Saus01

I think you're right regarding the above manager in that they only cover part of the contract - it would need someone that looks across all of the work. If a Councillor or similar could collate the feedback in a simple spreadsheet covering - First line of address, surname of tenant, description of works carried out, issues identified, etc. Could make sense to break the columns down so you can interrogate the data e.g. rather than just 'issues' have a column each for 'works not completed', 'works completed to poor standard', 'windows painted shut', 'scaffolding left in place', 'damage caused by contractor', 'rude contractors', etc. That way Southwark would be able to throw some stats at Saltash e.g. 80% of homes have windows painted shut... two weeks' time... there are still 60% that have not been fixed, etc.

I have had similar issues to the above e.g. poor quality work, painting doors/windows shut, no communication, etc. I am concerned that despite Saltash having only used the scaffolding for approx. two weeks, they will try to bill me for the months that it has been in place but unused. Is there a way of collating all of these issues and sending a co-ordinated response to one of Southwark's senior management team? I would be happy to contribute but unfortunately don't have the time to take the lead.

I'm a member of JAGS and I think it's a good family gym for the money if you are happy with good cardio machines (recently upgraded), and basic machine weights and free weights. If you are big into free weights it's no good for that but I don't think anywhere in Dulwich is. The pool is nice and clean and, whenever I've been, not too busy with room for all standards. I haven't been to any classes. JAGS is also open in the mornings for a couple of hours. One of the things I like about JAGS is it opens early and closes late.

There's a directory on the NSI website - http://www.nsi.org.uk/directory. Impluse (mentioned above) are on there and listed as a Gold medal holder. kcz88 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Thanks. I did try to google of there is any local > firms but can't seem to find any. I will prefer to > have to have a high level 24hr monitored alarm > linked to Police + CCTV, and I don't really know > if that's something a local firm can provide. > Also, I m mostly concerned about high false alarm > rate.

You should look for firms that are NSI Gold accredited. http://www.nsi.org.uk/about-us

I don't have personal experience but have heard from many people that ADT's service is poor. Most of the large nationals are the same. I would suggest searching for a local firm and ask them to provide 3-4 clients that have had similar installations to the one you're looking for, and contact them to ask about their experiences.

I went to The Patch on NYE. Food very good but front of house, whilst friendly, was quite disorganized - mainly the communication between FOH and the kitchen. We fed this back to the manager who acknowledged there had been issues and apologised. I get the feeling they are teething issues rather than fundamental flaws and would certainly return for dinner. It's good to have an alternative to Franklins and The Palmerston (which seems too inconsistent) in the area.

First NYE in the area - would like to know what is usually on at the local pubs e.g. EDT, Palmerston, Bishop, Actress, Great Exhibition, etc. Is it casual/walk-in or tickets, same as usual or live music, etc? Anywhere else slightly further afield that's worth a visit? Thanks.

Definitely avoid the Crown and Greyhound if you're into hygiene. Went a few months back and, apart from the food being pretty poor, we had a good view of the serving hatch and saw a number of the waiting stuff doing pretty disgusting things like leaning through the hatch to pick at food, eating it, licking their fingers 'clean' and then serving food/cutlery, etc. I emailed them to let them know and didn't get a response.

Went to the Great Exhibition on Sunday. Very pleased with the food and will definitely be returning.

titch juicy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > > how are you getting from London Bridge to Bank? > Crawling? > > It takes 5 minutes to walk across London Bridge to > Bank Station. You can be in the heart of the City > in under half an hour- easily. > > You can get the Charing Cross Train 2 stops from > London Bridge, which takes 5-10 mins to be in the > heart of the West End (again- full journey, less > than half and hour). As MarkE said - best time I can get to Bank is 15 mins and that's at a pretty decent pace. I've done the Charing Cross route a few times and it usually takes me 35-40 mins. If you want to go anywhere like Regent's park or Knightsbridge, you can add another c.10 minutes on.

Jeremy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Of course I know LB is not quite in the city. But > even doing the last leg on foot/tube/bus, it is > still a better commute than Putney! > > I totally agree it's not very well connected. But > that's one of the reasons its cheaper than > otherwise equivalent areas of zone 2. Not sure I agree on Putney vs. Dulwich to the City. Overground and Waterloo and City line would get me into Bank in c.30 mins. All of this said, I am happy enough with the connections or wouldn't have moved here!

Jeremy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Saus01, I don't understand where you're coming > from. A 12 min train to London bridge means that > ED is a much quicker commute to the city than > Putney. Jeremy 1. London Bridge is technically in Southwark rather than the City. Setting that aside, I still need to spend 15-20mins getting to Bank, Moorgate or Liverpool Street from London Bridge. 2. The previous poster mentioned getting the 40 bus to the City - this takes about 40+ minutes 3. My main point was that, looking at two locations in similar positions in North and South West London, Dulwich isn't the easiet of places to get to different areas of London from. This is mainly down to lack of tube.

Those routes get you there but many of them take 40mins-hour; particularly getting to West/West End of London and relying on buses. If I live in Highgate I can get to the City in under 20 mins and the West End in a similar time. If I live in Putney I can get to the West End in 20 minutes and the City in 25 minutes. By contrast, the 40 to the City takes nearly an hour. 12 Oxford Circus takes an hour. I could get to some parts of central London quicker from outside the M25. The main difference is the tube... but if Dulwich had a tube, it would turn the area into another Clapham.

Thanks for the information. May look into the cycling club but probably a bit serious for me at the moment - looking to keep it quite leisurely. Will get in touch to see if they can recommend any routes, though.