spirit

Post removed upon request - I should have locked it too to avoid people stirring but better late than never The Administrator

Last Tues night a man called at our door at 2am. He claimed to be looking for an address but never apologised for waking my partner or myself up. He had a clipboard and said he was looking for Kinsale or Kensal Rd - he said he had to deliver something had got lost and currently had no money on his mobile phone with which to call the address. He then asked if he could use our phone, my partner was thinking of letting him use it on the doorstep at which point I hit the roof, told him to make him leave and to call the Police, which he did (although I must say reluctantly!). Peckham Police Station said it sounded suspicious but that they hadn't had any other complaints about this character yet. He was a black man in his late 20's about 5ft 11". The Police also sent a squad car round to see if he was on the streets, which made me feel a lot better. My partner at the time said he thought it might have been legit and felt uneasy about turning the man away despite my fears, but once he'd had a chance to reflect, he also realised he had been ridiculously naive, I put it down to him being half asleep. Something was obviously going on though I'm not sure what he was hoping to achieve... maybe he was legit but who cares... it was 2am!!!

-- moved topic --

Does anyone know about the suicide/murder in the park? I walked there early this morning with my partner and the gates were all closed excpet for the one by the lake and the area around the shelter in the Japanese Garden area was cordined off with Police tape. Passersby were saying a body had been found in the shelter by a member of the public early this morning and that it was either a murder or a suicide. I'd be reassured to know if it was the latter, sad as it may be. I walk there every day, quite early too. Thanks

Last Friday, my friends and I came out of the Castle SE5 to almost accidentally nab the black cab of that guy from The Office, the handsome boss - David Brent's nemesis - the one who does the Saturday Night Fever dance and then eventually fires Brent. I don't know his name but having seen him in the flesh I can say that he's extremely fit. The cab refused to take him though (going off duty) so we watched him walk away in the Peckham direction... He was also nice, we apologised, we just hadn't seem him standing there waiting but he didn't mind that, or the fact that my boyfriend asked him if he was in Extras....!

Having said that, you can't just kick people out of their shops/businesses so that's what will probably take the time to organise.

There was an armed robbery at the cashpoint in the station about a week ago, the Securicor guard was held up at gunpoint, no one was hurt though. Not sure if the boards have anything to do with that. The Peckham Vision people want to remove all the horrible 1970's frontage /shops /dank alleyways etc (intend to make sure it's all done ethically) so that the facade can be restored and fully visible again, they also want to create a square and market, and return the huge waiting room on the first floor (latterly a snooker hall but now closed) into a restaurant/cafe and waiting area. They need a lot of support so if you're interested best to sign up via the Peckham Vision link given before. The council has just taken over the cleaning of the approach to the station after Peckham Vision (I think) found that private contractors were failing to do a good job and petitioned to have the contract taken away from them. There was also a local initiative to take pictures of evidence of fly-tipping by the local shops and general neglect on the part of British Rail (who are responsible for keeping it clean and safe) and upload them to flickr as a daily diary of the poor conditions, see here: www.flickr.com/photos/ruthkennedy/sets/72157594465011883/ not sure if this caught on but it's been a lot cleaner since Southwark Council got the contract back I think. The Peckham Vision people are doing a lot of good actually, I'm not part of them but have been thinking that I should get more involved especially as I always use that station and care a lot about the area in general. Not sure if would agree that it's safe, the alleyway to the right as you exit is not great planning and certainly doesn't inspire confidence in me after dark, unless there's lots of people around....

I read this with interest, I've had a look at DKH, the ones I saw were two floors with 2 bedrooms on the upper floor, one mezzanine style that looks out over the downstairs and out to Sainsbury's car park,and the youth centre? / basketball court. By day with those huge windows, (which is basically one huge window spanning uninterrupted from the ground to the upstairs level because of the mezzanine balcony) anyone shooting a hoop could see pretty much straight into the bedroom and the downstairs. Then there's another bedroom, which is more private but neither has any storage, no built in wardrobes and not much space to put any either. On the whole they felt very small and a bit gimmicky, I got the impression they were built as a 2nd home, city weekday crash pad for wealthy types with a penchant for minimalism, so a very specific market and one which when you think of it would probably want to be geographically closer to the City. When I looked around someone pointed out that there wasn't any room in the kitchen for a washing machine - but I thought that perhaps they would have a communal laundry area in the basement (like New York apartments) although I didn't ask - I went as part of the bash at the finish of the build, not to purchase... they do have underground parking though which is a bonus. We have a 2 bed garden Victorian conversion and it has leaped up in value since we bought it, although we've had to do a lot to it, but I expect it will reach its maximum value. I say that and then it goes up again so.... period properties here are still doing really well I think and are still much in demand, new builds are harder to get right and often the land or location available in areas like this isn't great to begin with and would have made a better park or local square etc.

