A burglary.

You may recall that last week I wrote about a break in at the Cross Keys Centre in Erith High Street. The former pub building is being restored and converted into a mixed office space and community hub, which when finished will be open to the public. Since my last edition, I have received high definition CCTV images of the burglary, which happened on the evening of the 16th June. If you are familiar with the Cross Keys Centre - and after all it is one of the most striking pieces of architecture in the town, you will know that it clearly displays a number of CCTV warning signs on the exterior of the structure. I can only surmise that the youths did not care that they might be filmed whilst trespassing, breaking and entering and burgling the building whilst it was unoccupied on a Thursday evening. In the image above, you can see a group of youths at the back of the building, loitering on the first floor balcony, where one of the group is forcing off the shuttering covering the back door, and smashing the door glass to illegally gain entry to the multimedia presentation suite / conference room.

The second still image was taken twenty minutes later, when the group of youths exited the building. As they made their way down the metal staircase, they were clearly unaware that they were being filmed. The youth at the back of the group can be seen holding a Bose bluetooth wireless speaker in his right hand - he had just stolen this from the Cross Keys Centre.  

The third still photo was taken from slightly earlier in the chain of unfortunate events. It shows the same group as they climbed on the roof of one of the outbuildings to the rear of the Cross Keys Centre. It gives a pretty clear view of the faces of the group who were about to break and enter the building. If any reader knows the identity of any of the youths, please Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com, and I will pass the information on to the relevant authorities. As Julian Hilton, co - owner of the Cross Keys Centre said last week:- "The Cross Keys is an important building for the regeneration of Erith town centre, and we want to keep the doors open, not turn it into a fortress. Through Neighbourhood Watch we would like everyone's help in making sure young people don't vandalise and steal like this. This is the first incident of its kind in a long time and we hope it's the last".

The KFC drive through restaurant in Manor Road, Erith is currently partially closed for refurbishment. The “sit down” part of the fried chicken outlet is closed to the public, and only the drive through part is still functioning. The reason for this is that the fast food store is being refurbished and rebranded with the new KFC corporate look and feel. The red and white plastic look is being replaced with brick-effect walls and timber tables, designed to replicate a "kitchen as the heart of the home" image. A new feature being added to the restaurant is a semi-open plan kitchen that will allow diners to see their food being prepared. Its design should also allow service to be much faster. Commissioned artists will provide illustrations and photographs to adorn the walls - and the space will be brightly lit by low hanging copper lighting. This refurbishment is the latest battle in the all – out war that KFC Erith has with the large McDonald’s drive through that is located directly opposite it in James Watt Way.  The KFC has had a rocky history; back in February 2014 the Erith franchise applied to open 24/7, and a large local campaign was started to prevent this from happening. Fortunately common sense prevailed, and the franchise owners voluntarily withdrew the application when they saw the extent of local opposition. The Erith KFC franchise has also had problems with supply in the recent past; last summer I received several reports of certain menu items being unavailable when requested, and I also heard a couple of unsubstantiated rumours that the store was suffering cash flow problems. It would seem from the investment being made into the store now, that these rumours were either incorrect, or have now been successfully resolved. The new KFC store look is being rolled out all around the country, and the Erith store is merely the latest in the long line of outlets being thus rebranded. One problem the rebranding will not solve is the thorny issue of car queuing for the drive – through. Service at the drive through (and reportedly, the main store as well) is very slow; at busy times the cars queuing for the occupants to place orders get lined up all the way around the car park and out onto Manor Road. Though a busy main road, Manor Road is not very wide, and when queuing cars line up in the road itself, this causes terrible traffic hold – ups, as cars wishing to pass the KFC queue find it difficult to pass, as oncoming traffic can prevent overtaking manoeuvres. This problem has been reported to the local Police, but I am not aware of any solution being put in place. Perhaps the KFC refurbishment may lead to some traffic routing solution? Time will tell.

I was pleasantly surprised on Wednesday morning when I received an email from Bexley council telling me that the Regeneration team are planning two “consult the public” events, the first of which took place yesterday in Erith Riverside Shopping Centre, and the second takes place on Wednesday the 6th July on the triangle of land opposite the bottom of the shopping centre escalators. The Council announcement said:- “The London Borough of Bexley has been successful in securing funds for a number of projects aimed at regenerating Erith Town Centre. These projects aim to improve the town by providing new high quality housing and shops. They will improve the quality of key public space areas and see the launch of a number of projects aimed at revitalising the town centre”. This is all good news, and follows on from the announcement back in January when Councillor Linda Bailey, Cabinet member for Regeneration and Growth said "Erith has huge potential and our aim is to ensure it is developed in a sustainable way, with well-designed improvements that deliver the results local people need. We have also made complementary bids to two further funds managed by the Mayor of London and hope to be able to say more on that in the next few weeks." It would seem that a substantial cash fund of nearly £3.9 million has indeed been secured to develop and improve Erith Town Centre. I understand that the main focus of the regeneration will be the area between the old Erith Town Hall and the Post Office. I understand that the old town hall is currently almost totally unused, as the outsourced council tax and benefits functions carried out there have now been outsourced to Bromley Council in a cost saving bid. I have said before that I would be surprised if Bexley Council did not sell off the building and surrounding plot of land to developers. My concern is that they might try to package up the council office site with the old Carnegie gifted Library building next door to make a huge piece of real estate that they could sell for building flats on. The former Riverside Swimming Baths site at the lower end of Walnut Tree Road is already earmarked for redevelopment as town houses and apartments – the rapacious council would not surprise me if they tried to once again “sell the family silver” and flog off the rest of the land on the Eastern side of Walnut Tree Road. All the more reason I, and many other local residents would like to see J.D Wetherspoon’s take up the old Library building and sensitively conserve and convert it into a pub / restaurant. Wetherspoon’s have the deep pockets and cunning lawyers to challenge any underhand activities of Bexley Council – and are also very familiar with working with listed buildings – the library has Grade II listed status. What do you think the council should do with the regeneration money it has been awarded? What would you like to see in the town that is currently missing? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Some good news was pointed out by Malcolm Knight of “Bexley is Bonkers” that Bexley Council is about to launch a crackdown on Houses of Multiple Occupancy (HMO’s). Bexley Council published the following statement “The council is working to implement a range of new controls to take firm control of the issue. It wants to ensure that smaller properties that are converted to HMOs provide suitable accommodation and reduce the risk that they create problems for other residents. This is something which has only recently started to cause concern and we are taking steps to ensure we have the powers we need to protect the occupiers of the properties and their neighbours. London is growing fast and the demand for housing far exceeds the supply. It's important to remember that these properties help meet people's genuine need for housing. If they are properly managed, they do not generally cause problems." The council says it has been looking at a package of measures which may include a selective licensing scheme for parts of the borough, securing powers to licence small two-storey HMOs, and the adoption of an Article 4 directive which would remove planning permitted development rights for smaller HMOs. All this is good news, though how far Bexley Council will go in practice is not clear at this point. We will have to wait and see what actually happens. 

