Borderlands

Would love to know what posties in the area think about how badly managed the delivery service now is and is willing to post updates on the forum. Anonymously would be fine, of course. Or could a local journalist go and investigate each of our local sorting offices and build up a picture about what's happening beyond the obvious chaos of deliveries. May be the local branch/s of the CWU would know? We had no issues with our local post, an area on the edge of East Dulwich, until about a month ago, and now ordinary post (not tracked) is delivered completely randomly and days/weeks after when it was expected - even first class stamped items don't appear - so no point in paying for this non-existent but expensive service. About the Czech billionaire buyout - does anyone know if that means the idea of mutualising the service has been rejected? I doubt it. But I was walking around that area in the afternoon a couple of weeks back, and saw a Royal Mail van with the back doors open and two posties looking at what was inside as if defeated by the huge load there. It was completely stuffed with crates full of mail - not just an accessible layer that could be lifted out. Sure, it could be for delivery to a number of different areas - but there wasn't one of those boxes on wheels nearby that could be attached to lamposts for a postie to collect from. So that suggests at least some of the crates would have been for the immediate area. Wonder if any were delivered to local addresses that day?

I just used 03457 740740 and worked through the menu of options. I think there are five and then held on for about 10-15 minutes until I spoke to someone who noted down the complaint. Obviously it is easier for them to handle if this is related to a tracked item or special delivery, but I just used that as the basis for a request for someone to investigate the relevant depot for our area as very poor practise seems to be set to become the norm.

Hi Thanks for this. I did ring up the complaints people and that was fine. Just gathering facts together. But I was told by them that they would not get back to me following their investigation. I will try and follow this up nonetheless.

I've looked through previous posts about this and realise how lucky we've been up until. now. But has anyone got advice about dealing with the very poor service from Royal Mail in the last few of weeks? Last week after days and days without anything, including circulars (which we didn't miss), some post eventually arrived at about 4.30pm, with one or two envelopes pushed the letter box every 10 minutes or so over the course of about half an hour. Bizarre time to deliver and a bizarre way to deliver. We can follow tracked items online, of course, but repeatedly Royal Mail claiming in the report that we are "inaccessible". This is completely untrue and each time this report has been made no body has tried to deliver, no postie could be seen in the street all morning, and at the time of the report is updated to 'inaccesible" somebody has always been in. This morning I kept an eye on the front door at the same time as following an item out for special delivery which is supposed to before 1pm. As usual the item was marked as in transit (also presumably nonsense) all morning. No postie in street at all at any time this morning, and at 12.55pm the tracking info was updated to 'inaccessible". Not true again. I was watching/listening out for the delivery all morning. Any advice? Is there any point in leaving a complaint using Royal Mail's awful website? Or is it best to contact the possible delivery office? Thanks

Why on earth are they doing this move around? Was loads of stuff being missed by complaining customers, or were shelves full of food'n'stuff that no-one bought? Beware, it's a major mess up. I know their stocks seem to be poorly managed nowadays since supply chains have become more difficult, meaning from week to week you can never be sure an item you usually buy will be there. But added to that, during their current game of pass the parcel with products, is that it might be impossible to find because of some weird shelving choices management have made. What's more they haven't bothered to put up any signage for temporary positioning of goods at the end of each bay. Other aspects of recent developments in store show total contempt for customers on foot who pay by cash or want to use serviced tills. Presumably management in this branch want it to become a product warehouse with minimum footfall, leaving aisles free for their delivery service staff to whizz around unobstructed by actual shoppers who know their way round. I pity the staff who are trying their best. May be the local manager would like to explain the whys and wherefores to posters here.

There are loads of private audiologists around now and at least a couple near or off Lordship Lane. I noticed one just off Zenoria Street in Tintagel Gardens.

