Travellers near and far.

The dismantling of the RMC Aggregates facility at the junction of James Watt Way and Wheatley Terrace Road continues apace; I had a chat with one of the guys from the demolition company earlier today. Apparently the yard has been bought by EMR (European Metal Recycling) who already occupy a large yard a little further down Manor Road. They intend using the RMC site as an overflow, and to continue using the river wharf, as per the planning regulations mentioned recently. The demolition is apparently being carried out by just a couple of blokes from a company called Crazy Ltd "Site Clearance, Vegetation and Recovery" - (or so it says on their business card), hence the relatively sedate pace of progress. Three large caravans turned up outside the yard earlier in the week; the travellers stayed for a few days, then left as mysteriously as they had appeared. They did not cause any trouble, did not leave any mess, and my only complaint was that they played a lot of loud country and western music. I detest country and western at the best of times - it is foreign, maudlin, depressing, self indulgent and in my opinion listened to by those lacking of wit. I can just about see its' relevance in its' land of origin, but not here please.

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A lot has been said in the press and on television about the past week being the fortieth anniversary of the Apollo moon landings, and the amazing events that took place then. It has also become a platform for conspiracy theorists to come out of the woodwork, and once again (yawn) tout the story that the moon landings were faked in a studio. To be honest, it would have been harder to fake the landings and keep everyone involved quiet than it would to do it for real; radio amateurs have always known the landings were real, as many listened to the radio traffic between the Eagle and Mission Control - the signals, being VHF and UHF, are highly directional, and could only have been coming from a distant point in space. On top of this, the laser reflector left on the Moons' surface has been used by the astronomy departments of many world universities to bounce off laser beams; doing this they have discovered that the moon is moving further away from the Earth at a rate of four centimetres per year. The existence of this reflector, which is still in regular use, rather puts paid to the rather more exotic theories about actors and secret movie studios - ignoring the fact that something like 400,000 people were directly or indirectly involved in putting the Apollo 11 crew on the moon; if only one percent were in on the conspiracy, it is beyond comprehension that four thousand people would have kept silent for over four decades. There is a fascinating article on the CNN website here on the subject.

I have had a number of compliments regarding the Radio Caroline MP3 download I featured last week; if you missed it, click on this link to download the MP3 file, and hear my dulcet tones from way back in 1990.

I received an excellent Email from Al Weiner of American shortwave broadcasting station WBCQ - the Planet earlier in the week; I had dropped him a line and his fraternal greetings were most welcomed.

WNKR have been transmitting a War of the Worlds special this weekend, featuring the award winning concept album by Jeff Wayne. This prompted me to do a bit of a web search on the whole War of the Worlds story, and I came across a new version, hosted on YouTube. It is an updated British version of the story, featuring clips from Sky News and all sorts of good stuff; infinitely superior to the tragically abysmal Americanised Steven Spielberg offering from a couple of years back. You can view the updated U.K version here.



Unfortunately I missed the Chap Olympics this year; the event coincided with my Mum's birthday celebration lunch, which was held at the excellent Turkish restaurant Tas in the Cut, Waterloo. It was a humid but showery day; luckily I was seated next to the open window at the front of the restaurant, as you can see from the photo above; apologies for the digital graininess in the shot - it was taken with a Canon DSLR, and they are notoriously noisy. The Chap Olympics were covered by a number of press organisations, including ITN News, and you can see the results below in this weeks' video clip, courtesy of messrs YouTube and co. You can also view photos from the event on Flickr by clicking here.

Hiram Maxim and tweed.

Another week, another entry. This week I am updating from the Victoria pub in Upper Belvedere. Mobile blogging is relatively straightforward with a netbook computer. The photo above shows the sun setting over Erith cement works, taken from the pier. Click for a larger version.

The Rev left a comment on the Maggot Sandwich recently, asking why, if I felt so hot during the recent spate of unseasonally warm weather, I did not adjust my attire accordingly. For the record, I do not wear shorts or open footwear such as sandals or flip – flops. I find that kind of wear to be undignified, uncivilised and unsuitable – my tweed jacket and steel toe capped boots suit me just fine, even if it does mean I occasionally bake. I utterly detest the thought of exposing unnecessary flesh to the elements, and thus to the gaze of the public. OK, one can wear sun cream, but I find heavy Harris tweed has a high enough sun block factor on its' own. The only concession I would make to the heat would be the addition of a pith helmet, if only I could find one. Incidentally, I am pleased to report that the Chap Magazine has been rescued from financial ruin by its' readers. Long may it continue to be a beacon of civility in a sea of tat and scandal sheets.

