first mate

Well , it all looks lovely inside but where do all the kids go at break. Is there much in the way of outside space? Is there a gym? can't see where the space is for them to go out at breaks etc.. Or, is the idea that they all tip into the park opposite?

Skips, skips everywhere. Ditto loft conversions and other extensions. Massive inconvenience for others who have to negotiate huge pallets of sand and other sundry building materials left around on road and pavement, not to mention building dust that regularly smothers one's home, car and bronchial tracts. I won't even get into the light-stealing, aesthetic-smack-in-the-eye impositions of loft conversions. I don't know what this skip is for but spare a thought for neighbours who have to endure your building work.

Cate, Now I think about it the old Grace and Favour, when it sold food, was simply the best. It was a quirky but really restful space with great homemade cakes and grub....that is until it became the free ED creche.

The thing is, the times of day I am most likely to drive the roads are clearer, thus moving along at 20mph will almost certainly slow my journey. The evidence points to something other than speed being at the root of accidents. I'd bet that a lot of it is to do with mobile phone use and other technological distractions, possibly used by young pedestrians and drivers who are not "aware" (in your argument I think you refer to the lives of young people being saved). I also remember an advertising campaign, around this very issue, a year or so ago. Is there not an element of personal responsibility in all of this? In other words where is the line between legislation that reduces risk to as near zero as possible and we, as citizens, being responsible for the judgements we make? If you ask me is the right to drive at 30mph worth more than the lives of a 100 people, then of course I will say no. It's just that this type of legislation begins to feel a bit nanny state-like. H and Sean, I would add that I'm fairly swayed by your arguments but this other aspect is niggling. I suspect it may be part of PR's concern too.

It'd be nice to have somewhere a bit quirky, with a bit of character. I miss the old Blue Mountain with its Chinese room etc..

Yes, but we don't live our lives according to averages. PR has a point in that the option to exercise discretion or judgement is being slowly eroded.

Cate, Dulwichmum does love her fur coats etc..!! Aside from that I suspect it's a case of keeping up with those over the pond.

Steve T, Poor you. That must have been terrifying. The problem is that I think there are yobs out there who are either training dogs to be people aggressive or deliberately breeding from genetically badly unstable dogs that are constantly on red alert and attack anything that moves. And yes, dog fighting and drug dealing are the reasons behind the breeding of this type of animal. It gives "normal" dogs and their owners a bad name. I should add that because of the above I too stay well clear of anything that looks like a bull breed type dog, when out walking my own dog, that is unless I know the dog and its owner well. A number of dogs have been attacked and killed recently by these rogue animals. My sympathies to you again- I would have been terrified.

If it was a pitbull or pitbull cross then these dogs are totally illegal and should indeed be muzzled and neutered if they exist at all. However, there are lots of long-legged Staffs and Staff crosses that might look like pitbulls but are not. In my view any dog can become nasty if treated badly but one of these dogs, if very badly treated, is much more of a danger because of their jaw strength and the fact that they will not let go once they really attack. Having said that, the Pibull, the Staffie and the Bull terrier are probably amongst the most people friendly breeds you can ever come across,they were bred to be totally biddable to humans, though unreliable with other dogs (the dog fighting heritage). The fact that the dog ran away probably indicates that it wasn't vicious, more than likely it wanted to say hello,they are very playful dogs, but also often too in your face. I say this only to stop you being worried about meeting other dogs like this. Nonetheless, the dog should not have been off lead and out on its own and I quite understand why you'd be frightened and worried for your daughter. It's the irresponsible owners that are at fault. On the other hand if I have misunderstood and the dog was showing aggression (unless you know dog body language it can be hard to know what their intent is if they approach you) then I hope that the matter is properly investigated. The only other thing is that the guy who works in the pet shop on Northcross Road had a bad experience on Peckham Rye where his dog got badly attacked by a black male Staffie, at the time wearing a fancy harness. Apparently this dog is also people aggressive. If the dog you came across was an entire, black, male Staffie type dog then it might be worth reminding the police of this other incident that was also reported to them.

Well, I don't know how useful a national calculation is, but if as the results seem to indicate, accidents have very little to do with speeding, I can see that reducing the limit to 20 does make sense. I wonder how many of the accidents are to do with lack of concentration through mobile/ipod use, both by drivers and pedestrians? I can't, however, deny the logic that whatever the reason for the accident, if a car is going slower it will cause less damage. I am surprised by the stats though, because in my own experience the worst and most risky driving seems to come from those doing their utmost to ignore any speed limit and just get by me, the law abiding driver, seemingly at any cost. I'm sure we've all experienced the mad, tailgating driver, cursing and swearing because you refuse to go faster, and who will acclerate very rapidly at the first opportunity to overtake. Aside form that, I have to say that I find driving a car at 20mph, on a main road like Lordship Lane, when there is less traffic, quite hard to maintain and will keep slipping slightly over. It's fine on a smaller residential street. Perhaps it is a matter of conditioning the brain, but I still think that if this rule is introduced there will be a lot of fines for people slipping over into 21-22mph.

