The Nuxley Navigator ends.

Recently I was talking to someone who was visiting Erith from Charlton. I showed her around the Erith Riverside Gardens, and the view of the River Thames. She remarked that it was amazing that more people were not aware of the gardens and the stunning horizon to horizon views that can be seen. I feel that the river is an under used asset locally. More on this subject further on in this weeks update. Who says I don't plan these things?

It has been brought to my attention by a reader that the long - ailing News Shopper local paper and website may be under new difficulties. The News Shopper is part of a larger media group called NewsQuest, which is in turn part of an American owned media corporation called Gannett. News has recently broken that Gannett is in talks with a rival media group called MNG Enterprises about a possible takeover. In a report in the Press Gazette, a spokesperson from the National Union of Journalists was quoted as stating that gannett was:- "being pursued by the most predatory of vulture capitalist corporate raiders who are far distant from the needs and responsibilities of a modern media company”. Gannett owns USA Today and hundreds of local newspapers in the US, as well as Newsquest, which is the UK’s second largest regional publisher and has been expanding its portfolio in the past year. Newsquest’s daily titles include the Herald titles and The National in Scotland, the News and Star in Cumbria, the Northern Echo, Bournemouth Daily Echo, Oxford Mail, and Isle of Wight County Press. It also owns a number of local weekly newspaper series in London, including the News Shopper and Bexley Times. MNG is owned by New York hedge fund Alden Global Capital. It publishes about 200 newspapers in the US including the Denver Post, Boston Herald and San Jose Mercury News. Federica Bedendo, of the National Union of journalists said:- "The the union is really concerned about what the potential acquisition would mean for local newspapers in the UK. Journalists within Newsquest already think this company has hit rock bottom and the prospect of being acquired by an organisation that’s renowned for cost cutting and job slashing isn’t going to do anything to benefit our titles or indeed our working conditions. We already operate on a shoe-string, morale is at an all-time low, stress levels are through the roof and we lose more and more talent each day due to the way that Newsquest operates. What angers us most is that Newsquest is financially in a very enviable position compared to other publishers, yet its top bosses seem to be prepared to do anything for profit. NUJ members are being driven away from the newspaper industry by these money-chasing operations.” What do you think? Do you have any insight into what is going on? Please feel free to Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com in complete confidence if you have some inside information. 

I have an apology to make to the person who sent me an Email on Friday afternoon with a follow - up query to the piece I wrote last week about the Violet Club nuclear weapons which were constructed at Woolwich Arsenal in the 1950's. I have accidentally deleted your Email - could you please resend it and I will get back to you? In my defence I get well in excess of 120 Emails each and every day, and on rare occasions mistakes such as inadvertently deleting a valued message can, and do occur.

You may recall that back in November 2017, I wrote a piece about a new private bus service which was then about to commence. The service was aimed at residents of parts of Upper Belvedere, Northumberland Heath and Erith. The bus service was to operate on weekdays only, and run between Harrow Manorway outside of Abbey Wood Station, and Carlton Road in Northumberland Heath. The service was somewhat inappropriately called The Nuxley Navigator - as previously covered, "Nuxley Village" does not exist - it is properly named Belvedere Village, or Nuxley Road, Upper Belvedere. The roads that the new private bus service covered were as follows:- Towards Abbey Wood Station (mornings only) - Carlton Road, Brook Street, Parsonage Manorway, Swaylands Road, Matfield Road, Stream Way, Bedonwell Road, Orchard Avenue, Bedonwell Road, Glenview, West Heath Road, Brampton Road, Knee Hill, Harrow Manorway. Towards Erith (afternoons only) - Harrow Manorway, Knee Hill, Brampton Road, West Heath Road, Glenview, Bedonwell Road, Orchard Avenue, Bedonwell Road, Stream Way Matfield Road, Swaylands Road, Parsonage Manorway, Brook Street, and Carlton Road. The Crossrail service which was meant to be opening at Abbey Wood Station at the end of 2018, and many of the roads covered by The Nuxley Navigator were not covered by any existing bus service. The Nuxley Navigator featured a reserved seat and, in London, standard rides were £2.40, though the introductory price was £1.60. A standard bus fare is £1.50. Chariot was supposed to work by being pre-bookable but with predetermined stops, similar to a bus route. The real reason for the service was to connect the Erith Quarry housing development with Abbey Wood Station. The developers of Erith Quarry are aiming the new development primarily at second or third time buyers who want larger, family sized houses - for people who intend to "put down roots" in the area. In order to attract middle class professional people into the local area, they needed so show that there were good commuting connections into London - something that The London Borough of Bexley has historically lacked. The fact that we have no DLR or Tube services in the Borough has been a factor that has discouraged some people from moving into the area. Providing a purpose built mini bus link between the Erith Quarry site and Abbey Wood Station was supposed do much to convince people that they should move into the area, as housing is significantly cheaper than in other parts of London, and the commuting issue was intended to be at least partially answered by The Nuxley Navigator - even if the name of the new bus service was inaccurate. Fellow local Blogger and "proper" journalist Darryl Chamberlain of the excellent 853 Blog has broken a story which I am using with his full permission. Darryl discovered that Chariot - the company behind both the Nuxley Navigator and the Shooters Hill Shot private bus services is to pull out of the market on Friday the 25th of January. Back in October I reported that:- "The problem has been that 1) Crossrail has been significantly delayed, 2) Erith Quarry has not yet opened, and 3) there is very little local awareness of the private bus service. On top of this, it is a bookable service, not a "hop on, hop off" service as per a normal bus ride. Lastly the service can only be booked via a mobile phone app, and one cannot use Oyster cards. The lack of passengers on the Nuxley Navigator is, I am led to believe, causing the operator, Chariot, and their sponsor, Ford to consider closing the service". My prediction turned out to be totally correct, and the service to to close before the end of the month. I have had reports from readers that The Nuxley Navigator was a very patchy service, with often only one mini bus on the entire route, and very few people used it - a local source (who wants to remain anonymous) told me that she had seen people trying to use their Oyster card on the service, and being annoyed when they could not. I feel that Chariot - and their sponsors car and van producers Ford - have really dropped the ball with this one. The announcement on the Chariot US website reads:- "Today, we have important news to share about Chariot services. Following significant consideration, we have decided to close the Chariot operation. Friday, January 25th is the last day we will offer service on commuter routes in the U.K., and Friday, February 1 will be the last day we will offer service on our commuter routes in the U.S. We will cease all operations across the US and in the UK by the end of March. In today’s mobility landscape, the wants and needs of customers and cities are changing rapidly. We apologize for the inconvenience this may cause Chariot’s riders and our enterprise customers. We are committed to ensuring our customers are aware of the decision and have time to make alternative transportation arrangements. We are truly grateful to our commuters, enterprise customers, and partners for your support over the past five years. Chariot was built on a commitment to help reduce congestion, ease the commute and improve quality of life in cities, and since our start, we have provided our customers with more than 3 million rides. In addition, we helped Ford build their mobility business, and their experience with Chariot continues to inform their mobility efforts and design decisions for the future. In addition to our customers, our priority during this transition is to ensure we support our employees. We are thankful for their hard work and dedication to bringing Chariot to where it is today". No doubt once - eventually - Crossrail / The Elizabeth Line opens, and the Erith Quarry development is fully up and running with residents, some other transport operator will take over the route, when there is actually a chance of attracting paying customers to it. The whole Nuxley Navigator / Shooters Hill Shot project has been an utter shambles. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or alternatively Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Another transport related story; work has begun to increase the number of Thames Clipper ferry terminals on the River Thames. A new terminal is being constructed at Silvertown, on the North banks of the Thames - by the end of this year a derelict jetty will be replaced by a 427ft public promenade stretching far out across the river, with a cantilevered timber roof and a public viewing deck, as well as docking stations for Thames Clipper boats offering services to Canary Wharf in 14 minutes. Journeys to London Bridge will take 26 minutes, while Waterloo will take 34 minutes. Silvertown is already served by Pontoon Dock DLR station, but for many commuters a short boat trip is a welcome alternative to starting the day on a packed train. What this will mean for the long proposed use of Erith Pier as a stop for the Thames Clipper service is currently unclear. Back in September 2017 MBNA Thames Clippers carried out series of test voyages into London from Gravesend and back. Public reaction to the experimental service was extremely positive, and the CEO of the Clipper company, Sean Collins said in an interview at that time:- "The trial has been a total success so far, passengers have been asking a lot of questions to find out when a permanent service could be up and running and how much it will cost. These questions are the reason we are running this trial, I set up this company 18 years ago, and two years later people were asking me about a Gravesend service, the only reason we haven’t done anything sooner is because we’ve been working on other projects across London. We need to set out a full business case, it could take up to two years to start up a service, it would be great to see it stop at other places, such as Erith, Greenhithe, Dagenham and Thurrock." Since September 2017 things have been very quiet, and no official announcements have been made. In the intervening period, some questions have been asked about the practicalities of running a service from Erith Pier. As previously mentioned Erith Pier does not project straight out into the river, in the way that for example Southend Pier juts out into the Thames Estuary. Instead a majority of its length is in a "dog leg` that runs parallel to the shore line. There is also a short spur that projects out to the left side of the main part of the pier. The spur is where I am of the opinion any free floating pontoon would need to be located. Whilst the central channel of the River Thames at Erith is more than sufficiently deep for large ocean going vessels to navigate, the sides of the river are actually rather shallow, and dry out at low tide. A free floating pontoon would enable a Thames Clipper ferry to dock despite a low tide. It would require some extensive alterations and re - engineering of the pier spur. I know that Morrison's supermarket - who own the pier, are not keen on it being used as a ferry terminal, as they don't want commuters using their supermarket car park, but if enough pressure comes to bear from local government, Transport For London, The Mayor of London's office and our local MP, Teresa Pearce (who has backed the use of Erith Pier for a ferry service for a very long time), then things may happen. Bearing in mind the growth of Erith as a residential area, and the relative paucity of public transport links into central London that currently exist, it would seem to me that a regular ferry service to and from London is a "no brainer". What do you think? Leave a comment below, or alternatively Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Local resident Doreen Ives has submitted the following story:- "Vet's Club Scrabble group. We had a very successful first meeting of our Scrabble group on Friday 11th January. Everyone who came along enjoyed the challenge of the games and the jovial company.  If you like playing this stimulating board game then you are very welcome to join us. The group meet at the Veterans Club in Park Crescent just behind Christ Church Hall. Parking is easy so no worries there. To be a member of the Veterans Club will cost you £20 a year and you then have access to participating in all the many leisure activities on offer there, for a charge of £1.50 per session. Alternatively you can participate in activities as a non-member at a charge of £2.50 per session. At the Scrabble group we have tea/coffee and biscuits halfway through the two hour session, all included in your fee.  The next session is on Friday 8th February 2pm-4pm". 

