The tagline of this site says that this blog is supposed to be about living in South-East London, and I’m keenly aware that I’m yet to share many thoughts on this.
I’m a keen follower of the goings-on in the Lewisham blogosphere, being an employee of the local authority for the borough, and it is two of those blogs in particular that inspired me to start this one (Andrew’s and Henry’s). Andrew was also very encouraging when I met him at the Catford beer festival.
I haven’t found a blogosphere for Bexley yet, but then, I haven’t looked that hard either.
So, a little bit about Bexley for you. Bexley is a village, and a London Borough. I live in both the village and the borough.
I love Bexley because I can get into London easily (though sometimes I have to run like hell to catch the 00:10 last train home of an evening – the taxi fare from London doesn’t bear thinking about) and get into Kent easily too when I fancy some fresh country air.
What I like best is that, on the outskirts of the village, is a farm shop and a fantastic butcher’s shop, plus an Italian Deli in the centre. This means I can put my money where my mouth is by buying local, and avoiding the supermarkets as much as possible. Smug. (I also think that supermarket shopping is a perfect way to ruin a perfectly good day off work – in Asda, no-one can hear you scream).
It’s not quite as lively as other places I lived (Greenwich, Forest Hill, Tooting, the East and West Ends of Newcastle) most of the time, but it’s kicking on a weekend, when the majority of its 9 pubs will be jam packed. This pretty much suits me.
It’s pretty foxy. We have a family of foxes living behind our garage, and they are very friendly, like the neighbours. As long as you put food out for them occasionally, they don’t poo in your garden (the foxes that is, not the neighbours – boom boom). I’ve discovered that they like cheese, cakes, the leftover vegetables after you’ve made stock, quorn chile, meat of any description and bread if there really isn’t anything else to eat.
There’s plenty of other wildlife, perhaps a bit too much. I’m going to be spending part of the forthcoming weekend trying to evict some squirrels from my loft. The council has some very good advice on this, I’ve noticed.
That was all very positive, don’t you think? More on Bexley at a later date, I think.
Not sure about feeding foxes. When I talked to the animal welfare people at Lewisham they were very down on that sort of activity – while being all for foxes.
Apparently foxes over breed if they’re fed and also they are the natural preditors for rats, and if they’re getting their food elsewhere don’t catch as many rats.
Thanks Andrew, this has made me think a bit. I want to do the right thing here.
I’d heard that advice, which is similar to Bexley Council’s, but I’d chosen to follow the RSPCA’s advice, who aren’t so down on it.
I’m working on some stuff for Lewisham Animal Welfare Team at the moment, so I will take the opportunity to have a quick chat with them about the pros and cons of fox feeding. I’ll let you know the outcome.
Look forward to hearing what they say, and what you decide to do next!
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Looks as though you’re creating your own blogosphere – problem solved! nice blog.
Thank you Nick. There has been some progress on discovering the Bexley blogosphere, which I will cover in a future post. I don’t think we’re quite ready for a Bexley bloggers meet-up, mind you.
I read your blog with interest too, as I used to live at the Honor Oak Park end of Forest Hill, and have fond memories of Brockley.
I agree on the appeal of Bexley, I grew up here and am now back here, again (have moved in and out a few times).
I grab a coffee from the Italian deli in the morning. Grab a beer in the Black Horse in the evening (and in season go to their quiz night). On occasion get the night bus to Blackfen and walk (if it is isn’t terminated at Eltham, I have a blog posting in my head waiting for me to write it on that subject!)
Blimey Duncan, I can’t say I have ever fancied getting the night bus back here. You are a braver man than me.
I’m not a fan of italian coffee, but I love the cold meats, cheeses and jars-of-stuff-that-are-hard-to-find- anywhere-else that are on offer in Melucci’s. Very nice people too, the owners.
The Black Horse is the best pub in the village, I reckon (not least because I live about 1 minute away from it). The landlord keeps his beer really well. And I forgot to even mention the restaurants and the wine shop….
Julian the Black Horse landlord reckons you’ve got it wrong, you can’t be thinking of his pub if the beer is kept well
[...] few weeks ago, I mentioned in a Bexley-related post that I would be evicting some squirrels from my loft. At the time, I suspected that I might have [...]