Anna27

I would have to agree our extension has enhanced the house it was badly damaged during the war so we actually salvaged doors, put in fireplaces, restored radiators... I like to think that we have preserved something that had been unloved for so long, original kitchen was structurally unsound, we kept as much as we could the cupboard doors have been incorporated into the new kitchen. Homes have to adapt and should so if done sympathetically to the original building. We have never had complains from the neighbours about loss of light, its a glass roof! They are not elderly.

Also a friend on a different street had hers approved too slightly different but most side returns are over 3m in length. Best speaking to the planning team.

We had our side return extension approved by southwark about a year and a half ago, rather than doing a full wrap around we stepped the side return section of the kitchen back by about 1.5m, aesthetically I felt it worked better for us as our garden is quite small, we put in a floor to ceiling glass panel looking into the garden as well as bi-folding doors, The roof of our extension is also glass. No loss of light for the neighbours! We actually put a party walk agreement in place with our then neighbour and built off the garden party wall, foundations were good enough. The only thing we had a slight issue with was the height, be realistic we had to lower ours in the end by 10cm Because of this we had to go for a glass roof which slopes from the party wall to the side of our house. Looks great and the space works well for our family. Also be aware that the height you have internally will be determined by factors like if your street is on a slope, our internal ceiling height in the rest of the kitchen is very high as originally we stepped down into or kitchen. I found southwark to be fair and very helpful, they went over the 8week period as our case worker had a bike accident , because of this our architect was allowed to submit new drawings with the slight height change rather than resubmit and wait another 8weeks! it really doesn't impact on our neighbours infact I think they might be doing a similar extension! I think the length of our kitchen is over 6m these extensions are really common now, as mentioned before it would probably be more of an issue for planning if you were extending the length into the garden we stayed with the original footprint and just went to the side. Oh and the gutter on the party wall was built to accommodate the neighbours if they ever did decide to extend, these are costs you will have to incur. Good luck!

The Rivoli Ballroom in Brockley? Amazing venue, White Stripes, Florence and the Machine have performed there. They put on Jive nights every month, great mix of people all ages, an excuse to dress up, fun with a large group of friends http://www.therivoli.co.uk/

I also felt the school was a bit to small and compared to others in the area when looking round needed a lot of money investing in it, computers were very old etc.. Decided it was not for us. Best advise is to take a tour, what you want from a school might be very different to someone else. I think the head leaving is a good thing she had been there a very long time and it showed, someone with a fresh outlook is not always a bad thing!

We are 0.23 miles from Ivydale and got offered it as our first choice, Bessemer was also on my list because of the larger catchment and the fact I had only heard good things. My outlook was that I would rather drive to a good local ish school than take the chance of putting down 6 of the best in the area, for example Hornimans was closer but we were probably more likely to get into Bessener. Sounds like decisions have to be made by mid May for the Aske's school so hopefully that will free up a few spaces, we were around number 70 on the reserve list!

Our Miele washing machine is a year and a half old, never had any problems with the bobbling of clothing, not sure what model it is as we're away but it has the honeycomb drum technology, Does yours? I think this feature is meant to be kinder on clothing. I do turn the spin right down for wool but our machine only has a maximum of 1200

Sorry to hear that! I'm sure there will be a lot of movement between now and September, we only got in because Ivydale bulged we live in a bit of a non catchment area for any other schools so it was a worrying time. Certainly not self congratulating just an honest interest in the outcome across ED/Peckham, most of my child's friends live in the surrounding streets to us. So what have you been offered? I know a lot of people applied for the new Aske's school, it was a separate application so in theory quite a few parents will have been offered 2 schools possibly freeing up spaces if they accept Aske's.

Thought it would be interesting to see if Southwark had met the demand of primary school places this year, did you get one of your 6 choices? We were lucky to be offered our first choice school which was Ivydale, from my group of mummy friends generally most seem to be happy/got their first choice school.

it's going to cost in the billions surely? more chance of rocking horse poo

more chance of a second coming than this happening i'm afraid the sheer cost rules out even exploring it

It would be such a shame if the nursery had to close, this is something we should all be supporting as it effects ED as much as forest hill, the waiting lists in ED are crazy. outstanding ofsted report in all 17 areas!!

