The raid.

The photos above were taken on Thursday evening at the third meeting of The Erith Think Tank, which was held in the conversation room of the Carnegie Library building in Walnut Tree Road, Erith. The event was held to confirm the group's manifesto, and to discuss future strategy.

The Erith Think Tank Manifesto reads as follows:-

1. The Erith Think Tank is a place where members of the community can meet, get to know one                 another, and discuss issues pertaining to Erith. 

2. We will meet regularly, and endeavour to understand each other. 

3. We are passionate about, and wish to celebrate Erith, our community and our members. 

4. We want to support positive change, and help Erith to realise its potential. 

5. We will use the groups expertise and work together to achieve our aims.

6. We will create a 'register of assets' that celebrates Erith, its community and its businesses. 

7. We aim to give Erith a co-ordinated and strong voice that engages with and represents all aspects         of the community.

8. We aim to inform, in plain language, about plans for Erith's present and future.

9. We will engage with and nurture a dialogue with decision-makers and the Council.

10. We will gain an understanding of how the Council works, how decisions are made, and by who,          and translate/explain this to the group and wider community, with a view to influence these                  decisions. 

11. We aim to understand, participate in and influence any regeneration.

12. We will propose ideas that improve Erith. 

13. We will identify problems, and propose solutions.

14. We will create group Ambassadors, responsible for different topics (ie youth engagement,                    environment, planning). 

15. We will create a support structure for 'projects'.

16. We acknowledge that trust and respect need to be built between us, the community and the                   Council, to create better dialogue. 

17. We will develop a plan to attract and involve the community (including youth) through effective           networking on a variety of platforms. 

18. We will prove that the group is an asset to the community and the Council. 

19. We aim to challenge and provide alternatives to the current consultation process.

20. We will scrutinise decisions, and agitate when our demands are not met. 

The Erith Think Tank aim to have a presence at the Erith Pier Festival on Saturday the 21st September 11am - 9pm. Erith Pier Festival is part of the Totally Thames 2019 that runs from 1st-30th September. Find out more by clicking here. 

There are going to be  a couple of sad anniversaries tomorrow;  thirty years ago on Monday, the Thames river boat the Marchioness was hit by the marine dredger Bowbelle and sank with the loss of 51 lives.  I was actually in London and by the banks of the Thames when this tragic event unfolded, though I have to say I saw nothing, as I was about a mile away from the location of the accident. The reason for me being in London late on a Saturday night was nothing to do with a desire to be in the capital, but to do with the other event that took place on the same day – one which had severe implications to both British and European Union law, and also had a profound impact on the right to free speech in the pre World Wide Web era. On Saturday the 19th August 1989 representatives from the Dutch PTT and the British DTI travelled out into the international waters of the North Sea (where they had absolutely no legal jurisdiction, as was later proved in court) and unlawfully boarded the Ross Revenge, home of Radio Caroline, where they smashed the transmitters and damaged the generators and illegally removed all of the studio gear and records from the library. Several of the Dutch PTT officers were armed with revolvers and some uncooperative Caroline crew members were both physically and verbally threatened. Much of this raid was broadcast live on air to most of Europe, before the transmitter was put offline and the valves smashed. I was out in Bexleyheath doing some shopping when this happened, but when I returned to my parents house, my sister played me a cassette recording of the events. Ironically I was already involved with the station at this point, and had been on board only two weeks previously. My photos were some of the last taken prior to the raid, and copies were used in evidence in the later court case. Caroline’s shore based management were racing down from North London to get out to the Ross Revenge as quickly as possible – a light aircraft was chartered to fly over the ship, and a speedboat was commandeered to get Peter Moore, the station manager and a couple of engineering staff on site as quickly as possible. Meanwhile I met up with the staff of local land based pirate radio station Radio Lumberjack in the Fox pub in Nuxley Road, Upper Belvedere where we had a council of war. Friend Captain Colin brought along his giant Land Rover V8 station wagon (a vehicle fitted with two RSJ girders on the front in lieu of a conventional bumper bar – Colin believed in crumple zones, just as long as they only involved the other vehicle).  We decided we would head into town and try and get onto as many radio stations with the story as we could. Suffice to say that Radio Caroline was back on air in only a few weeks; in fact it should not have come on air when it did. I was one of the team that had arranged for a very large supply run of fuel, drinking water, food, replacement transmitter parts and new records to be sent out to the Ross Revenge from a secret port in Kent (the Gravesend Canal basin) on a ship called the M.V Galexy (not a typo) – a former Tyne ferry boat that was featured in the classic Michael Caine crime thriller “Get Carter”.  We were ready to go for a very quiet and stealthy “fishing” trip when Caroline came back on air, and the authorities were alerted that the station was not dead after all. Caroline management got into a furious row over the correct policy and course of action and the supply run had to be delayed, though it eventually went ahead. Some months later with the ship, transmitters and studios patched up, I chucked in my day job and went to work for Radio Caroline - you can see me on air in the photo above - click on it for a larger version. All a very long time ago now. Caroline may no longer be broadcasting from the North Sea, but they are still a very important streaming presence online, on DAB, and on 648 KHz on medium wave – you can read more about the station and also listen to their programmes by clicking here. The British Department of Trade and Industry had chartered a former Trinity House pilot boat, the M.V Landward. Some weeks after it was involved in the raid, we got word that it was moored in Gillingham Marina. A sympathiser had been speaking to the owner, who was smugly boasting of how much money the British government had paid him to take officials out to the Ross Revenge at its mooring fifteen miles off the North Foreland. A small team of Caroline shore staff paid the Landward a visit late one night after everyone had gone home. There had been some debate about whether we should pour a couple of bags of Lime into the bilges; this would quickly eat through the wooden hull and sink the ship. We decided that as Caroline preached a philosophy of peace and non - violence, known as Loving Awareness that this would be inappropriate. Instead when the owner came back on board the Landward the next day, he found a Radio Caroline car sticker neatly stuck on the wheelhouse window on the inside, with no sign of the door lock being forced, and no signs of any damage. We later found out that he had been incredibly rattled by this - as it sent the message "we know who you are, and what you did, and we are watching you". He was looking over his shoulder for months afterwards! He never discovered how we did it, which to be honest was a bit of a Happy Shopper "Mission: Impossible" project. Our informer was the owner of the yard, who was a big Caroline fan; the owner of the Landward left the keys to the ship in the yard office when he went home - we just borrowed them, opened the wheelhouse door, put up the sticker and locked the door back up. Simple but very effective. You can see more of my photos of my time on Radio Caroline by clicking here. Please leave a comment below, or alternatively contact me by Emailing hugh.neal@gmail.com. 

