A 113th birthday.

Some great news to report this week; after a decade of what appeared to be fruitless campaigning, led by local MP Teresa Pearce, it has been announced in the last week that Erith Station is finally very likely to get step free access to the London bound platform, and other accessibility aids for the disabled and those with a child's buggy. The Department of Transport has announced a package worth around £300 million to upgrade a total of 73 stations around the UK in order to meet the requirements of the Government sponsored inclusive transport strategy. In an interview published in the News Shopper and also elsewhere, Transport Accessibility Minister Nusrat Ghani said:- "Transport is vital for connecting people with work, friends and family, but also to enable them to enjoy visiting some of the wonderful cultural, historical and natural sites across the UK. We want the 13.9 million disabled people in Britain to be empowered to travel independently, which is why I am delighted to announce this roll-out of upgrades across the rail network. Over the next five years these newly accessible stations will open up routes across the country, helping us move closer to a transport sector that is truly accessible." As long time readers will be aware, I have been banging on about the need for step - free access to all of Erith Station for many years. Erith is one of the stations that has been nominated for accessibility improvements, and just for once I think it is actually going to happen. If you have any information other than that which has already been published in the press, please let me know; Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

On a far less welcome note, last Wednesday the Commons Select Committee on Crossrail published a damning report on the state of The Crossrail Project, and the way in which the Government must explain exactly who is responsible for the huge time and cost overruns to the project. The Commons Select Committee chair has been quoted as saying of the project:- “Passengers were led to believe they would be able use new Crossrail services through central London from the end of last year. Instead, they have been badly let down by significant delays and cost overruns. It is clear that the delivery deadline of December 2018 had been unrealistic for some time. But the Department for Transport, Transport for London and Crossrail Limited continued to put a positive face on the programme long after mounting evidence should have prompted changes. Wishful thinking is no basis for spending public money and there remain serious risks to delivering this programme, with a revised schedule and costings for completing the work still to be agreed. Some £2.8 billion of extra funding has been provided for Crossrail but even that may not be enough. It is unacceptable that Parliament and the public still do not know the root causes of the failures that beset this project. Nor will we accept the Department and Crossrail Limited’s description of these serious problems as ‘systems failures’. Accountability in the use of public money is of fundamental importance. The Department should write to us urgently to explain what it, Transport for London and Crossrail Limited are responsible and accountable for on this programme, and set out clearly what consequences there have been for well-rewarded officials whose costly failures are paid for by taxpayers.” Quite. The whole project has been a series of unmitigated disasters. 

The Maggot Sandwich has now been online since July 2006; I have published the Blog every Sunday for nearly the last thirteen years without a single miss in all of that time. If you click on the drop down menu produced by the “Blog Archive” button to the lower right of this text, you will see a whole list of previous postings. There are a total of 660 individual blog updates; an average of one per week. I have been going through some of these old articles and have noticed that there are some missing images and broken links. Bearing in mind the age of the articles in question, it is not surprising there is a degree of “link rot”. Images I have embedded from links to other web sites, and links to articles posted online are now sometimes broken, or actually lead somewhere completely different to what I intended. The Blogger platform is not really equipped to monitor and prevent link rot, unlike Word Press, which is designed to always use canonical URL’s. Apologies if you surf around the history of the Maggot Sandwich and discover a faulty posting. To be honest it is now such a huge body of text that it has become practically unfeasible for me to police the content and stop things breaking. This is also one of the reasons that I have not updated the theme I use. If I update the theme, I will find every image on the website shifting to the left of centre. The reason for this is that the theme has a bug; when you embed an image, it appears to the right of centre by a few pixels. I have for ages manually edited the HTML script underlying the page to hack the image back to the centre – I have been doing this for so long that I now barely think about it. Any changes to the theme will correct the bug, and I will have nearly three thousand photos all appearing out of place. In theory I could edit the text an HTML editor, using a search and replace script, but I am certain I would end up breaking things – my HTML skills are pretty limited – I know just enough to get myself into trouble, and not enough to get out of it.

I quite often pass by the piece of overgrown wasteland behind the London South East College -  Bexley in Walnut Tree Road. Bexley Council undertook to clear the land once the final phase of construction of the college had been completed. This has still yet to happen, and the area is absolutely teeming with rats. They often come out of the undergrowth and run along the path to the underpass, and they seem unafraid of people. I realise that destroying their habitat next to the college will only move the vermin elsewhere, but if they are not dealt with, I could see a situation with the college getting rat infested, which would be awful. I was reading an article on the BBC News website some time ago, which got me thinking. People in Cambodia and Vietnam regularly catch rats to be eaten – indeed there is a thriving cottage industry to supply the demand for rat meat.  Bearing in mind the profusion of rats locally, could an ecologically sound solution to the problem be to trap and kill the rats and then sell the meat on to the various fast food places in the area? It is most definitely organic and free range, after all? People already eat Grey Squirrel, which is also defined as vermin, yet they are treated as a minor delicacy, and are available to order in a number of posh restaurants and gastro pubs – and what is a squirrel? A rat with better P.R. I reckon that once seasoned , battered and deep fried, most people would not realise what they were eating was anything other than poultry – Kentucky Fried Rat, anyone? Rat Vindaloo? Shish Rat kebab with chilli sauce, salad and a pitta bread? The options are endless. Bearing in mind that it is said that you are said to be never more than four metres away from a rat when you are in Greater London, it does seem that we could be on the verge of both a culinary and pest control revolution. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or alternatively Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

The uppermost photo above was sent to me by a regular reader and occasional contributor. It shows the infamous camper van that until recently was parked outside of the main entrance to Erith Hospital for many weeks; I reported last week that the van had finally been moved its owner, who left a pile of human waste on the road in the process. Unfortunately the van owner and his scruffy and untaxed (and thus by definition, uninsured) camper vehicle had not moved far. The van was then parked in Castleton Avenue in Barnehurst, and as you can see from the photograph, the van emitted a river of liquid excrement that was washed down the road. The photographer, along with several other local residents brought the situation to the notice of Bexley Council's Environmental Health Department. The photographer also mentioned in his communication to me that the stink coming from both the van and the gutter was absolutely dreadful. As of Wednesday morning the camper van was gone - and Council contractors Serco had been on the scene to clear up the noxious mess the irresponsible van owner had left behind. On Friday it was reported to me by another regular reader that the van had turned up illegally parked locally for yet another time. On the latest occasion the camper van was spotted (and photographed - see the lower of the three images above - click on any for a larger version) in a car park just off Alsike Road by Argali House in South Thamesmead. I am led to understand that the car park is owned by the Peabody Housing Association. 

The Association of Bexley Charities '78 is holding a Spring Fair at the United Reformed Church, Geddes Place, Bexleyheath DA6 7DJ (near the Broadway Shopping Centre) on Saturday 13th April 2019 from 9.45 am - 1.00 pm. Local charities will be selling, amongst other things, CDs, DVDs, Jewellery, Books, Cakes, Jams, Model Railway accessories, Collectables and Children's Games. Stallholders will include Alzheimer's Society, Bexley Branch; Bexley Downs Syndrome Group; Bexley Smile; Cats Protection, Bexley & District Branch; The Children's Society; Demelza Hospice Care for Children; Irish Community Services; Motor Neurone Disease Association; Dementia Carers Group, Greenwich and Bexley,

It has come to my attention that the planned Erith Fun Day 2019 has been cancelled by the organisers. Quite exactly why this has happened is currently unclear; if a reader has some insight into the unwelcome development, please let me know at the usual address - thanks!

