The transformation of the former Royal Alfred pub in Manor Road, Erith is now complete. Whilst the Premier mini market has now been open for some time, after the Bains family relocated the corner shop business from their old location on the opposite side of Appold Street to the former pub, which they have extensively refurbished and repurposed into a mixed residential and retail facility. The Royal Alfred was for many years known locally as "The New Light" due to Thames sailing barge crews using the light from the pub as a navigation aid whilst sailing up river towards Erith. The top photo was taken by me last Wednesday afternoon, and shows what the exterior of the historic local building looks like with the permanent branding and signage now in place; the lower photo shows what the Royal Alfred looked like back in 1932 - compare and contrast.
I had an Email on Thursday from a local person who wishes to remain anonymous; they write:- "My attention has been drawn to a piece you wrote on gambling a few weeks ago. I just wanted to share that gamblers anonymous has operated weekly meetings in Bexley for over 20 years. We currently run meetings at Hurst community centre in Sidcup on Thursday and Friday evenings at 7.45. Anyone who is struggling with their gambling is welcome to attend and no appointment is necessary. We can be contacted here, although we cannot share our names publicly. It is our experience that the landscape has changed with far more men aged 18 to 25 and women attending meetings since a change in the law about 12 years ago that allowed widespread gambling advertising. If your gambling is causing problems or you gamble to avoid your problems please come and see us".
I had a conversation on Friday afternoon with one of the assistant managers in Morrison's in Erith; I was very surprised to discover that their most popular food item sold in the period between Christmas and the New Year is sliced bread and bread rolls. It was explained to me that many people have leftover turkey, beef and gammon from their Christmas meal, and rather than eat anything very elaborate, they buy bread in order to turn the leftovers into sandwiches. I suppose that it makes sense, though it had never occurred to me before. I do know that the giant Hovis bakery in Northumberland Heath has been working overtime - it bakes bread under contract for a number of retailers, including Marks and Spencer, so maybe the Christmas / New Year sandwich tradition is something common to the wider country, and not just the local area. On a more negative note, The biggest problem facing Morrison’s in Erith is Morrison’s themselves. The company have become so complacent about their position as the “go to” supermarket for the area that it is alienating their formerly loyal customers. For example, the Erith store stays open to 10pm on Monday to Saturday, but if you go in the shop much after 7.30pm, both the fishmonger and the self service salad bar are closed. In my opinion these should be open until the dot of closing time, and not as seems to be the case at present, open to suit the needs of the staff. Last Sunday afternoon, I went into Erith Morrison's at 2.45pm in order to purchase a mixed salad from the fresh salad bar. When I got there, the salad bar was closed, and had been for some time, as it takes over half an hour for the staff to remove all of the salad containers from the display and to clean it ready for the next day. Bearing in mind the store was not due to close for another hour and a quarter, I felt this was unacceptable. On top of this, whilst many of the staff are efficient and friendly, there are a significant minority who are surly, unhelpful and stand around chatting rather than serving customers. This is not the kind of behaviour I would expect to see in a big name organisation of this type. Unless Morrison’s can pull their metaphorical socks up, they will continue to have customers voting with their feet and taking their custom elsewhere. Morrison's has had a virtual monopoly on consumable retail in Erith for nearly twenty years, and a shake up can only be good for the consumer - this will be coming soon in the form of the new Lidl store planned for Fraser Road, on what is currently the site of the retail unit containing Topps Tiles, Screwfix, and the Bath Store. This row of shops has never been very popular or successful, and I can understand the thinking behind the move. I know that some local residents are concerned about the new Lidl causing more traffic congestion, and I agree, this is a real concern; the whole of Erith, from Bronze Age Way, into Queen's Road and the whole Bexley Road roundabout and bridge is locked solid with traffic on regular occasions, and almost continuously from around midday on Fridays for some unknown reason. On the plus side, Lidl will provide some real commercial competition from Morrison's. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.
