edresident

Hi - If you're looking for garden design, garden maintenance, planting or landscaping - or all of them - I can highly recommend Helen Robson. Helen has been working on our garden for a number of years, designing and landscaping it at first, and then ongoing maintenance, adding extra features and new plants / trees along the way. She works with her husband Steve who can build anything. He's done all the fencing, a large decking area, a pergola, raised beds, veg patches... They're great to work with too. Helen's number is 07986 077963.

I can hugely recommend Gardenia who have carried out extensive works on our garden over a number of years and have completely transformed it. Steve has installed a huge deck and pergola, replaced all our fencing, built raised vegetable beds and carried out lots of other hard landscaping work. Helen's knowledge of plants is amazing and she's introduced some gorgeous new plants as well as looking after those we inherited. They are great to work with too.

Hi - I'd like to add my recommendation to for the Gardenia Gardens team. They completely transformed our garden a few years ago and have just returned to take on some extra work - fencing, maintenance and tonnes of clearing of the very back of our garden. They are brilliant - so easy to work with and have around and are meticulous (you have never seen a more perfect fence!) Helen's plant and tree knowledge is brilliant too.

Mong 17 - for what its worth I wish I'd had an elcs after a pretty awful emcs first time round. I felt the pressure to have a vbac after being repeatedly told that it was the best thing for me and my baby and so to contradict that advice immediately makes you feel you are NOT doing the best you should be doing...and so the guilt begins... The outcome of the attempted v-bac was fairly catastrophic and resulted in me successfully taking legal action against kings for negligence and me being very very unwell. I may be accused of scaremongering but why should the bad stories not be shared along with the good? Go with your instinct as I wish I had. I too can give a first hand account of never hearing a negative birthing story at any of the pre-natal groups or talks I attended and strangely I wasn't invited to share mine in the aftermath...! Good luck with whatever you decide. x

Hi everyone - thank you so much for your replies. It's all very helpful. Hollie - I will PM you x

Hi - I decided to try for a place in the London Marathon - I'm about to turn 40 and have a charitable cause very close to my heart so thought I'd do something dramatic and apply through the charity for a place - even though I am not much of a runner and my fitness levels are pretty hopeless (2 small kids!) I got a place! I'm determined to do it and so I need some serious help. Any advice on what to do would be very welcome - I was thinking of getting a personal trainer?? Has anyone gone from being a very basic level runner to running it successfully in the time that I now have? x

I've lived all over ED - near the station, up the hill, near the village. For me, it's Upland Road every time!!! And they have a street party now.... But as you say Bob, everyone thinks their patch is the best so good luck to us all!

I too was at the Upland Road Street Party and it was completely marvellous!! I admit to being a little luke warm to the whole idea before hand, but everyone got really stuck in and as helium balloons were released against the backdrop of the gorgeous view I was delighted that I moved there. Live music, great food, games for the kids...a brilliant day was had by all, but I agree that if it was LL it would be a nightmare. Upland was shut to traffic for 12 hours!

I can't add a lot to the origins of street names - but I can tell MadWorld74 that Upland Road are having a street party on Sunday.