Young professionals moving to Lambeth for EDGY urban London life

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Self explanatory question, I think.

I say dud, btw.

― Matt DC, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

What have I ever done to you???!

― Tom, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Wot of underpaid temps eh????

― Sarah (starry), Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I didn't think you two moved to Lambeth for edginess. Or did you?

― RickyT, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Has ever been so, and will ever be so - the cycle of London life and regions will always turn what was once rough into new bohemia and latterly comfortable decline until the cycle comes round again. See Notting Hill.

― Pete, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Well it was convinient and house we found = stupidly central and grebt for wot we are paying for it (although front room = no light is a pain in the arse, especially whilst the main light is broken) so perhaps NOT for edginess... of course being a GOFF I would like to move into a flat opposite Camden market hem hem.

― Sarah, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Well, moving anywhere for an EDGY urban lifestyle is an enormous dud, these sort of people must be avoided at all costs. There is nothing wrong with young professionals moving to Lambeth per se.

― jel --, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

To me, an edgy lifestyle means living in one of those houses at Birling Gap in Sussex that are falling off the cliff. Places aren't 'edgy', it's what you do with them that counts. So yeah, dud, if people really DO move for such reasons.

― Archel, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

yea, but looking at it the other way, what are we berating people for? whats strange about people wanting to move right in to the centre of a city? and a city like london too? people come to places like london because its exciting, and more fun than glengarroch in scotland or wallawalla in australia or crewe in england or wherever, so why wouldn't they want to live in such a place?

of course, this is kind of undermined by the fact that we're talking about lambeth here, but you know what i mean, right?

the way the question is phrased, you want to agree with it, say its bad (esp the word 'edgy'!), but if you think about it, its pretty understandable. if you moved to new york would choose brooklyn or staten island (assuming you can't afford manhattan i guess!)?

― gareth, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I did not move to Lambeth for edginess but I also would quite like it if Lambeth suddenly became edge central just to see what it is like to live in a trendy place. So I am still a bit dud really.

I always thought Matt DC lived in Washington DC cos of his posting name so when I read the thread I was thinking for fucks sake what would you care, and then I realised they might be initials or something. Sorry Matt!

Is 'urban' a racial code here?

― Tom, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

No. Urban in this situation means like a city.

― Pete, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I took the question to mean moving to Lambeth (or Notting Hill or Hoxton or wherever) from, or as opposed to, other parts of London out of some conception of 'coolness'. If you rephrase the question to read:

'Young professionals moving to London for exciting city life - classic or dud?' then it's something different altogether.

― Archel, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Where is the "edgy is a rubbish word" thread when you need it? My previous moves in and around London I have generally had a vague idea where I want to live - and it is often places I know relatively well because
a) I know other people that live there
b) I have gone out in the area

If you look at reason b) then it is quite possible that areas with burgeoning social scenes (for which read Hoxton, Brixton) are tempting to people on the move. I really don't think we are talking about some mysterious "other" here.

― Pete, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Gareth, you may or may not be aware that there really is a place called Wallawalla in Australia. It is on the edge of the Riverina wheat belt in southern NSW and is not to be confused with Wagga Wagga although there is only about 100-150k between them and they both are as boring as batshit.

It sounds like Melbourne's equivalent of Lambeth would be somewhere like Prahran. All those swanky shops and restaurants are close handy for meeting clients and other corporate crawling activity but the rates are about a quarter less than the really 'aspirational' neighbouring suburbs of Toorak and South Yarra, and it looks fashionably grotty (though residents would prefer 'raffish') against that background too. I'm reminded here of the character in Doug. Adams' 'So Long and Thanks For The Fish' who loved New York because loving New York was a good career move.

For mine it would be near impossible to use the word 'edgy' in this context without sounding like a complete pseud.

― BJ, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Yep Tom... the DC bit is my initials. I've never been to Washington (or the US for that matter). Actually, this is all rather unfortunate as I had no idea you'd moved to Lambeth at all, regardless of the reasons, so it wasn't intended as a personal attack on anyone.

This thread sprung for an argument I had in a pub last night with some people (working in the media, obviously), who were arguing that they would never live in an area like, say, Clapham or most of West London because it's in some way less 'real' than Peckham or New Cross or wherever. Obviously this riled me (having lived in a horrible South London shithole for most of my life and being desperate to get out of the place) and seemed insulting. Probably because it seemed to smack of some kind of urban tourism for cunts. I picked 'Lambeth' at random, although there is nothing wrong with moving to any of these places per say.

― Matt DC, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Clapham or most of West London because it's in some way less 'real' than Peckham or New Cross or wherever

I said something similar last night, if you take away the bit about it being less real, and add that it was full of fucking ponces.

― chris, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

yeah, matt, i actually do mostly agree with you, but i do get wary of the way this line of criticism can go.

it sounds like yr people in the pub want to be at the front edge of the gentrification, rather than the stragglers. thats the irony though isn't it (if you accept those peoples conditions), that their very arrival heralds the end of the realness they seek (no doubt x years down the line they'll complain bitterly about it too)

so, where do these dudes live then anyway?

― gareth, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

heh when we were living in a SHITEHOLE near goldhawk road there was this hil-arious article in some magazine called "the bush-oisie" or something, all about how shepherd's bush was "real" and "edgy" and all the slebs were moving there etc. oh yes it was so edgy picking your way through piles of discarded KFC boxes full of greasy bones to get to your front door, trying to get to sleep through constant police siren wails and switching your mobile off whenever you went out so that muggers wouldn't hear the ring and beat the shit out of you for it. still, i hear that louis theroux has moved from the bush to harlesden in his quest for the ultimate "edge".

um. that was a rant. sorry. we live somewhere nicer now (though still in Da Bush!) i have never found it edgy though, it's just relatively cheap and convenient.

― katie, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

heh, they should move to thamesmead if they want 'real'.

and what chris said, natch

― gareth, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

oi chris i am not a facking ponce!

― katie, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Is West London really full of fucking ponces though? Once you get past Shepherd's Bush/White City/Harlesden it's just miles and miles of different degrees of suburbia. Nothing like Clapham/Battersea at all.

― RickyT, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I mean, have you been to Alperton recently?

― RickyT, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

i would have thought that shoreditch/hoxton was WAY poncier than west london (apart from notting hill which is alas, full of ponces).

― katie, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

oops, must clarify, we were driving thro Clapham junction at the time and I was more talking about that neck of the woods, plus I was bitter that there were so many restaurants around.

― chris, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

i've been to alperton recently! ealing road, TOP fer yer indian/pakistani groceries. num num curry supplies! (ponce level significantly lower than notting hill)

― katie, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

What Katie said.

― RickyT, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

agreed, rickyt, i thought it said 'notting hill' not 'west london', i think its that often people disregard the existence of zones 3 and out. west london soons dissipates into a maze of flyovers, wide roads, semis, all pervading 1930s neatness, metroland

― gareth, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

and yep, Alperton = grebt for Indian food and so much handier than Southall.

to reiterate: clapham etc = bad; west london (in the main) ok.

That is all.

― chris, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

it sounds like yr people in the pub want to be at the front edge of the gentrification, rather than the stragglers. thats the irony though isn't it (if you accept those peoples conditions), that their very arrival heralds the end of the realness they seek

But WHY does one place have to be considered 'real' and not another, regardless of the proportion of fucking ponces/people who have lived there all their live/people with no money?

