The Forum.

The Erith Riverside Gardens are a lovely place to visit, and to sit and watch the world go by. Recently the gardens have been the home of some free yoga sessions. The next free sessions are being held on Saturday the 7th September 11-12pm. Then on Saturday the 14th September from 11-12pm, and finally an evening session on Monday the 23rd September from 6.30 - 7.30pm. Bring along a yoga mat and wear suitable loose clothing. Before anyone asks, no, I will not be participating!

Now for some rather sad news, that I have to admit I did see coming. Erith Town Forum have decided to disband. A message was sent to a number of local people, including myself, on Friday afternoon. The message reads in full thus:- "Erith Town Forum Management Committee met today. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the future of the Forum. After much careful thought both prior to and during the meeting it was decided that now is the appropriate time to close Erith Town Forum since it no longer has sufficient voluntary officers able to give time and attention to make sure it can be as active and useful to the community of Erith as it has certainly been in the past. We are extremely proud of the achievements of Erith Town Forum over many years. Another consultative group has come into being “The Erith Think Tank” who aim to do many of the things the Forum have done in the past but using new modern methods of communication and generally operating in a different way. You will find details of their activities through The Exchange, the organisation now refurbishing the old Carnegies Library for use as a community hub. The funds raised by the Chairperson of Erith Forum from local business and larger charities over the years have been spent to organise events for senior citizens, young people and the community as a whole, together with the cost of hiring the Veterans Club for regular meetings and secretarial services. There is a small amount of money left in the accounts and the Management team recommend that this be divided between 2 charities – the Erith Food Bank and Evergreen, both of whose services are in greater demand than ever. In case you are in doubt as to who Evergreen serve, it is largely the older generation who are sick, returning from a hospital stay or simply lonely. These people need help to keep their homes clean and tidy and company to keep them mentally stimulated. We have sent a note to all Members of the Forum inviting them to comment on the above and await their reply. Meantime we would like to thank you for your contributions and regular attendance at Forum meetings and events over many many years, and hope you will be able to get to the Think Tank meetings and enjoy participating in their activities". To learn more about the Erith Think Tank, and to join in with its activities, click here. 

Back in July I wrote at some length about the threat to the two metre VHF amateur radio band. A proposal had been submitted by France to make the Aeronautical Mobile Service the primary users of the 144-146 MHz (2 Metre VHF) band and demote the Amateur Radio Service to secondary users - effectively removing them from the band. Thanks to concerted efforts by the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) and other European amateur radio societies, At 144MHz, after a major effort, the 144 to 146MHz frequency range was successfully withdrawn from the French WRC-23 aeronautical proposal. This hot topic had been the subject of detailed submissions by the IARU, France and Germany. This excellent result for amateur radio occurred in parallel to a number of other proposals being adopted to support aeronautical interests. The upshot of this is that the 2M amateur band is saved and can continue being used exclusively by licenced amateur radio operators. 

Here is a message from Caroline Field of Orbit Housing Association:- "Orbit and Wates invite you to join us to celebrate the completion of Erith Park and launch of Arthur Street regeneration. Our community fun day, organised with residents of Erith Park  celebrates the new community.  We are building homes here, not just houses, and that means working together to create a lasting community legacy. We would love to welcome you to show our appreciation of your contribution to the new community of Erith Park – and our future vision for Arthur Street. Join us for a day filled with fun activities and entertainment for all. It’s the weekend so feel free to bring family members if you wish. Food and drink vans will be available on the day. Saturday 14th September 1-4pm. Community Room, Adamson Court, Dell View Road, DA8 3FG". Caroline also wrote to me to explain the recent decision by Bexley Council to reject the initial plans for the demolition of the old Arthur Street Estate, which I covered in detail last week. Caroline writes:- "As you know the planning committee resolved to give consent for the demolition of Arthur Street and the building of our new development.  What people often don’t realise is that there are other processes to go through before a planning consent is confirmed and you can actually start work.  Some of these processes involve lawyers so they can take some time.  We plan to start work on structural demolition at the end of September and we are still hoping to get our main consent confirmed by then. However, as is normal in these circumstances, we submitted a simpler application to cover the demolition as a back up.  This is what the Council have refused". It would appear that the decision from Bexley Council is a minor blip, and not the major problem that some had envisaged. The regeneration of the Arthur Street Estate is much needed by hundreds of local people. 

Since my piece on the potential new Micro Pub in Welling which I covered last week, a reader who wishes to remain anonymous Emailed me to inform me that planning permission has just been given for The Bolthole in Falconwood Parade, Welling. This will be another Micro Pub. The writer and I share the opinion that this may be one too many in the Welling area, and we share concerns that the opening of a third micro pub in a relatively small catchment area may lead to the market becoming over saturated. On the other hand, there is a large residential community around the Falconwood area, which might well support the venture. Regarding the application, I notice that another local resident has submitted an objection on the Bexley planning website. The person has submitted the following comments:- "This application should be refused and the applicant asked to apply as a public house (not a Micropub). Micropubs should not serve lager as the applicants have suggested on their website. The area is not suited to a venue that will supply large quantities of lager, creating antisocial behaviour to residents and children playing nearby. The alternative is strict conditions that say all beer sold must be unpasteurised and therefore conform as real ale whether served on draught or in bottles/cans. This can be tested and will prevent the sale of mass-produced lagers. If the applicant is to be allowed to serve fizzy lagers, they should be required to have door staff as a condition of the licence between 1800 and 2300 on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday and bank holidays". on top of this, another local resident has submitted the following, which I was not aware of, until now:- "After your comments about lager on your blog it did make me wonder. This area The Green in Welling has a history of anti-social behaviour. There is a covenant on all our property deeds that no intoxicating alcohol should be sold on this estate, but we have two restaurants who sell same but to customers, and three off-licences so I presume nobody takes any notice of these things now, as it was in 1936. I did mention it to the Planning Officer". What do you think of this situation? Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

I am a big fan of Google's Chromebook computers. Chromebooks run a cut down version of the Linux operating system called Chrome OS, and the only locally installed application on the simplified computers is the Chrome web browser. All "apps" run on the machines are actually web based applications that are remotely accessed; whilst the machines do have a limited amount of local storage, users are strongly encouraged to store their data in encrypted form in the cloud.  I have had a Google Chromebook by Samsung - (the photo above is my own model) since 2012, and I have been very satisfied with it - especially considering their inexpensive price. Most Chromebooks cost between £179 and £279, though it is possible to spend considerably more, though personally I can see only limited benefit in getting a pricier model, as most of the "heavy lifting" of any computing is not done on the Chromebook itself. but on the server in the cloud. Chromebooks are basically terminals onto the net. As long as you have a good WiFi or a 4 / 5G connection, you are good to go. Google's Chrome operating system has proved to be extremely robust and secure, though it has to be said it has far less to do than a "full fat" desktop / Laptop operating system such as Windows 10. I bought my Chromebook back in 2012, when they were a relatively knew phenomenon; I paid £229 for it - which I thought was little enough that if it did not work for me, little money would have been wasted. On the contrary, I found it to be an excellent tool with long battery life, a decent screen and most important to me - an excellent keyboard very similar in style to a MacBook Pro. I spend most of my time online typing, so keyboard quality is something very important to me - and also the reason that I am not a fan of tablet computers - I am primarily a content creator, rather than a content consumer. I recently encountered an issue which I had been half expecting, but which nevertheless came as somewhat of an unpleasant surprise. I powered up the Chromebook one evening recently, and a pop up notice appeared on screen, which said:- "This device will no longer receive the latest software updates. Please consider upgrading". I did a bit of research, and the current Chromebook will continue working, but it will not get functionality and security updates in future. This is not too bad really - the machine has been a workhorse for seven years, so it really does not owe me anything. If I want to continue using it with continuing updates, I can install a full Linux operating system on it. Saying that, I do like Chrome OS, and looked at possibly getting a brand new Chromebook at some stage in the future. One thing I discovered was that buying a brand new Chromebook does not guarantee you will get six and a half years of updates to it from Google. Support from Google for Chrome OS on a device lasts from the moment that particular model is released by the manufacturer, not from when the end user purchases it. Every Chromebook has an "Auto Update Expiration (AUE) Date" after which the operating system is unsupported by Google. If you happen to buy your Chromebook late in the product's life cycle, you may be surprised how soon the AUE date arrives. You can see the AUE dates for the whole range of Chromebooks listed in order of the manufacturer by clicking here. Would this put you off buying a Chromebook? What do you think? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

