Plastic.

The photo above shows the recycling centre in James Watt Way Erith, just behind the large Morrison's supermarket. The centre is well used and popular with many local people. You may notice a large gap between the green and blue recycling containers in the photo above - click on it for a larger view. This gap used to contain two additional recycling hoppers - one for empty drinks cartons, and one for plastic items such as packaging. On the 14th November the two containers disappeared;  the two hoppers had not been emptied for a very long time, and were extremely over - full. Initially I thought that the two missing hoppers would be returned, but nothing happened. As a result of this, I contacted Calum Boyd, who is the Waste Management Officer (Reuse and Recycling Centres and Bring Banks) for Bexley Council - to give him his full title. Calum responded with:- "Thank you for contacting use regarding the household plastic packaging and beverage cartons recycling banks at Morrisons Erith. Please accept our apologies regarding the difficulties you have experienced using this facility.  Due to the relatively high cost to service these banks and ongoing issues we have been experiencing with severe contamination at a number of the mini recycling sites we had to make the difficult decision to remove these banks borough wide. This commenced on Tuesday 14th November after emptying on Monday 13th November. Prior to the removal of the banks collections were suspended which led to issues at a number of sites with full banks. Household plastic packaging and beverage cartons can continue to be recycled through the kerbside recycling collection in the maroon box for houses or silver bins for flats". I am strongly of the opinion that this is a really bad move; it will increase the already high level of fly tipping in the borough, and it also sends precisely the wrong message to the residents of The London Borough of Bexley in respect to the commitment to recycling which the borough has previously and very publicly made.  The timing of this short - sighted decision also coincides with the increase in awareness of the very long term polluting effects of plastic on nature - highlighted by the recent episode of the BBC's Blue Planet 2. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

For some unknown reason, the activities of the illegal moped and quad bike riders seems to have curtailed over the last couple of weeks. Whether this is due to the actions of the Police, or whether it is due to the wintry cold and wet weather conditions, I do not know. The good news is that they have been keeping a low profile, which is very much to be welcomed. I suspect it may just be that they are staying in their bedrooms in front of their PlayStations waiting for the winter to pass so that they can step up their criminal activities once again. I do know that the local Police have had a number of successes in intercepting and detaining members of local bike gangs recently. How effective this will prove to be in the long term, nobody knows.

The graphic above was sent to me by fellow local Blogger Malcolm Knight of the excellent "Bexley is Bonkers" Blog. It shows the other local bus services that have proposed re - routings to cater for the Crossrail service at Abbey Wood, and the forthcoming Erith Quarry development. I mentioned the new private bus service, quite inaccurately named the Nuxley Navigator last week, but I neglected to also write about the existing bus services that have plans to re - route to take into account commuters from the new up - market housing estate that will need to travel to Abbey Wood Station to travel on to destinations including the City and Canary Wharf. Travel links are one of the key factors in attracting people from outside of the area to move locally. Historically the London Borough of Bexley has fared poorly in relation to public transport; it is one of the few London boroughs with no tube stations and there is little chance of the DLR being expanded into Bexley in the next few years. We are however getting Crossrail (which will only be renamed the Elizabeth Line when it actually opens) and the bus extensions, both public and private are a move to capitalise on this new connectivity. This however will not help with one major problem with transport links locally, and that is the real elephant in the corner; the situation regarding road traffic. As many will be aware, even dual carriageways such as Bronze Age Way tend to become blocked with stationary traffic for extended periods; the reason for this is that the road is a feeder towards the M25 and the Dartford River Crossing. It was stated that back when the toll booths were removed and ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) cameras were installed, that the major benefit would be a quicker transit time for users of the crossing. In reality the opposite has happened. In the last weeks, it has taken in some cases up to ninety minutes for travellers to get across the River Thames. This has been exacerbated by the very unreliable Woolwich Ferry service, which on occasions has been completely unavailable, or running on one ferry only. Larger lorries are unable to go through the Blackwall Tunnel (which was originally designed and constructed for horse and cart traffic) - so when the Woolwich Ferry is out of service, vehicles have to go all of the way to Dartford in order to cross the River Thames, worsening an already very congested situation. The situation has now become so bad that on Monday the 27th November, the radio presenter Steve Allen, who hosts the afternoon music and chat show on the excellent, Romford based Time 107.5 FM ended up presenting the first hour of his show live from his car, stuck in a traffic jam at the Dartford Crossing. Whilst this actually made for very entertaining listening, it was indicative of just how serious the congestion has now got. What experiences have you had regarding trying to cross the River Thames? Do let me know.

Early last week, I received the following Email from a resident who lives in Erith Town Centre, who wishes to remain anonymous. The person wrote:- "Living in the town centre, with a view of the White Hart, I've been following the work on the building closely and, like many locals, have been looking forward to finding out what's going into the old pub on the ground floor. So, I'm sure you'll understand the disappointment I felt about the project when I was awoken at 4:30 am on Monday morning (November 27th) to the sound of very loud music emanating from the pub (my husband later told me he'd first heard the noise around 4 am). Looking out our window, we could see that the lights were on in the pub, the doors were shut and there was red paper over the windows. A few people were outside and there were some cars parked at the side and out front too. I phoned 101 around 4:45 to report the noise disturbance and the woman I spoke with commented that mine was the second complaint the police had received. A unit had gone out around 3 am to deal with the disturbance but, whatever the outcome of that was, the noisemakers were back at it an hour later. The police arrived shortly after 5 am, and the noise stopped. Hopefully for good! While the previous owners of Potion were certainly problematic, out-of-hours noise was not an issue that I remember ever having to put up with. Considering the building is still a construction site, I worry about what's going to happen once it is open!" I have passed the local resident's comments onto the Police, and am currently awaiting their response. If you know anything about the party, or indeed anything else to do with the building, then please let me know.

We hear so much about pubs closing to be converted into flats, and other bad news issues, that it is nice to report that a local pub is thriving - proving to be a centre of the community, cooking great food and really being a great place to visit. The Royal Standard in Belvedere Village has recently had an extensive refurbishment - which incidentally looks absolutely magnificent. I went there for lunch with my Mother on Monday, and I was really impressed at what they have done with some substantial investment in the business. The decor has been completely redone, making the place feel lighter and more spacious; the furniture has all been renewed at some considerable expense, and the food menu completely redesigned from scratch, using very high quality ingredients - the meat now comes from Picketts, the up - market independent butcher in Bexleyheath. Even on a Monday lunchtime the place was buzzing. I was really impressed with the pub, and can highly recommend it. 

