Insuflo

Splodgenessabounds!

Exactly, that’s my point. It’s pedantic to say that what most people would recognise as an SUV is not really one.

Building passenger cars on a chassis went out with starting handles. Range Rovers have not been built on a chassis since the end of the last century. The last British saloon car to have a separate chassis was probably the Triumph Herald, designed in the 1950s and discontinued in 1971. If you must be pedantic, at least be accurate.

I’m guessing that “work wear ” doesn’t include suits and “sportswear” doesn’t include Dulwich Hamlet colours. Or rugby shirts.

No, just children running around etc. Perhaps they pester their parents to take them there after school, I don’t know.

I really wasn’t going to add anything more to this thread but was on a bus delayed by an ignorant, selfish motorist impeding a bus lane when “London Traffic” by The Jam popped up on my iTunes. One of the recently departed Rick Butler’s finest drumming performances. But the lyrics by Bruce Foxton could have been written yesterday, rather than forty years back. Have a listen kids. I am not a traffic engineer but before retirement I was a manager in various modes at TfL. I knew many engineers up to director level who were responsible for the TfL road network. They were capable and committed individuals who spent their entire careers trying to make the network run better. Traffic engineers were invariably car and driving enthusiasts similarly that top people at London Underground were always railway nerds. TfL Streets people would often find themselves in conflict with TfL Buses people over what should be prioritised. They were Londoners who lived and worked in this city and saw and appreciated the benefits and disadvantages of their successes and failures in changing the TfL network. They introduced all kinds of improvements for drivers and pedestrians that simply don’t exist outside London and were often consulted by European, Asian and north American traffic management professionals for their expertise. They often had to defend their positions against political interference, as when Boris Johnson made the reintroduction of a morning northbound contra flow in the Blackwall Tunnel a manifesto pledge to please Bromley tories, despite the Met Police having ended it to prevent what they believed was a mass casualty incident waiting to happen. Reinstate the Blackwall contra flow or I’ll sack you, demanded Johnson: no, we will not endanger lives to please you and the Evening Standard, was the response of engineers at TfL Streets. They prevailed and now, thankfully, neither the Evening Standard or Boris Johnson exists to worry Londoners. Late last century I worked for the Highways Agency dealing with customer service complaints by phone, email and letter. We were what was known in the media as “the Cones Hotline”. A pathetic, grey little man who had inadvertently become Prime Minister had decided that there was tabloid traction in getting pathetic, grey little men (it was only ever men) to complain to the Hghways Agency if they saw cones (and therefore roadworks) on the motorways. Get the Great (always with a capital G) British people out looking for waste of our money! That’ll sort these shirkers out! Cones out and no work taking place was always our principal complaint. So, I and a whole department of civil servants that had never existed before, spent lots of time and money wasting the time of traffic engineers who invariably had a totally sensible, pertinent and time tested explanation of why repairing 100 yards of the M6 requires 2 miles of lane closures and cones (vehicles cover a hell of a lot of ground at 70 mph). They could have just been getting on with their jobs (and the roads would be open quicker) instead of explaining things to me, so I could pander to Angry of Mayfair and Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells. We used to call the regular complainants the “I pay your wages “ brigade. The Daily Mail, Express and Evening Standard also took up much of our time on slow news days. The point is Penguin 68, is that your opinions are based upon ignorance, anger and a notion that somebody somewhere is trying to get one over on you. It’s all rather childish, I think. I have no doubt that these works have been carefully planned with every effort to avoid disruption. And the local populace has been engaged with and considered, as is demonstrated by the hand delivered letter you received and the previous consultation exercise, which I presume you didn’t respond to. Public servants are under attack in the USA and many parts of Europe. I really think that we need to consider how we use language and how we relate to those who serve us. Call out poor performance by all means. But please do so from an informed standpoint. The bus lane has cleared! It was some bloke in a grey BMW. What’s the chances? * NB: this lecture may have taken longer to write than my bus was delayed by that BMW lout but RIP Rick Butler.

So, essentially you are whinging about 3 months of planned works to resolve a serious problem that you admit has dragged on for at least the last four decades? Your complaint seems rather out of proportion. Also, I suggest you read the letter properly, you clearly have not understood it. And then you can complain to the person named in the letter, who took the time to write to you inviting you to contact them if you have any concerns.

Would you rather not have been informed? I received the letter, which was hand delivered to a very wide area, which seems to me to be a commendable effort to inform road users. The letter is very detailed and explains exactly what is being done, when and where, including dates and precise times. The letter is signed by the named head of the project and includes full contact details with an invitation to respond with any concerns. Why don’t you complain to them? I seem to remember there being a consultation exercise regarding these works, did you respond to it? I did. It is surely impossible to carry out such a major scheme without disruption. However, it seems that the phasing of the works over three months is in an attempt to minimise disruption. What exactly would you rather TfL did differently? Can you give an example of a similar scheme “anywhere else in the world” that was completed in your proposed timeframe of “a week’s job”? Perhaps you could share your expertise with the benighted engineers at TfL.