Local resident and Maggot Sandwich reader Raymond Ratcliffe sent me the the following piece, and some relevant photos, which you can also see below. "Ye Olde Leather Bottle – Heron Hill- Belvedere 1643 – 2016:-  This is what happens when Builders / Property Developers get hold of a building and a large area of land. First a little bit of history the core of the present building is said to date from 1643. In 1783, when this was acquired by Taskers of Dartford, it was described as the leather Bottle at Chalk-Stile. There is evidence for the building back to 1751 and the licences are recorded for the pub of this name back to 1726. The Leather Bottle was also a name given to a pub on the riverside. 

This happens when Builders / Property Developers get hold of empty properties. They do not care about any local history. By the way the public footpath through the property has all types of rubbish i.e. plastic bottles, papers and at the other end of the footpath is impassable due to loose ballast from the site and a shopping trolley blocking the way". Despite the age and history associated with the Leather Bottle, it was not a listed building - quite why I have no idea. The developers of the site have misled and outright lied to local residents - they said that they were merely clearing the car park and a small patch of land next to the historical pub - and their builders have been extremely rude, aggressive and abusive to anyone taking photographs of the demolition work, as Malcolm Knight of Bexley is Bonkers has reported previously. Our local history is being wiped from the map - this was possibly the oldest building in Upper Belvedere, and it has been destroyed. If this had happened somewhere else, there would have been public uproar. I am appalled.

Long time Maggot Sandwich reader, and occasional contributor Dana Whiffen writes:- "45 years since Led Zeppelin played locally. Formed from The Yardbirds and even called The New Yardbirds for a short while in 1968 before changing their name to Led Zeppelin. They joined a host of other live bands that were working hard to make a name for themselves between 1968-1970. Then this music was known to rock music fans as “Underground Music” mainly because there was no national commercial media outlet for this music at the time. With pirate radio stations, music clubs and the many local live venues the only way to get recognition at the time. Many of these bands worked constantly playing live to a growing number of fans throughout the UK, while their albums at the time received moderate sales and made little impact on the album charts and they rarely released singles, knowing that they would not get played. Between 1968-1971 there were also numerous clubs that played their albums or tracks from them to fans of the music, I remember a local venue that was hot and sweaty and packed with dancing fans who wanted to hear tracks played loudly from bands such as Led Zeppelin, Ten Years After, Grand Funk Railroad, Humble Pie, Johnny Winter, Humble Pie, The Groundhogs, Wishbone Ash (who are to play the Mick Jagger Centre in Dartford in October 2016) and local bands like Stray. On March 12th 1971 Led Zeppelin played the University of Kent, tickets sold out on the day they went on sale for 60p each (12 shillings in old money). This year was a significant year as many of these bands began to break America and the UK and to attract the attention of the major record labels. While in early 1971 BBC Radio playlists included Carole King “It’s Too Late”, David Bowie “The Man Who Sold the World” and Janis Joplin “Mercedes Benz”. The same year, the already established Rolling Stones released “Brown Sugar” in May 1971 and in June The Who released “Won’t Get Fooled Again”, while The Beatles had already imploded and were making solo music. Led Zeppelin (whose bassist / keyboard player John Paul Jones comes from Sidcup) between 1968-1970 had completed 4 US & 4 UK tours their debut album Led Zeppelin was released in January 1969 making the top 10 in both the USA & the UK for a short period, but the release of Led Zeppelin 2 later that year together with their constant touring was to propel them towards the big time with Led Zep-2 making a big impact on UK & USA album charts and this even saw their first album return to the charts at the same time. In the USA their record company released an edited version of “Whole Lotta Love” from Led Zeppelin 2 and it sold 1 million copies and received wide-spread airplay, but it was not released in the UK. Between 1971-1975 they became one of the biggest rock bands in the World and by November 1971 they had released their 4th Album. It went on to sell 37 million copies worldwide and is listed as one of the best selling albums of all time. In 1974 they launched their own record label SWANSONG and went on to sign bands such as Bad Company, The Pretty Things and Maggie Bell (from Stone the Crows). From 1975 to the later part of 1977 they took a break from touring resuming at the end of 1977 with a North American Tour where they set an audience record of 76,229. In 1980 after the death of their drummer John Bonham the band split and they were brief reunions in 1985, 1988, 1995 and 2007 with John Bonham’s son Jason on drums. Fans had hoped for a full tour and new album but despite rumours and large cash offers Robert Plant has said no".