One of the most widely known companies to have a historic association with Erith was Callender's Cables, formerly known as The Callender Bitumen, Telegraph and Waterproof co. Originally the company was primarily concerned with the production of bitumen and waterproof damp course material for the building trade, with cable making little more than a side line. The rapid growth in telecommunications in the late Victorian era led to cables becoming the company's main product, and in 1896 the firm was reorganised as The Callender Cable and Construction co, which was later changed to British Insulated Callenders Cables, or BICC. By 1965 the Erith based factory was the principal manufacturing facility for the world's largest cable group - the production area covered some 65 acres and provided employment for 1,300 local workers. Callenders were one of the main manufacturers of PLUTO (Pipeline Under The Ocean). Callenders also contributed much to the area of culture and the arts; Callenders Cableworks Band, which was started in 1890 as a Salvation Army band. Some members wanted to play a wider variety of music, so the band was relaunched as a temperance promoting popular music band. Callender's employees included at least a hundred instrumentalists who spent their leisure time in four band groups. The Senior Band consisted of 31 picked men: this was the band which broadcast on BBC Radio. There was also the A-band, the B-band and a learner's class of beginners from school age onwards; the A- and B-band members and the learners could all be promoted upwards as their skills developed and vacancies occurred. There was also a degree of "poaching" of skilled instrumentalists from other bands, not necessarily local to the area; It was kept quiet at the time, but in August 1925 when the St Hilda Colliery in South Shields temporarily closed, seven members of the colliery band, which was undoubtedly one of the best in the UK at the time, were all offered positions working at Callenders, even though they were miners, not cabling engineers. It is understood that their "day jobs" were nominal at best - making the tea or doing a bit of sweeping up - they were actually recruited primarily for their musical talents, and the prestige that they would bring to the company. This "poaching" of the best musicians from other brass bands carried on over the next ten years or so - a period when the Callenders Cableworks Band were considered the very best in the country. They became popular around the country and gave many public performances, and had a regular feature on pioneering radio station 2LOduring the early days of radio. The Band's first broadcast was from radio station 2LO on 27 February 1925. By 1932 the Band had twice toured all stations of BBC Radio, and they were to broadcast there twice again in April of that year, by which time they had broadcast 72 times on radio. By 16 December of that year, they had broadcast 80 times. They aspired to performing music which was "out of the rut of marches, operatic selections and other pier head pieces." They performed on 5 March 1932 at the Queen's Hall, London. On the afternoon and evening of Sunday 20 March of the same year, they performed at the opening of the new art deco frontage of the Central Bandstand, Herne Bay, Kent. On 18 December 1932 they took part in a special BBC Radio programme in which most of the music had been composed especially for them. Under the name of Callenders Senior Band they recorded Colonel Bogey, Entry of the Gladiators, Le Grenadier, Les Huguenots (parts 1 and 2), Three Dale Dances and Triana on 78 rpm disks. They recorded A Sailor's Life (Descriptive Fantasia), parts 1 and 2, conducted by Tom Morgan, on two Broadcast Twelve disks. Broadcast Twelve Records was a United Kingdom based record label introduced in 1928 to partner the regular "Broadcast" brand records introduced in 1927. These brands replaced the Aco Records label. The manufacturer of the discs were the Vocalion Gramophone Company. "Broadcast" discs were 8-inch (later increased to 9-inch) and "Broadcast Twelve" discs were 10-inch 78rpm gramophone records, but with small labels and a fine groove pitch so they would play as long as regular 10 and 12-inch discs respectively. They ceased production in 1934. The label was a subsidiary of the British branch of Vocalion Records. In brass band competitions over the years they had 25 wins, 11 second places and 3 third places. For some years they took part in the Elthorne Band Contest which started in 1919 at Elthorne Park. The competition had four sections with many entries, and a massed band concert. They won the competition on 20 May 1924 and 3 May 1925, and again on 7 June 1930. The band was disbanded at the start of World War 2, and reformed at the end of the war; though it never regained the prestige it had once held - and in any case brass band music was losing favour with the listening public. The band struggled on until 1961, when it was finally wound up due to a lack of members. Ironically the history of the band is now starting to come to the fore again, and interest in what Callenders did in the early decades of the twentieth century is now starting to grow.

It has come to my attention that we will shortly be losing a well known and very popular local figure. Rob Radcliffe, who has been the vicar at St.John's Erith - Bexley's oldest church - since 2011 is about to move on. He's heading off to the Isle of Man, where he was born, to take charge of four churches in the island. The official Church of England announcement reads:- "Bishop Peter is pleased to announce the appointment of The Revd Mark Radcliffe, currently Vicar of St John the Baptist, Erith, as the new Vicar of Malew and Santan, succeeding the Revd James McGowan. Mark was born on the Isle of Man but with both of his parents serving in the British Army, his childhood saw him living in different locations across the globe, including a spell in Singapore. Prior to ordination Mark worked for various organisations as an Information Technology Officer and was also an active member of St Philip and St James’ Church in Walderslade, Kent, where he served on the PCC, Diocesan Synod and Bishop’s Council. Mark also spent time as the Lay Chair of Rochester Deanery as well as chairing the Diocesan Youth Committee. Mark began training for ministry at Cranmer Hall, Durham, in 2005 before being ordained deacon in 2008 and serving his Title in the Parish of St John the Evangelist, Welling. Revd Mark took up his current position as Vicar of Erith in the Diocese of Rochester in 2011 and has overseen a growth in school outreach work that culminated in over 800 young people attending the most recent Christmas Carol services. Mark is 56 years old and in his spare time he enjoys walking and reading military history and science fiction books. On his appointment the Revd Mark Radcliffe said, ‘I am looking forward to spending time getting to know the congregations of the parish and the local communities that they serve whilst trying to discern God's plans for our shared future’. Commenting on the new appointment, Bishop Peter said ‘I am delighted to welcome The Revd Mark Radcliffe to the Diocese of Sodor and Man.  Mark brings with him substantial experience of parish ministry and a desire to reach out across the entire community with the Gospel and with a ministry of care.   I thank Wardens, Parish Officers, and colleagues for sustaining the life of the parish through the period of Interregnum, and I express my gratitude and happiness that we have been able to appoint a new Vicar so swiftly.  I now look forward immensely to welcoming Mark into our diocese and into the Southern Mission Partnership.  Thanks be to God.’ Please pray for Mark as he prepares to move to the Island and please also pray for the people of St John the Baptist, Erith, as they prepare for a period of vacancy". In case you were wondering, Rob will be using the first name of Mark when he moves to his new post. I have no idea why. I will miss my occasional chats with him; we used to discuss old computers and military history, of which he is a great enthusiast. Rob is a Maggot Sandwich reader, and I hope he will continue so to do after his move to pastures new. I wish him well in his new parish.