Recently I have had a couple of conversations relating to Mobo Toys, and their part in the history of Erith. The following history has been compiled from a number of sources. The company had a very strong manufacturing presence in the town for many years. David Sebel had emigrated from Russia circa 1912 and set up in partnership as a Wheelwright in East London in 1921. In 1928 he moved the Company to Lant Street in Borough, London S.E.1 with the takeover of a firm, Hazeldine and Norton, of Wheelwright’s and Motor Body and Van Builders. Interestingly the house next to the premises had been the residence of Charles Dickens when his parents were in the Marshalsea Debtor’s Prison. In the 1930’s they expanded into Architectural metalwork and other engineering projects. Also producing street cleaning carts, milk churns and fronts for Cinemas. In 1931 Harry Sebel, David’s son, joined the firm starting from the bottom up. During the Second World War the Company turned over to war work and several local premises were used for their production of aircraft and tank components, bunks for air raid shelters, bailey bridge components and even a tower for an experimental radar station. In the early 1940’s Harry was looking to the future, and realised that there would be a need to expand the company and find work for the existing workforce and those which had been called up. After much research it was decided to go into metal furniture, under the Trade name Stak-a-Bye, and also into the toy business. But what to make which would be different from anyone else. Harry had the idea of a Rocking Horse which the rider could propel along themselves. Basic plans were drawn up and a full size horse mockup was made using bicycle gears. To get an idea of what the finished product would look like a Taxidermist in Piccadilly was approached for a horse hide, the only thing he had was from a Zebra so that was used. The prototype Zebra was still around at the Erith factory for several years. A Patent was taken out in 1942 for the basic mechanism. Later Charles Morewood, RA was commissioned to sculpt the clay body of what became the Mobo Bronco. The steel furniture business was set up in 1946 from the Weller Street side of the premises, a name which was used at the Erith factory to denote the furniture production building. The Lant Street premises were not going to be big enough for the toy and furniture business envisaged and so the former Vickers Gun Works at 177, West Street, Erith were purchased in February, 1947. As the intention was to produce everything in-house from the arrival of the raw material to the finished product, the full kitting out of the factory with large presses, dip tanks, spray booths, etc. took a while. Toy production did not start at Erith until September, 1947. However, some toys had been assembled at Lant Street SE1, produced by outside contractors, to enable a display at the British Industries Fair in May, 1947. The other toys on show were Merry Go Round, Rocker Swing, Chair Desk and Roll-a-Bye Skates. The name ‘Mobo’ came from a brainstorming session when ‘Mobile Toys’ had been rejected. The clown on the decal was due to an interest in the Circus by the David Sebel. The Circus theme was used in a lot of their Exhibition Stands and advertising. A tin clown was designed but never went into production. It would have been very similar to an early Action Man! Later advertising and instruction sheets used the Mobo title as two characters ‘Mr Mo’ and ‘Miss Bo’. The most well known toy is the Mobo Bronco, the ride-on horse. It works by the rider sitting on the horse and pushing down on the stirrups, then releasing them and then the horse moves along. From 1947 to 1950 the Bronco could only be steered in a straight line, but in February, 1950 Magic Steering was introduced. This enabled the rider by pushing on either stirrup to move the horse in that direction. The Bronco was so popular that it stayed in production until 1972. The body pressings were also used for a series of other toys; the Spring Horse, Night Rider (nothing to do with the David Hasselhoff TV show from the 1980's), Prairie Prancer, Range Rider - two different types produced, Rocking Horse, and the Bronco Merry Go Round. The toy colours came from ‘market research’ with the local school children at West Street School – yellow and red being the favourite. These children were also used for photo shoots for advertising and testing the toys, as was famously covered by a 1952 Pathe Newsreel which you can see by clicking here. In 1949, the Walking Snail was introduced at the New York Toy Fair, also at the same fair the ‘Pony’ was first shown. The ‘Pony’ pressings went on to be used on several different toys. 1948 also saw the introduction of the first small remote control walking toy – the Toy - Toise. This was a great success not just for children, but also adults, as they were used for Toy-Toise races at many parties. The American Market was an amazing success for the Mobo Company. In 1948 they exported to the USA - half of the total toy exports of all British Toy Companies. At this time Britain was recovering from the Second World War, and steel was rationed according to the amount of goods exported. Mobo never had any trouble obtaining supplies because of their excellent export record. A New York office had been opened in 1948 at the Breslin Building, Broadway, New York and an American subsidiary formed Sebel Products Inc. Other major markets were Australia and South Africa. A Showroom and Office had been opened at 39/41 New Oxford Street, London W.C.1 in September, 1945. Other toys produced included Prams, Bicycles, Desks, Wheelbarrows, Rockers, Swings, Scooters and, from 1956, Pedal Cars. In 1951 Harry and David emigrated to Australia and set up a factory at Bankstown, Sydney. Here they produced both Toys and Furniture. The components were shipped from Erith and assembled and painted at Bankstown. The Australian company decided in 1957 to concentrate on the furniture business and so toy production was stopped. The furniture business still goes on today as part of the GWA International Group, and they have recently opened a branch in the United Kingdom. In 1955 the Toy Boat business of Harold Flory Ltd., of Bromley, Kent was taken over. They produced the Snipe, and Swift  Motor Boats, the Sprite Yacht, and the Snort Submarine, also Toy Cars. The boats were continued in production by Mobo. Jetex, the Model Aircraft Engine business, was purchased in 1956. Besides a range of Jet propelled engines they also produced model kits for aircraft and a plastic boats and cars for the Jetex engine. The mid 1960’s saw an introduction of toys made from injection moulded plastic and the importation of a range of plastic Pedal cars from Pines of Italy. These included a Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Pedal Car. A range of bicycles was also imported from Italy. By the late 1960s the British toy industry was having a difficult time due to cheap imports from the Far East. When John Bentley of Barclay Securities made an offer to purchase the Company in 1970 it was taken up. The Barclay Toy Group was formed to which Chad Valley, Charles Methuen and Tri-ang were added in 1971. Unfortunately the overheads of the Group meant that losses were still being made and a major reorganisation took place in 1972 with the Erith Works being closed and all production of all Mobo Toys ceasing. The site is now a large housing estate. Mobo toys now change hands for serious money on online auction sites like Ebay. Even today, Mobo toys are exceedingly popular and very collectible; in fact an Aberdeenshire museum recently had an exhibition featuring a wide range of Mobo toys - click here to see the details. If you have any memories that you would like to share about Mobo toys, or possibly having worked at the factory, do either leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Arts Council England announced last Thursday an investment of £1 million for the London Borough of Bexley as part of the Creative People and Places programme. The project, ‘Made in the Estuary’ is led by a collaborative partnership between Peabody, TACO! (local arts organisation), The Exchange (local community organisation) and Orbit Housing. The programme will focus on empowering individuals in the community to create their own work, gain confidence in taking part in the arts and celebrate their cultural voice. Participation in the arts project aims to increase the development of community run platforms such as radio stations, festivals and workshops through commissioning and co-production by the Bexley and Thamesmead communities. Across England, £17,472,604 National Lottery funding has been awarded to create arts and cultural experiences in areas where people tend to engage less with arts and culture.  These twelve projects, part of the Creative People and Places programme, will take place between 2019 - 2023 and will be co-created with their local communities. The projects will be developed and delivered by a consortium of diverse local partners, empowering people to shape the arts and cultural provision where they live.

Now for the weekly local safety and security updates from Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association. Firstly from Barnehurst ward:- "Unfortunately Barnehurst ward has suffered five Incidents of vehicle crime and one burglary. On 08/08/2019 at 03.20am in Drummond Close suspects have broken through a front door damaging the safety chain and taken a set of house keys and a set of vehicle keys. On Wednesday 7/08/2019 overnight number plates were taken from a vehicle in Appledore Avenue. On Friday 9/08/2019 overnight in Barnehurst Avenue various items were taken from a vehicle. On Saturday 10/08/2019 in Hillingdon Road victim found the glove compartment and the centre console open. The contents was scattered over the front seats. In Heath Way on Monday 12/08/2019 between 09.00pm and 10.00pm victim found personal items had been taken from the vehicle. On Wednesday 14/08/2019 at 02.34am in Grassmere Road a silver Grande Coup 420d BMW registration number YK67ARP was taken from the drive way. CCTV footage has shown two white males. One male, approximately late thirties, F6.00 (6 foot tall) and wearing jeans, a dark coloured hooded top and carrying a man bag was seen scanning the property with an antenna. The other male standing by the vehicle had a broad build and was wearing a light coloured hooded top, jeans. If you have information with regards any of the Incidents mentioned please contact us. We will also be available on Thursday 29th August 2019 at 03.00pm in Barnehurst Golf Club should you wish to join us to discuss and concerns". Belvedere ward - no reports this week. Bexleyheath ward:- "Wed 7/8/19 – 2000 hours Attempted theft of Motor Vehicle from behind Iceland on Bexleyheath Broadway; Wed 7/8/19 – Between 1500 – 1630 an elderly lady has had a bank book and cash stolen from handbag on Bexleyheath Broadway – not known until after it had happened; Sun 11/8/19 – 0315 hours Theft from Motor Vehicle outside Marriott Hotel. There are currently issues with youths causing anti - social behaviour in Iris Avenue and Braeside Garages (behind Martens Avenue). If you witness anything please do get in touch using the contact details listed below. Please be vigilant when shopping on Bexleyheath Broadway especially with handbags being open or on trolleys, there are persons dipping in the area. The Town Centre team are onto this and continue to stop and deal as and when. The team regularly conduct patrols along drug hot spot areas and ASB areas on the ward and conduct regular stops & searches where necessary. If you do wish to pass on information to Police then please contact Crime Stoppers on 0800 555111 If you are after crime prevention advice, please look at the Met Police website which has lots of information that you may find useful. Remember in an emergency please dial 999 and 101 for non-urgent reporting". Crayford ward:- "Although I am really pleased to say there have been no burglaries in Crayford, I do have to tell you that we have had a surge in motor vehicle related crime. Number plates AU09FPP were stolen from a vehicle whilst parked in Kennett Road on 4th August, these should be on a silver Ford Focus. In the early hours of 3rd August a pair of Tiffany sunglasses in a light blue case and a pink H and M purse containing “parking money” were stolen from a vehicle parked in Alderman Close. On the same night documents were stolen from a vehicle parked in Galloway Drive. A white Ford Transit with a tail lift number plate NL57XSE which had been left locked and parked at Optima Park was stolen between 18.30 on Wednesday 7th August and 8am on Thursday 8th August. There have been a series of catalytic convertors stolen from Crayford. In the early hours of 9th August one was stolen from a vehicles parked on a driveway in Iron Mill Lane. One was stolen from a Subaru Forester outside Crayford BR Station on 9th August between 6.55 and 18.30. Another was stolen from a white SUV type vehicle whilst parked in Ridge Avenue on Friday 9th August at approx. 15.25. Anecdotally, we are hearing that there have been others that have not been reported at this time. Criminal damage was caused to five vehicles in Bourne Road, dents in bonnets and foot prints on Sunday 11th August at approx. 01.00. A vehicle parked at Bourne Mead was broken in to between Thursday 8th and Sunday 11th August, £10 stolen as well as a pair of sunglasses, there were no signs of forced entry. A person has broken in to a vehicle in London Road, the car door was damaged and bent back to gain entry, the seat was laid back and is believed that a homeless person sheltered there. Barbed wire fencing was deliberately cut by the horses field at Perry Street on 13th August at 16.00, the horses are safe and the site is now secure again. Between 01.00-02.00 on the Thursday 1st August access was made to a locked vehicle in Beech Walk and cash stolen. It may seem really inconvenient but it really is best to remove all valuables from your vehicle as you leave it. If possible park vehicles in well-lit places, in a garage if you have one and ensure gates are closed. Ring door bells are brilliant as not only do they capture the incident but they can also alert you that someone is on your property. We will be at Crayford Library on Friday 23rd August between 10.00-12.00 if you would like to come along to discuss any issues. The library has lots going on, especially on Friday mornings. Age Concern have a regular coffee morning there, there is a knit and natter group, a Met Police volunteer is there to assist with crime prevention advice, the library staff and post office staff are really helpful and attentive, there are lots of activities for young children regularly held here too". Erith ward:- "Fraud to be aware of – on both Northumberland heaths and Slade Greens ward there have been incidents of a male knocking on doors asking for a ‘drink of water' once the home owner gets them a drink of water. The male grabs their post and makes off. What we advise is if anyone asks for a drink of water or as such, say no close the door and report this to your local SNT or via 101. On one case the victim had 4 credit cards arrive for her that she didn't apply for, this is what the male more than likely tried to retrieve". Northumberland Heath ward:- "Unfortunately we have had one burglary and one attempted burglary this week. On Thursday 8th August at approximately 06.40hrs in the morning on Beechfield Road, Erith. The suspect entered through the front living room window and had taken £200 from the victim's living room bookshelf. Unfortunately the resident was a repeat victim and the incident happened again on the next following day. This is due to the victim not closing his windows during the day. On Tuesday 13th August 2019 at approximately 18:00hrs on Carlton Road, the suspect attempted to enter via the front door. The suspect first knocked onto the front door and then decided to use a tool to wedge the door open. The suspect was then distracted and made off. Nothing was stolen. You need to know: Most burglaries occur on weekdays between working hours. 1 in 5 burgled homes in London in the last year had been left unsecured. Once burgled the chances of further burglaries increases".

