Takeover.

This week the Maggot Sandwich has a bit of a nautical theme; The ship in the photo above is a regular visitor; it travels between Dagenham and Vlissingen in Holland, transporting container lorries and other bulk goods between the two locations. The roll - on, roll - off vessel is called the Celestine, and it can be seen several times a week, passing Erith Riverside Gardens and Erith Pier on its journey to the Netherlands.

The Dartford Crossing is more or less a captive market since the nearest alternative river crossing is a congested 15 miles away, which means that a crucial route that was supposed to become toll free in 2003 is earning the government millions. The toll system is broken, but it is in the government's interest for it to remain that way - it is a cash cow that unfairly penalises users both local and from far away. Last August a petition was set up to urge the government to reconsider the Dart Charge. In an interview in the News Shopper, Mrs Phillips, one of the petition's creators, said she was "really angry" when she heard about the plans to increase prices for regular users. "Every time I try and use the crossing there are terrible queues," Mrs Phillips hoped the petition would gain enough support so she could take it to the government to ask them to reconsider the Dart Charge. The precise wording of the petition reads:- "Under the original agreement, once the Dartford bridge had paid for itself, the tolls were to stop. In 1999, the government agreed that fees would be abolished by the end of 2003, an agreement that was not honoured and has been successively reneged on. We ask that the tolls are removed permanently". On Wednesday of last week the government replied to the petition in a completely predictable and rather unimaginative manner. The official response reads:- "Government has no plans to remove the road user charge at the Dartford Crossing which exists to manage demand. Without charges, traffic volumes would increase and additional congestion would occur. The Dartford charge is not a toll for to pay for the infrastructure but a charge the Government has set at levels which manage demand. The Crossing was designed to handle up to 135,000 vehicle movements each day, but currently it is not uncommon for 160,000 to occur. Research undertaken in 2001 into the impacts of lifting the tolls indicated that traffic volumes could rise by 17 per cent. However, the charge levels and concessions available also take account of local peoples’ need to use the Crossing in their daily lives. There are discounts of up to 20 per cent for those who chose to maintain a pre-paid account. In addition, residents of the boroughs of Dartford and Thurrock can make up to 50 or unlimited crossings for different minimum fees. There is no charge for the hours of 06h00 to 22h00. The standard charges have not increased since they were last revised with the introduction of the Dartford Free Flow Charging Scheme in 2014, an investment which has improved the road user experience by removing the need for users to stop at barriers to pay the charges. The Government is investing in the new Lower Thames Crossing will connect Kent and Essex through a tunnel beneath the River Thames and high quality road connections between important existing routes A2, M25 and A13. This addresses the demands for road capacity of an expanding economy by doubling cross river road capacity in the Thames east of London. To improve the situation over the next few years at the Dartford Thurrock Crossing and surrounding roads, the Department for Transport (DfT)is investing £10 million to contribute to a wider package of interventions to reduce congestion through traffic flow and safety measures. This investment is aimed at improving traffic flow at individual junctions; enhancing weather resilience; and better management of dangerous goods and over-height vehicles. Highways England continues to look for ways to improve performance and reduce congestion at the Crossing". Thus responded the Department for Transport. I don't think many people will be surprised by the announcement. There is far too much money being made for the government to ever back down, especially since the ANPR system which can recognise vehicle number plates replaced toll booths at the busy crossing in 2014, and has so far generated 3.5 million penalty charge notices for drivers who have failed to pay. A series of complaints to The Observer newspaper has shown how the system is far from foolproof, however, with cameras misreading number plates and people being pursued for fines they are unaware of. This can in turn lead to a complaints system which can appear inflexible. Thousands of those incorrectly charged simply pay up to avoid the risk of an escalating fine, according to Auto Express. In August 2017, the motoring magazine found that while the vast majority of appeals were upheld (80 percent), only one in 25 motorists actually appealed a fine. Many more motorists who do use the crossing, one of the UK’s busiest, fail to pay the charge because of confusing signs. The only warning of the levy is a large C which is identical to the symbol for the congestion charge, the £11.50 fee for vehicles entering central London. A recent poll by the AA found that 60 percent of drivers mistook it for the latter, an entirely different fee which is not payable on the Dartford Crossing. Non-Londoners are likely to have no clue of the symbol’s meaning. When the toll booths were bulldozed to reduce congestion, it seems the levy went from being a toll to a “congestion charge” and was increased by 20 percent. This distinction was never explained, nor is the fee called a congestion charge on the website, but the new terminology gets round the fact that the levy, introduced to cover the costs of building the Dartford Bridge, is still in place 15 years after it was paid for in full - something that locals are still extremely angry about. On top of this, as predicted, the two new Woolwich ferries did not go into service after Christmas. At the time of writing, they have said that they expect the service to recommence at some unspecified point in February. The whole communication with the North side of the River Thames is a major challenge. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or alternatively Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

In a week when Martin Lewis, the founder of MoneySavingExpert.com, dropped his lawsuit against Facebook for running scam advertisements featuring his name and image. The entrepreneur had lodged papers against the social media giant in the High Court last year, telling Sky News the legal action was the result of months of frustration with scammers piggybacking on his reputation and preying on Facebook users with get-rich-quick scams. On Wednesday, Mr Lewis and Facebook jointly announced a settlement to the defamation action as Facebook donated £3m to set up a Citizens Advice scams action project from and launch a new reporting tool for scam adverts. The donation will be made up of £2.5m in cash over the next two years, and £500,000 in Facebook advertising credit coupons which will be issued over the next three years. In an interview with Sky News, Martin Lewis said that he received a six-figure sum from Facebook for his costs. Online investment scams targeting people through social media have stolen increasing amounts of money from victims in recent years - rising in the UK by 400,000 percent in the last six years alone. Figures from Action Fraud show the amount lost to "binary options" trading increased from £6,200 in 2012, to £27m in 2017 alone, with the total currently standing at £61m. Following that information, it was not surprising that I found yet another fraudulent advert (see above) that linked from the News Shopper website to a site that was selling fraudulent BitCoin trading options, and trying to make out that celebrities from TV series "Dragons Den" were promoting the service, when they are absolutely not in any way, shape or form. The con artists also infer that BBC, The Guardian, The Sun and other organisations have been promoting the scheme, which is utterly false and misleading. You have been warned - it is a massive con. 

A message from Christ Church Erith:- "If you are coming to visit Christ Church Erith for a service or to sit a while to gather your thoughts or view the magnificent inside of the Church, you will now be able to enter through the main doors in the Bell Tower. Previously these doors were only used on special occasions and for weddings and funerals.  They will now be open for everyone to use on a regular basis.  Of course the ramped entrance at the side of the Church will also be open for those who need to use it. We have Open Church Monday–Friday mornings 10am – 12.00 noon so please do take the opportunity to visit us". For more Christ Church information visit their website here. 

