sallyfran

Yamaha Clavinovas are good but I don't know whether there is one that falls within your price range. They sometimes come up for sale second-hand. The really important thing is to get a model that is touch sensitive, ie is louder or softer depending on how forcefully you depress the keys. That way, children can learn to play much more musically and can more readily make the switch to any kind of piano if they were to have lessons with a piano teacher.

I'm guessing that they are clearing the wooded area to make room for more burials there. It wasn't that long ago that there was talk of using some of the park space round Brenchley Gardens for new burial space (can't remember where exactly). If people are still wanting local burials, I'd far rather that the council maximised existing cemetery space (even at the expense of losing some trees and 'wild' areas) than took up new space elsewhere. I don't know about the efficacy of the drainage work but it might have been a lot worse without it. Peckham Rye park is currently flooded in lots of places despite huge works when the park was regenerated a few years ago, though it's miles better than it used to be.

I had this a few years ago, with much the same symptoms. I took iron tablets as prescribed and everything got better. The doctors didn't explore potential reasons for it but the symptoms don't seem to have returned.

The Southwark one is in Southwark Park. You can get there on the Overground to Surrey Quays and it's a couple of minutes walk from there.

Contact the chair of governors and explain that your complaint is not being heard.

There is a very nice book called 'Playing, laughing and learning with children on the autism spectrum' author Julia Moor, published by Jessica Kingsley. There is also a book for parents called 'More than Words' which offers advice on developing communication skills for children with autism at different levels. PM me if you would like to come round and take a look to see whether they are the sort of thing you are after. I can also show you the Luke Jackson and a similar one by Clare Sainsbury but depending on your child, it can be as disheartening to read about high-achievers with autism as those who struggle to make progress. Often, some of the best advice and support can come from other parents.

Nunhead Community Choir sounds just what you are after. Come along to try at 8pm on Thursdays at Ivydale School. You can drop in and pay as you go, or sign up for a term if you prefer. Really friendly, good mix of ages and backgrounds, a good number of men (not always the case in community choirs). Currently singing Elvis (I Can't Help Falling in Love With You) and a Bob Marley mash-up. Other recent numbers include Imagine, One Day Like This (Elbow), Lazing on a Sunny Afternoon.

If it's not too far afield, Anna Browne does a great Kundalini yoga class every Saturday morning at Forest Hill Quaker Meeting House, Sunderland Road. From 10-11.30.

Thinking of buying a pasta maker. If you have one, do you find you use it regularly or is it tucked away at the back of a cupboard? Not sure whether it would join my breadmaker and ice-cream maker (both used loads) or juicer (hardly ever). Any recommendations for models?

I think they have done a great job with the Crystal Palace station refurb - gives an indication of how much better PR could look.

Yup, Panasonic. They are also great for experimenting - my favourite to date is fig and walnut bread - and make good dough for pizzas, chelsea buns etc. I can't now imagine being without one, we make 95% of the bread we eat.

We are looking to build a small workshop/studio/home office in our garden. We'd like it to be a step up from a basic shed and reasonably pleasing on the eye as it will be visible from the house, but can't afford the several thousands charged by some fancy home office companies. Has anybody got something similar they are pleased with, and/or any tips/pictures/recommendations for makers etc.?

It seems to me that the police were massively irresponsible if they were pursuing this van at speed in a car through residential streets. It mounted the pavement and crashed right through my neighbour's brick wall and into her garden. If anybody had been walking on that stretch of pavement, or cycling on the road, they would almost certainly have been killed instantly.

Nunhead Community Choir meets at Ivydale School on Thursday evenings from 8-9.30pm. There's a website you can google. Very friendly and welcoming, with a good age range and a good few men (though more always welcome). Noteorious meets at the Mag on a Monday night and (I think) also has a website though I believe there is currently a waiting list. There used to be two 'Raise the Roof' choirs at the Horniman on Tuesday and Thursday nights but I have heard that they might be ending - you could check. And Koruso meets at Bellenden school, not sure when, but they probably have a website too.

Having called in this morning, I'd like to flag this up as a little local(ish) gem. 2 coffees and a big slice of excellent carrot cake all for ?4.40. They also do breakfast and light lunches. Light and airy, beautiful secret gardens in an unexpected location. And there's a lovely little playground alongside. It's a really attractive walk (or traffic free bike ride) from Peckham Library along the Surrey Canal walk and then through Burgess Park. Maybe 2km in total.