Last week the results of an extensive survey were published, and the results make for somewhat disturbing reading. Three quarters of US Facebook users unaware their online behaviour gets tracked; whilst the survey covers Facebook users in the US and not the UK, I think that the UK results would be very similar, if not almost identical. The US survey found that most Facebook users have no idea that the advertising business compiles data profiles of their online activities and interests, according to research conducted by the non-profit Pew Research Center. That is not altogether surprising given that Facebook appeals to people disinclined to concern themselves with the minutiae of digital technology, which is to say most people. It is worth recalling that a decade ago, Google representatives stopped people on the street in New York City to ask "What's a web browser?" and almost no one could answer correctly. The finding nonetheless underscores the privacy cost, unrecognised though it may be, of relying on an ad platform for media and messages rather than wrestling with the complexity of self-administered communications software. After surveying 963 US adults last year between September 4th to October 1st, Pew researchers found that 74 per cent of Facebook users said they were unaware the social advertising business tracks their traits and interests. Facebook makes such data available to users through the "Your ad preferences" page, but about half of the survey respondents didn't like what they saw once they were made aware of their data trail. Fifty-one per cent of those surveyed said they were not comfortable with Facebook compiling this information. It seems doubtful however such unease will translate into account cancellation. Expressing discomfort in a survey is easy and doesn't necessarily correlate with willingness to abandon Facebook. A study published late last year found "the average Facebook user would require more than $1,000 to deactivate their account for one year." The Pew survey says 88 per cent of Facebook users found data about themselves in their advertising preferences page. Of these individuals, 59 per cent said the data reflected actual interests while 27 per cent said the data either partially or fully misrepresents them. The disconnect between Facebook's categorisations of people and the way they see themselves is also evident in the context of the political designations and racial/ethnic "affinities" the social data business applies to users. About half of survey respondents had been assigned a political label by Facebook. Of those labeled liberal, conservative, or moderate, 73 per cent agreed with their designation while 27 per cent said assigned political classification was not accurate. Reports of misclassification came more frequently from self-described moderates (36 per cent) than they did from those calling themselves liberals (20 per cent) or conservatives (25 per cent). What the results would be in the UK are unclear, but I strongly suspect that they would be very similar. It seems that worldwide, many Facebook users either don't know about the fact that the giant corporation extracts information about them, or that they plain just don't care. 

An article by guest contributor and transport enthusiast Dana Wiffen. Dana writes:- "Here is short piece on the double decker train, with a good news update and 2 photos, some Erith commuters might remember seeing this train normally on platform 2 or 3 of Charing Cross Station at around 6pm. I travelled on it many times between 1970/71 when it was removed from service. This experimental EMU (electric double decker train) came into service in 1949 running on the Dartford to Charing Cross line mainly on the Bexleyheath Line. Two sets of 8 cars were built and their seating capacity was 552, really a split level train the half upper deck enabled additional passengers to sit but with no door and poor ventilation as the small upstairs windows did not open, there were not popular especially in the summer. Following an attack on a woman that was kept in the upper section by the attacker, a female only carriage was introduced on the service to reassure female travellers. With additional weight, height and poor cornering these handsome looking trains managed to be kept in service until 1971, sadly only 2 carriages survive today they seem to have been left and not restored by the owners as heritage railways are  reluctant to take them for use as passenger carriages because of the additional weight and height. The photos above show an old picture of the double decker train in service (courtesy of John Kennett) while the other photograph (courtesy of Keith Littlewood) shows one of the two remaining carriages no 13004  in poor condition at the Northampton and Lamport Railway in 1994, it has since been moved to the Northampton Ironside Railway. This is one of only the two cars that survive today the other 13003 is in sidings at Sellinge in Kent. Good News;-Bullied EMU Double Decker Train no: 13003 has recently been purchased by a group that want to restore the two remaining carriages, they are called The Bullied 4DD Group, and there aim is to start work on this train at Sellinge, Kent  as soon as possible, where it has been in a siding since 1999. They will continue to try and purchase 13004 from the owner, their attempts so far have been unsuccessful" Fascinating stuff; In addition, I gather that the ventilation of the upper deck was by constantly running electric fans, as the windows couldn't be opened. The train was higher than other trains so care had to be taken which routes to use it on. The Dartford routes were ideal and no alteration had to be made to the  track and bridges. Bearing in mind many people smoked on trains back then, the fug on the upper deck must have been terrible, especially in summer. The other problems with the double decker train was that the seats were cramped, hard and uncomfortable, and the time taken to get on and off the double decker carriages was significantly longer than with a conventional train. Other European countries successfully deploy double decker trains, but they are fully air conditioned, there is no smoking, and comfort is considerably better; they also tend to be deployed on longer distance routes, rather than suburban "start and stop" journeys. 

