alba

It was a brilliant event. Could only have been improved if we had been able to sit the grass and picnic without thinking of how well used that patch of grass is as a dog toilet.

It's in the local press today, think it was the South London Press I bought. But it doesn't seem to be online yet.

It was rib eye. The chips did taste like they had been made from scratch - although I didn't ask.

Had the most fantastic steak and chips (?13), cooked perfectly in the Magnolia on Saturday night. We hadn't booked, there were lots of spare tables. I vote this the best steak and chips in East Dulwich, possibly South London. The chef said the meat was from William Rose, very tender and v tasty.

Oh please let Lidl come to Lordship Lane. They do the best promotions for the most extraordinary things - eg the Peckham one offered riding boots, there have been gazebos etc. Also they do the best chocolate biscuits.

Thanks for this info. Heber definitely needs a blog/website. Or at the very least in the short term Mr Block, the Headteacher could simply log onto the forum.

When we first moved to East Dulwich I was also concerned about getting off the train at East Dulwich late at night - thinking "I don't like the look of the pathway off the train'. When we moved here I realised that the station is so busy at all times, that my fears of having the train/the platform to myself at any time was quite laughable. You have no chance of getting off the train in anything other than a crush.

I'm completely shocked to find out she's only 60. The newspaper article referred to her as "an elderly woman" and the forumites all called her "an old woman". I honestly thought we were talking about a 90-year old.

The stock of the Never Ending Story Bookshop missed the mark for the East Dulwich market. I lost count of the number of times I went in to the shop ready to spend, only to come away empty handed. It didn't stock things like Beatrix Potter, the Julia Donaldson books or even books that you could give as a present - eg fairy tale books or nursery rhyme books. I'm afraid to say it didn't have the staples that would have had the parents in this area beating a path to its door. I did gently ask the owner about gettng more of these kind of books in and she said she was trying to offer something different and also was trying to broaden the type of children and people who would come into her shop. The owner had been a social worker and I believe this influenced her choice of books - many of which were very worthy, very dull and I doubt ever sold. She also ran workshops for troubled families above the shop and often approached customers in her shop to see if they would be interested in attending. She must have talked to me about the workshops on at least 4 or 5 visits and it really put me off visiting her shop. I wondered if she was asking everyone or just me.

We bought our tree for ?15 on Lordship Lane yesterday -outside Farmers. Not the bushiest tree in the wood but a decent price.

No idea....most intriguing. On TV the other night in the documentary "Rich Kid, Poor Kid" the rich kid (who apparently attends JAG) described the Poor Kid as "Butters". (ugly). You should furnish your dad with some local vocabulary.

My friend saw the workman who had just painted over it. The workman said he'd been told to paint out the graffiti but if that wasn't possible simply to paint out the offending section. He agreed that how the mural has been left, is now a real gift to graffiti artists, a blank canvas in fact.

You can buy a map of interesting trees in Dulwich and East Dulwich. I can't remember where I bought it but it was probably either the Dulwich picture gallery shop or the bookshop in Dulwich village. It detailed really old tree, really unusual trees, things like the monkey puzzle tree in Crystal Palace road.

I agree that I should have done the maths and then the ?21 wouldn't have come as a shock. I neglected to include the fact that ice-cream isn't actually on the menu, but when we asked if they had any, they kindly said they did. But I didn't imagine it would be ?4.95 for each bowl. I do have some sympathy for the cafe - I supppose if the ice-cream was cheaper then everyone who frequents the Pavillion Cafe would pile in. It's probably the only way of maintaining a more upmarket, more grown up atmosphere. On a positive note, the Dulwich Picture Gallery itself represents fantastic value. We went on a free tour of the pictures (it's every Sunday at 3pm) and it was brilliant - the tour guide was just so informative and interesting. No celebrities though!

We ordered 3 ice-creams and 4 teas yesterday at the Dulwich Picture Gallery cafe and the bill was ?21. We had to wait about half an hour for any of it to arrive. They always seem busy - but I won't be returning in a hurry.