Over the recent Christmas period, a lot of gifts were exchanged, and it is my belief that one class of present that would almost certainly have been given in good faith may well be skirting with the law; specifically, a range of hand held retro games consoles that have been available to buy online from major retailers including Amazon. The range of handheld retro 8 and 16 bit games consoles come from a number of Chinese suppliers. The one pictured above - click on the photo for a larger view - is a close copy of the original GameBoy Colour produced by Nintendo, which was produced between 1998 and 2003, when it was replaced by the GameBoy Advance. The original GameBoy Colour used small ROM cartridges to store the various games that were available for it. The Chinese clone version shown above is somewhat more sophisticated. The internal ROM memory of the handheld device stores a total of 168 different classic games. The unit is charged via a USB port and has an internal rechargeable battery which gives around six hours of game play. The whole Chinese handheld console, along with various accessories costs just £19.99 delivered to your door. Many other variants are also available, some with bigger screens, a greater number of games and many other features; prices range from the modest unit pictured above, to around £49.99 for a unit that closely resembles a Sony PS Vita and has a total of 3,000 games pre - installed. This is where the real problem exists. The games software installed on all of these Chinese handhelds is pirated. The manufacturers have either directly copied the original games, or have "cloned" the games - changing the name, and occasionally a couple of the graphics, but it is readily apparent that the software is of external origin. The handheld console pictured above comes preinstalled with (amongst many others):- Galaxian, Ms Pac Man, Defender, Lode Runner, Space Invaders, Dig Dug, Tetris, Donkey Kong, Galaga, Super Mario Brothers and Batman - the caped crusader. Apart from these classic 8 bit games, there are a number of "original" games which use themes stolen from their intellectual property owners - there is a "Harry Potter" game which has nothing whatsoever to do with JK Rowling, for example. Whilst many of the classic games are now a couple of decades or more old, they are still able to make an income for their original creators. These Chinese handhelds are doing nothing more than stealing from the game creators. Ironically, As with almost all mass media in the country, video games in China are subject to the policies of censorship. Content in video games is overseen by the State Administration of Radio and Television (SART); publishers are to obtain a license for the game in China from SART before publishing, which may be denied if the game contains elements deemed inappropriate. The process to submit games for a license and put them on sale following that is overseen by the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism. In fact, handheld and full sized games consoles were banned in 2000 due to fears that the devices — and the worlds produced by them — had a negative effect on the mental and physical development of children. In 2015, China eased those restrictions by allowing game consoles to be manufactured in the Shanghai Free-Trade Zone and sold in the rest of China subject to cultural inspections. In July 2015, the ban on video game consoles within the country was lifted. According to a statement from the country's Ministry of Culture, companies like Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft — among others — will now be allowed to manufacture and sell video game consoles anywhere in the country. This is somewhat ironic when one considers that various Chinese companies have been making knock - off games consoles for sale in the rest of the world for quite some time. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or alternatively Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.
Although technically not local, Romford based radio station Time 107.5FM is listened to by many people in the Thamesmead / Abbey Wood / Belvedere / Erith / Slade Green area. It is an excellent station which in my opinion epitomises exactly what local radio should be. They are very much community focussed, and interact very closely with their audience. This has certainly paid off for them; in two recent RAJAR polls, Time 107.5FM came out as the radio station with the longest listener hours in the entire UK - basically listeners listen to Time longer than listeners listen to any other radio station in the country - including the likes of BBC Radio 2 and 4, and way ahead of any commercial station. This has brought benefits to what is a tiny radio station in the greater scheme of things. For a start they have been able to charge higher rates for their large commercial advertisers. Conversely their advertising rates for small local businesses have been kept low, and they advertise charities and other not for profit organisations for free. Being a small radio station has its downsides, however. At 9.40AM yesterday morning, they went off air. I don't know if the station has a dedicated engineer (I suspect not), but it took them nearly half an hour to get back on air, only to go back off air a quarter of an hour later. I understand that they had a similar problem on Friday as well. Larger stations will have dedicated technical staff, and a backup transmitter, but a small community station such as Time does not have that luxury.