Now for the weekly local safety and security updates from Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association. Firstly the report from Barnehurst ward:- "Since the last weekly update there have been no crimes to report. This is great news however we continue to remind residents to double lock front doors, check windows are closed securely and ensure your vehicles are safe with no items left out on show. PC Arif and PC Tom Smith have been carrying out proactive patrols targeting hotspot areas. Police Community Support Officers Cathy and John have been out on foot patrol engaging with local residents and carrying out reassurance visits to vulnerable residents. Street a week was carried out in Taunton Close where residents had the opportunity to speak to officers about local issues. The next community contact session will be held in Barnehurst Golf Club on Tuesday 10th September 2019 at 11.00am. We look forward to seeing you". Belvedere ward:- "Last week, there was damage caused to the window of a residents vehicle in Brigstock Road overnight from Wednesday 21st to Thursday 22nd August. It appeared to be an attempt to gain entry to the car which had been parked in Halt Robin Road. Having completed door to door enquiries, we have been unable to establish any witnesses or possible leads as to who may have been responsible. If anyone has any information in relation to this incident, please contact the team. Earlier in the month, there was a catalytic converter removed from a vehicle in Eardley Road. Again, this took place overnight (seemingly in the small hours of the morning). We are in the process of viewing CCTV in relation to this incident. Anyone that may have any information, again please contact the team". Bexleyheath ward:- "There has been one report of a burglary on the ward as well as an attempted burglary reported. Wednesday 21/08/2019 Burglary– Iris Avenue Bexleyheath – Happened overnight and entry was gained via the side extension. Wednesday 21/08/2019 – Attempted Burglary along Martens Avenue Bexleyheath. Suspects tried to gain entry on rear door of property and happened between midnight at 2am.  A Theft of motor vehicle was reported on the Tuesday 20/08/2019 along Market Place Bexleyheath between 3.40pm & 4pm. Also on the Wednesday 21/08/2019, there was a report of a theft from motor vehicle near Albion Road Bexleyheath. There was also a report of a purse stolen from the victim’s hand bag, purse was discovered stolen whilst shopping on the Broadway on the Wednesday 21/09/2019". Crayford ward:- "It has been a relatively 'Q' week for crime in Crayford this week. However, we did have a residential burglary and a robbery. The burglary took place on bank holiday Monday, 26th August between 14.00-15.20 in London Road. Entry was made by smashing windows to gain entry. Among the items stolen was a Louis Vuitton handbag and contents including an annual train pass, photography equipment, an air rifle and sentimental jewellery belonging to the victim’s elderly Mother. The robbery took place near Greggs in Crayford Road on Tuesday 20th August between 19.10-19.20. Three IC3 males were seen to follow the two victims from Town Hall Square, past the library and Sainsbury's and out to Crayford Road where they had their property stolen. Items stolen include a laptop and bag containing work related paperwork, currency, keys and fobs to home and vehicles, a watch, a sports bag. The victims believe they were targeted due to the nature of their jobs. A white Range Rover Evoque number plate LM16XGY was stolen from Inglewood Road between 15.30 on Friday 23rd August and 08.50 on Saturday 24th September, the owner still has the keys. A catalytic convertor was stolen from a black Toyota Prius Plus on Friday 23rd August between 11.40-12.10 whilst parked at Hall Place car park. Number plates were stolen from Dale Road on Tuesday 27th August between 16.30-21.45, EU64SXJ should be on a white Ford Transit with L and Q markings on. A black and blue TREK bicycle, model 4300 D 13 was stolen with all accessories from the bike shed outside Crayford BR Station on Tuesday 27th August between 07.55 – 17.05. We cannot stress enough the importance of locking doors and windows securely when leaving your property, even for a short time. Make your home look like it is occupied, consider a burglar alarm or CCTV, ring door bells are brilliant too. Please look at www.met.police.uk/burglary for lots of useful tips and advice on keeping your home safe and secure. Our next community contact session will be held on Wednesday 4th September at Sainsbury's Café between 16.00-17.00, please feel free to come along for an informal chat".

Erith ward - no reports this week. Northumberland Heath ward:- "Search warrant executed on Saturday 24/8/19 at Hind Crescent. Items of interest were found and enquiries are ongoing. Officers are working around the clock to bring criminals to justice. If you are concerned about police activities in your area or you would like to speak with an officer please contact us. If you have any information you would like to pass to police related to criminal activities please contact Crimestoppers anonymously on freephone 0800555111. A set of number plates has been taken from a parked and unattended vehicle in Belmont Road. If you happen to see registration number S800TTP please contact police so further enquiries can be made. Should you wish to protect your vehicle from this type of offence drop us a line and we may be able to provide appropriate anti-theft devices". Slade Green and Northend ward: -"On Friday 23/08/2019 number plates were stolen overnight from a vehicle in Cornwallis Close. Please let us know if you require any anti theft screws. There was an attempted theft of a catalytic converter from a vehicle in Alexandra Road around 2.30pm on Saturday 24/08/2019. Fortunately the suspects were approached by a neighbour and drove off.  A pushbike was stolen from a garage in Brompton Drive in the last week. It was noticed missing by the victim on Sunday but they hadn’t been to the garage area for a few days so it is unclear at this point when the theft occurred. CCTV enquiries are ongoing. Unfortunately the victim does remember that they did NOT lock their garage leaving it insecure. Please please always lock all your property. A moped was stolen from a drive in the afternoon of Monday 26/08/2019 in Bridge Road. Enquiries are ongoing". Thamesmead East ward:- "Burglary: No burglaries this week. Crime Prevention: Close and lock all your doors and windows, even if you're going out for a few minutes. Photograph and keep a detailed inventory of each item of jewellery and keep it in a separate place. Remain vigilant at all times; Theft from Motor Vehicles: Overnight of Wednesday 21/08/19 and Thursday 22/0819 a vehicle parked in Wolvercote Road was broken into, a laptop and various other items stolen. At 5:00am of the Friday 23/08/19 vehicle parked in St Edmunds Close broken into, bag left in passenger footwell, however nothing taken as suspect believed to have been disturbed by another resident. Overnight of Friday 23/08/19 and Saturday 24/08/19 a vehicle parked in Wolvercote Road, had the rear passenger quarter light window smashed, untidy search ,nothing believed to have been taken. theft from a vehicle parked in Hartslock Drive overnight of Sunday 25/08/19 and Monday 26/08/19, the driver’s window was smashed, a wallet containing various bank cards and cash taken from the driver’s side door pocket; Another vehicle parked in Wolvercote Road, broken into during the early hours of Monday 26/08/19 - the driver’s window smashed, an untidy search, nothing believed to have been taken; Overnight of Sun 25/08/19 and Mon 26/08/19 a vehicle parked in Maran Way broken into and a laptop and sat-nav taken; Overnight of the Sat 24/08/19 and Sun 25/08/19 a vehicle parked in Northwood Place broken into, a wallet containing bank cards/travel card /store cards left in glove compartment stolen .Sometime between 7:00am and 6:00pm of the 26/08/19 a company vehicle parked outside Argali House, Kale Road, had the driver’s side window smashed and a sat-nav stolen; A vehicle parked in Redpoll Way between the hours of 4:00pm and 10:15pm of the Monday 26/08/19 was broken into and a wallet containing a bank card and a driving licence stolen; Criminal Damage to Motor Vehicles - A company vehicle parked in Dalberg Way had a window broken. Motor Vehicle Crime Prevention - coins for the car park, sunglasses or other items that can earn quick cash are irresistible to the opportunist thief. The cost of replacing a window is often much more than that of what’s stolen. Tell family, friends and neighbours. Good News: Excellent work by PC Pruden resulted in a male being stopped and searched, he was found to be in possession of a Class 'A' drug and cannabis, the male is now serving a custodial sentence". West Heath ward:- "We are pleased to say that there have been no burglaries reported over the last week. We are however still suffering from motor vehicle crime on the ward. One attempted theft from motor vehicle in Bedonwell Road on Wednesday August 21st between 11.25pm – 11.30pm. A male was seen attempting to try to open the victim’s door without success. The male then walked away without gaining entry;Tools worth approximately £500 were stolen from a van in Long Lane overnight between Thursday 22nd August 9pm – Friday August 23rd -8am; An attempt was made to steal a motorbike in Madison Crescent on Sunday August 25th at 11.45pm. A male was seeing dressed in motorbike clothing and wearing a helmet. The suspect was disturbed by the victim banging on the window the male made off on the back of a silver scooter. The team have been working flat out this week conducting arrest enquiries and assisted with the policing at the Notting Hill Carnival over the bank holiday weekend. The next drop in police surgery will be held at the Bostall Library in King Harolds Way on Monday September 2nd between 12-1pm. All are welcome to attend". 

