welcome and enjoy.
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Wowza, a true introverts introduction if I ever read one @Mitchy117 lol
Amazing what happens when you push those boundaries.
Sounds like quite an adventure so far in your young life 
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Thanks for sharing, @Mitchy117, itās great to get to know you better, especially as Iām practically your next door neighbour here in Ebsworth St. 
Iāll definitely say hi if I see you out and about.
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Well my tale is not that interesting, but as for my paternal grandfatherā¦ If youāre at a loose end see The Adventures of a Sporting Angler, where I have recorded what I know of him. He could certainly reel them inābut they werenāt fish.
Iām Shaun and have been living here for three yearsā¦ on the quiet stretch of Stanstead Road - down from the caring sharing Co-op. Originally from Barnsley (ey-up!), I ended up in Forest Hill after expat work assignments in Munich, Singapore and Parisā¦ and love our part of London and this new forum.
I co-own a PR agency in Kings Cross, so am another one of us doing the daily schlep on Southern or the Overground. I mix it up each day, just to spice up my life a bit! Eternally trying to convince my business partner to up office sticks to SE23.
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Thanks all, Iāve loved reading your personal introās 
On a side note - if anyone laughs at my pic - BEWARE! 
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Hi @ShaunW and welcome to the forum. A cracking little community is forming here now. Sounds like you are local to me, Iām on Church Rise.
Interesting back story there, nice bit of travelling too.
Hope to hear more from you soon, and look forward to seeing you getting stuck into some topics.
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Thanks Michael. Probably passed your house this evening en route to/from the polling station. Cheers, Shaun
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Hello all
I suppose I should introduce myself now Iāve made a few postsā¦Iām originally from West London, and move here roughly 10 years ago mainly as house prices were much cheaper than West London (it seems that has changed now!). Since Iāve moved here, Iāve got married, had 2 kids, and work has gone well so Iām liking the SE23 tap water.
I can honestly say I really love living in Honor Oak. Itās a good mix of people, good primary schools, good restaurants, very green, easy to get into town and lots more Iāll add to relevant threads.
Iām definitely advancing quickly into middle age as I now spend far more time gardening than watching football. Iām trying to grow sweetcorn and giant sunflowers for the first time this year, as well as my normal staple of peas which the kids love eating raw. Have given up on strawberries as the squirrels steal them all.
When I have the bird feeder up, I get woodpeckers and nuthatches feeding from them daily which I find amazing.
Iām glad this forum has a separate politics area I can stay out of as I think Iāll enjoy it more that way (by that I mean by not seeing the conversations!)
Al
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Nice to get to know you better, Al, especially as a fellow Honor Oakian (Ebsworth St). Hope you can make the meetup on the 30th.
Hi Al, and welcome to the community forum, sounds like you have created your own little world right there.
Thanks for the detailed introduction.
As for the politics part of things, I could not agree more.
Hope to see more posts from yourself and the growing community soon.
HI all, I am interloper from Boro of Lambeth. Born Cockney, raised St Reatham - alright - Streatham, lived in Dulwich & W Norwood now back over the border (just) in SW16 again. Recently I find myself drawn to the area between Crystal Palace, Sydenham Hill and Honor oak due to my love of the small pockets of woodland and old cemeteries at Old & New Camberwell and Nunhead which give an alternative to my local and beautiful West Norwood cemetery. I no ghoul but I love the beauty and history or our less kempt cemeteries and they provide food for my cameras. Sometimes, if there is enough info on a grave stone I will research the incumbent and see what they did in life. I spent 40 yrs driving a London taxi and hating most of it. Whenever I could Iād be wild camping and walking the fells of Wales, Yorkshire but mostly the Lake District. Cycling has been another love. Unfortunately at age 62 and super-fit I was knocked off my bike by a pedestrian and re-damaged my already twice repaired spine. As often happens as we get older the accident set off a train of health problems most of which I now have under control but necessitated retirement. The remaining legacy is my weight which Iām desperately trying to lose. If you see a fat old bloke walking around the local cemeteries with a camera or two thatāll be me. If you inhabit Twitter you may have seen some of my mostly infrared photos of the cemeteries and of Sydenham hill wood, Crystal Palace and Sydenham Wells Park and I was also able to make a small contribution of some āstraightā photos to the Twitter āSave Camberwell Cemeteriesā campaign. Iāve already chatted to few other regulars at Nunhead cemetery so I have high hopes that the members here will be as pleasant. If you do see me out and about (I really am the epitome of a fat old guy walking with difficulty due to weight and back problems and often I have small camera pack on my back and sometimes use a stick.