Named officially on christmas eve as 'Rafe Arthur Watts' only 10 weeks late!! feel like a huge weight has been lifted. Thanks for all your suggestions I have really enjoyed following this thread. Have a lovely christmas x

Can't really remember what we did with the first one now two and a half but it was important to me for my own sanity that he went down at 7pm. With number two now 10 weeks old I started quite early on putting him down at 7pm, I don't have a strict day time routine as he has to fit around me and his brother. I just make sure that he's awake for about an hour before 7pm then one of us will feed and swaddle him (using the miracle blanket) got it after recommendations on the forum, I now only use it at night so he associates it with night time. Were on formula now so one of us will feed him at 11pm normally wake hime to do this, then he wakes at 3am and then 6 45am ish, a few times now he has dropped the 3am feed but generally he still feeds every 3hrs. He only wakes for food in the night but I think we have just been quite lucky that he likes his sleep, plus he's a good burper! personally don't put too much pressure on yourself were both much more relaxed about the whole thing this time I would suggest just sticking to the same night routine even if she's not going to sleep straight away they eventually adjust and get the message it just takes some longer than others.

Named officially on christmas eve as 'Rafe Arthur Watts' only 10 weeks late!! feel like a huge weight has been lifted. Thanks for all your suggestions I have really enjoyed following this thread. Have a lovely christmas x

I think all 3 are great names! Top of the list now seems to be Rafe for me I think if we spelt it Ralph but pronounced it Rafe we would spend most of the time correcting people? Husband prefers Ralph but I'm working on him! need a middle name that goes nicely, any suggestions?? It would be Rafe Watts (husbands surname I kept mine) the only family names I like are francis, Fredrick (not so sure) clarence??? don't want to put a family name in for the sake of it would rather add one that sounded nice with Watts, feel that it needs something in the middle with them both being one syllable names.

We name the baby on Saturday morning!! Top names that my husband also likes are, Ralph (this is top of his list) Heath, Orlando, also fredrick as a middle name? quite like Rafe too... He's now 9wks old, we call him babe'a' as this is what our toddler calls him and it just stuck.... will let you all know what gets decided!!!

Good to know that we can change it if we need to, I had no idea you had up to a year!! Still no closer, we don't even really discuss it because were so busy with the boys, I can recommend naming your children asap because it gets harder the longer we leave it. Names I Like, Arthur, Orlando, Ralph, Heath (but I worry about the SE London accent being applied and it sounding more like eath/Keith!! like zack but not sure Zack Watts works. Also Fred, Flynn?? Thanks everyone x

Thanks everyone, there are some great name suggestions here. Baby is Seven weeks today! need to name him before the local authorities hunt us down! Still like Orlando glad so many others do, also Jago is interesting, we liked Harper before posh spice named her girl, also tried out Sawyer. I find boys names so hard but finding it harder to commit to one! Surname is Watts I kept my family name, I feel that some of the names need a middle name to go with watts with it being one syllable? For example Orlando Watts, Jago Watts etc.. He is Actually registered at the doctors as Arthur Watts as the had to put a name down for him (something we can later change) the receptionist suggested Elvis Thanks and keep them coming...:)

We can't decide on a name for our baby boy, registering the birth next week! all suggestions welcome.. We have a toddler call Archie so wanted to avoid all the obvious ones like Freddie, Bertie, Charlie (not that we don't like them) thought that something would come to us once he was born! We like Heath and Orlando? struggling with possible middle names for these... Any Ideas of names that go with Archie?? Thanks

overground to canada water jubilee to west ham c2c wham to barking

Looks like the boys are setting up their stall today, lets lend our support! their probably going back to uni soon anyway.

I'm well informed, I hope they will be there this week it would be such a shame if they were to be put off by the council!

Do any of the other shops on Northcross Rd that have stalls or their own products on sale on the public footpath currently pay a licence fee? or have these students been singled out? Does the florist for example require a licence? Also I feel that they should be given a student rate, ?24 is still a lot of money, this is not an established business compared to say the other stalls knocking out hog roast ciabattas at ?4.50 a go! I also know that the students were not at any point offered a ?24 fee to join the main market!! this seems to be a fabrication of the truth...

A hawker is a vendor of merchandise that can be easily transported; the term is roughly synonymous with peddler or costermonger. In most places where the term is used, a hawker sells items or food that are native to the area. Whether stationary or mobile, hawkers usually advertise by loud street cries or chants, and conduct banter with customers, so to attract attention and enhance sales. Ha Ha this sounds about right, think they would be proud to be referred to as hawkers! Got to love this forum and its regulars...