― Matt DC, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

PLACE ROCKISM!

― RickyT, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

that's the question that i was trying to verbalise in my head whilst ranting on about GOldhawk Road, Matt. and i'm not sure - it's the "poor = cool unless you actually are poor" pulp common people syndrome obv, but WHY this happens i am not sure.

― katie, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

hoxditch is, of course, poncier, in its own way. ie - there is no neatness, it is still as grimy as ever. it seems more of a work/socialising place (there are no restaurants though), i couldn't imagine anyone actually living there. it soon becomes haggerston, which is just tower blocks - queensbridge road estates and the rest, or the stuff off new north road, not nice. i often wonder, where is it exactly that people live in shoreditch/hoxton? there still seem to be a large number of 'original inhabitants' (as there are in camden still) - unless of course its those houses up towards essex road, which are very nice but not really that near old st. confusing!

― gareth, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I'd much rather live in Peckham than Clapham, because I feel much more comfortable and at home in Peckham, which rocks (Clapham mostly seems to simper). I've lived in Peckham, mind, and I've never lived in Claphham. It may be I'm the kind of dud you're talking about, Matt.

― Tim, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

i live 72 yards from murder mile e5

which bit of london wd be improved by a sheer cliff edge and bitZoRs tumbling gradually over? also tubetrains shooting out of the side of the cliff every few mins and tumbling into the depths

i am currently rereading rubbishy old michael moorcock books if you did not guess

― mark s, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

But WHY does one place have to be considered 'real' and not another

because of the fetishization/exoticization of working class people (because we're not so sure what that means anymore, the old signifiers are dead, and recreated in loaded, simulacra), which is why its 'cooler/realer' to live in poor places, to have a strong accent (esp leeds/manchester/newcastle), to **not be priviledged OKAY**, cuz it 'looks better' to have come from shit, 'don't want anyone to know daddy helped me buy this place'

― gareth, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Well I live in Peckham but I go out in East Dulwich and Camberwell and Brixton. So ponces live in Peckham too you know.

― Sam, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

M+K, might this be something to with Bill's question about middle- class self-loathing? I know one of the reasons I don't like Clapham very much is that it feels like the sort of place I *should* be living in if I was true to my Oxbridge background. Of course, I can't actually afford to live there, but that's a different kettle of fish.

― RickyT, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I don't like Clapham very much is that it feels like the sort of place I *should* be living in if I was true to my Oxbridge background

Do you really Ricky? you're so not the sort of person I was railing against last night. To my mind Clapham is full of Tim from BB3s.

― chris, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

No, you're right. But ex-Oxbridge stereotype = slightly more intelligent version of Tim from BB.

― RickyT, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

murder mile e5 is a bit of a hype though isn't it, i mean, those people were killed for pretty disparate reasons, and i reckon the clapton road is fine - its not a dodgy place. i like clapton quite a lot, its nice, it has a good feel.

i think people find their own niche, where they are comfortable, something they think reflects them to some degree (psychogeography, baby). i wouldn't want to live in the clapham/notting hill type places, not because they are 'less real' but because they don't feel comfortable to me. similarly, i wouldn't want to live in lambeth/peckham/deptford, because i don't feel at home there. it is interesting why though isn't it?

― gareth, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

*shudders*

― chris, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

yeah clapton road is fine: as "murder miles" go it is v.friendly!!

i also live w/i 200 yds of Hackney Community Space Centre, so this is quite a diverse area!! Hate and Rockets!

Except w/o the hate...

― mark s, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

It's all so confusing. I am ever more glad to be a simple provincial lass.

― Archel, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

The rockism tag above is very apt here. Living in Clapham is - for want of a better comparison - akin to liking Coldplay. It is deemed as safe, solidly middle-class, professionals which therefore is a perfect place to live if you fit into this group. Thus by define ourselves against this (I hate Clapham) we are defining ourselves as not being like this. Its the last gasp desperation of peopleseeing themselves slide into conformity - and believing that conformity is all bad.

I have been just as guilty as these kind of conversations as the rest of you - especially by tarring entire swathes of London as no go areas (at current count two thirds of London has been pretty much discarded out of hand) but in the end talking about psychogeography only really works if you actually interact with your local area which an awful lot of people don't do.

― Pete, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

People in Hoxton used to actually live in the square and surrounding roads, Pitfield Street, the streets off Kingsland Road, Charlotte Road, blah blah. Most of the artists I know who had great big studios there have either gotten rich and bought Georgian Spitalfields houses or have gotten loads of space on verrrry long leases in the warehouses around Hackney Wick.

If I could have anywhere around there, it would be one of those cool buildings on Haberdasher Street. But there are tons of restaurants there, either cheap Vietnamese or 'designed' places like Eyre Brothers - the design of which keeps a lot of architects I know in clover (and the nice thing: the architects were the first people I knew to move that way).

Clapham and environs known as Nappy Valley due to large amounts of City wankers with 'oh I do a bit of interior design' wives living there with their creche-aged offspring. It's like Crouch End but with more restaurants and less C-list celebrities.

I used to live in Hampstead because of an idea of London I had when I was 12; now I live in the centre because the place I found was actually significantly cheaper than Camden or Islington and 15 minutes' walk from Hoxton and the West End.

As far as West London goes, I used to live near Ricky T and Katie and found that well...okay, mostly due to Thai shop and good connections to getting the hell out.

― suzy, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Hmmm, I sometimes go to the goals centre in Alperton to play 5-aside football.

Southall's okay, alot of my friends live there or in Hayes. Acton, Ealing, Hanwell, Southall, Perivale, Greenford are all distinctly different areas.

But then, I've never had the experience of moving into London or around London, so my view is very west-londoncentric.

― jel --, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

hm i dunno, i quite like the bush/hammersmith now i've got used to it! (brook green = k-poncey tho :))

― katie, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Blythe Road, where I used to live in W14, is part of one of those 'villages' beloved of/created by estate agents called Piers.

I liked that there were Real Shops there but I was surrounded by inbred estate kids who pestered me and my flatmate; we asked their parents tomake it stop and they were like 'Our Jayson? Nevah!'

― suzy, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

cor Suzy we live like THREE MINUTES WALK from there! yeah i kind of know what you mean and the "fake village" thing is annoying. also nearly priced us out of the damn rental market but we go lucky... but i can live pretty much anywhere provided that i'm near good public transport (CENTRAL LINE), a good health food shop (ie not freakin holland and barret), charity shops and (hem hem but for want of a better word) "ethnic" shops selling spices and that. oh and a big supermarket. oh and not too NOISY. i don't want much do i eh kids? my favourite place that i lived evah was stratford e15 though. mmm. stratford (gareth i have answered your 2nd hand bookshop question btw).

― katie, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm surprised no-one's mentioned that people tend to stay on the side of the river that they first lived on.

I've been in London almost 5 years, and only lived south. I'm thinking of moving to Walthamstow, bt only cos I want to buy and it's the best value for money.

For me, your side of the river does colour things. I don't imagine many areas of london north of the river are any more dodgy than where I live at the minute, half way between brixton and Streatham, but I wouldn't dream of moving to archway etc. because to my south london mind it's scary and unknown.

― Vicky, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

(The sheer quantity of London area-names has me more and more convinced that each one describes an area the size of a football pitch, at most.)