Now for the weekly local safety and security updates from Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association. Firstly from Barnehurst ward:- "We are pleased to report there have been no burglaries for the past week however there have been three incidents of vehicle crime. On Friday 04th January 2019 there was a theft of motor vehicle in Eversley Avenue. This vehicle was stopped and recovered on the M25 after being followed by Police. Two occupants were detained, passenger was dealt with for possession of drugs and the driver dealt with for theft of motor vehicle and possession of drugs. On Friday 11th January 2019 victim returned to his vehicle to find the door ajar and a small amount of change taken. There was no damage to the vehicle. In Grassmere Road on Thursday 10th January 2019 between 10.00am and 01.00am a vehicle was broken into and photographic equipment taken. Barnehurst officers carried out a routine patrol to Cheviot Close on Wednesday 16th January 2019 and came across white Ford transit van parked and unattended in the garaged area. Police checks revealed this vehicle had been stolen from Sidcup and was therefore recovered. This area of Cheviot Close is highly patrolled by Police. The team met with the Barnehurst ward Councillor yesterday to discuss council related issues on the ward, one being the delay with the proposal from Orbit to install a bollard at the entry point to the garages in Cheviot Close, we hope this issue will be resolved soon as this will deter unwanted visitors from dumping rubbish and stolen vehicles. Barnehurst team will be at the Barnehurst Golf Club on Thursday 24th January 2019 at 11.00am. Please join us to discuss any matters of concern in and around the ward". Belvedere ward:- "We have had no burglaries reported on the ward over the past week. We had a theft of number plates from a Hyundai car on St Thomas Road overnight on the Sat 5th into the Sun 6th January. On Friday 11th, Monday 14th and Wednesday 16th the team visited St Augustine's Primary school and gave a road safety talk to years 1-5. The children were very engaging and seemed to take on board the safety message. A kitchen knife was found by the estate manager at Lesnes Abbey Woods on the 15th. The knife has been seized and will be destroyed". Bexleyheath ward:- "Below is a quick glance of the burglaries/attempted burglaries that have been reported: Sunday 13/01/2019 - Burglary at North Street Bexleyheath, garage was broken into and items taken as well as motorbikes. This was over a two day period; Monday 14/01/2019 – Burglary along Long Lane Bexleyheath. Access was via the kitchen door and entry was gained; Thursday 10/01/2019 – Attempted Burglary along Tudor Walk. Side window was smashed and the suspect was disturbed; Saturday 12/01/2019 – Rochester Drive, suspect tried to gain access to property by attacking lock. Seems to have happened overnight; Tuesday 15/01/2019 – There was a report of a theft of motor vehicle along Martin Dene; Thursday 10/01/2019 – Two suspects had tried to break a lock of a motorbike at the civic offices and they were disturbed; Wednesday 09/01/2019 – There was a report of criminal damage to motor vehicle along the Broadway; Friday 11/01/2019 – A theft from motor vehicle was reported along Rydal Drive Bexleyheath. There was a report of a theft of purse on the Broadway whilst the victim was walking along, this was on Wednesday 09/01/2019. Also in WH Smiths along the Broadway there was a report of suspects stealing money, cards and other personal items and cards being used. This was reported on the Monday 07/01/2019. A purse was also reported stolen from a bag in Primark Bexleyheath on the Wednesday 09.01/2019 at about midday; Thursday 10/01/2019 – A mobile phone was report stolen from the victims pocket whilst in the Broadway area. There was also a report of two cash machines on the Broadway at Barclays Bank, where skimming devices were used. So please be careful when using the machines, if the there is anything unusual please do not use the machine and advise others not to use and inform the bank or the Police as soon as possible. Please be careful who is around when using the machines and always shield what you type on the keypad. The team are regularly conducting targeted patrols for burglary and anti-social behaviour. Also there was stops made in the ASDA car park in Bexleyheath, this was in relation to vehicles with drives causing anti-social behaviour. The team have been delivering free smart water kits to areas of the ward that have been identified that are at a higher risk of being burgled. So far last weekend they have delivered 115 kits on the ward and more shall be delivered soon. Also it seems that youths are re-appearing along Iris Avenue causing ASB. If there is any issues, please call Police on 101 or 999 where appropriate. 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". Crayford ward:- "On Monday 9th January between 21.00 - 21.30 a coke can was thrown at an address in Swale Road causing the glass in the door and to the side to be smashed. The can was retained for forensics. On Wednesday 9th January between 01.00-7.00 an iPod was stolen from within a white Citroen van whilst parked near to 160 Maiden Lane, this is the junction to Beech Walk. Between 15.40 on Tuesday 8th January and 20.10 on Wednesday 9th January a front number plate GK57 OSF was stolen from a vehicle parked at the top end of Iron Mill Lane, this plate should be on a silver Toyota Yaris. A theft from a blue Ford Transit occurred overnight between 18.00 on Wednesday 9th and 06.00 on Thursday 10th January whilst parked in Maiden Lane junction with Barnes Cray Road, the items stolen included power tools, it is not known how the vehicle was entered as no damage was done. There have been multiple incidents of shoplifting from the smaller shops in Crayford Road recently, always the same suspect, believed to be aged between 30-40 years, white male, medium build. Although small items are stolen it is having an impact on the local businesses. If you know who this person may be please let us know. Between 18.00 on Sunday 13th January and 8.30 on Monday 14th January, three tyres were deliberately slashed on a silver C180 Mercedes whilst parked in Iron Mill Lane towards Thames Road. Between Saturday 12th and Monday 14th January three large batteries were stolen from vehicles parked on the Acorn Industrial Estate. Incidentally, 32 batteries used to light up traffic lights were stolen from the rear of a white Fiat van whilst parked close to McDonalds in Crayford on Tuesday 15th January between 20.00-20.15. The suspects would have needed a vehicle to remove these items as they are the size and weight as car batteries. We will be at the Ellenor Hospice shop in Crayford Road on Wednesday 23rd January between 12.00 and 13.00 if you would like to come along to say hello or for crime prevention advice". Erith ward:- "We have our ward panel meeting this week, I will give a rundown update in next week's update. No burglaries over the last week, but a theft of and from motor vehicles is still on the rise. I have been out trying to sign up some more NHW members, at this time it looks as if I have 7 new people that are interested, their info will be passed to the NHW office as they all would like a little bit more information regarding the role". Northumberland Heath ward:- "A fairly quiet week on the ward in relation to crime. We are pleased to say that we have had no burglaries reported to us. One theft from two vehicles belonging to the same person in Beechfield Road. This took place overnight on the evening of Sunday January 13th between 11pm and 6.20am on Monday January 14th.Vehicle one was on the road outside the house, a window was forced open entry was gained but nothing was taken. The second vehicle was parked on the driveway and the rear bar was pulled off with the lock. Seats were pulled down and the plastic cowling under the steering wheel was pulled off and wires were left exposed. A child's scooter was stolen from the boot but was later found in the porch of a neighbour's house. One theft from motor vehicle in Nurstead Road again on Monday January 14th between 6.45pm and 6.40am the following morning. Some loose change was taken, and the glove compartment emptied. Last Friday the team executed a search warrant for drugs in Northumberland Heath and have continued to stop and search individuals either seen, or believed to be using drugs. Several cannabis seizures have been made over the past week. The next drop in Police surgery will be held in the Library in Mill Road next Wednesday 23rd of January at 2pm".  Slade Green and Northend ward:- "Sadly there was an aggravated burglary at 1.30pm on Wednesday 16/01 in Slade Green Road. 3 men in balaclavas and with a large knife have forced entry into an address and demanded that something was handed over. The 'something' was unknown to the scared victims and after a quick search the suspects fled into Rainbow Road. Fortunately there were no injuries. Response officers arrived quickly but an area search proved to be negative. The investigation is ongoing as to who may be involved and reassurance patrols and visits will be carried out by ourselves this week. If you have any concerns, please let us know so we can give any necessary reassurance wherever needed. Only one other crime of note to report in the last week. Criminal damage to motor vehicle occurred around 1230pm on Sunday 13/01/2019 in Canada Road whereby the victim's car was scratched and damaged. Good news: After good intelligence received from a resident, 3 stolen vehicles have been found and recovered in and around Hollywood Way in the last week. One of the vehicles had a large sword inside among other items. Investigations are underway in regards who is involved in this suspicious activity and we are working with the relevant Housing Association to get these issues stopped. Extra patrols will be ongoing on the estate and it will be flagged as a ward promise at our residents panel meeting next week. Our new watch is now up and running in Larkswood Close. We will let everyone know when any future watches are set up". Thamesmead East ward:- "Distraction Burglary - Parkway Sunday 13/1/19 between 9:10pm – 9:20pm two males have presented themselves as plain clothes police officers to gain access into the property taking a number of items; Theft - The Link Bazalgette Way Thursday 10/01/19 between 5:45pm – 6:30pm Suspect/s have entered unlocked changing room and stolen 3 mobile phones; Criminal Damage to Motor Vehicle Lensburt Way Sunday 13/1/19 between 10pm – 10:45pm. Suspect/s have snapped of both wing mirrors and bent windscreen wipers; Theft from Motor Vehicle - Parkway Thursday 10/01/19 between 6am – 615am Suspect has stolen victims vehicle registration plates; Good News - What started off as a low level noise complaint between neighbours turned into a challenging situation for the team. After conducting extensive research working with multi-safeguarding agencies the male is being given the appropriate medical help and support needed". West Heath ward:- "This week the ward has had no reported burglaries. There has been theft from motor vehicles in Gipsy Road and Lansdowne Avenue both overnight on Fri 11th - Sat12th January. The team took part in a Burglary reduction initiative with other teams from Bexleyheath delivering free Smartwater kits to residents. Smartwater is a solution used to mark property. Each bottle has a unique chemical make- up that is registered to a specific address making any stolen items traceable. The kit comes with Smartwater stickers for your windows. Smartwater is available through your Neighbourhood watch at a discounted rate and we encourage you to contact the NW office for details. We had a successful ward panel meeting on Saturday 12th January which was well attended. The new Promises for the next three months are Burglary, Motor vehicle crime and ASB around drugs. Remember you can follow us on Twitter for more frequent updates. Our next Community contact session will be on Tuesday 22nd January in Hadlow Road Welling at noon followed by Plymstock Road on 30th January at 2pm".