The 21st January last week marked the 35th anniversary of the very first test transmission from  Laser 558, the offshore radio station that for a brief period between 1984 and 1986 became the most popular music radio station in the UK. Laser was known for its fast paced format “you are never more than a minute away from music”, and exclusively employed American DJ’s, including some, like Charlie Wolf, who went on to become household names. It all sounded very glamorous, and nothing like any rather more staid British radio station of the period. Most listeners believed the story that the station was crewed and operated exclusively by Americans, and supplied from mainland Europe, and therefore operating completely legally. The reality was that whilst the broadcasters were nearly all US citizens, the station and the supplies all came covertly from the UK – the main supply point was Herne Bay. The Laser ship was called the M.V Communicator – it was a converted Lowestoft hydrographic survey vessel originally named the Gardline Seeker. The work to convert the ship to a marine broadcasting station was carried out in Port Everglades in Florida – if you ever see a rerun of the Miami Vice episode “Phil the Shill” (the one that guest starred Phil Collins) there is a long aerial tracking shot of Crockett and Tubbs driving through Port Everglades – and the M.V Communicator can clearly be seen whilst it was being converted into a radio ship. When Laser 558 first came on air from the North Sea, the station tried using a novel wire antenna suspended from a helium balloon. Whoever thought of this idea clearly had no concept of the atrocious weather frequently experienced in the area. The strong, gusty and changeable winds soon destroyed the balloon antenna, and a conventional tower array was built to replace it. Laser quickly picked up a massive following in both the UK and Europe. Certainly, Laser's signal - and their following - reached into Holland, Belgium, and other Continental European countries. Laser 558's ship, the MV Communicator was anchored in the Knock Deep area of the Thames Estuary of the North Sea. The anchorage was approximately 3 miles off the Essex coast, not far from Harwich. It had a strong, loud signal on Medium Wave, it played far more music that BBC Radio One, and operated a format of top 40 pop and familiar oldies, played back to back. The sound was slick and very professional, and soon listeners started to defect from local radio and BBC national stations to Laser. At this point the government became worried – they could not let this upstart pirate take all of their precious listeners from the BBC and ILR stations. Laser 558 claimed an audience of some 8,000,000 listeners and was seriously threatening the long established duopoly of the BBC and the IBA. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) started to take action against the station, firstly by advertising in specialist magazines to warn boat owners of the penalties of supplying "pirate" broadcasting ships. Notices began appearing around the British coastline warning not to supply the radio ships, though this was widely flouted. A ship called the Dioptric Surveyor was despatched by the Department of Trade and Industry Radio Investigation Service to monitor both Laser 558 and Radio Caroline, in what became known as the “Eurosiege”. It was soon apparent that Laser, rather than Caroline was the real target. This was mainly due to the constant on air jibes and arch comments made by Laser DJ’s – most notably by Charlie Wolf, the station motor mouth, and at that time a serious rival in popularity to Radio 1's Steve Wright. Soon a spoof record was released called ”I Spy for the DTI” by the Moronic Surveyors (actually the Laser DJ’s) which got heavy play on Laser, and got into the lower reaches of the charts. In contrast, Radio Caroline continued in their policy of not annoying the authorities, and they carried on pretty much unmolested. Eventually a mixture of running low on supplies, bad weather (the M.V Communicator was not an ideal ship for the North Sea and its heavy swell – it rolled terribly due to its very high freeboard - the height of the hull out of the sea - unlike the Radio Caroline ship the M.V Ross Revenge – a massive, former ice breaking trawler which was solid as a rock in rough seas), and a lack of advertising revenue caused the Laser crew to bring the ship in to port, under escort from the DTI. The other reason for the failure of Laser 558 was its management, which was pretty financially incompetent, and also a few suppliers that managed to con a large amount of cash out of the station for very little in return. The whole project lasted only around eighteen months, but it did shake up UK radio, which up until that time was legally restricted as to the amount of music it was allowed to play. The “needle time” rules dictated that fifty percent of broadcasting time had to be dedicated to speech; this was later relaxed when it was found that the audiences for Laser 558 were primarily attracted by the stations policy of “never more than a minute from music”. In contrast Radio Caroline continued at sea for another six years, which was when my own involvement with the station happened. Back when Laser and Caroline were both broadcasting to Northern Europe, I was still at school – I recall many occasions when there would be scuffles in the 6th form common room when some pupils wanted to listen to Laser 558 on the ancient valve radiogram we had, whilst I wanted to listen to Radio Caroline. Strangely I cannot recall anyone wanting to listen to BBC Radio One at the time. I think that just about says it all.

In a shock move for many of its customers, and real ale drinkers in general last week, the last major London brewery, Fullers announced that they were selling their entire brewing business and beer brands to giant Japanese brewery conglomerate Asahi for a reported price of £250 million. Under the deal, the family run brewery will sell the production and distribution of its beers to the European arm of the Japanese brewer, which already owns Greenwich based brewery brand Meantime in the UK. The sale includes the historic Griffin Brewery in Chiswick, where the company was founded in 1845. The deal means London Pride and Dark Star Hophead, lager brand Frontier, as well as my favourite bottled beer - Fuller's ESB and Cornish Orchards cider and soft drinks will join Asahi Super Dry, Peroni Nastro Azzurro and Meantime under Asahi Europe ownership. Fuller’s says the deal will allow it to concentrate on its pubs and hotels which generate 87 per cent of its profits. The city in which famous names such as Charrington, Watney, Whitbread, Courage and Truman were born now has no locally owned major brewers. Even the sizeable players among the new wave of brewers to have emerged in the last decade or so have all fallen into foreign hands, with Camden Town brewery now owned by Budweiser-to-Stella Artois behemoth AB InBev, Beavertown owned by Heineken, the London Fields Brewery is owned by Carlsberg and the Meantime Brewery in Greenwich is now owned by Asahi itself. Many commentators have expressed reservations as to whether the Asahi - who are well known for brewing gassy and bland lagers, will be able to maintain Fullers beer quality, and also worries that the large brewery location would be worth a fortune a potential property developer for the prestigious Chiswick site. Other historic London breweries have not survived as property values in the city have soared. The Ram brewery in Wandsworth, west London, was sold off by Young’s in 2006 and is being turned into homes and shops, and the Mortlake brewery in South-West London is becoming luxury flats. Analysts speculated that the Fuller's Griffin site could be worth up to £100 million, so could be ripe for even partial redevelopment. On top of this there may well be an unexpected consequence. Currently Asahi beers are brewed in the UK under licence by Faversham, Kent based brewers Shepherd Neame. With Asahi taking over Fullers, there will be no need for Asahi to have their beers brewed by a third party. This may well harm the bottom line for Shepherd Neame. Indeed in a detailed article in the Times on Saturday it was suggested that Shepherd Neame, Britain's oldest brewer, may well be next in line to be taken over. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com. 