The photos above were taken by me last night at the 113th birthday party for the Carnegie Library in Walnut Tree Road, Erith. Both The Bookstore Cafe and the main hall on the ground floor were filled by visitors, and they were entertained by Don't Problem - a local jazz brass band who were absolutely excellent, very original, and also very loud! It was an amazing evening. You can see a full list of events that are to take place in the former library by clicking here. The Bookstore Cafe is open Wednesday - Friday 8am - 4.30pm; 6 - 10.30pm. Saturday 8.30am - 10.30pm. Sunday 9am - 4pm. It is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Many people may not realise that the cafe and bar is open in the evenings as well as in the daytime. If you fancy an evening socialising locally, I can heartily recommend the place. The Bookstore Cafe has a full drinks licence and serves a number of bottled beers from Bexley Brewery, as well as a range of wines, specialist gins and soft drinks. 

Some readers who have been following the Maggot Sandwich for a long time may recall my account of back in the mid 1980's, when I worked for Sidcup based computer retailer Silica Shop in their outlet in Lion House in Tottenham Court Road, London. I did not realise it at the time, but being involved in the then still relatively fledgeling home computer industry was to influence me to this day, but I digress. One day, I was chatting to two blokes in the Tottenham Court Road store when they invited me to come and visit them in their studio a couple of roads away; during my lunch break I visited the basement in a large and quite impressive stone building. The guys welcomed me into a darkened room filled with cigar smoke and all sorts of high end electronics that I could not identify. They then showed me a few clips – probably not more than thirty seconds of computer animated footage and asked my opinion. I was blown away – it was better than anything I had ever seen (to be truthful, at that point I don’t think I had seen much CGI – it was a very new field back then). After a few minutes chat and a horrid cup of gritty instant coffee I was shown out. I was impressed, but did not know what the footage was for. A few months later I was watching a music programme on TV (It may have been The Tube – I cannot recall) when I mentally stopped in my tracks – the CGI footage was being shown. It was the video for Dire Straits – Money for Nothing. I was gobsmacked – I had seen the making of one of the most famous music videos ever, from a band that were at the time pretty much the biggest on the planet. The video company was - and is called Framestore. They are still one of the market leaders in computer generated imagery for TV and film. The system I had seen being used to make the "Money for Nothing" video was called the Quantel Paintbox; the Quantel Paintbox and its pressure-sensitive stylus were groundbreaking pieces of technology when they were released in 1981, but they had their limitations. The huge 14-inch platter hard drive could store 160MB of data, enough for just over six seconds of video at 25 Frames Per Second. Longer pieces required playing out each frame to tape before wiping the hard drive, a risky process that resulted in staff working eight-hour shifts around the clock to minimise cockups. The Quantel Paintbox and its multi-frame follow up Harry—which could store up to 30 seconds of footage and manipulate multiple frames of animation at once—would come to dominate the TV industry throughout the 1980s and early '90s. Framestore, the company a chap called Mike McGee cofounded with Sir William Sargent in 1986, is the visual effects house behind Walking with Dinosaurs, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Gravity, to name but a few. Framestore's sizeable reputation has seen it expand to New York, Los Angeles, and Montreal, but its home in London remains surprisingly understated. In the 1990's Walking with Dinosaurs was commissioned by the BBC just three years after the 1993 release of Steven Spielberg's groundbreaking Jurassic Park, as part of an ambitious remit to raise the bar in science programming. Jurassic Park cost $63 million to make, and it featured just six minutes of CGI for its two-hour running time. The BBC needed three hours of back-to-back CGI at a fraction of the cost. After looking to the west coast of America to realise its vision, the BBC turned to Framestore and its head of computer graphics Mike Milne. Milne generated three shots showing how, with simple models and natural history filming techniques, the cost of the CGI per second could be brought down. At a total cost £6 million, Walking with Dinosaurs wasn't cheap—it remains the most expensive TV documentary ever produced at a cost of £37,654 per minute—but this was still more cost-effective than anything the US visual effects companies could offer. Following the release of Walking with Dinosaurs in 1999, the series won two BAFTA Awards, three Emmy Awards, and a Peabody Award. It also made Framestore one of the most sought-after visual effects companies in the world. Its work on the TV adaptation of Gulliver's Travels, in which actor Ted Danson was filmed against a blue screen to create a dramatic sense of scale, netted the company a Primetime Emmy award, the first awarded to a company outside of the US. Framestore went on to win an Emmy every year for the next six years for its work on shows like The 10th Kingdom, Walking with Beasts, and The Ballad of Big Al. Numerous BAFTA awards and, finally, an Oscar for "Achievement in Visual Effects" for The Golden Compass followed. Today there are over 18 different departments in a typical visual effects studio. Concept artists and sketchers create the drawings from which 3D artists and animators create digital renderings. A physics team works entirely on simulations that try to replicate the intricate movements of cloth, water, and hair—elements that are extremely time-consuming for animators to recreate. Others work on the fire, smoke, and mists of a digital explosion. A rigging team creates the skeletons for 3D models, giving them the digital muscles they need to move realistically. At the end of it all, sat in pitch-black rooms, are the lighting and digital compositing teams, which take green screen footage of actors and layer it on top of computer-generated backdrops, while lighting artists make sure that every pixel is precisely lit to the director's specifications. When I look back at the handful of scruffy blokes chain smoking and drinking dreadful instant coffee that I encountered when I visited Framestore, I would never have guessed that they would become one of the most important and respected visual effects houses in the world. Below is a short video documentary about the Quantel Paintbox and the machines that eventually succeeded it. Do give it a watch.

