We have a little bio section in the members profiles, which is great for a quick snapshot of who is who. How about getting to know a bit more about each other?
Nothing compulsory, no expectations on what people wish to share, but for some just a bit of a learning experience, and a community bonding opportunity. Just for a bit of fun, but could also be quite interesting.
Like this here’s my personal intro 
Here’s a few links about me, happy to post more info but here it is via others.
My business profile via FH Society
My personal profile within our community partnership bid for FH library which is not made public:
Pauline Wright is the owner of Sugar Mountain on Dartmouth Road, an executive member of Forest Hill Traders’ Association and has been a resident of Forest Hill for sixteen years. She graduated from The Urdang Academy of Ballet and Performing Arts in 1990, and, since opening her shop in 2012 she has coordinated and managed many community events including Forest Hill Fashion Week, Santa’s Grotto, and Forest Hill Fiver Fests. Pauline has good relationships with local schools, and has a history of organising fundraisers to support her young customers with illness and disability. Most recently she has assisted a teacher from Forest Hill School with a fundraiser for Evelina Children’s Hospital and had class visits from Perrymount Primary School as part of School Projects.
Me about me:
I grew up in Glasgow in a working class family, my Dad died when I was 8 and he run a community centre & was so artistic, he has always been my inspiration. He also part owned the main Glasgow meat market with his brother which some might not like in Glasgow…
My uncle ( my Mum’s brother was George Henry) managed to do quite well for himself & created Camden Palace as a nightclub & also bought Hippodrome from Peter Stringfellow back in the day.
All except from my Mum have passed but I really look up to them all.
MY WORKING BACKGROUND Is
I trained at The Urdang Academy and graduated in 1990 & worked in musical theatre.
Then self trained myself as an insurance broker in the city doing my FPC 1, 2 & 3 when I became a Mum at 27 in a bad relationship.
Later on I opened my shop!
I’m now a single working Mum & proud of this 
ETA a pic of me & my kids all age 3
<img src="/uploads/default/original/1X/9ba01f8d23ea424fff4b7af144cc9b864bbfa2c3.jpeg" width=“500” height="500
Awesome getting to know you better @Pauline Pauline, certainly explains a lot about some of your personal traits.
Thank you for sharing 
I’m A very open person & think it’s best way to be x
One of the great things about a local forum like this is that we can get to know members better and feel closer to our neighbours as a result
I’m Chris, 34, and moved to Honor Oak in 2013. I grew up near Southend, in Essex, and have spent years trying to neutralise the accent, and learning to pronounce “th” properly. Happily, I progressed from “s’aink” to “sumfink” and now I am able to pronounce “something” correctly almost every time 
I studied Computer Science at the University of Bath, graduated 11 years ago, and have lived in London ever since (Isle of Dogs, Rotherhithe, Tower Hamlets and Belsize Park in the past).
I’ve always been into computers from an early age. My Dad programmed the first government VAT calculator using punch cards, and he also built Apple’s accountancy suite back in the day. He taught me to program computers at the age of six, and I was privileged to have computers in the house throughout my childhood.
I once invited my Dad to be in the audience of BBC’s The Voice, and we both got on TV for a fleeting few seconds:
I built many websites in my early teens. One or two made some money. One of them was shuttered sharpish, when I got threatening emails from Playboy Enterprises Inc solicitors and had a very awkward evening explaining to Mum where all the American cheques had come from, and how it was unrelated to drugs or mafia activity. She forced me to show her the websites, to my huge embarrassment. Dad watched and chuckled.
I now own a company (Brighter Code Limited) and work on specialist financial software contracts to investment banks.
I chaired the university windsurfing club, became a qualified windsurfing instructor, competed and did well in the BUSA national championships, but never took it any further. I like scuba diving, skiing, running (2 marathons so far), cycling and roller-blading.
I’m a keen photographer and a small selection of my best photos are here:
In my spare time I built the web’s liveliest caption competition: http://www.caption.me/
I’m an atheist and built the world’s most comprehensive collection of atheist quotes, which I am proud of and host here: http://www.askatheists.com/
I quit finance in 2013 to launch a startup: http://www.streetlend.com/ on my own. It failed to catch on, and I’m now back in finance.
