Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Greetings frequenters of the East Dulwich forum.

It was today when I was taking my usual weekly trek up One Tree Hill during the last leg of my commute home. A habit I had not been able to fulfil the past three or so weeks due to weather and holidays.

Part of my tradition every Monday, to bring some joy to the most lifeless day of the week, is to go from Honour Oak Park station, up the hill, and partake in usage of the rope swings that were affixed to a large outreaching branch on the side of the hill facing away from Dulwich. One was made from red rope and a single thin branch which you would hang onto for dear life. The other was a far nicer and safer swing that appeared to be made from a zip wire kit, having a round plastic purple seat and matching coloured rope.

Whence I last made my way up the hill, I noted that the more dangerous of the two swings had somehow been impossibly wrapped around the tree branch and was thusly inoperable and unreachable. Oh well, not so bad, right? The better swing was still there, I could still swing a good three or four metres, at least two metres above the ground at the furthest point, and feel the wonder of looking out over a suburban section of London whilst listening to and belting out songs on my AirPods.

Today I climbed up the hill only to discover that both of the swings have vanished without a trace. All that remains is a piece of beige rope tied around the tree branch that has not had anything attached to it since I first started traversing the hill and is completely unreachable.

This is unacceptable.

If the swings are planned to be replace with newer, nicer ones, there is no sign of it and no notice.

I shan’t stand or swing for this. These swings were a highlight of my week for months.

Whomever is responsible for this injustice, prepare to face your greatest opponent ever. I am relentless, stubborn and hold grudges that go beyond even the concepts of life and death itself.

Prepare for a war of words, unless the swings are to be returned to their rightful place or replaced with suitable newer swings.

If any readers have even a shred of appreciation for the childlike joy you can feel upon these swings in this place, then join me in arms. Prepare your dictionaries, thesauruses, pens, keyboards and letter writing desks. We must take a stand against the tyrants responsible for this terrible crime.

Have a lovely day.

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1

Someone's a whizz with a keyboard!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Gotta say, it's probably the most entertaining first post, a new poster has posted on this forum, which brings a wry chuckle on a cold, grey, damp, now wet Monday afternoon in SE23. 

Looks like any swinging activity on the Hill of Honour (as it was once called) will have to wait till they are maybe restored or replaced?    

 

 

Fear not, they will doubtless return soon in another guise.  These provided much fun for myself & 12 year old during lockdown & were mysteriously changed on a fairly regular basis over the months.  We stopped going after a ‘see how high I can go mum!’ resulted in a badly broken wrist (now absolutely fine).  But I still have happy memories although the boy now avoids the hill.   

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
  • 1 month later...

It is strange. The rate they came and went during covid was very high. At one point there were several now there are none. There was a rumour some grinch from the council was coming and cutting them down but I can’t believe that. They must just wear out from use. 

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Latest Discussions

    • OP has perhaps inadvertently provided free advertising for Dulwich Gails
    • Staff get taxis in and out and get paid extra (which I think is x2). Some people like to work on Bank Holidays and others don’t. Some people actively avoid Christmas for personal reasons. Long live freedom of choice! 
    • Here is another article from the excellent Special Needs Jungle (SNJ) with tips for responses to the SEND conversation survey. Including shoe horning in EHCPs which they "forget" to ask a question about in the conversation. And living as we do in Southwark with the huge misfortune of 100% academy secondary schools, some thoughts on this and how unlikely inclusion in mainstream is within the current education landscape. Closing date 14 Jan 2026. And please consider a donation to the excellent entirely run by volunteers SNJ. In my view the government could save money by creating some smaller mainstream secondary schools for kids who can cope in primary school but not  with the scale of secondary, and need a calmer less busy setting. The funding would have to be different - it is currently on a per pupil basis which favours larger schools. But it would undoubtedly be cheaper than specialist provision, and the huge cost to individual children and families (emotional and financial) and to society. https://www.specialneedsjungle.com/tips-help-complete-governments-send-conversation-survey-law/ If anyone wants to take a radical step to help their struggling child, my tip is to move far away: these are the best two schools I have ever visited and in a beautiful part of the country. I only wish we'd moved there before it was too late for my son who had to suffer multiple failings at Charter North and then at the hands of Southwark SEND, out of education from February to October in year 10-11, having already suffered the enduring trauma of a very difficult early life, which in combination with ADHD made his time at schools which just don't care so very unbearable for all of us. https://www.cartmelprioryschool.co.uk/ https://settlebeck.org/ As an add on, I would say to anybody considering adoption, please take into account the education battles that you are very much more likely to face than the average parent. First you have schools to deal with, already terrible; then being passed from pillar to post within Southwark Education, SEND, Education Inclusion Team, round and round as they all do their best to explain why they are not responsible and you need someone different, let's hold another multi-agency meeting, never for one minute considering that if they put the child at the centre and used common sense they would achieve a lot more in much less time without loads of Southwark employees sitting in endless meetings with long suffering parents. It is hard to fully imagine this at the start of your adoption journey, full of hope as you are, but truly education is not for the faint hearted, and should be factored into your decision. You'll never hear from people who are really struggling and continue to do so, only from those who've had challenges but overcome them and it's all lovely. And education, the very people who should be there to help, are the ones who make your lives the most hellish out of everything your child and you face.
    • It’s a big problem all over London. I’ve seen it happen in Kennington and Bloomsbury in the last year. I think there has been some progress recently with some key arrests, but you do need to be very careful when walking around with your phone out, especially, as you say, if wearing noise cancelling headphones. Sorry you experienced this 
Home
Events
Sign In

Sign In



Or sign in with one of these services

Search
×
    Search In
×
×
  • Create New...