Now for the weekly local safety and security updates from Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association. Firstly a report from Barnehurst ward:- "Another week has passed on Barnehurst Ward with no burglaries reported. Unfortunately though we have experienced a number of Incidents where vehicles have been targeted. These incidents range from criminal damage to theft from motor vehicles. On Friday 29/03/2019 In Fairford Avenue overnight a window was found smashed and a door to the vehicle had been forced however nothing was taken. In Colyers Lane on Monday 01/04/2019 overnight personal items were stolen from a vehicle, there was no damage caused. There were two further separate Incidents In Northall Road on Monday 01/04/2019, personal items were taken from both vehicles. In Parkside Avenue oil had been thrown over a vehicle, this occurred overnight on Tuesday 02/04/2019. Most recently in Merewood Road, again overnight there was a theft from a motor vehicle with personal items taken. Can we ask Coordinators to spread the word to ensure residents are double checking their vehicles when locking them and not to be leaving valuable items in vehicles even if they are hidden and out of sight. The team have started distributing Smart Water to the residents in Beverley Road. Smart Water is a useful tool to deter burglars and reduce crime. Please join us for our next community contact session at Barnehurst Golf Course on Tuesday 09th April 2019 at 1pm where we are open to discussion and happy to offer crime prevention advice". Belvedere ward:- "There have been reports of ongoing anti - social behaviour (ASB) by a group of teenagers at Asda in Lower Belvedere. The group have been observed being verbally abusive to staff and security guards within the shop, throwing different items around inside the shop, being verbally abusive to customers and also throwing rocks at the front of the shop after being challenged by security staff. Certain members of the group have been overheard in conversation saying the one was in possession of a knife. SNT officers have since visited the store in order to view CCTV images in an attempt to identify those responsible. Over the course of the last week, there have also been reports of a similar nature (youths acting in an anti-social manner) from residents of Coleman Road, Essenden Road and Sainsburys in Nuxley Road. Each of these locations were visited by the team and CCTV viewed. We have ascertained that the same group has been responsible for ASB in each of these areas of the ward. Thus far, we have been able to identify 6 members of the group and are working toward identifying the remaining members – the group were stopped and spoken to by officers on Wednesday and all were searched with a negative outcome. There was a recent burglary in Eardley Road in which it is reported that a group of 5 males were seen to approach a property, gaining entry by forcing the front door open. A substantial amount of money and several items of Asian gold jewellery were then taken from the property before the males left the area in a grey coloured vehicle. Our next Community Contact Session is taking place on Wednesday 10th April at Starbucks, Clydesdale Way from 1pm". Bexleyheath ward:- "The team have been busy increasing Smart Water coverage on the ward. Wenvoe Road almost has full coverage as we are hopeful this will be complete this week. Once we have finished with Wenvoe Road we will be starting Swanbridge Road next, as well as completing street a week on the same road. There has been one Burglary within the last week as this took place at Eskdale Road and occurred in the early hours of Monday 1st April 2019. Unknown suspects have broken into the shed firstly and used a tool from the shed to break into the conservatory. Various items were taken including the occupants vehicle which was also stolen. The team are actively patrolling Drug and Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) areas as stop and searches were conducted at the Marriot hotel car park, as youths were smoking cannabis at the location. We will continue to patrol ASB hotspots as well as increasing our smart water coverage and street a week coverage". Crayford ward:- "Unfortunately we have had two burglaries in Crayford this week. It was noticed that a front door was open in Ridge Way on Sunday 31st March at 10.40 and became evident that the door had been forced open. The house is under renovation and at this time the owner does not know what may have been taken. The other burglary occurred in the early hours of Saturday 30th March in Heathview Avenue, the external lamp was damaged and a blunt instrument was used to force entry in to the property. The resident was away from home and at this time it has not been confirmed what has been stolen. There have been vehicles stolen in the last week. A white Ford Transit, number plate DV62CRK was stolen between 17.10 on Sunday 28th March and 6.30 on Monday 29th March from Bourne Road Trading Estate. A white Mercedes sprinter number plate RV65VXE was stolen from Crayford Way between 16.00 on Sunday 31st March and 07.00 on Monday 1st April. Between 22.00 on Sunday 31st March and 4.40 on Monday 1st April a white Mercedes Sprinter YG65KFF was stolen from Halcot Avenue. On Monday 18th March a Honda was broken in to whilst parked at Century Wharf at Crayford Creek, the lock was broken off the vehicle and a clear footprint could be seen within, items were stolen. On Saturday 30th March at 13.30 it was reported that two Males in a van drove down an alleyway in Eardmont Close and entered a rear garden and took tools and work equipment, this was captured on CCTV. On Sunday 31st March a silver Ford Galaxy Titanium was damaged whilst parked in Iron Mill Lane. Tool marks were seen on the window and the frame bent back, the handle had been forced off. A shed window was broken in Dale Close between Friday 29th March and Monday 1st April, there was no signs of forced entry. A silver Ford Focus was criminally damaged at 00.30 on Tuesday 19th March, it is believed the suspect is known to the victim. On Tuesday 26th March a resident found a large knife hidden in their front garden in Halcot Avenue and handed it in to police. The team have been busy patrolling and several people have been searched for drugs and weapons. Our ward panel meeting took place on Thursday 28th March, the ward promises were set for the next three months. We will continue to deal with Anti-Social behaviour at Town Hall Square and Town Centre and in addition will deal with anti-social behaviour (drugs and alcohol) in Waterside Gardens. We will continue with community engagements and regular patrols. By all means come and speak to us or contact us by telephone or email if you have any concerns that you would like to raise about your neighbourhood. Alternatively Crimestoppers can be contacted on 0800 555 111 should you wish to make police aware of criminal activity anonymously. We will be at Crayford Library on Friday 12th April between 11.00-12.00 for community contact to discuss any concerns you may have and give crime prevention advice". Erith ward:- "First of all Erith SNT has a new full time PC, that takes us up to 2 PCs and 2 PCSOs this is the most we have had this year, Also the brilliant HHW team have signed up another NHW member in Erith . No burglaries this week we are pleased to say due to having a couple over the last few weeks. We have been patrolling the hotspot areas in both uniform and plain clothing, hopefully this has been having an effect. It is not all good new however, we have had a 2 theft from and 2 theft of motor vehicles".

Northumberland Heath ward:- "Another good week with no burglaries reported to us. One theft of a green/silver Kawasaki motorcycle from Parsonage Manorway on Saturday March 30th between 2.15 – 2.30pm. The lock was cut and the remnants of it were left on the victim's drive. Theft of a handbag in Frinsted Road on Monday April 1st between 0925 – 0940am. The passenger window was smashed in order to steal the bag which contained a purse and a mobile phone. Please remember to leave nothing on show when you leave your vehicle unattended and lock any valuables away, better still take them with you. One report of criminal damage to a residential property in Avenue Road on Monday April 1st at 4pm. A group of youths were seen trying to pull a “for sale” sign down, one of the group threw a brick at the window causing damage to brickwork under the front window. One theft of number plates in Avenue Road which took place overnight between Monday April 1st 6pm to Tuesday April 2nd at 09. 30 am when the owner returned to their vehicle to find them missing. We recommend using anti- tamper proof number plate screws, we have a number of kits in our office and are happy to provide them to anyone who would like a pack. One arrest on the team this week for a male in breach of a court order". Slade Green and Northend ward:- "Slade Green Football Club located just off Moat Lane suffered a break in between Tuesday 26th - Thursday 28 March. Entry was forced into the changing rooms but nothing was taken. The football club no longer exists but board members still attend the venue to carry out regular checks. In a similar incident, the changing hut in the park at Hollywood Way had signs of an attempted break in at some time during Saturday 30 - Sunday 31 March. Entry wasn't gained but the team are doing regular patrols of these locations and others where there are similar buildings. An intruder has been gaining access to Bushey Court Sheltered scheme in Hazel Road at very odd hours. It is usually after 3am where he stays in the lounge area for a few hours before leaving. He gets in using a fire drop key but last week forced a door to get in. It isn't happening daily but we have good CCTV images of the male. Nothing is taken or damaged while he is there but reassurance visits and patrols are being made in the scheme. 1 positive stop and search this week. In Rainbow Road a male was found to be in possession of cannabis and is due back very soon for interview". Thamesmead East ward:- "Good News - A suspect who left behind property which was used to cause criminal has had said property sent for forensic examination - suspect awaits interview. A male currently in prison for motor vehicle crimes will be attending court whilst serving sentence - for similar offences to be taken into consideration". West Heath ward:- "West Heath have had 7 motor vehicle crime between 27th March and 4th April. Three vehicles were damaged, a vehicles windscreen and passenger window were smashed in Hythe Avenue on Wednesday 27th March, another vehicle's tyres were damaged overnight on Saturday 30th March in Axminster Crescent and another vehicles' passenger window was smashed in Chessington Avenue in the early hours of Friday 29th - Saturday 30th March. A vehicle was stolen from Shakespeare Rd overnight 29th - 30th March between 6.30pm and 7.30am and a Motability vehicle was stolen from Abbots Walk overnight Saturday 30th - Sunday 31st March without use of the key. In Amberley Road some aftershave and small change was stolen from a vehicle whilst on the driveway on Saturday 31st March between half past midnight and 1150am. There was also a theft in a dwelling in Stapleton Road where a watch was taken on Wednesday 27th March. Our last Street briefing held on Friday 29th March in the Hurst Estate raised several issues of suspicious activities for ward officers to address including a male sleeping in a Van".