Every so often I feature an old and log forgotten technology that did not really take off. You may recall that I recounted the story of the Capacitance Electronic Disk video format a while ago. Now marks the fortieth anniversary of another media format that should have made it big, but due to a number of factors, it ended up being consigned to the parts bin of history. Back before all-digital music, back before the Digital Compact Cassette, back before even the Digital Audio Tape existed, there was a strange audio device that, briefly, captured the imagination of Hi-Fi enthusiasts across the world. The Elcaset, as it was called, was an enlarged cassette that started in Japan, wove its hidden, spinning spools round the world and then finished, appropriately enough, in Finland. The humble Compact Cassette was already more than a decade old in 1976, and its pros and cons had by then become fairly clear to most listeners. It wasn’t a huge reel-to-reel deck as used by pro studios, and was thus portable by the standards of the day—even though Sony's cassette Walkman was still a few years away. The sound was generally acceptable for a generation raised on crackly mono Dansette record players. But the small tape size—two sets of stereo tracks squeezed onto a strip of tape just 3.81mm wide—and the slow playback speed of 4.76cm (1⅞ inches) per second rendered the device incapable of really capturing and playing anything near the full sonic range that music ultimately requires. What's more, there was often plenty of hiss that couldn’t easily be masked. So 40 years ago, a trio of rising Japanese electronics giants decided to inject some quality into the game, something that they hoped would hit the Hi-Fi market as well as aspiring consumers and indie studios. Thus Panasonic, Sony, and Teac came up with the Elcaset, a larger small format. It was virtually twice the size of the old cassette—more like a paperback book in size, at a hefty 15cm wide, 10cm tall and 2cm deep. It contained quarter-inch tape running at double the speed of regular cassettes, which naturally gave the format greater frequency response and a wider dynamic range, as well as much less hiss. It also had six tracks, despite still playing back in stereo—the third track on each side was for a cue function that was designed as an additional facility that studios could use, but never fully implemented. The other big difference was that the Elcaset’s tape was gently pulled away from the body shell when it was played, so that even the most scuffed—or crudely-made—frame wouldn’t effect the audio signal. To put it in technical terms, the cassette had a high-frequency bandwidth that hardly got over 16,000Hz, whereas Elcaset exceeded 25,000Hz, and had a fine mid-band (the region in which most vocals and guitars live). It made a better noise, basically. The best Elcaset decks had three motors, three heads for playback, recording, and erasure, closed-loop dual capstan, VU meters, and remote control. All-in-all, they sounded pretty damn good. Sony, Teac, and Panasonic had their own top-of-the-range versions as well as more reasonably priced decks, and there was even a hand-bag sized "portable" version, the EL-D8, which looked like, and essentially was, a piece of mobile pro-audio kit. With a "big four" PR launch—input from Panasonic, Sony, Teac, and then Hitachi—for their "revolutionary Elcaset system," the format should have become a big seller. There were some good reviews, and certain pundits still claim today that Elcaset's overall performance was virtually as good as leading mid-range reel-to-reels at the time, such as the Revox B77. So with the cassette already battling the newish 8-track cartridge, the manufacturers believed Elcaset would apply the killer blow to the older format, leaving it to struggle with the 8-track for market supremacy. Unfortunately, Elcaset's arrival in 1976 coincided with the year that sales of several other innovations took off. One of these was the chromium oxide (CrO2) cassette which, while not quite matching the finesse of the Elcaset, did greatly improve cassette sound and could crucially be used in any existing cassette player. The CrO2 cassette cost 40 percent more than a normal tape, but for the audiophile or the discerning pop fan, there was now a premium recording-cassette that didn’t require a whole new deck. The leading tape manufacturer Sansui eventually started to make Elcaset tapes after Sony belatedly brought out a chrome tape of its own for the new decks. But this was already too late. For the compact cassette player there was also Dolby B, which looked and sound fairly fresh on the scene. Dolby B (which funnily enough followed after Dolby A) took out the hiss, reducing noise without overly affecting the sound, again adding value to the existing, cheaper, format. Another innovation, aimed purely at the Hi-Fi market, was a superb range of cassette players from Japanese firm Nakamichi, which had been making them since the autumn of 1973. These slowly gained a great reputation as they squeezed every last drop of sound from a compact tape and, when used with a chrome cassette, almost gave vinyl a run for its money. Decent examples of the legendary Nakamichi Dragon player still command three and four-figure sums today. And, speaking of money, one minus point amid a splash of mainly good reviews was the Elcaset’s exorbitant initial price—coming in at over £1,200 in today’s money. So when indie sound studios realised that the sound was going to be, in some cases, a little worse than a cheaper, used, reel-to-reel deck, that market started to shy away. The convenience of Elcaset would have saved a little studio time, but not enough to warrant the outlay. On top of this, reel-to-reel was comparatively easy to splice—to edit with, literally, razor blades - a technique I was taught back in the late 1980's when I was an intern at what was then BBC Radio London. Elcaset on the other hand could only be dubbed, and recording drop-ins could never be as accurate even if the cue system were ever completed. As for domestic sales, Hi-Fi was costlier back then anyway, but such a price was a big leap for all but the most dedicated audiophile. No way was the average person going to spend such an amount on what many just saw as a glorified cassette. The last straw, domestically speaking, was the failure of Sony and the others to provide pre-recorded tapes. Many people, even Hi-Fi enthusiasts, didn’t always want to have to record their own material. Some just wanted to buy Top 40 albums off the shelf of their nearest music store—but they couldn’t with Elcaset. This would prove to be an error that Sony barely noticed, and repeated with the Betamax video format—their last such content mistake; subsequently they bought up CBS Records as well as shares in various film companies. Elcaset tech was undoubtedly ahead of its time though, and the extra-shell tape handling that it featured would go on to dominate the video market for the following 25 years with VHS and S-VHS. The people behind the "biggest, bestest" cassette just hadn’t considered the public’s price limits, their love of prerecorded material, or even the possibility that existing rival formats could still develop their own innovations. In 1980 the Elcaset itself officially died, the last few thousand unsold players auctioned off at a fraction of their worth to the highest bidder. Incredibly, there were virtually no serious bids from the US, Japan, or even Western Europe, and the highest bid actually came from a Scandinavian distributor. So the last Elcaset players ended up in bargain basements in Finland, blasting out at the snowy forests while the rest of the music world began to forget about their beloved cassette’s short-lived big brother. There’s also no denying that these machines were built for the ages; there’s many a tale of Elcaset players being found in attics this century, after 25 or 35 years in storage, and still playing perfectly. Analogue audio fans still swap "elcassy" tips on sites such as tapeheads.net, and if you ever need to lube your belt and two spools—and you probably will with the older Sony tapes—this is definitely the place to find out how. There is now a niche but steady market in secondhand Elcaset players and unused Elcaset tapes, not just on eBay, but in Finland, the UK, US, and Poland. Bexleyheath hifi dealer Whomes used to sell Elcaset machines - especially the very high end models - I recall visiting the shop with my Dad and being given a demonstration - though Dad was never going to buy a machine - but a free look was something else altogether.

As if any local traveller did not already know it, Southern and Southeastern trains have been jointly ranked as the UK’s worst rail services. Passenger satisfaction dropped for both rail services since autumn 2015 in terms of both value for money and reliability of services, according to the National Rail Passenger Survey (NRPS). Punctuality ratings for Southeastern were an appalling fifty six percent. The rail company had one of the lowest levels of satisfaction when customers were asked how they felt about trains running on time. A third of people described the service’s punctuality and reliability as ‘poor’, with a 17 per cent drop in customers claiming they were satisfied. Nearly 40 per cent of those surveys also criticised how both companies handled delays. No surprises there then!

The widely reported experiment Bexley Council made in Welling to switch off street lights between 1am and 5.30am had thankfully been dropped. In a press release published on Friday, the following announcement was made:- "After considering the feedback from its recent, part-night lighting trial‟ in Welling and trials of LED lighting, the Council has decided to implement alternative energy efficient lighting technology, rather than turning street lights off between 1am and 5:30am. The street lighting trials took place as part of the borough's wider savings proposals to balance the Council's budget in the face of cuts in government grant and the rising cost of key services. They involved switching off street lights during the early hours of the morning. At the end of the trial feedback from residents was collected and other data reviewed, such as any changes in the level of crime or accidents. During the trial period, the Council also looked at alternative options for converting lighting to LED for reducing costs. After considering the feedback from residents, a programme to install LED lighting in Bexley's streets wherever possible will start later this year. We've listened to what our residents told us," said Cllr Alex Sawyer, Bexley's Cabinet Member for Traffic and Transport. "The consultation following the trial told us that they would prefer to have their lights on for as long as possible. We were also looking into different methods and found that improvements in LED lighting make it a viable and cost effective alternative. "I thank all of the residents who gave us their feedback after and during the trial period. Our newly elected colleague, Cllr Ray Sams, had the opportunity to discuss the issue with many local residents during the St Michael's Ward by-election campaign and they were pleased we had listened to their concerns.” LED lights are approximately 40% more energy efficient than traditional sodium lighting. They also require less maintenance. Overall the change in lighting methods is expected to achieve an annual saving of more than £300,000. The works are expected to start in Autumn 2016 and will be completed during 2018". I could have told them this from the outset! LED lighting quite plainly is the way forward - it strikes me that Bexley Council have carried out a divisive and expensive "pilot" scheme that was entirely without merit.

The ending video this week is a look around the exterior of St. John the Baptist Church - far and away the oldest church in Erith, which predates The Magna Carta by at least a couple of hundred years. Please feel free to leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

The fate of the White Hart / Potion bar?

