Dogkennelhillbilly

Still under construction but it looks good from the ourside...

Doesn't the phone box across the street already do that? On some of them they've already ripped out the coin/card collection and just gve free calls. Let's not kid ourselves - this is about BT getting an electronic billboards on the street, and they havent been too diligent in taking care of manky phone box opposite.

They're big and ugly electronic advertising boards. There's a shagged out phone box across the road that could do the same thing!

If you "cotton on" and read the council announcement, it clearly states "The library will be closed from 17 November until late June or early July 2026." https://www.southwark.gov.uk/2025/dulwich-library-closing-refurbishment

Kwik Fit buggered up an A/C leak diagnosis for me (saying there wasn't one, when there was) and sold a regas. The vehicle had to be taken to an A/C specialist for condensor replacement and a further regas. Not impressed.

It's done while you wait. 🤷‍♂️

Probably by working as a banker for a decade before being an MP, being married to another high earner, and using some of the accommodation allowance that all out-of-town MPs receive. https://www.theipsa.org.uk/news/why-do-mps-need-an-accommodation-budget Tbh mate if someone in her position couldn't work out a mortgage to buy a house in suburban London, they probably shouldn't be Chancellor in the first place...

Is Dell Autos closing down completely or just moving? For whatever it's worth, for MOTs I've had good recent experience with The Test Centre in Deptford. They only do MOTs so they don't have any particular incentive to fail you and they usually have same day appointments. Open 7 days a week and late. https://www.thetestcentre.co.uk/our-test-centres/deptford-branch/ Obviously you would still need a "normal" garage to do servicing and repairs etc.

He looks like the human version of the 😡 emoji. I'm sure he's lovely in real life (whoever he is).

I'm afraid I have no idea who Sean Dyche is, but I'm sure I could research him (and his views on library refurbishment timetables, if any) on any of the Southwark libraries' internet access computers. Free for any library member!

Rant ahead: You're not one of them but unfortunately, there's a substrate of posters here that do very little except moan and come up with weird conspiracy theories. They're immediately highly critical of just about any change, and their initial assumption is that everyone else is a total fucking contemptible idiot. For example: don't you think that the people who run the libraries will have considered the impact of timing of reconstruction on library users? (In fact, we know they have - because they've made arrangements at other libraries to attempt to mitigate the disruption). After all, these are the people that spend their whole working week thinking about libraries and dealing with library users (and the kids especially). You don't go into the library game for the chicks and fame - so it's fair to assume that librarians are committed to public service and public access to libraries, including by kids. Likewise the built environment people (engineers, architects, construction managers, project managers, construction contractors, subcontractors or whoever is on this job) are told to minimise disruption on every job they do. The thing that occurs to us as amateurs within 30 seconds of us seeing something is probably not something a full time professional hasn't thought about! Southwark Council, the NHS, TfL, Dulwich Estate, Thames Water, Openreach - they're not SPECTRE factories filled with malevolent chaosmongers trying to persecute anyone. They're mostly filled with people who understand their job and try to do their best with what they've been given - just like all of us. Nobody is perfect or immune from challenge, and that's fair enough, but why not at least start from the assumption that there's a good reason why things have been done the way they have? Any normal person would be pleased that their busy, pretty, lively local library is getting refurbished, and will have more space and facilities for kids and teens, and will be more efficient to run and warmer in winter. But no, EDT_Forumite_752 had kids who did an exam 20 years ago, and this makes them an expert on library refurbishment who can see it's all just stuff and nonsense for the green agenda and why can't it all be put off... 😡😡😡

OMFG is it possible for the council to do anything without a bunch of armchair experts moaning about it? The library refurb is great news, as it's lovely but completely shagged out - the toilets don't even work reliably. Other libraries in the area will be open longer house during the closure. July is a rubbish time to begin a refurb because it's just before the entire construction sector goes on summer holiday, and it would mean delaying the work another 8 months.

I see these periodically on Croxted Rd and Barry Rd - it may just be a training run. Edit: armed response units often seem to use BMW X5s, I believe.

"Have nothing on your street that is neither useful nor beautiful". I don't know how useful the phone box is, but it ia very ugly, usually has litter in it, and stinks of pee. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/apr/28/last-phone-boxes-bt-payphones-uk

For a while there was an unexpected glitch in planning laws that meant phone box operators (which is obviously mostly BT, but there were others) didn't need council permission to replace call boxes with small electronic billboards, so long as you could make calls from the billboard. I *think* the one on the corner of Croxted Rd and Park Hall Rd is an example of that. So the operators weren't always in a rush to remove the call boxes even when they didn't make any money on calls. I don't know if it still works like this. This article talks about a slightly different aspect of what I think was the same planning oddity: https://www.local.gov.uk/about/news/lga-call-crackdown-trojan-telephone-boxes-amid-900-cent-rise-some-areas

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2025/oct/26/crash-for-cash-insurance-fraud-scam-moped-riders Article on the moped scam in the paper today.

Decimal currency led to this.

Definitely a strong entry for "shoehorn of the year". 🤣

Or at least says vaguely_mundane, a transport enthusiast on a mission to visit and rate every single station on the Underground and Overland networks. His videos are strongly hypnotic, affectionate and fun. And he's got a point. It is a bit odd that North Dulwich is one stop south of East Dulwich... https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNTbY9wMFOw/

Very good news...for people that live in Denmark Hill and not Dulwich! 🤣

Anyway back to the bus service: it seems like a good idea to me. There are times when getting from Dulwich to Clapham Junction would be very useful, and the 37 is lovely but slow...

@Sue - try this one to see the proposed bus stops. Everything after the question mark in the original is tracking code and sometimes they fall over. Also Amazon Web Hosting (which seems to host the document for TfL) has been wobbly today. https://ehq-production-europe.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/ce32459998ce01d44ce27d1f23c543bd84338c82/original/1759936980/3bc1b1bf3ec42ce77542fa4ddd82c87a_sl15-bus-stop-list.pdf It's an express service so the only Dulwich relevant stops seem to be: * Tulse Hill Hotel for Tulse Hill * West Dulwich * Wood Vale/Lordship Lane * Forest Hill

On the upside, for anyone that is still following: the fountain seems to have been reinstalled in roughly the same position! Hopefully the responsible driver's insurance company paid and not the good taxpayers of Lambeth...again...

Just a short silly one among more prosaic or gloomy posts: libraries are brilliant and we are lucky to have them! I popped into Dulwich Library this afternoon. It was pretty busy and I'd guess there were probably 40-50 people in, plus however many in the kids' section. All sorts of people were borrowing books, getting their blood pressure checked on the machine, printing documents, using computers, getting out the house and off the street, reading the papers and reference books, whatever. Oldies, kids, students and everyone in between. At exam time, it's a safe space rammed with kids studying. It's an elegant building, the staff always seem to be doing their best despite the obvious money challenges, it's open late most days, and all for £0 at point of use. We are all very lucky to have access to Dulwich Library and the other libraries! 👏👏👏

Bit of a stretch to call it a "local gem" when it's part of a chain, though...