― nabisco%%, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

hm i've never really thought about it that way... some of them do overlap though nabisco! and certainly in Central london that's pretty much true (bloomsbury, soho, chinatown, fitzrovia etc etc)

― katie, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Christ this reminds me of the night me, Tim, Carsmile and Tom named as many London areas as we could. We got bored when we got to two hundred and it was clear we could keep going.

― Pete, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Pete modestly fails to note that he won that particular game. He is the Londondon.

He still can't name as many Paul Weller singles as I can. Oh, hold on...

― Tim, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Nitsuh, it's because London was a collection of little villages even as late as 1900 and also because it's REALLY HUGE. In my postcode alone there is Clerkenwell, Finsbury, St Luke's, Angel, Smithfield, Aldersgate and a few others that only exist in the A-Z.

― suzy, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

The Central Line != GOOD TRANSPORT!!!

(satan satan satan!!!)

― Sarah, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

well it ain't at the moment grrr bad time for power failures in bethnal green... but it beats any other tube line pretty much hands down (apart from maybe the Victoria). don't even MENTION the northern line...

― katie, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

CHIZ I like the Northern Line although the southbound 'this train terminates @ Kennington' WHEN YOU JUST WANT TO GET OFF AT OVAL announcements make me rather IRED.

― Sarah, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Hanwell = in the domesday book.

― jel --, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

for nabisco%%

pentonville. islington. canonbury. barnsbury. de beauvoir town. hoxton. shoreditch. east finchley. hampstead garden suburb. finchley central. finsbury park. stroud green. crouch hill. crouch end. manor house. brownswood park. haringey. highbury. highgate. holloway. tufnell park. hornsey. turnpike lane. muswell hill. new southgate. north finchley. palmers green. southgate. seven sisters. stamford hill. stoke newington. newington green. tottenham. archway. upper holloway. totteridge. whetstone. winchmore hill. osidge. wood green. west green. noel park.

camden. somers town. cricklewood. dollis hill. belsize park. chalk farm. hampstead. gospel oak. kentish town. dartmouth park. kilburn. mill hill. st johns wood. swiss cottage. colindale. the hyde. willesden. neasden. harlesden. golders green. temple fortune. childs hill

mayfair. fitzrovia. soho. bayswater. paddington. acton. chiswick. gunnersbury. ealing. hammersmith. ravenscourt park. turnham green. stamford brook. hanwell. perivale. hanger lane. kensington. maida vale. sheperds bush. west kensington. northfields.

spitalfields. wapping. limehouse. shadwell. westferry. whitechapel. stepney. aldgate. haggerston. cambridge heath. bethnal green. old ford. bow. mile end. chingford. clapton. east ham. forest gate. hackney. homerton. hackney wick. kingsland. dalston. leyton. snaresbrook. wanstead. leytonstone. whipps cross. bakers arms. manor park. plaistow. canning town. blackwall. newham. west ham. upton. millwall. cubitt town. island gardens. mudchute. poplar. stratford. maryland. seven kings. silvertown. walthamstow. south woodford.

southwark. borough. elephant & castle. bermondsey. london bridge. abbey wood. blackheath. brockley. maze hill. westcombe park. camberwell. catford. charlton. deptford. eltham. falconwood. greenwich. lee. lambeth. kennington. oval. new cross. peckham. rotherhithe. walworth. newington. woolwich. sydenham. dulwich hamlet. crystal palace. norwood green. thamesmead. ladywell

victoria. westminster. pimlico. brixton. brompton. chelsea. clapham. battersea. earls court. fulham. castlenau. hurlingham. stockwell. vauxhall. balham. barnes. east sheen. mortlake. putney. streatham. wandsworth. southfields. earlsfield. wimbledon. colliers wood.

bloomsbury. covent garden. clerkenwell. farringdon. aldwych. kings cross. marylebone. holborn. finsbury. st lukes. st giles. the city!

(only counted if theres a london postcode)

i can't believe i just did that...

― gareth, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Oh, don't take me too seriously, Suzy: I just felt compelled to be all poopy and American about it. There's a different name for every third block of Chicago, too.

― nabisco%%, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

kensal green/rise, brondesbury, shacklewell

― gareth, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I take that back: Gareth I now know the true meaning of "blimey!"

― nabisco%%, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

oops, hendon, brent cross. i'll stop now

― gareth, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

well, apart from tooting and london fields and primrose hill and holland park

― gareth, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Are those the lyrics to the single "It's Grim In London"?

― Dan Perry, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

No, Dan: 'Hobart Paving'.

― suzy, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

and i feel quite remiss for leaving out fortis green, hither green, honor oak, penge, anerley, bowes park, bounds green, globe town, northumberland park, victoria park and tulse hill

― gareth, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

LA is comparatively simpler -- everything in the basin is either something Good and Midwestern (Hawthorne, Fullerton, Lawndale) or Spanish or Fake Spanish (San Pedro, Pasadena). Slight difference is that just about each individual neighborhood is an actual separate city, though the sprawl of LA proper subsumes a lot within itself regardless.

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

My whole knowledge of LA comes from Skid Row and Poison songs...so there is Hollywood Boulevard, the Viper Room, Skid Row, Sunset Strip, the Whisky A Go Go...

― jel --, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

doesn't 'living on Skid Row' just mean you're down-and-out? or does that expression come from an actual area?

― michael, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Skid Row? They were Jersey boys! You want Motley Crue and Van Halen for more knowledge.

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Ned ist KORREKT. In fact, my best friend at uni was from Pasadena and lived across the street from Mr David Lee Roth. Her brother, who played RAWK guitar, was asked to be in both G'n'R and Poison. Family threw him into detox before he could join either.

― suzy, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

thanks for the tip...i shall put on VH's greatest hits right away!!

― jel --, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"I'll Wait" is the best VH song ever recorded, in case anybody was wondering

― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Now come of it Ned! Even I know that Panama is not in LA! :)

― jel --, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Beacon Hill, Back Bay, South End, Financial District, Boston Harbor, South Boston, Mission Hill/Boston Common, Washington Hill, Blue Hill Ave, North End, Allston, Brighton , Charlestown, Roxbury, Dorchester, Coolidge Corner, Cleveland Circle, Chinatown, Theater District, Landsdowne St, Jamaica Plain...

― Dan Perry, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"Theater District" is a bit feeble

― mark s, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Has anyone else (cf Vicky's post) crossed the river? My North - South London apostasy (albeit via 18 months in Zone 7) has left me feeling quite un-nerved and shocked at myself...

― Tom, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Even I know that Panama is not in LA!

Neither is Cabo San Lucas, as extravagantly praised in the Van Hagar song "Cabo Wabo," one of the most stupid songtitles ever thought of.

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I've done the river crossing thing. I lived in Wimbledon for two years before I moved to Oxford, and now reside in the more northerly climes of Shepherd's Bush.

― RickyT, Thursday, 4 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

hmm well i don't see anything inherently WRONG in going south of the river, it's just that i pretty much have to be north to have anything appraoching a do-able journey to and from work. i do have a bit of sarf london prejudice though it has to be said... but then i said i'd never live in west london (purely for "i'm an eastendah" snob reasons, not cos i think it's full of ponces or anything :)) and look where i am now...

― katie, Thursday, 4 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

P3nge should always be left out. *shudders*

― Sarah, Thursday, 4 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Has anyone else (cf Vicky's post) crossed the river?