I got into the bitcoin craze too late and built https://www.cointouch.com/ which had a brief flurry of excitement (including some approaches by venture capitalists) but I didn’t pursue it further, partly out of personal fear, and partly out of uncertainty around the future of the Bitcoin cryptocurrency itself.
On the 16th May, with some help from @Pauline I launched this website (https://se23.life) and it’s been a whirlwind. Within a few days we had our first in-person meetup event and @anon64893700 and @thirstforwine agreed to help run the site. I haven’t been sleeping or eating properly because I’m so excited about it.
I have a tolerant and beautiful fiancé, @Liz_Hall who I will be marrying in August.
Awesome get to know you @anon5422159 Some really interesting info there, and certainly explains a few quirks 
Time to take a breather soon and help the wonderful @Liz_Hall with the wedding planning. Although I get the impression its all under control
A family member heard about this new site from Pauline at Sugar Mountain - so I’ve signed up!
Thanks for setting it all up chris.
I’m excited about having a new forum; probably won’t be a big poster, but an avid reader.
Cheers!
Welcome to the site! If you need any help setting up your profile (with an image etc) just let me know
Welcome to a fresh new place to discuss local and many other topics.
Hello All!!
Good to be one here. Nice to see you all and good to see you.
Hey @Londondrz good to see you over here too.
@Londondrz - a great voice of reason & humour from the old forum! Pleasure to see you here John, and just let me know if I can help in any way with the workings of this site.
Woooaaaaahh hold up a moment. Are you saying Londondrz isn’t your real name! 
Mind… blown!
5 posts were split to a new topic: Could this forum succeed where others have failed?
@anon64893700 , Londondrz is my middle name
Hello fellow SE23ers. A quick hello from a new Forest Hill resident. Yesterday was my two month anniversary.
Jason (though star is acceptable).
Welcome to Forest Hill, Jason! I’d recommend popping in to see @Pauline at Sugar Mountain (the sweet shop at 57a Dartmouth Road) to get your profile verified and say hi (please add an avatar image first). Pauline is really well-connected in the local community and always knows the latest gossip! Good ice cream too.
Not Star-Lord then? 
Thanks Chris… I’ve chatted to Pauline a couple of times. Last time she pointed me to the Havelock Walk Open Studios Day… which my pocketbook will never forgive. Next time I’ll mention the Forum. BTW… how do I add an avatar? Your welcome message didn’t address this.
No. Just Star. I’m casual about that.
I see you’ve figured it out, but I have also just updated the welcome message with instructions. Thanks for the feedback, and enjoy the site!
Good evening and welcome to both the area and the forum Jason
Happy anniversary. 
That was quick… I only put them up an hour ago 
Welcome to the site!
A little milestone we missed.
Welcome and congratulations to @AgentBlonde who was user number 100 on the forum a couple of days ago.
(via giphy.com)
We are already well on our way to 200! Keep telling your friends and neighbours about the fun new place to hang out in SE23
What an honour! Do I get a special twinkly border around my profile pic for that? Please?
Woohoo @AgentBlonde 
I think that deserves a free lollipop on me 
even better!
(on a serious note, must look into the “twinkly border” upgrade)
Thanks @Pauline!
Glad you’re taking twinkly borders seriously, @thirstforwine.
I think you are onto a winner with the free lolly offer haha. Congratulations on being special
If nothing else, you can cheer yourself up by visiting this site every now and then just to see yourself “Disney-fied” by the incoming public & private messages
Haha its a good look for you @thirstforwine
Hi everyone, looks like a fantastic forum. Was not impressed with the other one and always wondered why there wasn’t one as active as the east dulwich forum. Hopefully this will be the online hub SE23 needs.
Welcome to the forum @Edward_Harrison Here’s to hoping all our wishes for a local community forum can be realised here.
Thanks for joining.
Hi @Ed.H welcome I think I might know you via my shop, if that’s the case pop a pic of yourself on your profile & I can verify you
Hello all! I usually keep my eye on what’s happening in FH on Twitter but this forum seems great. I moved back to FH in December & love it.
