indiepanda

I love Peckham Rye too. Go running a couple of times a week before work and it's so much nicer now it's getting light enough to get into the park. Can't wait for the wisteria to be out in the Sexby garden, it's so beautiful.

MrBen Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > A star trek style teleporter to get me from my > house to office in 5 seconds without the bit in > between (Walworth Road ) Now you're talking. In my version I'd like it to do other journeys too - having a boyfriend that lives in the Midlands when you live in SE London is a pain - generally takes at least an hour and quarter to get to the start of the M40 from here and still got an hour on a good day to his place from there. And for day trips to the seaside in the summer, hiking trips all year round, visits to my friends outside of London from before I moved here. Although I'd have to conceal it's existence from my parents in case they expected me to visit more often... It's not that I hate driving, but it really feels like dead time

I managed to do a 26 mile walking marathon without blisters but I did see some people in agony with them. I've never hiked as far as 100km in one go - guess I've done about 13 miles in a day in hiking boots but I've very rarely got blisters then either. I think in both cases it's a mix of - getting the right socks. In trainers I wear one pair of well fitting socks, no seams in awkward places (seam free if possible). In boots I wear an inner thin liner sock and an outer thicker sock with cushioning. The idea is if there's an rubbing it takes place between the socks and not your foot and sock - after nearly 20 years of hiking and most years no blisters I think it works. - getting the right trainer / boot. Hiking boots I always buy a size up - helps give the space for the extra sock and being enclosed all day your foot needs the space to expand and the toes need space to stop them bashing at the front of the boot when you are on the way down any steep hills. I was away in the peaks this weekend and there was a new girl with too tight boots who ended up with bleeding toes after the first day and the second day we had to cut the walk short as she was in so much pain. Depending on the terrain I would be careful with my choice of boot - because I do some awkward rocky paths I have some which are pretty stiff with pretty solid soles so they last for years, but you can get some lighter trainer/boot hybrids with more cushioning that wouldn't last for as many years, but would be more comfortable for doing lots of miles in one go. I got some gel insoles from Cotswold Outdoor which make my boots more comfortable. If you need hiking boots, go to somewhere good like Cotswold to buy them and get proper hiking socks from a similar place. Trainers you don't necessarily need a whole size up but you do need plenty of room for your toes to avoid losing nails etc. If you are doing that much training you might want to find a trainer you like and ones you've got enough miles use in them to be confident in them, go and buy a second pair as the first one should be pretty worn by the day of the event. Although don't switch on the day itself - wear newer pair in a it beforehand. Although having said that, I had done all of my training for the Moonwalk in a pair of running trainers but the day dawned wet and cold and so I switched to a pretty new pair salomon trainers which were relatively new and had goretex in and merino socks in the hope of keeping my feet dry, and got away with it. Depending on the path you are doing you might get away with something like this for the south downs way - I've done the bit over seven sisters a number of times in hiking boots, but the path doesn't really require the ankle support and trainers are more cushioned and so much lighter. I used some compeed stick on my feet before the Moonwalk, would recommend giving that a try. Also took some compeed plasters in my bag just in case - they are significantly better than a regular one and if used right can protect a blister for ages. If you do sign up for a walk they should send you plenty of advice on the right footwear for the terrain. The Moonwalk team sent us a training plan (which I was a bit lazy and didn't follow in full but did a fair bit of) and plenty of advice on footwear. Good luck.

Access onto Underhill Road would be an improvement. I don't tend to walk through it but would use to walk through to Forest Hill Rd if there was access at the Honor Oak Mansions end of the cemetery.

se22cat Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Bath and Stratford upon Avon are both fantastic > day trips, even better if you can stay overnight. I love both places, (Bath especially as I spent my student days there), speaking as a driver I would rather make those weekend trips though - you aren't going get to either in less than 2 hours driving from here, and quite probably more like two and half.

MrBen Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Very timely thread Seabag. > > I like Deal in Kent in a polystyrene cup of > builders tea on a shingle beach kind of way. > Definitely moving onto the Londoner second home > map with a a few F&B'd up fisherman's cottages but > still with plenty old world charm and salty fresh > air. And nowhere near as twee as Whitstable or > Rye. Lots of good walks, friendly pubs in various > states of repair and an interesting mid century > pier where there is a big local sea fishing thing > happening. I went down to Deal a few times last year too. Worth exploring the English heritage owned castle there, and doing the walk along the coast to Walmer and going to the castle there too. Also the food in the restaurant at the end of the pier is worth a try - simple but good fish and chips and I had some lovely dover sole there. It's open well into the evening unlike most cafes so potential to eat surrounded by sea and watch the sunset. If you go to Rye it's worth driving out of town to Rye Harbour and going for a walk through the nature reserve there - much quieter. The seagulls are far too busy smashing mussels open on the path to try to dive bomb you to steal your chips and the bunnies come out to play around dusk. I went to Broadstairs a couple of weekends ago. Yes, it is full of places named for Charles Dickens novels because he spent time there writing Bleak House, but it still has some charm, and you can walk for miles along the sandy beach. I've been going to Hastings for... hmm.. closer to 40 than 30 years now and it was looking quite run down at one point, but it's definitely turned a corner. If you like a good off road walk the country park up on the East Hill side of the town is a perfect spot and if you have a buggy to push you can still go for miles down the promenade past St Leonards. There are some nice cafes and restaurants on George Street in the old town - it's not just cod and chips. The pier is expected to reopen this year - I can still remember playing on the one arm bandits that took half pennies there with my Dad when I was on holiday there as a kiddie - won't see those anymore! It's quite lively but still quiet compared to Brighton.