Now for the weekly local safety and security updates from Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association. The first report is from Barnehurst ward:- "Barnehurst ward have suffered two burglaries during the past week. The first burglary occurred on Saturday 19th January 2019 between 13.34 - 13.45 hours. Entry was gained through an insecure ground floor window. A number of items were taken. The victim had a clear picture of the suspect from footage of CCTV at the property. This was aired widely on social media. A shoe print was left at the scene, this print was taken for forensic opportunities. The suspect has since been identified and has now been charged with eleven counts of burglary including the Barnehurst Road burglary. The suspect has committed burglaries across Bexley and Greenwich Boroughs, Barnehurst Road being the most recent. The second burglary took place on Tuesday 22nd January 2019 at 11.55pm in Stuart Mantle Way. Unfortunately the front door was not double locked which allowed quick and easy access for these burglars to gain entry within seconds. Again, items were taken from the property. In Hillingdon Road on Wednesday 16th January 2019 victim found all four tyres flat on a vehicle parked in the driveway. It is believed the tyres were stabbed with a fine implement. If you see anything suspicious in your area please report it. If you wish to remain anonymous you can always contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555111. We will be at Barnehurst Golf Course on Wednesday 30th January 2019 at 1pm should you wish to come along for a chat". Belvedere ward:- "We have been receiving complaints about the HMOs (Houses of Multiple Occupancy) on Stanmore Road and Ashburnham Road. The complaint on Stanmore is drug-related. Apparently drugs are being used and sold from this address. As for Ashburnham Road we have been told that some suspicious activity has been taking place recently. A hooded male has been seen to try car door handles and loiter around houses. The male has been seen to go into the HMO on Ashburnham. Whether he lives there or is just visiting is unclear. If anyone has any information about either addresses please get in touch. A resident has also expressed concern about people parking up in the car park of Chalfont Court, Lessness Park recently. Piles of the nitrous oxide canisters have been found when the cars leave. Although it is not illegal to possess them at the moment it is still concerning that people are using them and then driving. If anyone is seen doing this then please let us know. On Wednesday16th January just before 8pm a window was smashed at Corals, Nuxley Road. If anyone was around at this time or saw what happened please contact us. There was also a burglary on the Wednesday 16th in Coptefield Drive. Happened at some stage from 7am and 8pm. One person was seen to go to the front door. Two other people went down the side alley to the rear of the property. The rear patio doors were smashed and entry was gained. Also throughout this week you may have seen the team looking through lots of bushes and skulking around buildings. Nothing to worry about. As part of the Mets aim to tackle violence and knife crime one of the activities we conduct is weapon sweeps. Please don't be alarmed if you see us doing this in your road, you do not live in a dangerous area. The sweeps are a preventive measure, we do not currently have any information relating to any specific areas on the ward that are at risk. Our next drop in surgery will be on the Wednesday 30th January 2019 at Belvedere Community Centre between 13:00 and 14:00". Bexleyheath ward:- "Over the last week we have had one burglary on our ward. This was on Monday 21/01/2019 along St.Aubrey Avenue, Bexleyheath, entry was gained via rear window. We have received several report of theft from motor vehicles that have happened on the ward over the last week, these are the details;- Iris Avenue between 19th & 20th January, Bowness Road-no damage but items taken from iniside between Fri 18th & Sat 19th January, Silverdale Road between Thur 17th & Fri 18th January, Rydal Drive 16th January suspect had searched an unlocked vehicle and items taken, Braemer Avenue 16th January Number plates stolen from vehicle, Outside Barclays Bank-Bexleyheath- Thur 17th January. 2 Thefts reported, On Sunday 20th January we had a report of theft of a bank card along the Broadway the card was used to make fraudulent transaction, on the Saturday 19th January another theft was reported in TK Max when a purse was dropped and then taken. The team have conducted two stop and searches in The Premier Inn Car Park, cannabis was seized, On another ward the team assisted in executing a warrant and cannabis was seized. Youths have been stopped in relation to riding bikes on the Broadway and also along Iris Avenue-words of advice given. Bexleyheath Team will have a contact point in Bexleyheath Central Library on Wednesday 30th January from 10.30am -11.30am. Please come along is you have any problems to report or if you wish to meet your local officers.  Crayford ward:- "Overnight from 18.00 on Monday 21st January and 06.00 on 22nd January the locks were broken off a garage door in Village Green Road, it is not known what may have been taken at this time. On Monday 21st January between 13.30 and 17.00 on the Tuesday 22nd January a white Ford Transit had its window smashed whilst parked in Halcot Avenue, it was believed that the suspect intended to “hotwire” it. Power tools were stolen from an a garage in Bexley Close between Tuesday 15th and Wednesday 16th of January. In the early hours of Tuesday 22nd January two males were seen in Hayward Close attempting to break in to a vehicle parked there, it was believed they had tools and knives with them, their faces could not be seen as they were wearing hoods. On Sunday 20 January between 13.00-14.00 two large oil containers were thrown at a house in Green Walk breaking the outside lights. On Sunday 20th January another shoplifting offence took place at Marks News, the same suspect as previously identified. If you may be able to identify this person please consider contacting Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111, you can give information anonymously if you wish. Our ward panel meeting was held on Saturday 5th January. Our promises for the next three months are ASB Vehicles linked to Hall Place, ASB Youth linked to Crayford Town Centre, Burglary Prevention and Street a week". Erith ward:- "Apologies for the short update this week. We had our ward panel this week, Low number of attendees this could have been due to the weather, thank you to all that attended. If you would like to attend our next meeting please get in contact with me Ward promises are the same as last time, Drugs and ASB West Street area. Crime wise hasn't been that bad in Erith over the last week. No burglaries to report, though still the odd theft from motor vehicles. We are in Erith Costa Coffee at 4pm on Tuesday 29th January". Northumberland Heath ward:- "Another good week with no burglaries reported to us. One theft from a motor vehicle in Parsonage Manorway. This took place between Thursday January 17th between midnight and 6am the following morning. The car was broken into on the driveway of the property entry unknown, an untidy search of the car took place and a green Michael Kors was stolen. On Sunday January 20th at 1230 three males were seen circling a vehicle in Becton Place junction with Brook Street. The males disappeared for approximately thirty minutes before re appearing, opening the boot and looking inside it. It is unclear if anything was taken but the males left and returned several times to the vehicle before running off. The team will be conducting weapons sweeps throughout the ward as part of the violent crime initiative, and we continue to focus on anti-social behaviour and engagement with our residents and local businesses. This week we will be holding our quarterly Ward Panel Meeting to decide our promises for the next three months. We will update you next week. The next drop in Police Surgery will be held at the Northumberland Heath Library in Mill Road on Wednesday 6th February at 2pm. All are welcome to attend". Slade Green and Northend ward:- "2 Vehicles have been stolen in the last week. A van was stolen overnight on Sunday 20th Jan from Cedar Road, no smashed glass and the owner still has the keys. A car for sale was stolen from Betsham Road on Tuesday 22nd Jan. At 1240 3 males turned up as prospective buyers, they gave the victim £800, the vehicle was for sale for £1600, then they drove off. Enquiries for both thefts are ongoing. 2 knives have been found in the last week during targeted weapon sweeps as part of Operation Sceptre which tackles violent crime across the Met. One was found on January 18th in Slade Green Road junction with Plantation Road and the other was found on Monday 21st January in Manor Road just down from the zebra crossing. There is no evidence at this time to suggest either knife has been involved in any crime but they have been sent for disposal. At our ward panel meeting on Wednesday evening the promises chosen for the next three months were ASB in Hollywood Way, Block patrols of Applegarth House and Grange House and Off Road Bike issues in the ward. Our next Community Contact Session is on Tuesday 29/01/2019 from 1100 hours in Forest Road Café".  Thamesmead East ward:- "Burglary Cherbury Close Thursday 21/01/19 between 7am-6:45pm Rear patio door smashed, untidy search carried out jewellery and cash stolen; Redbourne Drive Thursday 21/01/19 between 2pm-6:50pm Suspects entered through unlocked back door which may have been left unlocked, untidy search carried out within not known as yet what has been stolen; Hodkins Close Thursday 21/01/19 between 5:15pm-6pm Suspect/s apparently entered through ground floor bedroom window, untidy search carried out jewellery stolen. Motor vehilce crime - Wolvercote Road Tuesday 15/01/19 between 2am-7:30am suspect/s breaking into vehicle taking items from within; Landridge Road Wednesday 16/01/19 between 6am-8:50pm suspect/s unknown taking registration plates from vehicle; Southmere Drive Wednesday 16/01/19 between 6pm-11pm suspect/s have smashed vehicle window, vehicle searched however nothing stolen; Lensbury Way Thursday 17/01/19 between 2:40pm-4pm suspect/s unknown taking registration plates from vehicle; Fleming Way Friday 18/01/19 between 9pm-2:25am Suspect/s unknown taking victims vehicle without consent. Criminal damage - Fleming Way Saturday 19/01/19 between 12pm – 6:28pm suspect/s causing damage to glass panel in front door. Meetings - Street briefing to be held in FLEMING WAY Sunday 27/01/19, 4-5pm; Police Surgery (Community Contact Session) Friday 1/2/19 3 - 4pm at Thamesmead Library Binsey Walk". West Heath ward:- "A bicycle was stolen from a shed burglary in Hillsgrove Close over the weekend between 7pm on Saturday 19/01/19 and midday Sunday 20/01/29; There were two theft of cars in Okehampton Crescent on Wednesday 16/01/19 between 7am -7pm and Mayfair Avenue on Friday 18/01/19 between midday – 7pm; A set of golf clubs were stolen from the boot of a car in New Road in the early hours of Tuesday 15/01/19 between midnight and 8am; We have been made aware of a male trying car doors in the early hours of Monday 21/01/19 so please double check your vehicles are locked. The team has also been made aware of a male loitering in West Heath recreational ground over the last two weekends. The team have been doing extra patrols in the area. Due to operational needs, the next community session in Plymstock Road on Wednesday 30th January will be re-scheduled. The next session will be in the Hurst Lane Estate in Hurst Lane on Saturday 9th February between 1pm-2pm". 