The News Shopper has reported during the last week that commercial property developer Berkeley, who were given permission in 2017 to build shops and more than 110 flats in the historic ‘Building 10’ at the Royal Arsenal site in Woolwich. Berkeley have been back to the council requesting more commercial space. The developer will now have 3,215 square metres of shops – up from the previously agreed 1,747 square metres. Berkley’s plans for the Arsenal site include hundreds of homes, shops and a courtyard across Building 10 and 11. It comes as the council continues developing The Woolwich Creative District, which will see listed buildings at the Arsenal renovated into a cultural quarter of venues, studios and rehearsal space. What many people do not realise is that the Woolwich Arsenal site was used extensively to design and build Britain's early nuclear weapons during the 1950's and the start of the 1960's. After carrying out some historical research, I am astonished that there was not a serious accident on the site, which could have ended up in wiping out a vast swathe of South East London. This might sound like hyperbole but I can assure you that is is not. Britain’s early nuclear weapons were more than a little crude and shambolic; they lacked basic safety and security features, and potentially could go off on their own if the conditions were right - they were very much "built on the cheap". The main early post war bomb was called the Violet Club; it was a large implosion type un-boosted fission weapon that used a very large amount of Uranium 235 (which was less expensive and hard to enrich than the more efficient and powerful Plutonium 239 that the Americans and Russians used). Because of the very large weight – over 70 kilos of fissile material were used, the bomb was actually greater than critical mass (the amount of weapons grade fissile material needed to create a nuclear explosion) and could theoretically go off with very little provocation - a nearby thunder storm or electrical arc welding in its vicinity could in theory have caused it to spontaneously detonate. The safety features on the weapon would have been laughable had the subject not been so serious. The arming switch of the bomb was secured with a bicycle padlock and an Allen key. The hollow sphere of Uranium 235 that made up the warhead was filled up with 20,000 steel ball bearings, so that if the weapon did have its’ conventional explosive trigger accidentally go off, the sphere could not be crushed and go supercritical, causing a massive nuclear explosion. The ball bearings had to be removed before the weapon was ready to use. The trouble was, during routine maintenance, the bombs needed to be rotated to access various panels (including those that contained the bombs’ internal power supplies – a couple of six volt lead / acid motorbike batteries – (I told you these bombs were built on the cheap). There are several documented occasions when the rubber bung holding the ball bearings in place fell out when the bomb was turned upside down, and all the ball bearings fell out over the floor. This left a very live and unpredictable weapon that could have gone off spontaneously. While the Air Staff of the RAF ordered twelve Violet Club bombs, only five were made, and as British author Chris Gibson put it in his book Vulcan's Hammer "From the RAF's point of view, that was five too many." Other problems with the bomb included the fact that The weight of the ball-bearings increased the bomb's weight to 11,250 lbs which was greater than the capacity of not only the bomb release mechanisms of the V-Bombers but also the ground-transport equipment of the bomb. The outflow of bearings took at least half an hour under ideal conditions - in cold weather, the ball bearings could freeze together, making arming the weapon near-impossible. Once the bomb was armed by allowing the ball-bearings to flow out of the centre of the warhead, there was on way of making the weapon safe again. In fact, engine running was prohibited even with Violet Club "safed" as it was feared vibration would cause the plastic plug to fall out and inadvertently arm the weapon. Because the bomb was armed irreversibly, airborne alerts were impossible because take off and landing were too hazardous to attempt with an armed Violet Club. Dispersal of the V-force to outlying fields was impossible as the bomb couldn't be flown to the dispersal airfield and the bomb transport equipment couldn't handle the Violet Club when it had its ball-bearings in place. With such an unwieldy weapon, why was it even fielded? First of all, remember that the British were classifying the Violet Club as megaton-class weapon by calling it the Interim Megaton Weapon. It definitely was not a megaton weapon, perhaps more 400 kilotons at best, but certainly the tests at Christmas Island in 1957 did indicate to the Americans the British were succeeding at fielding their own H-bombs- even if those test detonations failed to created the desired thermonuclear reaction. So who was the target of the Violet Club? While serving notice to the Soviet Union that Britain was still a force to be reckoned with, it seems that perhaps the Americans were the target, so to speak - with a weapon in their inventory called Interim Megaton Weapon implying that newer designs forthcoming and the tests in 1957 making a good show of things despite failing to work as planned, in 1958 the United States repealed the McMahon Act and resumed full nuclear cooperation with the United Kingdom. The Green Grass warhead used in Violet Club would be the last all-British nuclear weapon as a new Mutual Defence Agreement signed as part of the repeal of the McMahon Act meant British designers now had access to more advanced and compact American designs. In fact, the successor to the much-despised Violet Club, the Yellow Sun Mk.2, used an Anglicised American Mk.28 thermonuclear warhead. But no other fission weapon ever fielded by any other nation approached the explosive yield of the Violet Club. The Violet Club bombs assembled at Woolwich Arsenal were thankfully the last of their kind - if one of the sensitive and accident prone weapons had detonated in Woolwich Arsenal , its 400 Kiloton warhead would have destroyed an area of around twelve miles in diameter. Luckily this did not happen, but if it had the geography of London and North Kent would be very different nowadays.