Brought up in Clapham. Moved to North London six years ago. I prefer the north but I might well prefer the South if I'd done it all in reverse. The North is different though (the fact that you don't cross the river to get to the centre is significant).

― David, Thursday, 4 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

What's wrong with penge?

― tom c, Thursday, 4 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

OH MY GOD!!!!! Do not mention it's EVIL NAME!!! I am surprised that the Haunted Dolls House and other stories are not set in Penge. We wrote a diary of a visitor to Penge once. Urrrgh. It gives me the shudders. AGRRHHRHRRHRHHRH NO MORE!!!!

― Sarah, Thursday, 4 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

PENGE is what they call the movie BLADE in hungary [and maybe other places], I've never heard of the place called PENGE before.

― RJG, Thursday, 4 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

(haha "penge" means vampire and so sarah will have to wuv it now!)

― katie, Thursday, 4 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

In WOT langwidge eh!? And remember Ktee not all vamps are GREBT, viz bloody ANGLE...

― Sarah, Thursday, 4 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm going to try the naming as many areas in London as I can think of thing now. I've only ever lived in North London (Edmonton, for 19 years). Isn't Penge near Forest Hill? I seem to remember it being one of the via points on the no. 12 bus route.

― MarkH, Thursday, 4 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

My Lahn-dan CV goes thus :

1985 : Hackney/Stoke Newington = Totally awful

1986 (for one month) : Leytonstone = Like Ulan Bator, but less welcoming

1986-1990 : W.Ealing (Argyle Road, Jel) = Civilisation, but no good pubs.

1990-1993 East Twickenham (Or St. Margarets to be precise) 1993-present day Twickenham = ah! home. Cracking Place IN THE SUBURBS!!!! But only 15 minutes from Waterloo, ace pubs, ace food, the river.... I love it here.

It's been an interesting thread - I think I have a different view in that I have lived in TW1 for 12 yrs and am 'part of things' more than if I just rented a room somewhere. I know a couple of hundred people here, have kids at school here etc etc.

The 'down with the working class' stuff that Gareth mentioned is true and entirely bogus behaviour. The reason is probably that it's cheaper to rent in Nunhead than Clapham. There are as many 'real people' in TW1 as anywhere else, just lots of yuppies too. But all things being equal I'll go for an affluent area every time - much less crime, less grime, excellent transport... I can't be doing with edgy.

― Dr. C, Thursday, 4 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

(hm ok sarah point taken, tho you haf still not told me why he can't come in unless asked, i take it the real answer isn't "he's too fat innit" as opined by aubrey t'other day)

― katie, Thursday, 4 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

penge is short for pengle

― mark s, Thursday, 4 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

'To those whom God has forsaken, is given a gas fire in Earl's Court.'

― Patrick Hamilton, Thursday, 4 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Spent a year living in New Cross (Hell, utter hell, NEVER ever again, awful area) south of the river.

But I always just knew I'd prefer north London. Anywhere in north London. So I moved (also because of really bad Connex South Eastern Trains and a weirdo who would stand in the front garden looking in to the living room at night.)

And I do like north London so much better. I can't explain it. Holloway Road not as polluted and bad as Old Kent Road; Highgate, Islington, Muswell Hill and (oh yes) Crouch End nowhere near as bad in the 'organic yoghurt-three wheeled buggy' stakes as Balham and Clapham and Fulham, would rather be in Archway or Finsbury Park at two in the morning than in New Cross or Penge. Arsnel fans on bus are better than Millwall fans on bus.

― Anna, Thursday, 4 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

south west is best - never live north of the river or east of brixton. tried sydenham once, not going back.

― tom c, Thursday, 4 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

and a weirdo who would stand in the front garden looking in to the living room at night

This is only third on your list of reasons to run away?

― Graham, Thursday, 4 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

what d'you expect? weirdoes are edgy

― Matt, Thursday, 4 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I started south of the river! Lived in Camberwell and New Cross Gate with posse of friends from Goldsmith's; also lived behind Butler's Wharf as my first London flat and liked walking across the bridge to the tube.

Moved to Hampstead and apart from 3 months in Hackney here and there lived NW3/NW1 until '96. Then moved to EC1 where I've remained except for the year I was around the corner from Ricky T and Katie.

― suzy, Thursday, 4 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I have nothing new or original to say about this topic (whaddayamean what's new????) but I just wanted it to reach 100 posts in a week (now 99). Have a good day!

― BJ, Saturday, 6 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

four months pass...

i think i left bedford park off my list of london places

― gareth (gareth), Monday, 18 November 2002 18:46 (twenty-three years ago)

three months pass...

You also forgot Plumstead.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Monday, 17 March 2003 12:38 (twenty-three years ago)

i went through Woolwich on the night bus the other week (on way back from Greenwich Film Works) - the place terrifies me, whats Plumstead like? perhaps an oasis of lush beauty between Woolwich and Thamesmead?

― stevem (blueski), Monday, 17 March 2003 13:14 (twenty-three years ago)

Loughborough Junction.

― N. (nickdastoor), Monday, 17 March 2003 13:15 (twenty-three years ago)

Has the cinema in Greenwich reopened? It was closed when I went there abt a month ago.

― Andrew L (Andrew L), Monday, 17 March 2003 13:28 (twenty-three years ago)

Nope, Plumstead is just as unremittingly grim as Woolwich and Thamesmead, sadly. That whole area east of about Charlton is horrible... real rundown arse end of London type place.

I think the much-missed Greenwich cinema is closed for good - casualty of the big multiplex up the road.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Monday, 17 March 2003 13:36 (twenty-three years ago)

Fear the grim urban landscapes of pleasant market town Ormskirk, FEAR THEM! Is that kid in the adidas looking funny at me?

― Matt (Matt), Monday, 17 March 2003 14:23 (twenty-three years ago)

Nope, Plumstead is just as unremittingly grim as Woolwich and Thamesmead, sadly. That whole area east of about Charlton is horrible... real rundown arse end of London type place.

B-but what about Shooters Hill? Abbey Wood? Lessness Woods? Bostall Wood? Some gorgeous parkland in SE2...

― Michael Jones (MichaelJ), Monday, 17 March 2003 17:58 (twenty-three years ago)

ha! I pass through Woolich/plumstead as I get down there and take the bus home to welling.

it used to be much rougher (it still is) but at times there is a slightly heavier police presence round the train station (i'm trying to be positive here).

matt DC is right: the whole area is a fucking dump but I must face it every day. I stick my head in a book through it all.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Monday, 17 March 2003 18:06 (twenty-three years ago)

I looked for a flat in Lambeth once. It turned out to be a room in an old couple's house and they had rules about when I could use the kitchen and stuff. Har har I thought as I walked over the cracked and bleached concrete sidewalk back to the tube. "bleak" didn't begin to describe it.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Monday, 17 March 2003 18:10 (twenty-three years ago)

Oh God, never live as a lodger in a house with 'rules'. Worst are the people looking for those Monday-Friday lodgers - why not just be honest and say "I want loads of money without any of the responsibilities of lodgerness".

― suzy (suzy), Monday, 17 March 2003 19:03 (twenty-three years ago)

Tracer, that sounds very nice, like in League of Gentlemen. I kind of imagine that Ask a Drunk takes place in a village like that also.

