The Big Sky.

I took the photo above a while ago; it shows the River Thames at low tide, exposing the historic Erith wooden jetty that is still used by Erith Rowing Club to launch and recover their canoes. The photo really shows what I call Erith's "Big Sky" - something that you cannot see anywhere else in the London Borough of Bexley.  More on the view from the river front at Erith, and its unique properties later in this update. 

In the 12 months to the end of June of last year, Tesco distributed 430 million "bags for life" – the highest number for a supermarket. Environmental Investigation Agency figures show Sainsbury’s gave out 268 million, Morrisons 140 million, Aldi 52 million, Co-op 28 million, Waitrose 22 million, Marks and Spencer 14 million and Iceland 3.5 million bags.  Environmental campaigners are calling on retailers to increase the cost of bags for life to at least £1 in order to clamp down on their use. Environment Secretary, and current Prime Ministerial candidate Michael Gove is reportedly planning to hike the price of these bags to a minimum of 20p, which some supermarkets have already voluntarily done. He is also expected to extend the charge to small shops, which are currently able to give out plastic bags without making customers pay. Mr Gove is not planning to take any action on plastic bags for life. Some people just find it an inconvenience but will stump up the 10p or 20p to get their shopping home. Those are the people who have never and will never have their own bags with them when shopping, and regard the whole bag charge as a cost of going shopping. The problem with the 20p "bags for life" issued by many shops is that unlike their more expensive versions, which can cost up to £2 each, the 20p bags tend to be relatively fragile, despite containing twice the amount of plastic than the single use versions. In addition reusing such bags also can raise the risk of food poisoning, Bags for life pose a food poisoning risk if they are used to carry raw foods such as meat and fish, a consumer watchdog has warned. The Food Standards Agency says even if there is no leakage, packaging can harbour traces of harmful bacteria that can cause stomach bugs. Shoppers should have separate bags for raw foods, ready-to-eat foods and household items such as detergent. Reusable bags could be colour coded or labelled to avoid any mix-up, it says. If there has been visible spillage, soiling or damage, plastic bags for life should be replaced, while fabric ones could be washed or cleaned. "Even if there are no obvious spillages or staining after several uses, we would recommend that cotton/fabric bags for life be machine-washed regularly if they have been used for carrying raw items," warn the FSA. It is all so much more complicated than many, including me, had ever realised. Morrison's supermarket have been particularly clumsy in reacting to the changes; firstly they hiked the price of their entry - level plastic carriers from 10p to 20p each, with no increase in the extremely poor quality. Last week I used one for only the second time, and one of the handles came off, entitling me to a free replacement - but with each plastic "bag for life" containing twice as much plastic as one of the older single use bags, it does strike me that Morrison's at the very least are trying to be seen to do the right thing, without necessarily actually doing it. On top of this, I am a keen user of the Morrison's self service salad bar - on the occasions that it is actually open. Previously customers filled various sized salad containers and took them to the checkout, where the container was then wrapped to prevent leakage - the containers have a snap lid, but they have a tendency to break open and leak, which can cause quite a mess, especially if it happens whilst on your way home. Now the bags that are used to wrap the sometimes leaky salad containers are no more. Please don't get me wrong - I entirely support the move to reduce the prevalence of one time use plastics, and I am a very keen recycler. What I do object to is the virtue signalling of the big supermarket chains, where they make changes that are detrimental to the customers in the effort to be seen to be green. I am keen that the big supermarkets make changes that are less harmful to the environment, but please actually think things through rather than taking a "knee jerk" reaction to the public mood. The law of unintended consequences has seemingly come into force yet again; I have been talking to a couple of (anonymous) contacts I have in retail management. It would seem that the ban on giving away free plastic carrier bags at supermarkets has been successful in reducing the number of disposable bags shifted by the stores, but it has had an effect that has at the time of writing proved to be far more economically damaging. What has happened is that criminals are now able to walk around supermarkets with large reusable shopping bags on their arms, and can easily shoplift items into the anonymous bags. For shop security staff, someone carrying a large shopping bag around the store used to be a significant indicator that they could well be a shoplifter, and the security staff would consequently pay them more attention. Now that virtually all shoppers carry their own bags round the store, the criminals can far more easily blend in with the innocent shoppers. I have been told that the increased levels of stock loss have completely wiped out the lowered costs of supplying single use shopping bags in many high - street stores, but the management do not want to highlight the issue for fear of being thought of as "anti environment".  What do you think? Leave a comment below, or alternatively Email me in confidence at hugh.neal@gmail.com. 