The end video this week shows the first day of service of  the new 301 bus route, which runs from Beresford Square in Woolwich via Plumstead, Thamesmead and Abbey Wood on its way to its termination at Bexleyheath shopping centre. The journey in real time takes approximately thirty five minutes. The producer of the short video has sped up the footage so that the journey only takes five minutes, and is accompanied by some pretty awful and distracting music for some unfathomable reason. You can always turn off the audio. Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com. 

Horizon to Horizon.

The photo above was taken by local resident and occasional Maggot Sandwich restaurant critic Brian Silk. It shows the Sun rising over the River Thames at Erith. It is a beautiful shot, and proves that the riverside at Erith can be stunningly attractive when the weather and light are right. You can clearly see the classic Erith "Big Sky" - the town is the only place in the whole of the London Borough of Bexley where one can see from horizon to horizon with a completely unobstructed view - something I feel we ought to make much more of. Erith is undersold as a place to live - something I am keen to remedy. Brian has also written a short review on a long - standing Erith institution that has recently changed hands. "I recently checked out Dilz Café in West Street, ‘under new management’, having previously been West Street Café. I have to say I didn’t notice too much of a difference from this long-standing institution’s previous incarnation, but that’s no bad thing. Still the same kind of range of set breakfasts, snacks and sandwiches, and lunches and dinners. There were perhaps one or two additional menu items, but I can’t be sure. Still pay with your order at the counter and the food is freshly prepared. I suppose the new management thought, ‘Why change a successful formula?’ I chose the spaghetti bolognese for £4.95. I was not disappointed. A decent-sized meal arrived and it was really tasty. In fact, I had it again just a few days ago and it was every bit as substantial and good as the first time. Decent food at a reasonable price could describe all the Erith food outlets I use again and again (the others being The Running Horses, Yildiran and West Street Fish Bar) and that very much applies to Dilz. I look forward to trying out more of their menu before long. Dilz is at 115 West Street (opposite The Ship pub), phone 01322 446726". Excellent reporting Brian. If anyone else has content that they would like to supply me with, you can Email hugh.neal@gmail.com. 

There is much controversy about the various proposed schemes to add extra crossings across the River Thames to the East of London. As I featured last week, a group called Bexley Against Road Crossings (BARC) have formed to campaign against new river crossings. The next BARC meeting is on Tuesday 27 October at 7.15pm at Bexley Village Library, Bourne Road, Bexley. Personally I have no strong feelings either pro or anti additional crossings. Whilst the population of the UK is continuing to rise, and the London and South East region is particularly affected in this respect, I am also aware that the more roads you build, statistically the more traffic will use them. Malcolm Knight of the excellent Bexley is Bonkers blog does some detailed analysis of the BARC claims which you can read here. It makes for interesting consideration. One cross - Thames link that nobody seems to be disputing is the long established and well loved Woolwich Ferry. It is currently coming to the end of a £10 million improvement as part of a two-year upgrade programme, due to be completed at the end of this month. Over the course of a year the three ferries make around 50,000 crossings in total, carrying on average 1.1 million vehicles and 2.2 million passengers. The improvement works on the piers, loading bridges and vessels aim to extend the crossing's operational life and deliver a more reliable service over a period estimated to be around fifteen years.  The current three vessels were built in Dundee in 1963 by The Caledon Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, and were each named after prominent local politicians: John Burns, Ernest Bevin and James Newman (Newman was mayor of Woolwich, 1923–25). These vessels are now over fifty years old, and a considerable degree of engineering work has had to be carried out to extend their operational life to cover the new expected service period. 

Mobile phone usage has increased so much it has led to the invention of the term Nomophobia – the fear of being denied mobile phone contact. A study found that half of British people suffer anxiety if they lose their phone, run out of battery or credit, or lose coverage. Nine percent actually suffer stress when their phone is off. 3G mobile phone technology is also employed in many so - called Smart Meters, that various energy companies are currently plugging hard. These meters are part of the "internet of things". I have noticed that several of the national energy companies are currently targeting local residents with letters asking them to make an appointment to get their current electricity and gas meters replaced with a smart meter. Personally I have received three such letters from my energy supplier, EDF. As I have mentioned before, Smart Meters send real – time power usage data back to the supplier via a 3G mobile phone signal. This means that the meter does not have to be connected to a home data network. This sounds all well and good; the power company can bill you without having to send a meter reader to your house, and you get the option to monitor your power usage in an almost real – time way. There are however, problems. The data sent from the Smart Meter to the supplier is sent unencrypted, and “in the clear”; it is possible to intercept the data stream, and also a malicious attacker can potentially send instructions to the meter remotely. Several Smart Meter companies do tacitly admit this, but they play the whole lack of security aspect down. Secondly if one discounts the security implications, the various energy companies all supply different Smart Meters, many of which are incompatible with each other. If you choose to change your energy supplier, you will need to have your Smart Meter changed again – with the associated additional cost to you that this implies. Tellingly on the EDF letter there are a series of frequently asked questions. EDF initially state in the letter that “your current meter is old and now needs to be replaced – you need to book an appointment for an engineer to carry out this work”. They then go on to stress how old meters can be inaccurate and possibly unsafe. There is a giveaway in the FAQ’s that follow though – and I quote verbatim:- “Occasionally we may be unable to install a Smart Meter, usually due to communications issues with signal strength. If this happens we will not replace your meter, but will contact you again when we believe the Smart Meter national infrastructure will be able to support a Smart Meter in your premises.” There is the smoking gun – they don't actually need to replace the meter for the accuracy and safety concerns expressed earlier – they purely want to do it to make you have a Smart Meter, with all the security, privacy and expense worries that they entail. I have a preferred technique for dealing with such unwanted attention – I ignore everything they send me until they eventually give up and go away. Smart Meters primarily benefit the energy companies, because they no longer need to employ meter readers. The benefits to the consumer are minimal at best, and when allied to the security and compatibility concerns mentioned earlier, they don't add up for me. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com. 

Doreen Ives, Chair of the Erith Town Forum has released the following announcement:- "The next meeting of Erith Town Forum will take place on Thursday 29th October 2015, 7pm – 9pm at BEXLEY COLLEGE, Walnut Tree Road, Erith, Kent. Yes we have moved to Bexley College and to a Thursday evening.  The hall we use is normally the students’ lounge/restaurant. We have access to excellent computer facilities for presentations, and coffee or tea will be available. There is a security procedure we must follow so you should arrive five/ten minutes early to sign in. Obviously we only have access to the hall and toilets which are close by. Unfortunately as most of you will be aware, there is no car park specifically for the College but there is on street parking nearby. Richard Green, Bexley Town Centres Manager will give us updates on issues raised at our meeting in July. Tom Brown Director of Adult Social Care and Kevin Murphy Head of Housing Services will give a presentation including information about to the present use of the old Homeleigh site in Avenue Road. A second presentation will be given by Deniece Williams, a member of the Bexley Fostering Recruitment and Assessment Team. As you can see it should be a very informative meeting so I hope you will be able to come along".