The photo above shows the excellent Thames sailing barge mural on the side of the currently empty former White Hart pub in Erith High street; some readers may recall the abortive and short lived transformation into Potion – the cocktail cum lager bar which attracted drug dealers, thugs, drunks, fights and final closure after a series of enforcement orders by both Bexley Council and the Police. Notably the owners of Potion illegally ripped out the locally listed acid etched glass and green tiled frontage and replaced it with hideously inappropriate plate glass. They were taken to court by the Council, but never complied with the court order to restore the pub to very close to how it had looked before their vandalism of the historic building. Now the White Hart is empty and lifeless, and the lease is up for sale, as you can see by clicking here. There have been a few rumours over the last couple of years as to what the future was likely to bring the building, but thus far none have come anywhere near fruition. I am now becoming concerned about the place; Any company taking on the building will need to commit to a sizable investment in the fabric – the aforementioned frontage will need to be replaced with a close facsimile of the original (architect’s drawings exist), and the interior will need to be completely re – built, as it is currently gutted. I understand that any requirement of the place to serve food would mean that both the kitchens and the ventilation system would have to be ripped out and replaced. All very costly work. To any potential investor, the site is now almost certainly worth more than the listed building. A block of riverside apartments on the site would be a very attractive concern, and could generate quite a pile of cash. I hope that it does not happen, but if the White Hart was to undergo an “accidental” fire, I would not be at all surprised. It would not be the first time something of that nature had happened in Erith – back in 1992 the Prince of Wales pub in James Watt Way (see the historic photo below, kindly supplied by historian Ken Chamberlain) was mysteriously gutted by fire; not long thereafter it was demolished to make way for the current MacDonald’s drive through. Coincidence? Maybe, but I would not be too certain. More on these two former pubs in Erith High Street a bit further down this update.

I have noticed some very strange behaviour in and around Erith recently; I have seen shoppers both in the Riverside Shopping Centre, and in Morrison’s who have an overcoat on, but it is clear that underneath this, they are dressed in their pyjamas. These sightings are not confined to evenings – the other afternoon I was walking along Wharfside Close on my way home from work at around half past five in the afternoon, when a woman in her middle thirties got out of a car, wearing an anorak and a pair of pyjamas. She then walked across Morrison’s car park and entered the store. She’s not the only one I have seen recently. I was doing some evening shopping, again in Morrison’s when I encountered a bloke in his late fifties, pushing a large trolley around the store whilst clothed in a trench coat, pyjama bottoms and flip flops. Outside it was raining at the time. Is this kind of behaviour unique to the area, or is this something happening in other parts of the country? I think we need to know.  Perhaps we should form an observer group to monitor and report on inappropriate use of nightwear in public – we could call it “Pyjama Watch”. What do you think?

Another horse has had to be rescued from a water filled ditch in a field in Lower Belvedere this Friday. You may recall that a similar incident took place in the same location back in January. Fortunately firefighters from Erith Fire Station were able to free the animal without causing it too much distress. Like the previous incident, the horse was a well loved pet, and not one of the many horses and ponies that have been virtually dumped in the area, as I have covered several times in the past. Quite whether the owner will have to contribute towards the cost of the rescue is currently unclear. I have heard local calls for the ditches that surround many of the fields on the Lower Belvedere Marshes to be filled in to stop this kind of incident from happening; the trouble is, the ditches help to stop the fields from flooding when there is heavy rain, so currently there is not a great deal that can be done about the situation. I don't think that we will be seeing too many more incidents of this type, as the land in the area in question is ripe for redevelopment, especially bearing in mind the proposed river crossing between Rainham in Essex and Lower Belvedere, which would be built in this very location. Already pub giant Marston's are building a pub, restaurant and hotel in the area, as I first announced back in November of last year. Marston's are currently recruiting locally for staff to work in the outlet, which is scheduled to open in May - you can see details by clicking here. I will be reviewing the place shortly after it opens. Many more businesses and services will be built on the marshes over the next few years, and the horses that currently reside there will have no option than to be moved elsewhere by their owners. 

Last week there was an important anniversary that has been almost completely overlooked by the popular press. There was a ceremony which included the unveiling of a plaque at Abbey Road Studios in London. The event was to commemorate the prodigious scientist-engineer Alan Dower Blumlein. The reason the event was hosted by Abbey Road Studios was that it was the location in 1934 where Blumlein demonstrated his invention by recording the London Philharmonic Orchestra in stereo within a single groove on a gramophone disc. This was just one of the 128 patents earned by Blumlein before his untimely death in a plane crash at the age of 38. His life’s work revolutionised everything from audio to telephony to transatlantic cables to television to radar. This devilishly handsome young man with the brain the size of a planet knew how to look comfortable in a three-piece suit, sported round spectacles, puffed a pipe, had a playful sense of humour and spoke like Harry Enfield’s Mr Grayson. His lack of fame among the general public can be attributed to several factors, not least that he died young while working on top-secret inventions during World War II and, having a German surname and Jewish ancestry. Additionally,  home stereo systems only began to take off in the mid -1960s, more than thirty years after he invented it and more than twenty years after his death. In addition to inventing stereo recording, Blumlein’s disc-cutting machines, microphones and other studio equipment were far and away superior to anything that had been devised before. In effect, he invented the notion of high-fidelity for music lovers. It is a shame that he is so forgotten today, especially as the use of mobile phones to replay low bit rate MP3 and AAC files – for the first time in history, audio fidelity is decreasing instead of increasing. Audiophile equipment is still being manufactured and sold, but the general public seem to prefer convenience over fidelity. Somehow I don't think that Alan Dower Blumlein would be impressed. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Following the modern photo of the Cross Keys Centre, the Playhouse and Potion at the top of this update, here is something from the past. The photo above (click on it for a larger view) was taken back in 1971 / 1972 by the look of the cars in the shot. It shows the Cross Keys pub, the Playhouse and the White Hart pub in Erith High Street. This was shortly before the Playhouse was rebuilt with a new frontage, which joined together the two buildings in the centre of the photo. The dark coloured structure (known locally at the time as number 38) directly to the left of the pale coloured Playhouse was incorporated into the new frontage a couple of years later; I was reliably told that the dark coloured building actually functioned for several years as a brothel! Bearing in mind the proximity to the (then active) riverside Police station only a hundred yards along the road, if this is true, I would not be surprised is some kind of accommodation was reached back in the day. If you have any information, please let me know.

The Bank Holiday weekend gave many rail companies a chance to undertake maintenance and modification of their rail networks; this was very widely reported in the popular press. The North Kent rail line was again mostly offline – the ongoing construction work for the forthcoming South East Crossrail terminus at Abbey Wood made this an inevitability. One unexpected outcome of this was a temporary service that ran from Dartford to Blackfriars via Blackheath and Lewisham. The service was a stopping one as far as Lewisham, from where it then ran fast all of the way to Blackfriars, via Brockley, then on to Nunhead, Peckham Rye, Denmark Hill, Loughborough Junction and Elephant and Castle, then terminating at the modern, airy and impressive Blackfriars Station, located above the famous Blackfriars Bridge. It was a pleasant journey with very interesting scenery; back in the late 1980’s trains on the Dartford via Lewisham line used to regularly run on to the old (and now long gone) Holborn Viaduct station via Peckham Rye and Denmark Hill; in the intervening years the old mostly industrial landscape seems to have been replaced with residential accommodation – though there is still the odd scrap yard and empty warehouse to show what the route used to look like.  I am no transport expert, but as far as I am aware, there has never before been a direct service to Blackfriars on the North Kent Line. Personally I would like to see one train an hour each way on the route as a permanent service – what do you think?