The photo above was sent to me by a very long - term reader. He found the individual photos online, and digitally stitched them together to produce the panorama image that you can see above - click on the photo in order to see a larger version. It shows Erith High Street at some point during World War 2; going from left to right, you can see the old Erith Police Station - which is still in existence, but it is now converted into apartments. Next there is a hut on stilts over the river - I cannot determine what it was used for - if any reader knows, please drop me a line with the details. The next structure would appear to be an air raid shelter. The next area would appear to be a piece of land probably cleared for growing vegetables in the "Dig for Victory!" campaign. The road with the two women with the baby carriage crossing it is now known as Saltford Close - I am unsure of what it was called back then. The Running Horses pub can be seen on the right of the compound photograph; it was opened in 1938, but seriously damaged in an air raid in 1940. A contemporary account of the incident from  a local resident called Graham Jansen reads:- "My Grandfather, Thomas Arthur House (b. 12/11/1896, Westminster) was killed at The Running Horses at 1930 hrs on 29/11/1940 during a bombing raid. He was an ARP Ambulance Driver, aged 44 yrs. He was killed with a Henry George Frederick Parry, aged 19 yrs, an ARP Stretcher Bearer and an Albert Sydney Humphreys, aged 50 yrs, a Fireman, AFS. They are commemorated in perpetuity by The Commonwealth War Graves Commission. The licensee of the pub, William Zachariah Coles, aged 49 yrs, was also killed in the blast. I have been told that The Crown public House, which stood on the opposite corner to The Running Horses, was so severely damaged it was never used again and was later demolished. The landlord's wife, Mary Louisa Witherdon, aged 73 yrs was also killed along with a Joseph Lancelot Addison, aged 76 yrs. A local researcher remembers his father telling him "the Crown had got it" when he returned home from fire watching. Mr. Coles had been standing at the front door of the newly completed Running Horses and was killed instantly. Apart from the deaths of my Grandfather and his colleagues there were no less than twenty people injured. One of the wardens, a Henry Sims was slightly injured and reported that the victims in the pub were still seated at the table and had no visible injuries, they were typical blast victims. The landlord's wife, Annie Elizabeth Coles is understood to have continued to serve drinks out of the back of the pub after her husband was killed. My Grandfather's widow, Flora McAlister Campbell House (McGregor) went on to marry Leslie James Holloway (16/05/1916 Erith d. Jul 1989 Dartford) Dec 1942. He became the landlord of the Kings Head public house in Erith and lived there for 42 years having moved there at the age of two. The pub used to belong to his uncle, Arthur Hewett, who lived next door. He had a club foot and used a crutch to get around the bar. Because of his uncle's disability, the pub was run by his parents, James William Holloway (b. Dec 1885 Dartford) and Emma Matilda Holloway (Hewett). Les remembered beer being 4d a pint and tobacco fourpence ha'penny a packet. He was a popular figure in Erith having run the Kings Head for over 10 yrs. He was once described as Erith's answer to Fanny Waldren - the famous Tottenham Hotspurs winger of the 1920's".

Now for the weekly safety and security updates from Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association; firstly from Barnehurst ward, where a Neighbourhood Watch member has made the following comment:- "I am being bombarded by incoming phone calls from callers who claim to be BT Openreach. They are telling me that my internet connection is slow due to errors being created by my computer. I kept him on the line by pretending to be ignorant of what he was asking and saying my computer was off. He asked for me to turn it on but again I kept delaying. I asked where he was based. He said BT HQ, 81 Newgate Street London. He said he had worked there for three years. So I asked him for the post code of 81 Newgate street. He didn’t know and hung up. I managed to keep him online for about 5 mins wasting his time. I had the same call yesterday and also twice today. So please circulate this information. It is NOT BT ringing. BT don’t usually base engineering staff at their HQ 81 Newgate Street. Please be aware of these scammers but by all means keep them on the line as long as possible but don’t give them any information and definitely DO NOT follow any of their instructions with your computer. They hate you wasting their time". The Barnehurst report continues:- "Barnehurst has suffered one burglary in the last week. This happened in Holmesdale Grove which is in near proximity to other recent burglaries on the ward. On 22/11/17 between 02.00am and 0630am in Holmesdale Grove victim got up to find the front door open and the Audi taken from the driveway. A number of other items were taken from within the property. The house alarm had not been set and the door had not been double locked. A vehicle was broken into in Hall Place car park on 23/11/17 between 07.30pm and 10.20pm, personal items were taken from the vehicle. Concentrated patrols are being carried out to the Martens Avenue following complaints from residents relating to anti-social behaviour in this area. The areas of concern are the alley ways and the garaged area to Braeside Crescent. The last incident of property’s being hit by golf balls in Taunton Close was on 10/11/17 at 10.20pm. We will continue to pay attention to this area to prevent further incidents happening. Barnehurst Golf Club have also put in measures to prevent further damage to properties. If you wish to discuss any matters please join us for coffee with cops at 1.00pm at Barnehurst Golf Club on Tuesday 05/12/2017. Please follow us on Twitter @MPSBarnehurst or email us at Barnehurst.snt@met.police.uk. or phone us on 020 8721 2577". Now a report from Belvedere ward:- "PC Green and PC Holmes have been working with officers from neighbouring wards to combat burglary in the lead up to the Christmas period. This work involves targeting known offenders throughout the North of the borough and regular patrols of possible vulnerable locations. In response to a recent robbery in Upper Belvedere, the team have also been completing patrols of Erith Road and the roads nearby leading onto Brook Street over the last two days – this has led to a male being stopped and searched by officers in an alleyway in this area. Our next surgery date is the 4th of December 2017 at Asda in Lower Belvedere". Brampton ward:- "Overall it has been a good week for the ward 1 x shoplift at Pickford Lane 1 x criminal damage to a wall in Belvedere road , bricks taken from the wall found in a nearby road 1 x criminal damage of tyres slashed in Normanhurst Avenue , the victim was awoken by a screaming sound when they looked out their bedroom window it was found that foxes were outside near the vehicle , in the morning the victim found puncture marks and slashing marks on 2 tyres, no suspects seen. 1 x residential Burglary in Long Lane , the address is unsecured and in the process of renovation. As the property has no windows this is the access of the suspects who stole tools and copper piping. Investigation ongoing . This is the first Burglary on Brampton ward since 13th November and is not believed to be linked to family gold Burglaries. Brampton attended a Family Gold meeting along with DS Yilmaz, NHW Dana Wiffen and Bobby Van Kate Frail on the 25th and met with over 30 residents from across the Borough. This is the first of many meetings arranged and will expand over time. The meeting was successful for all parties. Please keep sending in your email addresses for the ward so that I can let you know direct of any crimes happening on your road and follow us on Twitter @MPSBrampton". Colyers ward:- "During the evening of 23rd/early hours of 24th November there was an attempted theft from a BT van in Appledore Avenue. Fortunately, nothing was taken". From Police SNT Team - PC Mike Cuell:-"Hello, I am PC Mike Cuell and I am the newest member of the Colyers Ward Team. The good news this week is that we have had no thefts in relation to motor vehicles of any kind. The only thing we have to report is a Burglary in Twigg Close, on the 26th November, in which the door was kicked open and a quantity of clothes were stolen. We have a surgery today at 6pm in the Blackberry Patch in Badlow Close. Next week’s Surgery will be on Monday 4th December at 1pm in Cupacakes on Colyers Lane. With the festive season upon us, please be extra vigilant in keeping your houses locked and secure, with so many goodies on offer under the Christmas Tree". Crayford ward:- "Number plates were stolen from a vehicle parked in Green Walk overnight between 21.00 on 25/11/2017 and 08.00 on 26/11/2017. On Friday 24/11/2017 at 22.00 close to the Doctor’s surgery in Crayford Road an 18 year old Male was robbed by a Male claiming to be homeless, his wallet was snatched, money taken and the wallet discarded. On that same evening at 22.14 a local business in Crayford Road had their window smashed and males entered. They stole items of high value and a safe. The safe was later recovered intact and one person was detained and arrested. A burglary occurred between 18/11/2017 and 23/11/2017 in Manor Road whilst the owners were on holiday, jewellery was stolen after an untidy search of the upstairs of the property. A vehicle was stolen from Mill Place without keys on 20/11/2017 between 14.00-17.19. It was later recovered by Kent Police locally. In the lead up to Christmas be aware that the town centre will be much busier with people out and about doing Christmas shopping. Remember to keep your possessions safe, put purses/wallets away and secure bags before leaving the tills and keep everything out of sight in locked vehicles, please don’t give thieves a chance". Erith ward:- "Weekly update from Erith SNT - PC Gill visited Trinity School to speak about Stop and Search. Extra patrols around the Battle Rd area. Due to concerns raised from local residents, we had a meeting with residents of Compton Place of which Erith councillors and Orbit attended. PCs Gill and Tom joined the Dog team in searching for drugs in Compton Place. Some of the crimes from the week: One attempted Burglary which was a brake in to a garage nothing was taken just be aware and make sure they are looked and secure. A few drive offs from Morrison’s – CCTV being viewed. We are still having theft of and from motor vehicles, please make sure you leave nothing on show in your vehicles". Lesnes Abbey ward:- " Burglary : On Wednesday 22/11/17 between the hours of 00:01 pm and 05 :30 am Thursday 23/11/17 a garage burglary occurred in Lesness Avenue. Motor Vehicle Crimes: Between the dates of 13/11/17 and 23/11/17 Criminal Damage to a vehicle in Lenham Road; Theft of Vehicle on Thursday 23/11/17 from Sydney Road. Following a tracker activated on the motor cycle from the above incident, police officers attended a garage in Kale Road and recovered four motorcycles. The owner of the above vehicle was notified. Good work resulting in an positive outcome. When out shopping, beware of pickpockets. Stay alert and keep your bags close to you. At home, empty boxes outside your home advertises what has been purchased for Christmas. Note frame numbers of bicycles and serial numbers of electrical goods. When going out, use an automatic timer for lights. Close your blinds or curtains at night. Take extra care and make sure you have locked windows and doors. If you are going away, ask a neighbour to keep an eye on your house".

