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BrandNewGuy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > When the Grove Vale CPZ was proposed a number of > years ago, it became clear even from Southwark's > plans that marked out parking bays and double > yellow lines would reduce the parking capacity of > the zone sufficiently to create greater pressure > on residents' parking even without any additional > visitor parking. That was one among several > reasons why I was very much against it. I think that the reduction in spaces was a function of introducing pay and display bays and extending double yellows plus plans to restrict other parts of streets - e.g. with single yellows. It?s not connected to what rahrahrah is taking about which is just demarcating whatever legal parking space there is into car sized blocks. E.g. like the car parking lines in Crystal Palace sports center. There is no enforcement, it just encourages - nudges - people to park considerately. I?ve seen it put to very good effect in Australia.

We ended up not going after more than one person told us that it?s a bit of a party place for backpackers and moreover looking at photos of the places on the web - traveler photos and Google street - just didn?t look that great. The final nail in the coffin was someone mentioning the fairly open prostitution - including kids - in the area. Don?t know where you?re going in Cambodia but if you?re including Siem Reap in the itinerary I can recommend DaNang in Vietnam for a beachy part to the holiday. There are direct flights and I can recommend specific beaches etc. let me know if interested.

James Barber Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hi DuliwhcLondoner, > The classic way is to record all numbers place by > location and time slot for a weekday and a at the > weekend. > With number plates you can then find out the home > postcode to postcode area to see if local or not. > I was planning to ask if the council had this from > the last CPZ study that wasn't written up into the > report. Someone earlier in the thread suggested > officers had stated it was local East Dulwich > commuting and not out of area commuting. It wasn?t in the published data, it was from the discussion here on the forum from people on the effected streets observing when cars were arriving and leaving. Be great to know if they do have actual data from the study - although I think the study only covered a very small number of streets.

janepinkcat Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > YES I do want a CPZ. We live on Tell Grove and > are constantly forced to park streets away from > our house due to commuters leaving their cars all > day, while they go to east Dulwich station, or > drop kids at nursery then go to work. We're only > asking for a two hour CPZ during the day, people > can still park if they need to for shops etc, > although if you're local you could walk. I don't think people drive to East Dulwich to commute from the train station. I think people commute to East Dulwich to work in the offices, shops and schools. I think the last time a CPZ was discussed the cars parking near the station were reported to be there after 8;30 and gone by 5:30.

Tried a pre-cinema dinner in Signoria the other night. We had a bruchetta and beef carpaccio, a spaghetti gamborini and a pasta dish with aubergine. All very good. Service nice. Wine fine. Didn?t strike me as overly expensive. All in all we thought it was super and will go there again pre-cinema or just for dinner generally. I am not being paid for this. I have no connection with the restaurant other than having eaten in it once, as described. I am a reasonably regular poster, I think. And I am a real person, as far as I know.

Try Playa Blanca in Lanzarote. I can recommend the Princess Yaiza. https://www.sovereign.com/holidays/spain/lanzarote/playa-blanca/hotels/princesa-yaiza-suite-hotel-resort/ The link is to Sovereign but there are several others you can get a package with, or you can book the hotel separately and sort out your own flights (which will be cheaper, but you?ll have to organise your own transfers etc). Playa Blanca is a lovely area, ideal for families with young kids. There?s a marina and nice market and a long esplanade all the way from the marina, past the Yaiza and on into the little town. There?s some lovely restaurants and the beach is one of the nicer ones on Lanzarote with white sand (unlike the volcanic black sands and hence the name, playa Blanca means white beach). The Yaiza itself is a lovely hotel, two large swimming pools, excellent kids club and activities, great food (we?ve only been b&b as prefer to go out in the evenings) there?s a mini disco etc and a show in the evenings. Nothing goes on too late either in the hotel or in the resort so it?s quiet enough by bedtime etc. Nice family, friendly vibe to the whole resort.

A bus has broken down on the Goose Green roundabout. There is a queue of busses behind it stretching most of the way back to East Dulwich station. Nothing can get past southbound. I went past at 07:15. You might want to check situation on TfL if you need a bus that way this mornjng

Thanks all. I reset the network settings on my phone and that seems to have solved the issue.

I've just moved to EE for 4g. Service keeps dropping to 'no service' all around ED. Is it a service issue or just me?

https://www.exodus.co.uk/thailand-holidays/family/jungles-beaches/fit-10197#itinerary I think it?s pretty safe for families nowadays, and no longer quite as off the beaten track as once was. This is a group tour, but you could of course make your own itinerary.