― felicity (felicity), Monday, 17 March 2003 19:29 (twenty-three years ago)

"Virgin Mary?"

"Born in Penge"

- Robert Rankin, in one of his Brentford novels.

(i want to read Starry's diary of a visitor to Penge. It might be a horrible place, but i love the name)

― caitlin (caitlin), Monday, 17 March 2003 19:46 (twenty-three years ago)

two months pass...

i forgot not one grove park, but two! one in se12 and one in w4.

― gareth (gareth), Monday, 16 June 2003 11:06 (twenty-two years ago)

don't you just love that part of the journey between Brentford and Barnes gareth?

― stevem (blueski), Monday, 16 June 2003 11:18 (twenty-two years ago)

And Buckhurst Hill, apparently.

There's a Grove Park in Camberwell too, but it's more of a street than an area.

― N. (nickdastoor), Monday, 16 June 2003 11:40 (twenty-two years ago)

buckhurst hill is not in london. it has an ilford postcode

― gareth (gareth), Monday, 16 June 2003 11:45 (twenty-two years ago)

Postcodes don't mean shit.

― N. (nickdastoor), Monday, 16 June 2003 11:53 (twenty-two years ago)

N, some mean precisely that.

― Tim (Tim), Monday, 16 June 2003 12:01 (twenty-two years ago)

:'(

― gareth (gareth), Monday, 16 June 2003 12:01 (twenty-two years ago)

i wonder if its possible to live in YO0 5UK

― stevem (blueski), Monday, 16 June 2003 12:03 (twenty-two years ago)

No zero postcodes.

― Pete (Pete), Monday, 16 June 2003 12:04 (twenty-two years ago)

there is no yo0. most areas start at 1, there are only a few that have a 0, harrow is one i think (your postal town i guess stevem?), but there are not many. perhaps vicky can explain the 0 thing, i always wondered about that.

postal codes are fantastic arbiters. i am sorry to read the hate being heaped on them here. maybe postcode hate is a sinister thing?

― gareth (gareth), Monday, 16 June 2003 12:07 (twenty-two years ago)

HA0

― gareth (gareth), Monday, 16 June 2003 12:07 (twenty-two years ago)

i was gonna say i know there's an HA0 but i dont know why. i am HA4

― stevem (blueski), Monday, 16 June 2003 12:08 (twenty-two years ago)

are there any palindromic postcodes? e.g. HA5 5AH? oh who cares...

― stevem (blueski), Monday, 16 June 2003 12:09 (twenty-two years ago)

Postcodes are fine, but they don't mark the boundaries of London in any official sense, do they? I mean Wembley has a Middlesex postcode but they still get to vote in the GLA elections and what have you, and culturally everyone is very keen on Wembley being London.

― N. (nickdastoor), Monday, 16 June 2003 12:10 (twenty-two years ago)

Southend on Sea (SS) has a 0, I think.

― David (David), Monday, 16 June 2003 12:10 (twenty-two years ago)

Gareth: "all the hate" = one 4-word N. post?

― Tim (Tim), Monday, 16 June 2003 12:11 (twenty-two years ago)

i think of wembley as betjeman metroland still. i use the postcodes to define what is and what isnt london. yes this is not 100% perfect, perhaps it should go a bit further out in the north west, and e4 and some of the se's go out too far, but it is a clearly defined demarcation, and is broadly correct i think

sorry tim, i thought you were agreeing with him

― gareth (gareth), Monday, 16 June 2003 12:13 (twenty-two years ago)

With *him*? Never.

― Tim (Tim), Monday, 16 June 2003 12:15 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.norfolkwindmills.com/images/postcodes.gif

― gareth (gareth), Monday, 16 June 2003 12:17 (twenty-two years ago)

I agree with him that postcodes don't mean shit when it comes to London. Arbitrariness has never been stronger. Look up near the EN postcodes that should be in there, and a lont of the Harrow ones too. I would not be so strict at my definition of London, the transport zoning does it quite well too. Or the old LCC / GLC boundaries.

The Harrow chunk is clear from the gap on the map - as are the Essex, Ilfordy ones north of SE2.

― Pete (Pete), Monday, 16 June 2003 12:20 (twenty-two years ago)

Greater London aint so great

― stevem (blueski), Monday, 16 June 2003 12:22 (twenty-two years ago)

Available? In progress? Is this some sort of grand undersoil heating plan?

And what of the transport zones - which is the outer edge of London? Four, five, six? Six contains Orpington, for pity's sake!

― Michael Jones (MichaelJ), Monday, 16 June 2003 12:26 (twenty-two years ago)

yes the other boundaries are too vague, this is why postcodes is the best. the map is from a companies website, and details which areas they deliver to!

― gareth (gareth), Monday, 16 June 2003 12:28 (twenty-two years ago)

I don't want to tie my definition to a postal project fifty years out of date.

― Pete (Pete), Monday, 16 June 2003 12:29 (twenty-two years ago)

but they are so nice! and the individual ones boundaries are so well defined too

― gareth (gareth), Monday, 16 June 2003 12:31 (twenty-two years ago)

ok, the reason why there aren't any zeros in postcodes (apart from the exception that proves the rule):

There are two elements to a postcode, the outward code, which sorts out one town from another, and the inward code, which is required to sort within a town.

Take my postcode E17 5EN. The outward code E17 divides into the area E, and the district 17. The inward code 5EN divides into the sector 5 and the unit EN.

(Not sure about london, but there are approximately 20 postcode districts per area, 300 addresses per sector, and 15 adresses per unit.)

The reason there's no zero, is that there are no district number zeros, the districts are numbered logically from 1, (how many house number zeros are there?!) and likewise for the sector number.

Also, it would be very confusing to have zero and the letter o.

At least I think that's the reason! I have no idea why harrow has a zero.

― Vicky (Vicky), Monday, 16 June 2003 12:33 (twenty-two years ago)

Gareth, you are just a sucker for your discovery and understanding of the postcode (semi-)logic which makes you affectionate towards the who project. Equally a lot of the area demarkations are just leftovers from other places being bettwen defined (N4 is a real mishmash of places - not to mention the sprawl that is NW10).

Let it go. Draw yr own map.

― Pete (Pete), Monday, 16 June 2003 12:39 (twenty-two years ago)

Croydon also has a zero. What of special postcodes relating to business zones? I remember all the mail-order companies in Liverpool started with L69 (there were no numbers anywhere near that high on that side of the Mersey; L6x would suggest South Wirral).

And the additional letters in central London postcodes: W1W, W1V, what's that all about?

― Michael Jones (MichaelJ), Monday, 16 June 2003 12:43 (twenty-two years ago)

i know why there is no 0s, that makes sense. what i am confused about is the exceptions, the few 0s that do exist

i have drawn a map, but it is not with me at work. this reminds me i must draw the map of america from memory that i promised jbr and hstencil

― gareth (gareth), Monday, 16 June 2003 12:47 (twenty-two years ago)

why what when and how is the who project?

― mark s (mark s), Monday, 16 June 2003 12:48 (twenty-two years ago)

It's anywhere anyhow anywhat anywhen anywhy, obv.

― Tim (Tim), Monday, 16 June 2003 12:50 (twenty-two years ago)

The W1V's and WC1H's make sense just because of the massive amount of post those individual areas get (business addresses often being the only thing for a postcode).