Groundwork London, the consultancy that is currently advising Bexley Council regarding improvements to the public realm in and around Erith, published the following press release last week; it reads thus:- "Several more events are planned following the success of two open days held in April at 68 Pier Road Erith, when over 200 local people came along and gave their views on the improvements planned to begin in Erith this year.  Local people can give their views on the Riverside Gardens improvements at two more consultation events, that will be held as part of the Erith Kitchen, at Pier Road on Friday 14 June 4pm–9pm and Friday 12 July 4pm–9pm. There is no need to pre-register for these - simply turn up on the day. An online survey is also available for community input into the refreshed Riverside Gardens in Erith. Cllr Louie French, Bexley’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Growth said: “The support of the local community is essential to help Erith become a vibrant riverside town again.  Its’s important to us that we get the input of local people at an early stage and that we ensure the improvements benefit everyone’. That’s why we’re running lots of different consultation events and have commissioned the specialists Groundwork to help us run the co-design and engagement process for the Riverside Gardens, and GCDA, who helped us deliver the open days at 68 Pier Road. There will be lots more opportunities to tell us what you think and you can always contact us via the Greater Erith website.”  Daniel Brittle, Community Programme Manager, Groundwork London said: “We’re delighted to be working with London Borough of Bexley to reach out to the community and find out what residents, businesses and community groups would like from the Riverside Gardens. We’re looking forward to hearing the creative suggestions that local residents come up with.” Residents can fill out the survey online www.greatererith.com/riversidegardens and community groups will also be invited to give their views at a Riverside Gardens Ideas Forum in May. There’ll also be the chance to get involved in outdoor activities celebrating Erith such as wellbeing walks and heritage talks. The details of which will be publicised on the Greater Erith website. The Improvements proposed to start in 2019 will be funded with £1.6m the Council secured from the Mayor of London’s Good Growth Fund.  As well as the upgrade of the Riverside Gardens, improvements include bringing Units 66 and 68 Pier Road, that have stood empty for some years, back into use and securing the long-term future of 70 Pier Road.  Funding will also be used to support business start-ups by providing new office space in the town centre to showcase their products and services and the pedestrianised area on Erith High Street will be brightened up. The improvements will build on previous regeneration work funded by the Council and the Mayor through their partnership project, the ‘Greater Erith Programme’. This includes the upgraded public areas at Erith Station and the soon to be renovated public space at the entrance to Erith Pier, as well as the renovation of the Carnegie Library building. Find out more about the planned improvements and tell us what you think at www.greatererith.com or follow Greater Erith on Facebook and Twitter.  

A technology birthday happened last week, and almost nobody even noticed; Microsoft's Bing search engine had its tenth anniversary. The engine was launched back in 2009 with the hope of persuading people to adopt yet another verb and "Bing it" rather than "Google it". Microsoft has sunk millions of dollars into Bing in the last decade, with almost no effect. Currently worldwide web searches using Bing account for 9.4 percent of the total, whilst Google's share of search (which does not include China) now is 75.48 percent. The USA is pretty much the only country where Bing has any kind of traction - with a creditable 34 per cent of the market (as of 2018) with 6 billion monthly searches. Around 19 per cent of UK searches are performed using Bing (405 million monthly). It is worth remembering that those figures are from the Bing team and include Yahoo! searches. Bing itself was a replacement for Windows Live Search and was unveiled by then CEO Steve Ballmer on 28 May 2009 with Yahoo! jumping on board in July of that year to have its search powered by Ballmer's baby. The Microsoft team has spent the years fiddling with the search engine in an effort to speed things up and make the results more relevant in order to tempt users away from the Google behemoth - even paying users to search with the thing, in the form of Microsoft Rewards, has not made much of a dent in Google's global search dominance. Incidentally, I once met the aforementioned Steve Ballmer. My encounter with him was very brief; I attended the UK launch of Windows XP back in 2001 in London, after managing to blag a ticket to the event through my job (there were occasions when working for a household name multinational blue chip professional services firm had its benefits). I was sat in an aisle seat in the Royal Festival Hall. There was a big opening video with a track by Madonna, then Ballmer came running down from the back of the hall, all WWE wrestling style. Had I known Ballmer was  running past my seat a couple of moments earlier, I could have stuck my leg out and sent him flying. Anyway, at the end of the presentation, a few members of the audience, myself included were invited for a corporate “meet and greet” session. I said hello to Steve Ballmer; he took one look at me, and the polo shirt I was wearing, and his look was pure poison. He blanked me completely. I have to say that I was very impressed with this reaction; the polo shirt he had taken such offence to was a sober grey in colour, but on the right  hand breast was embroidered Tux – the Linux mascot; this was at around the time that he said of the open source movement  “Linux is a cancer that attaches itself in an intellectual property sense to everything it touches.” Understandably he was not too impressed with my appearance! Steve Ballmer is retired now, thankfully, as his record as a business leader was patchy at best, and I personally found him to be a boorish loudmouth. 