I look forward to getting more involved in our fabulous community!
Hey @MissP welcome back to the area, and welcome to the new community forum. We’re on Twitter too, but most of the action is on here for now.
Thanks for joining in, and here’s to get involved with this great community.
Welcome @MissP!
I’m a big fan of Twitter too. The benefit of this forum is that I can choose which topics to follow as opposed to which people I follow.
Still love Twitter though, and our Twitter account http://twitter.com/se23life will regularly post out popular topics
Think I know who you are Olivia Pemms! Pop in & I can verify you 
“And swiftly thereafter …”
it seems only a few days ago we announced user number 100 (because it was, actually) … we can celebrate SE23.LIFE’s 200th new registration …
We’d love to know more about you and what brings you to the forum. I hope you enjoy the chat and we look forward to your contributions. If you want to get ‘verified’, please add a photo and come along to one of our sessions, or pop into @sugarmountain to get your tick
The usage and interaction on the new forum is already amazing and with so many new registrations every day it will only continue to grow.
Fabulous, welcome to the forum indeed @RosieK
We have a great community here which is growing by the moment, amazing to see such a high number of registrations in such a short time.
Hello. Faulty thinking’ missus here, hopefully now verified thanks to Pauline, and eventually even with a profile pic once I get the hang of the forum! Looking forward to enjoying what promises to be a livelier place to exchange views.
Welcome @Edd - it’s certainly becoming a lively place here, for a two-week old website!
Hi Edd, I’ve now verified Mike @faultythinking, Mike, could you add a profile pic please as we ask this of all verified users
I’ve edited my personal intro to add a pic of me & my kids all at age 3!
You’ll all guess who I am from my outfit
Hello everyone! Thank you @anon5422159 for creating this site - I checked out the SE23 forum when we first moved to the area and was quickly put off by it being totally outdated! I haven’t been back since, so this is a nice breath of fresh air. Happy to get involved with the community and help with whatever’s needed.
I’m a local mum of 2, with 10 years behind me working in strategy & business development. I was made redundant / left my job when my second child was born and decided to try my hand at something new… so I retrained as a web developer at Makers Academy whilst my husband was on parental leave earlier this year. I’m now exploring all that the London Tech scene has to offer and building my first site from scratch. You can find me on Twitter on SELdnTiddlers and SaraTateno. (And in Forest Hill, most likely eating ice cream @Pauline’s Sugar Mountain or having cakes at the Montage.)
Welcome Sara! You might like to log your geek credentials on this thread here: https://se23.life/t/calling-all-geeks-of-se23/263. I have a feeling you’ll fit right in.
Welcome @saratateno and congrats on a lovely looking website (TiddlerTime). I’d love to hear more about Makers Academy. Will you be able to make our June meetup event? If you’d like to promote TiddlerTime in more detail on this site please check out the instructions here.
My name’s Simon and I’m 34. I’ve lived in London since 2009 and FH since 2012. Previously lived in West Hampstead and Wimbledon, and was attracted by its relative affordability compared to those places along with the good local amenities and public transport. I’m originally from Leicester (and still on a high after the Premier League season), went to Uni in York and also lived/worked in Birmingham for a few years. I work in Parliament for my day job.
I found this forum through a link on twitter. I posted a little bit to the other forum but was fed up by the constant arbitrary censorship, locking/deleting/merging/shutting down of threads etc without any justification or explanation (he seemed to have a particular problem with people discussing new restaurants, among no doubt many other things). This place already seems like a huge improvement so well done to all concerned.
Welcome to the site Simon!
I’m interested to know more about your job in Parliament as I have an amateur passion for politics (mostly ill-informed, but I’m learning!).
I have granted you access to the “Politicos” opt-in category. You might enjoy the “Political Compass” topic, to see where our members political views fit on a very crude left/right, authoritarian/libertarian scale.
I created this forum somewhat in response to the issues you mentioned with the other forum, which you may see referred to as The Other Similar Site (TOSS) around these parts, as we’ve been asked by the creator of that site never to mention him or his website by name
I work in the House of Lords committee office, currently for a temporary select committee on the charity sector. It’s a fascinating place to work, both for the people and for the location (we can do things like have drinks on the terrace which is pretty awesome). I’ve also been seconded to a Commons select committee which was an interesting contrast.