― Pete (Pete), Monday, 16 June 2003 12:50 (twenty-two years ago)

I only like the W's.

― jel -- (jel), Monday, 16 June 2003 14:50 (twenty-two years ago)

The W1V's and WC1H's make sense just because of the massive amount of post those individual areas get (business addresses often being the only thing for a postcode).

Yes, I appreciate the need for subdivision, but why *those* appended letters?

― Michael Jones (MichaelJ), Monday, 16 June 2003 15:16 (twenty-two years ago)

The reason there's no zero, is that there are no district number zeros, the districts are numbered logically from 1, (how many house number zeros are there?!) and likewise for the sector number.

But 0 is the logical point to start numbering things at!

there are approximately 20 postcode districts per area

Exception that proves the rule: the district HS2 was formerly PA86.

― caitlin (caitlin), Monday, 16 June 2003 15:46 (twenty-two years ago)

Ok, one of our volunteers is an enthusiatic postal mechanisation nut, so I asked him about the zeros.

Apparently it's all to do with the optical character recognition. I can't give you the details on each example, but with Southend, the machines didn't recognise SS10, and so it became SS0. I think it's the same for croydon, and there was some problems with Southampton as well. It's all so long ago that not many people remember the exact reasons behind it.

AS for L69, high numbers are kept aside for high mailing things, such as chairty appeals etc. so the ssytem doesn't get too clogged up with post, with individual's post being sorted into the same section as thousands of donations etc.

― Vicky (Vicky), Wednesday, 18 June 2003 10:15 (twenty-two years ago)

maitland park

― gareth (gareth), Thursday, 26 June 2003 10:24 (twenty-two years ago)

Re. odd postcodes:

EC*B - business reply and freepost addresses in London EC (old district EC* up to EC4), i.e. EC2B is Bus Reply and Freepost addresses in the old EC2 district)

EC*P - all PO boxes on London EC (old district *, up to EC4)

W1A - business reply and freepost addresses in the old postal district W1

WC99 - Competitions London WC

And high numbers, a few examples, SW99 0HR - freemans, L67 - Littlewoods pools, L68 - vernons pools, G70 - inland revenue accounts office, cumbernald.

― Vicky (Vicky), Thursday, 26 June 2003 10:58 (twenty-two years ago)

If high numbers are normally businesses, large organisations and so on, how does that explain the former PA86, which was an ordinary district?

― caitlin (caitlin), Thursday, 26 June 2003 12:53 (twenty-two years ago)

you forgot the slash anorak tag Caitlin.

― chris (chris), Thursday, 26 June 2003 13:00 (twenty-two years ago)

I have been accused of being slightly geeky on occasion, you know.

― caitlin (caitlin), Thursday, 26 June 2003 13:48 (twenty-two years ago)

Surely the PA86 is because the Paisley sorting office used to cover such a huge geographical area? And presumably it got booted when Harris and the Western Isles got its own sorting office.

IV postcodes for the area served by Inverness, and I think AB Aberdeen ones also, go quite high as they cover a far greater area than, say, a Croydon postcode. Don't the LL ones for the middle of Wales go quite high too?

― ailsa (ailsa), Thursday, 26 June 2003 23:43 (twenty-two years ago)

Ha ha - LL postcode in Wales, how the hell are you supposed to guess the town?

Vicky: thanks for all that. It helps me sleep at night.

― Michael Jones (MichaelJ), Friday, 27 June 2003 08:18 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm glad to hear it!

I'm sure the volunteer is going to be coming in every tue now, for the next God knows how many months, giving me extra little tit bits he's managed to find out! but I suppose it'll be useful next door, as there's bound to be someone who comes in who finds it interesting!

― Vicky (Vicky), Friday, 27 June 2003 08:24 (twenty-two years ago)

If someone who lives in the LL area recites their postcode, do they say 'ell-ell' or 'lchhk'?

― Alfie (Alfie), Friday, 27 June 2003 08:49 (twenty-two years ago)

nine elms

― gareth (gareth), Friday, 27 June 2003 08:51 (twenty-two years ago)

one month passes...

Following gareth's excellent suggestion I'm reviving all these London threads.

Lambeth, then.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 5 August 2003 16:53 (twenty-two years ago)

three months pass...

Mottingham.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Wednesday, 3 December 2003 14:24 (twenty-two years ago)

Mottingham is horrid - don't waste the time or the polish

― stevem (blueski), Wednesday, 3 December 2003 14:26 (twenty-two years ago)

it feels like the suburbs too (cos it is)

― stevem (blueski), Wednesday, 3 December 2003 14:27 (twenty-two years ago)

Harringay hasn't quite taken off, but Stoke Newington is running tings and it IS nicer

― stevem (blueski), Wednesday, 3 December 2003 14:30 (twenty-two years ago)

four months pass...

parsons green

― gareth (gareth), Wednesday, 14 April 2004 12:39 (twenty-one years ago)

White City as well.

I don't believe all these places actually exist. What exactly goes on in Ossidge?

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Wednesday, 14 April 2004 12:43 (twenty-one years ago)

Parsons Green, edgy? Edgy if you're the 17-year-old daughter of some obscenely rich landed gentry from Dorset on your first visit to the big city, maybe.

(I like it, natch)

― Markelby (Mark C), Wednesday, 14 April 2004 12:45 (twenty-one years ago)

There is a library in Ossidge.

― Pete (Pete), Wednesday, 14 April 2004 12:46 (twenty-one years ago)

Barry, you don't understand.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Wednesday, 14 April 2004 12:46 (twenty-one years ago)

Who knows what's in Ossidges these days.

― Dave B (daveb), Wednesday, 14 April 2004 13:15 (twenty-one years ago)

ooves and rsoles

― chris (chris), Wednesday, 14 April 2004 13:19 (twenty-one years ago)

i am not suggesting parsons green is edgy. i am merely adding to a list upthread, which was for the attention of nasbisco

there is a nice library in ossidge

― gareth (gareth), Wednesday, 14 April 2004 14:12 (twenty-one years ago)

I saw a lot of electro clash people today. Tried to buy some trendy trainers but the people in the shop ignored me, so I left.

― jel -- (jel), Wednesday, 14 April 2004 14:39 (twenty-one years ago)

Which shop?

― Pinkpanther (Pinkpanther), Wednesday, 14 April 2004 14:40 (twenty-one years ago)

Is electro-clash people the right term? You know...chunky belts, ill-fitting clothes, choppy haircuts.

― jel -- (jel), Wednesday, 14 April 2004 14:41 (twenty-one years ago)

No, they're just dickheads!

― Pinkpanther (Pinkpanther), Wednesday, 14 April 2004 14:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh, I don't remember which shop! I've been in too many shops today, but from now I'll stick with record shops, I know what I'm doing in record shops and can flick through records and CDs at great speed.

― jel -- (jel), Wednesday, 14 April 2004 14:43 (twenty-one years ago)

No, they're just dickheads!

― gareth (gareth), Wednesday, 14 April 2004 15:08 (twenty-one years ago)

Gareth you have none of those things!

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Wednesday, 14 April 2004 15:09 (twenty-one years ago)

Gareth you have none of those things!

― gareth (gareth), Wednesday, 14 April 2004 15:11 (twenty-one years ago)

Gareth you have none of those things!
:(

― stevem (blueski), Wednesday, 14 April 2004 15:21 (twenty-one years ago)

no, gareth has his own style, these were from the pages of those mags I've only ever flicked thru in smiths, and none wore brown.