I am interested in History (and natural history), in particular the minutiae of history - how the ordinary people lived and in industrial history. I researched my family history mostly before records were digitised and have records going back to 1500s with ancestor names on official documents (including the acts of Protestation under Cromwell) and also (thanks to a Mormon relative in Salt Lake City) the diary of a branch of my Leicestershire family who converted to Mormonism and sailed (literally) to America mid 1800s and traveled by wagon train to Utah).
Time for me to read some posts here I think.
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Thatās a very thoughtful and interesting introduction. Thanks for sharing, @vicspics, and welcome to the website.
I saw some of your photos on Twitter and was really impressed (the IR ones were astonishing). If youād like to share them with the forum, we have a topic here that would gratefully receive them:
Thanks Chris. Unfortunately Iām a phonephobe and my mobile is steam powered. I just installed fake android OS on my PC (called ANDY Android) and then opened an instagram acc but having a few problems with it. I do have a tablet so maybe I can use that to show pics from my Google photos acc.
For now Iāll leave this link to one of my infrared galleries on Google photos. The are West Norwood, Camberwell Old and Nunhead cemeteries, Sydenham Wells park, Crystal Palace Park and stadium, Streatham Rookery and woods, Morden Hall park (small streams and Georgian mans) and Richmond park with deer and a couple from Eltham Palace.
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Hello All,
My name is Phil and my partner and I moved to Honor Oak Park in October 2015, having lived in Bethnal Green for 5 years. Despite initial concerns about missing the ābuzzā of central(ish) London, weāve loved it here so far, and havenāt looked back.
I work in insurance in the City, and sheās a teacher in Kent.
Thus far weāre big fans of Mama Dough, the beer dispensary, Brockley Market and St. Davidās Coffee House. We try to patronise local businesses as much as possible (including the rather calamitous opening night at Hattush!) and would love to see any and all new additions to the high street. A fishmonger, bakery, greengrocer, or another butcher would be very welcome!
I look forward to contributing to the forum / community!
P.S - Chris, great job on the website. I think this is the best designed online forum Iāve ever seen!
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Hello, my nameās Matt. I live in HOP with my wife and baby daughter (nine months old now!).
Iāve been a little down on the area recently (mainly because of some troubles with a local business), so thought joining this site might help me appreciate life in SE23 a bit more.
Anyway, Iām a composer/sound designer for a living. Which, frankly, isnāt a proper job, but seems to be where Iāve ended up!
I like the green spaces round here and the amazing convenience of the Overground line, but could do without quite so much of the anti-social noise (which probably affects me because of the nature of my job and with having a young baby!).
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Welcome to the site @MattB - nice to meet another Honor Oaker (Iām in Ebsworth St). Pop into the July meetup (Thurs) if you can make it. The last couple of meetups have been really good fun.
Damian De Leon
Art, Nature, Politics and Eclectic Music
Greetings fellow SE24ers! Just thought iād introduce my self brieflyā¦
Iām a happy mid-30s London born digital designer working in the creative industry for 9+ years. Iāve been living in the SE23 area for 4 and a bit years now and love it to bits. I studied Interactive Multimedia design at Bournemouth Arts Institute, then Media Production & Practice at Bristol UWE. Like most, I love to travel and learning about new cultures, I spent a great 5 years living and working in Portugal, and due to my best mate being French, i spends lots of time in the Languedoc area in the South, where iāve become mildly addicted to visiting the white horses and flamingoes of Camargueās beautiful beaches. Although a city boy at heart, I love the outdoors and enjoy taking long walks in rural spaces. I enjoy a good game of badminton or backgammon with friends, I also have a great interest in food and enjoying making loved ones smile, or, cry, with my cooking or taking them to Barcelona Tapas for some octopus! Iām an avid news consumer and documentary buff, with history, science and nature the main topics. I like to visit small galleries, and have a great love of whats now called āStreet-artā. Visiting the Natural History and British museums are staples for me and i try to go to either every few months, something which always reminds me of my childhood.
Random fact: I was the youngest juror on record at Snaresbrook crown court at 18 years and 4 months (1998), after being called for jury service just 2.5 weeks after turning 18.
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Great intro @DeDae2022, and welcome to the forum
I see youāre interested in politics so I have opted you in to our āPoliticosā category so youāre able to see and take part in all the discussions we have there. A few of us have taken the political compass test, so you can see where we all stand, and if you like, take the test and join the SE23.life compass
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