172

You'll probably know 172 best as a repdigit in base 6, but 172 is also a bus, and a very handy way of getting home from New Cross if the trains to Brockley are in trouble.

Combined with the the 171, it offers a pretty reliable service in our experience.

But local resident Paul Bell is less impressed and has launched a "Better 172 Now" campaign, highlighting problems ranging from an ageing fleet to surly drivers.

He says:

“After a long day working and a commute home of over an hour, the last thing you want is to be thrown off the bus half way between your destination, because the doors won’t work or the someone in an office decides the bus is running late and will look bad on their reported punctuality figures. They can get away with this poor service because we the customer says nothing.”

Visit his site now to find out more.

Love Your Local

At Brockley Central, we try to keep business and blogging separate. We may spend more time than is strictly advisable from a career development point of view blogging at work and infuriating our colleagues with lengthy diatribes about why everyone should move to South East London but we try to keep our clients off this blog.

However, in this case, it's highly relevant.

Lately, our colleagues on the Stella Artois account have been putting the rest of us to shame. From launching airships to 4% beers, they've been busy. Now, they're helping to save London's pub culture:

Stella Artois is proud to announce the launch of its exciting new community awards scheme, ‘Love Your Local’. The competition, which is being spearheaded by Jason Flemyng aims to celebrate the role that pubs play in being a key part of their local communities and supporting responsible drinking.

The competition will run throughout London for the next three months. Pub goers will get the chance to nominate their favourite London pubs for the new Stella Artois award of “London’s Best Loved Local” The competition will celebrate the role pubs play in their local communities.
Jason Flemyng, actor and London landlord, says, “Love Your Local is a really positive campaign for pubs and communities which can demonstrate how pubs reach out to their customers and play an important role in promoting responsible drinking. I am excited to be part of this celebration of ‘the local,’ and keeping it where it belongs, in the heart of a community.

Stuart MacFarlane, President of InBev UK that produces Stella Artois, says: “Stella Artois is proud to support this major new award for London pubs. The competition will recognize and reward pubs that are the lynchpins of their local communities, offer a welcoming atmosphere for their customers to relax in and socialize and of course support responsible drinking.”

The prize is worth winning - as well as some guaranteed exposure in the Evening Standard the winning pub will get some money for venue improvements and a lovely plaque to put on their wall.

http://www.loveyourlocal.co.uk/

Now, given our connection to this promotion, we can't suggest which pubs readers might like to nominate, but it seems to us that there are some obvious candidates around here. Despite the dramatic loss of pubs in Lewisham, there are still places that have gone out of their way to work with local people to create great community pubs. And one or two that haven't.

It takes a couple of minutes to nominate a pub and it would be great to see some support for our best locals.

Speedicars sign: End of Days

The Speedicars sign is terminated. Cllr Alexander has confirmed that Speedicars have agreed to take it down within two weeks and replace it with something better. Which goes to show what can be achieved with the application of a little Red Heat from local people.

The old sign represented a Raw Deal for the local streetscape and we can now expect a Junior version, hopefully at relatively little cost to the business.

Thanks to the Council for taking action and we hope that the resulting sign will be a big improvement.

Oscars, Ladywell Road

A new cafe called "Oscars" on Ladywell Road has just opened. The website is still under construction, but in-between the Lorem Ipsum you can find some work-in-progress photos, which give an idea of what the cafe now looks like. Here's a shot of the garden - stray ladders indicating that the photo dates back to when it was a building site.

The BC review will follow soon, but please post your comments and reviews here. BC reader Pete says:

"I went with my wife on Saturday and it was really nice. They do a good range of sandwiches, quiches and pastries whilst also having some very nice looking ice creams."

Which is a good start.

Brockley Christmas Market will be back

One tidbit we learned on our walkabout is that, following the success of the 2007 Christmas Market on Coulgate Street, the Council and Brockley Cross Action Group have confirmed that it will be repeated this December.

It was a lovely little event last year and, with more shops open in the area this time, we can hope that it will get even more support from local traders - as well as the other community groups that took part last year.

Wednesday deadline for White Hart Stripclub application

As reported in the South London Press the landlord of the White Hart "Hotel" in New Cross has lodged an application with the Council in the hope that he will be allowed to introduce strippers to turn around the pub's ailing fortunes.

The matter will go before Lewisham Council's Licensing Committee on August 14th and the deadline to register your views with Lewisham Licensing (licensing@lewisham.gov.uk) is tomorrow.

Hilly Fields Summer Sport for Kids

Throughout the summer school holiday, Hilly Fields is playing host to a range of sports classes for young children, run by Lewisham Council.

From July 28th to August 22nd, every weekday, there will be free fun sport and games activities for under-5s.

Head to the playground between 11am and 4pm to get involved.

Or visit www.teachsport.org for more details.