― jel -- (jel), Wednesday, 14 April 2004 15:25 (twenty-one years ago)

no, but i like the style you refer to

― gareth (gareth), Wednesday, 14 April 2004 15:25 (twenty-one years ago)

the highly coveted brown 'Premiums' zip-top was bought in edgy Ealing Broadway

― stevem (blueski), Wednesday, 14 April 2004 15:34 (twenty-one years ago)

choppy haircuts aren't all bad.

― lauren (laurenp), Wednesday, 14 April 2004 15:39 (twenty-one years ago)

I think I asked for choppy in the hairdressers.

― N. (nickdastoor), Wednesday, 14 April 2004 15:41 (twenty-one years ago)

one year passes...

classic!

― charltonlido (gareth), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 08:38 (twenty years ago)

I don't think that Lambeth is all that edgy.

― The Square Root Of Negative Two (kate), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 12:00 (twenty years ago)

I am not thinking of moving to Lambeth, but I am thinking of moving to Highbury. Gah! I hate housing issues and everything flipping around every year or so.

― Anna (Anna), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 12:05 (twenty years ago)

Can't get a 2 bed flat/house in London for £800 a month, bah. Plaistow is now officially teh chic (some fantastic looking 1 bed places have sprung up, and the price is relatively right), but too far out and seems too sparse.

― Sociah T Azzahole (blueski), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 12:10 (twenty years ago)

i think i'm paying £800 for 2 beds in highgatearchwaycrouchend, but the house will be demolished at some point.

― N_RQ, Tuesday, 7 June 2005 12:12 (twenty years ago)

demolished eh?

― Sociah T Azzahole (blueski), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 12:15 (twenty years ago)

No Plaistow please. Lambeth is edgy because of knife crime.

― Alix with an i ? (alix), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 12:16 (twenty years ago)

yep, knocked down with a ball and chain. was gonna be this august, now they aren't so sure. *that's* edgy.

xpost

― N_Rq, Tuesday, 7 June 2005 12:17 (twenty years ago)

Steve, you can get a 2 bed flat in our road of nearby with garden for £170 a week ;0) There are flats closer to walthamstow central for the same money too.

― Vicky (Vicky), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 12:19 (twenty years ago)

£800 for 2 bed flat? Now I remember why I live down in Lambeth. You can get a house for that here.

― The Square Root Of Negative Two (kate), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 12:19 (twenty years ago)

A friend of mine is moving to Henley-on-Thames - edgy or what?

― Vicious Cop Kills Gentle Fool (Dada), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 12:20 (twenty years ago)

it is a bit much, but it's a detached flat, erm, detached house, and no-one lives upstairs.

henley is edge fuckin city dude. see you in leander, what.

― N_RQ, Tuesday, 7 June 2005 12:22 (twenty years ago)

Vick(y), I did notice a few round your way in that price range, and that style of house would probably suit me best. But the Stow remains a bit too impractical and far out for lil tube-dodgin' me.

I should look into South London more after all I suppose.

― Sociah T Azzahole (blueski), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 12:44 (twenty years ago)

the victoria line is nothing to be afraid of.

― lauren (laurenp), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 12:47 (twenty years ago)

teh horror (not Victoria but could just as well have been, similar thing did actually happen on the Vic a few Summers ago).

― Sociah T Azzahole (blueski), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 12:50 (twenty years ago)

Someone did get shot in their garden in Henley last year.

Which is pretty fucking hardcore.

I wouldn't mind living in Henley.

Ratty and Moley live there, despite the heavy weasel demographic.

― Peter Stringbender (PJ Miller), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 12:54 (twenty years ago)

i think ratty and moley live closer to pangbourne an ting.

― N_RQ, Tuesday, 7 June 2005 12:57 (twenty years ago)

OK. I was wrong. I await execution by Toad of Toad Hall drive-by.

― Peter Stringbender (PJ Miller), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 13:00 (twenty years ago)

Go Team Lambeth.

Kate, I would be interested in seeing these £800pcm houses in Lambeth. If by Lambeth you mean 'Streatham', that's not what I mean :)

― Lucretia My Teleportation (Lucretia My Reflection), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 13:02 (twenty years ago)

Poop poop, mo'fo'.

er, xpost

― Liz :x (Liz :x), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 13:04 (twenty years ago)

I don't believe Toad ever said 'mofo'. Unless Eddie Murphy went ahead and made that Wind In The Ghettos series.

― Sociah T Azzahole (blueski), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 13:06 (twenty years ago)

Arf!

― Lucretia My Ossidge (Lucretia My Reflection), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 13:08 (twenty years ago)

bbbut chingford line into liverpool st (which I take home every night), and blackhorse rd & queens road overground, which can easily link up with north london line....

― Vicky (Vicky), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 14:59 (twenty years ago)

Oh dear. E17 is looking persuasive.

― Alix with an i ? (alix), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 15:11 (twenty years ago)

Dude we're paying £400 each for our place, move round our way.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 17:30 (twenty years ago)

Does anyone live in Milton Keynes? I'm told it has matured nicely.

Does anyone live in High Wycombe? I am interested in the commute.

― Peter Stringbender (PJ Miller), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 06:32 (twenty years ago)

Didn't Deano used to live in Milton Keynes?

― KeefW (kmw), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 06:45 (twenty years ago)

I miss the Hobgoblin :(

and I never did make it into the Three Woodcocks (horses whinny, a cold breeze blows through)

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 06:47 (twenty years ago)

No, Deano lived somewhere similar. Begins with 'H', I think.

Where, Tracer? MK or HW? Or Lambeth?

― Peter Stringbender (PJ Miller), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 06:50 (twenty years ago)

This thread's about Lambeth wot.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 06:53 (twenty years ago)

But High Wycombe sounds pretty grand!

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 06:56 (twenty years ago)

Yes, it is about Lambeth. But Dadaismus insisted on making it about Henley.

Deano lived in Hemel Hempstead.

Lewis Grassic Gibbon lived in Welwyn Garden City, referring to it as 'a village just outside London'.

OK, so I am looking for the northern equivalent of Maidenhead, only less edgy. Somewhere on the way to the Midlands.

― Peter Stringbender (PJ Miller), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 07:05 (twenty years ago)

I think PJM should live in Cricklewood, like The Goodies.

― Michael Jones (MichaelJ), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 08:18 (twenty years ago)

Wasn't So Haunt Me set in Cricklewood?

― Sociah T Azzahole (blueski), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 09:05 (twenty years ago)

based on my somewhat limited experience of the area, i'd say no to cricklewood. the massive wing yip is out there, but otherwise...

― lauren (laurenp), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 09:12 (twenty years ago)

It's the comedy suburb. In John Sullivan's short-lived 90s sitcom Roger Roger, one character worked at a fast-food restaurant called Planet Cricklewood. See? Always funny.

― Michael Jones (MichaelJ), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 09:17 (twenty years ago)

Burn Cricklewood Burn!

― Sociah T Azzahole (blueski), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 09:30 (twenty years ago)

Cricklewood Babylon.

I think Peter should consider Stevenage in his quest for the Maidenhead of North. And then dismiss it.

In my own quest for an edgy lifestyle I have just moved to St Leonards on Sea. Hardcore.