There has been much speculation regarding the fate of the former Cairngall Medical Centre in Erith Road, Upper Belvedere. The building had been used as a GP surgery for the last half a century, but due to the owners of the building being unwilling to renegotiate the lease with the partnership who operated from the building, the doctors practice closed permanently earlier this year, and all of the patients were forced to move to other nearby medical practices. It had been thought by some locals that the prime development spot might well result in the current building being demolished, but recently information became available that the owners of the building actually plan to turn it into a pre - school children's nursery, as you can see from the architectural floor plan drawing above - click on the image to see a larger version. Workers have been active on the site over the last few weeks, mainly clearing the garden and the small car park that is next to the main building. A series of skips have been on site, and it would also appear that the interior of the building has now been stripped prior to alteration work commencing. More on this story in the weeks to come. 

Many regular Maggot Sandwich readers are familiar with my writing about Hiram Maxim, the inventor,  engineer and very successful businessman whose main factory works were located in Fraser Road, Erith for many years in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. There was a second foreign born engineer and inventor who worked in Erith at around the same time as Hiram Maxim; his name was Thorsten Nordenfelt. He was a Swedish born and educated man who married a British woman and moved to the UK; initially they lived at an address in the Uxbridge Road, Paddington, after migrating to the UK in 1867. Thorsten and his British brother in law started a business trading high quality Swedish steel for British railway rails and engineering fittings. After a while, he founded the Nordenfelt Arms and Ammunition Company, which manufactured a variety of medium calibre deck mounted guns for arming motor torpedo boats and coastal patrol vessels. The guns were manufactured in Erith (as you may gather, in Edwardian times, Erith was a major centre for weapons manufacture, and many locals were employed in the factories). The problem that Thorsten Nordenfelt had was that he  was an excellent engineer, but an absolutely terrible businessman. His arms factory was losing money hand over fist, and after much pressure from his bank – Rothschilds – Nordenfelt was forced to merge his company with Maxim to form the Maxim Nordenfelt Guns and Ammunition company, with Maxim as the majority shareholder. Two years later Nordenfelt was declared personally bankrupt, and lost complete control of the company, leaving Maxim the benefactor. Not to be deterred, Nordenfelt and his family upped sticks and moved to France, hoping to start afresh. He set up a new company designing arms, and developed a revolutionary new breech mechanism for the French 75mm field gun. This all went swimmingly until he received a letter from Maxim’s lawyers, reminding him that he had signed a non compete clause that Nordernfelt had signed upon leaving the Maxim Nordenfelt company. The case went as far as the House of Lords, and was found partially in Nordenfelt’s favour, but by this time he had grown heartily sick of the arms business, and decided to go into the then brand new submarine business instead. He formed a new company with a vicar and keen amateur naval architect called the Reverend George Garrett. They jointly designed a new submarine – the Nordenfelt One, which weighed in at fifty six tons, was 19.5 metres long and had a range on the surface of 240 kilometres, powered by a one hundred horse power steam engine which gave the vessel a speed of nine knots. It was armed with a single torpedo, and a deck mounted gun. It had to shut down the steam engine before it could dive. It was accepted by the Greek Navy, but never saw active service, and ended up being scrapped in 1901. A Nordenfelt Two submarine was later built, followed by a Three, which was larger at thirty metres long; It did have one claim to fame – it was the first ever submarine to successfully fire a torpedo at a target whilst fully submerged. The final Nordenfelt submarine was the Four, which was commissioned by the Russian Navy, but in sea trials it proved to be unstable and very unseaworthy, and ended up running aground off Jutland. The Russians refused to pay for it, in yet another commercial disaster for Nordenfelt. He then decided to call it a day and retired to Sweden, where he died in 1920 aged 78. Some small signs of Thorsten Nordenfelt do still exist in Erith. Nordenfelt Road, off West Street is one link, as was the Nordenfelt Tavern at 181 Erith Road – a local pub named after the man; it is now long closed and converted into flats, and so another link with our past is severed.