The end video this week features the largest theatre in the London Borough of Bexley - the Erith Playhouse, which is run by volunteers. You can see their website by clicking here. 

An undeserved reward.

Since my article last week outlining the planning application that has been submitted to Bexley Council to redevelop the former White Hart / Potion building, I have received a number of reactions from readers. Overall the reception has been broadly positive.  Most people accept that the exterior of the White Hart needs to be restored to how it looked prior to the owners of Potion illegally ripping out the Victorian frontage and replacing it with anachronistic plate glass, despite the building having both listed status, and being located in a conservation zone. Such as restoration will come at a heavy price, and the profits made from converting the upper floors of the building into apartments would not be sufficient to make the project financially viable. The creation of some low rise apartments in the large pub garden, overlooking the river would make the whole thing much more attractive to a developer. The fact that at present no planning application has been submitted by the owners, The Wellington Pub Company, for the ground floor public area of the building, one may suspect that a further application is yet to be submitted. What form this will take is anyone's guess. I did have one response from a regular reader who was less than impressed with the current development proposals (edited for content):- "It would be lovely if it would be turned into a sit down Indian restaurant or some other kind, Erith sadly lacks somewhere to eat of an evening, I'm sure you agree. With lack of interest from such business' its fate is certain to be converted into even more crappy flats like so many other closed boozers. Is there no stopping the relentless charge to fill every spare bit of grass in Erith with wretched flats?" The fact is, Erith is a prime dormitory town for London, and at present it has the second lowest property prices in the South East (marginally beaten into the number two position by Barking and Dagenham). It is inevitable that developers will see the area as one very attractive for people to move into. Personally I am not averse to such development, providing it is done properly, and not just a "sling it up and trouser the cash" approach. I feel more on this subject in the coming weeks. 

Further to my recent investigations into, and blog articles about both Betamax video recorders and Capacitance Electronic Disk players, I have discovered something even more astonishing. The earliest surviving recording of John Logie Baird’s pioneering TV transmissions will be staying in Scotland, after an anonymous donor stepped last month to purchase the historic record. It was made on the 20th September 1927 on a 78rpm PhonoVision shellac disc, recorded and played on what is essentially a television gramophone. A temporary ban on exporting a collection of early television memorabilia, including the recording, had been due to expire just before the benefactor stepped in. The collection was given an asking price of £78,750 earlier this year, and there were fears the historic material would pass into private hands. However, an anonymous businessman has now stepped in to purchase the historical collection, to be stored at the University of Glasgow. The donor reportedly lived in John Logie Baird’s hometown of Helensburgh for 20 years. PhonoVision was the very first method of video recording ever invented. John Logie Baird was very familiar with sound recording onto analogue disks; naturally, this well-known technique was tried for video, and in fact the first video format of all was the Baird Television Record - also known as PhonoVision - which was first demonstrated by John Logie Baird in 1927. This was a standard 78-RPM record, intended to be played on a modified gramophone, which would be hooked up to a Baird television. This was only possible because of the extremely low bandwidth of Baird's mechanical TV system, which ran at 12.5 frames per second, and used a mere 30 lines in each frame. TV records were sold in the 1930's by Selfridges in London, for seven shillings each -- the equivalent of about £10 today. Since Baird never seems to have produced a working player, and certainly never had one on sale, this was rather an odd idea; people would simply listen to the chirrup of the TV signal, and imagine the wondrous future it suggested. By the late 1930s, Baird's mechanical television system had been improved to 240 lines, but other pioneers had developed an alternative system -- the electronic scanning system we use today. As soon as the public could see both side-by-side, the superiority of the 405-line electronic TV was apparent, and Baird's mechanical "televisor" was obsolete.The TV record disappeared with it, though apparently a few TV records did survive - eleven examples are still known to exist.

London's Big Issue sellers have diversified into selling coffee from last Monday. The company is going to sell coffee to Londoners under the name Change Please, a new brand backed by the Big Issue magazine. They have eight coffee carts spread across central London with sites in Covent Garden, Waterloo and Paddington. The not-for-profit company will pay baristas the London living wage of £9.15 an hour and train them for jobs with firms from the food and beverage, legal and banking sectors while also providing temporary accommodation. In the past I would have been pleased to hear such news, but some in depth investigation by fellow local bloggers has made me think again. They have uncovered an eye - opening story that Romanian organised criminals have been infiltrating the Big Issue for several years, forcing genuinely homeless people out of the organisation in order to get their own people illegally into the sales pitches. A number of individuals have investigated the case of one Robert Dumitru who was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment, suspended for 2 years after being convicted of conning Greenwich Council tax payers out of over £60,000 worth of housing and council tax benefit, even though he was later found to have over £105,000 in the bank; this didn't include the £67,000 he had already sent back to Romania. It would seem that the organised criminal gang are using a little known (until now) loophole which classes The Big Issue sellers as being self employed, and thus eligible for housing benefit. The irony is, that if they are receiving housing benefit, they are not homeless, and therefore should not be selling The Big Issue. I think it is only a matter of time before this scandal gets mainstream press coverage, as it really needs to be exposed. I have visions of the Big Issue Foundation going the same way as the Kid's Company once the story breaks. Apologies for my vagueness as to those who have investigated this story, but there are currently ongoing investigations that I am unable to identify in any detail at present. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

