton Road?

We pay our au pair ?120 a week plus mobile phone. She does about 25 hours a week. They are no substitute for a cheap nanny. We've been very happy with how our pairs have worked out. They should be treated as part of the family as well as someone who is an extra pair of hands for childcare/babysitting. We didn't ask our au pair to do any cleaning as we have a separate cleaner to do this.

Two trains were cancelled this morning at North Dulwich station this morning due to "staff shortage". Almost a forty minute gap in rush hour.