I am a big fan of art deco buildings - but it looks to me as if to restore these to their former glory would cost a fortune. I don't know what the ownership status is of them at present, but if they are owned by the occupiers, I somehow doubt they could afford it, and if the current businesses in those spaces don't own them, I doubt many would be able to afford the increased rents post restoration. But perhaps I've missed something and there is a way of having both.

PS I took the test and there was only 10% difference between the best and worst places for me to live - not worth the cost of moving house. And of course it didn't factor in the misery of the commute I'd have getting back to the city to do my job from South Cambridge which would wipe out the 6% supposed improvement in happiness (there's no work in my industry round there)

If the sea made it to Lewes I think the residents would be a bit distressed. (I admit it's not far to the sea but it's not on the coast)

Have you tried Cook in West Dulwich? I will admit I have mainly bought meat based dishes from them, but all their food has been very tasty, if not the cheapest option. http://www.cookfood.net/menu/main-meals/vegetarian-meals

rahrahrah Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The other thing about 'home counties blow-ins' is > that many of their parents actually 'blew out' of > inner London back in the 60s / 70s. It would be > more accurate to call their children 'blow backs', > or 'inner London returners'. Or better still, not > to label and judge them at all, but accept that > London is a dynamic city with constantly shifting > populations. Exactly. My working-class parents were born in East London and when they got married they couldn't afford to buy in London, even in the late sixties, so they moved out to SE Essex. If I still lived in my home town in Essex doing my job I'd be on the train into Liverpool St every day, there aren't any companies in Essex I could work for.

If you have people depending on your income - e.g. if you have a joint mortgage or dependent children, personally I would say it's a bit irresponsible not to have it. However, if you are employed it's worth confirming you don't have it already through work as many companies give it as part of the standard contract. Often when provided, it's 4 x salary, which would pay off most mortgages, albeit probably not leave enough money if leaving young children behind. Although then some pension schemes will pay a pension to widow(ers) or dependents, which could be enough anyway. I do have a mortgage but don't have anyone financially dependent on me, so I don't buy any life insurance - as it happens my employer provides enough my parents will be nicely provided for in the unlikely event I die before them. I think years ago some banks / building societies insisted you had to have life cover before accepting you for a mortgage - but am pretty sure that was stopped when they kept selling their own over-priced products to customers. These days it's actually pretty cheap to cover yourself for the risk of death up to the age most people would have paid a mortgage off as the probability of young death still isn't that high despite all the stories about the obesity epidemic and impact on life expectancy. Worth shopping around for though - not everyone offers that competitive rates and just buying from your bank could prove unnecessarily expensive.

Me three.

aquarius moon Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Anne of Green Gables Very good. Over to you.

Ok. This fictional character wanted to be called Cordelia.

Loz Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > indiepanda Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > > The character of the young Morse in Endeavour is > clearly very related to the older Morse we > > remember from the TV show with John Thaw. > > Whilst it is a fantastic tv programme, I just > cannot believe that the 'young' Morse will ever > grow to become the 'older' Morse in 20/30 years > time. The characters just seem completely > different. I thought there were quite a few similarities but perhaps I am being too influenced by superficial things like love of classical music and his intelligence.

Otta Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan Yes! I read the early books before the TV show appeared and bar the job, everything is different. Very much "inspired by" rather than based on the books. The character of the young Morse in Endeavour is clearly very related to the older Morse we remember from the TV show with John Thaw. Bones would not just have to have a complete personality transplant to grow into the book version but lose Booth as a husband, (not just via divorce as she has a totally different ex husbamd in the books) lose Christine as her child, never have been a best selling author, become an alcoholic and had completelu different parents / upbringing.

Getting much warmer. You have the right male actor but not the show he is currently in.

Nope. The actor who plays her husband in the TV version previously played a vampire.

Nope. Character is American.

The TV show she is in is current - I.e. still running. And new books are still beng published.

The character is female

No. Right genre though.

Ok, let's try this one. This character started out as a fictional character in a series of books, and then later appeared in a long running TV series, but the only thing the two versions of the character share beyond a name is a job.

Mork? Of Mork and Mindy that is, first appeared in a dream sequence in Happy Days