She might be shooting for the forthcoming series of Empire's Children (same format as Who Do You Think You Are but with a focus on the rise and fall of the British Empire. They're telling the story through several celebrities and she's one of them, the others are David Steel, Adrian Lester, Diana Rigg, Shobna Gulati and Chris Bissom... not sure who else - looks really good, goes out on Ch 4 quite soon. Of course she might just be doing a Hello magazine spread.

I'm glad someone's started a thread about this. About a week after the "warning" leaflet came through my door, I came home from work to find my recycling boxes only half emptied and dropped back in the garden upside down, their content strewn all over said garden (including broken glass). As this happens quite regularly I started to clean up as usual but cut myself on the glass. I've also noticed that some weeks after collections our street is littered with recycling waste that's obviously fallen out during careless collections... I consider myself lucky if I get the boxes back at all let alone with their dividers and lids and the bags go missing all the time. It took me three weeks to get my last replacement as the people on the vans don't carry any spares (?) and Southwark take ages to send them out. After cutting myself the thought of Southwark issuing penalties to 'bad' recyclers made me so furious that I rang the recylcling Dept at Southwark and made a complaint. I told them that if they want people to opt into the recycling scheme they have to keep it safe and they have to keep it clean. They registered my complaint and this week things were much better - so I would advise people to do the same... there's talk of reducing collections to once every two weeks and we're supposed to keep the lids on the boxes to discourage vermin but lids are a luxury (for me at least). I don't want to be negative about recycling but leaving my street dirty and dangerous is just not on. It's great they collect but more care is needed. I'm more than happy to do my bit but Southwark should also do theirs.

If enough people agree that it needs a clean up and that they are littering the street then I'll make a complaint. Thanks for the comments.

My parter thinks they should erect a statue of the Fat Boy of Peckham, Channel 4 website says: "The Fat Boy of Peckham, an obese child who eventually weighed over 40 stone, joined a freak show when his mother could no longer afford to feed him. At the Nottingham Goose Fair he met and married Leonie the Lion-faced Lady. They had several children who inherited neither of their parents' unusual characteristics." He was a popular local celebrity and toured the UK with Chaplin apparently, led quite an interesting life all in all though died prematurely. Pretty un-PC but interesting nonetheless. But maybe he should be reserved a spot on Peckham Rye.

Is it just me or is Cafe Nero really dirty? I've stopped going in because it's always so filthy, paper strewn everywhere, drinks and food spilt on the floor and not cleand up. I've also noticed that a lot of the litter that gets neglected, is then blown out onto the street... if anyone else has noticed and been annoyed at this then let me know as I'm thinking of making a formal complaint. Or am I just being a curmudgeon? It only really gets to me when the rubbish starts flying out the door onto Lordship Lane....

Regarding Cafe Nero.. has anyone noticed how dirty it alway is in there? I've stopped going in more because it's always so filthy, paper strewn everywhere, drinks and food spilt on the floor. Also a lot of the litter gets blown out onto the street because they don't tidy it up fast enough... if anyone else has noticed this then let me know as I'm thinking of making a formal complaint.

Have only recently joined the forum and have only lived in ED for 7 years but I have lived in London all my life and grown up with dogs in parks as varied as Hampstead Heath, Clissold Park, Finsbury Park and Victoria Park, Hackney, all of which allowed them off the lead when i was growing up and to my knowledge still do. I've had times when I've had a dog and times when I haven't but I can honestly say that I'd rather they were walking around in a park off the lead in appropriate areas behaving as animals are supposed to. I once had a dog attacked by a pit bull on a lead - it was still brutal and traumatic and the owner was indifferent. I've also seen people allow their dogs to shit whilst on the lead and not pick it up. I've seen joggers who are so intent on making their distance/time they don't seem to care who's sharing the footpath with them and I've seen parents who allow their children to dominate public spaces in ways that are anti-social to others. None of us are perfect but we all have to learn to share public space, no single interest group should be allowed to dominate and byelaws shouldn't be passed without a proper consultation. Peckham Rye Park and Goose Green already have areas where dogs are not permitted and Peckham Rye has an additional area where dogs already have to be kept on a short lead. The Friends of Peckham Rye Park have worked hard to attract funding to have the park restored and make it safe and clean, a great many of them own dogs, so I expect they are taking this rather personally. I think it's sad that so many people in this area are anti-dog, I thought it had more going for it than that, i.e a sense of perspective.