Just to regurgitate this again

I know this has been mentioned in numerous other blogs and the free-sheets, but my favourite London website, the Londonist, also posted on this the other day too: http://londonist.com/2009/04/new_york_times_loves_deptford.php

So, apparently, Deptford and New Cross are to be inundated with young hipsters trying to spot some real old fashioned gor-blimey.

I am in need of a favourite pub still, and the Amersham Arms was on my list of places to visit, but apparently according to the article, it is far too cool for me. The search continues...

Not that I want to jinx myself here...

So, whilst scouting areas to live I had put New Cross pretty high on my list early on due to affordability. Needless to say, stories like this did not help me much: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8020498.stm

Researching crime stats I suppose is one of those things that people do when checking out an area, along with schools, council tax and the like. Lurid stab and set-alight stories do not help people when deciding whether they want to move to an area or not. The Met's crime mapping (http://maps.met.police.uk/) does not help things either - there is plenty of red and orange when SE14 is typed in.

Having lived for numerous years in some areas that some may describe as 'rough', my views of New Cross being a 'bit lively' on the nighttime differ from those people who had previously lived in some leafy suburb of Surrey. The reality seems to be that unless you are hanging around at 4am in some ill-lit back street, or are yourself engaged in some illicit activity, or have lost basic common-sense that must be employed when living in any major city, then dodgy-dealings may hopefully pass you by.

I reserve this spot

As a new member to the home-owning fraternity, and in order to mark my assimilation into the local culture, and to anticipate being an "active citizen", I have decided to start this blog.

Hatcham, as I am sure South-East Londoners will know, is in South East London. Or was. But sort of is too.

Thesedays, it tends to get called New Cross, or New Cross Gate: names that were solidified in geography by the arrival of the railways into this part of the world.

This little post is to set out the parameters of the hackery it hopes to contain, namely: an exploration by this hack into this new part of London, details of local interest, news that is topical, experiences of local trade, and no doubt ultimately grumblings and gripes most commonly associated with amateur blogging such as this.