So 'N16' is unique to Stoke Newington? Well, no, as a quick surf through Google reveals. Type in 'N16' and you find the following: Nissan Sentra car, American Nuclear Society committee, Nashville guitar, US keel winch, section number of Massachussets Citizens' Guide to State Services, expressway from Schelde to Brussels, sexy lingerie net mesh babydoll and G string, Cincinatti anti-globalisation protest movement, intersection on Youngmann Highway in New York State, police beat in Loughborough. Swedish centrifugal fan, Edinburgh night bus service from Leith to Torphin, tissue dispenser key, road in County Sligo, 1942 antique Marconi electronic valve. Why am I doing this? Must get out more.

Stokey on the box. Stoke Newington has featured twice on TV over the last few weeks. A recent ITV programme was about Lordship Park and had interviews with local residents (inluding N16 occasional restaurant reviewer, Jaqi Clayton-Church) while at the beginning of October the London Programme concentrated on London council cock-ups. You guessed it - the Clissold Leisure Centre was singled out as a particularly glaring example of incompetence, with Mayor Jules Pipe and N16 columnist Ken Worpole offering their views on the debacle. What next? N16 Flowers' Errol on Richard and Judy? The bendy bus on Top Gear? azine on Breakfast with Frost?

Certain kids on scooters appear to be something of a menace in Stoke Newington. Recently a local Church Street trader was deliberately knocked off her bike and hospitalised, while other cyclists have been similarly targeted and robbed by scooterised kids, the one riding pillion doing the damage. Keep your eyes peeled and avoid potential problems.

Early morning users of Church Street can hardly have failed to notice the hordes of smartly dressed young men and women heading west, all in white shirts, black trousers or skirts and black shoes (no trainers). Can these really be the hoodie slackers of Stoke Newington School, who once used to practice the Stokey slouch (patent pending)?

Indeed they are, as from this term the school has introduced a uniform, part of headteacher Mark Emmerson's drive to improve discipline and behaviour. While GCSE students in years 10 and 11 can - for the time being - continue to imagine their parts as extras in some urban video, the earlier years must conform to the dress code. Whether or not Mark's mission succeeds, appearance and, notably, posture have improved. 

Pouring onto Church Street from the back of the library sometime after 8pm on a Thursday, comes a crowd of loud, distracted and over-excited teenage girls. Fresh
from their weekly workshop in the Edwards Lane Gallery, they are the dancers, costume designers and mask-makers of Tropical Isles, which has grown from its humble beginning as an afterschool club three years ago to become an active community club project, seeking to empower young people through workshops in art and craft, cookery and, especially, carnival dance. Which explains the girls' excitement - this year Tropical Isles was awarded third place on the road at Notting Hill Carnival's Children Parade. Next year they hope to do even better and workshops recommence next February. 
Contact: Tropical Isles, 207a Park Crescent, N16 9ET tel: 7254 0062 houseofantoine@btconnect.com