Louisa

missd, find me a person who can cook me a steak on a BBQ without leaving a burnt taste in my mouth, and you have me converted!

It may well not have shit and spit everywhere, but I bet its got lots of flys and other beasties waiting to lay eggs on your exposed "Death by Chicken" marinade, on a hot summers day (whats one of those?). If you want to crucify your meat, then jump a plane to warmer climes and do it there, rather than stinking out my back garden every summer with the awful aroma of burnt meat!!!

When I have steak at home, I never fry it, I always slow roast it in the oven, and it turns out absolutely wonderful. Whenever I have had a BBQ piece of steak, its always ended up being burnt on the outside and bloody in the middle. I cannot see how a BBQ can offer the same amount of variance in cooking times and how it can offer a better taste. The meat is being cooked using open flames for goodness sakes. I think the British Isles tradition of slow roasted meats is a far better way of creating strong flavours and meats cooked to perfection. The colonials may be good at making a decent wine, but they sure damn well dont know how to cook meat properly. I guess if we lived in a hot climate however, we would be partaking in this sort of thing more often than we currently do . heaven forbid!

As a nation which traditionally slow roasts its meat I must disagree. I think meat tastes a lot better if it has been gradually cooked rather than cremated over an open fire. It does not retain it's goodness or its juices for a start, and usually leaves a foul taste in the mouth after.

BBQ's are awful. I went to a family one in Australia and was horrified at the way in which they keep raw meat out in the open and then catch fire to it on a grill. The food either tastes burnt or not properly cooked, its awful. I thought humanity had evolved to a point where they could cook indoors without wanting to stand around on a public common full of dogs mess and saliva, burning various pieces of meat on an open flamed fire. It seems ludicuous to me. And the food is usually tasteless and boring.

The wealth has generated some negative aspects on the nature of the people, I would agree there. People have become more consumer based and the wealth which gave them this aspect is what they now blame for the number of immigrants choosing Ireland as a home and the death of cultural icons like the pub.

Public transport has not become any cheaper in recent years. The car driver is penalised by a completely unlawful and discriminatory tax on driving in the centre of town, and we have not been given any return incentive to take buses and trains around town. The money should be found from central government if everything is as bad as the experts are saying about car useage. Up the congestion charge to 50 quid a day, that way you will penalise only the very rich who want to drive in the centre of town, and that can be used to cut the cost of travel on buses/trains/tube. It may then come across as a tax to help reduce the effects of global warming rather than come across as a blatant revenue making scheme, which actually isnt helping the environment at all.

Sean you can go down Parnell street in Dublin and have a really decent North African meal at a Moroccan restaurant, or any other number of African restaurants based in that part of the city. I think many of the negative or overly nationslitic ideals of 'Irishness' are now only in certain expat communities abroad, especially in the USA. Ireland is becoming a very open minded and much more tolerant society as the years pass, and the recent influx of immigrants from Africa and Europe has increased cultural diversity and encouraged people to respect and take part in all cultures. The loosening of the state ties with the Catholic church have also helped considerably. Events like the St Patricks Day parade in Dublin now include Chinese dragons and African drummers as well fiddlers and traditonal dancers. Maybe if the Irish Festival on Peckham Rye showed some of this diversity, it would help to encourage you back and destroy those negative ideas you have of the nationalistic side of the culture.

I am sick of people taking it out on the motorist. Dont blame us for Global Warming - blame the Industrial Revolution, blame people who jump on planes when they could holiday at home, blame the large corporations who waste energy. The excuses I have to put up with from people who love to preach how awful it is using a car, when in fact I have made the effort to use Public Transport in London and always been disappointed and left feeling angry and exhausted. I do use public transport abroad in France and Germany, and I have used it in some northern cities like Liverpool and Manchester, where it is much more comfortable, cheaper and not overcrowded and dangerous. I am not painting a one sided picture either Sean, I can only go by my experiences, and most times they are negative and heavy on the pocket.