The News Shopper have given extensive coverage this week to a story I featured on the Maggot Sandwich last week, about the launch of Operation Adgate, and also the new Neighbourhood Watch scheme called Bike Watch. The photo above was supplied to me by Dana Whiffen, the Chairman of Bexley Neighbourhood Watch Association. The problem is one of illegal bikers riding stolen, unlicenced, unregistered, uninsured bikes around the local area whilst not wearing helmets and pulling wheelies and other dangerous stunts on the public highway, then filming the results of their criminal activity and posting them on the Bike Life TV UK Facebook page, and also on to their YouTube channel. There has been a massive crackdown on these criminals led by Bexley Neighbourhood Watch Association and Bexley Police. Officers from Bexley borough have joined forces with the Met's roads and transport policing command, Bexley Neighbourhood Watch Association and the Gallions/Peabody Housing Association – in a bid to crack down on bike crime and anti-social behaviour across Thamesmead and elsewhere. Six illegal vehicles were seized and nineteen drivers reported for various traffic offences on the operation's launch day, Thursday the 16th October. In addition to this, legal action is being taken against an illegal biker that I recently had a personal encounter with. I hope to be able to report the full story after the 20th November, when the case will reach court. Until then I can say no more, though I know some readers are aware of the story. More on Neighbourhood Watch at the end of this update, with a video originally shot for a Russian TV news and current affairs show!

Many clubs and organisations, and all companies are required to have staff or volunteers qualified to administer first aid in the case of a medical emergency. Properly administered and professionally recognised first aid training can be expensive, so I am pleased to say that a professionally run course is shortly to take place in Erith, and local residents can take part, and get a substantial discount on the normal course price. The one day course will be taking place on Friday the 27th November in The Cross Keys Centre on Erith High Street. You can read more about the course, and how to book a place online by clicking here. I hope to cover this story in future, as it is a very welcome local addition.

You may recall that on a few occasions in the past I have written in some detail about an odious individual by the name of Joshua Bonehill. He is a self – professed racist, misogynist homophobic anti Semitic bigot. He targeted me with a threatening Email last year, which I published in full here. Bonehill has been in and out of court on numerous charges, and is currently on remand in jail on a charge of Inciting Racial Hatred. He managed the astonishing feat of being called back to court on a separate charge whilst actually already being in prison. Last week he appeared at Stevenage Magistrates Court charged with misusing a public computer network to propagate grossly offensive, indecent, obscene or menacing material. He had written on his website that babies with conditions like Downs Syndrome should be killed at birth for the good of the nation. He accompanied the story, on a site describing itself as 'Britain's number one nationalist newspaper' with a picture of a Tesco worker with Downs Syndrome.  He was also charged over another article in which he claimed food sold by Tesco that had been imported from Africa contained the deadly Ebola virus. District Judge Carolyn Mellanby dismissed both charges, saying that his right to free speech protected him from being punished over the stories. Tesco said that they were alerted to Bonehill's article, and were contacted by almost two hundred customers concerned that the story was true; I share the opinion with Richard of “The Thamesmead Grump” fame, that I find it worrying that so many people are prepared to believe anything they read, “because it is on Facebook”) . Despite accepting that Bonehill was behind the stories, district judge Mellanby said he was protected by the Human Rights Act, which guarantees free speech. She said: 'Freedom of speech has a very high threshold and I would have breached Article 10 of the Human Rights Act if I had found you guilty. You have a right to express your opinions. You came close, but not close enough. I therefore dismiss the case.' Joshua Bonehill, of Yeovil, Somerset, who also goes by the name of Joshua Bonehill – Paine was returned to custody after the hearing ahead of a trial he faces at Southwark Crown Court in December. He is accused of inciting racial hatred before a neo-Nazi rally in London in July. Whatever happens in the December trial, I feel that Bonehill will be encouraged by the court judgement, and will make much of it whenever he eventually gets out of prison.

Another thirtieth anniversary for a well known technology is now upon us, though the press have been remarkably silent on the matter - though they did pick up on Back to the Future Day on Wednesday last week. The undocumented birthday was that for Microsoft Excel. The now dominant spreadsheet was originally released for the Apple Mac in September 1985 (and in the UK in October of the same year). Microsoft originally marketed a spreadsheet program called Multiplan in 1982, which was very popular on text based CP/M systems, but on MS-DOS systems it lost popularity to Lotus 1-2-3. This promoted development of a new spreadsheet called Excel which started with the intention to, in the words of Microsoft's Doug Klunder, 'do everything 1-2-3 does and do it better'. The first version of Excel was released for the Mac in 1985 and the first Windows version (numbered 2.0 to line-up with the Mac and bundled with a run-time Windows environment) was released in November 1987. Lotus was slow to bring 1-2-3 to Windows and by 1988 Excel had started to outsell 1-2-3 and helped Microsoft achieve the position of leading PC software developer. This accomplishment, dethroning the king of the software world, solidified Microsoft as a valid competitor and showed its future of developing graphical software. Microsoft pushed its advantage with regular new releases, every two years or so. Early in its life Excel became the target of a trademark lawsuit by another company already selling a software package named "Excel" in the finance industry. As the result of the dispute Microsoft was required to refer to the program as "Microsoft Excel" in all of its formal press releases and legal documents. However, over time this practice has been ignored, and Microsoft cleared up the issue permanently when they purchased the trademark to the other program. Microsoft also encouraged the use of the letters XL as shorthand for the program; while this is no longer common, the program's icon still consists of a stylised combination of the two letters, and the file extension of the default Excel format is .xls. Excel offers many user interface tweaks over the earliest electronic spreadsheets; however, the essence remains the same as in the original spreadsheet, VisiCalc: the cells are organised in rows and columns, and contain data or formulas with relative or absolute references to other cells. Excel was the first spreadsheet that allowed the user to define the appearance of spreadsheets (fonts, character attributes and cell appearance). It also introduced intelligent cell recomputation, where only cells dependent on the cell being modified are updated (previous spreadsheet programs recomputed everything all the time or waited for a specific user command). Excel has extensive graphing capabilities. When first bundled into Microsoft Office in 1993, Microsoft Word and Microsoft PowerPoint had their GUIs redesigned for consistency with Excel, the killer app on the PC at the time. Since 1993, Excel has included Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), a programming language based on Visual Basic which adds the ability to automate tasks in Excel and to provide user defined functions (UDF) for use in worksheets. VBA is a powerful addition to the application which, in later versions, includes a fully featured integrated development environment (IDE). Macro recording can produce VBA code replicating user actions, thus allowing simple automation of regular tasks. VBA allows the creation of forms and in-worksheet controls to communicate with the user. The automation functionality provided by VBA has caused Excel to become a target for macro viruses. This was a serious problem in the corporate world until antivirus products began to detect these viruses. Microsoft belatedly took steps to prevent the misuse by adding the ability to disable macros completely, to enable macros when opening a workbook or to trust all macros signed using a trusted certificate.  Many of us use Excel as part of our jobs nowadays - and I reckon that many are not aware of the long and rich history the application has. Whilst in very widespread use, it is not the only spreadsheet available, despite what Microsoft might have you believe. Happy 30th birthday Excel.

Here is an announcement that you may well find of interest. "THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST CHURCH ERITH ask you to a QUIZ NIGHT on Saturday 14th November 2015. Doors open at 7pm for a 7:15pm start in Christchurch Hall, Victoria Road, Erith, Kent, DA8 3AN (vehicular access via Glebe Way).  Maximum of 6 people to a team - £3 a person.  Form your own team or join one on the night.   Please bring your own drinks and nibbles.  There will also be a raffle.  A fun fund-raising event for the upkeep of the listed Church building.  Thank you if you have already bought tickets for the Quiz Night, but if not, then now’s your chance!  Tickets in advance only please:  Contact the Friends of Christ Church Erith at focce1874@aol.com".

