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We have been going to Norwood Road vets for a while and they have been without fail lovely in dealing with our two elderly cats, one of whom has been very ill. Not cheap but prices no different as far as I can see from the other local vets.

Dogkennelhillbilly Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Why do you think they couldn't get insurance? If you google it you will see many other event organisations are in the same position. You can get cover for a professional fireworks display, but insurance companies aren't keen to cover an actual bonfire. I'm not an expert but guess people try to get too close to the bonfire or wind blows the fire around and maybe they're worried people will sue. I remember the insurance costs being high from a personal experience many years ago and it can only have got worse.

I'd guess they couldn't get insurance for a real bonfire anymore and this is putting a brave green spin on it. But dulwich sports club always put on a good show and I usually go with the family. I think most people go for the fireworks and the cheap beer not the bonfire, and the club deserves our support, it's not been an easy couple of years for community sports clubs.

jamesmcash Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hi all, > > We Goose Green councillors have just allocated > funding for a feasibility study into a cycle lane > on East Dulwich Grove, and for changes to the > physical infrastructure around East Dulwich > station, to make it more cycle friendly but also > to make it more attractive and inviting. > > Best wishes > James That's great news a cycle lane along east dulwich grove is being considered, it would be a game-changer for east-west travel. It does feel like there's space, with some creative thinking around residents' parking and the narrower sections at the lordship lane end. I do hope it will be a proper segregated lane though, it's not much fun on a bike with a double decker behind you and can slow the buses down too (seems to be a uniquely british thing mixing in the most vulnerable road users with 12 tonne buses?).

I have 2 laptops happy to donate, I've sent you a PM

Furings Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > > It seems like the situation is only getting > worse... this is taking forever.... The situation is definitely getting worse, all tennis courts are closed until at least december due to lockdown, along with gyms. swimming pools and football pitches. Fingers crossed the lockdown works, we can all get vaccinated and some sense of normality return in the new year.

first mate Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Blah Blah Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > The problem with tennis courts is that it > limits > > the number of people that can use the space at > any > > one time. Even if fully booked, it doesn't seem > > like a good use of the space. Also, do we > really > > want the noise of tennis balls breaking through > > the peace of the Japanese and Sexby Gardens? > > Completely agree. We all need areas of > tranquillity, especially in urban areas, why > destroy it? If you want peace then leave it through benign neglect to simply become a regular grassy part of the park like any other. But if you want the space actively used then tennis/multisports is the most likely to be sustainable. Better that than crazy golf which is what is what the Council seem to be looking at.

Maintaining a bowls or croquet lawn properly is expensive, it's only really viable if a community club takes it on and provides free labour and reqular use, as they did for the bowling green in Dulwich Park. And with several bowls and croquet clubs already in the area, is the extra demand really there? A couple of tennis courts seems like a better bet, it's a lovely location and there's a shortage of courts in that part of the Borough. All the local tennis clubs are overrun at the moment and one of the clubs might be willing to take it on and raise the money to build and maintain them, with a small fee for use, as they have done in the Bromley parks?

Still space at Belair Park for sunday..... The Council are using the LTA clubspark booking system which I guess they'll have been given for free. That system does allow them to limit the number of bookings per person per week and lots of other venues do that. You could always email southwark and suggest they put that restriction in. The reality is that because of COVID there's a rush of demand for low-risk sports like tennis and the free courts are bound to go first. As long as people are actually turning up then a booking system is a fairer way of sharing out the available time than turn up and wait which is not practical eg. for families with young kids, even if it's annoying to the regular users. If it's any consolation, things should improve in the next few weeks as families start to go on holiday and other options like swimming pools and gyms reopen. The reopening of JAGS sports club next week will also add another 6 local tennis courts which should take pressure off the park courts.

To be fair I think Southwark were pushed to do it as the COVID guidance is all courts have to be pre-booked for track & trace purposes, it's happening everywhere. But it doesn't really work when the courts are free, I'd guess plenty of people don't turn up. And overkill anyway for park courts - it's more for clubs where there's clubhouses and loos to think of and the risk is higher. Best bet is the Lambeth courts in Brockwell Park, bookable at about ?5/hour, same in Clapham Common, Kennington etc. Or in Lewisham Ladywell Fields or Sydenham Wells. Availability is fair at least at off peak times. You could normally have joined one of the many good value local tennis clubs, but I believe as of today they have all had to cap membership because so many people want to play. Other readers may know of clubs that still have space. Good luck and keep playing!

All very interesting! I'm broadly supportive of the move as something needed to be done to deal with the appalling pollution. But I think most of us can agree further refinements are needed to make it work well. Do we stick with the simple closure at Calton or refine to something like the Onedulwich proposal of timed closure and local resident access? To me - just outside what would be the permit zone - it doesn't make a huge difference to the traffic as resident journeys are only a small part of the problem, but it just doesn't feel right and fair to exempt residents from the inconvenience when they are the main beneficiaries of the quieter streets. Much more important is how to deal with the increased peak time traffic turning right into East Dulwich Grove and backing up into the Village, exactly where our kids walk to school. We should be moving forward as fast as possible with the northbound timed closure of the Village from Our Healthy Streets - buses and cycles only.

Reading all these posts, I don't think we can fully please everyone. But our choice now is trying something like this and doing nothing. And looking at our beautiful but traffic-choked streets doing nothing does not feel like an option. There is a basic conflict between the rights of our children to walk to school on streets free from pollution and the right to drive down those same streets spewing out toxic gases. We have to make a choice, and I think we should collectively put our children's health first. The main risk of these proposals looks to be more traffic on East Dulwich Grove and other roads where the walk to school numbers are also high. If that happens, we need to be ready to take further steps to restrict traffic at school times. In the end there's no solution other than less cars on the road (and electric cars, though I understand they're not totally pollution free). We all need to play a part in achieving that.

Just skimmed the evidence pack which is worth a read. The volume of traffic going through the area at school open and closing times is truly shocking. Are we poisoning our kids? It feels that way. So I'm ready to support the timed "School Street" restrictions on Dulwich Village and Townley Road. Not so sure about the permanent closure on Calton Avenue and Court Lane when a timed restriction might be enough, that feels like it's a different issue and I'd like to understand the case better. It's difficult and there are risks. But as I walk from East Dulwich Grove down through the Village and see traffic backed up in all directions at every junction, doing nothing just doesn't feel like an option.

Another vote for Ken's, though Fish on the Hill on Herne Hill also good when they cook from fresh, I go there when Ken's has too big a queue. I saw them filming Jay Rayner eating Ken's chips on the bench on Half Moon Lane, apparently for Netflix with some american comedian called Phil Rosenthal, my new york cousin tells me he's a big deal. There's pics on ken's facebook page www.facebook.com/thankcodforkens/. Let's hope fame doesn't spoil the fish.

Southern from East Dulwich to East Croydon, then fast train to gatwick, you can make it in 45 mins, doesn't run in the rush hour though. Otherwise Southern into London Bridge and thameslink direct to Gatwick.