The end video this week is a bit of a departure; it is a US History Channel documentary from some years ago which features the story of seafarer and explorer Alexander Selkirk. April 2019 marks the 300th anniversary of the publication of Daniel Defoe’s world-famous story of Robinson Crusoe. The real life inspiration for this tale was Alexander Selkirk and, after years of being cast away on a remote desert island, he first set foot back on home soil at Erith. 

Erith Fun Day.

Yesterday was the first Erith Fun Day; the event was held at Erith Riverside Gardens, and it was a great success. There were stalls from charitable groups like Thames 21, the Alzheimers Society, St. John Ambulance and other not for profit groups like FORGE (Friends Of Riverside Gardens Erith), Erith Town Forum, Bexley Afro Caribbean Community Association, the Rotary Club of Erith, Bexley College, and the Port of London Authority. Also present were commercial organisations such as the Nemesis Gym, and various stalls selling novelties and other items. There was also face painting, a mobile sweet shop, a fortune teller and an ice cream van. 

The photo above shows the Mayor of Bexley, Councillor Howard Marriner, accompanied by the Lady Mayoress, Dianne Marriner, and Councillor Edward Boateng. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the Mayor is a regular Maggot Sandwich reader!

The photo above shows MP for Erith and Thamesmead, Teresa Pearce, along with "Alexander Selkirk" (who was looking remarkably fit and healthy for a chap who has not long celebrated his 338th birthday!) along with a representative from the Rotary Club of Erith. The centre piece for the Fun Day was the unveiling of a signpost, commemorating the coming ashore at Erith of Alexander Selkirk in 1711 after having been cast away on a desert island for eight years; Selkirk was the factual inspiration for the fictional character of Robinson Crusoe - one of the most popular characters in literary history.

The photo above (click for a larger view) shows Teresa Pearce MP unveiling the new signpost in Erith Riverside Gardens; the post can clearly be seen from the road. She was accompanied by a piper, whose playing was certainly enthusiastic. There are even further local connections; the sign was constructed by Erith based sign company WDS Signs, whose works are located less than one hundred metres from the Riverside Gardens.

Over the recent months there have been a steady stream of people throwing themselves into the River Thames at both Lower Belvedere and Erith. As I have previously mentioned, the rip tides and undercurrents on this stretch of the river make it the most dangerous sections of open waterway in the United Kingdom. Even in good weather the average survival time for anyone entering the river is something like eleven minutes. The River Police and the RNLI do an excellent job of keeping people safe on the River Thames, but bearing in mind that the nearest RNLI bases are at London Bridge and Gravesend, that still leaves a very long stretch of the river to be patrolled; it would seem to me that an extra base somewhere in the middle would be a very good idea. The former Erith River Police station building has been converted to office use, and is shared between marine engineering company Kort Propulsion, and the Erith Rowing Club. One alternative would be for the RNLI to renovate and occupy the former Port Of London Authority hut at the top of the jetty on the Riverside Gardens. I understand that the building has electricity and water and is fully plumbed in. The building is not very large, but I think it would be sufficient for a small team of three or four volunteers, and it would have the added advantage of being as physically close to the river as is possible to enable the quick launch of their rescue boat. What do you think? Does the Erith and Belvedere stretch of the River Thames need a lifeboat sub – station, or is the existing service good enough? You can leave a comment below, or email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com

The London Borough of Bexley stands out in a number of ways; we have the cheapest housing in Greater London, as was illustrated in the last Maggot Sandwich update, when I highlighted a large, modern two bedroomed apartment right on the river front at Erith. Such a riverside property would sell for a million pounds or more if it was located in Greenwich or in Canary Wharf, let alone somewhere in West London like Putney. The Erith post code means that the flat is offered for £180,000, which seems a relative bargain. One reason that may factor into the low property prices is that average wages in the borough are commensurately low; around one third of Bexley residents earn less than £8.80 per hour – the current London Living Wage. Bearing in mind the high cost of public transportation and the spiralling cost of rent compared with outright property purchase, this means that a large number of local people are being incredibly financially squeezed at present. The level of unemployment may be relatively low, but many of the jobs that are available don't pay very much. Historically Bexley has been a dormitory area for people working in London. One possible positive factor in the current low wage environment is that an increasingly large number of people are going self employed. These people don't show up on the low wage statistics, and they may well be a very positive contributor to the local economy over the forthcoming years. Traditionally small start-up companies run by sole traders are operated from home, or out of the back of a van.  Meeting with clients in a business environment can be challenging for such individuals – one of the ways in which the Cross Keys Centre will benefit local traders. Amongst the services it will shortly be offering is the use of private meeting rooms, hot desking / touchdown space and areas for networking and other formal and informal meetings. It is anticipated that small businesses that don’t have / need a full time office will be able to rent space by the day or even the hour when they require it. This kind of flexibility is something that should be a real benefit to the increasing number of self employed traders in the local area.

Every day when I walk to Erith Station, I pass by the piece of overgrown wasteland behind the new Bexley College campus. Bexley Council have undertaken to clear the land once the final phase of construction of the college have been completed. This can only be a good thing, as the area is absolutely teeming with rats. They often come out of the undergrowth and run along the path, and they seem unafraid of people. I realise that destroying their habitat next to the college will only move the vermin elsewhere, but if they are not dealt with, I could see a situation with the new college getting rat infested within days of opening, which would be awful. I was reading an article on the BBC News website earlier in the week which got me thinking. People in Cambodia and Vietnam regularly catch rats to be eaten – indeed there is a thriving cottage industry to supply the demand for rat meat. You can read the story here.  Bearing in mind the profusion of rats locally, could an ecologically sound solution to the problem be to trap and kill the rats and then sell the meat on to the various fast food places in the area? It is most definitely organic and free range, after all? People already eat Grey Squirrel, which is also defined as vermin, yet they are treated as a minor delicacy – and what is a squirrel? A rat with better P.R. I reckon that once seasoned , battered and deep fried, most people would not realise what they were eating was anything other than poultry – Kentucky Fried Rat, anyone? Rat Vindaloo? Shish Rat kebab with chilli sauce, salad and a pitta bread? The options are endless. Bearing in mind that it is said that you are never more than four metres away from a rat when you are in Greater London, it does seem that we could be on the verge of both a culinary and pest control revolution. Do leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com

The advert above dates back to 1901, so the "20th Century Cycle co." would have been an extremely futuristic brand at the time. I think it strange that it does not give an address for callers though. An eye catching design, nevertheless.