Now for the weekly local safety and security reports from Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association. Firstly the report from Barnehurst ward:- "On Tuesday 28th May 2019 between 02.30 and 03.30am an attempted burglary occurred in Coniston Close. Unfortunately a side gate was left open and suspects have entered and taken plastic piping. It is believed suspects have attempted to enter the property by trying a rear door handle, this triggered the house alarm and suspects fled. A burglary occurred on Monday 03/06/2019 in Cumbrian Avenue between 06.00am and 23.30pm nothing was taken however a television was smashed. It is believed entry was gained through an open window. In Hillingdon Road there was a theft from motor vehicle on Saturday 01/06/2019. The item taken has since been recovered by the owner after seeing it for sale on eBay. In Hurstwood Avenue a mobile phone was taken from a vehicle, the window was smashed and glove compartment was also searched. Our next community contact session is on Tuesday 18th June 2019, 4pm at the Barnehurst Golf Club. Please come along and join us for a chat. From Member of the Public - in Downbank Avenue:- I was walking my dog in the grounds of Barnehurst Golf Club when 2 unaccompanied Rottweilers ran from the rear of a property backing onto park and attacked my dog. I lifted my dog up and the 2 dogs continued to attack me and my dog. After a few minutes the dogs must have been called off by someone from the house, although i could not see who. My dog needed the vet's attention. It was a very frightening experience". Belvedere ward:- "We had an attempted garage burglary on Wednesday 29th May in Elstree Gardens. The lock was broken and door opened but nothing was taken. It happened overnight. On the same night we had a burglary at the Chestnut Nursery on Nuxley Road. Access was gained through a window. A camera was taken. CCTV enquiries are on-going. On the Thursday 30th May we had a report from a resident that a male was seen to be loitering in a back garden in Mossdown Close during the day. Police attended but the male had gone. If anyone sees someone in their back garden please do call Police as they are probably up to no good. There has been some criminal damage to a wooden door leading to a rear garden in Albert Road. This has happened three times, once during the half term and twice last weekend. Garage burglaries are continuing, this time in the Albert Road estate. Locks have bene broken off and doors opened but nothing taken. If you see anyone loitering that looks suspicious and out of place please contact Police. The Wellbeing Centre had a window damaged during the half term week. The window was smashed, nothing was taken from inside. No exact date and time known. There was a distraction burglary on Tuesday 4/06/2019 in Court Avenue. At approximately 1500 hours two males knock at an address claiming that the homeowners roof is damaged. While the owner stays with one of the males the other goes into the address and steals a large sum of money. If you have any cold callers and are not happy with them never let them into your property or step outside, leaving the door open. Do not give any personal details over. If you have any concerns about a cold caller please let us know. Any descriptions of the people or any vehicles they ae using will be helpful to build up an intelligence picture. Our next drop in surgery will be held at Belvedere Community Centre on Monday 10/06/2019 at 10:00". Bexleyheath ward:- "Theft of motor vehicle reported on the Friday 31/05/2019 along North Street Bexleyheath between 1pm & 7.30pm, vehicle was left secured; Another theft of motor vehicle reported between the Wednesday 29/05/2019 & Thursday 30/05/2019. Vehicle was taken over night at some point; A theft from motor vehicle was reported on the Thursday 23/05/2019 along The Green Bexleyheath, cash and bank card used and card used to make transactions; Number plates were stolen from a vehicle along Heversham Road at about 2100hrs on Thursday 30/05/2019; On Tuesday 28/05/2019 – Another theft from motor vehicle was reported, vehicle was broken into on the victims drive along Mayplace Road East. Incident happened overnight; On Monday 03/06/2019 – There was a report of a theft of purse in the ASDA store at about 10am. Purse was taken from the victim's shoulder bag. Also on Saturday 25/05/2019 an elderly female had their bank cards and money taken from an unattended handbag.  Regular patrols are being conducted around the war memorial as the team have received complaints about ASB and drugs, also the car parks are regularly patrolled". Crayford ward:- "A metal barrier was stolen from Tower Retail Park on Sunday 19th May between 12.00-midnight. A white Skoda was broken in to whilst parked at Mill Place between Monday 27th and Wednesday 29th May, a sat nav, Apple watch and wallet were stolen. Number plates were stolen from a vehicle whilst parked in Greyhound Way between Monday 27th and Tuesday 28th, OX06 LZG should be on a blue Audi A3. Between 13.00 – 17.30 it is believed there was an attempted burglary in Crayford Way. Keys were heard in the lock outside, keys were in the lock on the inside of the property and entry was not made. As a precaution the locks have been changed, the keys have also been returned. There was an attempted burglary to the Bear and Ragged Staff in the early hours of Thursday 30th May. Tools were used in an attempt to open a door but the alarm activated, no entry made. Within the same time frame a burglary took place at the Dukes Head in Crayford High Street, a window was smashed to gain entry and money was stolen, again an alarm was activated. A male was robbed whilst in an alley way close to Station Road Thursday 30th May at approx. 20.00, his oyster card and money were stolen. Youths caused criminal damage to a window at Subway on Wednesday 29th May between 20.55 – 21.15, this has been captured on CCTV. The off-side wing mirror was kicked off a car in Crayford Road on Saturday 1st June. The rear number plate was stolen off a vehicle parked at Wilmoths Citroen dealers on Wednesday 22nd May. Sports Direct reported that clothes rails and equipment were stolen from the rear of the shop on Saturday 1st June between 5.25am and 6.05am. There was an aggravated burglary at Crayford Road on the Tuesday 4th June at 23.15, two suspects entered the shop and stole approx. £150. Large wheelie bins have been stolen from Topps Tiles between Monday 3rd and Tuesday 4th June. We have been out patrolling the ward on foot and speaking with members of our community. Our next community contact session will be at Vintage Lindy Lou's tea room at Waterside on Wednesday 12th June between 10.00 - 11.00, please come along and say hello. If there is anything you think we should know about, please contact us on the details above". 