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 09:59 (twenty years ago)

The Goodies' house freaks me out, and I'm worried about golden goose bombardments.

Well done, Jerry the Pacesetter!

Would the Nipper Nephew Massive be mates with Edith?

― Peter Stringbender (PJ Miller), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 10:08 (twenty years ago)

That is quite literally on the edge.

― Sociah T Azzahole (blueski), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 10:08 (twenty years ago)

i got lost INSIDE elephant & castle tube station!

― charltonlido (gareth), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 12:26 (twenty years ago)

when are we going to see the palm trees?

― lauren (laurenp), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 12:36 (twenty years ago)

one month passes...

palm trees?

― charltonlido (gareth), Tuesday, 12 July 2005 11:26 (twenty years ago)

the palm trees in torquay.

― lauren (laurenp), Tuesday, 12 July 2005 11:41 (twenty years ago)

Ew.

― Tim (Tim), Tuesday, 12 July 2005 11:42 (twenty years ago)

― lauren (laurenp), Tuesday, 12 July 2005 11:47 (twenty years ago)

one year passes...

I love this thread. We came very close to moving to Lambeth (council that is) for a not so edgy urban london life, but the melting pot of councils that is Crystal Palace/upper norwood mean that we'll be in Croydon instead. Croydon!

― Vicky (Vicky), Monday, 30 October 2006 15:57 (nineteen years ago)

to be in Upper Norwood SE19...in the summertime...close...to the edge...

― ;_; (blueski), Monday, 30 October 2006 16:17 (nineteen years ago)

Ooh, where is your new house? Good to see you're joining the Golden Quarter. Not to mention the new exciting beer options this may throw up.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Monday, 30 October 2006 16:44 (nineteen years ago)

Still got some way to go before it's finalised, but it's off Central Hill, not too far away from another ilxor in fact...

― Vicky (Vicky), Monday, 30 October 2006 16:53 (nineteen years ago)

four months pass...

i forgot crofton park and lordship park

― 600, Friday, 23 March 2007 05:31 (eighteen years ago)

and The Hyde

― 600, Friday, 23 March 2007 05:31 (eighteen years ago)

Har har, one of us, one of us, you're coming round to our side of the river.

― Masonic Boom, Friday, 23 March 2007 13:16 (eighteen years ago)

two weeks pass...

its a lambeth thread. not a london thread. nevertheless, this is the thread with all the london areas on it

except for some of the weird and wonderful places at the far far reaches of the southeast

bellingham. a bus goes there from new cross you know
southend. yes, there is a southend in london
bell green. do you suppose it is still 1952 there?
woodside. ???
thornton heath. ive heard of this before
avery hill. campuses
west heath. do people who live here forget the name of the pllae they live in?
longlands. it just creeps in
chinbrook. such a place exists!

― 600, Thursday, 12 April 2007 09:53 (eighteen years ago)

These are all the rubbish places surrounding my secondary school and some of my old schoolfriends. I spent most of my early teens in these places.

Bellingham - actually just next to Catford, down the bottom of the hill from my parents. There is nothing interesting there apart from some postwar suburban housing and kids looking bored. Status Quo went to Sedgehill School, which is in Bellingham.

Southend - not really an area. Southend Pond is nice, Southend Village is an estate agent place.

Bell Green - roundabout next to a Sainsbury's Savacentre. This is Lower Sydenham really.

Woodside - ???

Thornton Heath - ???

Avery Hill - nice glasshouse there

West Heath - this doesn't exist surely?

Longlands - Never heard of it, you mean Shortlands, right?

Chinbrook - Hinterland between Grove Park and Mottingham, which aren't really distinct places in themselves. There are some 'meadow's (ie manky patch of grass there)

You forgot Downham, which is probably the biggest single 'place' you've mentioned here.

None of these places are remotely interesting.

― Matt DC, Thursday, 12 April 2007 10:09 (eighteen years ago)

"aren't really distinct places in themselves" -- U&K to these threads.

i couldn't hold back the snark, i'm sorry.

― That one guy that quit, Thursday, 12 April 2007 10:26 (eighteen years ago)

Bellingham, Bell Green, Southend... why no Bell End?

― Tom D., Thursday, 12 April 2007 10:27 (eighteen years ago)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodside%2C_London

ok thornton heath might be in croydon not london

west heath is next to abbey wood

ok longlands is mainly part of sidcup, but a bit pokes over into london

downham is in bromley surely???

― 600, Thursday, 12 April 2007 10:28 (eighteen years ago)

Downham is horrible - I was offered a BeeEnPee leaflet by a guy outside the supermarket (this was just before the 2001 Gen Elec): "One of us, eh, mate?"

Thornton Heath is Croydon-SE London border country and is where both my daughters were born! If you figure in scans and other hospital visits, I think Pam & I have spent more time* on Thornton Heath's roads than almost any other area of London. If it is London (it's CR7, I think). Usual suburban mix of clock tower, Victorian rows and tightly-packed shopping zone with a '70s hint of aborted redevelopment. I wouldn't fancy living there much.

(* - and money. The Micra was towed on one overlong visit to see a consultant at Mayday. £200!)

xp

― Michael Jones, Thursday, 12 April 2007 10:37 (eighteen years ago)

Yes Downham is Bromley really but I still think of Bromley as London, but it does have a BR postcode so is outside yr original parameters (five years ago!)

I'm sure there are similarly unheralded parts of NW London we've failed to pick up on though.

― Matt DC, Thursday, 12 April 2007 10:42 (eighteen years ago)

The crooked teeth of Thornton Heath. REALLY not London.

What, no West Norwood?

― Masonic Boom, Thursday, 12 April 2007 10:43 (eighteen years ago)

im sorry about the whole thornton heath thing

i had upper norwood and norwood green, i always forget how many norwoods there are. perhaps they should themselves, the norwoods

― 600, Thursday, 12 April 2007 10:47 (eighteen years ago)

But West Norwood IS in Lambeth

― Vicky, Thursday, 12 April 2007 10:49 (eighteen years ago)

Norwood New Town! That's where me & Vicky live. Not together, mind.

I've never heard of Norwood Green. Does Norwood Lakes count or is that regarded as part of South Norwood?

― Michael Jones, Thursday, 12 April 2007 10:54 (eighteen years ago)

But West Norwood IS in Lambeth

then it is on the right thread

― 600, Thursday, 12 April 2007 10:58 (eighteen years ago)

Argh, Googling the Avery Hill hothouse has got me reading this and now my morning's work has disappeared. I feel a Saturday of exploring coming on.

― Matt DC, Thursday, 12 April 2007 11:00 (eighteen years ago)

i can only really find kingsbury and holders hill missing from NW

― 600, Thursday, 12 April 2007 11:09 (eighteen years ago)

and stonebridge/park

has anyone ever been there? seems like the place you might go to buy carpets wholesale

― 600, Thursday, 12 April 2007 11:11 (eighteen years ago)

That's most of NW London isn't it?

― Matt DC, Thursday, 12 April 2007 11:14 (eighteen years ago)

also, see top of thread for hilarious "tom thinking matt lived in washington" confusion. marvellous, there.

― CarsmileSteve, Thursday, 12 April 2007 12:40 (eighteen years ago)

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Young professionals moving to Lambeth for EDGY urban London life - classic or dud?