I don't think I have ever mentioned that I got a joke I wrote used on BBC Radio 4's excellent "The Now Show" some years ago. I was in the audience for the recording of an episode and I was asked to complete a questionnaire - and this is the result. Let me know what you think.

This week marks the twenty third birthday of the free and open source Linux operating system. I have been using Linux since back in 1997, when it was very much the purview of IT professionals; it was lacking features, incompatible with a lot of hardware (getting online with Linux back in the day was an exercise in frustration – even very common hardware such as the then ubiquitous U.S Robotics 56K modem could be an utter bugger to get working).  I recall the hours I spent trying to get my Red Hat 5.1 Linux installation to do what it should do. Back then Linux was far more stable than Windows 98SE or Windows ME (oh the horror!) but conversely you had to be a real guru to get things done. I think this is where the negative image of Linux being unsuitable for the desktop came from. Nowadays things are far better – device support is superb – in many cases better than Windows and Linux now “just works”.  Very few people ever install a computer operating system from scratch – they buy a machine with a preinstalled OS and it stays on the machine for its life. Tinkerers like me do OS installs on a regular basis. It really is straightforward whether you are talking Windows 7, Ubuntu or Apple OS X. You just follow the onscreen prompts and it pretty much does it for you. Personally I think that Linux has made far more of an impact in ways that few people realise – Google, FaceBook, Gmail and 497 out of the 500 most powerful computers in the world all run a version of Linux; it would be true to say that the Internet runs on Linux. If you have a smartphone that is not made by Apple, or a flat screen television, a set top box, whether it be a Sky satellite TV receiver, Virgin cable box or a Freeview receiver, they all run embedded Linux – it is the only operating system that powers devices from a toaster to a supercomputer with everything in between. Android, as used in smart phones and tablets is actually Linux with a whizzy interface suitable for touch operation. You can see from this that whilst Windows has for decades dominated the computer desktop, it has had little influence on the infrastructure and underlying technology of the modern world. As society moves away from large desktop PC’s, (and to a lesser extent away from the traditional laptop) and relies for online connectivity from smart phones and tablet devices, the underlying operating system has less significance than the applications that users wish to run – indeed, many applications are nowadays run online in a browser window – sites such as FaceBook, Instagram, Flickr and Twitter don't require a locally installed application, just a browser with connection to the web. Google grasped this early on with their excellent Google Docs application suite and its close integration with both Gmail and Google Drive storage. The Google Chromebook range of computers embraces this – they are cheap, relatively low powered laptops that just run a the Chrome web browser and enable cloud based storage. I have heard many arguments saying that web based storage is no good without a web connection. Chromebooks are clever in this respect. I can give a recent example. Last Saturday I was in my favourite corner of The Robin Hood and Little John pub in Lion Road, Bexleyheath (by far the best pub in the area by a very long chalk). I was sending a few Emails and writing some content for the Maggot Sandwich on my Samsung Chromebook. The pub had an electrical fault, and the power cut on four separate occasions in the space of an hour or so; this had the unfortunate result of resetting the pubs’ Wifi router. Each time the power died, I lost my web connection. In the end I gave up and powered the device down. When I got home I switched it back on; it detected the Pewty Acres Wifi and connected automatically. It had cached all of the content I had created and it automagically uploaded it all into the cloud as if there had been no interruption at all. I lost nothing whatsoever. All very clever stuff. Google Chrome OS is another iteration of Linux, by the way – you cannot get away from it.

Not many local people are aware that the Erith / Belvedere area was once subject to one of the largest non – nuclear explosions in history You can see a contemporary account above - click for a larger view. Back in 1864 there were two commercial gunpowder factories – that of John Hall and Son and the Elterwater and Lowood Gunpowder company situated on the marsh land that at that time existed parallel to the River Thames between Slade Green in the East and Plumstead in the West. Both factories were physically isolated from residential areas, and many precautions were taken to prevent any kind of fire; workers had to wear felt slippers, and all equipment was made of wood, or lined with copper to prevent sparks; understandably smoking was strictly prohibited. At about 6.40 am on Saturday the first of October 1864 all these precautions proved worthless, when there was a massive explosion which totally destroyed both gunpowder factories, their store magazines and a couple of barges that were being loaded with barrels of gunpowder at the time. No contemporary account exists of exactly what caused the accident, as the eyewitnesses were instantly vapourised. The explosion was heard as far away as Cambridge, and the shock wave was so intense that people in central London were convinced that there had been an earthquake. One report at the time said that as rescuers hurried to the site they found a massive crater and absolutely no signs of any buildings were left “it was if the place had been swept clean by a broom”. Surprisingly there were only around twenty casualties, as though the explosion was huge, the remote location prevented greater loss of life. Witnesses said that a huge pall of black smoke, shaped like a mushroom hung in the air for an hour afterwards. Five of the victims were classed as “missing” as nothing remained of them to bury. Others whose bodies remained intact to some degree or other were taken to the Belvedere Hotel in Picardy Road, which was converted into a temporary morgue. The injured were taken to Guy’s Hospital at London Bridge, where some then succumbed to their injuries. The Perth Gazette and West Australian Times (the story made world headlines) also curiously reported that a man escaped serious injury, but did have “his right whisker blown off, and he has not been seen since”. The unknown reporter then comments “The damage done to property extends to a radius of over twenty miles; the effect upon domestic animals is said to have been very remarkable. Thousands of pets succumbed with fright – the mortality to Canaries being particularly great”. The army was called from the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich to assist with emergency repairs to the river wall, which had been destroyed to a length of three hundred yards from the epicentre of the blast. Fortunately the tide was low at the time, and the Royal Engineers assisted by civilian navvies and some volunteers barely managed to temporarily block the gap before the tide rose. Had they not, much of Lower Belvedere would have been flooded as later happened in 1953. Considering the size of the explosion – it is estimated that something between 45 and 100 tons of gunpowder were detonated, the long term damage was pretty light, though the superintendent of Crossness Sewage Works did put in a grumpy claim for £150 for plate glass that had been damaged by the blast – this sounds like some very creative accounting on his part, as the works was still being constructed at the time, and did not actually go into operation until nearly a year later.

