Dogkennelhillbilly

Eh?!?!

To be honest, pal, it's not good being a fan of a local business and then not go there. One on hand, the barber shop literally next door to Romeo Jones started serving coffee. The Crown and Greyhound and Rocca serve coffee. Redemption Coffee opened up not far away, and then also Megan's next door to that. DVillage was serving coffee (but wasn't very popular), as was Au Ciel (which is). Maybe also Heritage Cheese, I don't know. There's also Flotsam and Jetsam doing coffee and sandwiches at Dulwich Picture Gallery in the other direction. The whole of Dulwich Village serves coffee. And yet on the other hand, there are enough punters to support all good coffee shops. With the exception of Rocca and Megan's (which are both big spaces) and C&G (which does coffee like everything else - slow and with bad service), all these places regularly get queues out the door. Gail's often has big queues and yet very few people crossed the street to Romeo Jones (which was much better)... Half the staff at Gail's are perfectly fine and efficient. The other half are pretty offhand and rude. It's certainly not welcoming or friendly service. But they're certainly hard working, and no doubt raking the money in for Luke Johnson...

I haven't used them myself but I noticed recently that "Snoots" in Forest Hill is going unlimited primary care for £33/month, so basically a subscription. Easy access on the 176 from East Dulwich. I have no idea what it includes so read the contract! It's a chain but only 5 branches so not a mega corporate. 🤷‍♂️ https://www.snootsvet.com/find-us

He's not the only one off the list (they'll be devastated to hear).

No news on what will replace the old cheese shop since last week:

Do you go there regularly...? Have you been recently...?

I thoroughly condemn Gail's employment practices as they force workers to slave over a wide selection of freshly-baked delicious products, with a number of vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options.

"A user named Daniel added: "Give your staff time off you ghouls." Surrey business hopscotchshoeboutique chimed in with: "I really think for one day of the year the staff should have a day off."" https://uk.news.yahoo.com/gails-bakery-reveals-controversial-christmas-135155096.html

I see your unhinged, bargain basement conspiracy theories as a joking matter, @Rockets.

Some people just can't help rising to the bait. Interestingly, the further the poster lives from East Dulwich, the more passionate their views about East Dulwich traffic... Still, at least they're kept busy in their basements and not wandering the streets - that would be truly terrifying.

Concern trolling. On the contrary: clearly the LTN caused the closure of the old cheese shop AND caused an increase in crime - specifically, allowing rodent infestation and unsanitary conditions. If there had been a constant stream of cars passing, the mice and rats would have been scared off by the noise...or something.

That's good news! 👏👏👏

How very dare you. Rest assured, if it were intended to be comedy, it would have been funny.

I have never used AI in my life. It's just notes from my forthcoming monograph on light industry in Dulwich and Camberwell 1879-1946 (dates chosen for obvious reasons).

I like the look of SD's Sweet and Sour chicken. It's a really good dish when made freshly and well. I'll need to try it. Sad that Oriental Star and Lucky House by Dulwich Library both closed at a similarish time. They were decent, reliable, "British Chinese" takeaways.

William S Spicer was a family-owned firm that initially made horse drawn delivery carts for breweries (especially Fullers Brewery in W London) and horse-drawn trams. With the advent of the internal combustion engine, they successfully made the transition to coachbuilding delivery vehicles London's leading department stores using German engines. WW2 interrupted their business for obvious reasons, and their postwar attempt to become the local assembler and distributor of Bulgarian "Izmama" trucks was not blessed with good fortune. In 1953, the company pivoted to being a full-service garage, leveraging their reputation for honesty and excellence. In 1972, the Dulwich site was sold to its present owners. William S Spicer III (the grandson of the founder) retired to Lancashire, where he founded a sanctuary for the endangered ineptia beetle, which he had encountered in Bulgaria while travelling for business. In 1978, Spicer was awarded an OBE for conservation, and a newly-discovered beetle was named after him by the Bulgarian People's National Academy of Sciences - Byturus Spicerius.

Just passed by and it does look nice. I'll try to go in soon. In fact, that whole little stretch of Uplands Rd seems to be having a little renaissance.

I thought I noticed the shop being redecorated the other day when I passed. Also the old Romeo Jones had some works going on, I think

Existing thread:

I'm surprised. I never heard a squeak about it being dirty...

Well, this turned out to be a pile of prize-winning bollocks. https://www.southwark.gov.uk/news/2025/heritage-cheese-fined-ps150000-after-two-severe-food-safety-breaches-uncovered-southwark

"What we can unequivocally state is that the behaviours described are entirely at odds with the Dulwich college of today.” ...so says the head honcho of Dulwich College today. Obviously actions speak louder than words in this area. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/dec/11/dulwich-college-head-responds-to-claims-of-teenage-racism-by-nigel-farage

OK - what would you like to say about how schools outside Dulwich have addressed bigoted or predatory behaviour by the students in the past or the present? It might make an interesting comparison to what Dulwich College has or hasn't done.

No doubt the schools in Harrogate are being discussed on the East Harrogate Forum or whatever. Dulwich College is being discussed because it's local. Saying "ooh, there were loads of schools mentioned" is a bit dismissive. It was Dulwich College that referred sex abuse allegations about pupils to the police and Dulwich College that used the spectre of the police to suppress dissent. 🤔

Hang in there, friends. Most of us appreciate that you're trying you best and these companies are a nightmare!