Before the main Neighbourhood Watch updates, a special report from From Mick Chattenton, Chief Inspector Neighbourhoods, Borough Police. Mick writes:- "On Wednesday 19/12/2018 Crayford SNT were advised that a black handbag had been taken out of the river Cray on Sunday 16/12/2018. It was believed that items within may have been stolen and the bag was kept in a safe place awaiting our collection from a local business. Our enquiries showed that the items including engraved silver goblets and an engraved silver tray as well as other ceremonial items had been stolen by means of an Asian Gold burglary in Bexley on Saturday 15/12/2018. We returned the items to the rightful owners who were delighted to receive them back as they have such sentimental and religious value. Whilst we were just doing our job in collecting and returning these items this is a great time to acknowledge the benefits of local neighbourhood policing and working with our local community. Many thanks to the Penny Farthing at Waterside, Crayford for the part they have played in restoring these items to their rightful owner". Now for the weekly local safety and security updates from Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association. Firstly from Barnehurst ward:- "There was a burglary reported on Sunday 06/01/2019 along Parkside Avenue. Entry was gained via the front door of the property as the door was not double locked. Vehicles were also stolen from the same address". Next for Belvedere ward, and an update on the homeless people reported last week:- "The homeless persons remain at the disused Belvedere Police station in Nuxley Road. The team have been speaking to the males at the location frequently and have assisted them in seeking medical assistance. We have also been working extensively with Bexley Council, Belvedere ward councillors and other agencies to assist in finding suitable accommodation for each of them. The female that was at the location has been placed in shelter elsewhere and we are hoping that the remaining two males will soon be placed in suitable accommodation. There have been two burglary reports recently – the first from a male who resides at a house of multiple occupancy in Ashburnham Road. Over the Christmas period his room was entered and a games console was taken along with a small amount of money. There was damage to a window suggesting that this was the method of entry. The second occurred in Abbey Road on Monday 7th January 2019 – the female occupant returned home from work to find that unknown person(s) have gained access to her home via a rear door of the property. It is apparent that the address was approached via an alleyway adjacent to the rear of the property which can be accessed by Monks Close or New Road. Damage had been caused to the lock of the door when entry was gained. A substantial amount of money had been taken from the property. Should anyone have seen anything in relation to this incident (between 9 a.m and 1 p.m) on that date, please contact the team on 0208 721 2050. A resident contacted the team on Monday 7th January to report that they had discovered a knife which had been placed in their recycling bin. This was subsequently recovered by the team and has been taken to Bexleyheath Police station for destruction. Our next Community Contact session is due to take place on Wednesday 16th January from 4pm at the Belvedere library in Woolwich Road". Bexleyheath ward:- "Here is our brief summary of what the team has been doing over the last week and what's been happening. Unfortunately we have had two reports of burglary on the ward: Izane Road – Suspect forcing open rear door on Monday 07/01/2019; Epsom Close – Entry forced into the porch area of the property. Car keys stolen, two cars taken on Sunday 06/01/2019. On Friday 04/01/2019 – There was a report of a purse stolen from Poundland along the Broadway Bexleyheath. Also there was a report of a theft from person on Friday 04/01/2019 – a member of public was a victim