While the newspapers and press agencies get their knickers in a twist over coverage conditions for the Rugby World Cup which kicks off in the Stade de France tonight, we're turning our attention to a more pressing issue. Which are the best London pubs to watch the tournament in? Several of the big chains are promising full coverage: It's a Scream, O'Neills, Pitcher & Piano and Walkabout. However, what's the more discerning and individual......

Remember those brave/crazy Flora London Marathon runners we talked to last week (click on their names below to read their interviews)...? Well, they did it! So, how was it? Incredible. Exhausting, exhilarating. The crowds were inspirational and somehow spurred me on to a 3 hrs 47 mins finish, which I still can't quite believe & was beyond my wildest Paula Rad-Sloss dreams. On the final turn into the mall, I overtook Sally Gunnell. The......

What's your name and which part of London do you live in? My name is Stephen Mainstone, I'm 29 and I live in East Dulwich. How long have you been running for? I have been running (seriously) since September last year so 8 months. Is this your first Marathon? If not, what others have you run? Yes, this is my first marathon. What inspired you to enter the Marathon? Last year I went along......

Farmers' markets are great. In London, they fulfil all our inner-city fantasies of organic fruit and vegetables grown lovingly by beefy, ruddy-cheeked country-dwellers with comedy Somerset accents. It's all about getting back to roots via root vegetables. Really dirty potatoes are always popular but Dulwich being Dulwich saw slightly more dressed up tubers at the Dulwich Farmers' Market last Sunday. Sunday 25 February was the 4th Starchy Gallery competition, an annual contest to find......

Jamfaced waits oh-so-very-patiently for his meal at Franklin's in East Dulwich and debates how long is too long to wait for your food. The conclusion? "...fifteen or twenty minutes is the limit between ordering and my starter turning up, unless they are plying me with amuse bouche." Aidan Brooks, Trainee Chef makes his own special East-meets-West soup out of leftover duck leg broth, some chorizo, and some Sharwood's fine egg noodles. You've got that......

Peckham Academy school and nearby Harris Girls' Academy in East Dulwich are to reopen this morning after threats of 'gang violence' last Friday meant they had to be evacuated. Escalating trouble between rival gangs in the area (the Ghetto Boys from Lewisham and the Peckham Boys) resulted in the stabbing of 29-year-old Jason Gayle-Bent in New Cross last Sunday. On Friday afternoon police were told that "one group would be lying in wait to......

If you thought the Proclaimers were nuts for walking 1000 miles (just to fall down at your door), then consider the achievement of Phyllis Pearsall MBE. Back in the 1930s, she single-footedly walked three times that distance in order to map every street in London, thus creating the first A-Z (it’s not recorded if she fell down at any doors, or felt the need to repeatedly sing ‘baa-bda baa’). The A-Z company she founded......

The BlogAndMagosphere is currently replete with shoddily written articles about Christmas shopping. That these articles quote ‘starting budgets of £10 per gift’, makes us burn with festive brandy rage. At this time of year, most Londoners are either a Scrooge or a Bob Cratchit: that is, tight as a nat’s chuff or stone cold broke. And London is very expensive. How can we skimp a bit and still complete our gift buying at just £2......

We have to say thank you to Londonist reader Martha who pointed us in the direction of London Review of Breakfasts.com a few weeks ago. Since then we've been monitoring this brekkie blog carefully and it's very good indeed. In fact it could be said to be a little 'too good' as out breakfasting standards have now shot up to ludicrous levels and we often find ourselves hankering for a fried egg at the......