Erith Riverside Shopping Centre has joined pretty much every other retail precinct in the UK in getting a “We buy your old gold” stall. Since the credit crunch and the spiral in the price of gold on the international commodities market, these stalls have sprung up like toadstools around a cowpat in a summer shower. Personally I have no strong feelings one way or another as to their appearance or the way they conduct their business. I don't own anything gold, and seriously doubt that I ever would. I cannot abide jewellery on men, other than a well chosen wrist watch. I do wonder where these gold traders have sprung from; were they previously trading in double glazing, or selling time shares? I do not know. They do seem somewhat opportunistic which ever way.

I have almost unwittingly become somewhat of a patron of the arts; this week I have just negotiated the purchase of two original art works by London based abstract artist David Zimmer. The two paintings, "Blue Haze" and "Sunrise" will be delivered to me shortly; No doubt photos of the works will appear on line in due course. David is an up and coming contemporary artist, and I feel lucky to be able to buy a couple of his early works.

I was on the 99 bus from Plumstead, back home towards Erith late on Tuesday afternoon, when four women got on the bus and sat adjacent to me; being charitable, one could say that they resembled the Spice Girls had they been locked in a chocolate factory for a couple of months. I have not seen so much wobbling lard since last time I was at Spitalfields meat market. They swore and cackled like a hair gelled Shakespearean coven – it was most off putting, to say the least. I understand that the South East is meant to be the region of the UK with the healthiest eating population; these lardy chavettes put paid to that assertion. Turkey twizzlers and microwaved chips would seem to be their primary food group. It fails me how such people can hold such forthright, ignorant and utterly incorrect opinions on pretty much any subject their conversation wandered onto. Their world views made the armed wing of the Klu Klux Klan sound like the Maidstone branch of the Salvation Army.

I see that much is being made in the press of mobile phone hacking of politicians and other movers and shakers. Advice is being freely given to avoid blue jacking and the like. I have one easy to follow and completely infallible way to avoid any form of mobile telephone compromise – don't have one. I have said this on line many times before, and won't repeat myself again - you can read my original argument here, other than to point out that I am strongly of the opinion that mobile telephones will prove to be the cigarettes of the 21st century. The risks to health and well being are only gradually becoming apparent. The recent report stating that mobile phones offer no significant risks to health should be viewed with caution, especially when one considers that the sponsors of the report were mobile phone giant, Nokia. You can read a story from the Independent newspaper here, and another story from the Times here.

Broadcaster and webmaster of the Chelmsford Calling website, Jim Salmon has been in contact; he has come across an edited off - air recording of Radio Caroline and her presenters from June 1990. I (in my alter ego, as then Radio Caroline presenter Tony Palmer) get some extensive coverage in the hour long MP3 audio file, which gives a very good idea of what life was like on Europe's last offshore radio station. The recording has been edited to remove most of the music and concentrates on the speech content (the D.J's talking, for the most part). You can hear the story behind the Belgian racing pigeons that landed on board and would not leave, the detested wannabe presenter and the tricks we played on him, the repainting of the Ross Revenge, and yours truly inadvertently interrupting the news by hammering right outside the studio window...

Click here to download a one hour long MP3 programme of edited highlights from Radio Caroline in June 1990.

I still think I sounded very young and squeaky - do let me know what you think - you can leave a comment using the link below if you so wish.

I see that Hiram Maxim is finally getting his due recognition as the true instigator of heavier than air flight; he designed, constructed and flew the world's first aeroplane in 1894, nine years before the Wright brothers. Dartford Council have finally deigned to put up a blue plaque to commemorate the event, something I feel has been grievously overlooked in the past. Maxim was born in the USA, but moved to the UK and became a naturalised subject; he opened armaments factories in both Crayford and Erith; indeed, the Western end of Erith is still called the "Pom Pom" after the sound of the testing of his machine guns that happened on the site in the early years of the 20th century.

This weeks' video has received a lot of coverage, and it is a bit of viral marketing; it is the new commercial for Evian mineral water. Personally I order a jug of iced tap water when in a restaurant, but each to their own. The advert features a large number of roller disco babies, and is a triumph of motion capture, image mapping and high end CGI. Some say it is cute, others say it is creepy; whichever way it is bloody clever.

Plumstead versus Erith.

The press advertisement above (click on the picture for a larger view) is for a computer based, multi player, virtual world played online, similar to Second Life or the World of WarCraft. Players from around the world could log in, interact, communicate with one another and both compete and collaborate in various challenges online. Nothing unusual there then. Except this was in daily use back in 1984! Many years ahead of its' time. You can read a lot more about Games Computers Play by clicking here. You needed an 8 bit Atari 800 computer, a 300 baud acoustic coupler modem, plus the special software, and a subscription to play. All far too exotic and expensive for a spotty nerd from Upper Belvedere back then, but I did aspire. Click on the image above to see a larger version of the advert - it makes interesting and very far sighted reading. Please feel free to leave a comment below.