Erith ward:- "Tuesday 4th June 2019, 5am - Two males trying every single door of a car. They smashed a car window on St. John's Road but the owner refuses to report it. At least we now have a description of these criminals not the best but you can see the clothing attire and the use of gloves [of one of them, above]. We have had 2 Burglaries over the past week. Burglary Residential on Wednesday 29/05/2019 Cricketers Close - Unknown suspect/s have broken into the venue via the front door; Burg Res Sunday 02/06/2019 Compton Place - unknown suspects believed slipped lock gaining entry with minor search carried out and property stolen; Theft of a motor vehicle 31/05/2019 Neptune Walk. Theft from a motor vehicle 01/06/2019 Meyer Road. Theft from a motor vehicle Thursday 30/05/2019 Christchurch Avenue". Northumberland Heath ward:- "This week the team have said goodbye to PCSO Dee, she has moved to West Heath ward. She will be missed by the team as well as many residents on Northumberland Heath. We wish her luck. The team continue to patrol our ASB hotspots. Recently we have had complaints from both the Subway and Nisa store on Bexley Road regarding a large group of males causing ASB within the stores. We have obtained CCTV footage and are working hard to identify these males. So far we have identified two of them, we will continue our investigations into this matter, working together with Bexley council and local schools we will be dealing with these individuals. This week the team arrested an adult male in Carlton Road. The male was later charged with theft from motor vehicle, this was a good result for the team as we have had a rise in this type of crime on the ward recently. A residential property in Northumberland Heath that had been converted into a cannabis factory was discovered by police this week. An adult male was arrested under suspicion of production of cannabis. I am pleased to report that there have been no residential burglaries on the ward this week. A set of number plates were stolen from a vehicle in Colindale Avenue overnight on Monday 27th May. The next community contact session is Wednesday June 12th, 4.30pm in the Mill Road Library". Slade Green and Northend ward:- "There was a burglary around 3am on Monday June 3rd in Crescent Road. NHS ID and uniform was taken as well as a laptop. This comes less than 2 weeks after an attempted burglary just 2 doors away at a similar time. Crime prevention leaflets have been delivered. Three stop and searches this last week resulted in one positive find and the suspect given the relevant warnings. After a nasty robbery earlier this year at the Post Office in Forest Road, one of the suspects, Michael McCluskey was sentenced this week to serve 10 years in prison. Crime really does not pay. We are aware that last weekend there were a lot of issues around the ward involving a lot of off road bikes being ridden dangerously, with no helmets and on paths etc. We have received lots of intelligence on some of the riders and are working closely with the relevant Housing Associations in taking action against these people. Please keep us updated with any descriptions of bikes, riders and anything you may see that is causing any disruption across the ward. All information received is treated in strict confidence. We have also received a letter from Stoneham Estates stating that they forbid anyone riding anywhere on their land after recent confrontations with riders by Erith Yacht Club whereby they claimed to have permission to be there. They do not. We are also making Bexley Council aware that the access gate at the entrance to the Thames Path is not preventing the bikes from gaining access. Some good news - A male was arrested by PC Mark in Forest Road on Wednesday afternoon after being found in possession of several bags of cannabis. An investigation is ongoing.  Our next community contact session is from 9.30am on Saturday June 15th in Forest Road café".

West Heath ward:- "Unfortunately we have had one attempted residential burglary in Longleigh Lane which took place at 04.30 on Monday June 3rd, the victim heard noises at the front door and called Police. Tools marks were seen around the front door but entry to the property was not gained. One commercial burglary to a premises in New Road between 11pm on Tuesday June 4th and Wednesday June 5th at 5am. Entry was gained and an untidy search was conducted. It is not clear at this stage what, if anything was stolen. Once again we have several reports of motor vehicle crime over the last week. One theft from motor vehicle in Axminster Crescent on Friday May 31st in the early hours of the morning. The victim was delivering papers and left his van briefly. Cash and other personal items were stolen from the vehicle. On Sunday June 2nd 2019 at 1am, in Little Heath Road a male was seen on a resident's CCTV opening their car door and stealing loose change. The suspect left his water bottle in the vehicle! The previous evening, Saturday June 1st a white male was seen on CCTV by another resident in Little Heath Road trying car doors. A car was stolen in Hythe Avenue on Monday June 3rd at 9.10am. The victim left her car for approximately 10 minutes and when she returned her car had been stolen, although she was still in possession of the keys. On Sunday June 2nd at 3.55am a vehicle was broken in to in First Avenue, cash was stolen and an untidy search was conducted. The team have continued to assist with joint burglary patrols with East Wickham and Crook Log over the last weekend to deter crime". 

The end video this week closely follows the first photo at the top of this Blog entry; it is a short, time lapse film taken from Erith Pier, and shows passing river traffic, and what I have previously referred to as Erith's "Big Sky" - something unique to the riverside. Who says I don't plan these things? Please feel free to comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com. 

Analogue Amazon.

The photo above was taken by regular Maggot Sandwich readers Neil and Kay; it shows a vessel on the River Thames on its' way to take part in the River Festival at Greenwich. Thanks to them for the photograph.