I will read the politics forum with interest but as my day job is non political I will have to keep my contributions strictly factual…
Sounds great! Thanks Chris. I’ll do my best to attend. (That splash page was put together in a bit of a hurry! Actual site will be a lot better I hope…)
Welcome @Joey_H - it’s great to have you onboard! Watch out for @Londondrz - he has plenty to say on the subject of our local train services, but none of which will be aimed at you I’m sure.
I’m always here if you have any questions about the site.
@Joey_H Welcome and dont worry, my ire is directed just at Southern 
Hi all. I’m Scott, been living in Forest Hill for 16 years and also have family ties to the area (first place my parents lived together was in Devonshire Road). I’m a journo (please don’t boo), work in central London, covering the banking and retail sectors. I should mention I was one of the peeps who set up a rival forum to that other one run by you know who. We gave it our best shot but unfortunately it didn’t work out and was closed ten years ago (ugh, that just made me feel old). After that I drifted away from local forums as was not a fan of the one that has ruled the roost for so many years, and must admit I missed the other site that has been mentioned elsewhere on here. I returned from the wilderness after stumbling across SE23.life via anon64893700’s blog, really impressed with it and feel that the area finally has the forum it deserves. Good work guys! Will do my best to contribute on a regular basis.
Great to have you here @ScottT and thanks for the encouraging comments about this site. Another one of our members, @tinyem, is the wife of someone that created another competitor to the old forum but she explained this failed due to the word not getting out. I’ve been really lucky to have people like @Pauline, @anon64893700, @thirstforwine, @RachaelDunlop and @Michael help spread the word. This has been the reason for our success, IMO, aside from the nice open-source forum platform itself.
Wow someone reads my blog @ScottT thanks lol. Glad you found the new forum though. Welcome.
As a journo (no booing from me!) I have added you to our Wordsmiths group which gives you access to the “site editorial” category where we are able to work together on the official content of this site and its social channels. No expectations or obligations - but just an opportunity to get more involved if you’d like to.
Thanks Chris, happy to help out, will take a look at the group later today.
Hi Caz, welcome and looking forward to getting to know you and all the others more too.
Hiya All
Sorry I’ve not popped passed to to say hello yeti.
Welcome to this great forum from me
P
welcome and enjoy.
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
Thanks for sharing, @Mitchy117, it’s great to get to know you better, especially as I’m practically your next door neighbour here in Ebsworth St. 
I’ll definitely say hi if I see you out and about.
Well my tale is not that interesting, but as for my paternal grandfather… If you’re 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 in—but they weren’t fish.
I’m Shaun and have been living here for three years… 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 Paris… 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.
Thanks all, I’ve loved reading your personal intro’s 
On a side note - if anyone laughs at my pic - BEWARE! 
Hi @ShaunW and welcome to the forum. A cracking little community is forming here now. Sounds like you are local to me, I’m 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.
Thanks Michael. Probably passed your house this evening en route to/from the polling station. Cheers, Shaun
Hello all
I suppose I should introduce myself now I’ve made a few posts…I’m 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 I’ve moved here, I’ve got married, had 2 kids, and work has gone well so I’m liking the SE23 tap water.
I can honestly say I really love living in Honor Oak. It’s a good mix of people, good primary schools, good restaurants, very green, easy to get into town and lots more I’ll add to relevant threads.
I’m definitely advancing quickly into middle age as I now spend far more time gardening than watching football. I’m 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.
I’m glad this forum has a separate politics area I can stay out of as I think I’ll enjoy it more that way (by that I mean by not seeing the conversations!)
Al
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 I’d 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 I’m desperately trying to lose. If you see a fat old bloke walking around the local cemeteries with a camera or two that’ll 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 “straight” photos to the Twitter “Save Camberwell Cemeteries” campaign. I’ve 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.
That’s 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 you’d like to share them with the forum, we have a topic here that would gratefully receive them:
Thanks Chris. Unfortunately I’m 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 I’ll 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.