On previous Maggot Sandwich updates, I have mentioned various radio stations that I listen to - some on broadcast radio, some online, and some both. One of the oldest unconventional stations that I have been following for many years is Laser Hot Hits. They have their 25th birthday this very weekend. Laser D.J Gary Drew is my guest contributor this week, and you can see his article on the station below. Please feel free to leave a comment, or email hugh.neal@gmail.com.

25 years of the hottest hits from Laser Hot Hits. Compiled by Gary Drew.

April 2015 marks 25 years of broadcasting from Laser Hot Hits. The station began as an FM pirate broadcasting to the home counties going on air on Bank Holiday Monday 16th April 1990 on 101 MHz VHF in stereo. Transmissions continued on FM most weekends with many frequency moves following the start of Classic FM. In 1993 Laser merged with staff from the former pirate Hits FM in London to emerge the reborn, bigger Laser Hot Hits that we know today. Shortwave broadcasts were added on 6220 KHz in the 48 metre band shortwave for over 10 years with many other shortwave frequencies being used in other bands and many channel changes over the years. They still come and go and in 1997 Laser started identifying on air as ‘Laser Hot Hits International’ and the name has stuck to this day. The strapline ‘the shortwave legend’ has also been added in the past few years and anybody looking for Laser on a Wi-Fi radio server or mobile phone app will see that ident so they know they have selected our version of Laser. Your favourite version! There are some imitators using the same name but we were first to claim it way back in 1990 when we built the station as a tribute to the format from the offshore pirates Laser 558 and Laser Hot Hits 576. Our format now still consists of popular music that everybody recognises but also in recent years we have developed a specialist music interest with some selected programmes dedicated to different types of music. The anorak and offshore theme is still present but in smaller doses as our audience has changed in recent years. In fact some younger listeners have been attracted to us which is why we recently launched a new dance stream on our internet service separate from our original shortwave or classic hits stream. The new service is identified as ‘Laser Dance Hits International’ you can find that on Twitter @LaserIntDance. We now operate on 4026 KHz in the 76 metre band and this goes out weekday evenings right through the night from around 18.30 UTC – 08.30 UTC and it is on air right through the weekend non-stop from Friday night to Monday morning. Meanwhile our internet streams are on 24 hours per day 7 days per week. Sometimes the shortwave is in parallel with the stream and other times it is playing archive a few weeks behind. We have relay partners like Magic 6205 http://magic6205.com/ helping us get more coverage and Radio Black Beard on 6950. There are also people who are radio enthusiasts and anoraks relaying our stream on FM in parts of the UK and USA on various frequencies at various times and again these come and go. Some are high power and some are low power. Recent frequencies we have been heard on are 105.8 FM in the West Country, 87.8 FM in the east of England, and 103.3 FM in north Norfolk, 93.5 FM in Indiana USA. 1476 KHz and 1566 KHz Medium wave. There are even internet stations relaying us at certain times as well. We have a Face book page www.facebook.com/laserhothits and you can visit our website at http://www.laserhothits.co.uk/

The current line of DJ’s and music is as follows:-

Martin Scott – Dance, Pop and charts, 80’s
Mike Andrews – Classic Hits, Adult contemporary, Pop, American Billboard
Stewart Ross – Rock, Euro Rock, Disco, Pop
Tony James – Oldies, 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, TV themes, Film music, Album music
Dave Norris – Dance, Pop, 80’s
Dave Simpson – Rock, Motown, Blues, R&B, Oldies
Gary Drew – Jazz-Funk, Soul, Dance, Rap, Rare Groove
Ian Lawrence – Dance, Pop, Chart, 80’s
Paul Stuart – Pop, Chart, 70’s, 80’s

We stream at 192 kpbs and 32 k AAC+ for mobiles. Our streams are as follows:
Classic Hits (original shortwave) 192k mp3 stream : http://usa2-vn.mixstream.net:8922/listen.pls
Classic Hits (original shortwave) 32k AAC+ stream : http://usa2-vn.mixstream.net:8972/listen.pls
Dance 192k mp3 (Laser Dance Hits International) stream : http://usa5-vn.mixstream.net:8993/listen.pls

We have an archive of shows on our mix cloud site at https://www.mixcloud.com/laser_hot_hits/

The internet stream is playing live shows in real time most Sundays from around 11am – 7pm give or take an hour at each end with various jocks on rotation but usually Ian Lawrence, Paul Stuart, Martin Scott, Dave Norris for the most part with some other jocks coming on live from time to time. Live shows also commence some weekday evenings with Mike Andrews on Mondays from 9pm – 11pm and Friday nights is dance night with Ian, Martin and sometimes Paul. Gary Drew is on almost every Sunday at 9pm pre-recorded with his regular ‘tribute to radio’ feature and the rest of the schedule across the week is filled with repeated shows from the archive and non-stop music. Sometimes we play documentaries with a radio related theme so there’s something for everyone with a free radio or offshore interest. This version of Laser Hot Hits has nothing to do with any other station using the same name and we are established as Laser Hot Hits International - the shortwave legend. Our hard working team continue to bring you the best radio entertainment we can offer in keeping with the spirit of the heyday of offshore and land-based pirate radio. These are memories of a bygone era we must never forget........... Here’s to the next 25 years. Cheers! Thanks Gary - excellent stuff! Congratulations on your 25th anniversary.

There has been some controversy concerning the announcement last week that Aldi are planning to open a superstore in Crayford, very close to the giant Sainsbury’s supermarket (I have been told that it is the largest Sainsbury’s in the UK, though I have had no verification of this – if you have any information, please drop me a line to hugh.neal@gmail.com and let me know).  Whatever the specifics of the size of the Sainsbury’s store, it is undeniably large, and Aldi are obviously taking a tilt at Sainsbury’s in building a store in such close proximity. Some locals welcome the competition, whilst others think that the additional traffic that a second supermarket in a relatively small area would be intolerable; those residents say that they would prefer more new housing – a subject that seems to divide many people. Crayford is one of those places that unless you live there, you tend to go through on the way to somewhere else. It has some good points – being close to the A2 and M25, and also has a micro – pub in The Penny Farthing. I get the feeling that Bexley Council would rather have a second supermarket on the site than more housing – mainly as the business rates that a large retail outlet would generate would far exceed the rates paid for residential properties, and as we already know, Bexley Council treat the bottom line of a spreadsheet as the most important motivator to certain Bexley Councillors. The proposed Crayford development may be significant for other, wider reasons as well; Aldi has overtaken Waitrose to become the UK’s sixth-largest supermarket chain. Aldi has grown rapidly in recent years as shoppers have kept a tight rein on their budgets. Having leapfrogged Waitrose, it is now closing in on the Co-op, the UK’s fifth-largest supermarket chain, which is now less than one percentage point ahead of the German chain in terms of market share. I understand that this success has been at least partly to a very aggressive campaign of store openings, often very close to premium supermarkets in order to steal some trade from under the noses of their rivals. It would seem in this instance the victim will be Sainsbury’s – who have a reputation for being somewhat on the pricey side. Lidl too have plans for a new supermarket on the site of the old Dartford Police Station in Instone Road, directly opposite the Dartford Sainsbury’s. It definitely seems to me that a supermarket war is about to break out in the local area, and both of the German discounters are taking the attack quite firmly to Sainsbury’s.

