Supermarkets.

The photo above shows a unique view of Erith which was taken by a reader a few of years ago. It was taken from a flat in one of the old tower blocks on the former Larner Road Estate, which has now been rebuilt as The Erith Park Development. Pretty much all of Erith can be seen in this astonishing photograph - click on it for a larger view.

The following historical piece was sent to me by regular Maggot Sandwich reader and occasional contributor Brian. The article was originally published back in 1925 in the Kentish Times - it was written by "Tumbler" Bell, the pioneering sportsman and union activist of late Victorian times who became a chronicler of old Erith in the pages of the then local newspaper. He wrote:- "Prior to the establishment of Messrs Easton and Anderson’s Engineering Works on the river bank at the bottom of what is now known as Manor-road, Erith, what was known as the Round House stood on the site.  A short distance away was Anchor Bay Farm, occupied by old Mr and Mrs Harry Graham, who saw the rise, decline and passing of both the engineering works and Messrs J R White and Co’s brickfields. They lived to a ripe old age, deservedly respected by all who knew them. To provide housing accommodation for the workmen, the houses in Appold-street, Wheatley-terrace, James Watt-place, and Rumford-place were built, and owned by the proprietors of the engineering works.  Houses were also built on one side of Manor-road, including the Royal Alfred public-house.  After sundown the locality was very dark, the exception being the well-lighted Royal Alfred, consequently the spot for congregation was the “New Light”, and by that name the house was generally known. The youths of the neighbourhood used to meet outside this house to discuss Rugby football, quoits, running, etc. There were English, Irish, Scotch, and Welsh lads.  Many could play fifes, whistles, etc.  A fife and drum band was formed; practice was allowed in the “Shant” (a long, narrow wood building, in which Easton and Anderson’s workmen took meals).  When proficient, the band paraded the streets, and a good show it made.  All went well till the day it was discovered that the side drummer’s mother had converted the drum into a cinder sieve.  The band broke up as a consequence. The “New Light” was used by workmen from both the works and the brickfields.  Lively arguments took place as to who could run the faster, which usually ended with the men taking off coats, waistcoats, and boots, toeing a line in the centre of the road, and racing each other along the road, round the houses, or round the backs in the brickfield.  That soon started the running craze, and young brickmakers and foundry workers were soon finding quiet spots for practising to prepare for racing each other at a given distance. When talking to admirers or critics some of the runners boasted of remarkable running feats done.  One evening one of them visited the “New Light”.  After drinking a quantity of liquor, he began to boast, and got so speedy that those present deliberately doubted his statements. “How far is it from the ‘Light’, up Manor-road, to Beadle’s Bridge, round Crescent-road, to the bridge at Whittingham’s shop, and back to the ‘Light’, and how long would it take you to do it?”  He told them.  Challenged, he took off coat, waistcoat, and boots, and toed the line in the road. Watch in hand, the time-keeper and starter got him off, and immediately stopped the watch.  All went back into the “pub”, to wait.  After a time the runner stumbled into the bar, panting heavily. The judge showed him the watch, and said, “You’ve done it in no time.”  “If I hadn’t fallen down twice, I’d have done it much quicker,” said the runner. Amusements would be arranged to take place on the same day as major events.  A farmer’s four-wheeled waggon was stood opposite the “pub”, to be used as a platform for singing contests, bobbing for apples, eating treacled rolls, etc.  A well-greased pole with a leg of mutton tied at the top was erected for a climbing competition.  Running races and other items took place.  On these occasions Don Andrews (a local comic singer) would climb into the lamp frame at the top of the lamp standard nearby, and recite the words of a ditty, and finish each verse with “Sing, brethren, sing,” and the assembled crowd would join “Don” and sing wholeheartedly."