Ian Paisley did ok for himself James

I now know why I dont use public transport in London. 1)Rude and arrogant bus drivers 2)Outspoken and annoying passengers 3)Overcrowding 4)Heat exhaustion 5)Kids screaming 6)Slow and prolonged journey Putting life at risk (especially after dark)... God bless the car is all I can say. I can jump in at my front door, lock the car doors, and know I can control the temperature, listen to decent music or radio, shout and scream at my hearts content without worrying about the weirdos around me watching. And most importantly... it's actually cheaper to pump petrol into my car than to jump on some horrible bus or train. Improve public transport or get stuffed, my car remains! (end of outburst) :)

ED has always had a sizeable Irish community. The EDT, Magdela, Castle, Gowlett, Edinburgh Castle (page 12 is it?) the Uplands, the Hope (Peckham) were all Irish pubs at one time, I knew the guys who used to do Sunday and Friday night music sessions at all these pubs in the 90s! Most of these pubs have now transformed or closed since so many Irish people have gone home, and those left behind are second or third generation or even just diluted or mixed into the population so much the Irish identity has been lost. But the St Thomas Moore hall and the Irish shop still keep the tradition of Irish heritage and culture in the ED community. The thing is cultural diversity in cities like Dublin and Cork since the celtic tiger economic explosion, and the easing of the troubles in NI, have all contributed to the lessening of Irish culture in the UK as people have gone home or dispersed. The plastic Aussie or American Irish communities still long for a 'motherland' which no longer exists.

The whole community my backside! Us car drivers pay an awful lot for the luxury of driving, and we often dont have a choice because of the state of the public transport in London! The needs of us drivers are important, if you dont provide places for us to park, then we will shop elsewhere where there is room to park! It affects everyone when we have nowhere to park, So let's find room now!

Exactly Brendan, one of the few decent local developments was where the old Ford Dealership used to be opposite Goose Green playground, where they have built in underground parking with those flats.

ED isnt as bad as Peckham for tickets, but i'd certainly put my two pence worth in on this one. I am firmly against disabled parking for reasons i've given on other threads, and I also think parking on yellow lines isnt a big deal when your desperate for a parking space on a weekend. Iive received a fair few tickets now, and the parking attendants are always stand offish and rude. I think the only way to solve parking is to provide more spaces! I cannot understand why an underground car park cannot be put in somewhere locally.

I cannot personally see how a designer shoe shop could possibly be viable in ED. Sean, I know it sounds quite repeatative, but I have made lots of suggestions for future shops locally and yet it appears the agenda has already been set in motion by the various people/businesses who own the freehold on many of these units along LL.

That sounds exciting, a ladies shoe shop for yummies woweeeee, I think i'm gonna stick my head in the washing machine and pretend this is all a dream :)

But what independent gift shop is going to be able to afford the high rents at that location?

Hello DM, Welcome Back. I often stay at the Bedruthan House Hotel in St Eval near Wadebridge. It's a wonderful location overlooking the beauty spot and sea. I have been with various incarnations of Mr Louisa over the years.

I think its disgraceful that a shop cannot open longer hours. This is why so many smaller independents fail in the long term. Sainsburys will stay open 24 hours which is great for someone who has to work long days and is then stumped for shopping in the evening.

Is this the song 'um pa-pa' from the musical Oliver!, as sang by Shaney Wallace?

Clothing is the biggest issue. If there were an M&S or NEXT or some other high street store locally then this would not be so much of an issue. There also isnt a Department Store which I have always loved about shopping. It just lacks that traditional edge.

lol LTP :)

I have been on the White Stuff website and used the contact details to try and figure out what the deal is with the corner unit. Lets see what happens.

How about a coffee shop or a newsagents? I know there is more than enough room up there for one. I would disagree about the council making an effort to clean the forecourt up though LuvPeckham. I think I have contacted local pressure groups as well as the council and two MP's locally to try and figure out why these problems cannot be solved in Peckham, and all I seem to get back is sweet f.a. This is what has made me so angry lately, Peckham had been going down hill for years, and then ED gets taken over by the organic boutique brigade. I now have nowhere to shop (but I can catch a train if I choose to walk the extra few miles to Denmark Hill station because i'm too scared to use Peckham Rye and sometimes ED after dark).