Several readers have asked me to write in more detail about Edward Butler, the true inventor of the modern motor car. He was the first modern motorist, he invented several automotive components that are still in common use today, and his wife Kitty, also known as Kate Gildersleeves – is thought to be the World’s first lady motorcyclist. When Edward Butler was developing his petrol cycle (photo above - click on it for a larger view), he used Manor Road in Erith for testing purposes. The reason for this was (unlike today) the road was relatively quiet with little traffic; it also benefitted by being a very long road and mostly straight. It can therefore be said that Manor Road in Erith was the World’s very first car test track. It still gets used by would – be boy racers nowadays, despite a twenty miles per hour speed limit on the residential stretch of the road. The Butler Petrol Cycle is accepted by many automotive historians as the very first British motor car, although as it never went into production. Although Karl Benz is recognised as the inventor of the modern motor car, the aforementioned Edward Butler was said to have exhibited plans for a 3-wheeled vehicle two years earlier than Benz in 1884 at the Stanley Cycle Show, London, and it was also the first design shown at the 1885 Inventions Exhibition, London. Butler however did not patent his vehicle until 1887 due to British laws on experiments.  On the vehicle the patent read “Butlers Petrol-Cycle Syndicate Limited Patent”.  It also referred to “F.B. Shuttleworth, Erith, London.” as Butler built the Petrol Cycle in the engineering works of F.B. Shuttleworth who was an engineer who built naval torpedo ships and civilian yachts, and additionally was a steam boiler manufacturer.  In 1890 Butler finished his design which was a vehicle powered by an engine that combusted mineral hydrocarbons. The respected publication Scientific American published an article on the Butler Petrol Cycle in the February 14th 1891 edition of the magazine. This stated that one gallon of petroleum or benzolene was enough to “furnish sufficient power” to achieve a journey of forty miles at a speed ranging from 3 - 10 mph. Edward Butler is credited with first using the word “Petrol” and inventing the spark plug, magneto, coil ignition and spray jet carburettor.  The speed of the vehicle was regulated by a throttle valve lever  whilst over heating was prevented by water circulating through a radiator over the rear driving wheel. Butler was continually frustrated in his automotive experiments by the law. The Red Flag Act of 1885 was a major source of exasperation; the act restricted automotive vehicles to a maximum speed of 2 mph in the city and 4 mph in the countryside.  In addition each vehicle had to be attended by three people, of which one had to walk in front of the vehicle waving a red flag (The 1865 Red Flag Act) to warn other road users and help control horses. This act had originally appeared as a result of the growing number of steam powered vehicles in the UK. The restrictive nature of the Red Flag Act meant that inventors and engineers could only test their creations on private land, something which proved instrumental in holding back British car development, and allowing Karl Benz in Germany not only to gain a technological lead in car development, but more importantly to register a whole series of patents under his name. Butler became increasingly frustrated and disillusioned; In 1900 Butler penned a letter to “The Autocar” magazine of which they published on April 7th 1900. The letter read:- “Now that public attention is being drawn to the early attempts of the two German pioneers, Benz and Daimler, I trust that you may find space in your journal for an illustration of a small petrol vehicle, which I believe was absolutely the first made in this country, and if I could have interested any one to finance it when the drawings were exhibited at the Stanley Show in 1884, and the following year at the Inventions Exhibition, I should have been contemporaneous, if not earlier than either of them. Although I cannot claim to have done very much in the light of the present enormous development of the automotor trade, it may have been forgotten that I carried out a series of experiments in the perfecting of a motor vehicle at a time when progress was much hindered by the prejudice and want of interest - the motor part of which has been since used in many types of engines for industrial purposes.” By this time Edward Butler had already give up further work on his Petrol Cycle, realising that due to the restrictive traffic laws of the time, he was never going to win the race to build the World’s first commercially available motor car. He wrote “..the authorities do not countenance its use on the roads, and I have abandoned in consequence any further development of it.” Butler broke his Petrol Cycle up for scrap in 1896 where upon the patent rights were sold to H.J. Lawson and the engine continued to be produced for motor boats.  Shortly afterwards the Locomotive on Highways Act of 1896 was passed that allowed speeds of up to 14 mph and opened up the highways to motor vehicles, but this was too late for Edward Butler. He died in 1940, largely unrecognised for his pioneering work in automotive design. If things had turned out differently, instead of driving around in Mercedes Benzes, we could have been driving a Butler motor car.

The ending video is surprisingly timely; it shows an interview carried out by Russian television channel 1TV for their news and current affairs programme. This is an excerpt of the longer, Russian language piece which shows a member of Bexley Neighbourhood Watch explaining what the watch is, and how it operates for the benefit of the Russian audience who I understand currently don't operate anything similar at present. This version is in English, minus Russian language dubbing, which was added later by the producers. As a fellow Neighbourhood Watch Coordinator, I am pleased to see that we are getting some well deserved international recognition. Thanks to Dana Whiffen, the Chairman of Bexley Neighbourhood Watch Association for supplying the video clip.  

Captain Tweed versus the fly - tippers from Hell.

My imaginary crime - fighting alter - ego "Captain Tweed" has had an outing this week. As some long - term readers will know, I run "Erith Watch" - the largest, and one of the most successful Neighbourhood Watch groups in the London Borough of Bexley. The group has had a number of recent successes; unfortunately most of them cannot be recounted here for legal and other reasons. One event that happened back in September 2013 has finally come to fruition, and the story can now be told. One day I was walking from Pewty Acres to do some evening shopping in Morrison's supermarket. As I crossed James Watt Way, I could see a large van parked round the back of the recycling centre in Morrison's car park. A couple of figures were unloading some large wooden pallets - I could not make out exactly what was on the pallets, but the stench was awful - like a cross between strong ammonia and acetone; it was truly stomach churning. I stealthily approached the fly tippers from the blind side of the van - and was able to read and memorise the van's registration number. I saw them continue illegally dumping their stinking cargo, and realised that there was little more that I could do at that time. I quickly made my way to Morrison's and went to the customer services desk, where I got a piece of paper and a pen to write down the registration number before I forgot it. As soon as it got light the next morning I went back round to the recycling centre and took the photo you can see above - which shows two tonnes of rotten bananas on the dumped pallets, with the liquid they released as they decomposed clearly visible in the culvert to the right of the photograph (it had not rained for several days at that point), along with several others that I then passed along to a contact I have with Bexley Council Environmental Crimes Unit. For operational reasons the person is keen for me not to reveal their identity, as I understand that they occasionally undertake undercover surveillance of certain suspects. For a long time, nothing seemed to happen - I did make a statement regarding this incident, and another that occurred some time later involving the same individuals and van. The Environmental Crimes Unit placed a surveillance camera in the area surrounding the recycling facility, and caught the same perpetrators a number of other times, as well as a number of other people illegally dumping waste. I was on standby to attend court in September 2014, but the two individuals absconded and were reported to have returned to Romania. On Tuesday evening I got an Email from my contact, and it made my week, if not my year. You can read the full report on exactly what had transpired on the Erith Watch website here. Do feel free to leave a comment, or alternatively Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com. Suffice to say that Erith Watch will continue to covertly patrol the mean streets of Erith, helping the Police and other authorities to keep order, and also to try and foster a stronger sense of community amongst residents.  Neighbourhood Watch can really make a difference; I just wish I was able to tell you some of the other stories; maybe in time.

The changes to the North Kent railway line went into place this week; trains are now no longer running into Charing Cross, and from my understanding this is permanent, not just until 2018 when the works to update and refurbish London Bridge station are complete. The tracks that link London Bridge to Charing Cross are being removed permanently, so travellers from Slade Green, Erith, Belvedere and Abbey Wood will now have to use alternative routes if they wish to travel to the West End by public transport. On top of this, the promised twelve coach trains which were originally designed to compensate for the reduction in frequency of service are now not going to make an appearance. It appears that even though nearly two years of work was undertaken by contractors on behalf of Network Rail to extend the length of the platforms on most of the stations on the North Kent line specifically to allow them to take twelve coach trains, this will actually not be happening; the longest trains on the line will continue to consist of ten coaches. The reasons for this seem unclear and somewhat confused. I have heard two explanations. Firstly that South Eastern have been unable to source sufficient extra rolling stock from other sources, and secondly that they had forgotten that the platform at Woolwich Dockyard station is only long enough for a ten coach train, and cannot be extended due to tunnels at both ends of the station. This sounds like the issue that was discovered when Networker trains were due to replace the old “slam door” coaches. It was all fine and good until the Networkers got to Woolwich Dockyard, but they were too big to go through the tunnel between Woolwich Dockyard and Charlton. The old slam door trains had to be reintroduced whilst time consuming and expensive alterations were made to the tunnel. There are alternatives when only one station on the entire line is incapable of accommodating a full twelve coach train – you can either close the station outright (Woolwich Dockyard is apparently the least busy station between Dartford and Cannon Street) as was done during the Olympics and Paralympics (the cynics at the time said that it was really to prevent international visitors seeing what a dump Woolwich Dockyard was, but I digress). Alternatively they could stop the twelve car trains at Woolwich Dockyard, leaving the front and rear carriages still in the tunnel, and have an announcement that passengers wanting to get off the train would need to walk through to the next carriage. This is done on the Docklands Light Railway, where Cutty Sark for Greenwich station has exactly the same issue. Passengers have to walk along the train to get off – it is a bit confusing, especially for the large number of tourists who use the service, but overall it seems to get by.  I get the feeling that Network Rail and South Eastern are going to have a lot more problems over the next three and a half years whilst the complete reconstruction of London Bridge Station and the associated rail infrastructure is carried out. I am fortunate that much of the time when I have to use the North Kent Line to get into London, I am able to travel outside of the peak busy periods, but those less fortunate have my sincere sympathies.