I featured a photo of a large silo in the yard of RMC Aggregates, at the junction of James Watt Way and Wheatley Terrace Road in Erith, in a previous Maggot Sandwich posting which you can re - read here. Well, events have overtaken me, and the depot has been closed and the buildings are being demolished. The Silo has already gone, and much of the other cement production equipment is currently in the process of being demolished, cut up by a couple of blokes with Oxy - Propane torches, and taken for scrap - at least they will not have to go far, as the Erith depot of European Metal Recycling is only a few metres away. I wonder what the site will be used for in future? There has been quite some residential development behind Morrisons, on the river edge, but I do not think that the RMC site could be used for apartments, mainly due to the fact it is what is known as a Safeguarded Wharf. In essence this means that the Mayor of London and the Port of London Authority have decreed that the site must remain as a wharf and not be redeveloped for non - industrial use. Here is a shot of the outside of the place taken yesterday. It is all looking rather sad and dreary, even on a bright summer's day.



The event that prompted me to get my camera out and go for a walk along the river front yesterday, was something that occurred on my way across Morrison's car park, on my way home. A number of aeroplanes had been flying over, apparently following the path of the River Thames Eastwards, away from London. I heard the distinctive sound of a Rolls - Royce Griffon aero engine and looked up to see a Supermarine Spitfire Mk XIV in distinctive D - Day livery flying low overhead. I stopped to watch - there can be nothing quite so inspiring as seeing a Spitfire in the air, especially in the area where the Battle of Britain was fought back in 1940. My reverie was broken when I realised that almost no - one else in the car park was watching; they were all far too busy filling their cars with bags of shopping. It would have only taken a minute or so to stop what they were doing and pay a silent tribute to those who kept our shores free from the Nazis back in 1940. Some confused priorities I feel. A few moments later, a fat and spotty chav mother with two dirty faced whelps in a buggy added insult to injury by pointing skywards and saying to them "Look - it's a choo choo plane!" The brain addled, saggy uddered boiler almost certainly thought she was educating her unwashed offspring. Is this the real legacy of the RAF and the Battle of Britain - to leave us in a society where such indifference and plan wrong headedness become every day occurrences? I despair. The only small crumb of comfort I have encountered can be found if you click here.

I see that a travel company has started offering Chav free holidays; a smart marketing move that should prove a big success.

The photo above shows the small vessel, the M.V Wild Eel, and its' owner making his way ashore at Erith, after another hard day as the only full - time licenced commercial eel fisherman on the whole of the River Thames. A trade that has gone on for hundreds of years from the same location.

I have noticed that the Plumstead area is well populated with erudite, opinionated and prolific Bloggers. The likes of Plumsteadshire, Planet Plumstead, Plummy Mummy, 853, and Plumstead Zone 4 along with several others, all show that there is a high level of interest in local issues and events. Erith is only a short distance from Plumstead, it is roughly the same size, and has a very similar social and economic outlook. If you search Blogger by author location, you do come across quite a number of blogs from Erith residents most of which have been started and abandoned, or are only occasionally updated (hint - if you Blog, do it regularly, that way your readers tend to stay around). Anyway, there is no Blog covering events, issues and opinions that affect Erith and its' surroundings, other than the humble Maggot Sandwich. I wonder why? Is Erith less remarkable than Plumstead or Woolwich? I know Plumstead gets many more events, mostly organised by enthusiastic locals; things like Comedy on the Common and the Plumstead Live! music festival. All Erith gets is the River Festival, and even that got unexpectedly cancelled this year. I did Email the organiser to try and discover why, but was not granted the dignity of a reply. Why am I alone in documenting the area? Your thoughts and feedback below, if you please.

This weeks' video clip is slightly unusual, prompted as it was by my sight of a Spitfire over flying Erith yesterday afternoon; it is a complete 21 minute documentary called "Churchill's Island"; the first ever documentary to be awarded an Oscar, this Canadian film from 1941 was aimed at U.S audiences in the months before America joined with war after the Pearl Harbor attack. If the narrator's voice sounds somewhat familiar, it is because it is that of well known actor Lorne Greene. By modern standards, this propaganda film is pretty crude and it is quite obvious to someone exposed to over sixty years of cinema and television since, exactly what strings the makers were hoping to pull with the target audience. Back then, this was cutting edge and extremely rousing stuff, designed to sway American poular opinion into support for Britain and her Commonwealth allies and against Hitler and the Nazi hordes assembled just twenty two miles over the English Channel. It is certainly fascinating as a historical document - see what you think.

Canary Wharf

Hot. I am not a fan of the heat; I cease to function correctly at anything over around 22 degrees Celsius. I definitely feel that high temperatures invalidate my warranty. At least when it is cold you can wear added layers of clothing; when it is hot as this I feel there is little you can do.