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 “buzz” of central(ish) London, we’ve loved it here so far, and haven’t looked back.
I work in insurance in the City, and she’s a teacher in Kent.
Thus far we’re big fans of Mama Dough, the beer dispensary, Brockley Market and St. David’s 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 I’ve ever seen!
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Hello, my name’s Matt. I live in HOP with my wife and baby daughter (nine months old now!).
I’ve 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, I’m a composer/sound designer for a living. Which, frankly, isn’t a proper job, but seems to be where I’ve 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!).
Welcome to the site @MattB - nice to meet another Honor Oaker (I’m 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 i’d introduce my self briefly…
I’m a happy mid-30s London born digital designer working in the creative industry for 9+ years. I’ve 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 i’ve become mildly addicted to visiting the white horses and flamingoes of Camargue’s 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! I’m 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 ‘Street-art’. 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.
Great intro @DeDae2022, and welcome to the forum
I see you’re interested in politics so I have opted you in to our “Politicos” category so you’re 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
Hi all,
I’ve been in FH for about 18 years so I can remember when it was considered the backside of South London - that is if people had heard of it at all. There has been a lot of changes over that time - most of them for the better. I am currently loving the new found spirit of FH which this site epitomizes.
I genrally don’t post much personal stuff on the web and this username is not one I generally use but I am sure that some bright folks here will be able to associate them!
Anyways - I am 51 and mainly interested in beer, food, cycling, growing my own and making my own stuff. I work in IT doing sysadmin stuff (not the bright shiny stuff that @anon5422159 does so well!) with servers and systems at a local(ish) well know independent school - pays the bills but looking for a new venture as I type - something local. I moderate an allotment forum and I am secretary of a private allotment association in Brockley. I spend most of the summer in the garden or down the plot talking rubbish with a load of silly old men and women who should probably all know better.
I ride my bike very day - mostly going out of my way to get to work on time but taking in the hills of SE London. I love watching and, to the dismay of my wife, talking about cycling. I love the old punk spirit of DIY and helping yourself and others - this site seems to fit the bill for that so well done @anon5422159.
So I make my own stuff - bread, soap, hand cream, bath bombs, bacon, wine, chorizo and of course I grow a lot of what I eat - just need to get my own brewery up an drunning.
I started working life as a courier back in the 80s
Here is me posing for someone’s graduate photo course assignment!
Local shops that I love are Finches (which is possibly the greatest shop in London), Crafty Beer, Shannon’s Garden Center and the Proud Sow which is a fantastic butchers for both meat and banter!
This is a nice site - looks original, well programmed and content is developing nicely. I’m sure you could make a bob or two syndicating this round London postcodes!
Lovely to find out more about you @Foresthillnick. Sounds like we have a lot in common! Thanks for sharing.
Regarding syndication, I own a lot of postcode.life domains across London and I am always on the lookout for an enthusiastic and IT-savvy co-admin from a neighbouring postcode to kickstart the next .life venture with.
The team and I have learnt a lot from the first couple of months of SE23.life and there’s still lots to learn, but once we’ve cracked the local forum formula (which is far more about community / people / processes than technology itself), we’ll see neighbouring “.lifes” popping up all over South London and beyond.
Well if you ever need someone…
Sorry for the late reply, but just wanted to say welcome and great intro.
Wowza, I have to say, when I first started this thread I was not expecting so many deep and detailed replies from so many people.
I just want to thank everyone who has posted and introduced themselves for being so open minded and sharing so much with a bunch of strangers, or is that friends who have not yet met?
Either way, howdy neighbours, hope to meet a few of you at some point.
Hello all,
I’m Andrei, 29 years old and moved to Forest Hill (Gaynesford Road) 3 months ago from Selhurst. Quite new to the UK as I’ve arrived just one year and a half ago. Originally I’m from Romania and I work as a business analysis in the city.
Regarding hobbies, I love music (mostly old Hip-hop, jazz, raggae and old rock music), technology, video games, beer and football. Would be great to get in touch and make friends as this is the hardest bit of moving countries.
By the way, if you guys need any sort of help with music production just give me a message.
Welcome to SE23
A good way of meeting up with locals is by coming to an SE23.Life monthly meet up.