Last week the News Shopper published the latest of its lists. Over the past year or so, the local newspaper has changed editorial direction, and has become somewhat more tabloid in nature. Personally I feel this is an ill – advised move, but I understand the struggle for many local papers, who find attracting advertisers difficult now that so much has migrated online. Each week, the News Shopper now publishes an article which appears to be attracting comment and feedback – no doubt to improve the number of hits on their website, and thus increase the value to advertisers and keep the revenue rolling in. Usually the lists are quite anodyne and superficial – and the last list did not disappoint in this respect. It listed the top beef burger outlets in the area, and somewhat to my surprise, amongst the entries for the long established and well – loved Blackheath Tea Hut and the upmarket Five Guys and Byron Burger at Bluewater, they listed the Starburger outlet in Cross Street, Erith. The unprepossessing fast food restaurant has been quietly serving all day breakfasts, burgers, jacket spuds and several types of grilled chicken, all served up with artery hardening portions of chips. One customer told me that even if you ordered a portion of chips, it would come with a side order of chips! Still, the place is popular – it could not have kept going for all of these years if it was not doing something right. Starburger score a three out of five on their “Scores on the Doors” kitchen hygiene rating, so there is some room for improvement – especially as so many other food outlets in and around Erith have dramatically improved their ratings over the last year, albeit from a woeful starting point. Still, it goes to show a small food outlet in a quiet side street can compete successfully with the major chains. 

The dreaded Emirates Airline Cable Car, better known to locals as the Arabfly Dangleway has announced that it will be offering ‘Night Flights’ from this weekend - giving passengers unique views of the capital during night hours. Transport for London said the cable car service will remain open for journeys across the River Thames until 10pm from Sunday to Thursday, and until 11pm on Saturday. Journey times will also be extended from 20 to 25 minutes from after 7pm, with music and video entertainment on offer during the journey. It comes after it was revealed the service was closed 354 times in its first two-and-a-half years of operation, mainly as a result of weather conditions. The evening opening of the service is a tacit admission of something that observers have been aware of since the cable car opened – it is not, as Boris Johnson originally stated, an integral part of the transport system for London, instead it is a tourist attraction, designed to get more footfall in the South East of London – which apart from Greenwich has historically not had the number of foreign visitors that other parts of the capital enjoy. As a commuter service, the cable car is slow, unreliable and expensive – the Jubilee line which runs under the river is a far more convenient and speedy (not to mention cheaper) alternative. Boris called it an infrastructure project to be able to claim part of the funds from central government; the fact that Oyster cards and conventional season tickets cannot be used on the service was the first key indicator that the cable car was not as integrated as Boris would have liked people to believe. The whole project must be haemorrhaging cash – there is absolutely no way the numbers of passengers on the cable car can even be servicing the interest on the debt – and word has it that Emirates are keenly aware of the deleterious effect their sponsorship of the “white elephant” is having on their corporate image. I would be not at all surprised to see them quietly back away from the whole project in the not too distant future. I regularly travel on the Docklands Light Railway past the cable car; the only time I see people using it are in the school holidays, when parents take their offspring for a jaunt across the river and back – apparently the small number of users mainly don’t stay on one or other side of the river, but return almost immediately to the side that they started from. This reinforces the assertion that the whole thing is a failed tourist attraction, rather than a serious way for Londoners to get around town. If the Emirates Airline Cable Car had been built next door to the London Eye, I have no doubt that it would have been  a massive attraction, and a great success – the problem is that it was built in the wrong place, going from nowhere to nowhere over an industrial park, a scrapyard and a few warehouses on the way.

Over Easter, ITV launched their new rebooted version of Gerry Anderson's classic 60's sci fi action television series "Thunderbirds". Contrary to much press coverage, the new show is aimed at a family audience, rather than just children on their own (there are several very subtle references that only total anoraks like myself would notice - the pilot episode features a rescue from an underwater scientific research station run by a Dr. Meddings - a reference to the original series special effects supervisor, Derek Meddings, who also worked on several James Bond and Superman films). Instead of using puppets, the new series uses CGI for the main characters and the ships, but the scenery such as Tracy Island is built as physical models. The animation and model effects were carried out by Weta - the New Zealand company responsible for the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings films, so the quality is excellent. Below is the title sequence for the reimagined show - I think it will do well.

Bartitsu

The photos above were taken by one of my confidential informants on Wednesday morning; they show an operation by local police officers along with what would appear to be some undercover police who pull over and stop a Ford Focus with a number of occupants outside of the former Potion (and prior to that, the White Hart pub). The operation is still clouded in mystery.

The Cross Keys Centre has now officially opened in its new role as a business hub for entrepreneurs, small businesses, mobile workers and the like. On April the 16th they will be holding an open day for businesses to showcase what the newly renovated Cross Keys can offer. The Grade II listed building in the Erith High Street conservation area is under renovation; the upper floors that were originally the accommodation have been fully restored and modernised; they now offer first class office, touch down space, sound proofed meeting rooms and a large multimedia presentation suite / conference room / theatre space. The whole interior is now climate controlled, and has business class Wi-Fi, printing facilities along with marble lined bathrooms and other conveniences, including tea and coffee making facilities. The soft launch of the new business centre actually happened a few months ago, when local graphic design company IQ-V moved into an office in the building. The April 16th open day and networking event will give other local businesses a chance to see what the new venture can offer them. Further work is being carried out on the former pub building; the ground floor bar area is being transformed into a tea / coffee shop and food outlet, and further work to increase the amount of available meeting rooms is being carried out to the rear of the structure. The listed front of the building has been restored to how it would have looked in 1911, and internally all of the original late Victorian architectural features have been expertly restored, including all of the ornate cast iron fireplaces. I have been in the Cross Keys Centre on several occasions and have seen the huge amount of work that has gone on to retain and restore as much as possible of the historic building, along with adding the levels of modern functionality required for use as a successful space for small businesses. Anglo American Management Consultancy the Aleff Group own the Cross Keys Centre, and they originally intended to convert the building for exclusive use by their staff – many of whom are highly mobile and need touch down space when they do visit the office. The high level of interest from local people, and the involvement of local councillors and other community leaders convinced the owners of the Aleff Group that a deeper involvement with the local community would be beneficial for all parties. Several consultation meetings have taken place over the last couple of years, to which a wide variety of local stakeholders have been invited (I have to say at this point, myself included). A great deal of feedback and constructive suggestions have been offered at these sessions, and the end result is the Cross Keys Centre that attendees on the 16th April will get to see – many for the first time. You can see details of the event by clicking here. I hope to attend, and I will be reporting on it in due course.