The humble Maggot Sandwich is three years old this weekend. You can see my fledgeling first entry by clicking on this link. Thanks to you for your support and feedback since.

I have been spending some time in my company's offices in Canary Wharf recently, where I took the photo above (click on it for a larger version); you can see quite a few more on my Flickr site here. Apologies for the slight degradation in quality, as they were taken through thick, armoured double glazing from the 17th floor of the building. A great view looking east across the River Thames and of the O2 Arena. You can almost make out the Michael Jackson fans queuing up for their ticket refunds. Incidentally, here is a story from the press, with some current relevance:

"In L.A, On the corner of Hollywood and Vine sits a star along the "Hollywood Walk of Fame," with loads of flowers, candles and pictures, surrounded by fans of Michael Jackson. (Pictured in almost every newspaper over the last couple of days). The star they have been surrounding all day is marked with the name, Michael Jackson. But the star does not belong to The King of Pop, it belongs to British born radio host Michael Jackson, who has been an L.A. radio personality for over 30 years. Seems the other Michael Jackson's star has been covered since early Thursday morning. Covered by a red carpet. A red carpet leading to The Chinese Theatre Hollywood premiere of of the new movie Bruno." Ahem.

I just found out that award winning actor and Top Gear “Star in a reasonably priced car” champion Sir Michael Gambon lives relatively locally – he is a resident of Gravesend. I wonder what other celebrities hail from this neck of the woods - your answers on a postcard please, or leave a comment below.

Another minor revelation – I have it on good authority that the Pope is especially keen on a locally produced real ale. Pope Joseph Ratzinger is a fan of Shepherd Neame Spitfire. Unsurprising really, as it is an exceptionally fine pint. Quite an irony though – a German cleric drinking an iconic, traditional English real ale. I would have thought he would have favoured the equally fine Bishop's Finger.

Coincidentally, the News Shopper Pub Spy reviews one of my favourite local pubs, the excellent Plume of Feathers in Park Vista, next to Greenwich Park.

Now that the sun has come out and the local low – lives have removed their football shirts to reveal their scrawny, sweat and grime encrusted torsoes, the almost obligatory fashion accessory is a can of Stella Artois, better known locally as "Wife Beater" – and not the new, lower alcohol version – it has to be the original, full fat version. For some reason the Chavs around Erith cannot tolerate anything else. I think they would probably dissolve a la the Wicked Witch of the West if presented with a proper pint of real ale. Thereby hangs a thought...



The photo above is a close up of the paper tape feed to the reconstruction of the Colossus Mk II computer at Bletchley Park; it is precisely a year since I visited the place, and I feel a return trip is definitely on the cards. You can see my photos of the day here.

I am considering purchasing a car; this is something I have been pondering for quite some time. My current vehicle of choice is the Bentley Turbo R (R is for road holding, due to its' innovative active ride suspension). The car, new in 1996 retailed at £108,000. A mint, low mileage example with full main dealer service history now sells for an average of £12,000. Bargain or what? The only issue I have now is where to store the damn thing, as I do not have secure parking at Pewty Acres. Any vehicle I do eventually purchase will be a toy for weekend use only; I have no real need for a car, but I do like to tinker, and am a keen reader of Practical Classics magazine. I am keen on old Jaguars, Bentleys, Aston Martins and for some particular reason the Porsche 928 S4. I want something unusual, fast, relatively discreet and comfortable over all.

Now that local radio station Time FM has gone bust, there is nothing in terms of community based wireless, other than the excellent West and North Kent Radio (WNKR), but they only are on air during the weekend. I tend to listen to Planet Rock on DAB radio, and WBCQ on shortwave, along with BBC Radio 4 on FM, and All China Radio also on shortwave whilst I am in the bath. Am I unusual in having a shortwave receiver in the bathroom? DAB is apparently scheduled to replace analogue radio in the UK by 2015, but I am most certainly not alone in not seeing this happening. DAB radio coverage is patchy at best, and the audio is nothing like the CD quality originally promised. The DAB radios use a hell of a lot of power when compared to traditional analogue receivers too. You can read more about the situation, along with some deep insights into audio broadcasting by visiting the Radio Kitchen here.

Google seem to be getting everywhere; not only do they (rightly) dominate the world of web searching, but they also offer a powerful set of web based office solutions. If you were not aware, Google Apps are well worth trying out. They are a suite of office applications - word processor, spreadsheet, presentation tools etc, but they are hosted securely online, rather than having to be locally installed on your computer.

This weeks' video clip is from the National Museum of Computing, and shows an Elliot 803 mainframe computer from the early 1960's - the machine in the video was formerly used to control a nuclear reactor!

Steel Panther.