I swim at JAGS and they don't mind paddles and pull buoys and kickboards (in fact they have loads and don't mind you borrowing them which saves bringing your own) but you'll only be allowed fins if there is no one else at all in your lane. There is Windrush triathlon club there on Friday nights - you don't need to join JAGS for that, you need to join Windrush. There's a guy called Lido Mike who runs sessions at JAGS, at the Lido and at Dulwich College. Google him. ETA Southwark do Swim For Fitness sessions at ED Leisure Centre and at The Elephant and Castle. Ed pool isn't great for swim training - too hot, no deep end - but better than nothing, and the elephant is quite good. The Swim for Fitness sessions are "fin and paddle friendly".

Beckenham Spa used to have great lessons for little ones. Worth checking out.

tomskip Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I can't imagine why you would walk past a very > good primary school to go to another one further > afield. Make your life easier if you can! It only > gets more difficult and more complicated as your > children get older. This. Our daughter has just left Heber after 7 great years there. She thoroughly loved it, and so did we, we found it, overall, to be an excellent school. If I were in your position I would embrace the convenience and relax in the knowledge it's a super school with a really strong and stable senior leadership team and a great set of governors. The fact that they are being so careful in their approach to replacing David says it all.

Daughter started year 7 in September and loves it. We chose it because it's strong academically but didn't feel like an exam factory, we thought the pastoral care would be great (it is) and, more than anything else, she really wanted to go there. I wouldn't say sports are their strong point, and the school doesn't have a pool. (But ours is a club swimmer and trains 6 x per week - so that didn't matter to us). They made a big deal about single sex ed benefiting girls. For every paper supporting this, there seems to be another contradicting it. What they do make great use of is the alumni network (across all of GDST). So early days for us, but so far very pleased we chose it, and she is extremely happy - as I say, she loves it. They do several taster sessions for the girls who've applied - so worth doing those if you're seriously thinking of Syd.

The order you have suggested makes the most sense. You probably only want enough time in Hanoi to get over the jet lag and see the water puppets. 2 nights. You?ll probably find easiest to organise a trip to Halong Bay from and returning to Hanoi - I?d do 2 nights/3 days. So you?ll then have another night in Hanoi and then a day to gather supplies. The reunification express will take you overnight from Hanoi to Hue 1-2 nights Hue. Cycling there is lots of fun. Train or bus from there to Hoi An - 3-4 nights and you could move on to Da Nang for beach. There?s some very nice but not gob-smacking options. Or you could could fly down to Na Trang or to Phu Quoc for some very beautiful beaches - perhaps some of the most beautiful in the world. You could fly from there to HCMC where I think really you?ll only want a couple of days for shopping. And then fly back to Hanoi for your return flights. I don?t think you?ll be able to get all that in realistically without flying. Vietnam Airlines are excellent, very reliable, great service and they?re safe. The overnight trains are fun, once or twice, but I think most people find sleep elusive - though there?s always a friendly cocky to chat to if you find yourself awake in the wee small hours.

Go cold. Avoid cooking altogether and do assembling instead. Get a carton of gazpacho, good bread with olive oil and balsamic for dipping, some good Spanish ham, olives, anchovies, etc. Nibbles and starter done. Get some dressed crabs from Moxons. Make a good salad. Provide the same olive oil and balsamic as a dressing. Buy a tart au citron or whatever and some single cream (organic if you like). If you're pushing the boat our even further a cheese selection and a bottle of dessert wine / good sherry / port. No actual cooking involved.

Has anyone recent (last couple of years) experience of Sihanoukville? Specifically Otres beach? I am thinking of going there with children aged 12, 13 and 15. Magazine reports of relaxed resort and clean white sands appeal, but Google stick man lets you walk along the beach and frankly it looks like an absolute dive. But appreciate Google might have not been for years.

JAGS has fairly good group lessons. They also have a lot of teachers there who do one to ones. Might be worth having a couple of 1-2-1s and an assessment as to which group lessons might be best. They book out pretty quickly I think so you might already find you're on a waiting list for September. Otherwise, I'd try Beckenham Spa.

Water was on on Saturday. Maybe it's a temperature thing - or possibly we were just v lucky

If you ring or email the admissions team there they will tell you the furthest distance offered. Someone did this last year and posted it in one of the discussions about secondary admissions. I can't find the post now, but from memory it was 1,050m. That, I think, was "safe walking route". I believe that this year they are switching to "as the crow flies" distance. You're best to ring and ask them, but I'd leave it until September if you want this year's distance as I think you still get a lot of movement all through the summer holidays, right up to the start of term.