The end video this week features vintage photographs and film footage taken in and around Erith, Crayford, Welling and Bexleyheath, mainly in the 1950's, and is of some considerable historical interest. do give the video a look. 

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The regeneration of Erith Quarry.

The remodelling of Manor Road continues, and locals report that it is not a happy experience. The second phase of work to the section of road between Appold Street and Frobisher Road has now begun, and on Tuesday evening the contractor, FM Conway blocked off the rat run from James Watt Way via Appold Street into Manor Road, with barriers, cones and large “Road Closed” signs at both end of Appold street; they also erected barriers along the footpaths on both sides of the road, and finally they placed barriers and traffic cones across the road at the Frobisher Road end of the road closure. Within a couple of minutes, irresponsible motorists removed the barriers and signs so that they could continue to use the legally closed road; in doing this they knocked over the barriers that ran along the footpaths, making them impossible to use by pedestrians. The Police were notified, and some time later a single worker from Conway was back on site to put all the barriers back in place. As soon as he had gone, selfish motorists once again removed the barriers and cones so that they could continue to illegally  use the road – despite the fact that there were deep holes where the manholes had already been dug out prior to the road surface being removed. I have had detailed reports of a woman  with a small child in a buggy being sworn and shouted at by a biker illegally using the pavement to try and circumvent the works. If this was not enough of a concern, FM Conway seem to  have a very relaxed approach to the whole project.  Workers seem to begin sloping off at around 3.30 in the afternoon, and on numerous occasions only a handful of staff have actually been on site. It strikes me that Conway are trying to do the whole thing “on the cheap” by keeping their overheads (staff costs) low. No overtime, little weekend and no evening works, even if this does cause a problem both to local residents and motorists alike. It was also suggested to me that Conway are shifting staff from the Manor Road site to the Fraser Road site in the late afternoons. The Fraser Road site operates from 7pm until 2am, and I have had reports of some of the same faces being seen at both locations at different times of the day. If this was not bad enough, some irresponsible bikers are continuing to illegally ride motorbikes up and down the footpaths on Manor Road, as they are too feckless and lazy to follow the posted diversion, and would rather break the law and endanger pedestrians. Only yesterday morning I saw a obviously wealthy bloke on a giant Harley Davidson rumbling down the very part of the pavement seen to the right of the photograph above (click for a larger view). As you can clearly see, there is absolutely nowhere for a pedestrian to jump out of the way, as the metal fences block moving in the to the road to avoid a speeding motorbike. Locals are encouraged to take photographs when they see such criminal activity, and to send them to the Erith Watch website here. The Police will take action where they have clear evidence of illegal activity taking place, which in cases such as this can involve the offenders' bike being crushed should they be caught again. Only two weeks from the start, the ten week Manor Road remodelling project has already slipped by a week.  How much more inconvenience local residents will have to suffer is unclear at this point. Locals are having to keep their cars in Morrison's car park, as there is absolutely no (legal) vehicular access to the section of road in the photo. Once the works are completed, the road should be superb, and a real boon to the area; it does seem to me that the price that local residents are having to pay in terms of inconvenience is exceptionally high. Better project management and communications from F.M Conway and the Council could remedy this, along with the arrest, prosecution and bike crushing of the illegal riders. I can also say that most bikers are very responsible. I know many do take the diversion, and I have even seen some getting off, switching off their bike's engine and pushing the bike along as a pedestrian, which I am sure neither I or others have any trouble with whatsoever. As is often the case, the minority tarnish the image of the many, and everyone suffers in consequence.