Remember you read it here first. The next big thing in popular music are going to be retro 80's L.A hair metal band Steel Panther. Trust me. Imagine Poison and Motley Crue, mixed with Whitesnake, and with a touch of Bon Jovi added, then all turned up to 11 with the Dobly turned on. Totally shameless and utterly brilliant. Any band with songs like "Eatin ain't cheatin'", "Fat girl - thar she blows", and "Party all day - f*ck all night" have to be heard to be believed. The disclaimer on the back of their album states "The CD you are about to listen to contains material that features foul language, adult content, Satanic imagery and depictions of sexually deviant fantasies that may offend the religious right, the unreligious left, fat girls, skinny girls, metrosexuals, animal lovers, animal haters, hippies, skinheads, the current Presidential administration and people with ears. The record company and its' parent companies do not endorse or support the opinions of Steel Panther. They just think they f*cking rock!" Quite. You can read the BBC's rave online review of their album, "Feel the Steel" by clicking here. I bought the album yesterday, and I have had it on almost continuous play ever since. Real feel good, old fashioned rock and roll; great tunes and superb musicianship - and then there are the lyrics... Ahem.



Anyway, back to more mundane matters; Morrison's in Erith have introduced four self service checkouts - an exceedingly brave move in my opinion. These automated, self scanning tills tend to be successful in prosperous middle class areas in shops like Waitrose, but in impoverished, run down hell holes like Erith I predict the levels of shop lifting will rocket. I give the whole enterprise six months before they are removed as not being cost effective. What usually happens is that the store has to employ extra security guards, who cost more per hour than check out staff, and the whole thing gets written off as too expensive. Personally I don't see why I should have to check out my purchases - that in my opinion is a job for their staff - after all, you don't have a dog and bark yourself.

Erith Riverside Centre had a visitor yesterday - Titan the Robot, who scared the kids and some of the adults too - according to Ian who took the following photograph.

Nice to see something unusual happening in the area; it will be interesting to see what coverage the event gets in the News Shopper. Plenty of still empty units in the centre though; a pity that after over two years of opening, the place is still hanging on by the skin of its' teeth.

That dreadful rag the Daily Mail (in my opinion the worst national daily newspaper, consciously aiming its' appeal primarily at white, middle aged, middle class women) has been running a campaign that for once I can actually sympathise with. They are campaigning against the use of domestic wheelie bins, and the compunction of residents to act as unpaid litter sorters, bearing in mind the profits made by many councils in selling the pre - sorted waste on to recyclers for cash. I have decided not to play the game at all. Every day I take a small bag of my rubbish from the previous 24 hours round the corner to the waste recycling site in Morrison's car park - usually I do this on my way to work in the morning, after picking up my daily copy of the Times. I then pop round to the recycling point, drop off my rubbish, then head onwards to the railway station, and thence to London. No wheelie bins, stroppy and uncooperative dustmen, or smelly clutter despoiling my front garden - and a Zen like sense of completing the circle; All my food comes from Morrisons, and my waste returns there for recycling. The bonus is that in a very small way I feel that I am for once beating "the man".

The comments I made last week about the future of short wave radio sparked quite a bit of interest; I wonder if anyone remembers the excellent proto commercial shortwave news, technology and current affairs station Radio Fax that broadcast in the early nineties, only to be crushed by the government. You can read all about Radio Fax here.

This weeks' video clip is a little longer than usual; it shows twelve minutes from the pilot episode of "Virtuality" - the new sci fi drama series from Ronald D. Moore, producer and writer of the truly ground breaking remake of "Battlestar Galactica". Here is a sneak peek at his new show...

The chimp in a Day-Glo jacket.

Transport, or the lack thereof seems to have dominated this week; I am not going to get sucked into a debate into the rights and wrongs of the recent tube strike, other than to say I was one of the millions of commuters adversely affected by the industrial action. I was unable to travel up to my companies' Watford data centre, as I could not get across town from London Bridge to Euston to pick up the connecting overland train to sunny Watford ™.

Instead I spent several pleasant days in Canary Wharf, using the quick and reliable Docklands Light Railway, which I picked up from Greenwich station. The one main differentiator between the conventional tube system and the DLR is quite fundamental; The DLR is entirely automated, and the trains are controlled by computer. The thought does occur as to why the transport authorities do not consider automating the main tube system. Most accidents are down to human error, and let's face it, the job is not difficult – after all, the driver is that in name only – he does not even have to steer, just press “Start” and “Stop” every so often, and then open the doors. A trained chimp of average intelligence in a Day-Glo jacket could do it, and would cost substantially less in bananas and other fruit than the outrageous wages and working conditions the current tube staff demand.

In case you were wondering what exactly the photo above is, well I am not completely sure what function the big cylindrical hopper actually has, but it is located in the RMC Road Stone yard just around the corner from my house. It must make a good navigational reference point to river traffic though.