On another note you might be interested in getting involved in Forest Hill Arts, give me a shout or just pop in to my shop for a chat if you are interested
@Pauline thanks for the sugestions, I’ve already cleared my schedule for the proposed meet up dates. Will try to drop by this weekend to get verified as well.
Great stuff
Looking forward to meeting you IRL @Andrei, enjoying a beer and talking about technology I’m sure!
You might like our “calling all geeks” topic 
Hi fellow SE23-ers,
My name is Villem and I have lived with my girlfriend in Forest Hill (on Stanstead Road close to the Forest Hill fire station) for almost four years now.
We are both originally from Estonia, but moved here as I started my BA Media & Comms studies at Goldsmiths in 2012, graduating in 2015. The decision to move here and go to Goldsmiths came through my sister as she has been living in London for more than 20 years, most of this time in Greenwich (even though she recently moved to New York via Muswell Hill, so gave up the SE London life a bit - I’m sure she’ll come around though, lol).
A lot of my coursemates are from around here - one lives in Catford, another one near Blythe Hill Fields etc.
I work in Central London at a digital fabrication start-up, where we make (create) all kinds of things with laser cutters, 3d printers and general model making techniques. My girlfriend Kay works as an ENT nurse in Central London as well.
We are both really into films (I even specialised in sound design for films at Goldsmiths) and regularly visit all kinds of rooftop and pop up cinemas across London - is there anything exciting happening in Forest Hill film screening wise? Any suggestions would be more than welcome! I am also strongly into electronic music - sampling from vinyls and producing music (drum&bass mostly) on my makeshift studio setup (the wonders of renting a flat - can’t turn it into an acoustically treated studio that looks like a Star Trek spaceship control room).
We would love to take part of any cool activities around Forest Hill so we will try to be active in this forum, happy to stumble upon it randomly.
Villem & Kay
Welcome Villem and Kay! Your job sounds really interesting. I think you’re in good company here - lots of creative types in SE23. Hope to catch you at our meetup (or the gin club, or the games night!)
Welcome to the forum guys. Just down the road from me I see.
Fantastic introduction there, thanks for sharing so much. Some cool work and hobbies there.
Hey, you are in very good company!
Pop in for a chat at my shop or contact me @paulinewright2 @ForestHillArts @fhfashionse23 @fhfoodassembly1 on twitterland or email sugarmountain.info@gmail.com or www.fhfw.co.uk All are me but also check out @V22Collection & @V22_Louise_House
We’re a creative bunch around here
Look forward to chatting to you!
Hey guys, thank you so much for the warm welcome!
I am absolutely horrible at replying, sorry! but hey - better late than never, lol! Has been a crazy week.
We would definitely be down for a games night! I will keep an eye on the forum and will mention us as taking part as well when anything pops up.
@Pauline, this looks amazing! I will send you an e-mail to see if there is anything volunteering wise for us to do.
Villem
Hello! Belatedly introducing myself… I’m Amy, I’ve lived in FH for three years and I work as a digital producer. I’ve lived in west, east and north London and now feel very at home in the southeast. I’m half Kiwi and have spent exactly half my life here and half in NZ.
Favourite local places: St Davids, Stag and Bow, the Archie Parker, Babur, Pure Gym in Sydenham. Least favourite: Forest Hill Pools (does anyone know if they’ve finally fixed the women’s dry side showers?!) Big fan of On The Hoof coffee on the platform at FH and really wish Catford would get something similar (I commute from both). Oh and I HEART the Horniman
Hi all, I’m Aaron.
My girlfriend and I moved to the area last year and we’ve been thoroughly enjoying it ever since.
We both like to spend evenings after work catching up over a beer or glass of something cold on the high street (Donde, Mamma Dough’s etc), and look forward to sampling the revamped Chandos soon.
I work as a consultant in financial services, mainly based in London but it involves a fair amount of travel too (unfortunately!).
Welcome to the site, Aaron! I’m a contractor in financial software development so I’m sure we’d have one or two things in common to discuss over a beer. I’ll be in Chandos tomorrow, so hope to see you there if you can make it.
Welcome to the forum @Garfield