The photo above shows PCSO Mark "Val" Pigott dressed as Father Christmas at the Slade Green Big Local Christmas party and fete last Saturday. The lady accompanying him is Chloe Philips the Slade Green Big Local coordinator. Click on the photo for a larger version. North End ward:- "We had a burglary last week in Rainbow Road, entry was gained through the front door and Christmas presents along with cash taken. Please remember to lift the handle and turn the key on your UPVC doors. 6 vehicle crimes have been reported in the ward, Criminal damage to vehicle in Appold Street and Barnett Close, 2 thefts from vehicle in Frobisher Road, 1 theft from vehicle in Slade Green Road and 1 in Reddy Road. All of these crimes took place overnight with valuables still being left in cars making them easy targets. We had an attempted burglary of a garage in Festival Close but fortunately entry wasn’t gained. We also had an attempted robbery in Manor Road in the early hours of Sunday morning, luckily the victim managed to get away unharmed but was very scared, please keep all valuables out of sight especially being aware of your surroundings when walking along using a mobile phone at any time of day or night". Northumberland Heath ward:- "Unfortunately we have had two burglaries on the ward this week. The first was in Camrose Avenue on Thursday 23rd November and took place between 6.30pm and 9.30pm. The resident returned from an evening out to find his sensor light had been ripped off and entry to the property was gained via a small bathroom window being forced open. £170 in cash was stolen. The second burglary took place in Swanton Road on Friday 24th November between 6pm and 10.30pm and again entry was forced via a rear window leading to the dining room. Unfortunately a large amount of cash and jewellery was stolen. There has been a robbery in Horsa Road on Thursday 23rd November at approximately 10.50pm where a lady was pushed from behind and had her handbag stolen. The lady was fortunately unhurt but very shaken. I have spoken to her and she has remained very positive and determined to put the incident behind her. The suspect was believed to be approximately eighteen years old wearing a grey hooded top. There have been two reports of criminal damage in Bedonwell Road over last weekend where two neighbours had their front walls kicked down in the early hours of the morning. Apparently the suspect was dressed in dark clothing and was singing! On Friday 24th November an elderly lady in Penshurst Road reported a bogus caller. The male stated her guttering needed repairing and took £150 in cash from the victim stating he needed to get some tools and would return in a few minutes. The male did not return. The male was reported as White, 30 – 40 years of age, stocky build with auburn hair and a moustache wearing a navy tee shirt. As the Christmas season is fast approaching please be vigilant of any suspicious callers and do not hesitate to call Police. If it doesn’t feel right it usually isn’t! The team will be holding future drop in surgeries which will be advertised in due course". Thamesmead East ward:- " Unfortunately we have had two burglaries during the last week. The first occurred on Saturday 25th November at around 7pm, Harrow Manor Way. The victim was at home when the suspect entered the house. No items taken, suspect disturbed. The second happened between 1700 and 2300 hours on Tuesday 28th November, Surlingham Close. The victim returned home to find their rear window smashed, and a computer/cash stolen. A black Vauxhall Astra was stolen from Alsike Road on Thursday 23rd November between 0700 and 1800 hours. Between Sunday 26th and Monday 27th November a motor bike was taken from an address in Templar Drive. An off road motor vehicle was stolen from Parkway, on Tuesday 28th November, between 0600 and 1700 hours. Good news - On Thursday 23rd November, Officers discovered a garage in Kale Road, which contained four stolen motor bikes. Owners have been updated, and the bikes were taken to Charlton car pound for possible forensic opportunities. On Tuesday 28th November, Officers stopped a vehicle in Maran Way. During the search a substantial amount of money and jewellery were found. Three males were arrested for Proceeds of Crime offences, enquiries are ongoing. We are always interested in recruiting new Neighbourhood watch co-ordinators for the ward. Please ask your family and friends if they would like to set up a Neighbourhood watch in their road. Please spread the word to any family and friends in the Borough - they can contact us on 020 8721 2049 or Thamesmead.SNT@met.police.uk  for more information".

I don't normally make a habit of repeating local information that has been published by other bloggers, but I am making an exception this week. Malcolm Knight of "Bexley is Bonkers" featured the video below recently; whilst I know many people read both blogs, there are plenty of those who do not. The video shows how Bexley Council and their contractors have completely ruined Bexleyheath Town Centre for pedestrians and vehicle users alike. Give it a watch, and please feel free to leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

The haunted pint.

