Oggy

I thought this was interesting local gossip. Never wanted to start a debate about the evils of gentrification, or chartered surveyors. Just sorry to have churned up so much simmering resentment. East Dulwich is dead .. long live East Dulwich!

Cora - I have lived locally with my family for 15 years. It has changed a lot. Did you prefer the Lane when it was full of fried chicken shops, betting offices, hair salons and looked like every other neighbourhood shopping street in south London?

It appears from the the details I have seen that Londis is seeking to sell its lease held for a term of 15 years from 22 October 2004, subject to five yearly rent reviews at a passing rent of ?72,000 pax, fixed at review with effect from 22 October 2009, for an asking premium of ?100K. This would therefore involve Londis handing over the property with vacant possession to an "assignee", rather than granting a new sub-lease and maintaining its interest in the property

A chartered surveyor who works as a retail agent .... ?

Just picked up from this link that Londis on the corner of Northcross Road and Lordship Lane has put its lease on the market http://www.rapleys.co.uk/property/london-se22-8hu/retail-premises/354/ I find this slightly surprising in view of the fact that the store always seems busy. I suppose there is a lot more local competetion now in the convenience market. This is quite a lot bigger than most other stores on Lordship Lane, which probably rules out another trendy boutique, but not really big enough for a Tesco Express, or Sainsbury's Local type of operation. I will be watching with interest

I want to highly recommend a local firm of builders, Prestige Build, who have recently completed a project refurbishing the kitchen and installing a downstairs toilet in our Victorian family home. Prestige arranged everything from the design involving a structural engineer, through to the building work, kitchen installation, plumbing, electricals, plastering and decorating. Their team from the initial point of contact with Jay, down to a brilliant collection of tradesmen on-site, led by Daniel, remained courteous, focused, reliable, fully committed and responsive. Above all we are delighted with the result which has transformed our enjoyment of this house where we have lived in ED for 15 years. The quality of work is excellent and we always felt that Daniel was putting our interests first. I recommend that you visit their website on www.prestigebuild.net for more information and contact details.

Prickle ... no I am not sure that there is nothing to worry about at Kingsdale. I am a concerned parent and no school is perfect. All I can say with certainty is that my sons are thriving in a positive educational environment created by a group of senior managers, including the head, Mr Morrison, who it is clear to me are motivated by the best of intentions. Is anybody suggesting otherwise?

Here is the link to the full piece on C4 news http://www.channel4.com/news/questions-over-london-school-cheating-inquiry. As a parent with two children at Kingdale, I have to say this comes over as shrill C4 tabloid journalism. I watched this piece when it went out last night with my son who is in year 9, doing well academically, happy, feeling safe, and fiercely proud of his school. He was in tears by the end and I don't blame him. I was particularly unimpressed by Tessa Jowell's points scoring criticism of Nick Gibb's comments as to a lack of accountability inherent in the academies system. While Mr Gibb is indeed a Tory, let us not forget that the Blair administration established academies in 2000. The chief architect was Andrew Adonis in his capacity as education advisor to the Prime Minister in the late 1990s. I voted for Tessa Jowell, who is my local MP, and she should be ashamed. The crux of the matter is this .. Kingsdale is an excellent school, whose staff and senior managers are working extremely hard, in good faith, to serve the best interests of its pupils. Nobody, even Ms Jowell, is suggesting otherwise. If it turns out that there have been some irregularities along the way, which is not yet by any means proven, it is equally clear, even from this highly one sided C4 piece, that all parties are working hard to ensure that the exam system is working properly going forward. So for the sake of all its hard working pupils, including my two sons, their parents and teachers, please can all its detractors, whether politically motivated or otherwise, draw a line under this issue and let Kingsdale get back to concentrating on what it does best .. giving its pupils the best possible opportunity to be happy, secure, confident and successful

My son is starting in September, along with around six other boys and girls from St John's & St Clements at Goose Green. I think most of them are planning to go on the school bus, which seems to pick up outside St John's around 8.00 am. If you live locally it might be good for your son to hook up with this group. All great kids. Good luck.

I have recently seen a small black cat answering this description wandering around ED station. I live in Oglander Road and he looks very similar to an equally friendly cat often seen meandering around here looking lost. I recall that his "owner" lives in Ondine Road but unfortunately can't remember which house. Apparently he is well known around here for permanently getting lost. Know the feeling?

Many thanks to all who have responded so helpfully on this thread. It is difficult to find any genuine detractors and taken together with our own impressions from several recent visits we feel confident that our son will have every chance of thriving at Kingsdale.

My son has just been offered a year 7 place at Kingsdale starting in September and I am interested in any feedback from parents who already have children there. My son is non-sporty and bookish but reasonably confident and outgoing with a heart of pure gold. Apart from the level of support and encouragement for bright and sensitive children, I am interested in hearing about the general attitude of pupils towards learning and how well the school deals with bad behaviour such as bullying. We do have another fee paying option but my first impressions of Kingsdale are very positive. Any thoughts gratefully received.

A very nasty business I am a (quite large) Oglander bloke, and several months ago suffered an attempted mugging near my home (at around the same time of day) by two teenage boys. When first attacked, I instinctively screamed like a stuck pig. Something predictable along the lines of "help me", "please" and "I'm being robbed". I do have a loud scream/shout and in no time at all quite a few people came running out of their houses. Fortunately, they included a couple of blokes who looked even scarier than the muggers, who legged it. I was very lucky ... no weapons were involved; nothing was taken ... and I'm not sure this approach will always work. I am, however, very grateful to my fellow Oglander residents, who came swiftly to my rescue.