I saw something rather surreal on the bus earlier today; a young girl with a large brown rabbit on a lead, which she was cradling in her arms. I suppose taking a pet rodent for a walk should not be considered that unusual – a work colleague used to give his own rabbit lifts around his home village in the basket on the front of his push bike. It does make a change from the customary dog – which in the case of Erith and its' environs almost invariably means a Staffordshire Bull Terrier in pseudo bondage gear, a Pit Bull, or a Rottweiler. I make no secret of not being very keen on dogs in general, and the aforementioned breeds in particular. Many, if not all of the owners keep the things as a kind of organic weapon to defend themselves whilst they conduct their nefarious activities. I just find dogs in general unhygienic and unpredictable.

Something creeping up on people in virtually every industrialised country, which will cause terrible problems in the near future, is a technology that few outside of the amateur radio community have currently heard of, but which is going to have far reaching consequences. This technology is called BPL – Broadband over Power Line. In essence, the national grid will be used as computer data networking infrastructure. This sounds like a great idea – to use a long established network, and then piggy – back a broadband service on top of it. What the proponents of this system do not say is that in order to enable this, great swathes of the short-wave radio spectrum will be effectively wiped out, as those shortwave frequencies will be used as the carrier for the broad band data, turning every electricity pylon into a shortwave radio jammer. Ship to shore communications, military radio nets, emergency communications in disaster zones, amateur radio and international short wave broadcasting will all be adversely affected. The British authority responsible for broadcasting and the radio spectrum is OFCOM. Unlike their predecessor the RIS (Radio Investigation Service - which was part of the DTI) they are a commercial organisation, not a government department, and primarily concerned with maximising the profits generated by the radio spectrum. Broadband provision is considered to have priority over any form of shortwave radio communication and OFCOM tacitly admit that the radio spectrum from 1.8 – 30 MHz will take an utter hammering. Shortwave broadcasting stations like WBCQ in Maine, USA – close friends with our own local weekend broadcasters WNKR will no doubt suffer in consequence. I feel that this contentious issue will only hit the mainstream press when a ship's mayday message is not received by the coast guard and RNLI due to someone downloading YouTube clips over a BPL connection. It is going to happen.

The video clip this week is of an old TV advert from the mid 1980's; it is one of my all time favourite commercials, and it certainly makes you think. Please feel free to leave comments and feedback below as ever.

A job well done.

The road resurfacing outside Pewty Acres went into a second week, unbeknownst to me at the time. I would not normally feature the same kind of content in the photo above as last week, but I took the shot above on Monday night, as the final layer of road surface was laid outside my front door at around 10pm. I am rather pleased with the picture to be honest; I feel it is one of the most accomplished I have taken in some time. Please leave comments below as usual. The work men finished the tarmac and line painting just as I was getting out of bed at 5.30 in the morning. It was a bit noisy and disruptive for a while, but the excellent results were on the whole worth it. Talking to the construction supervisor, it would seem that the material used has some kind of special noise dampening properties; tyre and road rumble does seem noticeably less since the new surface was laid, and there is no longer an annoying "thump thump" as vehicles transit between the previous tarmac patches outside.

Local bar Potion (photo above) has been in the news recently; it has been visited by the local Police - they have been carrying out random drug tests on the customers. There were a few positive results, though since the tests would appear to have been voluntary, this is not that surprising - those who knew they would get a positive reading would obviously make themselves scarce. Following on from this, the police have raided a suspected drug den in a flat adjacent to Erith railway station. You can read more about it here. Potion has not to my knowledge quite become the cesspit of vice that I was expecting; certainly many of the local "faces" hang out in the place, but it would seem that the management are successfully keeping a lid on the worst excesses of a number of their less salubrious patrons.

Something that I am not alone in noticing over the last few years as becoming increasingly common, especially in relatively socially deprived areas such as Erith and Lower Belvedere, is the pseudo pagan practice of placing flowers and cuddly toys at the site of a fatal accident. This practice seems to have begun with the death of Princess Diana, and has become increasingly common. I don't know if this coincides with the reduced influence of the established religions, or if there us some other factor that has modified peoples' behaviour in this respect. These roadside memorials can be quite elaborate. I do wonder what motivates people to leave these tokens in public places. Once place that has an almost continuous memorial is underneath the foot bridge at Belvedere railway station. From my observations, it seems to almost exclusively commemorate kids who have either been hit by a passing train, or electrocuted whilst they illegally messed around on the railway. This Darwin Award nominee behaviour is nothing unusual, unfortunately; there seems to be some magnetic attraction to railway tracks that is exerted on the micro browed and low of wit. The fact they manage to terminate themselves is a kind of existential poetic justice - the downside to the rest of us is the delays and disruption caused to the long suffering commuters.