Slade Green and Northend ward:- "Please be aware that a burglary occurred at 1215 on Thursday 08/08/2019 in Cloudesley Road. It happened in the form of letters being stolen by a male who posed asking for a glass of water. It seems that the victims ID has been cloned and the address was being used as a delivery point for various goods and credit cards in her name. The victim is elderly so please be mindful for any vulnerable residents who may be targeted this way. If you would like any advice in prevention and awareness for this sort of crime, please let us know. In the last week the team has recovered a stolen moped in Frobisher Road on Thursday 08/08, seized a van from Webber Close for not being insured on Monday 12/08 and on Tuesday 13/08 a male was found in possession of drugs in Frobisher Road resulting in a Community Resolution (official warning) plus in the same area a Section 59 warning was given to a male for riding an off road bike in an antisocial manner on the estate". Thamesmead East ward:- "Burglary: Between the hours of 11:30 pm on Monday 12/08/19 and 06:00am on Tuesday 13/08/19 the front door of a property in Hinksey Path was forced open causing, damage the frame, entry gained and a 55”TV stolen. Burglary Business/Commercial: The vacant golf course building Fairway Drive ,Thamesmead, was broken into on Saturday 03/08/19 between the hours of 09:20pm and 10:45pm.the internal alarms where activated. Theft from Motor Vehicles: Overnight of Thursday 08/08/19 and Friday 09/08/19 a vehicle parked locked and secure in Wolvercote Road had the passenger side window smashed; Theft of an Red Audi occurred outside of Argalli House; Kale Road between the hours of 11:00pm on Thursday 08/08/19 and 04:50am Friday 09/08/19; A vehicle parked locked and secure in Lanridge Road, Abbey Wood, was broken into, however no signs of forced entry; The incident occurred again overnight of Thursday 08/08/19 and Friday 09/80/19.Friday 09/08/19 , between the hours of 10:20am and10:30am ,a wallet and sat nav were stolen from a vehicle parked in Northwood Place; Between the hours of 08;30pm on Thursday 08/08/19 and 09:00am Friday 09/08/19 a vehicle parked outside Wyfold House Wolvercote Road was broken into .searched through and under the compartment under the steering wheel was tampered with. Vehicle interference occurred of a vehicle parked in Sydney Road, an untidy search, nothing taken, this incident happened at about 03:45 pm on Friday 09/08/19. Good News: After numerous visits by PC Pruden to a wanted persons address, the male who had failed to appear at court was finally arrested by PC Pruden on Friday 09/08/19; Monday 12/08/19 whilst on foot patrol near the Wolvercote Road ball court cage, PC Pruden could smell cannabis. Further investigation lead to a 15 year old male ,who was found to be in possession of cannabis, he was escorted back to the Thamesmead East police office to await for an appropriate adult to attend prior to interview". West Heath ward:- "No burglaries have been reported to us over the last week. Unfortunately we have had several motor vehicle crimes again this week: Theft of a black BMW from Exmouth Road On Saturday August 10th between 14.30pm and 16.00pm; Theft of a BMW in Preston Drive Between Thursday August 8th 23.00 hours and 06.00am the following morning; Theft of a catalytic converter from a transit van parked in Hollingbourne Avenue on Tuesday August 13th between 13.30pm and 13.40pm; attempted theft of catalytic converter from an American Truck in Hollingbourne Avenue. (West Heath Ward). Neighbour heard angle grinder and looked out to see a van alongside a neighbours truck on approaching they sped off, the neighbour managed to get the number plate and called both 101 and SNT Team not getting a response from either. Please keep an eye out for a white transit type van Registration Number: FL05FLA, if you see it call 999 as it will probably be trying to steal the converters from vehicles in your road, this sort of theft has been borough wide and ends up costing the victim a lot of money and in this case even more as it's an American import vehicle. Theft of a wing mirror in Axminster Crescent on Saturday August 10th at 7pm. The team executed a warrant on the ward this week which resulted in two arrests, A substantial amount of cash and class A and B drugs were seized. The next drop in police surgeries will be held at the Bostall Library in King Harolds Way on Thursday August 22nd between 1pm – 2pm and Tuesday August 27th between 4pm – 5pm".

Further to my earlier writing about Mobo toys, and their factory located in West Street, Erith for many years; below is a short piece from Pathe News featuring a Mobo Bronco toy horse - a toy so rugged and popular that it remained in continuous production from 1947 until 1972, when the company finally closed. Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

The Grotto Bar.

The photos above were taken on Friday night at the final evening of the pop - up grotto bar and cinema event organised by The Exchange in the former Carnegie Library in Walnut Tree Road, Erith. Over forty guests drank Champagne, mulled cider, white and red wine and Anchor Bay Pale Ale from the Bexley Brewery. The final film of the short season was "It's a Wonderful Life" which was a sell - out. Guided tours of the whole library building were given for those people who had not been able to go one one of the recent open days. Feedback from the visitors was uniformly positive. The pop - up cinema and grotto bar were a "soft opening" for the former Carnegie Library, which is due to open to the public officially during February, as long as building and conservation work on phase one of the restoration is completed on time. You can keep up with the latest developments on this ambitious project via The Exchange website,  their Twitter feed here, and also their FaceBook page here. 