As regular reader will be aware, the Maggot Sandwich likes to do its' bit for the local community. This week I am publishing an appeal for information and photographs. You can read more here:- "Next year (2015) sees the centenary of the completion of the building of the tower,  and the installation of the clock and bells for Christ Church Erith. I am doing research at the moment with the intention of putting together a display for next year. What I would love to see, if such a thing exists, is a picture of the tower under construction during 1914-15. We have a picture of the laying of the foundation stone  on June 13th 1914 and pictures once the building work was completed in June 1915 but nothing in between. The pictures we have are largely accredited to JB Major of Pier Road Erith, a local photographer (and probably a sidesman at Christchurch) who seems to have had various addresses in Erith in the preceding years so it seems  most likely that any photos during construction would be by him. So far I have drawn a blank in the Parish Archives both in the church and those now held in the Local Studies Centre and in the local newspapers of the day". If you have any information or relevant photographs, you can contact Rachel via myself at the usual Email address:- hugh.neal@gmail.com.

You may have read this week in the news that a large number of documents have been released from the Mitrokhin Archive relating to Soviet espionage over the last eighty or so years. The archive has been the property of the Churchill Archive Centre at Cambridge University since they were handed over by MI6 after they had been analysed in the late 1990’s. At over two thousand closely hand written pages, the Mitrokhin Archive is the largest academic record of Soviet era spying known to exist. It was created by KGB Major Vasili Mitrokhin during his thirty years as a KGB archivist in the foreign intelligence service and the First Chief Directorate. When he defected to the United Kingdom in 1992 he brought the archive with him. One of the conditions of Mitrokhin’s defection was that the documents were to be released into the public domain when they were no longer likely to endanger any operations. This has now happened, and much historical detail concerning KGB operations in the West is now open to public study.  Long time readers may recall that I wrote about long time Nursery Avenue in Bexleyheath resident, British communist and covert KGB spy Melita Norwood back in October 2011. At that point it was thought that she was not really very important and that MI5 had not had her arrested as they felt that she was not a high risk to security – they had only found out about her spying activities in when the Archive reached their hands, by which time Norwood was an old lady (she died in 2005). The publication of the Mitrokhin Archive would seem to give lie to this, however. Melita Norwood was a civil servant at the British Non – Ferrous Metals Research Association (a research organisation that conducted work ostensibly into areas such as the effects of corrosion in pipes and seawater cooled condenser tubes used in warships; there is also some debate that the organisation was a cover for British nuclear weapons research, though there is contradictory evidence regarding this).  She had access to the safe that contained documents graded as secret and above, and photographed thousands of pages which were handed over to her KGB masters. The Mitrokhin Archive says that Norwood, far from being a minor and not very significant figure in Soviet espionage, was actually the most important and highly regarded female spy in KGB history. She had been secretly awarded the Order of the Red Banner and granted a lifetime pension of £20 a month. It seems to me that the KGB would not have given her this very prestigious award simply for passing them information on rusty warships.  The Order of the Red Banner was the highest award of Soviet Russia, subsequently the Soviet Union, until the Order of Lenin was established in 1930. Recipients were recognised for extraordinary heroism, dedication, and courage demonstrated on the battlefield. The order was also awarded to individuals as well as to military units, cities, ships, political and social organizations, and state enterprises. In essence the award was not given lightly. Despite the contradictory evidence, I find the claims that Norwood stole many of Britain’s nuclear secrets and enabled the Soviets to create their own nuclear weapons to be very credible; it is ironic that this person, acknowledged by the KGB as their finest female spy would live for much of her life in a comfortable if unremarkable semi detached house situated in Nursery Avenue in Bexleyheath. After her story came out and Melita Norwood gained a degree of infamy, my Mother saw her on a local bus on a couple of occasions, and felt sorry for the old lady who was often the target of loudly whispered gossip by fellow travellers. She did what she did for ideological reasons, and was quoted as saying “I did what I did, not to make money, but to help prevent the defeat of a new system which had, at great cost, given ordinary people food and fares which they could afford, a good education and a health service”. It is not known if at the time of her active spying career if she knew of Stalin’s state sponsored programme of mass murder or the millions he consigned to Gulags, or indeed the incredible repression and shortages undergone by all but the political elite. It may well be that she was naive and credulous – as many Europeans were prior to World War II.  Whatever the reason, she went to her grave knowing that communism was dead and the belief system it engendered was thoroughly discredited.

South Thamesmead is due to receive a £225 million shot in the arm from the Peabody Trust, an organisation set up by American philanthropist George Peabody in 1862. The money is to be spent redeveloping the area around Abbey Wood Station, which will also have the South East terminus of Crossrail.  It would seem that the trust wants to tart up the area around the station to try and encourage people to move into the town. On top of this, they are kicking off a project to attract investment to build upwards of ten thousand new homes, of which around half will be on the river front. In short Thamesmead is going to be gentrified. I suppose that it was only a matter of time before something like this was on the cards; the proposed cross Thames bridges at Beckton to Thamesmead and Rainham to Lower Belvedere would provide cross – river access to both ends of the proposed new riverside housing, in an area that has always suffered from poor communications (part of the reason that Thamesmead has not been the success that it was initially hoped for). Peabody Trust boss Steve Hewlett said in a recent interview with the London Evening Standard “Thamesmead has the potential to be London’s major garden suburb, with beautiful green spaces, first class amenities, excellent schools and rapidly improving transport connections”. What Hewlett is fully aware of, but reluctant to comment on is that there are considerable problems with developing the Thamesmead riverside area; right next door you have Crossness Sewage Works, with a revolting smell that can linger for weeks when the temperature rises above normal, there is a main sewer running under the site, making foundations difficult to lay, and there is very poor road connectivity with Woolwich. These are all contributory reasons why property in and around Thamesmead has been especially low in comparison to other locations in outer London. One side effect of this is the proliferation of speculators buying up existing houses and flats in Thamesmead. Not that they expect to make much from renting out the properties, but that they hope to cash in when the developers want to knock the unsightly, brutalist concrete buildings down to make way for the proposed shiny new housing, and need to buy off the existing owners. The problem of lack of desirability is compounded by the fact that Thamesmead has little structure – there is no recognised town centre as such – and the retail park where the large Morrison’s super store is located is the only poor substitute. In the fifty years since Thamesmead was first built, it has only attracted around forty thousand residents, mainly because they could not afford to live anywhere else that was in such relative proximity to central London (Thamesmead is only nine miles from Charing Cross). The former GLC planning department intended Thamesmead to be a thriving new town with over sixty thousand residents, and to date this has never been realised. Maybe the Peabody Trust can add a little sparkle to the town so that more people actually want to live there, rather than live there as it is the only place they can afford.  The risk of this is that if property prices eventually start to rise, those on lower incomes may be forced out.