I saw one in the garden beside the Library three days ago.

Thanks Huguenot, but does anyone have the figures? In other words, for every crash/accident in London/Southwark, do we know the speed the car was travelling prior to impact?

What is the evidence for showing the speed of each vehicle that has been involved in an accident/collision,prior to impact?

What is the evidence for showing the speed of each vehicle that has been involved in an accident/collision,prior to impact?

Sean, perhaps a bit of a kneejerk reaction on my part and yes the stats look very convincing. Nonetheless, based only on my own experience, and as someone who adheres rigidly to speed limits for reasons of safety etc.., it is the irate driver up your bumper, weaving in and out and then overtaking at 40/50mph, in town, that is the villain. How exactly is a 20mph limit going to change that behaviour- he has already willingly broken the speed limit for 30mph?

Sean, perhaps a bit of a kneejerk reaction on my part and yes the stats look very convincing. Nonetheless, based only on my own experience, and as someone who adheres rigidly to speed limits for reasons of safety etc.., it is the irate driver up your bumper, weaving in and out and then overtaking at 40/50mph, in town, that is the villain. How exactly is a 20mph limit going to change that behaviour- he has already willingly broken the speed limit for 30mph?

PR, I'm with you on this. We all know that those who want to speed and to break the law will continue to do so, whatever the speed limit; they have their little ways of disguising number plates etc..., leaving the rest of us to foot the bill for the new legislation when we accidently go one mile over the 20mph limit. The whole thing is a nonsense and it is, absolutely, about garnering revenue for cash-strapped councils like Southwark. Just like the traffic calming measures that are being reinstated all over roads off Lordship Lane, having being ripped up only a few years ago. But it's for our own good say planning, they want to keep us safe. Wait a minute though, it's also the end of the financial year and any underspend has to be put to "good" use- the real reason behind the speed bumps/traffic calming measures, I suspect

Boom boom!!

yes, As a regular walker in the park I get hacked off by all the rubbish and most of all the amount of broken glass that is strewn around. Really, really selfish and irresponsible behaviour. By the way I happened on the oddest thing over the w/end. The garden on PR was full of people pacing up and down chanting. Anyone any idea who they were and what they were doing?

Steve T, With regard to your earlier post, are there pike in the big lake on PR? I'm genuinely interested. I've seen a fair few rats, both water rats and the normal kind, but was not aware of pike. How thrilling if there was a huge, ancient pike (not to mention wild cats) that lived on the Rye.

Bats, lovely. I always look forward to watching them fly around at dusk, as the weather gets warmer. The other thing we must all watch out for are Stag Beetles. I've seen some real whoppers over the last few years.

After consulting my trusty RSPB Pocket Birds, and given the overwhelming evidence from fellow forumites, I think we can conclude it was indeed a hen Sparrowhawk- be frightened other birds, be very frightened. I discounted the Sparrowhawk at first because the bird I saw didn't have the reddish brown tinge of the cock Sparrowhawk, but the hen's plumage looks right. I'm desperate to hear more of All for Nun's Peckham Rye wild cat episode- or was it an early April Fools joke? I hope not, as walking Peckham Rye at dusk seems much more exciting in the knowledge that we may have a beast of Peckham Rye lurking. Also, I did a quick google and found a report suggesting that some years ago a man living in the Peckham area was given special permission to keep some endangered big cats- I think they were Cloud Spotted Leopards???!!!

I've just watched a bird of prey, either a Peregrine Falcon or a Goshawk, kill and pluck another bird (a young pigeon, I think). It was all I could do not to go out and intervene, as the process took a while and the victim bird was flapping a quite a bit. Quite horrible, but also incredible to see this in your garden.

I'm with Louisa on this. The flowers on GG have been planted for the enjoyment of all, not the use of a few. If the flowers are picked the impact is lost. Leave the flowers alone.

well in my experience that information is incorrect. Foxes do defecate regularly in parks and open spaces. Ask local dog owners how often they have to clean up dogs that have rolled in fox do- so bang goes that theory. Dogs are rather more likely to be regularly wormed than foxes too!