EDdownunder

The southern website is about as useful as a chocolate teapot, so does anyone know how to find when the last train will be tonight from London Bridge? TFL gives some warning but advises going to the Southern website which offers nothing of value.

Absolutely ludicrous. In addition to this I understand that dual patrols are being cut down to a single officer. This is coming direct from the police commissioner I believe who supposedly feels that two officers is seen as a waste of resources by the public. I personally like seeing two police officers walking the streets and consider one inadequate for action. This must be demoralising for the police being sent to walk/drive london streets on their own but also it severly limits the ability to act, as a lone officer will have to wait and call for back-up for most incidents, instead acting as expert witnesses. So if your being mugged and/or beaten you might not get help even if it arrives but there is more chance of a conviction....great for the stats at least. In any case I will certainly add my objection to this if I can follow your link correctly. Otherwise is it possible to organise a petition that is available at the ED cop-shop to go and sign? Possibly harder to ignore names on paper.

I do not mean to sound ungrateful given all your efforts, but all the talk of announcements of feet on seats, and new non-smoking signs, ashtrays or whatever does not change the simple fact that the morning commute is becoming intolerable, instead of just uncomfortable. I'm curious which trains some of the posters here take as most of the time I can't even see my feet, let alone sitting down to contemplate putting them on a seat. Surely the current state of overcrowding is a health and safety issue and needs to be addressed and communciated. Perhaps you could vary the message on the loudspeaker requesting we all wear more deodorant or something actually relevant to the daily commute. Personally I wish they would remove the seats on some carriages altogether to make more room. Is there a chance a decision-maker could join us on a daily ride into LBR and let us know if he/she enjoyed the journey. Merry Xmas.

I tried to call il mirto for lunch yesterday and it rang out... does anyone know if they deliver?

A few years ago I took a client out to lunch and withdrew cash to pay for it (cash only restaurant) and only when I went to pay did I realise that I had left my money in the machine and walked away. Until then I would not have believed it possible. The good news for me and maybe for you, is that I went into the branch and told them what happened and they did not blink an eye. They said it happens all the time and if the machine sucks the money back in (they used different terminology) and the balance is out you get refunded. They took my details and two days later the money was credited to my account. So go into the branch and see how you go, if a homeless dude with no shoes was directly behind you when you were withdrawing the money i think you should keep your expectations low, but if it was quiet you should almost certainly get your money back.

Hi Barry, Thanks for this that is interesting to know and it will be a good service once it is introduced I think. However, as it does not happen until 2012 do you know why the peckham rye to victoria trains are not running on saturday's? Regards, Mike SMBJones Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hi Mike > > The Southern operated service between Victoria and > London Bridge via Denmark Hill will be withdrawn > from May 2012. From that date London Overground > Rail Operations Ltd (LOROL) will introduce a new > service every 15 mins between Dalston Junction and > Clapham Junction via the East London Line. There > is a possibility that Southeastern trains may put > in extra stops at Clapham High St, Denmark Hill > and Peckham Rye to cover loss of trains from those > stations to Victoria, but this hasn?t been > confirmed. > > Hope this helps > > Barry > > >

Barry, Firstly well done on your initiative. Secondly, I have a query regarding the Saturday service from Pk Rye to London Victoria and it seems to be a permanent loss to engineering works or the like. I recently read that a backroom deal was done to ditch the London Bridge to Victoria trains to increase funds for the East London Line. I hope this isn't true as I love ED but rail links to central London are very poor as it is (apart from weekday commutes to London Bridge) and I think it would be a big loss to lose the Victoria service on Saturday's. It's not easy to find a clear message as too what is going on with this service but as it is the only train to west london on Saturday's its a big loss for me at least. It took me over 2.5 hours to get to Fulham on buses and trains last time out, so please bring back the Victoria express. It would be wonderful if you could shed some light on this subject for me. Thanks, Mike

First of all, I am very sorry to the couple who went through this, I know from personal experience that its an awful thing to go through but don't let these cowards get you down, you are better than they are so do not let them win by making you afraid of your own shadow. Be thankful you were not hurt (or one of you seriously injured or killed). You don't need to be a genius to know that descriptions are kind of important to identifying and catching the gutless pr*cks who use numbers or weapons to commit crimes. That is why police put up descriptions when they call for public assistance. Of course you should go to the police first but the fact is that they will not be devoting much time to a bunch of kids who beat people up. So why not put as detailed descriptions as posssible on a local forum. I know from experience police are not likely to persue resolution to crimes that don't require a crime scence, and this is probably because they just don't have the resources. Probably the best chance of catching these future members of HM Prisons will be through public vigilence, or being caught in the act. I think its very important to be vigilant so you can (if possible) avoid danger by anticipating what might be coming. You can't always do this so if you notice that the perps of the mugging are black, white, bearded, shaved headed, baggy clothes, caps or whatever then the information shared can surely only be helpful. Even if the description is that they were 4 or 5 males that were white, asian, black or mixed in their early 20's, well surely if those are the facts then this is still useful to know if you live in that area. I live near where this happened and if i see 5 "kids" hanging around a street corner and one is wearing a black and white bandana then i will take note or perhaps call the police so its shows that just ONE piece of information can be useful. It's awful when your the victim of a crime and the realisation hits you that its unlikely anyone will be brought to justice for the crime (for that crime anyway) so I think forums can definitely help alert people to danger to help identify these thugs and not a means of promoting prejudice.

I don't have any problems with JAGS, of course I haven't gone there in 3 months.