I had an old school friend come and stay at Pewty Acres last weekend; whilst he was here, he was keen to see around Erith, as he had not visited the town in some years - he now lives down in the West Country. I was keen to see what his opinion of the town nowadays was, as we seem to get so many negative opinions on local websites such as the News Shopper (not that the journalists say anything negative, but the comments left on the talkback pages tend to be negative, if not sometimes downright insulting). I am pleased to say that my friend Steve was impressed at how Erith had improved since his last visit in 2008, although he did note the number of still vacant and unlet shop units in Erith Riverside Shopping Centre. Overall he could see that the town is improving in many ways - not least since the construction and opening of the new Bexley College campus adjacent to Erith Station and the fish roundabout. He also observed how lucky local residents are to have access to the River Thames via the excellent Riverside Gardens and Erith Pier. I took the photo of the tugs moored on Erith Pier a little while ago - click on the photo to see a larger version; it would be great to see more people going for a walk, or just sitting on one of the park benches and enjoying the view once the weather improves. As I have said before, Erith is almost unique in being the only place in the area where you can see an unobstructed view from horizon to horizon. I call it "the Erith big sky". Whilst Steve was visiting, I organised a small get together of fellow school friends; we met for a quiet drink and a chat at the Royal Standard pub in Nuxley Road, Upper Belvedere. The pub has an excellent conservatory at the back, and the group sat at a table there. One of my friends bought me a pint of Young's bitter (one of my favourite "bog standard" real ales) and placed it on the table. As we chatted, seemingly all on its own, the full pint glass started sliding across the table and dropped to the floor, spilling beer down my trousers and into my shoes. Fortunately the glass itself did not break. A replacement pint was sourced - and the landlady gave it free, saying that the pub was well known to be haunted by a ghost, and that the ghost must take the blame. Since I got a free replacement drink, I was not going to argue. What I did note was that the wooden table top we sat at was recently varnished and had also been polished, possibly earlier that evening, and that the pint glass had a flat and smooth bottom that was wet with a little spilt beer. The actions of the "ghost" was actually physics. The table top was inclined at a very slight angle, and the spilled beer formed a thin, frictionless layer between the underside of the glass and the waxed table. The glass actually aquaplaned over the table and onto the floor. Science works whether you believe in it or not. 

For such a significant part that the local area had in recent history, it is quite surprising how little seems to have been recorded; why I don’t know, but the pivotal role that Belvedere, Erith and Slade Green paid in World War 2 seems to have been largely overlooked by anyone outside of the area. Respected historians like Ken Chamberlain are full of knowledge from that period, but when compared to the level of recognition other outer London boroughs get, we seem to draw the short straw. As I have written in the past, Erith and Crayford were the home of Vickers Limited, who had factories in both locations which made a whole range of armaments and ammunition, principally the Vickers Machine Gun – which was an easier to produce, lighter and cheaper version of the original Maxim Gun, invented by Sir Hiram Maxim. The Vickers machine gun or Vickers gun is a name primarily used to refer to the water-cooled .303 British (7.7 mm) machine gun produced by Vickers Limited, originally for the British Army. The machine gun typically required a six to eight-man team to operate: one fired, one fed the ammunition, the rest helped to carry the weapon, its ammunition and spare parts. It was in service from before the First World War until the 1960s, with air-cooled versions of it on many Allied World War I fighter aircraft. The weapon had a reputation for great solidity and reliability. Ian V. Hogg, in Weapons and War Machines, describes an action that took place in August 1916, during which the British 100th Company of the Machine Gun Corps fired their ten Vickers guns continuously for twelve hours. Using 100 barrels, they fired a million rounds without a failure. "It was this absolute fool proof reliability which endeared the Vickers to every British soldier who ever fired one.” The Vickers machine gun was based on the successful Maxim gun of the late 19th century. After purchasing the Maxim company outright in 1896, Vickers took the design of the Maxim gun and improved it, reducing its weight by lightening and simplifying the action and substituting components made with high strength alloys. A muzzle booster was also added. The British Army formally adopted the Vickers gun as its standard machine gun on 26 November 1912, using it alongside their existing Maxims. There were still great shortages when the First World War began, and the British Expeditionary Force was still equipped with Maxims when sent to France in 1914. Vickers was, in fact, threatened with prosecution for war profiteering, due to the exorbitant price it was demanding for each gun. As a result, the price was slashed. As the war progressed, and numbers increased, it became the British Army's primary machine gun, and served on all fronts during the conflict. When the Lewis Gun was adopted as a light machine gun and issued to infantry units, the Vickers guns were redefined as heavy machine guns, withdrawn from infantry units, and grouped in the hands of the new Machine Gun Corps (when heavier 0.5 in/12.7 mm calibre machine guns appeared, the tripod-mounted, rifle-calibre machine guns like the Vickers became medium machine guns). After the First World War, the Machine Gun Corps (MGC) was disbanded and the Vickers returned to infantry units. Before the Second World War, there were plans to replace the Vickers gun.  However, the Vickers remained in service with the British Army until 30 March 1968. Hundreds of thousands of these guns were manufactured in Erith and Crayford over several decades, and during both World Wars, this meant that the towns were legitimate wartime bombing targets. Bombing in World War two was especially bad; a letter sent from a lady in Berkhampstead Road, Upper Belvedere during 1941 has been published on several websites in the past. The letter, written by a lady called Phylis to an unknown relative called Harry reads:- "I was unable to finish off your letter on Saturday owing to a very heavy raid. I cannot stop now to write much but this will let you know we are alright. We had several landmines in Belvedere, one in Albert Road or rather a little turning off there behind the dairy, four persons were killed in the Busy Bee. I expect there are more deaths but we have not heard yet. One on Calendars no one was killed, and one in Lessness Park, Just the other side of Maycocks garden wall. This did considerable amount of damage to all the houses around. That is why I have been unable to write and get the parcel off before this. I have been cleaning up the mess. I'll let you know more details later. I have to write this letter as the typewriter was more or less bombed. I hope to be able to repair it later. We are the only inhabitants left in Berkhampstead Road. The other houses being more damaged than ours. We have been cleaning ceilings up since 5.30am Sunday. This afternoon we are going over to have a cup of tea with Gladys and a bath. A bath is quite out of the question at Tower House as the bath is full up with ceiling. All day yesterday and today we have been hearing noises like bombs. They are pulling down houses. Burndepts is burnt right down. Belvedere Station is to be pulled down. Dr Barr had a fire in his place. Dad & I have been getting some of the stones off the lawn. Dad had only just cut and rolled the lawn on Saturday. The cars are alright although there is a nasty dent in the back of the roof of ours. The garage looks a mess. 14 ceilings are down, all windows out and all doors from the back of the house. Several inside doors are off and just splintered to nothing. Fortunately I had packed all the china and we had packed almost all the ornaments too. The silver and pewter I have packed away too and your lady. We didn't know where to start cleaning up, but are gradually getting down to it.  I'll write again soon as I can. We are quite alright and there is no need to worry. We sleep in the cellar and have our meals in the kitchen. We are hoping they will come and do the roof soon. Tower House stood up to it very well on Saturday night. Dad sends his love and says we are still holding the Fort (what's left of it). I must close here as I have lots to do before we go out this afternoon. I hope you are quite alright".

