espelli

It is a genius idea MrBen. I'm in. I love The Gowlett's pizzas.

Vaseline applied around the top edge of a pot will keep snails and slugs off - they can't get a grip. A tip passed on by my mother who loves hostas and hates slug pellets!

Done, thank you for posting the details.

Hello Ocean, Welcome to Barry Road. I live at that end too and second all of the above and say that we also have easy access to the shops/pubs/restaurants on Forest Hill Road as well as to Lordship Lane and Northcross Road. What more could you want?!

I think the improvements they made to the meat products were to remove the "connective tissue" (which counts as part of the amount of meat on the label) with proper meat. The connective tissue is free as the butchers otherwise have to pay ?25 to have a wheelie bin load of it disposed of. This is how the costs are cut. I am not convinced that the supermarkets make a loss on any of their ranges and so would only be cutting out some of their profit on these products. I thought it was interesting that the family who tried shopping in small local shops ended up saving money - although not as much as the family living on the value ranges. I agree that we do not spend enough on meat for all the reasons above. I also think there should be some way of reducing reliance on prepared meals and other processed foods. VAT added as it is in restaurants maybe? That will then make it cheaper to buy food like fruit and veg rather than cheaply produced pies etc. This idea has just occurred to me and I haven't thought all the implications through so would be interested to get other opinions.

My favourite examples of good Old Testament thinking are here: Why can't I own a Canadian?

To repeat the above...No. Definitely not.

I'm really sorry that your friend had such a horrible and distressing experience. However, I agree with Matthew123, this really should be reported to the police and posting it on here is not likely to prevent this individual from doing it again or doing worse. The buses are covered in cctv and if he touched in with an oyster card the cctv images of him can be linked to an identity. Does you friend say why she doesn't want to report it?

This is Muffin Muesli and Mummy Cat

I have also seen her and she approached me asking for baby milk for a 6 week old baby. I have seen her several times since and she has always been crying. I also didn't think that her story rang true and asked her to take me to the baby and told her that I would then take them to buy milk formula. She became very evasive and ran off crying and asking why no one would help her. I don't believe there was a baby. At least I hope there wasn't.

I love it too, bike racks near the cars is a really good idea. The ones near me get booked up quite often but have still been able to do a more spontaneous booking occasionally. The people at the other end of the phone are also very helpful.

Sorry for showing my ignorance here in all things astrological but how do you know if you are metal or fire or wood? I am a confused Aquarian tiger by the way

A while ago when I was having a load of jabs done my GP gave me a prescription and then I collected the vaccines and kept them in my fridge at home and then took them with me for my appointments. Apparently they did not use enough of the vaccine to justify buying in as the rabies jab was ?95 a phial! Is that what they meant do you think?

I use Streetcar too and they are great. Lots of cars in the area and the van as well.

Well if they want schools not to train children to answer exam questions and to focus on understanding and developing a love of learning then they need to scrap the high stakes testing. Ofsted can't have it both ways.

In response to the discussion about Haberdashers' Aske's in New Cross, they have a very clear banding system now however that is relatively new and is only after siblings have been offered places, hence ensuring that the right sort of families continue to populate the school. Therefore the children getting the excellent results were from the times when the selection criteria was less transparent. It will also be interesting to see what will happen to the results in a few years after this http://www.lewisham.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/3C41808E-5A67-49E7-A471-CF49600FE36C/0/ClosureNotice.pdf

The inbuilt inequality of the education system has been studied extensively around the world. Diploma Disease. The Upper and Middle Classes will always aspire to beat the system and give their children a leg up. Therefore the system never really changes and more education does not mean more equality.

I think the original point was only to compare the historic development of intolerance of racism and that of homophobia. Homophobia is a more recently identified concept and it was not so long ago that casual racism was as prevalent as casual homophobia is now. I don't think it helps to compare them in terms of which is worse or more difficult to disagree with. Casual and intentional homophobia is endemic in schools. In many inner city schools racist abuse is not common but homophobia is. Calling someone or something gay is a frequent insult. When this is challenged by staff the response is that being gay is disgusting and its not right. Some of this is fuelled by religious beliefs and some by intolerant parents. Schools are not allowed to "promote" homosexuality and are restricted to discussing it as a "lifestyle choice" during sex and relationships education, which parents can remove their children from anyway. Schools have made great headway in combating racism through publicity events but no school would be able to organise a "good to be gay" event or similar so the ways of dealing with discrimination are limited to individual instances where it is overhead by staff who are willing to intervene (and possibly get asked by the children "Is it cos you're gay miss?")