Some great news to report; the CCTV camera that was installed on a lamp post overlooking the popular recycling centre located in the car park to the rear of Erith Morrison's supermarket has proved to be an incredible success. Before the camera and numerous warning signs were installed earlier in the year, the recycling centre was one of the worst sites in the whole of the London Borough of Bexley for illegal fly tipping. As long term readers will be aware, I have written in some detail about the problems of illegal waste dumping at this particular site, and how the council and Police have been working to resolve them. I discovered on Tuesday morning that the CCTV camera on the site, which originally was only going to be a temporary installation for a few months, is now going to be a permanent fixture. The CCTV and warning signs have made a dramatic improvement, with, in my estimation a reduction in illegal fly tipping of around ninety percent since the camera was installed. Tipping by vehicles such as contractor vans and estate cars has pretty much ended; the only illegal tipping that still happens seems to be mainly by people on foot who dump domestic waste in bags on the ground around the recycling hoppers. These are the most difficult group to catch. The area around the Morrison's recycling site still has a lot of issues with fly tipping; on Monday night I saw a white van illegally tipping rubble bags in Appold Street. I made note of the vehicle registration number and the company from which the van had come. I then reported my findings to both Slade Green and Northend Safer Neighbourhood Police Team, and to the Bexley Council Environmental Crimes Team. As I suspected, the registration number plates on the van were false. Local CCTV footage showed the van, but details which could potentially lead to a positive identification were not available. Bexley sent an operative to check the fly tipping the next morning, and I arranged to meet him on site. Mysteriously the fly tipped rubbish had disappeared. Whether Serco - Bexley Council's rubbish and fly tipping removal contractor had already removed the sacks, I do not know. I also wonder if the bloke who fly tipped the rubbish realised that he had been watched, and later came back to remove the evidence himself. A woman also saw the illegal fly tipping and loudly commented at the time; I suspect this may have put the crook off. Either way, at least one load of illegally dumped rubbish is off the street, though no doubt it got illegally tipped somewhere else.

When standing in a supermarket queue, or waiting to pay for my paper in my local corner shop, I am struck by the large number of women’s scandal magazines that are on sale. I am thinking of titles like “Take a Break”, "That's Life!", "Love It!","Pick Me Up!", "Full House!" and a handful of others. Apart from having an almost compulsory exclamation mark in their titles, the other thing that all of these publications have in common is that they sell stories about personal tragedy in the same way that other magazines aimed at an almost exclusively female audience sell celebrity gossip and slimming tips. These magazines are marketed as light reading, something to be absorbed whilst lingering over a cup of tea, yet they are filled with disturbing, harrowing stories that would only be covered after the 9pm watershed if they were a television show. The design, format and colour scheme of all of these magazines are rather formulaic; They generally have a young, smiling woman on the cover, a sort of "girl next door" type. The rest of the cover is filled with boxes and banners in primary colours - a means of grabbing the attention of a potential buyer. The trouble is that the content of the banners is horrifying - life changing events such as murder, incest, acid attacks, crimes of violence and personal tragedy. The irony is that many of the stories involve crimes of violence against women, yet they are read by mainly women as light entertainment. They seem to be the printed equivalent of the Jeremy Kyle show; I worry about the people who purchase these magazines. It strikes me that anyone who enjoys reading about the misfortunes of others probably has some issues themselves. I would be interested in what you think.

Some changes are being planned for the river front at Erith. Back in 1998 / 1999, when work to construct the large Morrison's supermarket on the site of what was once Erith Deep Water Wharf was under way, works were also being undertaken to revitalise and convert the old commercial pier - the longest on the River Thames - for leisure use. A good job was done for the most part - the pier is a really nice place to visit on a warm and sunny day, and the local fishing community seem to use it all year round, day and night - you can often see tents on the pier when people are night fishing. The gardens at the entrance to the pier were somewhat less of a success, consisting mainly of a flag pole which mounted some tatty flags, and some fake concrete cannon balls acting as bollards. A few metal park benches completed the scene. Now, Bexley Council are poised to refurbish and update the area, as you can see from the design proposal above - the upper image shows exactly where the pier square is located in relation to the town, and the lower image shows the new design of the square once it is completed - click on either image for a larger view. I am currently unsure of where the money is coming from for this update - it may well be a part of the money granted by The Mayor of London's Office for the general improvement of public areas in Erith - more on this at the end of this week's update. The kind reader who informed me of the proposal did not have the information - so if you have any clue, then please Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Regular readers will be aware that there have been some serious goings on in Erith's Electricity House - the large 1930's brick building opposite the De Luci fish roundabout and Pier Road. The building contains a number of businesses and other organisations. Electricity House was built back in 1938 and opened in November 1939 as a showroom and offices for the local electricity company, which at the time was run by the council. Pre – war services such as gas, water and electricity supply were quite commonly managed and supplied by local councils; the idea of private companies being involved was something that did not happen until after the war had ended. Electricity House was also a place where new electrical customers could view domestic appliances which they could buy via hire purchase (it sounds like an early version of BrightHouse, but without the crippling interest rates). As well as the showroom,  Electricity House was home to what contemporary accounts say was a very upmarket dance hall with a fully sprung Canadian Maple floor; there was also a small Pathe cinema. The local electricity business was astonishingly successful – probably much helped by the fact that it offered the cheapest metered electricity in the entire UK at the time – one penny per unit. Ten thousand local people signed up for electrification in the first month alone, attracted by the offer of free connection to the local power grid – unusual at the time – many suppliers would even charge for the copper cable to connect new customers. In 1939 the Erith electricity board made a (for then) massive profit of £13,000. The idea was that the money would be used to improve local services and amenities for all, but the advent of war meant that early in 1940 Electricity House was handed over for war work, and once peace was restored, the money intended to benefit local people was absorbed by the LEB during nationalisation, and nothing was ever seen of it. Much of Erith was still lit by gas until relatively recently. I believe that some houses in West Street did not get electricity until 1947 when the London Electricity Board was formed, and the local council control of power was nationalised. I digress; in recent times the building has had a somewhat rocky time. Part of the building was home to the Bright Steps children's nursery, until it was shut down by the Police and officers from Ofsted after a member of nursery staff was seen hitting a child. After an unsuccessful court appeal against the ban, the owners of the nursery have put it up for rent. This is all under a background of Bexley Council negotiating with the individual leaseholders in order to buy out the leases in Electricity House prior to what I and many others believe to be a compulsory purchase order and then site redevelopment. With this in mind, I was somewhat surprised a few weeks ago when a new proposal for a replacement nursery came to my attention. The proposed new nursery has been mooted by a lady called Sarah Carnegie. Initially I was somewhat sceptical as the name seemed to very coincidental to the nearby Carnegie Library, run by The Exchange. I emailed the contact address on the Carnegie Playhouse website, but heard nothing for quite some time. Out of the blue I was Emailed earlier this week by chap who is Sarah Carnegie's business advisor, I subsequently spoke to him by phone. Whilst there is still some confusion regarding the whole nursery project, which has suddenly changed name from The Carnegie Playhouse (website now closed) to The Bexley Road Nursery, it would seem that Sarah Carnegie is indeed a real person. She has been in contact with me via Email, and writes:- "Sarah Carnegie is a loving young lady who is passionate about the work she has done for children. She has worked in various schools and built up a great knowledge base and mastered her skill with children. Carnegie Playhouse is the first business of Sarah Carnegie. Sarah has informed me that she is a qualified social worker with a passion for working with children, she has 2 of her own. Sarah is currently working in safeguarding with the local authority before she dedicates herself to her new business of which she is the sole owner and has no connection whatsoever with the owners of the previous nursery at Bexley Road, This nursery will be a new adventure for her, she is eagerly looking forward to the challenges ahead but most importantly creating a loving and safe environment for children to be in. This is something that she loves doing and cannot wait to get stuck in". I have made her and her business advisor aware of the situation with the entirety of Electricity House. It will be instructive to see how events play out over the next few months. I will provide an update in due course.