Bexley Council are deservedly in the Government’s firing line once again. They are still hiding behind the “We allow filming / audio recording of Council meetings if you have written permission in advance”. This statement has been demonstrably proved to be untrue – as has been highlighted by Malcolm Knight of the Bexley is Bonkers website. No permission has ever been granted to make a video or audio recording of a council meeting – which makes the council’s statement “We are committed to openness” sound very hollow indeed. The Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles has lambasted a number of local councils, Bexley included. Mr. Pickles said” Councillors shouldn’t be ashamed or be trying to hide the work they do. I am opening up the planning appeals that my department oversees so the public can see how the planning system works in practice. Councils should match this by opening up their planning meetings and other committees. A small number of councils are blocking filming because they want to suppress independent reporting, just as some councils are clinging to their town hall Pravdas. An independent local press and robust public scrutiny is essential for a healthy local democracy: without the sunlight of transparency, the flowering of localism will wither. Heavy-handed councils who call the police to suppress freedom of speech are abusing state powers”. Strong words indeed from the Government Minister. The behaviour of Bexley council is perplexing to say the least. We, the voting public put the councillors in their place; surely we have the right to monitor their activities – after all, they are only in power with our consent. I think that certain members of the council have forgotten (or possibly never understood, which is an even more worrying thought) that they work for us, not the other way around. I am glad that Eric Pickles is taking them on – he’s about the only person in power who has realised that local councils have to be accountable – something that Bexley either choose to ignore, or think that it does not apply to them. As I have previously written, the irony of the whole situation is that by being obstructive and secretive, Bexley Council have actually concentrated attention on their dislike of accountability – prompting the Ministers’ wrath. To be honest, most undertakings in the Council chambers are actually deadly boring – as anyone who has attended a session will no doubt attest. It is more a matter of principle. If Bexley Council act like they are the revolutionary committee in some tin pot banana republic, they will continue to be treated with the contempt that they deserve. In my opinion, Eric Pickles needs to come down hard on the Council, and give them a kick up their collective backsides that is more than a little overdue.

Erith Riverside Shopping Centre has struggled to fill all of the retail units; indeed there are a few that are still standing empty. This is a pity, as the place is always kept clean and welcoming, as a couple of readers have recently commented. The incidence of illegal smoking has reduced markedly since I brought the subject up last month, though one regular reader Justin did email me on Wednesday to say that “ I must admit I thought of you and your blog the other day when I recalled your 'no smoking' story in the shopping centre, as last week I was walking through it when I saw a member of staff from Wilkinson’s having a smoke while standing under the no smoking sign while talking to one of the security guards!” This is a bit of a difficult one; I have been in contact with the shopping centre manager, and he has explained that actually only parts of the centre are covered by the smoking ban – basically the indoor part of the building where Matalan and Iceland are located. The areas that are open to the sky do permit smoking, even though the “No Smoking” signs are in this location. Very confusing. I know that the security guards were instructed to ensure the legal ban was enforced – and I witnessed this being carried out on more than one occasion. To be honest, I don’t feel sorry for the centre management or security officers – they seem to be in a “damned if you do, and damned if you don’t” situation. Overall though, I think they do a fine job in what would appear to be a less than ideal situation. One shop that has a very positive presence in the centre is Argos; I would say that it challenges Wilkinson’s as the most popular shopping destination in the Erith Riverside Shopping Centre. Did you know that Argos is currently celebrating its’ fortieth anniversary? I must admit that it almost passed me by. That seems to be very much the nature of Argos – it is there when you need it, but it does not make an impact on the average shopper in the way that John Lewis or Marks and Spencer does. To some, Argos is a bit of a joke – indeed Bill Bailey did an excellent skit on the store, where he likened the laminated in store catalogue to “a book of dreams, plastic coated to catch people’s tears” – see the video clip below. The truth of it is however, that whilst other high street chains like Woolworth’s, Comet and HMV have bitten the dust, Argos is in rude health. It is estimated that 18 million UK households have an Argos catalogue, and 96% of the population are located less than ten miles from a store. The concept of having warehouse type stores, with very few goods on display, where instead shoppers made their selection at home then arrived at the store to fill in a small paper slip and hand it to a store person who would get the goods from “out the back” is an American concept that was brought to the UK in 1973 by businessman Richard Tompkins – the man who had introduced Green Shield Stamps some fifteen years previously. He wanted to create a union of self service shops and catalogues – the convenience of shopping at home with the traditional face to face contact of a local shop. The business model has not really been replicated by other retailers, and many regard it as “quirky” – like an analogue version of an online shop, created many years before the World Wide Web ever was conceived. Nowadays Argos do operate a Click and Collect service, which combines the convenience of online shopping with the ability to then turn up at ones’ local store and collect the goods, without the inconvenience of waiting in for a postman or courier to make a delivery. It is quite interesting how shoppers use Argos – one shopper said “John Lewis is where I shop for quality, Amazon is for electronics, books and music. Argos is for need them now goods”. Argos has always had image problems – it is widely thought of as being somewhat down market and a bit “naff”. It has always been a value retailer, and still today has elements of the betting shop about its’ stores; the little forms to fill in, the mini pens and the waiting for your number to be called. It has always been a shop focused on the working class – for people who perhaps did not want to be grilled by a sales assistant in a department store, but instead be able to turn up and collect. Whatever the details, Argos has been a British success story, and the Erith shop is always busy. The town would be worse off without it.