If you are a regular reader of the Maggot Sandwich, you will know that my opinion of DAB digital radio is somewhat mixed. The sound quality and availability of DAB signals around the UK is poor at best, with many station broadcasting only in mono due to the very narrow bandwidth available for DAB signals. The upside of DAB is that there are some excellent radio stations that are not available on AM or FM analogue broadcast bands; two which I particularly like are Planet Rock and BBC Radio 4 Extra. The UK was one of the first countries to embrace DAB radio – and unfortunately the technical standard that was chosen is now very old and out of date. The far newer DAB+ is an upgrade to the original DAB specifications, which uses a more advanced audio codec plus better error correction. It is, in theory, around three times as efficient as the DAB that  we are used to. That means better quality sound – and hopefully fewer mono stations – without the undersea gargling noises (caused by very low bit rate reception in poor signal areas) that some listeners are plagued by. The technology behind DAB means that it's possible to mix DAB and DAB+ services on the same multiplex – a set that doesn't understand the newer stuff will just ignore it. We don't yet know what programming the DAB+ channel on the new multiplex will carry; It may indeed be so compelling that owners of older sets will be motivated to replace them – unless they can just listen to the same station in a different way, such as online or via television using a set top box or Smart TV.. So, while it's great news that DAB+ is finally coming to the UK, I can't help thinking that it's too little, too late. Without a bold shift of more stations to DAB+, it's never going to gain much traction. Existing channels will likely be too scared of losing customers to switch, and so digital radio will continue for many channels as it is today: overwhelmingly mono and sometimes a bit too glitchy. I feel that an opportunity is now being wasted, as many people who listen to digital radio do so in ways other than DAB already. Streaming content via the web of 3G wireless data are very common – indeed some stations now receive more listeners via streaming than they do in other more traditional transmission methods. The excellent Radio Seagull from the Netherlands is a prime example of this.

I recently read about a chap who got accosted and beaten up by a group of thugs merely because he was wearing a top hat. Jacky Pautonnier, 54, who is from Normandy in France, was returning home on a train in London, when a youth aggressively asked to try on his top hat. Mr. Pautonnier had bought the hat in 2008 from the Sherlock Holmes Museum in London. When everyone said it suited him, he took to wearing it every day, not realising what trouble wearing a topper would get him into. When Mr. Pautonnier refused to allow the thug to wear his hat, he was followed on to a train at Catford Bridge station by the youth and two of his friends. They continued to taunt him on the train, but he steadfastly refused to allow them to try on his hat. The next thing he knew, Mr. Pautonnier came to in the train at Charing Cross, covered in blood. He had been beaten unconscious by the three youths. It took reconstructive surgery to repair Mr. Pautonnier’s skull, which had been fractured in three places. The top hat was a write-off. I have seen a number of online discussions regarding this unfortunate encounter, and one thread seems to follow in all of them – that Mr. Pautonnier should learn the martial art Bartitsu. Having researched this method of unarmed combat, it seems to me that many more people would benefit what some experts call the very first mixed martial art. If you have seen the two Guy Ritchie directed Sherlock Holmes movies starring Robert Downey Junior, the hand to hand fighting technique employed by Holmes to great effect was Bartitsu. The martial art was specifically designed for use by a gentleman whilst wearing a three piece suit, overcoat and hat, and whilst possibly using a walking cane or umbrella – all of which could be deployed to devastating effect when required. Bartitsu was invented in 1898, when Edward William Barton-Wright, a British engineer who had spent the previous three years living in the Empire of Japan, returned to England and announced the formation of a "New Art of Self Defence". This art, he claimed, combined the best elements of a range of fighting styles into a unified whole, which he had named Bartitsu. Barton-Wright had previously also studied "boxing, wrestling, fencing, savate and the use of the stiletto under recognised masters", reportedly testing his skills by "engaging toughs (street fighters) until (he) was satisfied in their application." He defined Bartitsu as meaning "self-defence in all its forms"; the word was a combination of his own surname and of "Jujitsu". Barton -Wright summarised the essential principles of Bartitsu as: 1) To disturb the equilibrium of your assailant. 2) To surprise him before he has time to regain his balance and use his strength. 3) If necessary, to subject the joints of any parts of his body, whether neck, shoulder, elbow, wrist, back, knee, ankle, etc. to strains that they are anatomically and mechanically unable to resist. Bartitsu was popular in the early 20th century, but fell from favour for no apparent reason, and the unfortunate Mr. Barton – Wright died a pauper in 1951 at the ripe old age of 90. Bartitsu might have been completely forgotten if not for a cryptic reference by Sir Arthur Conan - Doyle in one of his Sherlock Holmes mystery stories. In 1901 Conan Doyle had revived Holmes for a further story, The Adventure of the Empty House, in which Holmes explained his victory over Professor Moriarty in their struggle at the Reichenbach Falls by the use of "baritsu, or the Japanese system of wrestling, which has more than once been very useful to me". It may well be that Conan – Doyle changed the name slightly to avoid accusations of copyright theft; in any case confusion was spread as to the correct name, and this did not help Bartitsu from declining in proponents. Until around ten years ago, the martial art was almost completely dead. Recently however, several societies and websites dedicated to this gentleman’s system for self-defence have been established. In October 2006, the Bartitsu Society launched the Bartitsu.org website, which includes information on the history, theory and practice of Barton-Wright's martial art, as well as current events relating to the Bartitsu revival. The recent Sherlock Holmes movies, and the Bartitsu moves used by Colin Firth’s character in “Kingsmen – the Secret Service” have brought the martial art back into the public awareness.

The London Borough of Bexley is becoming quite the location for micro pubs. The third, called the Broken Drum at 308 Westwood Lane, Blackfen is due to open shortly – the original opening date of Good Friday apparently had to be changed due to a family bereavement. Nevertheless The Broken Drum will join the Penny Farthing in Crayford (Bexley CAMRA pub of the year 2014) and the original Bexley Micro Pub, the Door Hinge in Welling (according to the website Trip Advisor, the number one venue in Welling).  Micro pubs are usually set up in old shop premises, and are cheaper and easier to set up than full pubs, as they don’t serve spirits or lager, and concentrate on high quality real ales and cider. Some also serve a couple of wines, others do not. Generally any food available is only of the snack variety – crisps, nuts and maybe the odd pork pie. The Door Hinge and The Penny Farthing are both thriving small businesses, and I am sure that the Broken Drum will be the same. Unfortunately there are so many empty shop units around, that finding a suitable location for a new micro pub is not particularly difficult at present. One factor that is vital to the success of a micro pub is that they need to be close to good public transport links; responsible drinkers won’t drive, and they need to be able to get to and from the venue relatively easily. This is one of several reasons why I feel that Erith would make an excellent venue for an additional micro pub – it has very good bus and rail connections with the whole area – trains towards and from London every ten minutes (when the line is not suspended due to Crossrail engineering works, that is), and many bus services connect Erith with the rest of the borough, and the whole South East of London and North Kent. On top of this, there are a number of suitable empty shop units available. The Erith Riverside Shopping Centre has empty units, but there are two key reasons why it would not be a suitable location for a micro pub; firstly the rent on the units would be prohibitive, and secondly the shopping centre gates are closed at 6pm every evening as the shops close. This is for security reasons. Personally I can think of several suitable locations, one of which is the old shop unit that for many years was occupied by Owens the Ironmonger in Cross Street. The unit is quite large, and would have plenty of space for a cool room to store the beer barrels, whilst still leaving a large area for the bar, a lounge and seating space. It is close to the town centre, the Cross Street Car Park for those not drinking, and very close to the bus halt just around the corner in Bexley Road; it is also only a five minute walk to Erith Station. On top of this it has excellent rear access for beer delivery lorries. What do you think? Does Erith need a micro pub? Who would run it? Do you have a suggestion as to another potential location?  Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