Although I have previously explained where the rather unusual name of my blog originated, I feel that it was long enough ago, and I have picked up many recent readers, so that the story bears repeating; indeed several new readers have recently asked for an explanation of the name, so here goes. Back in 1987 I was working for a small but very influential Bexleyheath based pirate radio station called Radio Lumberjack (photo above - click on it for a larger version), which broadcast live every Saturday on 92.4 FM from 9am until midnight or later from a house off Bedonwell Road. The station played an eclectic mix of music and humour; much of the comedy material was written by the station staff. There were many spoof adverts, with commercials for fictional companies such as “Bethlehem Motors – car faith healers – save money and save your soul! With one simple low cost prayer, we can have your vehicle back on the road”. “Tacky’s Nightclub, with your host, Bland Groover”. Also, “Gaskets motor spares – suppliers of neo Georgian suspension, arc brake lights and stained glass windows”. Best of all, a commercial for the Thamesmead Tourist Board, with a cod salsa song:- “It’s the place for fun, it’s the place for sun, come to Thamesmead – go on day trips to all the popular holiday destinations like the Belvedere Rift Valley – home of the world famous earwig farm; enquire at the Thamesmead Tourist Board office – the little green hut behind the bike shed in Thamesmead High Street!” It was all very slick and professional; the chap that ran the station was a big fan of Monty Python and Kenny Everett, but had his own unique style. Each presenter had their own introductory jingle – mine started with an incredulous voice – “Oh no.... It’s Arthur Pewty!” followed by the sound of Stuka dive bombers, explosions and collapsing buildings, accompanied by a massed band of Daleks screaming “Arthur Pewty, Arthur Pewty!” It was all very over the top and surreal. My pseudonym came from the meek and mild insurance salesman Arthur Pewty from the famous Monty Python sketch about the marriage guidance counsellor. When I first started my evening show, I racked my brains to think of a suitably surreal and silly name for it. I had already got my nickname, and recently I had read a history of 1960’s offshore station Radio London, where John Peel got his big break into radio. John Peel had a show called “The Perfumed Garden” where he played a lot of hippy music and recited poetry sent in by listeners (some of it toe curlingly bad, but I digress). I thought that my show needed a really surreal title, so, as a play on “John Peel’s Perfumed Garden”, “Arthur Pewty’s Maggot Sandwich” was born. And the rest, as they say is history. Back in 2006, when I started this blog, I resurrected the long disused name of my one time radio show; my thoughts were that whilst it was no longer on the radio, it was a newer form of interacting with an audience that could be anywhere in the world. This proved to be correct. Today the Maggot Sandwich has readers all over the planet – from Australia, Japan and India to the USA and mainland Europe, along with people closer to home. It might be a silly name for a blog, but I can guarantee that nobody ever forgets it! Please do feel free to comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Despite its reputation as one of the cleanest rivers in a major city, The River Thames does have its share of problems. Many people are not aware that at certain times of the year, raw sewage is still being pumped into the river. Somewhere in the region of thirty-nine million tonnes of raw sewage are pumped into the Thames each year because of London’s outdated sewer system. Built in the 1860s, the existing infrastructure still works perfectly but it cannot keep up with London’s huge (and growing) population. Engineer Sir Joseph Bazalgette - the man behind Crossness Sewage Works, designed the sewers with population growth in mind; he anticipated the two million residents doubling to four million – but that number has since doubled again, and is constantly rising. The Crossness Sewage Works were constructed between 1859 and 1865 as part of his redevelopment of the London sewerage system. The pumping station was an essential part of the clean up of London’s water system, and led directly to the elimination of many water borne diseases, notably Cholera, which prior to this time was a significant killer. If you have not visited the pumping station, it is an industrial cathedral in cast and wrought iron. Because it deals with both sewage and drains, the Victorian water system was designed to release overflows (usually of storm water) into the Thames, instead of flooding roads and people’s homes. This initially happened twice a year, but now overflows happen on average once a week – about 750,000 tonnes each time. The Thames Tideway Tunnel is a £4.2 billion project to build a system of huge pipes, dubbed a “super sewer”, underneath London with the aim of modernising the capital’s sewage system and making the river cleaner. The extra capacity from the 25km (15 miles) of tunnels, running from Acton in West London to Abbey Mills in the east, should mean the system only discharges four times a year. This will make the Thames much cleaner, which would be better for wildlife and the environment, with Tideway bosses hopeful the work could bring the river back into greater use by Londoners. The tunnels will be between 35m and 65m below ground – 35m is the minimum height of a “high-rise” building. At 25km long, the main tunnel would take a car nearly 30 minutes to drive down at 40mph. The tunnel will be 7.5m wide, about the same as a standard single-carriageway road. Currently, the amount of untreated sewage that spills into the Thames each year is the equivalent of eight billion toilets flushing.  Sir Joseph Bazalgette was asked to design the existing sewers after The Great Stink – the summer of 1858 when exceptionally hot weather made the stench from the Thames unbearable. Even before then, three cholera outbreaks were blamed on the disgusting pollution in the river, and Bazalgette’s work is thought to have saved more lives than that of any other Victorian official. What is both interesting and ironic is that Sir Joseph Bazalgette is the great – great grandfather of TV producer Sir Peter Bazalgette, the person who brought us programmes such as Ground Force, Ready, Steady Cook and Big Brother. There is a running joke in the media industry that whilst Sir Joseph Bazalgette was responsible for removing excrement from the home, Peter is now responsible for introducing it!

Now for the weekly safety and security updates from Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association. Firstly a couple of announcements from Dana Wiffen, Chairman, Neighbourhood Watch Office:-"PLEASE ensure you double lock front and back doors and don't leave your property looking empty during the dark evenings, use light timers if you are not in too late and let your neighbours know if you are away so they can keep an eye on your property. We can report that over the previous two weeks reported burglaries w/e 6th December had 20 Burglaries and 6 attempted break ins, while the 13th December saw a massive increase to 28 burglaries and 8 attempted break-ins. For anyone who has had a break in we can refer them to Victim Support and The Bobby Van. Someone from Victim Support can visit you if you require support as a result of a burglary and The Booby Van can call to offer security advise and repair / replace broken locks. These are free to Bexley's Residents. Contact us if you would like their details. If you have had any burglaries in and around your area please keep us informed by either copying us in on emails to the police or emailing us directly and we will pass on. We are of course kept up to date by ward DWOs but occasionally some slip through the system. Finally, we would like to wish all our volunteers a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year. We thank you for all your hard work in 2018 in helping to keep Bexley Borough one of the safest in London. OFFICE VOLUNTEERS REQUIRED Moving forward into 2019 we are looking to upgrade our IT systems and improve our website as well as having a more robust office system to combat the growing workload. We are looking to appoint a volunteer Webmaster, a System Support Officer and possibly an Office Workload Manager to come into the office at least once a week to cover these positions. WEBMASTER - We would like to hear from anyone who has website update experience who has perhaps recently stopped working and would like to keep the expertise up to date by becoming our Webmaster. This would involve updating our current website and, going forward, help maintain the new site that's in the pipeline. Basic HTML knowledge would be an advantage and experience of running a Facebook page and Twitter account would be useful although not essential. Accuracy and attention to detail is, of course, a must with content representing the organisation being posted publicly. SYSTEM SUPPORT OFFICER - We would like to hear from anybody who has good computer skills and who could be trained to transfer data / information and photos onto our Mail Chimp crime reporting service which goes out weekly on a Thursday to all our members and to ensure our computer system is running efficiently for our office staff. OFFICE MANAGER - Due to the part-time hours of the office and volume of work, we are looking to have a more structured and efficient approach to the administrative and processing side of the organisation. Combining our newly-upgraded system with a candidate that has a hands-on approach to the smooth and tidy running of an office would be ideal to achieve this. We have a good and friendly office atmosphere and would only expect you to work on days that suit both yourself and that fit in with the working hours in our small office. Anyone who is interested in any of these part time voluntary positions and would like to come in for a chat in the new year, please contact us and we will arrange a mutually-convenient time to meet. We look forward to hearing from you". Now for the weekly reports from the local wards. Firstly from Barnehurst ward:- "Barnehurst Ward has had one burglary in the past week. This burglary occurred in Fairford Avenue overnight on Saturday 15th December 2018. Suspects gained entry by forcing the front door, possibly with a screwdriver or something similar. Various items were taken from the property. The resident was alerted the next morning after a neighbour noticed the front door open. This property was equipped with a ring door bell and footage of the suspects have been viewed therefore the investigation is ongoing at present. There have been two thefts of motor vehicles on the ward. A Grey Ford, registration number N145 XTT was taken from Barnehurst Avenue on Saturday 15th December 2018 and on Monday 17th December 2018 a Vauxhall Mokka, registration number VX18 OGF was stolen from Northumberland Heath." No report this week from Belvedere ward. Bexleyheath ward:- "We have had a burglary reported on Monday 17th December along Belvedere Road Bexleyheath. Entry was via the kitchen window / back door and vehicle was also stolen. The team regularly conduct hi-visibility patrols on the ward which would include car park areas including ASDA car park and the Broadway to reduce anti-social behaviour. Youths have been stopped and advised not to hang around in car parks and the team have noticed graffiti in the CineWorld car park. On Saturday 15/12/2018 there was a report of a theft from motor vehicle in Oakland's Close, personal items were taken from inside. There was also a theft of motorbike along Upton Road Bexleyheath on Tuesday 11th December. A report was made on Wednesday 12/12/2018, £20 was stolen from a purse in The Golden Lion pub. Also on the 13/12/2018, a purse was stolen from a handbag in Market Place Bexleyheath. The team did also help escort young children along Upton Road Bexleyheath for their Carol Service. If you do wish to pass on information to Police then please contact Crime Stoppers on 0800 555111. Please do not hesitate to contact us via Twitter, Facebook, email and the ward phone. If you are after crime prevention advice, please look at the Met Police website which has lots of information that you may find useful. Remember in an emergency please dial 999 and 101 for non-urgent reporting". Crayford ward:- "On Friday 14th at approx. 22.00 a resident at Dale End heard a noise in their garden and went to investigate. He chased off two people who had broken the padlock off his garden shed, no further descriptions could be given as it was too dark. At 03.00 on Saturday 15th December there was an attempted burglary in Oakwood Drive in Barnehurst. The resident heard a sound and opened the front door and two people ran off. It is believed they were after the car, the door was properly locked and entry was not gained although some minor damage to the frame did occur. Police were on scene very quickly but the suspects could not be located. On Thursday 13th at about 6am, an amount of money was stolen from a resident at their home address in Crayford Way. On Monday 17th December between 16.30-17.00 a burglary occurred at a property in Green Walk. Entry was gained through an unlocked front door whilst the victim was at home and a handbag with a purse containing cash and cards was taken, the cards have since been cancelled causing inconvenience to the victim. Front and rear number plates were stolen from a black Ford Fiesta between Wednesday 12th and Monday 17th December from near Shelley House in London Road. Front and rear number plates were also stolen from a vehicle parked in Gasgoyne Drive overnight Sunday 16th December in to Monday 17th December. The number plate W70SEW should be on a White Audi A5. Whilst wishing you all the very best compliments of the season we would also like to give you some reminders on keeping your home and valuables safe. As pretty as it looks, please don't let Christmas presents be seen under the tree through windows or doors, dispose of boxes by cutting or folding them up, you don't want to show burglars what you now have brand new in your home. Please note model and serial numbers of new electrical items and take photos of you wearing your new jewellery so that in the unlikely event that these items should be taken you have a much better chance of being reunited. Stay safe and enjoy Christmas, welcome Santa but not burglars by lifting the handle on your front door and locking it securely with the key. When going to bed or leaving your home, take a few moments to check that all is as secure as possible. As ever, please make your home look occupied". Erith ward:- "First of all, all of us at Erith SNT wish you all a Merry Christmas. We have been patrolling Erith High Street a lot over this week, Due to the increase in shoppers. Crime-wise there has been a few Burglaries and Vehicle crime more details are below. This time of year be mindful when you leave your rubbish outside for the bin collections. If you are advertising large boxes, game boxes tv boxes etc you are showing people what items you have inside your house. Best rule is brake up these boxes small and cover over the labels – or take them to the recycling centre yourself. Theft from MV Monday 10/12/2018 Park Crescent – Items taken from car; Criminal Damage Vehicle U500 Wednesday 28/11/2018 Coral Heights, Chichester Wharf. Damage to car; Shoplift >£199 Sunday 16/12/2018 Wm Morrison Supermarkets Plc, James Watt Way; Shoplift <£200 Sunday 16/12/2018 James Watt Way; Criminal Damage Vehicle U500 Sunday 16/12/2018 Cricketers Close – damage to car; Burglary Residential Saturday 15/12/2018, Rutland Gate – Door forced opened items taken including money; Theft of Motor Vehicle Sunday 16/12/2018 Park Crescent; Theft of Motor Vehicle Friday14/12/2018 Rutland Gate; Theft from Motor Vehicle Sunday 16/12/2018 Victoria Road – Items taken from car; Making off Tuesday 18/12/2018 Wm Morrison Supermarkets Plc, James Watt Way". No report this week from Northumberland Heath ward.