I've always found Paine and Hunter helpful too and they will give you a trial pack of lenses if you want to test them out. I use Acuvue daily disposable which an optician friend rates as one of the better ones. They are stored in saline - anything other than the dailies and you are into cleaning fluids which might be more irritant to your eyes?

Get advice from her teacher if you are thinking of buying. Even small sized starter violins can vary greatly - don't end up with cheap plywood fitted with appalling strings, as sold on ebay and elsewhere.

Have a look at a map around Eynsford, Shoreham and Otford in North Kent, and there are lots of lovely walks to be had. I often go to Lullingstone (recommended above), accessible from Eynsford station, and there is a good 2 hour round walk starting and finishing at the visitor centre which can be lengthened or shortened to taste. It was very busy last sunny Sunday but would be quieter outside the weekend. You could take in the Roman Villa which is interesting too. There are also some good walks around Meopham in Kent.

We live in a typical ED terraced house with side return. We'd like to put a glass roof over part of the alley and a glass wall with door at the end, to create a workshop accessible to power and water (no room in garden). We're not looking to knock any walls down, just to enclose some space, but don't want it looking too much like a really rough lean-to as it will be visible from the kitchen, living room and garden. Has anybody done something similar. Any advice/recommendations?

One of my great-aunts had to roll an orange or apple under her bed every single night to check that it came out the other side - to make sure that nobody was hiding under there. I can't sleep in a room with a ticking watch or clock - can pick up the faintest noise and must find and remove it. Probably leaves hotel staff and B and B owners perplexed when they find the room alarm clock wrapped up in several towels in the bathroom.

Sorry to put a damper on things, but the allotments at Elland Road (under the auspices of the Stuart Road Allotment Society) have a long waiting list, which is currently closed to new waiters until it gets a bit shorter. But more positively, the Friends of Peckham Rye Park are a community-minded bunch who are currently involved in setting up a community garden within the park. There are lots of singing groups if that's your thing (Noteorious, Nunhead Community Choir, Koruso, Raise the Roof), which get involved in community events. The Horniman Museum has various community events and an eco-centre thing and may have scope for volunteers, I've not investigated. I also don't know much about the Peckham Wildlife Garden but think they have volunteers. Kundalini yoga has some overlap with hippiedom (though I'm a fan and not a hippie) and there is a great class in Forest Hill on Tuesday evenings or Saturday mornings with Anna Browne. Good luck with exploring.

There's an outdoor shop in Forest Hill, just behind the station. Full of ski stuff at the moment, don't know whether they stock Yaktrax, you'd need to give them a ring.

The Southwark service (now part of Guy's and St Thomas's Trust) should see your child within 18 weeks of referral. You can self-refer (the receptionist at Sunshine House should be able to tell you how) or get your GP to refer you. The service has several therapists who are specifically trained in working with young children who stammer. As Superted says, if you decide to go independently, make sure you see somebody who has experience in the area. An approach that is often favoured witn young children is known as the Lidcombe method and you may be able to find somebody who is 'Lidcombe trained'. But the independent sector is expensive and the NHS is here to deal with cases like this so why not use it if you can.

I am not a parent of a secondary age child, but I do work in education, and as a near neighbour of Harris Boys I was invited to tour the building on its first anniversary, accompanied by the Head and Deputy. I know that many parents would prefer co-ed and I would agree, but I would urge parents not to rule it out of the reckoning. The facilities are amazing and the staff we met seemed full of passion for the place and for achieving good results for the boys. We met an especially inspiring music teacher who has got a choir and a jazz band going (and lots of classical instrumental tuition), the art was brilliant and they seemed to appreciate the importance of getting the academic subjects right too. Just my two penn'orth on the strength of what I saw.

ED as a down at heel housing action area, where you could get grants to do up your house. Smoking on all public transport. Separate little train compartments holding just 8 people, with slam doors (scary if you were stuck on your own with someone looking dodgy) Being able to buy a flat in Clapham Common for ?19,000 Beautiful curved glass windows in the front of Heals, and it being so out of reach expensive and classy that it was like going into a modern V&A