With all of the terrible news that has come from France in the last week or so, I have overheard conversations where people are wondering if something similar could happen in the UK. Unfortunately the answer is “yes”, and think it is a question of when, rather than if. It is then somewhat disturbing to discover that the current radio communications system that is used by the Police and emergency services is only a short time away from becoming redundant, when the current emergency services system, which uses TETRA (Terrestrial Trunked Radio) is switched off. TETRA is halfway between a mobile phone system and a walkie talkie. It is an ancient technology and very poor at mobile data, which runs at 7.2kbs. There is a standard upgrade to boost that to 700kbps but it has never been implemented. Instead the plan is to replace it with 4G. The replacement system should have been implemented back in 2009, but due to (alleged) political interference the project has not been rolled out. The cost of the new technology Airwave contract has spiralled to £1.2 billion at a time when public service budgets are being cut back. Each handset will effectively cost nearly £2,000, even though a decent Android phone handset equipped with nearly identical technology can be bought for less than £100. The plan to move to 4G sounds sensible but the people who actually use emergency communications have deep reservations. While Airwave does support full duplex (two way communication at the same time, as with a mobile phone), one of the most important features the emergency services want is push-to-talk, a walkie-talkie like service. And that is where the focus of making mobile fit for use by the emergency services has been. What is often not appreciated by the mobile community is the issue of latency. Anyone who has used a walkie-talkie knows that the instant you press the button the person at the other end can hear you. There is no delay other than the constraint of the speed of light. Mobile phone push-to-talk systems are rarely like this. You press the button, it switches to the right app, fires it up, makes an IP connection and then starts the communication. This is not instant. Indeed, using such a system where you can see and hear the other person is un-nerving, with a significant delay that is more than an echo. Even a traditional 2G or 3G voice call has a little latency which you can hear if both people are in the same room. Push-to-talk latency isn't a problem in the “it might replace SMS” scenario the mobile industry once envisaged for it, but it is in an emergency. The classic example the Armed Forces give is to imagine a commander who has a team of snipers on a roof pointing at a target. He gives the command: “Don't shoot”. Unfortunately, in a cellular, IP based device, it takes a fraction of a second for the app to fire up and make a connection – a fraction of a second which is just long enough for the word “Don’t” to fail to make it into the message. Obviously this is just not good enough in a critical situation such as a terrorist attack as we have just seen in Paris. The other problem with any emergency communication system using 4G technology is that coverage of the country is patchy and uneven, with some areas having no signal whatsoever. Even if the emergency service personnel can get a 4G signal, you can then add to this the problem that with 4G there are other users on the network: ordinary customers, who, given that they are in the middle of an emergency, will want to call their mum or post a video of the incident to YouTube. There are systems in place to give emergency services priority, but network congestion is still going to affect the ability of the backhaul infrastructure to cope. All in all the situation is a mess, and could not really have come at a worse time. Industry insiders say that as the contract signing for the new 4G system is not scheduled until after the general election, it will probably get "kicked into the long grass", the existing Tetra system will be retained under an extension clause in the contract for at least another three or four years, despite the huge technical limitations to the legacy system. All in all not an ideal situation. 

Erith Town Forum will hold its 100th public meeting on January 28th 2015. The following guest article was written by the chair of the Forum, Doreen Ives. In 1998 the Government introduced “Capital Challenge” an initiative seeking to promote wider community involvement in decision making.  Under this umbrella the Erith Consultative Group run by local residents, was changed into Erith Town Forum In the early days we had some young people from the Ocean Park Estate joining the meeting to let us know what they felt was lacking in Erith and the seeds were sown for the Youth and Family Centre in West Street.  A supermarket in the town was high on the Forum’s agenda and when Morrison decided to build their southern flagship store here, a great cheer was heard, although very few of us knew what Morrison’s stores were like since they were mostly sited in the north of England.  There is no doubt that this was the kick-start for the Town’s regeneration with the refurbished pier taking pride of place. Unfortunately it took a long time and many heated meetings before the rest of the Town was brought back to life.  Much time and effort was put in to ensure the new Health Centre was built but with the loss of the market, a valuable retail attraction, all the remaining shops suffered.  Whilst Forum continued to press for overall regeneration, we looked for smaller benefits too, like better security and things to brighten up the town. We succeeded in getting CCTV, some tree planting, hanging baskets throughout the year and lights and community events at Christmas time.  We even had our own skating rink to brighten one Christmas. The Forum joined in celebrating when the first blow was struck on the concrete car park and Carey’s began their transformation project to produce Riverside Shopping Centre and of course we buried our Time Capsule in the walkway.  We worked with the Shopping Centre’s Public Relations Company in planning the “Jumping for Joy” opening celebrations, with members of the Erith Playhouse representing characters from Erith’s proud history.   When for the first time, fears that Erith Museum might be closed we were there to support the volunteers in their effort to make sure this didn’t happen. Erith has much history and the Town Forum decided that particular buildings should have identifying plaques.  We had the plaques put up and with the help of local historians we compiled a Town Trail leaflet and placed an information board on the Riverside Gardens with a map identifying those special buildings. The information Board was partly funded by Erith Rotary to mark their centenary year.  (The leaflet is available in the library, pick one up and do the walk).  We also ensured that the mural on the old swimming pool was not lost to the town. The need to engage with young people and promote positive behaviour was discussed many times and out of this came the TriForum which was a combination of Erith, Slade Green and Belvedere Forums all wanting to offer free sport and entertainment during school holidays.  Whilst the Council provided us with some funding, we continued to provide these activities free of charge to local children. Addressing ourselves to the older members of the community, Erith Forum organised free Christmas afternoons of entertainment, high tea and bingo for 140 senior citizens. We also joined with the embryo Bexley Accessible Transport scheme to take 40 seniors to the seaside for the day.  Again free of charge.   Sadly once regular funding was withdrawn by Bexley Council all these community activities had to stop. A major role for the Forum is to keep residents informed about new initiatives that will impact on their lives.  Initially this was done by speakers coming to our meetings, and our quarterly newsletter “TOWN AND AROUND” We had a circulation of 4000 copies. With improved communication methods, so the internet is now used to pass on information.  Our close working with Council officers during the early years meant we were part of decisions on  artworks in the town, we are particularly proud of the improvements to the Theatre, the Mural on the White Hart, the Fish, and the repositioning of the Erith Swimming Pool Mural, more recent additions to those previously mentioned. Once the Council funding was withdrawn, we looked towards charities to keep us going and were lucky to get grants from the William Kendall Wax Chandlers and the Awards For All Scheme. However Town and Around finally became unviable and so the internet had to take over. We were fortunate to get funding from the Riverside Shopping Centre on a regular basis which helped pay for our administration and the cost of holding regular meetings and finally for the last three years we have been fortunate to have funding from Cory Environmental.  We helped to promote and support FORGE who have made significant improvements to the Riverside Gardens and the foreshore, demonstrating to Bexley Council how valuable this green area is to our community. We have continued to promote Erith whenever possible with events, mainly using the River front.  We re-enacted the arrival of Alexander Selkirk at Erith Pier to celebrate the 300th anniversary of this event. In 2013 the last Thames Barge Race finish at the Erith causeway was marked by an afternoon of fun and games on the Riverside Gardens.  It was so successful that in 2014 we decided to do it all again. We called it ERITH FUN DAY and invited charities and small businesses to participate.  It was a great success, and Rotary Club Erith have agreed to take primary responsibility for organising this event in 2015.  Of course Erith Forum will take part and help to get in funding for the event.  Our Town and surrounding area has changed beyond all recognition since the first meeting of Erith Town Forum and the makeup of our community is very different. Therefore Erith Town Forum continues to have an important part to play in promoting community cohesion, by providing, an opportunity for the exchange of views, and information about local developments, together with social activities. Thanks Doreen - fascinating stuff. If you wish to become involved with Erith Town Forum, you can get more information from visiting their website here.

