News Shopper reader Sam Broderick comments on how south of the river really isn't such a distant public transport outpost, despite what people in north London may think.

Where are these places? Hither Green? Honor Oak Park? New Beckenham? They're in London? But I've never heard of them. And you can get a train to Nottingham from Charing Cross? What new madness is this?

That's the reaction that so many of us have been confronted with when inviting north London friends to gatherings down in the south-east.

Not being on the Tube gives our part of the city some kind of mystery, a terrifying, uncharted wilderness where trains hurtle uncontrolled down the streets, freed of the constraints of the reassuring lines of the Tube map.

Nobody would bat an eyelid at getting on a Tube out to Turnpike Lane or Golders Green, and even south London's Morden or Wimbledon have the security of a nice coloured line, but Blackheath? Where on earth's that? How do I get there?

But we're really not that far away! Take Lewisham, for example. It's less than 20 minutes from central London on a direct train line. Compare that to Turnpike Lane (26 minutes), Golders Green (21 minutes), Wimbledon (28 minutes) or Morden (about 3 hours).

So, to all our friends up in the civilised north - next time one of us invites you to a party in south-east London, head down to Charing Cross (or London Bridge if you're feeling especially brave), and jump on a train.

You won't be on it very long, and if you ask nicely we'll even come and meet you at the station. You see? We're really not that far away.