I started working in Lewisham back in the 1970s today it has lost all it's character and looks more like Croydon every day. Soulless high rise tower blocks dominate the high street and surroundings but the local people cannot afford to buy or rent them. The number of dwellings between Catford, Lewishm, Deptford and Greenwich has gone up astronomically and all the council cares about is the increased tax this brings.

Yet this new "prosperity" doesn't trickle down one look at the high street says it all. Dominated by fast food shops, bookies and pound shops. There is no decent pub or restaurant in sight it's a dump.

God I sound like Steeleye and Pussay moaning about trickle down but I don't recognise any gentrification just more blocks of flats.

One more point

Tell me something I didn't know.

'Who are you and how did you get in here? I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.' (Leslie Nielsen)

You mean your keyboard.

Well, you have my sympathy.

Anyway, what's with the 'deluded' comment? What do you think is deluded in the thread?

Edited by Stirlingsays (13 Mar 2019 5.20pm)

'Who are you and how did you get in here? I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.' (Leslie Nielsen)

I’m a local person who owns and lives in a high rise block in Lewisham, so I don’t particularly agree with your assessment. The majority of my neighbours are British.

I don’t quite get the point on the number of dwellings in SE; in light of the housing issues, isn’t that a good thing?

The shops/restaurants will come; it takes serious time for an area to change to that extent; Lewisham in another 20 years will be unrecognisable - you’re already seeing a load of these trendy sorts of pubs/bars and cafes opening up in Lewisham, assuming that’s what you mean by character. The residential investment only really kicked into gear in the last 5 years or so.

funny enough, I find it exactly as I remember London as a child in the 60s.
I assume the writers are fairly old, so have based on their memories.
My dad had a brother & 5 sisters who lived Dagenham, Bethnal green, orient, Bermondsey and other areas.
one uncle was a caretaker, ran a block of flats just like 'Del boys.
Although the areas deteriorated as time moved on, I remember they seemed pretty clean & tidy with a genuine community spirit.
The real London went decades ago.

Kids,tired of being bothered by your pesky parents?
Then leave home, get a job & pay your own bills, while you still know everything.