There was another incident on Erith Pier last Saturday morning. A chap threatened to throw himself off the pier and into the river. Gravesend RNLI and the Police were on hand, and he eventually came down. I was alerted to the matter as it was happening by a fellow member of Erith Watch. After consideration, I concluded that the best thing was for me not to blunder round there with my camera, as goodness knows what I could have inadvertently caused if I had. As I have reported in the past, there have been a series of incidents on both the pier itself and the wooden jetty that runs adjacent to it. I am wondering if a few discreet signs with contact numbers for the Samaritans might be a good idea? This has already been done in suicide hot spots like Beachy Head. It would not cost very much to do, and could end up saving a life. It might have helped back in March 2011, when a young man had a blazing row with his girlfriend, then threw himself off the end of Erith Pier. The undertow and currents around Erith Pier are extremely strong; I understand that life expectancy for anyone in the river is measured in minutes at best. Anything that can be done to stop this happening has got to be welcomed.

I have reported my troubles with my Blogger template to Google. You may have noticed that the comments box does not always appear at the bottom of recent postings, and that the “About me” and other blog shortcuts don’t always appear to the right of the text, near the top of the screen. For some reason these bugs affect the Google Chrome web browser – ironic when you consider both are Google products. Firefox, Opera and Internet Explorer seem far less affected.  To be honest, I am not holding my breath. Google’s support for non premium (as in, free) products is pretty poor in my experience. This does bring up another thought – what web browser do you use by choice? A lot of corporate intranets are set up purely for Internet Explorer, and the end user has no choice in what they use. For consumers the story is somewhat different – Google Chrome is now the single most popular web browser – which, excepting the issue with my own Blogger template is something I concur with. Chrome is minimal, very quick to render, and most importantly for me, it is supported on multiple operating system platforms, notably Apple OS X and Linux, which is great for me. I still like Firefox, which is another excellent product, but for me, Chrome just feels like a more slick and integrated experience. However, it is most definitely a case of “what works for you” as always.

The Crossrail project seems to be running both on time and on budget (still, the cynic in me says that there is still plenty of time for that to change). The tunnel linking Plumstead and Woolwich Arsenal station has now been bored and lined. Electrical and other services still have to be installed, but even so, it is an amazing achievement. The large industrial looking development near Plumstead Railway station is a spoil separation plant – the earth and stone dug out by the tunnel boring machines is pumped out as a slurry, which is separated by the plant into sand, gravel and cakes of chalk. The sections of concrete tunnel lining used to make the tunnels water tight and physically secure seem to be coming from production facilities all over the place. I was standing on the London bound platform of Watford Junction station last week, and a freight train came past , loaded with sections – the only development in London large enough to demand the huge number of pieces of tunnel lining. The freight train I saw had come from Milton Keynes, so I guess that at least some of the tunnel lining pieces must have come from that neck of the woods. The whole Crossrail project is due to be completed in 2018. You can see their website here.

I have to admit that I am absolutely dreading the next three Star Wars movies. It is not just that George Lucas made such a dreadful Horlicks of the three prequels, it is because my regard for the director of the next Star Wars movie - JJ Abrams has been severely dented by seeing his most recent movie last weekend. I watched Star Trek: Into Darkness and regretted doing so when I was not even halfway through the film. It is a disjointed, illogical mess that has more in common with a very poor fan film than a major Hollywood blockbuster. If you have not seen it, and feel that you would like to, I would advise than instead you rent a copy of Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan, which may have been made in 1981 and cost only $11 million to make. The difference is that the Wrath of Khan is a compelling, character driven story where you really care about the characters, and the story has real resonance. “Into Darkness” is bad on so many levels - characters do things that make no sense, whole chunks of the story are recycled (badly) from Wrath of Khan and the whole thing is a waste of a couple of hours of your time. It is a pity, as the first movie from the rebooted series was pretty good. I am certainly not against the whole JJ Abrams reboot concept , but this, the second movie should really not have been released in its’ current form. I fear that Abrams is going the way of George Lucas. He’s now so big and powerful that there is nobody to say “no” to him – which was exactly the problem at the root of the Star Wars prequels. Now that Abrams has been appointed as the director of the first of the new trilogy of Star Wars movies, I fear for the worst.