Have you noticed how movies seem to appear on video on demand services like Netflix and iTunes almost as soon as they are released at the cinema? Indeed there have been cases where films have actually been released to video on demand before they have had a theatrical release. The general marketing format of a Hollywood movie is to release to cinemas, then video on demand, then sold or rented on DVD or Blu – Ray, then to satellite or cable like Sky / Virgin, then finally sold to conventional broadcast television. Now that very few Hollywood movies are shot on 35mm cine film, nearly everything is made digitally. This saves a fortune on film stock and duplication, and also enables much easier compositing of special effects – and also means that the cinema projectionist can just download the movie from the film company website. You would have thought that this would mean the big studios would be raking in even more cash than ever, but quite the reverse is actually the case. In recent years the main studios have concentrated on what they term “tent pole” movies – mega budget films filled with special effects, and generally aimed at teenagers. The release of these films at certain times of the year, such as Christmas and the Summer holiday period drives the studios’ entire schedule. In 2013 the major Hollywood studios took a terrible drubbing – they lost a total of eleven billion dollars; the reason for this was a series of mega budget “tentpole” films that were meant to be blockbusters, but which turned out to be turkeys. White House Down, The Lone Ranger, After Earth and a handful of other movies tanked at the box office, virtually bankrupting their producers. Studio bosses got so cautious and conservative in relation to the films that they commissioned in the light of these financial disasters that even when Steven Spielberg, the most respected and commercially successful film director of modern times pitched “Lincoln” at the studios he initially got turned down; the reasons being that the protagonist dies at the end, and as such there is no possibility of a sequel (!) Hollywood seems to be shying away from adult, thought provoking movies in favour of noisy movies featuring superheroes and franchises that offer seemingly endless sequels – such as the Fast and Furious series, or the Expendables. In 2012 Nineteen were based on some other property, eight were sequels, four were comic-book franchises, two were remakes, two were prequels, and seven were originals. Films such as “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” tend to be made by European studios such as Canal Plus with far smaller budgets, but arguably making far more interesting motion pictures. What is interesting is how conversely America is producing some excellent, very high quality shows, but they are for television rather than the big screen. The U.S remake of “The House of Cards” is a prime example – not only did stage and screen actor Kevin Spacey make the transition to the small screen, the entire run of the show was first broadcast via Netflix. This model seems to be becoming the norm – fewer adults want to sit in a cinema surrounded by noisy kids chatting with their mates during the film; with the advent of big screen televisions, HD and shortly 4K resolution there is no longer a compelling reason to get in the car or on the bus to go and see a movie, when nowadays you can actually get a superior experience in the comfort of your own home. Nowadays the content is the king, not the delivery method. I foresee that the studios will continue to make “blockbuster” type films – the type that tend to catch the headlines, but more attention will go to the creation of multi episode dramas with a high quality cast, script and production values – as the audience vote with their feet and stay watching paid for content on their own big screens. The art of cinema will not die – but the way it is delivered to their audience will change markedly.

Prospective new Blackfen micro publican Andy Wheeler of The Broken Drum dropped me a line this week; this is what he had to say:- Hi, my name is Andy Wheeler; I have submitted planning and licensing applications to open a micropub or a traditional ale house or micropub (as is more commonly known) in the Blackfen area, at 308 Westwood Lane, opposite the COOP entrance. There are many micropubs opening in and around the Kent area and the rest of the country, they mainly sell cask conditioned ale (real ale) and encourage conversation. A good definition of a micropub can be found by clicking here. I’m an active member of the Bexley CAMRA, the CAMpaign for Real Ale and I have found the best real ale being served is from micropubs, and I want to emulate that and the culture of micropubs. The London Borough of Bexley already has a micro pub called The Door Hinge in Welling run by Ray Hurley. He has been a great help and an inspiration to me. Another ale house has received planning approval in Crayford, and will be opening soon. My pub is to be called ‘The Broken Drum’. If you want to know why I chose that name then come and ask me when I opened, (someone people know or may have guessed). I propose to sell real ale, a small amount of wine and real cider, traditional locally resourced pub food (pork pies, scotch eggs, crisps and alike). I won’t be selling lager, alcohol pops or spirits. There will be no music, fruit machines or arcade games, and the use of mobile phones is discouraged. Excellent stuff; I will be covering The Broken Drum in the future - watch this space.

You may well have heard about a scam that has been going on for seemingly years. It astonishes me that it still seems to work, as by now you would have thought that enough people would be aware of it to deter the fraudsters, but for whatever reason, it would appear not. The scam involves a phone call from a person purporting to be working either for Microsoft, or a Microsoft affiliate company. The person tells the victim that their PC has been infected by a number of viruses, and that they can talk them through fixing the problem. If the victim is unconvinced, the scammer talks the victim through opening a Windows command line prompt and inputting a series of text commands. The commands produce a series of error messages and a long code string which the scammer tells the victim are proof that their PC is infected; in reality this is not the case – the codes produced are generated by the Windows activity monitor, and actually show perfectly benign computer operations that are normally run in the background, unbeknownst to the average user. After this the scammer tells the victim that they can take remote assistance of their PC to remove the “viruses”. If the victim gives control, the scammer opens a web browser session and asks the victim to input their Pay Pal details to pay for the virus cleaning service. If the victim does this, their account details are stolen and their account is later hoovered clean of cash. If the victim refuses, perhaps after realising the whole operation is a con, the scammer will delete personal files and configuration folders if the remote connection is not terminated by the victim. Over the last six or so year, thousands of people have been targeted by gangs posing as legitimate companies – usually working out of India or South Africa in “boiler room” operations. I would advise anyone receiving a phone call of this nature to just put the phone down – arguing with them is pointless, and they will just move onto a new victim. I had such a call a few years ago; I realised pretty much straight away exactly what was going on, and thought I would play dumb and go along with things for a laugh – also, the longer I tied up the scammer, the less time he would have to hit another innocent victim. After the person asked me to log into my computer and open a command prompt and input a series of Windows specific commands. When I answered that I was not getting the responses he described, he got increasingly annoyed, asking “what version of Windows are you using?” to which I replied “I am using Solaris 9 Unix on a Sun Ultra 60 workstation” he then realised he was the one who had been had – Sun (now Oracle) kit is generally only used by those in the IT trade, as it is very powerful, but not very user friendly. Not much of a victory in the greater scheme of things, but it made me feel better. You can read about the scam in more detail by clicking here.

The end video is something I mentioned a couple of weeks ago; it is a new TV commercial for the Royal British Legion entitled "Every Man Remembered". It was shot recently in a number of locations in Erith, Thamesmead and Upper Belvedere - see how many places you can identify. A very worthwhile cause, and I think the area can be proud to have been part of it.

Better Scores.

The poster above is for the forthcoming Erith Fun Day, to be held at Erith Riverside Gardens on Saturday the 30th August. Local MP Teresa Pearce will be unveiling a new signpost that will commemorate the link Erith has with Alexander Selkirk, the real life inspiration for the fictional character of Robinson Crusoe.