The News Shopper has been carrying a story about the supposed “Black Friday” terrorist attack planned to hit shoppers at Bluewater. Apparently a person had posted a hoax story on FaceBook saying that Police and other emergency services were expecting a terrorist attack at the shopping centre, and that this has been confirmed by “a friend of a friend” who worked in Bluewater’s’ Security team. The claim then went on to say that 750 body bags had already been delivered to the shopping centre prior to the claimed attack. The post, which had over 8,000 shares on social media sites, was of course total rubbish, and completely fictitious. Firstly I feel that the culprit should be held responsible for spreading stories likely to cause alarm and concern, and which may also have tied up Police time investigating the veracity (or otherwise) of the claim. Secondly, how can eight thousand people be credulous and gullible enough to share the claim on Facebook? It never ceases to amaze me that a significant minority will believe pretty much anything that is published on social media, especially Facebook – it is the digital equivalent of “it was in the newspaper, so it must be true”. There is a psychological theory called “ego investment” which may go quite some way to explaining why people tend to behave in such a manner. Ego investment basically means how much people care about a certain subject. That, in turn, dictates how much time and energy they'll spend investigating, defending, and sharing their knowledge about it. If they're not really invested in something, they won't put in any effort to vet it out -- because they don't really care. So why post it at all? It may be that a paranoid mind-set can override a dubious one, which results in a "just in case" attitude.  "It won't hurt me to post this, even if it isn't true -- so why not? Maybe I should ... just in case something might happen." On top of this there may also be what is termed “the lemming factor” – where Facebook users feel that if they are not reacting to a story, however implausible or bizarre, then they will be in some way losing out. This is very similar to the old phenomenon of chain letters; There’s a sense of ritualized behaviour of sharing it that makes you feel more in control—which is why people share the letters that say if you don’t share this, then something bad will happen—because the cost of not doing it is big, but the cost of sharing it is minimal. There is also the friendship element – if the hoax story has been posted by a friend, and you trust the friend, you are more likely to believe stories that they post – their critical faculties having been short circuited by their relationship. At the end of the day, social media hoaxes are so common and widespread that one would have thought that the general public would have become more inured to them by now, but this still seems sadly not to be the case.

The News Shopper are reporting that another big budget movie has been filmed using Crossness Pumping Station as a major location. The forthcoming film “Victor Frankenstein” which opens on the 3rd December. The film stars Daniel Radcliffe and James McAvoy in a remake of the classic sci fi tale. Crossness Pumping Station is used to double as Doctor Frankenstein’s laboratory. It is far from the first time the grade one listed building has been used in television or the movies. The pumping station interior was used as the Masonic Temple occupied by the evil Lord Blackwood in Guy Ritchie’s 2009 version of “Sherlock Holmes”; it was also used in the 1989 Tim Burton directed “Batman” movie, and as part of the interior of the starship Nostromo in the original “Alien” movie. The interior of the pumping station is stunning, as you can see in the video above. It was constructed by the Metropolitan Board of Works Chief Engineer Sir Joseph Bazalgette between 1859 and 1865, as part of Bazalgette's redevelopment of the London sewerage system, it features spectacular ornamental cast ironwork, that Sir Nikolaus Pevsner described as "a masterpiece of engineering – a Victorian cathedral of ironwork". The Pump Room was used to house giant custom – built pumps which enabled the incoming liquid effluent to be raised some 30 to 40 feet. The pumping engines were of enormous size and power. They were built by James Watt and Co. to Joseph Bazalgette's designs and specification, and were named "Victoria", "Prince Consort", "Albert Edward" and "Alexandra". The pumps worked at eleven revolutions per minute, and six tons of sewage per stroke per engine were pumped up into a 27-million-imperial-gallon reservoir, and was released into the Thames during the ebbing tide. The steam required to power these engines was raised by twelve Cornish boilers with single "straight-through" flues situated in the Boiler House to the south of the Engine House, and which consumed approximately five thousand tons of Welsh coal annually. At this time, the Crossness Works merely disposed of raw sewage into the river seawards, and in 1882, a Royal Commission recommended that the solid matter in the sewage should be separated out, and that only the liquid portion remaining should be allowed, as a temporary measure, to pass into the river. In 1891, sedimentation tanks were added to the works, and the sludge was carried by steam boats and dumped further out into the estuary, at sea. The smell of the river must have been awful – and to think that people swam in the Thames at Erith, only a couple of miles downriver during the popular summer season. You might well have come out from a dip looking a fetching shade of brown – and not from a sun tan! The whole of the Crossness Pumping Station was a real tribute to classic Victorian over – engineering – and possibly part of the reason so much survived after the giant steam powered pumps were decommissioned and left to rot for years. The pumping station became a Grade I listed building in 1970 and will remain on the Heritage at Risk Register until the restoration is completed. The Crossness Engines Trust, a registered charity, was formed in 1987 to oversee the restoration project. The station contains the four original pumping engines, which are thought to be the largest remaining rotative beam engines in the world, with 52 ton flywheels and 47 ton beams. Although the engines are original, they are not in their original 1864 configuration as all four engines were converted from single cylinder to the current triple expansion operation in 1901 and 1902. Prince Consort was returned to steam in 2003 and now runs on Trust Open Days. The other engines are not in working order, although work has begun on the restoration of Victoria.

The photo above was sent to me earlier this week by Maggot Sandwich reader and local history enthusiast Raymond Ratcliff.  It shows Bexley Road, Erith, back in 1910. You may recall that last week I featured a photograph showing a row of shops called Station Parade from the late 1970’s / early 1980’s. Station Parade was later built on the site of the tram shelter shown above. It is fascinating to see how the local area has changed over the years, not always for the better.  It is interesting to see that the shelter at the tram stop has open sides; knowing how the wind whistles along Bexley Road nowadays, it cannot have been any fun to stand at the tram stop in the winter, as I doubt it would offer very much protection from the weather. The boy in the photo seems to be staring at the photographer. I would imagine he was saying something along the lines of “Mister – wot are you doin?”. A fascinating snapshot of times gone by. If you have any old photographs of the local area which you would like to see featured on the Maggot Sandwich, please drop me a line to hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Hackers have been using ransomware - a type of malware in which attackers can steal or delete the contents of users’ computers if they don’t pay a ransom - for the past 25 years. Now, it seems, the same tactic may be used on medical devices such as insulin pumps and pacemakers. Ransomware in medical devices is the single biggest cybersecurity threat for 2016, according to a recent report from research and advisory firm Forrester. As of yet there are no documented cases of hackers holding a user ransom by his medical device, but experts are realizing that cybersecurity for medical devices—really anything connected to the Internet, including surgical robots—is lagging woefully behind the digital protection arming other systems and gadgets. Experts quoted in a recent piece in Bloomberg Business estimate that the security around medical devices is about a decade behind the overall standard. Earlier this year, the Federal Drug Administration issued a letter warning American hospitals and patients that a pump commonly used to ration out proper dosing of medicine in IVs could be vulnerable to attack. Threats to medical devices may have been common knowledge (enough to make up a plot twist on the TV show Homeland) but no one paid much attention because there didn’t seem to be any clear benefit to a hacker. Who would want to mess up Joe Blogg's drug infusion pump? But as more health insurance providers find themselves under fire, it’s clear that hackers have set their sights on the healthcare industry. And with the prospect of a ransom, that threat feels all too immediate and personal, especially since it’s not cheap—most hackers ask for $200 to $10,000, according to the FBI. Between April 2014 and June 2015, hackers’ extortions via personal computers cost American victims $18 million. What has happened in America invariably happens in the UK sooner or later. Unlike on a personal computer, individuals can’t put digital security measures in place to protect their biomedical devices. It’s up to the manufacturers of the device’s hardware and software to put the proper security protocols in place. Hopefully they can do so before ransomware becomes as big of an issue as predicted. Many cyber-security vendors view ransomware as 2016's biggest threat, and to help drive this point home, a Symantec security researcher demonstrated how easy it can be to infect smart TVs and how hard it can be to clean the infection afterwards. The researcher did not reveal the TV's make and model but said it was running a modified version of Google's Android operating system, which many brands also use for their smart TV products. To infect his TV, Symantec's research team used a common ransomware family that targets Android devices. This ransomware shows an annoying ransom note every few seconds, overlaying the message on top of the screen, making the device inoperable. Most Android ransomware works on Android OS-based TVs the investigation team said that infection of his device was made possible due to the lack of TSL / SSL encryption for sensitive communications between the TV and remote servers, used for app installs or firmware updates. With a simple MitM (Man-in-the-Middle) attack, the researcher placed the ransomware on his device by spoofing a game installation package. The ransomware installation didn't encounter any roadblocks and soon took root on the device, blocking the user from using it. After installing the ransomware, Symantec then studied methods to have it removed. Their quest was not as successful as they wished, and they found that the ransom note made it almost impossible to carry out a factory reset, start a support session with the TV maker's support staff, or execute other operations. They were eventually able to remove the ransom note, but only because they had activated the ADB (Android Debug Bridge) tool before installing the malware. This tool allowed him to connect the TV to a laptop and remove the ransomware from there. Other types of malicious attacks are also possible on smart TVs Besides ransomware, Symantec says that smart TVs are also vulnerable to other types of threats. Attackers can hijack smart TVs to perform click fraud, crypto-currency mining, steal user personal data, extract various authentication credentials used by smart TV apps, or even add the TV to a DDoS botnet. To prevent malware from infecting smart TVs or stop malicious actors from carrying out other types of attacks, Symantec provided a series of mitigation techniques that smart TV owners can employ. Some of the most useful tips recommend that users always keep their TV's software updated to the latest version, that they disable features that they don't use, and only install apps from verified sources. Additionally, users should enable app verification in the TV's settings, inspect the TV's built-in security settings, and turn up the defensive features to max, and always disable remote access to the TV when not needed. As I have previously written, in my own experience, Smart TV's are seriously overrated. 