Following my recent article explaining why the government announcement that there were "no safe levels" of alcohol drinking was completely misleading and incorrect, another very extremely reputable organisation have come to refute this statement, which was made mainly at the behest of prohibitionists and anti-alcohol campaigners. The heads of Britain’s statistics society have written to the Health Secretary to point out that the government’s alcohol guidelines don’t accurately reflect the numbers. Two weeks ago the British civil servant at the Department of Health responsible for issuing medical advice (who rejoices in the corporate-inspired title of “Chief Medical Officer”), Dame Sally Davies, declared that there was “no safe level” of alcohol drinking. This followed a report produced for her by an “expert group” which contradicts evidence that teetotallers are at higher risk than moderate drinkers, and drinking after middle age correlates with a substantially lower level of risk of heart disease and strokes. Drinkers live longer. Professors Peter Diggle and Sir David Spiegelhalter – the current and next presidents of the Royal Statistical Society – say the report was unbalanced (a nice way of not saying “biased”) and that the bureaucrat’s claims don’t reflect the evidence available to the government’s working group on safe alcohol levels. The report recommend an upper limit of 14 units per week for both adult men and women, and then included the much-derided “no safe limits” observation.  In their letter to Health Minister Jeremy Hunt, the two statistics professors argue that the derision which greeted Hawkins report will make more pressing public health campaigns less credible. Once the public has ignored Hawkins crying wolf over alcohol they may be inclined to ignore the others, too. They add that Hawkins’ group contradicts the principle that the public deserves an “informed choice”. Spiegelhalter, the Winton Professor for the Public Understanding of Risk in the Statistical Laboratory at Cambridge University, had already commented on the relative “dangers” of alcohol. “An hour of TV watching a day, or a bacon sandwich a couple of times a week, is more dangerous to your long-term health,” he noted.

BARC (Bexley Against Road Crossings) have been  extensively featured in the News Shopper this week; regular Maggot Sandwich readers will know that I have featured the group on a couple of occasions in the past. Unlike BARC, I have a fairly neutral view on the proposed new river crossings over or under the River Thames. I can see positive arguments on both sides of the issue. A lively debate on the subject of transport and congestion has been under way on the News Shopper talkback page here. I think both sides miss several important observations. Firstly, the argument that elderly people don’t always have access to the web, and may thus be left out of any representations regarding the choice of river crossing is to my mind spurious. Those aged 70+ now may sadly well not be around in 2025 when development of whatever solution is selected, and if they are, many very elderly people don’t travel much – though their opinions and feedback should most definitely be taken into account. Secondly, the oft – quoted issue of air pollution is also worth examining. By the time any cross river solution is put in place, the numbers of zero emission vehicles in public use will have bloomed – the hydrocarbon internal combustion engine is in its last decade in my opinion. By the time any crossing is open and in use, a majority of cars and lorries will run on batteries or hydrogen fuel cells. Using present day arguments for future developments seems to me like fighting last decade’s war. I think a rational look at the whole Cross Thames  transport system needs to be undertaken – the trouble is, the area is full of people with vested interests and their own agendas, which turns the whole thing into an adversarial contest, which in my opinion does nobody any good. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.



The Barge Pole pub in Coraline Walk in Thamesmead has had its alcohol licence suspended by Bexley Magistrates this week; I understand that the pub was the location of a large drunken fight in the early hours of the 1st January during some News Year celebrations that got well out of hand.  To anyone that knows the pub, it is a revelation that it has taken so long to do something about the place, which on the one occasion many years ago that I took my life in my hands and ventured inside, resembled the Cantina in Mos Eisley – “you will not find a greater hive of scum and villainy”. It really is a dump, full of the kind of people you would cross the road to avoid; one of the main qualifications for entry seems to be the sporting of facial tattoos of varying levels of repulsiveness. The only vaguely positive contribution to culture the Barge Pole has ever made was back in 2009, when it was used as the location for the filming of the Kaiser Chiefs video for "Never miss a beat". I am a strong supporter of the preservation of local pubs, but I most definitely make an exception in the case of the aptly named Barge Pole, which in my opinion ought to be nuked from space – it is the only way to be sure. 

Erith has been in the national news twice again this week; first because of the news that Arthur Simpson – Kent, the suspected murderer of former EastEnders actress Sian Blake and her two sons aged eight and four and is alleged to have buried them in the garden of 54 Pembroke Road, Erith, is due back in the UK to face charges and trial. Normally I don’t mention stories that have a national coverage, as there is little I can add to the “professional” reporters who cover the news; in this instance the extremely high profile nature of this case, and the international press interest the murders have attracted. If this horrible case was not enough, the news this week that an Erith resident has been jailed for nineteen years and six months for a string of horrendous paedophile offences. Trevor Monk, 47, from Erith, travelled to the Far East with the sole purpose of abusing children and kept thousands of indecent pictures and videos on his computer, including mementos from his trip. Sentencing him for a total of 18 offences at the Old Bailey, Judge Anuja Dhir QC told Monk that the consequences of child abuse of this kind “wrecks lives”. She said: “I have no doubt from the material I have seen today you had a perverted fascination with young females and that is what led you to behave in this abhorrent manner. Your actions were depraved and revolting. It is astonishing that anyone would want to film such abuse, but you did. I have no doubt you did so that you could watch it again for your own sexual gratification.” An examination of computers, external hard drives and memory cards found at Monk’s home revealed tens of thousands of indecent images and videos of children, and evidence that he had himself molested young girls in the Philippines. Just one of the computers contained evidence of more than 43,000 indecent images of children. Thankfully the judge and jury saw fit to put the criminal away for a decent length of time; even if he serves only half of his time inside, he will be away for around ten years, and the life of a sex offender in prison is never an easy one. I am led to believe the derogatory term Nonce comes from the acronym “Not On Normal Courtyard Exercise”. At least he is safely locked up for a considerable length of time.  What is also of concern is that two nationally publicised high profile criminals are being associated with Erith, just as the town is starting to improve its image. Locals know of all the good things and progress that has been made over the last decade or so, but outsiders do tend to hold onto outdated views about the town and the people who live there (you only have to look at wording of some of the talkbacks on the News Shopper website – okay, most of the comments are made by trolls that are trying to initiate an argument, but nevertheless if you repeat a lie often enough, some people will take it as fact – an observation originally made by Heinrich Himmler). 

The letter above has been sent to many Erith, Slade Green and Crayford residents - click on the image for a larger view. Suffice to say the traffic into and around Erith is going to be severely affected over the period of the roadworks. The town suffers greatly from traffic congestion at the best of times; it will be interesting to see if the changes to the road and roundabout layout will improve things. Many locals suspect not. More on this story in the future. If you have an insight into this issue, please contact me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

It has been known for over a year that the Peabody Trust, which controls large parts of Thamesmead, has had plans drawn up to try and move the town upmarket. Since the mid-seventies Thamesmead has had an unfortunate image problem as being a giant sink estate full of problem families, anti-social behaviour and crime. Whilst there are definitely problems of this nature in the town, a vast majority of residents are peaceful and law abiding, but the image has stuck for decades. I recall back in 1989, as Belmarsh Prison was being built, a common joke was “why bother building Belmarsh – just build a great big wall around Thamesmead!” Now Peabody are working to move the outdated image of Thamesmead upmarket. They have promised to build 1,300 new dwellings, and create a "temporary high street" at Harrow Manor Way with shops, food and drink outlets. There will also be affordable workspaces and facilities for local businesses, artists and community groups – following a £1m regeneration fund from the Mayor of London. Peabody's plans are being developed with partners including Bexley Council and the Thames Innovation Centre. In an interview with the News Shopper, Peabody Chief Executive Stephen Howlett said: "We want to create a thriving district close to the station which will provide commercial, social and leisure opportunities for residents in Abbey Wood and South Thamesmead. We hope the new mobile high street will provide a platform for local people, harnessing their talent and innovation. These are exciting times for everyone associated with Thamesmead which is fast becoming an even greater place to live, work and visit." This all sounds good; as long as a substantial part of the new development is truly affordable, and not just aimed at property banking investors in the Far East, as was notoriously the case with the tower block recently constructed close to Abbey Wood station which made the national news when it was advertised as having “no social housing” as a bonus attraction to wealthy investors. I feel that this story will develop over the coming months. 

