njc97

Ruxley Manor is good: http://www.ruxley-manor.co.uk/ No outside play area, but a small soft play area, massive cafe (Pizzas and cakes are good, rest a bit soso), plus thyen have a tropical fish bit and they sell chickens, which is another 15 minutes of fun.

cargiant has such a massive range that they probably have lots that would suit: have a look on their wesbite. Only thing is the service can be a bit "easyjet" - take a number and hang around waiting for a test drive etc.

Kes - they do blood tests at the Honor Oak practice which might be less of a pain to get to.

looks mousey to me. Rice v baked beans.

BUtchery course: http://www.thebutcheryltd.com/classes.html Film tshirt: http://www.lastexittonowhere.com/shop/product/nostromo-regular-fit-black-t-shirt/

Not Lewisham but a short DLR/bus journey to Deptford and there's soft play at swimming pool there. Lewisham library does story time etc some days but not tomorrow by the looks of it. There is carousel etc on Lewisham high st on Saturdays but not sure about during the week, sorry.

Jade - best number is the main office 020 7652 9500 (the Free School doesnt have its own office/receptionist). Be clear you're talking about the Free School, not the almost identically named other primary school in the federation.

Capuccino is foam, you can't complain about that. Anderson and co do outstanding coffee but it isnt much cheaper is it?

Jadeyc, my son started there a few weeks ago: what do you want to know? Renata's summary has a lot of good information. Although they didnt take part in the CAF system this year, they must still know the longest distance so should give it to Lewisham. I think the top of the waiting list was someone on Evelina road (Telegraph Hill end) so a fair distance away, although that might drop as it's easier for people to apply. It's not quite bi-lingual but as I understand it the children will have some lessons in German. I think the idea is they do e.g. maths in the morning in English, then the same lesson in the afternoon in German. But this doesnt start until year 1 or 2 (i.e. not reception). The school is currently based in temporary classrooms on the Pepys Road site (if you peer over the fence you can see the playground). The plan is to be a new school on the south side of the site and is expected to open Easter 2015.

As shiela said, Nunhead Test Centre now operating from workshop at the back - 020 7732 6322. Or, confusingly, there's another workshop next door which is run out of the spares shop on Evelina Road: Jim there also sorts MOTs - 07582 279983

Steps fine with another adult I would have thought: set out from platform to ticket hall then even small set down to tunnel, or set out to street and then walk round to NHM. Stepless entrance to NHM is on Exhibition Road and generally has smaller queues than main entrance. Gloucester Road is about 10 minutes walk away: not impossible with 4 year old. Other alternative is get a bus from Victoria to Hyde Park and walk down Exhibition Road.

La Querce, Italian in Honor Oak. Brilliant food and good with kids. http://lequerce.co.uk/

Deptford bridge DLR and Deptford train station both close. Or bus (177?) from Peckham. Parking is free on Sundays.

Deptford pool (allegedly) re-opens next Saturday. It's a leisure pool, so easy for toddlers to get in, mess about in shallow bit etc. It's warm enough for little babies (or was before it was refurbished).

Natural History Museum, but get there (very) early to avoid queues. London Transport Museum is good and they might like buskers in Covent Garden. Instead of open top tour buses, get the no 15 from Tower Hill to Trafalgar square. Goes past St Pauls etc and uses mix of new buses and old routemasters. Plus they dont need tickets... And/or the no 9 from trafalgar square to kensington: get off by hyde park for science and natural history museums, plus the park (if they need to run off energy, the princess di playground on north end kensington palace gardens is good).

Alternative way to avoid the scrum at Canada Water is get on the front of the train, then go up the escalator to ticket hall and then back down again. Probably no quicker than waiting for crowd to clear, but feels more productive.

Kid Kruger - damn these wardens, targeting those people who are breaking the law, rather than just wandering around issuing tickets at random.

Random list, but things we've got in our kitchen (fitted 12 months ago) that work well: We've got rubber flooring which is warm, soft (so good for playing on) and colourful which means it goes well with the plain shiny white cupboards. We had underfloor heating put in, which is brilliant as it means the floor is toasty (good for foot in the morning and babies playing) and no radiators, which saves a little space. We got the kitchen from magnet via our builder, although could have got similar price by getting it ourselves (but it's difficult to compare as you paid more but got cheap appliances etc). Quality is ok but I wouldnt rave about it. From going around lots of shops, we liked Wren as well (and were similar price) We've got open shelves along the wall (which we like the look of) using same material as work surface, and then some height cupboards: these give loads of storage for food and associated crap. Downside is that they need oiling etc to keep them looking nice (we're not good at this at all). We got oak work surfaces made to order. Havent got company to hand, but this meant we could get deep worksurfaces. These are BRILLIANT as it means you can store things at the back (cookbooks, jars etc) and still have enough space to work on. We put in LED light strips along the shelves. These do a really good job of providing work light on the surface, as well as lighting up the stuff that's on the shelves. Can't think of any magic ideas about space, but just want to say that if you get kitchen/dining/play space together it really changes things. means you can cook or eat while kids play nearby and you can keep an eye on them.

We've taken ours away several times and never had a problem. Only thing is getting 2 luggage tags for it and we always take the handle off so that the top goes flat (and then carry it on board with us).

Number2: do you think Hollydale was that small? I thought the playground was a bit "tardis like" and kept spotting other bits, and classrooms about average. It was noticeably smaller than Edmund Waller's site, but I thought that was EW being exceptional not Hollydale. I've heard of other schools that are apparently v tiny (to the point of not having corridors, so access to one classroom is through the one next door etc). (obv this is all relative for London)

Farmer - I would have thought that the HA free school applicants would mean there's a lot of movement on the Waller waiting list.

Clare - we liked it and the parents we have spoken to, loved it. We put it top of our list (although Edmund Waller is slightly closer) and are now weighing up Hollydale v the new HA Free School. PS I heard a rumour that the headmistress is leaving. A loss since she seemed very good but I understand the new one is an experienced head from elsewhere and similarly well thought of.

Another option is tube/overground to Brockley and step free exit there. Close to Nunhead and you can park there as well.

Italian lakes maybe?

Free on sundays, not during the week. Or park in morrisons for a couple of hours for free.