I’ve used Ryman’s before but there isn’t one locally. I think Borough High Street would be the closest.

The Sylvan Post is quite grown up friendly until about 4pm. After that it’s strictly kids only.

The estate was built by Southwark Council and records of the design and build should be held at the Southwark Archives: https://www.southwark.gov.uk/culture-and-sport/local-history-and-heritage/southwark-archives Good luck.

I’m not sure I’d go as far as ‘iconic’, Sue. Like many of us, I think it was at its’ best late last century. Since Antic went bust again the price of a pint has got higher every time I walk in there.

According to recent news reports, the whole Poundland chain is in financial distress and probably will be up for sale. It seems sales are well down and costs (usually that means staff) need to be cut. This is bound to affect the working environment and staff morale.

I opened the thread just to let people know that the road was closed and the buses off. It’s only because I was heading to OKR that I went for the 63 . It’s pleasant stroll through Camberwell Old Cemetery since the gate opened on Underhill. It must be a pain for regular users of the 63. I take it the road is still closed?

I walked through the cemetery this morning to catch the 63 from its’ start at Therapia Road: no buses. I had to walk to Barry Road and wait for a diverted 363. Peckham Rye is completely closed by the Harris school. A tree was being taken down but the TfL website says it’s Thames Water. It doesn’t say how long the closure is going on. The 363 is diverted via Lordship Lane and Barry Road both ways. The 63 starts from Nigel Road.

I think there is possibly a “broken windows syndrome” to these kind of boards: you know the idea that a broken window left untouched will give the impression that nobody cares, so encourages more vandalism? If boards are not maintained and the notices are way out of date it gives off that vibe. North Cross Road is a Southwark council licensed market, so does it not have a council employee in charge of it? Someone who arranges pitches and payments etc. If so, surely they would be the person to take responsibility? It only needs somebody to keep it clean and charge the posters regularly. Perhaps this can be suggested to the Goose Green councillors; it’s not my ward.

It’s all an elaborate conspiracy that only you can divine through your righteous anger. We are such fools.

Interesting article from today’s Grauniad: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/jan/14/private-school-run-in-south-london-linked-to-27-per-cent-rise-in-air-pollution#img-1

And the Sainsbury’s own brand chocolate mini rolls have gone from £1.15 to £1.40 overnight, so 22%-ish. I prefer them them to the Cadbury original because they have a lot more chocolate on them, presumably because they’re made in a less advanced factory. I would think that getting the Rizla thin coating of chocolate that Cadbury’s accountants demand onto a piece of sponge is quite a sophisticated operation. Discuss.

Yes, Sainsbury’s do recognise USDAW but I wonder what proportion of shop floor staff actually join up these days. Or become H&S reps etc. Unions only work if people participate.

Would they keep until Christmas?

As a customer of DKH I have sympathy with the staff but this a matter for their trade union to address. The law states that temperatures in the workplace must be “reasonable”, and adds guidance that a reasonable minimum temperature is 16C for sitting down jobs like checkouts or 13C for physical work like packing and stacking. The law also states that there must be easily readable thermometers installed in the workplace so that staff can check the temperature. When I still worked, these would be mercury thermometers red-lined at 16C, so staff knew when it was permissible to stop work if they were uncomfortable. However, I always worked in trade union represented jobs. I suspect (but certainly don’t know) that a lot of Sainsbury’s staff these days don’t bother to join the union, so are not protected (please put me right if you know otherwise). In any workplace, you either take collective action to improve things or just accept the conditions imposed on you. If staff are in a union, they need to take a hand in making sure the union and its reps do their job in representing them.

The price of some things seems to be volatile. I think there must be a spike in international chocolate markets or some such. Sainsbury’s recently increased the price of both Club and Penguin biscuits from £1.60 to £2.00 a pack in one hit, so a 25% rise.

Many people have been dismissive of Trump in the recent past, including his VP. Besides, Mandelson and Trump have much in common. They are both shallow, vulgar and vain. They both fetishise wealth and power, irrespective of who holds it or how it was accumulated. They were both close friends and associates of the late Jeffrey Epstein and have moved in the same circles, as Ghislaine Maxwell’s address book allegedly confirms. Recognising another who is utterly transactional and lacking in a moral compass, there’s every chance of “Petie” fitting right in Mar-a-Largo.

Nah, the windows of the men’s bogs are in the wrong place for either of those.