Slade Green and Northend ward:- "We had a nasty aggravated burglary in the early hours of Friday morning (14th December). At around 1.30am a group of males wearing balaclavas gained entry to a property in Lincoln Road and attacked a man in his family home. He received an injury which thankfully wasn't life changing or threatening and he is recovering well in hospital. The investigation into this attack is ongoing and reassurance patrols have been made by SNT officers. Please be aware that this sort of crime is NOT a common occurrence in our ward or indeed in any part of Bexley and we will do our best to give reassurance wherever necessary. If you would like any further reassurance patrols for your roads etc, please let us know. There was a burglary at some time during the evening of Monday 17/12/2018 in Beacon Road. Access was gained through the front room window with an Xbox and some cash taken. Please ensure all windows are secure and doors locked at this time of year. Inform neighbours if you are going out and lift the handle of your UPVC door (if you have one) and then turn the key. Lifting the handle does NOT lock the door. PC James searched a male in Boundary Street Monday afternoon who was found in possession of a small amount of drugs. The necessary warnings were given. PC James and PC Mark recovered a stolen moped in the Cinder Path on Wednesday afternoon. 2 males on 2 mopeds were riding towards them, unfortunately the males got away on one of the mopeds leaving behind the stolen bike. The owner, who lives local, has been notified. A bit of good news - we have had a new Neighbourhood Watch just started for Larkswood Close. On Tuesday 18/12/2018 PCSO Mark assisted by Adam from the Erith team, escorted the Peareswood School Choir to Erith Shopping Centre for a Christmas Carol performance (photo above - Mark watching on). All the shoppers and public enjoyed the excellent singing. Well done to all. Our next Community Contact Session is at 6pm in our SNT base in Erith (next to farm Foods) on Sunday 30/12/2018". Thamesmead East ward:- "Burglary - Glimpsing Green Tuesday 17/12/18 between 11pm-6am Unknown suspect/s have broken into the house via the front kitchen window, stealing van keys and van from outside property. Criminal damage to a motor vehicle on Monday 10/12/18 between 7pm-6:30am Passenger side window smashed nothing stolen as victim removed all possessions; Seacourt Road Thursday 15/12/18 between midnight-3:45pm By unknown suspect/s damaging the motor vehicle by scratching paintwork on the bonnet; Kale Road Monday 17/12/18 between 1am-9:45am Driver's side window smashed. Theft from / of a motor vehicle in Curlew Road on Tuesday 11/12/18 between 23:59 -10:45am By person unknown making off with the victim's unattended motorcycle from the venue by means unknown; Parkway Thursday 13/12/18 between 5:15am-8pm Unknown suspect/s stolen both front and rear number plates from vehicle; Kale Road Friday 14/12/18 between 5:15pm - 9:45am Unknown suspect/s stole rear number plate and damaged front number plate; Alder Close Monday 17/12/18 between 4:10-4:15pm By suspect/s stealing victims motorcycle from location; Wolvercote Close on Monday 17/12/18 between 5pm-6am Entry gained to victims vehicle an untidy search carried out within. Satnav and change stolen. The Thamesmead East team would like to take this opportunity to thank our Neighbourhood Watch for your continued support throughout 2018 and wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. The next meeting will be Thursday 3rd January 2019 at Lakeside Health Centre Yarnton Way, 1-2pm". West Heath ward:- "This week an unknown person or persons entered an insecure porch and damaged items within on the 13th December between 3pm-5pm in Mayfair Road. Please remember to lock your porches. A car was stolen overnight 17th-18th December from Chessington Ave without the keys and two cars were broken into in Brabourne Court the same evening. Another car was also stolen from Longleigh Lane at around midnight on the 16th December. The team have been carrying out high visibility burglary patrols over the last week and we are pleased to say there have been no reported burglaries for this period. Our next Community Contact Sessions will be on the 29th December by Thomas More Church from 12noon to 1pm followed by the 4th January. 2019 at St Andrew's Church in Abbotts Walk from 5pm-6pm. We would like to wish you all a happy holiday".

The end video this week is a news report on the £19.7 million grant given to Bexley Council to put towards the regeneration of Erith town centre. The video is a few months old, and some of the works described in the video are already well under way - specifically those related to the Carnegie Library, as outlined at the beginning of this update. Other works are due to begin early in the New Year, including as I understand it, the buying out of the leaseholders in Electricity House and the closure of the building prior to redevelopment. The Bexley Road bridge over the railway is apparently also scheduled for a much overdue widening - something that has been on the cards for over ten years. The old foot tunnel from the Western end of the town centre to Erith Station is also due to go, to be replaced with a ground level alternative which is more wheelchair and buggy friendly, not to mention less attractive to graffiti and muggers. What do you think? Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Riot.

The original painting above was created by Erith based professional artist Patrick Hearne. It was painted earlier this year, and shows the view looking Eastwards along Erith Station. It was displayed at the "Our Erith" local art exhibition arranged by the Friends of Christ Church Erith earlier this year. Patrick has an excellent website showing more of his work, which you can see here.