After seeing my piece on the original Erith Swimming Baths last week, local resident Alan Magin sent me the following memory of his own experiences:- “ I remember using this swimming pool in my first year at Brook Street School for Boys, 1963 would have been the year! Swimming lessons were a morning occurrence, with the changing rooms facing the pool. A bit of a nightmare when the class nuisance pulled your curtain aside when you were standing there starkers!  We loved the feel of a not overly large pool, that boasted water temperatures of 70 degrees! It had a fixed diving platform at around four feet at the deep end. I am assuming that the ladder in the photo may have taken you to a diving platform? A little high in my opinion!”

South Eastern Trains have published their draft timetable in advance of changes to the train service on the Dartford to London via Greenwich rail line. From January 2015 there will be major, long term disruption to services on this line, which will affect all users. Commuters in particular will be hard hit. The main changes are that from January 2015 to August 2016 Charing Cross trains will not stop at London Bridge Station. Early morning Charing Cross trains will divert to Cannon Street. From August 2016 until December 2017, Cannon Street services will no longer stop at London Bridge. Long term, Greenwich line services will go to Cannon Street rather than Charing Cross Station. The reason for all this disruption is the massive £6.5 billion Thameslink Project, which includes the complete rebuilding of London Bridge Station, which is already well under way. This is on top of the disruption that has been caused by the rail engineering work being carried out between Abbey Wood and Plumstead for the Crossrail Project and the South East terminus at Abbey Wood. There is a feeling amongst some locals that much of this work is going to disrupt their lives without actually giving them anything in the way of benefit. We have just had the second planned total weekend shut down of services on the North Kent Line; if you want to get into London by train during these outages, you need to get to Plumstead, as this is where services are starting and terminating during the engineering works. More weekend shut downs are scheduled to follow. All of the work is vital to reinforce and expand the rail transport infrastructure in the South East, and the Crossrail development will especially be impressive when it is completed. The problem is that little thought or effort has been expended to make local peoples’ lives bearable in the intervening period. On top of this, people who are not regular commuters seem to be unaware of the long term changes to the local train services. I have heard of people turning up at Erith Station on Saturday morning, expecting to get a train into town, only to find a notice redirecting them to the rail replacement bus service that was running from the stop adjacent to Erith Riverside Gardens. There has been some laudable coverage in the News Shopper, but very little from other sources. As I have covered in the past, the reason that the platforms have been extended at most of the stations on the Dartford via Greenwich line have been extended is to allow twelve carriage trains to be used on the line – until the extension, ten carriages were the limit. There will be fewer, but longer trains from January 2015 – that is, if South Eastern Trains have successfully solved the power problem. They did not factor in the additional current drain when they came up with the plan to use longer trains. It was eventually found out that the existing power supply would have not been up to the job of providing motive power to the extra long trains, and had nothing been done to improve the situation, they would have moved at little more than walking pace. Fortunately this was discovered, and I understand that the electricity supply has now been beefed up to cope with the increased current demand. This reminds me of what happened in the early nineties when the Networker trains were first deployed on the North Kent Line. The Networkers were slightly larger than the old wooden “slam door” trains they replaced. It was only when the rail company of the time began late night test runs that they found out that the Networker trains were too big to fit through the tunnel between Woolwich Arsenal and Charlton. The tunnel had to be re – engineered at great expense to permit the new trains to run without getting stuck. What seemed like an elementary concern turned into an expensive and embarrassing oversight. The fact remains that transport infrastructure in South East London and North Kent has to improve to cope with the further influx of residents that the area is attracting. Locally we have Erith Park, phase one of which will be completed in a few short months; on top of this the area of former loam pit sandwiched between Bexley Road and Fraser Road in Erith is to be redeveloped as a large new housing estate with approximately a thousand properties. A public notice has been published this week that invites local people to an exhibition outlining some of the proposed developments on the long abandoned brown field site:-

The Quarry has been identified as suitable for development by Bexley Council. This public consultation is being run by the Anderson Group, an Essex-based developer, who bought the site in January and whose team is working up ideas in preparation for a planning application. We would like to share and discuss our ideas with you and your members. They are still at an early stage but include the construction of new homes and a new primary school along with a grassland area and ‘green corridors’ through the site to protect its ecology. We hope that you will be able to join us at one of our public exhibitions, which take place at Trinity School, Erith Road DA17 6HT on:

Saturday 19th July: 11am – 4pm

Tuesday 22nd July: 4pm – 8pm

If you are unable to attend on the above days you can view the proposals on our website – www.erithquarry.co.uk – from Wednesday 23rd July. You can also register to receive updates on the project via our website or, alternatively, leave us your contact details at the public exhibition. Please note that we will be holding a second consultation event after the summer once we have taken on board residents’ comments and worked up our proposals in detail. If you have registered via the website or give us your contact details at the exhibition we will let you know where and when this event will be held. Alternatively, you can let us know your interest by contacting me, emailing enquiries@erithquarry.co.uk or by calling Ed Grieve on 020 7025 2309. I will be attending on the Saturday, and would suspect that quite a few locals will be too. Look out for me with my camera; I reckon I will be on site from around 11.30. Do come up and say hello. 

One of my regular readers, and occasional contributors who prefers to remain anonymous dropped me the following observations which I am passing on as I believe they will be of interest to the wider community:- "When Morrisons took over the old Deep Wharf, I had a meeting with their estate manager and suggested replacing the floating pontoon, that had originally been erected in the 1970s (The attachments are still there) He informed me the the original had been sold to one of the Scandinavian Countries, but they did hope to replace it. It has not happened. Over many years to my certain knowledge the idea of using Erith as a port of call for pleasure boats has been discussed, my River friends tell me there would insufficient demand. To some extent this is verified by the fact that even now Thames Clippers only call at Woolwich during the "Rush Hours". By a coincidence only last Thursday after making a visit to St. Thomas's Hospital we decided as it was coming up to 5pm we would catch the Clipper at Waterloo Pier and travel to Woolwich. With travel cards it cost us only £6.30. BUT what was supposed to have been a pleasure trip was a nightmare.  The boat was packed to the gunwales. We managed to get seats aft. Accompanied by three foul mouthed drunken men,and 50 or so screaming schoolkids. We couldn't help but notice the look of disgust on the faces of the City Gents who boarded at various points,unable to find seats at all. The drunks alighted at Surrey Quays, and most of the rest at Greenwich. It was only then could we enter the main saloon and sit at the front for the remaining five minutes of the journey. By which time there were less than a dozen passengers. This was followed by an equally uncomfortable ride with standing room only on the 99 to Erith. I am so glad I am no longer a London Commuter". I must admit that until now I have only heard very good things about the Thames Clipper Service; I can only surmise that this was an untypical event. I strongly feel that the whole area would benefit from the clippers extending their run to Erith Pier, especially with the massive rise in the local population that will be happening over the next five years or so. So may housing developments are either underway, or in the planning stages, that the transport infrastructure will need a total rethink - and this is not limited to the two proposed East of London river crossings that I have previously covered. The River Thames needs to be viewed as a resource to be used, rather than purely a barrier to transportation as is currently the case. 