Lizziedjango Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I agree with some of what you say EDdownunder, but > take umbrage to your lofty assertion:- "It's just > the way it is, I accept it like I accept the > rubbish weather, I know I don't have to stay." > > Are you saying the weather 'Down Under' is great, > compared to our 'rubbish weather'. Everytime I > have been 'Down Under' I have found the heat > unbearable - and found it hilarious how everyone > there moans about it being 'too hot'. Personally I > would rather be in a climate more akin to my pale > skin. Or at least a climate which did not have > humid, sweltering, blistering heat. But then I > find beaches terribly boring. > > And incidentally, so you know 'you don't have to > stay'....well, does anybody have to stay anywhere? > And the customer service in this country is not > 'woeful' everywhere. What an ignorant assertion to > make. > > As for the small shops, even though many are not > to my taste - and not within my price range (I > agree with you that many are far too expensive) - > I wish them well in this 'woeful' economic > climate. Someone very close to me has just lost > his job in one of the small firms locally and I > would not wish this on anyone. > > Back on topic, I have been in Mrs Robinson a few > times and never bought anything as I don't like > nick nacks/trinkets/ornaments for the house, > preferring to use the local freecycling service > due to my poverty stricken state. oh my, im glad you didnt totally disagree with me. you know i think its a bit wrong to be calling my comments ignorant. I have travelled a fair bit in my life and I honestly think that UK customer service is woeful, its my opinion and it's based on my experience. As for the weather I actually have a similar experience, every time i go back to australia the weather is crap but it doesn't change the fact that the weather here is rubbish but what is wrong with me saying that and saying that I accept it. It was a light hearted comment, so please chill out. By the way, I'm sorry your friend lost his job, but what is with the 'woeful' reference, is that an attempt at being funny?

Well this thread has become a bit heated, not sure why. I haven't had any significant problems in any of the shops in ED but don't buy too much as most places charge too much by comparison with similar goods in other locations. As far as customer service ED is the same as pretty much everywhere else in the UK when it comes to woeful customer service. This applies especially to boutique shops where it seems they are doing you a favour just being there. It's just the way it is, I accept it like I accept the rubbish weather, I know I don't have to stay. In defence of some of the posters above who get jumped on for suggesting ED is snobbish....since ive been in ED (about a year) I have to admit there is an "air of snobbery" in the place and I suppose that reflects what the residents of SE22 think of their little patch. Maybe I even add to it myself unconciously but surely we can laugh at ourselves a little and not get defensive?

Thanks for all your messages, it is all helpful in getting a picture of what to discuss with insurers.

Hello all, I know there have been many emails about sudsidence, but I have not discovered a clear answer to the insurance question that asks "Has the property, to the best of your knowledge" suffered from subsidence?". I am new to mid-terrace victorians and do not know whether the funny angles in the house relate to normal movement over the past century or so, or whether its because it has "suffered" from subsidence. If the place has not required underpinning in the past does this mean it has not suffered? How can you otherwise define "suffering".

Awesome thread, its inspired me as it takes me a good hour to get to Liverpool Street from ED and that's about 12minutes a mile. I spend most it walking anyway, so cycling sounds a great solution. I contemplate it often, but the thought of London dealing with London buses and taxis doesn't thrill me. After reading all the posts I am thinking maybe its not as bad as all that. Does anyone scooter instead of ride a bike, or for those that chose to ride instead of scoot, what was your reasoning?

Jeremy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I am cynical regarding people buying houses > because it's safer than putting money into the > bank. Despite that article. > > Aren't all accounts now guaranteed by the > government up to ?50,000? If that's not enough for > you, you can split your money between different > banks. If that still isn't enough for you, you can > put your cash into an Irish bank, where all of > your money will be guaranteed by the Irish > government. And if you are still in doubt, buy > gold. > > Buying a house (which will almost definitely go > down in value in the short term) purely as a way > of storing your money seems rather daft to me! Well said Jeremey, the cash buyers afraid of losing their money in the banks is almost laughable....if the major banks crash and everyone loses ALL their money, you think having bricks and mortar will mean anything....you will be better off with a tent, a fishing rod and a box of matches if it all came to that.

I love chinese food and eat loads of it, fairly new to ED and only had one takeaway from mr. Liu's so the jury is still out but I thought the food was much better than your average takeaway. It was a little expensive for the size of the portions but the rice was cooked very well and the dishes tasted pretty good to me, with seemingly fresh ingredients. I am a little surprised it has been slated but as I said i've only had the one takeaway. I would definitely suggest giving it a try unless you prefer quantity over quality.

haha, nice one, ok well thanks to all for the banter and suggestions. take it easy.

Thanks Moos, I am enjoying living in the area so far, and to date I have avoided the much feared pedantics that Jeremy alludes too. God help me if my thread leads them to me. Gulp.

Jeremy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Presumably you put an apostrophe in the subject, > as "gym" is an abbreviation of "gymnasium". eeer, yes that's correct, have I done some injustice to the Queen's English?

This is my debut post after moving to ED last month so let me start by saying hello to all. I am looking to join a gym and the research so far seems to lean towards either JAGS, Fusion or Canons at London Bridge. I have checked out JAGS and ESPH and the latter was way too expensive considering it doesn't have a pool or any obvious reason to pay double. JAGS does seem a bit small in terms of its fitness area and seems to have limited free-weights. Does anyone on here go to JAGS, and if so can you tell me what the classes are like and any general comments? The only other gym that seems to be nearby is Fusion and this seems to have mixed reviews. Alternatively if I can't decide I will stick with Canons at London Bridge, but I would like to hear the views of this MB before I decide. Thanks! :D