News broke earlier this week that Kingfisher, the company that owns the brands B and Q and Screwfix is to close or downsize sixty B and Q stores around the UK and in Ireland. At the time of writing, the fate of the store in Lower Belvedere is unknown. Bearing in mind that specific location has been extensively remodelled to downsize the store and  to create the Asda supermarket that now shares the site on what used to be the old Erith and Belvedere football club ground, I would anticipate that there will be little change. I understand that Kingfisher are reducing the number of B and Q stores, but increasing the number of Screwfix outlets – they say that there will be few redundancies where B and Q shops close, as in most cases a Screwfix will be opening to replace it. This is very interesting information, and it shows how the market is changing. People are nowadays doing far less “do it yourself” than a few years ago. They seem more likely to call in a professional to undertake the work. Personally I can completely understand this – I know my limitations, and would rather pay someone who knows what they are doing to do a competent job, rather than bodge the work myself, and then end up calling in a pro to put the work right. Secondly it also puts money back into the local economy –something for which I am a strong supporter. It would see that Kingfisher are reacting to this change in the market – B and Q is primarily a DIY brand, whereas Screwfix is primarily a trade outlet. It would seem that as property prices rise, homeowners feel that investing money in professional building and associated works is well spent; the days of “doing it on the cheap” oneself seem for the time being at least to be on the way out.

Bexley is Bonkers author, and expert on local politics Malcolm Knight gave me some more details of the arson attack on Lesnes Abbey Ruins last week; Malcolm lives very close to the ruins, and informed me that gangs of youths can be seen on an almost nightly basis in and around the listed ruins; we share the opinion that the damage to one of the intact arched doorways was almost certainly caused by one or more of the youths. Whilst the stone arch itself could not be burned, the surface has become discoloured, and Malcolm was concerned that the lime mortar that holds it together seems to have been damaged by the heat of the fire. I don’t know how the Police will be able to catch anyone for the offence – arson is a serious crime. I don’t think that fitting CCTV to the site would be either practical or indeed desirable. What other methods of securing the site from harm are unclear – other than permanent patrols by security guards, I don’t see how the place can be kept from further harm – and I doubt that any money would be forthcoming for such patrols in the first place.

On my way to work I cut through the Cross Street Car Park; in so doing I pass the rear of the Queen Street Baptist Church. Recently a very large converted shipping container and a reinforced porta cabin have appeared behind the church hall; they are the home for Erith Food Bank. The new reception area is housed in a porta-cabin site office donated by Erith Group Ltd, and sits alongside a vandal proof storage container provided by Wates, the Erith Park developers, used as a food storage area. The Erith distribution centre is open on Wednesdays and Saturdays, 10am until 1pm. The food bank has been running for some time, as regular customers at Erith Morrison’s will have seen from the trolley left by the checkouts where customers can leave donations of dry / tinned foodstuffs which go to the food bank. There is even a notice reminding donors not to leave frozen goods in the trolley, as they won’t stay frozen for long. The food bank's aim is to provide emergency food aid and support to those who are facing a crisis. In the last year the amount of people depending on Bexley Food bank has nearly doubled from 2,211 in 2013/14 to 4,397 in 2014/15. This is a truly shocking figure – to my mind it harks back to the days of the pre – welfare state “Parish Assistance”, and feels only one step away from reinstating workhouses. Please don’t misunderstand – I think that the alliance between Queen Street Baptist Church and Christ Church Erith to provide emergency food to the needy is an excellent, practical way of helping genuinely impoverished local people; it just strikes me as wrong that food banks are necessary at all. It is often said that the state of a country can be determined by how it treats its poorest and most marginalised inhabitants. From this viewpoint I don’t think the UK is doing very well at all right now. It is only a couple of months since I encountered a young couple sleeping rough in the “Tunnel of Doom” that links Erith Town Centre with Erith Station and the new Bexley College campus. It was a freezing cold morning, and I was shocked to see them huddled in the middle of the draughty underpass with nothing other than a sleeping bag and an old piece of cardboard preventing them from freezing to death. Nobody sleeps rough in bitterly cold conditions by choice – I did notify the authorities of the situation, but I never heard what happened to the couple. Hopefully their lot has now improved. It strikes me that there is something wrong in society when the tenth richest country in the World has people sleeping on the street. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

The planning approval for the Erith Quarry development was granted this week; Malcolm Knight of Bexley is Bonkers has covered the event in some considerable detail. Other news outlets have also covered the story – including the Bexley Times, who give the story an angle that had not seriously occurred to me. They make much of the status of Erith Quarry as a  designated Site of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation. Note the word borough – not a county, regional or a national designation, just a borough one. I understand that some wildlife does live on the site, which to my point of view is despite the site, not because of it. Erith Quarry has been a dumping ground for fly – tippers for the best part of thirty years; the subsoil has been contaminated with numerous noxious chemicals, including zinc and tin based anti-fouling marine paint and toxic wood preservative, apparently dumped on the site when the Atlas chemicals and paint factory (see the period advert above - click on it for a larger view) in Fraser Road was shut down in the early 1980’s. I also understand quantities of used engine oil and other industrial waste have been identified in the soil around the quarry. If this was not bad enough, until the developers paid a fortune to clear the infestation, it was heavily covered in Japanese Knotweed, which requires specialist removal and destruction. In short it was not some kind of wildlife haven some have made it out to be – it is a grotty tip that has been an eyesore for as long as I care to remember. There are some wild animals on the site, and they deserve to live in a better environment than the one they currently suffer. I do agree that special attention needs to be taken to ensure that traffic flows in and around the development are addressed – as it is, Northumberland Heath already gets close to gridlock, and residential traffic from the quarry development will need to take this into account. There has also been some criticism that the new development offers no affordable housing; this is true, but it is in the nature of the commercial offer. Erith Quarry is designed for second or third time buyers moving from outside of the area into Erith. A majority of the houses on the site (63 percent) will be three or four bedroomed, with a smaller number (37 percent) of flats and two bedroomed houses. The whole development is a commercial venture, and whilst it would have been preferable to incorporate social housing on the site in the same way that Erith Park has a mix of commercial and social housing, it was never going to be financially viable if the development was going to include a primary school – this point has also recently been made by Malcolm Knight.  At the end of the day, the purpose of Erith Quarry is to attract wealthy new people into the area; the knock – on effect will (hopefully) be that they spend their money in the locality, and thus the cash will trickle down to those not so fortunate to have such a high net worth.

The end video this week is the latest film from Simon's Cat. Give it a watch! Let me know what you think. Drop me a line to hugh.neal@gmail.com.