After publishing the Maggot Sandwich last Sunday, I went for a stroll into town. I was taking a leisurely amble through Erith Riverside Shopping Centre when my left leg was suddenly struck from behind, causing me to lose balance and almost end up on my knees. As I staggered, trying to remain upright, a woman riding a mobility scooter drove by whilst talking on her mobile phone, completely oblivious to the fact she had just mown me down. Fortunately I was not badly injured, with just a small bruise on my calf to show for the encounter, and a slight limp that lasted a few days. These mobility scooters are a menace – they may have several humorous alternative names such as the Nanbretta or the Frinton Ferrari (an offshoot of the old saying “Harwich for the continent, Frinton for the incontinent"). This hides a sad story that quite a large proportion of mobility scooters can travel at substantially more than normal walking pace; when this is combined with the lack of compulsory training or the need to have third party insurance it does leave a legal minefield for both the operator of such a vehicle and also the members of the public than encounter them. I firmly believe that mobility scooters are a good thing; they enable people who otherwise might find it difficult to get out and about, and stay in contact with general society. The old situation with people becoming housebound and isolated when their ability to move under their own steam became impaired has become far less common. I think it vital for elderly and mobility impaired people to retain their independence. The problem is that a small minority treat the scooters as some kind of fairground ride – the lady who collided with me being a case in point – she was whizzing along oblivious to her surroundings whilst yacking on her mobile phone. The reason I did not chase and challenge her after she hit me was that I was acutely aware of what the situation would look like to a passerby who had not seen what had happened – it would look like I was harassing an innocent old lady. I think that there should be some kind of compulsory formal training for mobility scooter owners, on a similar basis to the (voluntary) cycling proficiency test, along with a compulsory insurance policy covering third party liability. Some mobility scooters seem to be capable of travelling much faster than the fifteen miles per hour limit that is meant to be applicable to such vehicles; indeed I have seen a couple of elderly ladies on the pavement beside the Erith Construction HQ (the former Job Centre) in Queen’s Road who were racing each other – it reminded me of the Monty Python “Hell’s Grannies” sketch. It is only a matter of time before a mobility scooter rider, or a pedestrian is seriously injured unless some action is taken.

I have had some good news from Cliff Murphy, the chief brewer at the Bexley Brewery contacted me earlier in the week to inform me that all is on schedule for the brewery to open for its’ first brew in September. After this, he invited me to come along to the brewery for a chat. On Friday I made my way along to the brewery, which is located on the Manford Industrial Estate at the far Eastern end of Manor Road. It was a sweltering day and I was as usual suffering from the heat. Cliff greeted me, and seeing how frazzled I was, he showed me into the chilled conditioning room. It was blissfully cool, as Cliff was testing the cooler unit prior to the other brewing equipment being installed. We had a long and detailed chat, and he later showed me into the brewery office where he brought out a couple of delightfully cool bottles from a pre - production run. We sipped the excellent real ale out of promotional glasses as you can see in the photo above. The Bexley Brewery is very much a family run affair, and Cliff explained much of their business plan; he already has ambitions to expand, and the brewery building certainly offers plenty of space for that. The work that has gone on to make the building ready for brewing is impressive - a high level of workmanship and cleverly thought out industrial design was evident.  I will be putting together a Bexley Brewery special edition of the Maggot Sandwich nearer the time of the opening. It seems that things are looking very positive for local small enterprises such as these. I for one will be supporting them. The photo above shows a bottle of Bob ale (Bexley's Own Beer). alongside a promotional glass that Cliff most kindly gave me. Hopefully we will be seeing a lot more from the Bexley Brewery in the future. I have a feeling we have a local success story in the making. 

The photo above was taken from the same 8mm silent colour cine footage as the shots of L.B Stevens – Master Butcher last week. It shows an orange lorry in Erith High Street.  According to local historian Ken Chamberlain, the footage was taken from the first  floor of Burton's Tailor's looking towards Crayford Road (now Compton Place) in 1967. The building in the background is The Prince of Wales public house, which was demolished to make way for the current McDonald’s drive through. What strikes me is that not one single building in the photo, taken in 1967 still exists today. The row of shops to the right hand side of the road are now replaced by the Sherwood House residential care home and the Erith Health Centre, and the left hand side contains residential flats and the new Erith Library, built in what used to be the lovely Art Deco Odeon Cinema. The second photo shows a broadly similar view today - the road position has changed somewhat, making a precise comparison impossible. Nothing is left of the old, pre 1960’s town centre, which as I previously wrote I consider to be an act of cultural vandalism. I am of the opinion that the 1970’s brutalist concrete shopping centre was built at minimal cost  for what it was, and that someone had their fingers in the till. Nothing else can explain how planning permission could have been granted for the wholesale destruction of a historic town centre with a structure that was not just hideously ugly, but blatantly unfit for purpose, and was so shoddily thrown together than it began to fall apart almost as soon as it was finished. The only shop to have remained throughout the period from the opening of the new concrete shopping centre to the present day is the pharmacists Howells and Harrison – who still have the same sign outside as they did in the 1970’s. Anyone that remembers the old concrete shopping centre will recall how dark and forbidding parts of it were, and how the overpowering smell of Jeyes fluid and stale wee permeated the whole area. The dingy and forbidding multi storey car park over the shops was the hangout of vandals and winos, and one could feel very intimidated when parking in there. The new Erith Riverside Shopping Centre is a very clever re – use of the carcass of the old structure, but in a far more sympathetic and people – friendly way. The oldest buildings that survived the destruction of the town centre are the post office (originally a livery stables from the mid 1700’s) and the both the Cross Keys and the former White Hart, which briefly got re – branded as lager and cocktail bar Potion, and became the “go to“ place for the areas drug addicts and ne’er do wells until it was forced to close, not before time.  The Cross Keys is currently undergoing a sympathetic restoration to return it to a pristine condition, as it would have been in 1900 – I will be doing a Maggot Sandwich special on the Cross Keys and what has been going on in the last eighteen months in a future edition; suffice to say that I have had a unique perspective on the whole project, and have had extensive access to the restoration process. It may not currently look much different from the outside, but it is utterly stunning internally. I wish the same could be said of the White Hart / Potion which has been architecturally ruined. The pub is empty and apparently unloved; it currently has a number of bill posters over the front windows, and the place has an air of abandonment. Anyone taking the place on would have an uphill battle; not only would they have to replace the kitchen and the currently wrecked bar area, but the upstairs accommodation needs full refurbishment. The biggest elephant in the corner is that the current plate glass frontage would have to be removed and replaced with a replica of the original salt glazed green tiles and acid etched Victorian frontage that the owners of Potion illegally ripped out – not only is the White Hart / Potion building locally listed, but the whole of Erith High Street is a conservation area. I think a conservative estimate of around £100,000 would be needed to get the place up and running again, and at present I just don’t see the will to do this.

Fellow local blogger The Thamesmead Grump has been featuring a warning about a chap called Joshua Bonehill; whilst I know many people keep up with the Grump, on the off chance that some don’t I have chosen to also feature Mr. Bonehill, as he deserves a certain kind of publicity. Joshua Bonehill has a strong online presence – he runs an organisation called the National British Resistance (if your internal warning bells are not ringing by now, they really need to be). I would call Bonehill a Neo Nazi, but he’s not. He’s a full, old school traditional Adolf Hitler idolising National Socialist, who has managed to harness the world wide web to build a profile that is disproportionate to his influence in reality. If you consult his website here you will see that he’s a dangerously deluded aspiring megalomaniac. Not bad for a 22 year old who’s on the dole and lives with his mum. Bonehill has been prosecuted for spreading malicious lies about Asian men kidnapping a six year old, and making up a false story as to how a pub had banned military personnel to avoid offending the local Muslim population. All of it was utter tosh, and when Bonehill had his day in court, he only just escaped a custodial sentence, instead he was sentenced to 180 hours community service. I don’t write about Bonehill to promote him; quite the opposite – to warn others that this nasty, bigoted little man and his repugnant views exist.

