BrandNewGuy

"I want my country back". Both sides of the debate. It is your country. It hasn't gone anywhere.

Indeed. Just shows what noisy people can get. Ridiculous.

I'd go train to London Bridge then Jubilee Line to Wembley Park.

pilsbury Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > i'm all for giving new companies chances, and yes > it would be annoying if they shut the place down > for a few days to sort stuff out BUT they have > known for MONTHS they were taking over - they > could spend time evenings/weekends installing > stuff and getting ready.. No necessarily. Knowing how Fusion are run, they probably didn't cooperate at all in the handover, in which case there's nothing much the new company can do.

6 signatures to go to make it 10,000.

The new management starts tomorrow: https://www.everyoneactive.com/centre/dulwich-leisure-centre/

In, but more reluctantly than I'd have liked.

Speechless. Makes me quite glad I've got used to not going there given how long it's been shut.

I've always been fond of Orwell's perfect (and therefore non-existent) pub, The Moon Under Water, as described in this essay more than 70 years ago: http://theorwellprize.co.uk/george-orwell/by-orwell/essays-and-other-works/the-moon-under-water/ Much as I lament the demise of the 'old school' boozer, I'd prefer Orwell's pub ? with the perhaps surprising inclusion of the provision of lunches and a garden at the back for kids to play in. Perhaps many of Orwell's generation lamented the loss of their own 'old school' boozers in the 70s and 80s. In reality, it's the closure of pubs that is the real tragedy, but as long as they survive, they can change - for better or worse.

Clarkshaws moved because the rent was considerably cheaper for their railway arch in Loughborough Junction than for their former unit on Tyrrell Trading Estate. The small brewery model in London seems to be closeley tied in with using relatively cheap railway arch premises ? something ED is lacking. So unless there's cheap rent, it's not going to happen, unfortunately.

Well, if you go there and drink enough bottles of Manns they won't be tempted ;-)

It is indeed.

... OK, 'yuppies' then :-) As I say, the pubco would be turning the screw even if the area wasn't gentrifying. It's what they're doing nearly everyhwere.

Maybe not, but the suggestion from some has been that the b**w-ins can't wait to get another tarted-up boozer and the pubcos respond accordingly. As Otta says, the area doesn't appear to be crying out for it. It's greedy pubcos who sre to blame who want to make as much as possible from every boozer, tarted-up or old school.

So it's the pubco that's the fault. It's not really fair to blame the b**w-ins. As I mentioned on the other thread, wet-led pubs are under threat all over London and elsewhere - and certainly not just in areas of 'gentrification'.

It?s appalling how pubcos treat the people who make them their money, but ?wet-led? pubs are struggling and shutting all over the place, not just in ED and the like. To put an optimistic gloss on this, as has been suggested above, the White Horse looks promising as a compromise between the old and the new which could be replicated elsewhere. We had a fine Friday night pint or three there the other week. And it?s not quite fair to tar all the pubs of East Diulwich with the ?boring homogenised? brush either. We're fond of the EDT and *whisper it softly* it?s home to quite a few old-style clientele who are more than happy to make it their local. Bet Louisa's bursting to join this thread ;-)

There's an ad for our new leisure centre overlords, Sports and Leisure Management (SLM Ltd.), in this week's Southwark News - saying "Coming Soon". No details yet, but you can register your interest here for a chance to win six months' free membership: https://www.everyoneactive.com/southwark-register/

I'm waiting for the light and bitter to make a comeback. My summertime drink in the 80s. Nowadays it would come pre-mixed in an artisanal bottle, which would spoil the main advantage of a light and bitter ? there's always more than a half of bitter in the pint glass, so over the evening you gain at least another pint. If you have enough of them, that is...

It's usually OK as I catch it from Heber Road, so there's still lots of space, but on train cancellation days it's heaving. A book and an iPod are some consolation, however.

08.10 and 08.20 cancelled from ED this morning. Grateful for the National Rail app but not happy about getting a slowly crawling crowded 40 bus again.

And the council have promised to extend their free gym and swim offer to all residents in July ? there's currently a pilot for those under 18 and over 60. Has anyone used this? According to the Southwark site, Dulwich Leisure Centre's free swim hours for the over-60s are 3-4pm Tue and Thu, with gym 8-10am Mon.

Well, British Rail was profitable in the 50s and again in the 80s. Nothing wrong with profits, as long as they're not excessive.

One major problem is that no journalist ever properly investigates such disagreements, they just parrot the lines given to them from both sides. The union says that Southern is understaffed, so even just a few absences cause problems. The management says there's a sicknote culture. How does Southern compare with other rail operators in terms of numbers, shifts etc? And what is the absentee rate through sickness elsewhere? Until questions like this are asked and answered, then the poor old commuter will carry on suffering.

1985 Volvo 360 hatchback. Piece of crap that my father gifted me when he bought himself a proper car. It did have a sunroof, though ? until a troop of monkeys at West Midlands Safari Park painstakingly stripped it and the windscreen of all of its rubber seals.

Well, if they can't work out how to get a postal or proxy vote, then maybe writing a cross in a box might also prove too demanding.