The end video this week was also suggested by a regular reader. There has been some heated and somewhat misdirected discussion on YouTube about this very clip. Some viewers thought the sketch was made as the Not the Nine O'Clock News team knew about the subject of their satire's proclivities back then; the reality is that it was an innocent poke at his early 1980's kid's TV show, which was so boring and tedious that children did not want to have anything to do with it. Nowadays there is a whole additional layer of meaning following what has been revealed during his court case. Please feel free to leave a comment below, or to Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Walnut Tree House.

As I have previously written on a number of occasions, I don't get involved in party politics. For the most part, the mainstream political parties are all aiming at pretty much the same targets, albeit from slightly different angles. On a national basis it is a case of voting for one bunch of idiots over another bunch of idiots. Locally the story is slightly clearer. If you want to know what is going on at a local council level, I would highly recommend that you regularly consult Malcolm Knight’s “Bexley is Bonkers” website – he has his metaphorical finger on the local pulse – and much of what he uncovers is not very encouraging. Malcolm recently attended a meeting convened by the Bexley branch of the UK Independence Party – a group of individuals who would appear to make up in enthusiasm for what they lack in political experience. Their local manifesto makes for interesting reading; though I doubt how much of it they would actually be able to bring off in the (not very likely) event of them winning the local election. They do have one policy which strikes me as well thought out, and indicative of something created by people with real local knowledge. Long term readers may recall that quite some time ago, I suggested that there was a need to improve public transportation for commuters into and out of London. At present, if the overland rail service is non functional, the only option for travellers in the Erith / Belvedere / Abbey Wood areas is to get a bus to Woolwich Arsenal, and pick up the Docklands Light Railway from there into town. In a few years we will have Crossrail from Abbey Wood, but right now the public transport options are somewhat limited when compared to those available on the other side of the River Thames, where the tube is available. What we do have at Erith, which is pretty much unique to the riverside town, is Erith Pier (photo above - click for a larger view). UKIP are suggesting that the Thames Clippers should extend their coverage from their current termination point at Woolwich Arsenal further East to Erith Pier. The mechanics of this would require the rigid concrete pier structure to have at least one moving, floating jetty installed. The reason for this is that the tidal range of the Thames at Erith is very great. If a floating pier was not present, the clipper vessels would be limited to landing only at high tide, which would hardly be practical. I think this could be carried out as a cost neutral exercise. The Clipper service already has corporate sponsorship, and I think that Transport for London could be persuaded to contribute towards the pier modification work that would be required. The travel time from Erith into London by Thames Clipper would understandably be somewhat longer than by train, but I think the overall experience would be far more pleasant – it would also be easier to get a wheelchair or baby buggy onto a Clipper than onto a London bound train at Erith, as South Eastern still refuse to install a lift – but that is an ongoing story for another time. I would be interested in what others think of this proposal? Please leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

The photo above (click on it for a larger view) was taken back in 1880 of a very grand property which was called Walnut Tree House. It was owned by the Parish family, who by the looks of it were not short of a bob or two – the place looks lovely. The patriarch, John Parish owned the ballast wharf in West Street, and the ballast pit in what is now the Europa Industrial Estate in Fraser Road. The very fine quality loam dug from the pit was taken to the wharf to be loaded onto freighter ships for transportation up to the great iron and steel forges on Tyneside, where it was used to make moulds for metal castings. Unfortunately Walnut Tree House does not exist today; it was demolished to make way for Erith Council Offices in the early 1930’s. I don't know what the Parish family would have made of the location nowadays, with 24 hour motor traffic using the hideous fish sculpture roundabout, it would definitely be very different from when the house was occupied. Still, the needs of the council had to be satisfied then, and again today. The migration of staff from the old Bexley Council offices in Bexleyheath Broadway to their newly converted, ex Woolwich Equitable HQ base around the corner in Watling Street will be taking place, starting  in May, and running through in phases until the end of July. Malcolm Knight of the Bexley is Bonkers blog details the move, which you can read here. Malcolm makes some interesting points. The “new” building was originally designed in a pre – office data network age, and was more suited to the storage of large numbers of paper files, and has required extensive internal remodelling to make it fit for purpose. He also points out that the new entrance arch resembles a gallows – for “when the revolution comes” – and I can definitely see his point. To be honest, I am pretty certain that it will be a big improvement over the old Civic Offices, which were only ever intended to be a temporary structure in the first place. I recall that when my late Dad worked there in the early 1980’s, staff would have to grab waste bins to use as buckets every time it rained – the roof leaked in many places even then. I cannot imagine things have improved much in the intervening years. Whilst most of the Council functions will be moving into the Watling Street offices, some departments are staying put. I am pleased to say that the Housing, Council Tax and Benefits unit will be staying put in the old Erith Town Hall, where it has been located for many years. I recall that for a period my Dad worked in Erith Town Hall, before moving to the Bexleyheath offices – to be strictly accurate his office was a very rickety portakabin in the car park to the rear of the main building, as they did not have enough space in the main building, and they did not have any money to extend it – nothing much seems to change in around 35 years. I recall that a number of staff back then used to take in cans of pet food to feed a family of feral cats that lived in the undergrowth that bordered the car park. I wonder if any of their descendants are still around nowadays? Some time ago, and prior to the Woolwich Building Society office being selected, it had been mooted that the council would commission a brand new, purpose built office building somewhere in Erith. Whilst we have been fortunate to become home to the new Bexley College campus in Walnut Tree Road, which opens in September, I could not realistically see many senior council employees wanting to travel to the furthest Northern town in the whole London Borough of Bexley in order to come to work. If you live in the “posh” parts of the borough, like Bexley Village, Bexleyheath or Sidcup, you will hardly want to slum it in Erith. For various reasons the borough of Bexley seems to be divide in two; with the wealthy south versus the post industrial North. Bexley Council are definitely neglecting local roads in the North of the borough, and I can see it causing a serious accident in the not too distant future. Main roads such as Fraser Road and Manor Road in Erith are not just host to cars and vans; as they both provide access to large industrial estates, many heavy goods vehicles, often fully loaded use the roads, and both are also on the 99 bus route, which employs large double desk buses. The road surfaces are riddled with deep pot holes, which are hazardous to all road users. I was a passenger in a car last Saturday afternoon; we were driving along Manor Road when the driver had to steer towards the pavement to avoid a large hole. A driver who had parked, opened their door without checking to see if any traffic was coming. We almost took his door off. Fortunately an accident was avoided, but something similar to this near miss is bound to turn into something much more serious unless the local road surfaces are greatly improved. Manor Road was resurfaced in May / June 2009, and then partially again in 2011; I talked to the engineer overseeing the work on both occasions. He told me the problem of the road surface falling apart so quickly was at least partly caused by the specification of the foundations. In his opinion, the quality of the foundations were only designed to support regular car and van traffic, not the very heavy lorries and buses that use the road. The top layers were cracking and failing as the too weak foundations sagged under the weight. This would seem to make sense – if you go to either Manor or Fraser Road, and look where the road damage is the worst, it is by the 99 bus stops. Not only do the heavy double deck buses stand periodically at the stops, but their tyres scrub at the road surface as they brake, and then accelerate away from the stops. From what the engineer told me, the only long term solution would be to totally rebuild both roads from the foundations upwards – not re – skin the road surface as was done in 2011, as this merely puts off the inevitable. Bexley Council Highways Department seem to be fixated with “street remodelling” in places like Bexleyheath Broadway and Sidcup High Street – to the almost universal disapproval of local residents and visitors alike. I feel that the money being spent on these high profile unwanted works would be better spent on fundamental problems such as the quality of the Borough’s roads. It might not win any planning design awards, but it would reduce the likelihood of traffic accidents, as I can attest from my own recent unfortunate experience.