I am pleased to say that Bexley Council’s Environmental Health department seem to be really making a difference as far as local fast food takeaways are concerned. Last year I wrote at length at how many places in the London Borough of Bexley had zero ratings – then by far the worst food hygiene ratings of anywhere in the country. A corner definitely seems to have been turned, and major improvements in the “Scores on the Doors” star ratings have recently started to come through. Nemesis Gym, which previously only scored a one star has now been revisited, and they now get a very creditable four stars; the same is true of the Ark Cafe and Christian bookshop (see the photo above). It had scored a two out of five, despite getting a very good review from a couple of anonymous readers who contacted me back when the original rating was published. Now the Ark has improved to get four stars, as has the Yildiran kebab shop in West Street, which somehow originally only scored a one. This surprised me at the time – I have had kebabs from there before, and the place appeared immaculate – and the kebabs were certainly very tasty indeed – many people went out of their way to visit the tiny corner shop. Now it has a rating of four stars, and I can now visit the place again without having to worry. It is nice to be able to report such a positive improvement since the last round of inspections. There is however a fly in the ointment. Erith’s only surviving pub, the Running Horses has seen its’ Scores on the Doors rating drop from two stars to zero.  Under previous ownership back in the 1980’s, the Running Horses Carvery was incredibly popular – to book on a Sunday you usually had to make a reservation a couple of weeks in advance. The food was well cooked and plentiful, the place was packed and the service was great. The excellent view over the river Thames from the upper floors windows only added to the whole experience. I can recall being taken there with my sister by my parents on many occasions. It was always a very pleasant way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately things have gone downhill since. The Running Horses used to be a “treat” destination, but nowadays it seems to be the last refuge of the desperate. The current owners spent a lot of money on the place a few years ago, but I don’t think they have recouped it. Walking past the place early on a Sunday afternoon, I rarely see more than a couple of cars in the car park at the back, or in the Riverside Gardens parking spaces at the front of the pub. This contrasts with the eighties, when a driver would be hard pressed to find a space after midday.  What the solution for this is I don’t know. Apart from the Mambocino coffee house and cafe in the Erith Riverside Shopping Centre, there is no other “sit down” eaterie in the town (I refuse to count Morrison’s cafe, as it is not the sort of place that you can make a reservation). So the Running Horses does not have any direct competition, but it still is not doing very well.  All I can say is that it has a couple of issues: 1) Lack of publicity – many don’t know the carvery / restaurant still exists. An advertising campaign or even a FaceBook page might help in this regard. 2) A concentration on quality of food and drink. When I last visited the Running Horses a couple of years ago, the only real ale they had on tap was Young’s Bitter (one of my favourite bog standard bitters) but it was sour and off. When I took back the pint the barman denied it was off, and when I showed him my CAMRA membership card, he offered me a pint of Carlsberg lager in replacement. I am pretty sure he had no idea how insulting that was to a real ale enthusiast, so I got a refund and went home. This is no kind of customer service. I think a change of management company or brewery might be the best way forward to keep the place going – I have worries that it might get closed and converted into flats, or worse still, demolished to make way for yet more faceless new flats. If someone like Shepherd Neame or Fuller’s were to buy it, invest some money in it and re – open with a full food menu, I think the glory days of the 1980’s could once again be back for the Running Horses. It needs a new lease of life instead of limping along with an appalling zero star rating. What do you think? Leave a comment below.

Transport historian Dana Whiffen has provided an update on his post of last week; this time it is a piece on the kind of buses that would have been running locally at the start of World War One.

"The London General Omnibus Company (LGOC) B-Type Bus which was later nicknamed “Ole Bill” because of its war service. Running from 1910 to 1928 The B-Type Bus was the first mass produced bus introduced in 1910 for testing, production saw them start service in 1911 and by 1913 over 2,500 had entered service with a total of 2,900 being built. With a top speed of 16 mph B-Type could carry 34 passengers 16 downstairs and 18 on the uncovered upper deck, with covers being fitted to these upper seats for wet weather. During the start of WW1 the war office purchased around 1,000 from LGOC to move troops behind lines mostly in France and Belgium although some were shipped as far as Egypt. These were then painted Khaki and had their windows removed and boarded over, they were also used as ambulances and mobile pigeon lofts. Back home some night service B-Types were painted Black as part of a Black-out policy. Ole Bill itself B43 is now preserved in The Imperial War Museum and B340 is kept in its Red (LGOC) Livery in The London Transport Museum in Covent Garden, when it is not in operation at events. There has been an appeal to restore B2737 with a lottery grant and donations enabling it to return to The Battlefields of France and Belgium this coming September 2014, to pay tribute to the sacrifices made by transport workers during the war".

Bexley Council have done a drastic 180 degree about face in respect of coverage of their council sessions. As famously covered by the intrepid Malcolm Knight of Bexley is Bonkers blog, the council have had a blanket ban on any form of audio or video recording at their meetings, in direct contravention of the guidelines published by local government minister Eric Pickles. The decision not to allow recording made the national press, and has formed a corner stone of the Bonkers Blog for over a year. Recently they have (to their credit) reversed this controversial ruling and now they have launched the Bexley Council video channel. To call it mind numbingly boring would be to under sell it. You may recall that I urged the Council to webcast all meetings as a matter of course when this whole issue first came to light. I said back then that as soon as people realised how utterly dull and tedious the events at council meetings were, they would switch off in droves. I would appear to have been correct in this statement.  You can view the online videos of Bexley Council in their Technicolor awesomeness here. I think the term “underwhelming, tedious and mind numbingly boring” would fit quite well. No surprises there then.

You may be aware that the Erith Watch neighbourhood watch group have been campaigning against illegal off - road motor bikes that are used on the Slade Green Marshes. The marshes are a designated area of outstanding natural beauty and are preserved from development as they contain one of the most important areas of freshwater wetland in the country. The marshes are home to several unique species of birds and rare water voles, as well as a Jacobean tithe barn, which is of special historical interest. Some irresponsible local chavs ride illegal, stolen off - road bikes on the marshes, which along with creating a lot of noise and pollution, dig up footpaths and grass which are only supposed to be used by walkers. The Police are aware of the problem, and periodically they raid the illegal riders and confiscate bikes to be crushed. Some criminal idiot called Scott Booker has posted the footage below on YouTube of his mates clearly engaged in illegal activity on the marshland. At several points the number plate on one of the bikes can clearly be seen, although from past experience it is quite likely to be a false plate. Scott Booker also posted another video showing him and his scumbag mates performing wheelies and other illegal stunts whilst not wearing helmets on public roads which you can see here. These are the same people that regularly illegally ride their motorbikes on the pavement in and around Slade Green and Manor Road. The details of both videos have already been passed to North End Safer Neighbourhood Police team for investigation and hopeful prosecution. Please leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.