Comedy

I had a flyer put through my letterbox yesterday. It advertises Comedy On The Common at The Pavilion.

I really like the idea of a comedy night. It goes on to state 'alternative comedy with top acts from the comedy circuit'. I don't expect to see Harry Hill or Alan Carr, but hey, someone's taken the initiative to put on some entertainment for the good folk o' the Shire.

The venue is The Pavilion. Does that mean that scruffy bomb shelter outside The Old Mill? I thought that was a changing room for the rugby club. If so, then I'm not too sure about watching stand-up with the aroma de jock-strap wafting around.

Anyway, it's Sunday 24th (February I suppose), at 7pm. £7 entry.

Listen up

Many many thanks to those of you who have redressed the balance in TOILETGATE. Nobody has ever laid claim that Plumstead is a picture of urban utopia, but some have better experiences than others.

One lovely listener has commented with such positive energy that I'm going to vote for her in the next local elections (whether she stand or not).

Planetplumstead says:-
Sorry Dr Pangloss but I’m going to lead off alarming, please humour me…

Plumstead undoubtedly has it's share of woes and sadly certain areas do experience more problems than others. I sympathise with those who believe Plumstead has become “a toilet”. If I’m honest there are a few areas for which this is a good description. In contrast, there are some very beautiful and well-cared-for spots. Perhaps those of us who are involved with caring for the local environment should take this on board and organise some “familiarisation visits”, rather like Nick did as part of the Green Chain celebrations. This way, old/sick/isolated/frightened folk like Anonymous can share the delights of Plumstead’s natural environment in safety and get to meet others who do too.

To my mind, and as previously pointed out on this blog, numbers do make the difference. To give an example, there are some Glyndon estate residents who endure continuous ASB problems with drug dealers and related crimes. To help counter this they formed themselves into a residents’ association and now have the attention of GBC councillors and the Met’s safer neighbourhood team. It would be naïve to think that this solves all their problems, it doesn’t, it simply helps keep up the fight. It also gives them a voice, helps them feel less isolated, and gives them some level of control. We should be glad of these efforts because problems quickly spread out into neighbouring areas and ultimately gives us all issues with crime and safety.

Wearing my Girl Guides hat, I’d like to say that if you feel strongly about our problems then think about getting involved with a local group like the PCEG or one of the residents’ associations. If Plumstead doesn’t have a collective voice then it’s difficult as individuals to demand action from the authorities. Before I joined the PCEG, I used to just sit at home and moan about everything. Now, although I still moan about everything, I at least get involved with doing something practical about our problems. I’ve also met a great bunch of other locals and it has made me realise that lots of people do care about what happens to Plumstead.

Slade Green

Messing about on the interweb, somehow I've managed to come across a website for Slade Green. I don't really know where it is, but do know it's along the Plumstead railway line.

Best of all, the photo page is quite spectacular. Featured photos include Londis, a post box and a toliet [sic]. It did make me wonder though if a fully blown Plumsteadshire website would prove equally mundane. Having said that, the person who runs the site seems to have a light-hearted tone of voice for the site. Nice.

back to business

The new estate agent, Beaumont Gibbs, is looking rather snazzy. We don't really need another shop to stare at unaffordable property, but it's better than staring at piles of plasterboard which used to adorn the space.

Just to redress the balance of impartiality, there are other splendid estate agents to browse.

David Evans
Robinson Jackson
Your Move
Goodwin Ellis

The new opticians over at the Slade seems to have slowed its' fit-out. Maybe they've taken off their rose-tinted lorgnettes and seen the Mad Max reality.

unhappy person

There's a nasty spat emerging from A.N.Onymous.

Anonymous says :-
In essence, after all, when all is said and done and at the end of the day.....PLUMSTEAD IS JUST A TOILET!

I don't mind people saying what they think. You hate the place, well fair enough, but why moan on a blog? Have you been pro-active in bettering your own part of Plumstead? I guess not. If you are so bitter and twisted and have so much hatred of this area, then move. What part of London do you want to go that is crime-free? Hackney? Plaistow? Barking? Tottenham? Stratford? OK, not East London then. Let's try South. Brixton? Streatham? West Norwood? Oh no, they call that the Wild West Norwood now don't they? Catford? Camberwell? New Cross? Peckham? Rotherhithe? Oh dear, we've kinda ruled out half of London by now. I could carry on, but will spare you the insult.

Nobody has ever pretended that Plumstead is all roses. You're absolutely right though, it certainly does have its' fair share of horrible areas, but I for one prefer to make the most of what we have and do my tiny little bit to help improve matters.

As for your shallow insight into the local newspaper stories, well I hate to burst your bubble there, but everybody knows that good news doesn't sell.

Stay safe!!!!

Good people of the Shire, please take care. This evening, I have had two very similar incidents.

1) A complete stranger knocked on my door and told me that they saw a man taking too much interest in my motor. I thanked them and have now booby-trapped my ride.

2) I walked out of my house and saw a man lingering by my neighbour's car. It was parked on the Common side of Plumstead Common Road. As I am now quite fired-up about the possibility of my property being stolen, I started walking towards him, not thinking about the potential danger. He looked suspicious and I asked if he was alright (not in a caring way, you understand), and he said he dropped his phone. Reality kicked in and I backed off, thinking he could be carrying a blade, then I knocked on my neighbour's door and we checked the car out. Smashed rear quarter window, but nothing stolen. I felt so bad, as I was inches from stopping him. Here's a description for what it's worth. He was around 5' 9" medium build. Dare I say it - East European looking. Shortish dark hair back combed. Spoke with a usual South East London accent.

Don't ever leave anything in your car, even if it's worthless. These might be unconnected incidents, but I'll see tomorrow morning if I've had my motor stolen.

Be vigilant and stay safe!!!!

more Nellie

Well it would seem that elephants are like buses, you don't get one for years and then two turn up at once. Not strictly true as I'm just being frivolous; I saw the same pink elephant again yesterday and it brought a smile to my face. Simple pleasures eh? I don't know what the elephant means though.

Moving onto a less cheery subject, I only have to say the tragic words 'KITCHEN CADDY'.

I guess like most people, I'm all for recycling. My recycling bin has always filled up much more quickly than the refuse bin, but my kitchen is now bin heaven. One for dry recycling, one for refuse, one for milk & juice cartons and then the KITCHEN CRAPPY. Oh yes, how can I forget the small pile of newspapers to line the bottom of my new addition?

This must also affect the changing use/aesthetic of the English garden. Oh, once were pretty hedged and bordered with pansies (no sniggering at the back), see roads around Shrewsbury House - dey is well nice innit? Then the horrible curse of driveways came along. Concrete all over the front garden and more recently, impressed concrete, see Welling. And once were one black bin, we now have two plus black refuse bags flanking our front doors. Such a horrible view of our homes. What must Betjeman think of this?