Leaving SE London....what would you miss most about it?

[TillieTrotter]

Cross posted with SJ and he (as a Guardian reader) put it so much more eloquently than me (a Viz reader). xx

[MrBen]

From what would you miss about London to Paedophiles in two pages...

Classic EDF.

[El Pibe]

Definition of MAIL READER

Noun

1

: one demonstrating righteous indignation at the mere mention of paedophilia out of all proportion to its context

2 [chiefly british]

: worse than a child abuser in the certain areas of south east london

[jelly]

@SJ

Thank you for taking the time to explain what's clearly gone straight over my head.:-$

@????

I'll remove my comment. Heartfelt apologies.

[StraferJack]

@jelly

no worries

[Brendan]

When you travel in to work from a tiny little station in rural surrey with one train an hour you get a nice seat with armrests and a little table to put your coffee and computer on.

Is it worth the chinos, body warmers, copies of the Telegraph, Volvos, smarmy flabby necked cunts in pinstripes and their joyless cat-faced wives?

Well not if they?re all in your house at once.

[Marmora Man]

It's not so much leaving SE London as leaving the proximity to one of the best cities in the world - London.

Theatres with plays on for more than a week at a time, experimental theatre, classic theatre with classic actors, the National Theatre, restaurants of almost infinite variety, films to see when they're released not several weeks later, Sunday shopping in Oxford Street, the Army & Navy Club, the ability to source unusual ingredients for unusual recipes, Trafalgar Square, the view of the Liberal Club roofs from St James' park, the gaslit alleyways off Maiden's Lane, 24 hours shopping, watching London's New Year's fireworks from our roof, Borough Market, the Tube, London buses, Angels & Gyspsies, lunch at The Bishop, bread from East Dulwich Deli, veg from Pretty Traditional, Greenwich Maritime Museum, Imperial War Museum and all the other museums, the London skyline seen from ED, William Rose, Postman's Park, The Cheese Block, SMBS, Peckham Rye, watching London go by from the top left hand seat of a double decker bus, the coffee shop in Soho where I've bought coffee for nearly 40 years.

There's more I know and I could go on. Mr & Mrs MM are planning to leave for the West Country later this year - the real west, beyond the Tamar where the maps are marked "here be dragons". I know we'll want to come back to London regularly to get a fix of all / some of the above.

[StraferJack]

Definitely agree with MM there but would add my own take

What I would miss about SE London depends a bit on where I?m moving to. Assuming it was to another part of London or home counties, I would say that in the 11 years I?ve been in SE London, not once would I have moved anywhere else (and I have lived in N, W and E London at various points in time) ? even if I could easily afford to

I do know what people mean when they say ?well, you?d prefer to live in Islington/Chelsea wherever if you had the money tho? ? SE London isn?t very.. lovely to look at, comparitavely speaking.

You can get better housing, better transport and better views in many parts of London . All of the shop units are shoe-boxes. South Circular cuts through swathes of it

And yet, it?s because of the things it doesn?t have that make it what it is. I genuinely could not contemplate NOT living near a tube before I moved here. But by having to rely on buses and other forms of transport I have learned a LOT more about London than anywhere else

Not having music venues and theatres ? yep, I?d like a couple a bit closer but bar Hammersmith/Shep Bush, most of them aren?t that far away

People talk about gentrification this or crime that depending on how they want to oppose someone elses argument, but it seems to me to be one of the better blended areas in London. One of the reasons I couldn?t be doing with living in a ?nicer? part is it all becomes more homogenised. Say what you will about ?gentrification? but we don?t have that many braying Henrys in the area. Have you tried having a beer of an evening in even Putney? Dear God?

Not many parts of London have so much green space either. London does well compared to most big cities on this score anyway, but this area in particular is genuinely lucky to have so many big parks and the woods nearby

Within 10(ish) minutes walk I can be buying food in peckham, walking up to a golf course, having beers in dozens of pubs, viewing London town from the woods, on a train to anywhere in the country, sat in a comedy club watching the biggest names, eating food from many countries in restaurants, visiting renowned museums

Such variety in a relatively small area isn?t as commonplace as some people might think. It also feeds into a, for want of a better word, vibe in the area.

And obviously I?d miss the Barry Barry run

[Brendan]

Stop it. You?re making me all teary eyed.

[steveo]

I had a look around Belsize Park the other day. I don't know why it's called that because it doesn't have a park. The houses were sort of OK. Then I came home.

Perhaps I was in the wrong bit.

[Sloaners]

Buses is a good call.

Before I moved to London I thought you had to get on horrid packed, grimy tubes to get anywhere. It turns out that getting the bus from South London across the Thames is like getting a sightseeing tour for a quid or so. And there are LOADS of them. And they run all night (you definitely don't get that in the provinces)!

[maxxi]

If you like buses you'll love the tram - worth going to Croydon just for the surreal experience of riding on what feels like a bus but goes along railway lines.

http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRJkOE7cCBU2sV-mN-reE4w9OdUaH1VnuWkVEgYdTrmyJXfr09-9Q I am easily pleased http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSLs0b1l_R8ap_86BJSukTZhjOb5VZQgwRw8--pWtTCKXKuYkCJ

[Gidget]

steveo Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I had a look around Belsize Park the other day. I

> don't know why it's called that because it doesn't

> have a park. The houses were sort of OK. Then I

> came home.

>

> Perhaps I was in the wrong bit.

It is the closest tube station to Hampstead Heath. That is a very big park.

[nashoi]

Not always his greatest fan but this episode had me chortling

Stewart Lee - London

[nashoi]

Not always his greatest fan, but this episode had me chortling.

Stewart Lee - London

[Jeremy]

Sloaners Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> getting the bus from South London

> across the Thames is like getting a sightseeing

> tour for a quid or so.

Stop-starting along Walworth Road for twenty minutes, while a bunch of youths play grime (or whatever it's called) music on their phones. Trying your best to stay on your feet as the driver slams the brakes on. Arriving 15 mins late because the bus suddenly terminates at Camberwell.

Doesn't sound like any sightseeing tour I've been on.

[katie1997]

In no particular order for me it's pretty similar to many of the above - friends, food, proximity to London, Peckham Rye park, Horniman museum and gardens, Dulwich library, walking along Uplands/North Cross road and saying hello to the many familiar faces in shops and on the street, chatting to shopkeepers/cafe owners/bar staff, the variety of coffee shops, pizzas from the Gowlett, sandwiches from Homemade, bagels from Jacks, being able to arrange brunch/lunch/drinks locally at the spur of the moment, not having to get taxis, knowing what is going to happen in the area before its happened, meeting neighbours on the 176, not being able to walk down LL without bumping into someone I know/being waved/smiled at, checking out the unusual displays outside the shop that plays music on Uplands just before you get to the Actress, the Barry Barry Road race, being in an area that has its very own curry appreciation society, bookshops and gang activity.

and Nunhead Cemetery, Peckham cinema. I can feel more edits coming on...