Amelie

I suspect that the reason the shops on Lordship Lane do not open until 7 or 8 is that their licenses and/or leases don't permit them to.

Incitatus you may be right but I was definitely told that Le Chardon's owners bought The Green from the previous owners, my source may have been wrong. The menu did completely change after the 'purchase'.

Given that we live in Dulwich shouldn't it be locally grown Dill rather than Sorrel?

Me too, I have been pathetic about attending so far and would like to come.

Personally I like Le Chardon, The Green started off badly - improved when Le Chardon took it over but seems to have gone downhill again, The Palmerston is good but a bit pricey, never had a bad experience at Franklins - my only gripe would be the lighting in the evening which is too low to read by (important if you are a single female), Tandoori Nights is good, a friend of mine recommends the Indian restaurant which has opened just behind Forest Hill station, Chandni's in West Dulwich is very good, the Thai Corner on Northcross Road started out well but deteriorated IMHO. There used to be a good restaurant in Brixton called Trinity Gardens, I don't know if it is still there; and a little French restaurant in Herne Hill the name of which escapes me. There are also some good restaurants in Crystal Palace on Westow Hill, and if you are willing to travel a little further afield the Argentinian place which has just opened in Blackheath is fabulous; I went there on Good Friday with friends and had a great meal with some wonderful wine. Slightly off topic (looks worriedly over shoulder for the Administrator), does anyone know what the shop with red livery and golden crown that has opened on one of the roads off Lordship Lane is? Is it a caf? or something else? I have passed it several times on the bus and keep meaning, and forgetting, to investigate.

The buildings on Lordship Lane which are scaffolded at the moment belong to the Whatmough Trust, I don't know what their plans are. There was a partial demolition at the end of last year and now everything has stopped again.

I know there is one that owns properties on Hillcourt Road, the address for the Charity Commission is www.charity-commission.gov.uk, and if you go on to the Register of Charities you can search by area.

Dear Ma I don't know what to suggest, I know some of the houses locally are owned by trusts/charities; you could ask the Charity Commission about locally based charities and ask if any of them provide housing and what their criteria are.

Dear Ma The local shared ownership scheme is called Shared Horizons, you will require a deposit of a certain value. I think they have a website, as I know someone who is saving up for this.

I have a SlingBox so that my mother, who lives in France, can watch British TV (if you have ever experienced French TV you will know why). Is it possible for her to watch a channel other than the one which I am watching at any given time? The doublespeak on the Sky forum was less than helpful on this point. Any assistance gratefully received.

I used to live in Thorpewood Avenue in Upper Sydenham and we had a fig tree in our garden, sadly the weather was never quite hot enough for the tree to fruit.

If everyone here wants to blame someone for the state of the Concrete House you should direct your complaints to Lambeth Palace; this all started because the CofE decided to make some quick cash and sold St Peter's Church and what was then the vestry. Sadly the vestry was sold separately. The Church should be embarrassed into buying it back and repairing the damage. My understanding is that the original purchaser went bust and Southwark continued pursuing him through the courts even though they knew he was bust. Quite what this was supposed to achieve is anyone's guess. The site is also not properly sealed off as the graffiti demonstrates.

Surprised by all this criticism, it was terrible before Le Chardon bought it but improved hugely afterwards; I have never had trouble with the service but did once have to put up with a truly awful jazz singer who obviously thought she was 'reinterpreting' classics.

Dear Polly Welcome to ED. Taking your questions in order: There is a gym in Sydenham and there are gyms at Alleyn's School and James Allen's Girls' School; there is a local council-owned gym at the Swimming Baths but it is not particularly good in the opinion of most of the contributors to this site. We have several good restaurants and a Caff? Nero, as well as wine bars. There are also good places to eat in West Dulwich, Crystal Palace and various other nearby areas. Brunch could be had just about anywhere, breakfast is a bit more of a challenge. Dulwich Library is located at the top of Lordship Lane, there is a very small library in Grove Vale. ED has its own bookshop, Chener Books, and there is a children's bookshop on Northcross Road. Dulwich Park and Belair Park are both wonderful, there is also Peckham Rye. Dulwich Village has the Picture Gallery, the Chapel and the Mausoleum - all worth a visit. Mrs Jordan's House is in Honor Oak, Horniman Museum is on London Road. The butcher is William Rose, the fishmonger is Moxon's, the the Deli is the East Dulwich Deli; there is also The Cheese Block, SBS Foods, Pretty Traditional Grocers and the market in Northcross Road on Saturdays. There is also a health shop. Sainsbury's is on Dog Kennel Hill and Sumerfield is on Lordship Lane along with Iceland. Transport links are very good: both East Dulwich and Forest Hill stations go to London Bridge in about 15 minutes; Denmark Hill goes to Blackfriars. Forest Hill also goes to Victoria. We have oodles of bus routes, including buses to Oxford Circus, Victoria, Aldgate, Putney, Lewisham, Penge and Surrey Quays. ED has a cinema club called Cinema Paradiso, there is a thread for it on this site. The nearest cinemas are in Peckham, Clapham Common and Charlton. ED is the best place to live because it is green, quirky, was built almost at once when the railway came here so most of the housing stock is from the same period and has interesting people living here. Better than Clapham. What more could you ask?:)-D

She has just bought a flat in Highgate, the only time I have been aware of her being here was for some hustings prior to the last General Election. I voted Tory not realising that the second party in the constituency was actually the Lib Dems and if all the Tory voters had voted tactically Tessa Jowell would have been out on her ear.