I've recently become a patient there and the person I saw for my new patient check was very abrupt and made me feel rather uncomfortable. I put it down to her maybe being new and shy as she didn't seem to be intentionally unfriendly. I have only seen one doctor but she was brilliant, very friendly and approachable and was very thorough in making sure I knew what the practice could offer me etc. The reception staff have been very nice too. I'm willing to overlook my first experience as a one off and not something I am going to repeat anyway.

I have read this thread from the beginning and I have resisted posting so far. However, we are in danger of re-hashing the argument again and the word "paranoia" has been mentioned repeatedly so here is my two pennyworth: (and before I am shot down in flames I have been involved in child protection for many years, take it very seriously and care deeply about the welfare of all children. However I think we need a bit of perspective here.) It is interesting that those taking the "liberal" line have felt the need to be defensive of their positions. (as I have too now!) Firstly what the man was doing (and I agree it appears to be an odd thing to be doing) is unclear as no-one approached him. Therefore no-one is any the wiser and all concerns we may have about his actions, motives or the end product of his actions are based on our imaginations and a collective memory of cases/reports that have been horrific (and unusual) and therefore made the national press. So at this point in time, as far as we know, no-one has been harmed. Secondly, the reaction to the report of this man's actions have created very strong, emotional responses in many people which has created a rather skewed debate. It is instinctive for parents to want to protect their children from harm and the thought that someone may want to hurt a child in any way is abhorrent. I have not read any posts on here that suggest otherwise, so on that point everyone agrees. Furthermore, while parents (and all who care for children's welfare) may take great care to protect those children from stranger danger, which is real and is a concern, and may be highly suspicious of anyone they do not know being around children unless: they have children with them or are there in a professional capacity. But the unknown bogey man is not the biggest danger to a child. Most abuse happens within families. Most abusers are known to their victims and trusted by their victim's parents. This is a more uncomfortable concept to come to terms with and we all find it difficult to think that anyone in our family or circle of friends could want to hurt one of our children. But this is what makes it easier for the abuse to take place. Thirdly, this emotional reaction to the possibility of "outside" harm creates a culture of fear and paranoia which is just as dangerous. It means that people do not feel able to approach other people in broad daylight in the park with other people around and that someone on an earlier post suggested that there might be a case for a complete ban on all photography in all parks "just in case". It means that children have less and less freedom to explore the world and develop a taste for independence and it means that they are more anxious about staying safe than they are keen to have fun. This "day and age" is not more dangerous in terms of paedophiles on the loose than it was when we were kids, it is just more scared of what might happen, and I find that really very sad. Wow this is such a long post! I'm sorry to have rambled for so long. But now you have read it let the shooting commence!

Hi Nick, Thank you very much for your kind offer, I would be delighted to visit on a different evening. The reviews on here have been so positive that I am sure you will be inundated with custom very soon! espelli

We tried The Duke last night but it was shut! On closer inspection we (and another couple who had the same idea) found that it is always closed on Monday. I thought it was a pub?! Do any other pubs close on one day a week? I know some cafes and restaurants do. Will try again, am undeterred!

Tony.London Suburbs Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > taper:To continue for a moment..If you went into > ANY Inner London School where there were 50% Black > and 50% White Children and every child had to Race > the 100 Metres and,say,there were 100 kids a year > with The Winner earning 100 Points down to the > last kid gaining one point.If you tallied up EVERY > School in Inner London I'm absolutely certain that > "as a Group" the Black kids would Win the 100 > Metres every time with no exceptions...however if > the Race was run over a Mile then the results > would be much closer,to say the least. > Do you agree?(tu) or (td) Tony, in my years of experience in Inner London schools one thing that I have learnt is that analysing any apparent difference between an individual's performance (sporting, social or academic) by their race is at best simplistic and at worst dangerous. I am not being painfully PC in saying this, it is based on my daily dealings with young people over the years. Going back to the original post, the habit that some people have of shouting their unasked for opinions or greetings in the street is truly offensive and quite common. It is interesting that I only get things said to me when I am walking on my own, and never when I am with my partner. If anyone has a good idea for something to say back to these mindless, ill-mannered idiots, I would be delighted to try it and report back on its efficacy.