The area got some extremely unwelcome bad publicity at the beginning of the week; several national tabloid newspapers, including the Sun, as well as being featured on the BBC News website. On Monday evening a fight broke out between what is estimated to be around a hundred school pupils in Northumberland Heath. It is not my usual practice to report on stories that make the national press, as there is little point in going over ground that has already been covered by professional journalists. I make an exception in this case, as it is so worrying and affects local people. Whilst the precise details of the mini riot are still somewhat sketchy the best part of a week later, it would appear to have been organised via social media, and a number of those involved were armed with baseball bats or knives - the main clash happened near the Duchess of Kent Pub in Brook Street. Police and specialist officers with dogs descended on the area after reports of a “large fight between a group of youths” at around 5.40pm. The Met’s police helicopter flew overhead as officers tried to break up the violence. Seven people, aged between 15 and 21, were arrested. Various video clips are now circulating on social media, and these have been picked up by the press and online. On Wednesday Bexley Police were given authorisation to disperse and ban troublemakers from Bexleyheath town centre and Northumberland Heath over a following two day period. One thing does strike me - almost nobody in the UK plays baseball, so how come so many of these stories involve youths with baseball bats? Where are they coming from? Bearing in mind the impact to actual sport would be minimal, would not an immediate ban on the sale, resale or ownership of baseball bats be a good move on the part of the authorities? The official Police report on the riot read thus:- Officers are appealing for information following a large scale fight in Bexley involving more than 100 youths. Police were called to Northumberland Heath, Bexley, at approximately 17:40hrs on 19 September, to reports of the large fight between a group of youths. Officers from the borough and the Met's Territorial Support Group (TSG) were called to the scene attending within eight minutes. Two males aged 15 and 19 suffered non-life threatening injuries and were taken to a south London hospital by London Ambulance Service. Seven males, aged between 15 and 21 years, were arrested and taken to a south London police stations. They are currently in custody. Just before the fight in Northumberland Heath, there was a disturbance between a group of youths in Bexley Broadway at approximately 16:30hrs. Police dispersed the large group of people and they were believed to have been involved in the fight in later on. Officers are investigating the circumstances of what happened in the run up to the incident and appealing for anyone who was involved or witnesses to speak to them as soon as possible. Police will be in the area of the Northumberland Heath tonight, 20 September, to provide reassurance to the local community. They will also be working with local schools in the area over the next few weeks. Borough Commander of Bexley, Chief Superintendent Jeff Boothe, said: “This incident was a large scale fight in a public area and would have been shocking to anyone who witnessed it. "The safety of young people in our borough and the wider community is paramount.  We are actively investigating what happened and take matters like this extremely seriously. There will be extra patrols in the borough to provide reassurance in the community. I would appeal to anyone with information about what happened to contact us. They can speak to their schools liaison officer or hey can do this anonymously through Crimestoppers.” Speaking about the scale of the incident, Chief Superintendent Boothe said: “In total over  40  calls were made to police by members of the public and a number of incidents occurred across at least five different locations. Every available officer within Bexley was deployed to assist with the incident and support from the Met Territorial Support Group was provided. We were not able to attend and speak with every person who called police due to the large volume of calls and multiple incidents occurring. The calls had to be prioritised based on the risks and scale of disorder at each venue. Officers will be contacting those people over the next coming days as part of the investigation and to provide further reassurance." Anyone with information or witnesses can call Bexley police on 0208 284 9146, the police non-emergency line on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously 0800 555 111.

There has been a rumour circulating over the last week or so, and I have been able to get to the bottom of it. As many people know, Erith Morrison's supermarket is currently undergoing a much needed refurbishment. This includes the petrol station adjacent to the supermarket main building. Word has been going round that when the petrol station is refitted, it will be selling alcohol in the shop. Several concerned local residents have contacted me, as have a couple of Morrison's staff who are worried about an increase in crime if alcohol is served from the petrol station. I am happy to report that I have received word from official sources that whilst Morrison's applied for a drinks licence for the petrol station, it was not granted, and the station shop will remain alcohol free. The correct outcome all round, I feel. If you have strong feelings about this, or any other issues, please leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

I have had several readers comment on my story last week on The News Shopper, and how for the last year or so they have had no base in South East London / North Kent, as they have closed their Pett’s Wood office and moved to Sutton in Surrey. The readers had not been aware of this situation – understandably, as the News Shopper did report the move at the time, but they kept it rather low key, and the story slipped under many peoples radar. When one reads the paper with this information in mind, it does become rather obvious that the emphasis is now on stories in South West, rather than South East London and North Kent; for example, they have been running a promotion on behalf of Young’s Brewery, to celebrate the 185th birthday of the pub company and brewer. The problem is that the edition that is available both online and in print for the local area features Young’s pubs taking part in the promotion that are located in Wimbledon, Richmond, Putney, Sutton, Croydon and Kingston.  Not exactly reflecting local stories and issues then. It must be very hard for what were former local newspapers that are forced into becoming regional newspapers as the only way to survive in what is a cutthroat and competitive market. One of the main motivations of the Maggot sandwich was to become a "parish magazine” for the Erith / Slade Green area and slightly beyond, as no local paper was covering the area in any detail. It has come to pass that the blog has become far wider ranging than originally intended – in many ways it has become somewhat of a victim of its’ own success – not that I am complaining! There has been a void in local news provision, which the Maggot Sandwich endeavours to fill.

You may recall that a couple of weeks ago I ran a story about a number of green spaces that Bexley Council wants to sell off to raise some cash. Once again the law of unintended consequences has come into play. Rather than quietly do away with the various small packets of green land around the (mostly Northern) parts of the borough, Bexley Council have done a sterling job in fostering community spirit and local cohesion. For example, a chap called Mark has been on contact with me - he requested that I publicise a FaceBook site that has been set up to fight the sale of the parcel of green land that exists on the corner of Napier Road and Wellington Road in Belvedere. I am more than happy to do so - whatever the outcome of the fight, it has brought local residents together against a common foe. I would suggest that one of the best ways of ensuring the continuing free space would be for the neighbours to form a charitable trust and to club together to jointly buy the land. That way they could guarantee their continued peaceful enjoyment of the open space. They would need to consult a solicitor with specific experience in such undertakings though. You can join the No To Napier Road Green Space Sell Off page by clicking here.

Riverdale Road based local musician Wayne Jacobs has been making the headlines again. The amateur singer / songwriter has won yet another award. He’s won the UK Country Radio listeners club award for the fifth time in a row. The singer is known for his three hits that reached number one in Nashville Tennessee, including My Tennessee Girl, I Want My Daddy and Rockin’ in the USA. Mr Jacobs first started writing his own country music after watching Walk the Line, the well-known film chronicling the life of music legend Johnny Cash. You can read more about Wayne Jacobs and his latest win by clicking here. I must admit that I am rather conflicted about this award. Whilst I am really pleased to see an Erith resident excel in an artistic field; I just wish it was playing something other than Country and Western music. I can (just about) see why certain people in the Southern states of the USA would like it - after all it talks to experiences they, or at least their grandparents may have had. Why someone from outside the USA would feel it appropriate mystifies me. Country music is mostly still synonymous with southern, white, cowboy culture. We can talk about parts of the genre that have moved past cowboy boots and pick-up trucks but if you look at the chart toppers, concert attendance, and country music media in general you'll still notice these things: 1) Very traditional gender roles. 2) Some measure of conservative, patriotic (or jingoistic depending on your perspective), religious undertones. 3) Traditional and maudlin, self indulgent, romantic themes. 4) Explicit, direct, emotional expression - a very un - British concept. On top of this, Country and Western music lacks any concept of irony or self - awareness. Why anyone British would want to pretend to be American completely escapes me. If you have some insight into this phenomenon, I would love to hear from you. Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

