the_hermit

You used to be able to stay at the Salvation Army Training College by Denmark Hill for very little (like a hall of residence; not a homeless hostel!). You have to sign something to say you will not bring in or consume alcohol. Iirc they served breakfast too. And yes The Dog is much better than it used to be.

We used Gareth James and they were fine. I don't have experience (as a seller) of other agents though.

I am with you on the cheap feel to the new equipment. The older (but higher quality) weights equipment was shabby looking. They could have just refurbed the padding and it would have lasted indefinitely at lower financial and environmental cost. Also with you if you feel there isn't enough low weight equipment. (I am no spring chicken myself)

I'm afraid I agree with char1i3. That Post Office does not deserve to survive. I doubt the elderly gain much from such lacklustre and restrictive service. What they do gain can surely be delivered in a more productive way either by the Post Office or someone else.

Free weights (not necessarily heavy ones) is one of the activities older people most benefit from. They help stop muscle deterioration and promote stability in a way cardio- and weight-based-machines do not. It is a common misconception that free weights = bodybuilders. There isn't really any substitute for free weights whereas e.g. instead of using a treadmill you can go for a walk or a run or attend a class (and it's much more environmentally friendly!)

Yup I've used these guys for 7 years or so for work, probably over 50 times at all times of day and night and they've never yet let me down.

I went on Xmas Eve and thought it was pretty good. Water fountains not plumbed in yet. Despite there being ample space there's only one level bench press station (which is admittedly the same as before but seems a shame not to use the space to duplicate a popular piece of equipment). The bench press stations also only now have one (adjustable) hook so it's more difficult to bail out without a spotter.

Closed for now Closed for at least 30 minutes from now CPR closed both ways at the Goose Green end.

It's sad that Which? Local doesn't exist anymore and has been replaced by Which Trusted Traders which is riddled with the same conflicts of interest as CheckATrade etc al. The old Which? Local was completely run by subscribers and paywalled off so fake reviews were rare/v expensive. Traders did not pay a fee to appear on it and as far as I know had v little influence over what appeared there. I sourced several trades from that excellent site! I had major issues with Chris Ball Roofing (who appear to be no longer trading) who had a 4.9* rating across 100+ reviews on CheckATrade. Given what I experienced when I v politely questioned their work (with a clear diary/photo timeline) I cannot believe the 4.9* rating was representative. I believe either bad reviews were rejected and/or there were conflicts of interest in a number of the good reviews.

I went for lunch today, not having been since shortly after it opened for eat-in, and it was outstanding. First time around the food was obviously great, but the menu too confusing and the staff not clear enough explaining it or making recommendations. Everything seems a lot slicker now and I think it deserves it's great reputation.

Not to be too gloomy but the SRA are pretty hopeless. They seem to spend loads of resource hammering easy minor negligence cases relative to serious difficult cases like fraud. The SRA is itself under investigation: https://legalservicesboard.org.uk/news/enforcement-action-begun-against-sra-following-axiom-ince-review

Interesting... I couldn't find any districts where all four compass points are used, but now I have! Harrow East is a constituency, but is it a place?!

And Croydon, Acton, Harrow, Finchley, Kensington. I think they all miss a compass point: North, South, East, South and East respectively.

West Peckham surely?

There are a v small number of buyers (big tech, corp law, finance...) who have a budget £x and a target area y. They look in y and will pay £x for the best house they can find regardless of the economics/comparables elsewhere I'd say usually these sorts of people would also be looking in DV and around Marmora Road, but I guess the estate agents are hoping for someone whose y is "<60 seconds walk from the nice bit of Lordship Lane".