Another IT anniversary happened this week; the Nintendo Game Boy hit 25. The Game Boy was the first handheld game unit that could use interchangeable cartridges. Up until this point, all hand held games came with just one game, with maybe a few variants of it. Nintendo had been a big player in the single game market, with a range called “Game and Watch” – you got a simple game like a Space Invaders clone, and it also showed the time. This market had slowed – and Nintendo were looking for a new product. Their head designer Gunpei Yokoi came up with a battery powered hand held unit that housed an 8 – bit processor manufactured by Sharp, along with a whopping 8K of RAM. This might sound laughably puny nowadays, but when it was launched, the hardware was way more powerful than anything else on the market. It had a grey scale screen (colour displays were still a few years off, and even then, they would have had a catastrophic drain on the batteries). The Game Boy was designed to fit in a child’s pocket, and could be brought out to play during car journeys and the like. What made the Game Boy so massively successful (it sold more than 64 million units in the ten years it was in production) was that not only were there a mass of great games available for it (estimates are that around 800 titles were produced, including classics like Tetris, Pokémon, Super Mario Land and Zelda) but that Nintendo continually released add – ons, such as a rudimentary digital camera and printer, as well as a cable allowing two Game Boys to share game content ensures that the system continued as a viable toy for many more years than the seemingly low technical specification would suggest. There have been many hand held games computers since the Game Boy, but none have had the success or longevity in the market.

The period advert above came from an old local publication that I own; I believe the ad dates back to early 1947, which was when the map the advert appeared in was originally published. The reference to war damage claims would tend to back this up. Old maps are a great way to find out about local areas - not just for the maps themselves, but for the adverts that they invariably contain. I always look out for them when out and about.

Only a week after I wrote about how the Ladbrokes betting shop in Erith High Street had recently closed, reports are emerging that the giant William Hill bookmaking chain are about to close around 109 shops around the country, putting 420 jobs at risk. I feel sorry for those who will be put out of work - the company blames the rise in tax on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBT) - the "crack cocaine" of gambling. The Government has raised the tax levels on these terrible machines from 20% to 25% in an attempt to curb their invidious spread. Last year, a report discovered that over £13 billion was gambled on FOBT machines in that year, often by the poorest and most disadvantaged members of society. After doing some digging, I have discovered that the story about William Hill closing outlets may be a bit of a red herring. I understand that the company has been based in Gibraltar for tax reasons for some considerable time. They are looking to increase their revenues by migrating much of the business that has up until now been taking place in their network of betting shops and moving it online, where it will not be taxed, and they will be saved the expensive overhead of having to employ shop staff. The excuse that they are being penalised by an increase in taxes by the Government would seem to be little more than a cynical move to try and elicit some kind of sympathy, when in actual fact the increase in FOBT taxation would seem to be playing directly into their hands. Personally I detest gambling, but at the same time I continue to espouse my personal libertarian philosophy of "If it works for you" - but beware. 

Three years ago, Transport for London trialled contactless payment by mobile smart phone. It was a very low key effort, and it was quietly dropped after a number of problems were encountered. The trial took place across London, but problems were found with devices not registering with the readers, accounts being debited more than once despite only being swiped a single time, and a general slowness in the system. TFL are about to try again, citing the improvement in smart phone technology in the intervening period as the reason to give it another bash. The main motivator behind this is that TFL feel that the Oyster system is too expensive to operate, and they are thinking of the long term – where payments will go in the future, in a post – Oyster environment. There are a number of issues with NFC (Near Field Communication) payment systems. Whilst it is possible to store encrypted details of a number of debit and credit cards on a smart phone employing NFC, it is not always a good idea to do so. The Near Field Communication technical standard does not make any allowances for the  prevention of eavesdropping, and it is possible to record an NFC signal up to ten metres away from a smart phone, with suitable equipment and software – which is all available online already. Gangs who previously have been engaged in illegal “card skimming” activities at cash points are now known to be working on NFC snooping. The problem with the NFC protocol is that once contact has been made and verified between the smart phone and the computer at the far end of the connection, the far end computer will accept almost any data sent over the connection; only the most basic of parity checking is undertaken. This leaves NFC open to all sorts of trickery. I am sure that in a majority of cases NFC smart phones will work splendidly with the TFL electronic ticketing system. The problem comes when something does go wrong – be it due to malicious interference, or a plain old fashioned mistake. The onus is on the device owner to prove innocence, not the other way around, as is already the case with chip and PIN debit cards. NFC may be acceptable (due to convenience) for many regular public transport users, but it does not help occasional travellers such as elderly people and tourists. Some form of manual ticketing system is going to also need to be put in place – even if it is a single use passive NFC ticket, as is already deployed in the public transport systems in places as diverse as Singapore and Canada. What is clear is that Oyster is regarded as old, nearing end of life technology, and a cheaper replacement is needed soon. Comment below.

The BBC News website has been getting quite excited about a subject I have covered on the Maggot Sandwich in the distant past, but now seems to be back in the news. For some inexplicable reason, they have been writing about Secret Numbers Stations in some detail. Secret Numbers Stations have been in existence since World War II. They can be found quite easily if you have a radio which can receive the shortwave bands. Generally speaking, numbers stations appear somewhat erratically and consist of a disembodied electronic voice reading out streams of numbers which repeat a fixed number of times. The stations are usually outside of the main shortwave broadcast bands, and can sometimes be encountered in the amateur radio bands – much to the annoyance of their legal users. Whilst number stations are well known to radio enthusiasts like me, most of the general public will be unaware of their existence. The purpose of numbers stations is simple. They are the most secure method of communicating with spies in the field. Computer communications are easily intercepted, and even the most heavily encrypted ciphers can be broken over time by supercomputers – and it is relatively straightforward to identify a person from an Internet Service Provider. Old fashioned shortwave radio is completely anonymous – no sign in, or account is required, and a suitable radio can be picked up in a shop for a few pounds. Anyone found with a radio which can receive shortwave will not get much attention – most compact travel radios can receive shortwave broadcasts; thus a spy can be completely anonymous and untraceable whilst listening to the coded broadcasts. You can hear a BBC Radio 4 documentary about numbers stations by clicking here. Sometimes new technology is not the best solution to a problem, and this is most definitely the case here. Each numbers station transmission is read out by a computer generated voice, giving it an eerie, somewhat creepy sound. One would have thought that once the Cold War was over, the need for numbers stations would cease, but in many cases, the number of stations has actually increased – radio traffic, including numbers stations has been recently noticed in the Ukraine, where before the recent dispute with Russia, it was pretty much a backwater. You can watch a short news broadcast about secret number stations below. It is a few years old, but still very accurate and insightful. Please leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.