Above you can see two photos which show part of Erith in a "then and now" way. The upper photo was taken in around 1935, and shows James Watt Way looking North; To the right of the photo can be seen The Prince of Wales pub, and ahead is the Royal Arsenal Co-Operative Society shop, on the corner of Manor Road. Just out of the shot, to the left would have been the construction site for the forthcoming Odeon Cinema, which opened in 1937. You can see some period photos of the cinema by clicking here. In the lower photo, you can see the McDonald's drive through burger bar where the pub once stood, and in place of the RACS shop, there is now a KFC fried chicken drive through. To the left, on the site of the Odeon Cinema (demolished in 1999, even though it was a grade 2* listed building) is a block of flats with offices and the new, faceless Erith Library on the ground floor.  I think pretty much anyone who has spent time living in or around Erith is of the opinion that the old Victorian town centre should never have been demolished. If it was still in place now, the town would be a significant tourist attraction. 

The following warning has been published by Bexley Neighbourhood Watch Association:- "SCAM WARNING We have had several co-ordinators report the same delivery scam to us. Whereby you receive a phone call from a courier company asking when you would be home so that they can deliver a package which requires a signature. Once arranged a uniformed delivery man arrives with a basket of flowers and a bottle of wine. The courier cannot tell you who has ordered the flowers but says that the message card would be sent separately. However, there is a consignment note which states that because the gift contains alcohol that there is a £3.50 delivery/ verification charge which supposedly provides proof that the gift has actually been delivered to an adult (of legal drinking age). The courier refuses cash as payment and says that the delivery company requires payment by credit or debit card. He then asks you to swipe your card on a mobile card machine with a small screen and enter your PIN on the keypad. A receipt is printed out and given to you. By now you have given the fraudster all the information necessary to create a "dummy" card with your card details including the PIN number. WARNING: Be wary of accepting any "surprise gift or package," which you neither expected nor personally ordered, especially if it involves any kind of payment as a condition of receiving the gift or package. Also, never accept anything if you do not personally know or there is no proper identification of who the sender is. Above all, the only time you should give out any personal credit/debit card information is when you yourself initiated the purchase or transaction!"

Leader of Bexley Council Teresa O’Neill has been awarded an OBE in the in the Queen's Birthday Honours list, for services to the community and local government in London. She received the award from Prince Charles on November the 19th. O’Neill has become the first sitting councillor in the borough's history to be awarded an OBE. To anyone who has any awareness of how Bexley Council operates, the news of the award will be of little surprise, but some considerable consternation. In my personal opinion the award was totally unwarranted – she’s overseen the dismantling of much of the leisure infrastructure in the borough, including the selling off of numerous parks and open spaces, the closure of the much loved Belvedere Splash Park, and the proposed disposal of a number of other public resources. Teresa O,Neill is the queen of selling off the family silver, with no thought for the future. For more details on why Teresa O’Neill does not deserve public recognition for her works, you only need to take a look at Malcolm Knight’s excellent “Bexley is Bonkers” site to get a real idea of what has been going on locally.

Plans to build a new bridge across the Thames between Canary Wharf and Rotherhithe on either side have reached completion in a new feasibility study. The proposed ‘Rotherhithe Bridge’ would have the longest bascule span (opening bridge) in the world, at 600ft (184m), for use by pedestrians and cyclists. It would be the first bascule bridge on the river that would open to let shipping through since Tower Bridge was completed in 1894. Pedestrians and cyclists would use two separate parallel spans, each 15ft wide, avoiding conflict that occurred between walkers and riders in the nearby Greenwich foot tunnel last year. The bridge would run east-west from Millwall on the Isle of Dogs to Rotherhithe, roughly following the London Underground Jubilee Line deep below the riverbed, just south of Westferry Circus. The pedestrian approach from Millwall would start at Westferry Road, while the longer cycle approach would wind its way from Canary Wharf’s Westferry Circus upper deck. The scheme is a response to demand in south-east London for a river crossing which would cut commuting time and congestion on other parts of London’s overstretched transport network. Commuters from Rotherhithe would get easy access to the DLR and to Crossrail opening in 2018, while cyclists from east London could cross to Surrey Quays without a long and polluted traffic route detour to Tower Bridge or the dangerous Rotherhithe Tunnel. Up to three million people a year would use it, the proposers envisage. Cost is estimated at £88m, taking up to five years to build. Bearing in mind the bridge would be for pedestrians and cyclists only, I cannot see much objection to the scheme. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Thirty years ago this month, hugely successful and very popular offshore radio station Laser 558 went off air for the last time. The station, which began broadcasting in May 1984 was financed and operated by business and broadcasting executives. Laser 558 used disc jockeys from the USA. It was based on the ship MV Communicator in the international waters of the North Sea. Within months the station had a large audience due to its strong signal, fast moving American presentation style, and continuous music mixing current records with oldies. However, insufficient advertising starved the station off the air in November 1985. Below is a contemporary news report which ironically does much to promote Laser 558, which for a short time was more popular in London and the South East of England than BBC Radio One. 

Bexley Beer Festival 2014.

For only the second time in its nine year history, the Bexley Beer Festival was blessed with stunningly good weather. The event was held at the Old Dartfordians club in Bexley Village, and was very well attended indeed. Last year the visitors had to crowd into the main clubhouse building, and huddle together against the freezing temperature. This year the beer was served from a large marquee to the rear of the main building, which was a far more pleasant experience. on top of the already friendly and congenial atmosphere, a very civilised game of cricket took place on the green owned by the club, which many of the attendees were free to watch. Click on the panoramic view above to see just what the event was like - very laid back and civilised. Thanks to the Rev for supplying the wide screen photo. If you fancy playing a game of "Where's Wally?" (or in this case "Where's Pewty?") see if you can see me in the picture. I am hidden away somewhere in the shot. Answers on a postcard, please. Better still, leave a comment below.

Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich – our “local” hospital has been the subject of an in – depth investigation recently, and the results have been released this week. They do not make for encouraging reading. The report author, the Chief Inspector of Hospitals found that the Accident and Emergency department was “not fit for purpose”. The essence of the findings were that there were too few staff on duty, many of which were agency temps, rather than permanent staff. There were long delays in seeing patients, which often exceeded the four hour maximum the official guidelines stipulate, there was a lack of capacity to accommodate the number of patients requiring treatment, and the process for transferring patients from Accident and Emergency to a ward was inadequate. All of the points raised were directly or indirectly the result of chronic and ongoing under staffing. Bearing in mind that the Queen Elizabeth is the prime hospital for South East London, and if you live in the local area it is the most likely place for you to be taken should you require the services of an ambulance, it does somewhat focus the concentration. Not only was the Accident and Emergency department in trouble, but patients on general wards reporting that there were so few staff available that it could take thirty minutes to get a call bell answered. From my own limited experience of the hospital, the staff are very good and professional, but it would seem that there are just too few of them. I don’t know if the results of the report will get the hospital additional funding for extra medical staff to be employed, but plainly something needs to be done to address the problem of chronic understaffing.

The skyline over Erith is now starting to return to normal. The large orange tower crane that has loomed over Walnut Tree Road for the last year or so has gone. It would seem that construction on the new Bexley College campus has now reached a point where heavy lifting is no longer required. I must admit that I almost miss the sight of the crane, though I doubt that the residents of Stonewood Road, Cricketers Close and Tranquil Rise will be so keen. The crane, and the new college main building structure have obscured the Clarke belt from their satellite dishes. To explain, the Clarke belt is the area of geosynchronous orbit where communications satellites are located. It is named after science fiction author Sir Arthur C Clarke, who created the concept in the 1940’s for a story he was writing.  The effect of the new college building for a handful of local residents is that they can no longer watch Sky TV. I would imagine that Virgin are rubbing their hands with glee. Their fibre optic cable TV does not require access to satellites. I would think that a swap to cable TV would be the most pragmatic solution for those in close proximity to the new building. The mention of new building brings me back to last weeks’ lead story – the construction of a passenger lift at Bexleyheath station, despite there being little actual need for it. Reader Paul B commented “As a regular user of Bexleyheath station (long time commuter), I was amazed when I saw we were getting lifts. There are two perfectly good road bridges (with pavements) at either end of the station. To go from one platform to another using these existing bridges (rather than the station footbridge) takes but a few minutes. To my knowledge, no work was being done on the footbridge prior to the installation of the lifts began”. This is an interesting observation; my contact told me that the reason that the lift was being installed was that as maintenance work was being carried out on the passenger footbridge anyway, the installation of a lift was deemed to be cost effective, as contractors would already be working on the site. What Paul says is that this may not actually have been the case. If any other reader has information regarding this, please contact me at hugh.neal@gmail.com – you can remain completely anonymous if you so wish.

May 2014 marks the 30^th anniversary of the launch of Laser 558, the offshore radio station that for a brief period between 1984 and 1986 became the most popular music radio station in the UK.  Laser was known for its fast paced format “you are never more than a minute away from the music”, and exclusively employed American DJ’s, including some, like Charlie Wolf, who went on to become household names. It all sounded very glamorous, and nothing like any rather more staid British radio station of the period. Most listeners believed the story that the station was crewed and operated exclusively by Americans, and supplied from mainland Europe, and therefore operating completely legally. The reality was that whilst the broadcasters were all US citizens, the station and the supplies all came covertly from the UK – the main supply point was Herne Bay.  The Laser ship was called the M.V Communicator – it was a converted hydrographic survey vessel originally names the Guardline Tracker. The work to convert the ship to a marine broadcasting station was carried out in Port Everglades in Florida – if you ever see a rerun of the Miami Vice episode “Phil the Shill” (the one that guest starred Phil Collins) there is a long aerial tracking shot of Crockett and Tubbs driving through Port Everglades – and the M.V Communicator can clearly be seen whilst it was being converted to a radio ship. When Laser 558 first came on air from the North Sea, the station tried using a novel wire antenna suspended from a helium balloon. Whoever thought of this idea clearly had no concept of the weather frequently experienced in the area. The strong, gusty and changeable winds soon destroyed the balloon antenna, and a conventional tower array was built to replace it. Laser quickly picked up a massive following in both the UK and Europe. It had a strong, loud signal on Medium Wave, it played far more music that BBC Radio One, and operated a format of top 40 pop and familiar oldies, played back to back. The sound was slick and very professional, and soon listeners started to defect from local radio and BBC national stations to Laser. At this point the government became worried – they could not let this upstart pirate take all of their precious listeners from the BBC and ILR stations. A ship called the Dioptric Surveyor was despatched by the Department of Trade and Industry Radio Investigation Service to monitor both Laser 558 and Radio Caroline, in what became known as the “Eurosiege”. It was soon apparent that Laser, rather than Caroline was the real target. This was mainly due to the constant on air jibes and arch comments made by Laser DJ’s – most notably by Charlie Wolf, the station motor mouth. Soon a spoof record was released called ”I Spy for the DTI” by the Moronic Surveyors (actually the Laser DJ’s) which got heavy play on Laser, and got into the lower reaches of the charts. In contrast, Radio Caroline continued in their policy of not annoying the authorities, and they carried on pretty much unmolested. Eventually a mixture of running low on supplies, bad weather (the Communicator was not an ideal ship for the North Sea and its heavy swell – it rolled terribly, unlike the Radio Caroline ship the M.V Ross Revenge – a massive, former ice breaking trawler which was solid as a rock in rough seas) and a lack of advertising revenue caused the crew to bring the ship in, under escort from the DTI. The other reason for the failure of Laser was its management, which was pretty financially incompetent, and also a few suppliers that managed to con a large amount of cash out of the station for very little in return. The whole project lasted only around eighteen months, but it did shake up UK radio, which up until that time was legally restricted as to the amount of music it was allowed to play. The “needle time” rules dictated that fifty percent of broadcasting time had to be dedicated to speech; this was later relaxed when it was found that the audiences for Laser 558 were primarily attracted by the stations policy of “never more than a minute from the music”.  In contrast Radio Caroline continued at sea for another six years,  which was when my own involvement happened. Back when Laser and Caroline were both broadcasting to Northern Europe, I was still at school – I recall many occasions when there would be scuffles in the 6^th form common room when some pupils wanted to listen to Laser on the ancient radiogram we had, whilst I wanted to listen to Caroline. Strangely I cannot recall anyone wanting to listen to Radio One at the time. I think that just about says it all.

Going about as far as it is possible to go in the opposite scale of radio station, the photo above shows an old and abandoned building in the grounds of Erith and District Hospital. I have to make an appeal; if anyone has any information or period photos of Radio Erith when it was operational, could you please get in contact with me? So far, nobody has any memories or information about the long closed hospital radio station, and I can find nothing online either. If you volunteered on the station, or know someone who did, please drop me a line to hugh.neal@gmail.com, or leave a comment below.