I was digging around in a cupboard this morning and came across a pile of old program cassettes going back to the early 1980's. They were for my classic 8 - bit Atari 800 computer, which I still have in working order. When I worked at Silica Shop, I used to know software genius Jeff Minter, and he wrote me a customised version of his game "Hovver Bovver". Nice to see I still have it; I just need to see if it will still load...

This weeks' video was suggested by Ian; it shows the never transmitted scene from Doctor Who where the fifth Doctor chases Del Boy, Rodney and Uncle Albert through the streets of Amsterdam. Ahem.

A new Road.

Major roadworks began outside Pewty Acres on Tuesday night this week. Conway civil engineering are resurfacing the entire length of the road over the next eight nights, to minimise disruption during the day. Nothing mentioned about the noise and disturbance to locals overnight, though in fairness I think their decision was correct. Some photos of the first and most dramatic night of work are shown above; click on any one for a larger and more detailed version. You can see more of my photgraphs if you view my Flickr photo album here. Something that I unfortunately did not notice as I was taking these photographs was that as the workers stripped off the top layer of tar macadam, they exposed the old tram lines that went along the road until the service was discontinued in the late 1960's. Thanks to Flickr users Crash Colloway and Steve Thoroughgood for their information. You can see a map of how Erith looked, way back in 1921 if you click here.

The summer seems to have arrived in Erith, normally this is something to be welcomed, but a significant proportion of the locals make me feel otherwise. I am utterly repulsed by the bare torsoed and tattooed vermin that frequent the area; they seem to delight in exhibiting their scrawny, pigeon chested bodies, complete with ink, sunburn and accumulated grime; something I find completely unacceptable. I have never understood their need to deface their bodies with tattoos and other disfigurements such as piercings. Generally speaking, the sight of one or more of these unsightly adornments on an individual will set my internal alarms running on "steel toecaps to stun".

If you wish to read any Maggot Sandwich articles older than ten or so updates ago (which is what you see on the front page), then scroll down under the blog links list on the right until you see the Blog Archive list - if you click on this pull - down menu, you can select and read articles going way back to the beginning of the Maggot Sandwich in 2006. There are now 223 postings, so you should have enough to keep you occupied for quite a while.

I have been watching the recent television advertisements for Birds Eye Salmon fish fingers; am I alone in thinking these are just utterly wrong on so many levels? Fish fingers need to be made of white sea fish, not fish resembling something the colour of a Pringle golfing sweater that has been hauled out of a river by and Irn Bru swilling inhabitant of our more northern colonies. It is just Wrong. Please share your thoughts by clicking on the comments link below.



An update on the Royal Alfred pub saga; the place has been empty and abandoned for months, awaiting a buyer. I can announce that the place has just been bought by Manjinder of the Londis corner store opposite the pub. I have talked with him, and he originally wished to reopen the place as a working pub with good food and real ale, but after consulting with various people he came to the realisation that Erith was never going to support such an emporium, filled as it is with lager swilling slack jawed neanderthals and other nondescript crooks and undesirables. He and his family are planning on converting the building into a supermarket and a larger verson of their existing store, where I buy my copy of the Times each morning. Their business is a shining example of what can be done right in the local area, and with space to expand, I see them doing very well indeed. It is sad to see the end of an historic local pub, but one has to be realistic - better the building is put into productive use than either stay empty, or worse still, be demolished for yet more anonymous flats.

Further to my mid - week posting concerning my visit to the recording of two episodes of the wartime comedy Hut 33, several people have asked me what the plots were. Well, without giving too much away, the first episode concerned gullible schoolboy prodigy Gordon being given the task of trying to come up with a psychological profile of the German signaller who encrypted a particularly important message; to this end professor Charles gives him an armful of Wagner LP's and a copy of Mein Kampf. The effect this has on the impressionable teenage mathematics genius can be imagined...

The second episode concerns a blanket ban on Bletchley Park staff posessing anything German whatsoever - Minka ends up almost machine gunning Alan Turing because he is eating Battenburg cake. Later it turns out that Charles' uncle is a Colonel in the Wermacht who is conducting the siege of Leningrad....

This weeks' video is one that I have been searching online for a long time; it is a press report covering the illegal raid by the British and Dutch governments on the Radio Caroline ship the Ross Revenge, back in August 1989. I had been on board two weeks before the raid, and some of my photos were later used in evidence to show the pre - raid condition of the ship, and to show the damage the raiders caused. I spent many hours with Carolines' lawyers, the prestigious firm of Richards Butler (now known as Reed Smith) who were working for free, and eventually we won the day and all confiscated equipment was returned.

Hut 33 series 3.

Last night I went to see the recording of two new episodes from the third season of the excellent BBC Radio 4 comedy series Hut 33. It was recorded at the BBC Radio Theatre, which is inside Broadcasting House, pictured above (click for a larger view).