This week guest writer and local resident Alec Tapper has much to say on the proposed (and now approved) housing development on the site of the former Erith Riverside Swimming Baths site. An artist's impression of the development is shown above. Here is his piece:- "Whilst it is very good news to learn that the Mayor of London's London regeneration Fund has allocated just under £2m which is to be matched by the council to provide £3.9m of investment in Erith. It is understood that this finance will be for major improvements to key areas of the town particularly between the Town Hall and the Post Office. It is also designed to re-energise the area an improve training and job opportunities for local residence. We also understand complementary bids have been made for two further funds managed by the Mayor of London  and we will learn of these in the next few weeks. For a number of residents this will be promising news but there are concerns with many residents over the density of developments being proposed for many sites both large and small in Central Erith. A major development such as that on the former Riverside Swimming Pool Site has plans to build some 81 flats and 10 to12 houses to the rear. This development does not recognise that this is a preservation area alongside the River Thames. This site along with a number of other smaller sites are earmarked for even more dense developments. Erith already has more flats than any other ward in the borough and it seems that this pressurized development has the potential to create new problems for Erith in the future. Open spaces are critical to the wellbeing of communities. This proposal brings its frontage hard up against the pavement of the Erith High street up to the Running Horses, which lays back from this harsh development line. This tight development policy with inadequate parking spaces, play areas for children and inadequate work opportunities will militate against harmonious living and reduce any sense of wellbeing for those living in such a packed and intensive manner. The tenants these kind of developments will attract are most unlikely to be from professional, commercial and entrepreneurial background. This in turn will be reflected in a failure to grow Erith's economy. Numerous shops, restaurants and businesses will continue to fail to be convinced by the uptake of people in this density developments who are likely to be open to semi-skilled or unskilled work. Erith is one of the most deprived areas in Bexley and the fear is, it will continue in the same vein. Unfortunately, it seems that Bexley adopts very different policies for developments across the Borough whilst the policy for Erith, North end and Thamesmead East are targeted for density infilling, wards like Longlands, Blackfen and Lamorbey, Blendon and Penhill and Cray meadows with reducing populations are preserved from any innovation for housing developments. Similar examples like Surbiton, Thames Ditton, and Woking in Surrey do effectively increase housing within existing developments. Indeed there are some long term residents that indicate consideration should be given to the wards earmarked from dense developments to be separated entirely and form a  separate District Council.  Clearly a case of sauce for the Goose isn't sauce for the Gander". Some very thought provoking observations. If you have another view, please feel free to drop me a line with an article of your own. 

If you look back at the now very extensive archive of old Maggot Sandwich updates, and visit some of the entries over the last nine and a half years that I have been running the blog (under the "About Me" panel at the top right of the screen) you will see a box marked "Blog Archive" - if you click on the dropdown button, you can see a list of the well over five hundred weekly entries that I have made - select and click on any of these to see old, historical content). You will notice on some entries that photos just show placeholders, or embedded YouTube videos no longer play. This is caused by a phenomenon called "Link Rot". There are lots of reasons for link rot: websites are restructured or shifted to a new content management system and break all the previous URLs; articles get moved behind a paywall; people delete social media accounts or change their privacy settings; or links contain information that goes out of date, or YouTube videos are taken down due to copyright violations. A piece of software called "Amber" has been created to stop this from happening. Amber has been designed by Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society and it provides what it calls a "persistent route" to information on the internet by automatically taking and retaining a snapshot of every page on a website and storing it on the same website's server. If for whatever reason a URL goes dead, rather than returning a 404 error page, the tool should provide visitors with the relevant snapshot. The snapshots are stored on the same server as the website but can be configured to save them on third-party systems or in archival systems. All very clever stuff, but no good to me at present, as at the time of writing, the platform which hosts the Maggot Sandwich does not support Amber - maybe in time; it would be a very powerful tool to have access to.

The end video this week explores the inconsistencies and loopholes in London's Oyster travel card system. Personally I find that the old fashioned monthly travel card works very well for me. See what you think, and feel free to leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

The Maggoty Man.

The photos above were taken on a very wet and windy Tuesday evening in the conservatory at the rear of the Royal Standard pub in Nuxley Road, Upper Belvedere. The second public meeting of the Save Belvedere Splash Park campaign was held. Nearly thirty people crowded into the conservatory. The main business of the evening was to elect a committee to actually run the protest campaign. Not long after I arrived at the venue accompanied by my camera, a lady came up to me and asked “Are you the maggoty man?” which left me slightly nonplussed. I knew what she meant, and wondered if she had also got it mixed up with The Matt Smith version of The Doctor, who was occasionally referred to as “the raggedy man”. I confirmed I was that person, which seemed to please her. I have been giving some thought to the whole terminology of online journals, and what the names imply. Personally I am forming the opinion that the term “blogger” may no longer be appropriate for the likes of Malcolm Knight, Darryl Chamberlain,  and indeed myself. In my opinion, blogging seems to denote the occasional postings of missives in a casual and inconsistent manner – a quick whinge about something to get it off your chest and into the world, whether the world is interested or not. Long term, regular postings in a consistent format that involves a considerable investment of time and effort, as well as a degree of subject research and accountability to the readership would seem to me to be more than mere blogging. I would suggest that a more suitable term should be "community journalism". What do you think? Does it sound pompous and self-serving, or do I have a  point? I would solicit your opinions and suggestions. Answers on a postcard please, or better still, leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

As I have commented recently, it does seem that the actions of Bexley Council Environmental Health Department are having a very positive effect. The “Scores on the Doors” ratings of many local food outlets have been steadily improving over the last few months. It has just come to my attention that traditional London Pie and Mash shop – Miller’s in Albert Road, Upper Belvedere has been awarded a five out of five star rating for food hygiene and kitchen cleanliness. This is excellent news; I know several friends who eat there on occasion, and the reports have always been that the pie and mash sold is of exceptionally high quality. In this time of fried chicken and dodgy mass produced burgers it is good to see that certain traditions are not about to die off. One friend has two primary school age daughters – they prefer pie and mash to McDonald’s or Burger King, and I know that Miller’s is their destination of choice. On a less salubrious note, I am pleased to see that the application made by African restaurant K’s Spice in Pier Road, Erith to open from 9am until 1.30 am the next morning, seven days a week has been rejected by Bexley Council planning department. The restaurant is located under a row of low – rise flats, many of which are occupied by people with small children. The level of noise and disruption that such long opening hours would cause are simply not acceptable. As if this was not enough, even though many “Scores on the Doors” ratings in the area are improving, as already mentioned, the K’s Spice has consistently had an unacceptable one star out of five for the last three inspections. Personally I think that the place should be compulsorily closed down until such time as it was able to meet or exceed a three out of five star rating – the level that is generally accepted as the minimum acceptable score. What do you think? 