Back in September 2020, detailed plans and drawings were submitted to Bexley Council as part of an application for planning permission to redevelop and refurbish the Spice Master Indian restaurant at 45 Nuxley Road, Upper Belvedere. You can see an architect's impression drawing of what the revised building was proposed to look like after the redevelopment work above, along with a photo showing the existing view - click on it to see a larger version. The proposal was to refurbish the restaurant and build an extra storey on top of the existing structure to encompass a number of flats to be rented out. As I am sure that most readers will be aware, none of this work has gone ahead, and the Spice Master restaurant building is still empty and derelict. This has been quite surprising when one considers the prime location right in the middle of Nuxley Road and the relative lack of other local restaurants. Whilst there are a number of pubs which serve food at lunch time and numerous takeaways, for evening service, there are really only two competitors for anything that was located within the Spice Master building. The Belvedere Tandoori close to All Saints Church and the the Chinese restaurant opposite the Eardley Arms pub. These are the only two proper sit-down restaurants in quite a large area. I feel that the size of the local population, of which a substantial proportion are quite affluent would welcome another evening dining venue. Personally, it has been suggested to me that if it was refurbished, the former Spice Master location could become an Italian restaurant, as it was a few decades ago. Although that eventually closed in a great deal of controversy and bad publicity due to health and hygiene failures. I am of the opinion that the area can support a night time restaurant venue addition. Unfortunately, as has been pointed out on numerous occasions in the past, the original structure of the former Spice Master was actually one of, if not the oldest buildings in Nuxley Road, going back to the days when the road was better known as Bexley Road - which was changed in order to avoid confusion with Bexley Road in Erith. The original structure was a former temperance Cafe called the Coffee Tavern. Unfortunately during the 1980s it was extensively remodelled and extended into the building we currently see. The September 2020 planning application would appear to have lapsed now. I have no idea of the reason why and it would appear that no further application has been made that I have been aware of. It is curious that such a prime location could remain derelict and unused for such a long period of time. Almost exactly a year ago, I wrote an article about the Spice Master site and how it had been put up for sale for £685,000, potentially for redevelopment. As far as I can ascertain the location has not sold, and it would appear there has been little interest in it, which again is quite surprising, although it is entirely possible there are restrictive covenants on the site. It does have close proximity to two residential houses on one side and a number of retail shops on the other. I am aware of that historically, there had been complaints about the level of noise and cooking smells coming from the Spice Master. Whether this would restrict the building's use for any future hospitality outlet is currently unknown. About the only main weakness of the location is that there is very little parking available apart from at the side of the road, which can be problematic due to the fact that the double deck 401 bus regularly passes along the road on its journey to Bexleyheath. Despite this, I still think the location would be ideal for another restaurant, as the area has a large number of residents within easy walking distance, many of whom might well like to have a couple of pints or a glass of wine before or during their meal, and thus would not be able to drive anyway. What do you think? Please let me know at the normal address, comments to hugh.neal@gmail.com.

It has widely been reported in the press that online grocery retailer Ocado is making widespread redundancies. The company is reportedly going to cut around 1,000 jobs from several locations around the UK in an attempt to save an approximate £150 million. It is also understood that many of the job redundancies will be the result of replacing humans with artificial intelligence solutions. I understand that Ocado have already made over 500 staff in the UK redundant over the past year, but this is now going to increase dramatically. As many readers may be aware Ocado have a major distribution centre which is located in Church Manorway, Lower Belvedere. From what I understand, there may be substantial job losses from this location. What many reports in the press do not make clear is that a majority of the job losses will not be from the grocery supplier part of the company, but from the lesser known technology implementation division of Ocado. This supplies consultancy, robotics and automation technology to other online retailers to enable them to more efficiently run their online delivery services. From what I understand, although Ocado have multiple locations, the Belvedere distribution centre is not just used for collating and delivering food and household goods to online customers, but it is also used as a research and development hub, where many of their new technology solutions are both developed and tested prior to being sold to other organisations. The Belvedere Customer Fulfilment Centre thus operates a dual function of both a working grocery warehouse and a research and development facility. Exactly how many jobs will be made redundant from Lower Belvedere is currently unclear, but I'm certain that it will be extremely unwelcome for those involved, as the feedback I have read from employees is that Ocado is generally a very good place to work with outstanding employee relations, and very good working conditions. How this may change due to the business restructuring is not certain at this point. 

It would seem that the business situation for discount supermarkets, Aldi and Lidl are looking positive. Both German supermarket chains are expanding within the UK and building new outlets. Their customer base is increasing, and the level of customer satisfaction is extremely high. The same cannot be said of the established mainstream supermarket chains within the UK. Press reports indicate that Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons are all making staff redundant as they try to automate as much of their internal processes as possible in order to try and save money. How this will affect customer satisfaction and thus engagement is yet to be clear. When you consider that supermarkets are basically dependant on customer satisfaction and to an extent customer loyalty, this may prove to be an expensive experiment. If it does not succeed It could end up causing them to lose even more market share to the German discount stores. Grocery shoppers in the local area may soon face further problems. The financial situation of two of our largest supermarket chains, Asda and Morrisons is getting increasingly worse. Both supermarket chains were purchased using a leveraged buyout, which basically means they were purchased with huge financial loans and are consequently having to pay astronomical amounts of interest each month, which eats up most if not all of the profits they make. As many people may be aware, the profit margins in the supermarket business have historically been extremely thin and with interest rates increasing the cost of heating and lighting going up exponentially, and the cost of stock shooting up, it has made what might look like sensible financial decision for each of the store chains back when it was made, but now looks foolhardy. The end video this week concentrates on Morrison's, and the problems that they have experienced since the company was sold to an American private equity group, who by all accounts would appear to be asset stripping the business. The short documentary explains the origins of the supermarket chain, which has been operating in the North of England since 1899 but only in the South when it opened stores in both Ilford and Erith in 1999 before expanding elsewhere in the South. It was originally a family-run business headed by patriarch Sir Ken Morrison. The video explains how and why the sale of the business was a really bad move in the medium to long term, but made its new owners a massive short-term profit, which they then took away from the supermarket chain. It seems increasingly likely that both Morrisons and Asda will either be broken up, sold completely, or will eventually be forced into administration. As I have previously said, I think the physical store in Erith would be purchased by one of the discount retailers such as Aldi or Lidl, as it would be far cheaper for them to purchase a ready-made supermarket building rather than build one from scratch in what is a central location.  Comments to me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.