I went along with work colleague and friend Martha, and my Mum, who stood in for Ian who was unable to go - mainly due to his forgetting he would be with wife and kids on holiday in Weymouth at the time.

Set during World War Two, Hut 33 follows the adventures of a team of code breakers at Bletchley Park. The three code-breakers are forced to share a draughty wooden hut as they try to break German ciphers. Unfortunately, as they come from very different backgrounds, they don't get along.

Archie is a stroppy Geordie Marxist, who wants a socialist revolution, Charles meanwhile is an ultra-conservative snob with a background as a university professor. Also in the hut is child prodigy and very gullible Gordon and, sometimes, the very silent Winstanley (we only know the latter exists as the other characters occasionally remark about his odd behaviour).

In theory, 3rd Lieutenant Fanshawe-Marshall is in charge of the hut, but he is so dim he struggles to exercise any authority, or indeed remember his own name.

There's also Mrs Best, their lascivious local pub landlady who is on the prowl for a man (or men!) and the hut's psychopathic Polish secretary Minka, the one competent member of the team - although her answer to virtually everything unfortunately involves extreme violence.

The show has become a cult hit - the queue outside Broadcasting House was huge. I would not be surprised if it transfers to television soon. I highly recommend the show, the second series of which is being repeated both on BBC Radio 4, and on the BBC iPlayer website too.

Anyway, on a somewhat trashier note, friend Damien sent me the following clip from Britain's Got Talent, of the Hooded Fingerer, who hails from Belvedere. Heaven help us...

Bank holiday in Erith.

The above photo was taken by me a little while ago in a turning off West Street in Erith. Some chavs had stolen and then set fire to a scooter. I posted this shot on my Flickr account, and for some reason it attracted unprecedented interest; It has even been viewed and downloaded by someone in Japan, for whatever reason. Modern art I guess.

The road outside my house is about to be resurfaced; unfortunately the powers that be have decided that this operation will be best performed at night, so for the next couple of weeks I will have diggers, pavers and other heavy plant stuck outside of my door, keeping my awake, along with my neighbours. Delightful. Expect an online rant in due course. More on this in future, no doubt.

I was on the way to see Dad in his nursing home the other day, and was passing by the Asian supermarket near Plumstead railway station, there was a commotion, and a middle aged and goofy looking bloke on a BMX push bike came through the gaggle of people exiting the station - he shouted "Move - get out of the way"! I stood in front of his path and loudly said "You are not supposed to be on the pavement - get on the road!" expecting a torrent of abuse in reply. Instead he responded "you're right" before disappearing towards the high street. Weird.

Below is a capture from Google Street View of the hideously infamous Erith fish sculpture. You can click and drag to navigate around the local roads from this window. Have fun.


View Larger Map

My DAB receiver has died. I thought that it was the radio itself, but after some diagnostics, I have discovered that the external switched mode power supply has turned up its' toes. I am now on a quest to find a cheap 12 Volt, 2 Amp "wall wart" replacement. I am missing my usual regular dose of Planet Rock because of this right now - I have to listen online, which is no real hardship I suppose. On another somewhat freer radio front, WNKR have produced an epic extended bank holiday series of diverse music and documentary shows over the weekend. You can hear them on 1476 Khz medium wave, or online here.

You may have noticed two new links on the side bar on the Maggot Sandwich this week. Filey Weather is precisely what is says on the tin - it is a meteorological analysis of the weather in the North Yorkshire town, studiously assembled each week by my work colleague Ralph. Tempus 31's Art & Design is done by my friend Damien, a very talented graphic designer - do check it out and give him some feedback.

I am off to BBC Broadcasting House tomorrow evening to attend the recording of the first two episodes of Series 3 of Hut 33. A mid week blog update will no doubt follow in due course.

Ian and I went to see the new Star Trek reboot last Sunday evening (the reason why last weeks' Maggot sandwich posting was earlier than usual). I went with an open mind, being a Trekker since the age of six or seven years old. I was stunned - the film is amazing and I would highly recommend it, especially to anyone who previously was not keen on Trek; it is a reboot on a par with what has been done with James Bond. Basically the story takes place in an alternate universe from the original Star Trek and its' sequels and offshoots. Very clever story, script and a well chosen cast. Go and see it.

Another cult sci fi show that has had a modern makeover is the seminal eighties series "V". I loved the original 1983 miniseries, but like many, thought that the ongoing TV serial which followed it became shallow and formulaic. I am guessing the the producers of this new take on the story have probably taken encouragement from the amazing critical success of the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica, and are hoping for some of the same. Here is the first trailer for the forthcoming modern take on the story - give it a watch. Please feel free to leave a comment below.