SE23 Forum

[Moved from Beyond SE23 > Lewisham borough a vibrant place to live -admin]

Blue Eyes - there must be some awards for the longest and most well informed posts. I am a recent resident of SE London, celebrating my 20th aniversary about a week ago. In saying vibrant I was talking about how those from different backgrounds get on. London being progressively more an multi-ethnic society. From what I was made aware of it fares much better than other parts of London, which must be a good thing. Now I was brought up in a not particularly exciting market town, which has now had virtually every bit of spare land that was not green belt built on (lovely Stepford Wife estates). And no longer a market town just an extension of the nearby city. And no market anymore! Lots of duel carriageways and motorways. I would have no desire to move back (although of course I'll tell you Southern softies how wonderful it is) yet no doubt the incomers seriously rate it. And now we have made our home here I quite like the place, although I am very selective! Take your point about Croydon.

"...but I only get one post and that was somebody who make Morrisey look liberal and have a profound respect for other ethnic groups."

"Morrissey donates ?28,000 to show (baggydave) he really hates racism."
(http://music.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0...64,00.html)

Led to believe that the jury's still out that. I shouldn't need to explain that it was a facetious comment.

No problem - I agree titles like "National Front Disco" do not show Morrissey in the best light, but I just thought it only fair to mention his donation, in case he happens to read this excellent thread.

PS Did your market town have a running battle with the next nearest market town?
In my experience, these lovely little country towns are not so friendly once the sun sets, and if you are thought to originate from a few miles away, let alone another country, then you can quite easily get an unprovoked slap.
These xenophobic feuds between towns have run for hundreds of years, and I seriously doubt if the country was all roses and light pre-mass immigration in the 60/70s, like our BNP friends would have us believe.
Give me London/Forest Hill any day, over a market town.

Love and peace to you too Perryman!

In my teenage years most of the fighting was based around schools, so town centre wasn't too bad. Much worse when I lived in Abingdon, who'd take turn to take on Didcot, or Harwell village, or Wantage. And of course if you went into Oxford you'd get bashed for looking like a student. Not that I was one I hasten to add. Had a similar experience in Edenbridge - Friday night is out with the lads, and your girlfriend goes out with her mates. But if you are in the same pub as her, you then pick on the first male of your age who looks in her direction. Croydon and Bromley give me the same sense, whereas central London is not territorial, and similarly never felt that vulnerable in Forest Hill. Saw the odd fight in Streatham High Street, and outside the Greyhound in Sydenham many years ago, but generally it was like for like, ie not indisriminant picking on a nerd. And of course it has happened for hundreds of years. Ah those hormones.

Essentially I think it's horses for courses. But after 40 years of living in SE London, I moved to my market town around 15 years ago. Sure, the daily commute to London can be a chore but overall I have no regrets.

Interestingly, there are many similarities between where I used to live and where I live now. I think that probably explains why I was originally attracted to my market town. It reminded me of where I had been living. It's just that nothing here is quite so extreme as it is in SE London, which for me equals a more relaxing lifestyle.

If I were half my age then I would be more than happy to still be living in SE London, but I'm not and as retirement begins to beckon I feel my market town is the place where I prefer to be.

Glad to see that this thread has got onto a good subject, ie where to have a good fight in the area. Can anyone recommend a good spot for example when my teenage relative comes to visit? He finds London so boring.