Reg Smeeton

Do you have young trees on your street? Do think about giving them a watering-can's worth of water. Even if we get some rain today, the forecast is for another couple of weeks of dry weather.

Just talked to our (temporary cover) postie. She said there's been a huge backlog recently, staff sickness, staff shortage, and lots of Bank Holidays have just exacerbated it. She's hopeful that the backlog will steadily get sorted over the next week or two. Here's hoping. But this feels like the end of the Royal Mail service that we grew up with.

The post is extremely erratic: I get a weekly magazine and it is typically arriving at least a week late. This has been going on for a couple of months.

Maybe there are more teenagers, as the bulge works its way through the school system. But primary school children and infants - definitely fewer than there were five, ten years ago.

Add to that the block that was added up on Dog Kennel Hill, and the new block added near to the old Harvester near the South Circular. However most of the additional residential space has been in rear and loft extensions. More than half the homes around me have added a loft in the last 20 years. Meanwhile the number of children in the area has dropped, as can be seen from the falling roll at local primary schools. Anecdotally, the four houses either side of me used to be occupied by 14 people including children, and they are now occupied by five people - two singles and two couples. Families who need space aren't able to afford the houses that do have space, unless at least one parent is on a high six-figure salary. Two 30-something couples I know would love to have children but can't afford to because they can't afford a two bedroom flat plus child care.

Here are a few: - On a sunny day when the leaves are out, the outdoor cafe culture outside Spinach etc - Saturday market on North Cross Road - AJ Farmer - Goose Green roundabout (palm tree and flowers) - The wall in the Picturehouse cafe with the names of the original friends of the cinema carved into the wood panel (John Pienaar et al) - Pitstop garage on Upland Rd, one of the last 'old businesses' in an ED back street. Featured in an early scene in the film Mona Lisa with Bob Hoskins & Robbie Coltrane (when it was called 'Upland Motors', I think) - the villa, last remnant of East Dulwich Hospital that is soon to be converted into the 6th form centre etc of ED Charter school.

It’s got to a stage where if they go on strike I wouldn’t notice the difference.

I just received a traffic penalty notice for a minor violation in August. Not only did the original notice never arrive, this latest one was posted over two weeks ago, telling me 'if you don't pay within 14 days, you might be taken to court'. So Southwark might want to take me to court thanks entirely to the utter ineptitude of the Post Office.

Just received a shocking Penalty Charge fine for £195 for driving on Townley Road at 3:30pm in August. We had no idea we'd done this, and OK, fair cop, I've now seen the photos online. But.... WE NEVER RECEIVED THE ORIGINAL NOTICE FROM SOUTHWARK. This is not a great surprise, as ED post has been atrocious for several months, we often get things weeks after they were posted. I've told Southwark we're OK to pay the original £65 fine, but the penalty charge feels outrageous. In this Kafkaesque world, do we have any hope of Southwark agreeing to drop the £130 penalty?

Very happy to endorse Julian & team from Hydrosmart for clearing gutters. Prompt, polite, professional. 07500 903965

Where in East Dulwich can you play a game of darts in public? Are there any pubs with a dartboard? Or other community spaces? I can't remember if any of the local pubs used to have a dartboard, but I wonder if darts is dying out as a social activity.

Another reminder that in this blistering heat, there are young trees going thirsty. If your local tree is looking parched, do give it a watering can's worth of water over the weekend. This should tide it over to the rain that the forecasts suggest will arrive next week.

We might get a tiny bit of rain this week, but regardless please water any young street trees near to you (give a tree a full watering-can of water every three days). They're parched, and it's hard to over-water them!

I don't know how much tree-watering Southwark Council is doing in this hot weather, but if you have a young tree on the street near you, keep an eye on it, and if there's no sign of it being watered then do consider giving it a decent drink.

In these days of bulk buying and excessive packaging, I love having a local shop like Dulwich DIY where I can go and buy a single screw or a 3mm drill bit. I've been frequenting that shop for years, long may they continue.