It seems that something good may actually come of the recent fatal stabbing of Olamide Fasima in Wolvercote Road, Thamesmead on the 14^th October. The News Shopper have reported that the Metropolitan Police are creating a new dedicated, ten officer strong unit to patrol the whole of Thamesmead. As both I and Malcolm Knight of the Bexley is Bonkers website wrote at the time, the two wards Thamesmead East and West will be no more – instead Thamesmead will become one ward overseen by the new policing team, whose remit will concentrate on drug and gang related violence – often one and the same thing. This is excellent news; I for one could never understand why for policing issues Thamesmead was divided in two, with the Western side falling under the control of Greenwich, and the Eastern half falling under the remit of Bexley Council. This to me always seemed like the worst of all possible worlds, as whenever an issue in respect of policing arose, doubts would spring to mind as to which of the two wards were responsible, and in the event of uncertainty or dispute, inevitably the two boroughs would point the finger at the other. Revising the ward boundaries to make Thamesmead one single, large police district makes eminent sense, and I wonder why it was not done before? With ten officers dedicated to the ward, I think there is a very good chance to fight back against the drug dealers and muggers who up until now have felt that they had free reign over the town. The only fly in the ointment is that it apparently took a murder before the new police squad was set up. Thamesmead has a lot of potential to transform from a rather mixed area of high – rise flats and low rise housing that has been dogged by crime, deprivation and poverty issues for the last forty – odd years into a desirable town with the arrival of Crossrail; juggling the maintenance of affordable accommodation with the inevitable forces of gentrification will be a challenge, but with luck many of the residents of Thamesmead will benefit in the long run. It would seem that the hope that the new housing in Abbey Wood and Thamesmead would be a sustainable mix of affordable social accommodation, alongside properties for outright sale is probably not going to be reflected in reality. A story broke this week, initially in The London Evening Standard, and shortly thereafter in The News Shopper. The Abbey Tower – a part of the forthcoming Close Quarter development which will be adjacent to Abbey Wood Station, is being advertised to investment buyers in Hong Kong. The estate agents who are commissioned with selling the thirty flats in the nine story block are making a special feature of the fact that the development is “a fully private block with no social housing”. They are selling the flats on the basis that in a few  short years the Abbey Wood Crossrail terminus will be open, making the area more attractive to London commuters. There are a number of problems in promoting the Abbey Tower abroad – not least of which is it is likely that a significant number of the flats will be purchased but not lived in – effectively “land banked” by wealthy foreign investors who expect the prices to go up so that they can sell at a profit later. Other apartments in the block will be rented out to wealthy tenants from outside of the area, meaning that locals with more modest means would will not stand a chance. I think that a degree of “gentrification” (a phrase I detest) is inevitable, and in itself not necessarily a bad thing – wealthy new residents need to shop, and some of their money should filter into the local economy. This has however not proved to be the case to much of an extent in the Woolwich Royal Arsenal Development in Woolwich however; very few of the wealthy residents ever venture into Woolwich Town Centre, even though it is only across the road from the gated development. Instead they shop for groceries online, and catch the ferry over to Canary Wharf to do their shopping. It seems to be a sad fact that the wealthy seem not to wish to integrate with normal local people – I presume they worry that they will be mugged or stabbed, or both. Unfortunately recent activity in Abbey Wood / Thamesmead would seem to support this concern. I am sure of one thing though – Bexley Council will encourage as many high net worth people to move into the area as possible – they want the council tax money, and encouraging developers to build high density accommodation in the area is one of the most effective methods of the Council generating extra revenue – this may well be the reason why they did not insist on any social accommodation in the Abbey Tower development. They seem to be keen to turn the area into the most intensive cash - cow possible, to the detriment of the local residents - a good example of this is the closure of the Belvedere Splash Park; sources indicate that Bexley Council will also close Belvedere Library, and the adjacent recreation park in Woolwich Road in order to sell off the land for property development - again so that they can rake in thousands in council tax to feed their supporters in the wealthier South of the borough. You can join the campaign to save Belvedere Splash Park by clicking here.

I am not a fan of Microsoft; whilst they might be a giant of a company, I feel that their products are quite often not as good as some of their smaller competitors. They also have a history of dubious business practices that I will not expand on here – you can always do a web search if you wish to learn more on the subject. Nevertheless they do form a major part of most people’s lives – a majority still use Windows based computers (though now the move is more to accessing content via mobile devices such as tablets and phones). Pretty much anybody who works in an office environment uses Microsoft Office. There has been much controversy in the last couple of years over Microsoft and their apparent inability to listen to their customers. This was epitomised in the row over the user interface for Windows 8. Windows 8 was primarily designed to work in a touch – screen environment, and few if any concessions were made to users who were still using a keyboard and mouse. Many private users, along with businesses complained, but Microsoft did nothing. Online forums and platforms such as Twitter were filled by the moans of dissatisfied techies and ordinary users alike. Microsoft did nothing until the sales figures started coming through – people were “voting with their feet” and buying PC’s with Windows 7; businesses were opting for “downgrade” packages which would enable a Windows 7 installation to replace the Windows 8 build that the machine shipped from the factory with. Eventually and with some pretty bad grace, Microsoft published Windows 8.1 – an update to the operating system which reintroduced most of the keyboard and mouse specific features that consumers and businesses so wanted. So far so good. The trouble has been that Windows 8 / 8.1 has now a tarnished reputation, and the sales have never recovered to the levels that Microsoft expected. Rather than continue digging when already in a hole, Microsoft have to their credit taken a step back and engaged with their customers. The end result of this is that the next version of Windows will not be called Windows 9; in order to underline how not like Windows 8 / 8.1 the next operating system will be, they are skipping the number nine and going directly to Windows 10. Early pre – release builds of Windows 10 have been available to developers and other IT professionals for a little while now – the screen capture above (click for a larger view) shows Windows 10 and the return of the Start menu that so many users wanted back. For those technically minded Maggot Sandwich readers, Windows 10 64 bit Preview Edition is running on my Apple iMac in a virtual PC environment using Oracle VirtualBox – there is no way I would allow any pre – Beta version of an operating system direct access to my hardware by actually installing it – virtualisation means if the OS goes bang, it cannot take any data on my hard disk or backups with it. To be honest, Windows 10 seems like it will be fine – and a big improvement over the last debacle. No doubt time will tell – the final complete version of Windows 10 is due to ship sometime in the Summer of 2015. Feel free to leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

The end video this week is a bit of fun; it features the Cosmotron - a retro - sci-fi designed car. What is not made clear in the short film is that the chap that owns this one of a kind vehicle lives in Bexleyheath. If you watch closely, you will see them drive it past the rear of the Bexleyheath Broadway Shopping Centre, along Albion Road. Look out for it - I am sure it will appear on the odd occasion.