I never knew there was a memorial at King's and it's been my local hospital literally since I was born. The memorial at St Peter's is not well looked after, although someone has been giving it an annual lick of paint for the last couple of years or so. The ANZAC graves at Nunhead are probably looked after by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission or the Australian and New Zealand High Commissions, especially if the gravestones have recently been replaced or repaired.

I don't know if Southwark has managers like this, I suspect not. For the record, whilst I have only lived in ED since 1994 the Golden Fryer WAS open then because I used to walk up Whateley Road on my way home and was always relieved to see the GF's lights on after dark as Whateley can be decidedly creepy. I remember how surprised I was to discover it was shut as there had been no closing down/going out of business notices up. The dying plants are also certainly not 13 years dead. Writing to the Bank of China would only be a good idea if the property has definitely been repossessed, trying the residents is a better first approach.

The staff were chaotic, the patients put up with an awful lot.

No, the Audit Commission and the National Audit Office are separate. The former deals with local government, the latter with the big public institutions like museums and also Central Govt. On reflection, it might be the NAO to whom you should speak and I suggest that you just call them and ask if they deal with auditing NHS Trusts. Even if they don't they should tell you who does.

OK, this is bizarre. Have you tried calling the Borough Commander at Walworth Police Station? I don't know which part of Dulwich you live in but my councillor is Lewis Robinson, you might try the Planning dept at Southwark to see if they know anything about it.

Does anyone on this forum know anything about the habits of ladybirds? Yes, it's an odd question but ever since moving into my 'upper ground floor' flat there have been at least 6 ladybirds camped in the corners of my kitchen ceiling throughout the winter. They have started getting cocky now and are colonising other parts of the flat, and even managing to find their way into my sealed sugar jar; where they are inconsiderate enough to die - presumably of sugar overload. Not the sort of thing you want to find in your teaspoon first thing in the morning, or floating in the tea either. My mother suggests that they are a sign of good luck, but when they start crawling across the mouse mat or trying to immolate themselves when I'm cooking they're just a bleeding nuisance. I should say I have both kinds of ladybirds too: red with several black spots, and black with 2 red spots, and they breed as I often find teeny tiny ladybirds, which are admittedly quite cute. There are no roses growing in the flat, or outside for that matter, and I have not noticed any aphids lurking about the place either so I don't know what it is that they eat or where they are getting in. Any suggestions (preferably informative and funny all at the same time) gratefully received.

I believe that an NHS trust is under a duty to maximise its assets, you might try writing to the Audit Commission and asking for their opinion. My mother used to work for the Maudsley and they were always chaotic.

Yes, the war memorial is outside St Peter's Church, as was, opposite the Harvester pub at the junction with Lordship Lane and London Road. There is also a memorial in the gardens of Dulwich Chapel in Dulwich Village.

Can I suggest that each of you who have seen these wardens do something that they should not, i.e. driving whilst using a mobile phone, that you email the Director of Environmental Services at Southwark?

I asked Southwark about this, to no avail, the freehold is owned by the Bank of China and it was still up and running until a few years ago, as the dead plants in the front show. I remember when they were still green. Anyway, I asked Southwark's Business Desk why this and some premises on Lordship Lane were empty and was told that the Business Desk only deals with property owned by the Authority! I raised this with my local councillor, pointing out that a Business Desk that does not actually encourage businesses to invest in the area is fairly pointless. He agreed with me but I have never heard anything more about it. The building site at the Library end is owned by a Trust, whom I wrote to, there was a sudden flurry of acvitity inluding partial demolition but this too has ground to a halt and the empty premises next door, which they also own, have not been touched at all. The empty shop next to the Florists at Goose Green is owned by an NHS trust, they ignored my letter. Yes I have been a busybody but if you don't ask you don't get. The shop next to William Rose is owned by an individual who was apparently living there too, but is plainly not doing so and that also applies to the abandoned premises further up the Lane on the corner of one of the junctions. It seems to me that the Councillor whose ward includes Lordship Lane should be pursuing this, there should not be any empty premises, unless Southwark is happy for Parkhill to buy everything in site. There are also premises which have been advertised as To Let for ages with no takers, again no-one seems to know why or to be doing anything about it.