There is another tech birthday this week, but it is not thirty years old as so many seem to have been over this year. This piece of technology celebrates its tenth birthday – the Firefox web browser. If you have been around for a while, you will no doubt record the 1990’s when the web first started to make an appearance. I can recall the heady days of 1996 and browsing the infant web on a PC running Windows 95 and Internet Explorer 3 over a corporate leased line. Even then, it was not a pleasant experience. Private users who were fortunate to have  dial up internet access preferred the Netscape Navigator web browser, which offered a more complete, if somewhat slow and buggy experience. As has been well documented elsewhere, back at this time web browsers were sold in boxes at computer stores. Netscape Navigator was around £35 in PC World – at this time web download speeds were far too slow to download an application, which might be several hundred megabytes in size. Netscape Corporation made a fortune, and for a couple of years they utterly dominated the web browser market. Microsoft came late to the web, but when they did they were ruthless. Microsoft immediately broke the near Netscape monopoly by bundling their rival browser called Internet Explorer free with new Windows PC’s, and by giving away Internet Explorer CD’s on the front of popular computer magazines at the time. Overnight the Netscape market share plummeted, their market capitalisation crumbled, and the company was all but ruined. For the next roughly seven years, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer had a virtual monopoly on the web browser market. By the time they had released version six, so confident that the opposition had been crushed that Microsoft publicly announced that they were not going to release a further version, as there was nothing left to do with the product Apple mac users were even further unsupported in that the Mac version of Internet Explorer was never developed past version 5. This stunning piece of arrogance soon came back to bite them squarely on the bottom. The Mozilla Firefox project was created by Dave Hyatt and Blake Ross as an experimental branch of the Mozilla browser – an early open source update of the by then abandoned Netscape Navigator software suite, which consisted of a web browser, an Email client, an Internet Relay Chat tool and a basic “what you see is what you get” web page authoring tool. Hyatt and Ross felt that the Mozilla browser was too large, complex and bloated – very few people really wanted or used anything except the web browser element of the suite; instead they decided to branch out on their own in order to create a much lighter, faster and more efficient stand – alone web browser. Initially this was called Phoenix, but this had to be changed as a company had already go the name registered. The change was then made to Firebird, but again copyright issues were raised. Finally the name became Firefox – named after a breed of Red Panda. Version 1.0 of Firefox was released on the 9^th November 2004. The rest as they say is history. I have a small involvement in the early days of Firefox – I was a volunteer tester – I would download the nightly builds for both Windows and Linux and see how long it took me to find the bugs – which I would then report to the development team. It was quite a big commitment, but the team in those days was only about 25 people in total, and the actual software development team less than half of that, so one soon got to recognise names. Since then, Firefox has been instrumental in removing the dominance of Microsoft – who soon realised that they could not ignore the browser market after all; nevertheless they steadily lost market share, not only to Firefox, but also to the excellent Google Chrome web browser, and to a much lesser extent the rather clunky Apple Safari browser, and the very idiosyncratic Opera web browser (yes, it is still going – just!) If Firefox have done anything, it is to democratise web surfing – they are also the only major web browser company whose products are not tied to a large company, and whose programming code is truly free and open source, Happy Birthday Firefox – you deserve it!

Some readers are surprised at the amount of time I spend working on each weekly update of the Maggot Sandwich; on average each update takes around ten hours of work to research, write, edit, create web links and metadata for. Much of the time is spent in research – I try to ensure that I report on facts, not suppositions, and bearing in mind I am both reporter and editor this can on occasions be extremely difficult. This week I have what would have been a couple of local scoops, but the Save Belvedere Splash Park team accidentally blew the stories before I had a chance to properly get the details. I had mentioned the stories to them in passing, and they unwittingly passed them on. Such is the nature of online media. I am constrained by only publishing once a week on a Sunday. Nevertheless I did uncover the following two news stories, one of which is solid fact, and the other at present is still a rumour that has yet to have been properly corroborated, but does come from a previously reliable anonymous source. The first, solidly confirmed story is that there are plans by giant brewing and hospitality company Marston’s to construct a large pub, restaurant and hotel on the North side of the Belvedere flyover at the junction of Picardy Manor Way and Eastern Way in Lower Belvedere. If approved, it could mean some much needed jobs for the area, as any such new operation will be rather labour intensive and will require a certain amount of staffing 24 hours a day. Marston’s are known for their quality real ale (they are the largest brewer of cask ales in the World), but they also run a very sizable estate of hotels and restaurants on top of the nearly two thousand pubs they operate around the country. Marston’s to my knowledge don't have any pubs in the local area; all I can find is one in the City of London (the Pitcher and Piano in Cornhill), and one in Braintree in Essex(Bailey’s Café Bar). Other than that there is nothing Marston’s – wise in the region, let alone the local area. The site, if it gets planning approval, will be very sensibly situated, close to the A2016 Eastern Way to Plumstead and Woolwich and the A 2016 Bronze Age Way to Erith, Crayford and Dartford, with its link to the M25 and the A2 / M2. I think the business planners at Marston’s have been one step ahead of almost everyone, and I can see the benefitting because of it. As I have covered recently, it is quite probable that a bridge or tunnel will be built at some point to link Lower Belvedere with Rainham in Essex; the proposed new hotel / restaurant and pub would be smack bang on the South side of any connection, and in a prime spot for business travellers needing a bed for the night. It is highly likely that any bridge or tunnel connection across the River Thames would require drastically improved local public transport, thus making the pub and restaurant accessible for any locals wanting to leave the car at home when they went out for a couple of pints, or a meal and a glass of wine. The fact that the newly built Belvedere Park residential estate is within a couple of minute leisurely walk would also be a great advantage. A new facility of this nature really has no local competition – the nearest rough analogue would to my mind be the Harvester outlets in Crayford and Dartford, though they are really too far away. The only place I can see that has anything to fear from a pub / restaurant combination is the Running Horses in Erith High Street. A few months ago when it had a previous health inspection, it only merited a woeful one out of five stars on the “Scores on the Doors “ rating system. Back in October it was re – inspected and I am pleased to say that it has seriously upped its’ game and now rates four out of five stars, an excellent improvement. The bottom line is that the pub does not attract anything like the number of customers it used to. Back in the late 1980’s the upstairs carvery was booked weeks in advance, and packed out every Saturday and Sunday. The food was plentiful, well cooked and reasonably priced; The Running Horses was synonymous with family lunches out, and for good reason indeed. Nowadays the reports of the food have been woeful – cold gristly meat, grey vegetables, congealed gravy and sullen service. As I have said before, I don't see the current owners have the financial clout and experience to pull what could be an excellent pub out of the mire. Currently it seems to be living a hand to mouth existence by supplying the lager needs of a handful of regulars who seem to spend much of their time in the smoking shelter outside of the front of the pub, come rain or shine. The Running Horses would seem to need a large injection of capital, both to upgrade the building and facilities, and also to publicise it to the larger area. I am pretty certain that it is not anything like an impossibility to return the hostelry to the glory days of the 1980’s, but in my opinion it requires new management and a pot of money. The only way I can realistically see this happening is if the owners of the Running Horses sell the pub to a pub management company like Spirit, who own brands like Chef and Brewer, John Barras and Taylor Walker. Alternatively I am sure that Wetherspoon’s would be more than interested in getting a foothold in Erith, as they have nothing in Belvedere, Erith, Crayford or Barnehurst, and their outlets in Bexleyheath are very busy. Personally I would rather see a regional brewer / pub owner such as Shepherd Neame or Fuller’s taking on the pub, as they both have excellent records of turning around failing pubs and moving them slightly upmarket with better quality food and drink. I am probably dreaming in vain; it is evident that Erith town centre really misses a quality pub, and there does not seem to be any likelihood of the Running Horses getting significantly better without third party intervention. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or drop me an Email to hugh.neal@gmail.com.