I see that Microsoft supremo Steve Ballmer has announced that he is to retire next year. This has been a bit of a surprise to many technology pundits, as only last year, when questioned during a press interview , he responded that he intended staying at the helm of the company for around another ten years. This has rather suddenly changed when he announced last Friday that he was to step down next year. A one year exit is proper, given Ballmer’s position; the CEO of a major listed company. What is surprising is his change of leave date, and that Ballmer is planning to start his leaving process now. From insider whispers, it is clear that the decision for him to leave was not made by him – it looks very much like a board decision – the directors include Steve Ballmer’s long time friend Chairman Bill Gates. It is ironic that since Steve Ballmer became Chairman in 2000 (when I very briefly met him at the launch of Windows XP at the Royal Festival Hall – more on this later), Microsoft revenues  and profit levels have gone up, and a huge amount of cash has been showered on shareholders. At the same time however, Microsoft has repeatedly failed to “see the way the wind is blowing” regarding emerging technologies – online search, smart phones and tablet computers, amongst other things. As recently as 2007 Ballmer was dismissive of the iPhone and was interviewed on several occasions, saying how Windows Phone was going to wipe the floor with iOS. As we know, the reverse was true; he also failed to see the emergence of Android as a threat, and now Windows for phone is a minority operating system used by very few mobile phone handsets. iOS and Android have basically carved the market up between themselves. On top of this, Microsoft have written down £1 billion in losses against the Surface RT tablet – the ill – advised Windows tablet that is powered by an ARM processor and is incapable of running standard Windows software. You may recall that a while back I wrote about what a disaster the Surface RT was going to be, and I was bang on the money. Since then, the stock market has voted with its’ feet, and wiped a little shy of $34 billion off the price of Microsoft shares. A group of dissatisfied corporate shareholders also launched a personal class action against Ballmer for appearing to conceal the extent of the losses – the days of the man nick named the Teflon CEO (for his previous ability to avoid any business errors sticking to him) are over. It seems that Bill Gates and the rest of the board thought it was time for Ballmer to go – tellingly, the Microsoft share price jumped up nearly nine percent on the news of his imminent departure – thus ironically making back the $1 billion lost on the Surface RT write down. Ironically Ballmer leaving Microsoft will massively benefit Ballmer personally – he owns 333 million shares in the company, which will skyrocket in value on his departure. If he was to cash in a few of these, he will be in a position to be comfortable for the rest of his life (before he cashes in any shares, his existing personal fortune is estimated to be around £15 billion), as well as buying the odd medium sized country, should the urge take him.  My encounter with Steve Ballmer was very brief; I attended the launch of Windows XP in London after managing to blag a ticket to the event through work (there are occasions when working for a household name multinational blue chip professional services firm can have its’ fringe benefits). I was sat in an aisle seat in the Royal Festival Hall. There was a big opening video with a track by Madonna, then Ballmer came running down from the back of the hall, all WWE wrestling style. Had I known Ballmer was  running past my seat a couple of moments earlier, I could have stuck my leg out and sent him flying. Anyway, at the end of the presentation, a few members of the audience, myself included were invited for a corporate “meet and greet” session. I said hello to Steve Ballmer; he took one look at me, and the polo shirt I was wearing, and his look was pure poison. He blanked me completely. I have to say that I was very impressed with this reaction; the polo shirt he had taken such offence to was a sober grey in colour, but on the right  hand breast was embroidered Tux – the Linux mascot; this was at around the time that he said of the open source movement  “Linux is a cancer that attaches itself in an intellectual property sense to everything it touches.” Understandably he was not too impressed with my appearance!

A local commercial company have been caught by a member of Erith Watch illegally fly tipping old sofas and furniture at the recycling centre in Morrison's car park at 5.52pm on Saturday the 31st August. The evidence has already been passed on to North End Safer Neighbourhoods Police Team. It has been suspected for some time that the company has been carrying out illegal dumping, but this was the first time that hard, reliable eye witness evidence has been obtained. The recycling centre is purely for domestic waste for recycling - glass bottles, metal cans, paper / card, and plastic food containers. It is not a full council dump, and does not accept commercial waste of any description. The offenders were caught red handed dumping an old sofa and arm chairs. Whilst the company concerned cannot be publicly named until the Police and Bexley Council Environmental Health anti fly tipping team have completed their investigations, suffice to say that they are Erith based, and present a very professional appearance. It seems that the company are using the recycling centre to dump old sofas to avoid the commercial charges that are made by the Thames Road Council Dump in Crayford. It must be noted that The area of Appold Street and James Watt Way, where the Morrison's recycling facility is located is within a specified anti fly tipping zone. Upon a successful prosecution, fines for the guilty party can amount to £50,000, and be banged up in jail. I will keep readers posted as to the outcome of further investigations.

I had planned to visit Bletchley Park this weekend; unfortunately I was unwell, and could not make the trip - please see the video of a lecture which took place recently. Comments and feedback are always welcomed.