I have been asked in the past questions about a relatively new pastime - the collecting of old computers. Like anything produced for a relatively limited period of time, old computers can become worth serious money - and others are essentially worthless. Already a lively market already exists on websites like Ebay, but it is easy, as with anything collectible and potentially valuable, there are plenty of pitfalls. Like in the more traditional field of antique collection, certain rules apply. Originality is paramount - all of the correct leads, connectors and the power supply need to be present and correct, and the original box in good condition should also be there.  Condition needs to be good to excellent in order to attract a premium price, and any history of the machine in question is a bonus. One of the question I was asked was “If price was no object, what three classic computers would you most like to own, and why?” After a bit of mulling, my response was:- 1) Xerox Alto – the most revolutionary computer since Colossus. More on it in a moment. 2) Xerox Star – the development of the Alto, and the first commercially available computer to use a graphical user interface. 3) NeXT Cube Colour – the great granddaddy of all modern Unix based Apple Macs, and the platform used by Sir Tim Berners – Lee to create the World Wide Web. So why did I pick the Xerox Alto as my most desired classic computer? Well, bear in mind that the Alto was never actually available for commercial purchase, and only between fifteen hundred and two thousand Alto units were hand constructed by Xerox, mainly for internal use, though a handful made it into academia for study purposes, and one made it into the White House. The Alto was the first computer anywhere that had a GUI – a Graphical User Interface, that used the still common desktop paradigm. It had a mouse, used icons, it was able to talk to other Alto computers over an early form of Ethernet data networking. It had a "what you see is what you get" word processing program, it could send and receive Emails with attachments, it could output page set documents to a laser printer and had the world’s first high resolution bitmapped screen. All of this was available in 1973! You can see a short TV commercial for it here. It was at least fifteen years ahead of anything else in the world, but Xerox did not think there would be a market for such a computer, and eventually wound the project down. This business decision made Decca turning down the Beatles look small change in comparison. Later, the GUI computer project was restarted, and in the very early 1980’s Xerox released the Star – a high end workstation based on the earlier Alto concepts. Bexley Council had a couple of Star units in their typing pool for several years in the early 1980's, but they were never really used for anything other than word processing – with their distinctive portrait oriented display screens. Their powerful networking and graphical features were pretty much overlooked. A few years ago, before Bexley Council moved out of their old offices in Bexleyheath Broadway as they were due to be demolished, I tried to find out if any of the Xerox Star units were still being stored on site. I had heard vague rumours that at least one unit was stored in the basement nuclear fallout shelter. I had hoped to persuade the council to donate it to The National Museum of Computing at Bletchley Park. Unfortunately my investigation drew a blank – nobody I contacted at the council knew anything about the computers, and they were actually not very interested. Many phone messages and Emails to them went without response, to the point where I got fed up and gave in. Anyone with a Xerox Star, or even more enticingly an Alto stuck in the corner of their basement (it would not have gone in the loft – it was so heavy it would have come through the ceiling) is sitting on not only a very important piece of computer history, but a small fortune. Collectors will pay substantial sums of money for rare and important computers – as was recently seen when an immaculate and completely original Apple 1 was purchased at auction for $905,0000. Personally I think this was a tad over-valued. The Apple 1 was not the first home computer by some way, it was not revolutionary and it was merely one of a number of kit type computers then available. The later fame of the brand has put quite an image boost over the machine that started it all for the Apple brand, and I will not be at all surprised if the next Apple 1 to go on auction breaks the million dollar mark.

The photo above shows a very young me, well, the back of my head at least - taken in September 1988 whilst I was working on my very first ever job in radio. Every so often I get asked by readers as to where the name of my blog originated; I usually tell them that if they read it for long enough, they will find out. Well. now is the time, in case you missed it last time I retold the tale, which was now quite a while ago. Over the last few years I have occasionally mentioned radio stations – both legitimate and otherwise that I have worked for in one manner or another. I have always had a deep interest in radio – even when I was at primary school, I would find old radios from charity shops and jumble sales and pull them apart to try and work out what made them tick; at one stage I managed to convert an old Bush valve receiver into an amplifier / speaker for my bedside transistor radio – even if it was only to listen to Ed Stewart on “Junior Choice” on BBC Radio 1. When in secondary school I started to listen the land based pirates which you could find all across both the Medium Wave and (what was then termed VHF) FM bands. The early 80’s were a formative time for unlicensed broadcasting – at that point little government thought had been given to widening commercial licences, and things such as community stations and special event licences just did not exist – with the notable exception of Radio Thamesmead, which at that time was available via Rediffusion cable only to residents physically located in Thamesmead. All sorts of pirate stations broadcast from whatever high points they could find – usually the roof of a tower block – radio signals on the VHF band travel in straight lines, so the higher up the transmitter / antenna are, the further the signal can theoretically travel – though other factors also come into play. My own favourite stations at the time were Alice’s Restaurant, and later Rock FM, which broadcast out of the Epping / Hainault area of Essex. Another station – which only came on during Monday nights was called Imagine – it played melodic rock and electronic music from bands like Tangerine Dream. When I was in the 6th form at school, I worked Saturdays at independent computer store Silica Shop in Hatherley Road, Sidcup, and so was not at home to listen to the various other pirate stations that broadcast on Saturdays. A friend handed me a cassette he had recorded of a pirate station that he said sounded like nothing he had heard before. I listened to the tape and was doubly astounded; firstly the station sounded very slick and professional – they had jingles and sound effects, and even had hourly news bulletins. Secondly, I recognised several of the voices as being people I knew, including one who was a school teacher of mine! I said nothing and carried on with the Saturday job. Sometime later when I had left school, I bumped into several of the people whose voices I had heard on the tape – typically we met in a pub – the Fox in Upper Belvedere (which back then was excellent, unlike now). One thing led to another and I was invited up to the studio. The station was called Radio Lumberjack, and it was run from a large semi-detached house in Bexleyheath. Most of the upper floor of the house had been converted into a main studio and a newsroom / production facility. Unusually for such a setup, the transmitter was located in the studio itself. Normally land based pirates would have a small, low powered UHF link transmitter which sent a hard to track signal to a much more powerful VHF FM transmitter located on the roof of a nearby tower block; the thinking behind this was that the authorities could easily track and confiscate the main FM transmitter, but the low power UHF link signal was far harder to detect – thus meaning it was less likely for the studio to also be raided – though this still was a danger. I later found out that the reason the chap behind Radio Lumberjack was unconcerned about the possibility of being raided was that his day job was as a member of the Department of Trade and Industry Radio Investigation Service – the pirate radio hunters of the time! He knew well in advance of any possible raids, and any documents pertaining to Radio Lumberjack promptly got “lost”, so the station got no official investigation at all, and operated with complete impunity for several years. Having such a “mole” right at the heart of the opposition proved invaluable later, when a number of Radio Lumberjack staff became involved with Radio Caroline – but that is a story for another day. Radio Lumberjack broadcast an eclectic range of music, interspersed with comedy sketches and novelty jingles. I soon became a regular presenter, hosting the evening album music show between 9pm and midnight – allowing pretty much all the other DJ’s to disappear up the pub. The humour on Radio Lumberjack was pretty surreal – much of the comedy material was written by the station staff. There were many spoof adverts, with commercials for fictional companies such as “Bethlehem Motors – car faith healers – save money and save your soul! With one simple low cost prayer, we can have your vehicle back on the road”. “Tacky’s Nightclub, with your host, Bland Groover”. Also, “Gaskets motor spares – suppliers of neo Georgian suspension, arc brake lights and stained glass windows”. Best of all, a commercial for the Thamesmead Tourist Board, with a cod salsa song “it’s the place for fun, it’s the place for sun, come to Thamesmead – go on day trips to all the popular holiday destinations like the Belvedere Rift Valley – home of the world famous earwig farm; enquire at the Thamesmead Tourist Board office – the little green hut behind the bike sheds in Thamesmead High Street!” It was all very slick and professional; the chap that ran the station was a big fan of Kenny Everett, but had his own unique style. Each presenter had their own introductory jingle – mine started with an incredulous voice – “oh my God.... It’s Arthur Pewty!” followed by the sound of Stuka dive bombers, explosions and collapsing buildings, accompanied by a massed band of Daleks screaming “Arthur Pewty, Arthur Pewty!” It was all very over the top and wacky. My pseudonym came from the meek and mild insurance salesman Arthur Pewty from the famous Monty Python sketch about the marriage guidance counsellor. When I first started my evening show, I racked my brains to think of a suitably surreal and silly name for it. I had already got my nickname, and recently I had read a history of 1960’s offshore station Radio London, where John Peel got his big break into radio. John Peel had a show called “The Perfumed Garden” where he played a lot of hippy music and recited poetry sent in by listeners (some of it was toe curlingly bad, but I digress). I thought that my show needed a really surreal title, so, as a play on “John Peel’s Perfumed Garden”, “Arthur Pewty’s Maggot Sandwich” was born. I was part of Radio Lumberjack for a couple of very happy and memorable years, and made friends that I still have to this day. The station naturally ran its course, and in time some of the more dedicated members – the station owner included became involved in Radio Caroline. That is a story for another time. So now you know.

The end video this week was taken recently - it shows Royal Navy Albion class amphibious assault ship HMS Bulwark heading down river after a visit to London. The footage was shot from Erith Pier, and shows the large vessel as it passes Erith on a journey towards the Thames Estuary.  Please feel free to leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.