The second piece of information is still classified as a rumour, as at the time of writing I have been unable to get any documentary proof, though I am still digging through various sources. The rumour does come from a previously impeccable source though, and I have no reason to doubt its veracity. I am told that the now long empty Potion building (formerly the White Hart pub shown in the photo above - click on the picture for a larger view) is being studied by Subway as a possible sandwich outlet / restaurant. This would be a logical move by the fast food retailer; Erith does not have any equivalent sandwich shop (Greggs is the nearest thing, I concede), and recently a large influx of potential new customers are present in the town – the students from the newly opened Bexley College Campus in Walnut Tree Road. They are already a noticeable presence in Erith Riverside Shopping Centre, and have definitely increased the takings of many shops. If the rumour has substance (and I believe I may have found a smoking gun - a company called Malthouse Retail that operates a variety of fast food franchises from as far away as Cardiff to as near as Epping in Essex is recruiting shop staff locally). If this is indeed correct, them Malthouse Retail behind the Subway franchise will have an uphill battle on their hands. The White Hart building is in a poor state of repair, and the kitchens need to be completely stripped out and replaced; the structure also needs a totally new ventilation and fume extraction system (don't forget that all Subway outlets bake their own bread on the premises, and need ovens with suitable flues and smell filtering, all of which costs a lot of money).  I am unsure if any new owner would be legally obliged to undertake the remedial works mandated to the operators of Potion – who infamously ripped out the acid etched glass and green, salt glazed Erith Pattern tiles on the exterior of the old pub. Bearing in mind that the building sits in the middle of a conservation area, it may be a condition of trade that a facsimile frontage is installed. Having said that, I know the Council planning department backed away from that idea a while back. At present the whole thing is pure supposition, with only minimal evidence at present. I will publish more news as it comes to me.  I am always reliant on you the reader for my stories – even if you don't want a name check, any story you send can be published in anonymity if you so choose; alternatively I have regular guest writers, and if you have something that you feel would be of interest to people, get in contact with me and we can discuss it. I don't have many rules, but there are a few guidelines I request that guests adhere to – nothing very arduous, just common sense behaviour.

I took the above photo a while back in August when the rumour first surfaced that Electricity House was possibly going to the the subject of a redevelopment plan; thus far nothing has happened, and the story has gone cold. Nevertheless, the site is being allowed to fall slowly into rack and ruin, and no money has been invested in the building in a very long time indeed. It is only a matter of time before the property owner takes action. It would be great to see it undergoing a complete, but sympathetic restoration. Somehow I just don't see this actually happening. If any reader has heard any new stories or rumours about the future plans for Electricity House, please Email me and let me know - I rely on my informers.

Microsoft are pitching their forthcoming Windows 10 operating system heavily towards the education sector; they will be rolling out tools to enable remote administration of laptops running the new OS to make it more attractive to non – technical staff to administer. Meanwhile Google is making a dent on this lucrative market with Chromebooks. The internet giant has been promoting the use of the Linux based Chrome OS with specific tools for schools to manage the devices, their apps and users. Its Chromebooks for Education programme is helping schools deploy large numbers of devices with an easy management system. While it is possible to purchase a small Windows laptop for about the same price of a basic Chromebook, the associated management and support costs (not to mention the expense of a Windows licence for each user) are enormous in comparison. In addition,  Chromebooks are pre-loaded with apps such as Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides, with similar functionality to Microsoft's Office suite. Schools can easily provision each Chromebook with specific educational apps, remotely wipe the entire device in seconds, and reuse the laptop for a new class without purchasing any more licenses. There is no manual setup for different users and the machines are administered throughout the school, no matter how many Chrome devices they have, or where they're being used. Google claims that there is no manual maintenance, security patching, or time-consuming support. Since Chromebooks are specifically designed to work online with cloud storage there is no risk that students could lose their work and applications. Each student receives an unique Google account and cloud drive where all documents, preferences, and apps are installed, allowing them to work on the school provided Chrome OS device or any other computer, tablet or smartphone able to run Google Drive. If a Chromebook is lost or compromised it can be wiped out remotely with the "power wash" feature. Despite this, the use of Chromebooks outside of the USA is still somewhat limited in schools; Apple have very cleverly marketed the iPad at the educational sector in the UK, and in many places it has now become the de facto standard. Apple has always been a strong player in the education market. While other PC vendors were mostly focused on the corporate and government sectors Apple was cultivating niche markets such as education, press and design. The effort is paying off, and Apple can claim leadership in the education market. Many schools offer “£10 a month” leasing schemes, which enable pupils to have a centrally managed iPad complete with technical support should it break, and full replacement insurance if it is lost or stolen for a relatively reasonable monthly fee. This generates a reliable monthly revenue stream for the specialist educational resellers who operate the schemes. Microsoft need to simplify their offering for education empowering schools and teachers to manage devices, licenses, and content easily – the tools within Windows 10 partly address this, but it may well be too little, too late. They also need to provide free development tools for educators so they can create unique content;  otherwise the current trend of schools moving to iPads and Chromebooks will continue and the professionals of tomorrow won't be used to Windows anymore. This more than any other single reason is why I feel that the once dominance Microsoft and Windows had on the PC is now coming to an end.

The ending video this week is from a relatively new YouTube channel called "Harry's Garage". It is put together by motoring journalist and former Evo Magazine publisher Harry Metcalfe. Harry is fabulously wealthy (but not in the Jay Leno league), and has a fantastic private collection of vehicles which he stores at his family pile in West Sussex. Unlike Top Gear or some of the other motoring channels on TV and online, Harry's presentation style is laid back and thoughtful - he obviously knows and cares a great deal for his vehicles. Many of the cars featured are exotic supercars from the 1980's to the present day, but Harry has a particular soft spot for his 1954 Series 1 Land Rover, which you can see in the video below. Please feel free to leave a comment or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.