I remember the green space before Sainsbury's was built on it and the fight to try and protect it, which was obviously not won. The tiny park is better than nothing but in no way compensates for the giant carpark that is completely out of scale with the store itself. Greendale is all that is now left of the MOL - and it is not a huge area by any stretch of the imagination. It needs formal protection now. Someone posting here seems to think that the only importance of green spaces has to do with it being full of people all the time - but that could never be the case even for formal parks. But Greendale should not be considered as if it is some kind of untended park that needs to be prettified, made more parklike and have chunks removed for private benefit only: it is a rare green informal oasis - a wildspace- accessible to the public in a landscape otherwise full of privately owned acres rising to the Sydenham Hill ridge. I've objected again to the development, this time to the demand to remove covenants and clauses that are there for very good reasons. My objection to the removal of clauses restricting development has nothing to do with whether the football stadium rebuild is necessary or whether football fans are more deserving than residents. This is about reminding Southwark about why they put in the restrictive clauses in first place. And the reasons are still pertinent so they should not be removed. If they are, it will reveal just how threadbare Southwark Council's actual claims to care for our greenspaces, wild, parkified, or ancient, really is as others have pointed out (look at the misuse of Peckham Rye Park for the Gala). The removal of the clauses will also not guarantee the building of a new stadium with its privatised commercial facilities that the fans (who may not be residents) are hoping for. It was pretty clear when applications were put in during the 1990s to build on the green field sites off Dog Kennel Hill (I think most of it was Crown Property or belonged to King's College) that the developer’s primary aim was (and probably still is) to build dense multi-storey housing (out of keeping with the area on that side of road) and that they decided the best way to persuade to the council to allow this was offering some kind of community benefit - ie., the refurbishment or rebuild of the football stadium and, perhaps, new facilities. Of course, the idea was not a commitment to actually to do it….The plans to move/build a new stadium, seem to me to be a kind of Trojan horse application, in the full knowledge of the potentially more remunerative possible housing estate. LB Southwark seemed to see through this offer when they put the covenants and clauses in place and made sure that the application/s specified the football grounds must come first and be completed before any housing estate was built with all the attendant disruption, noise and extra traffic affecting to the local community. They also knew that even outline planning permission for housing could simply end up with the land being sold on for gazillions without any housing or the football club being rebuilt. Then the developer's plans revealed the planned erosion of the MOL and there was an outcry as informal open green space like Greendale is a rarity in this area. But the protection offered for MOL is generally very weak. Really the whole area needs some kind of designation, like Local Nature Reserve (with the astroturf given some kind of protection as a free community amenity?). Then that would mean we don't revisit countless applications for development -and Southwark Council abetting the eroding of the MOL's value or allowing building or encroachment by tipping or whatever during building works that can nibble and nibble away at it until it is gone. I remember even during Thatcher's time in power how the council did it's utmost to support a true green agenda with real protections and money funding to build on what we had/have in the borough. Unlike now.

Does anyone know what has happened to Sundial. Have seen lots of reccommendations for Steve and his team for sash window refurb and replacement, but the web address that was viewable in 2022 is no longer available. May be the company is no longer trading? Any one know about this - if necessary send me a private message. I was interested in the "slimmer" double-glazed sashes mentioned on their website but didn't follow this up at the time I looked. Thanks

Update from Conways: they are apprently planning to move the entire post box to the corner of adjacent road and Ivanhoe Road. So that explains the situation. Hope that works out and that it remains in good condition.

Came past this bit of awful workmanship. Looks as if this job is considered to be finished. Didn't anyone from their team use a form to be able to cut the new paving slabs with arcs to fit around the postbox? What on earth are they are going to do now! That's cast iron and just shoving a load of clay and bits from the pavement works around it, isn't going to protect the anchor. Conways, this is supposed to be beneath pavement level - surely that's obvious! This is an important and useful vintage Victorian postbox, now standing on the equivalent of its tippy toes. There doesn't seem to be a way to contact the Royal Mail about this so it can be saved before it gets damaged or is accidentally toppled. Post box close to corner of Avondale Rise and Ivanhoe Road.

Many thanks for photos. Hope the display survives! Anyone interested in looking for WW2 bomb damage in the area (and London) might like to take a look at: https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/history-and-heritage/london-metropolitan-archives/collections/london-county-council-bomb-damage-maps Sorry for the very long link. There's also a book of them by Laurence Ward ISBN:9780500518250. It's quite pricey but is probably available from the library. Zak Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > A couple of pictures,for anyone who is > interested,taken at last Saturday's unveiling of > the new information board about the stretcher > fences on Quorn Road. > > One of the info. board itself & another of the guy > from the Dulwich Society giving a background talk. > > > Hopefully when they're opened they can be enlarged > - the stuff on the info board is quite > interesting.

My father who grew up in Wood Green during WW2 was visiting here in the 1990s and spotted these on one of our walks. And was delighted they had survived - up to that point. He told us they were very basic (but heavy to carry) stretchers and huge numbers had been made in case of civilian casualties but were not needed. He saw them used this way as fencing on LCC (London County Council) estates in his beck of the woods too. His view was that things were so tight economically postwar that this was considered a really inspired use for them. Nothing wasted. DulwichSociety Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > This event is still going ahead tomorrow at 11am > so we hope to see you there. Southwark's mayor and > local councillors are hoping to be there too. The > stretcher railings were deteriorating badly so had > to be removed, we are glad a couple are still > there to help tell the story and we hope our > information board will add context.

Thanks for many helpful suggestions - I was about to go to Kings and not worry about a GP letter when I was sent an email invite to book a booster at the Tessa Jowell so got that sorted. Bit of an odd coincidence considering sent in my email to EDF yesterday. Would like to understand why it was not included on the NHS booking website (or is it governmental?)along with all the others the algorithn considers to be near where you live once you've put in your postcode.

Looked on SELDOC website and it said that booking is required. If Tessa Jowell requires a booking then that doesn't seem to mean "walk-in" as in "got time now, so I'll go along". Same for Lister Health Centre. And Kings requires a letter from a GP. What do you do if you don't have this - even if you have a letter from NHS about needing to get a booster? Bic Basher Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > malumbu Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Tessa Jowell doing walk ins, but don't go there > if > > you haven't reached your 6 months and a week, > > although I went next door and had my first ever > > flu jab.... It was 12 for walk ins on the day > I > > tried with about a 20 minute wait. > > Was that upstairs where the surgery is or at the > Day Lewis Pharmacy downstairs? My mother is > having her booster at Tessa Jowell upstairs next > week through the GP.