Hello. We have offers from both for year 7 entry and wondered if there were any parents of girls currently at either senior school who wouldn't mind sharing views? Happy to PM you my mobile number if that's easier?

hoonaloona Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > p.s. btw we were looking at the Aspace Warwick > High Sleeper We bought a kid's bed from Aspace. Weeks late and when it did eventually arrive some of the parts were missing so we Waited yet longer. Assembling it was extremely easy but the design is poor and it doesn't have enough strength in the frame at the joints to keep the sides attached to the back. So now it has to be wedged against a wall to stop it falling apart. I'd definitely go and look carefully at how the bed is made and pay particular attention to how the joints are designed. I've not before, nor since, seen joints designed as they are on the bed we bought. We have Ikea flatpack that's clearly only intended to be light use that has far stronger joints than the Aspace bed we bought.

Children that age don't understand time. It means nothing to them whatsoever. Replace attempts to rationalise with routine and clear instruction. Get organised as above. Fix a routine. Proceed with routine. No variation except in the case of nuclear bombardment or planet threatening meteor strike. Actually, variations only in case of planet threatening meteor strike. Sat/Sun can have a slightly different - not vastly different - morning timetable. That becomes a weekly sort of rhythm. No screens until ready to go. No exceptions. Do not engage with any of the morning 'play' at all. Avoid mixed messages. Children are very very poor at interpreting negatives (actually, adults aren't great either). Therefore all instructions should be positive. So it's 'Come down stairs for breakfast, please' and not 'Stop playing under the duvet'. You can be an absolute barrel of laughs with nothing but tickles and cuddle and jokes at tea time. In the mornings however, it's Sgt Major Daddy/Mummy. You can always try a sticker chart to support / augment the above and possibly introduce an element of competition. Good luck.

You'll have a fabulous time and you'll find the kids are absolutely adored by the Thais. In Bangkok I'd recommend Lamphu Tree Hotel http://www.lamphutreehotel.com/main.html - It's near to the Khao San Road (10 mins walk) but in a quiet spot by a klong. Nice rooms. Great breakfast. There's 2 Lamphu Trees so make sure it's the one on the link. It's hard to find the first time but they'll email you a map and instructions in Thai to give to your taxi driver. It has a small swimming pool which is very nice. Very family friendly. We loved it. It's a short walk from the hotel to a pier on the chao phraya where you can pick up public transport boats to connect with Skytrain. Taxis are cheap enough and their AC is a break from the heat. The kids will love a tuk tuk ride! You could fly down to Khao Sok National Park and stay in the jungle. We stayed at Our Jungle House https://www.khaosokaccommodation.com/ in a tree house. I'd recommend maybe three nights there. They do things like night jungle walks, canoeing, elephant rides in the jungle from a centre for rescued elephants. Rooms are a great experience for the kids sleeping in the tree houses and the food there was fantastic too. You can fly from BKK to Surat Thani and they'll pick you up from the airport and transfer you to KhaoSok. Beach-wsise I can recommend Ko Pha Ngan as a quieter, less resort-y island from Samui. Away from Haad Rin and the full moon party, the island is very quiet. Try the east of the island http://www.phangan.info/index.cfm?action=beaches.beach&idbeach=4 We stayed in huts with a fan and a shower and not much else on Pan Yai. It was idillic. Water is lovely to swim in. Once at night we saw phosphorescence. Very very child friendly. If you want a bit of 5 star + kids club tho, Samui is a perfectly nice place though I think the beaches themselves aren't as nice. You can fly to Samui, and there are boats that will transfer you direct to Ko Pha Ngan - I believe there's a speed boat transfer, if that's appealing! Chang Mai is lovely to if you want to go north, and an idea might be to get the overnight train from Bangkok. Kids love sleeping in a bunk on an overnight train. Adults I think find it generally less amusing but not dreadful. It's got the walls and the night market and you can organise all sorts of activities from Chang Mai. You could get a bus back to BKK and stop off in either Ayutthaya and or Suckhothai. You can hire cycles and rise round all the nice old ruins. Kanchanaburi, I think, is less suitable for kids. It will be absolutely roasting there and there's not that much to do that's very kid friendly. Hope some of that is helpful and you all have a wonderful time.

Contact Andrew Karoly here http://www.partywalls-london.co.uk/index.html - he'll have a chat with you and explain what your options are and there are template letters on the website etc. I found him via this forum and used him when we did a loft conversion. He was extremely helpful and his rates were very reasonable - certainly small beer when compared with the cost of knocking through a reception. PM me for more details if you like.