Bexley Police are being equipped with wearable video cameras (the Police terminology is Body Worn Video, or BWV) to record incidents for possible use as evidence. As you may have gathered from my previous postings, I have severe misgivings over the way in which face recognition technology can be misused in order to form a database which records where an individual goes, what they do when they get there, and a host of other personal behaviours. Despite this, my overall feeling in respect of the Police being equipped with cameras is that this is a good thing, both for the police, and for members of the public. It will remove the possibility of dispute in the event of an incident, in places where wearable cameras have already been deployed (including some U.S states) the level of disputes about what took place has dropped considerably once the video footage was released. It also protects the public – with the caveat that any cameras should be permanently on, and the video footage should be non editable by the police officer. Unfortunately I have received a letter in an Email from Chief Superintendent Peter Ayling, the Borough Commander, which contains some frequently asked questions on the subject. I it would appear that the cameras will be switched on and off at will by individual officers. Personal video recorders are becoming increasingly widespread, as the price falls and their storage capacity increases. It is getting quite usual to see private drivers fitting them to their car windscreen to record any potential road accident – for some reason the Russians seem particularly keen on this approach – though whether this has any reflection on their overall standard of driving, I could not say. Anyway, the letter I received was addressed to "Dear (insert name of stakeholder)" so I am not exactly being personally favoured! Some pertinent points from it are outlined below:-

I am writing to let you know that Bexley Borough has been selected to take part in the Metropolitan Police Service’s pilot of body worn video (BWV) equipment. You may have seen some debate and publicity around the use of these cameras in recent months. Our Borough will be taking part in the largest urban trial of this technology in the world to date. I think it is therefore essential to inform you as to what the pilot will look like locally. As always, I would be keen to hear feedback, so I would be grateful if you could cascade this information as you see fit. Below I have listed some ‘Frequently asked questions’ in respect of the cameras, and I hope they will prove informative. 

Which officers are using BWV? 

Front line emergency response officers from two teams on this Borough will be using the cameras, as well as armed response officers from the MPS Firearms command, who may be deployed on the Borough from time to time on patrol or in response to incidents. 

The reason only two teams are being issued with the cameras at the moment is because we would like to assess how productivity and performance is affected by the teams using the cameras as opposed to those teams without them. By having teams on the same Borough with and without cameras, this is the most efficient way of ensuring that other local factors remain the same. 

Why use BWV at all? 
 

BWV provides an additional option for officers to gather evidence at incidents. 

BWV cameras have already been used in the MPS and in other forces to good effect. The cameras can capture evidence of criminal behaviour and can help to ‘set the scene’ for the court at a later date. 

By capturing this evidence, officers can spend less time writing statements and completing paperwork at the station. This allows them to spend more time patrolling and responding to incidents in the community. 

The use of BWV in other countries has been shown to moderate the behaviour of people present at incidents, resulting in less of force by officers and reduced complaints against police. It is hoped this will help to ensure public confidence in police actions. 

Evidence from other forces in the UK has shown that, where BWV is key evidence, guilty pleas at the first opportunity at court rise significantly - this means reduced burdens across the Criminal Justice System, not just in policing. 

When will officers be using the BWV? Will it be ‘always on?’ 

No - the use of BWV will be ‘incident specific’ - officers will switch on the camera when they would ordinarily be considering recording an incident or interaction by conventional means - for example, a statement or notebook entry - or if they feel that there would be evidential value in recording the incident. 

Officers will, when practicable, tell those present when they are recording and when they are about to switch off the camera. They will usually only switch the camera off when the incident has concluded or where there is no further evidential value to be had in continued recording. 

To have the cameras ‘always on’ may result in private or confidential interactions with the public being recorded and also may represent a significant intrusion into the privacy of those who might be caught on camera. 

As well as this, continual recording will result in massive amounts of data being retained and stored by the police, which would result in increased logistical problems in back office functions. 

What is the pilot going to measure? How long will it last? 

At this stage the pilot is expected to last for the next financial year. 

The pilot will be measuring a number of outcomes including: criminal justice outcomes, complaints against police, use of force by police, amount of time saved in administration tasks and the impact on public confidence through the use of cameras. 

The pilot will compare the performance of those officers issued with the cameras against those without cameras. It is hoped that the pilot will be able to demonstrate improvements in these key areas. 

How does the BWV work? 

The BWV camera is a video and audio recording device. Depending on the model, the device is either mounted on the body or worn on a head mounting. 

The camera records footage onto an internal and secure hard drive. Footage recorded can then be uploaded to MPS servers for use as evidence at court or other proceedings. 

What about rights to privacy? 

It is understandable that some people may be concerned about officer’s recording their interactions with the public at incidents. They may be worried that footage concerning them may be held on police data servers. 

This is a key reason why officers will not indiscriminately record all interactions and activity. This is to ensure that any intrusion into private lives is kept to the minimum level necessary. 

All footage recorded on BWV in the MPS is subject to legal safeguards and guidance set by the Information Commissioner’s office and the Home Office. 

Footage that is not likely to be of evidential value will be removed from the system within a very short time - the current guidance is within 31 days. 

Footage that is retained is subject to regular review and, if no longer required or likely to be required as evidence, will again be weeded. 

People who have been recorded have the right to see footage of them that has been retained by the MPS. See our website - www.met.police.uk  for details on how to obtain this footage. 

How do I give feedback or find out more? 

A key consideration for the MPS pilot is to gauge feedback from the public and London’s communities about their feelings around BWV. 

You can give your feedback and/or comments to your local Safer Neighbourhoods Team or you can find out how to give feedback to the MPS at www.met.police.uk

Overall I think this trial is a good move; I just have reservations about the potential for a bad cop to switch the recording off midway through an encounter if they thought it might go badly for them if the footage was filmed and later reviewed. What do you think? Either leave a comment below, or drop me a line to hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Local historian Ken Chamberlain has been busy - he recently sent me the following piece on a historic steam engine that originally worked in Erith, before it was restored: In March 1932 a new Bagnall 0-4-0 steam locomotive was delivered to the Fraser and Chalmers engineering factory in Erith. For many years the engine was a familiar sight in Nordenfeldt Road, crossing West Street. It was made redundant in 1969 and sold to a private buyer, a member of the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre at Quainton Road. There it has been painstakingly restored and over the May Bank Holiday weekend was on display in full steam. The first photograph shows the engine working beneath the gantry of Messrs Talbot Estates in the late 1930s. The site is now redundant but the location is still recognisable from Sandcliffe Road, with the exterior wall of Fraser’s on the left. The houses to the right are those of Crusoe Road and Friday Road. The second photo (below) is the Loco fully restored and in steam at Quainton Road earlier this month. Only the colour has changed.

You may recall that not very long ago, Jeremy Clarkson test drove a giant, reproduction 1930's Blower Bentley, which instead of having the usual supercharged 4.5 litre engine, had a 27 litre V12 Rolls - Royce Merlin engine, as used in the Supermarine Spitfire. The car was a one - off project built to a customer special order by bespoke engineering company Bob Petersen Engineering. At the time, the owner of the one - off car was not mentioned. It obviously had to be a car enthusiast with a great deal of money, as the car was worth well in excess of a million pounds. Recently, American comedian and TV chat show host Jay Leno started a new, YouTube only television show called Jay Leno's Garage, which showcases cars from his collection - he and other experts talk about the model in question, then it is test driven. As well as being exceedingly wealthy, Jay Leno has reputedly got the World's largest private car collection - though in the nature of being private, this is impossible to verify. His collection is certainly huge with over 880 vehicles, and is housed in a giant warehouse on an industrial estate somewhere on the outskirts of Los Angeles. Understandably the precise location is kept secret. In a recent edition of the show, Jay Leno revealed that he was the owner of the 27 litre, Merlin engined Bentley, that Jeremy Clarkson had so adored. You can see the episode below - please feel free to comment. Enjoy.