of pickpocketing along the Broadway. Also, here are two reports of theft from motor vehicles: Theft from motor vehicle - Midhurst Hill, tools taken – Saturday 05/01/2019; Theft from motor vehicle – Birchington Close Tuesday 01/01/2019. Tablet taken & vehicle damaged. There was also one report for theft of motor vehicle along Iris Avenue / Upton Road on Friday 04/01/2019. Below are reports for criminal damage to motor vehicles: Methuen Road – Between Friday 04/01 – Saturday 05/01/2019 vehicle ignition barrelled but not taken. Near Iris Avenue – vehicle parked up doors found open. Police attended and secured vehicle, Friday 04/01/2019. The team are regularly conducting targeted patrols for burglary and anti-social behaviour. Also there was stops made in the ASDA car park in Bexleyheath, this was in relation to vehicles with drives causing anti-social behaviour. Forthcoming event:This Friday 11/01/2019, the team has a contact session between 2pm & 3pm at Café Nero on the Broadway. If you do wish to pass on information to Police then please contact Crime Stoppers on 0800 555111. Please do not hesitate to contact us via Twitter, Facebook, email and the ward phone. Remember in an emergency please dial 999 and 101 for non-urgent reporting". Crayford ward:- "We are really sorry to say it has been a productive week for burglars and thieves in our local area. On Sunday 30th December a child's mini moto was stolen from a garden shed in Dale Road, it is a blue and white Yamaha Moto X with a number 7 on the side, it is for a child aged 7-10 years. On Thursday 3rd January a black Peugeot motor cycle GK65 KVX was stolen without keys by means of the steering lock being broken in Marden Crescent. On Friday 4th January at 2.15 am residents were woken by footsteps within their home and realised that their BMW was being stolen. The person driving crashed the vehicle nearby and was arrested at the scene. A road rage incident occurred in London Road on Friday 4th January at 18.45 and a blue Ford had a damaged door and smashed window, the suspect was driving a red Vauxhall. On Saturday 5th January at 2.20am a taxi driver reported that his Vauxhall Zafira had been criminally damaged in Woodside Road. A silver Peugeot KS02NXK was stolen from Woodfall Drive between 22.00 on Thursday 3rd January and 12.00 on Friday 4th January without keys. On Saturday 5th January between 01.00-06.00 there was an attempted burglary in Grazeley Close. The suspect attempted to gain entry by pushing out the glass in the top of the front door, there were tool marks around the door, thankfully the door was double locked and no entry was gained. At 5.30am on Sunday 6th January a member of the public reported seeing a young male smashing a window at a property in Iron Mill Lane. The property was entered and a untidy search was made, it is not known what may have been stolen at this time. We will be knocking on doors around the area of Hall Place later this week as part of our street-a-week initiative". Erith ward:- "Please beware that there has been reports of a theft in Fit4LESS in Erith the report read items left in locked locker, when returned to locker door was forced open and wallet and other items taken, bank card was used in this time as well. So please be on your guard if you use this gym. Staff members are fully aware of this. Upcoming dates of note: Erith Ward panel meeting – Thursday 17th January 1900 Erith Pier Road Police station; Contact Point – Friday 11th January Costa Coffee Erith 11am; Contact Point – Thursday 17th January Erith Library 2pm. Crimes of note for the week: C/Dam Vehicle Thursday 03/01/2019 Parkspring Court, Erith High Street; Shoplift >£199 Thursday 03/01/2019 Wm Morrison Supermarkets Plc, James Watt Way; Shoplift £200 Thursday 27/12/2018 11:15:00 Wilkinson, Town Square – Items stolen from store; Making off Thursday 03/01/2019 Wm Morrison Service Station, James Watt Way; Burg Res Wednesday 02/01/2019 Rutland Gate – Front door damaged; Making off Morrisons, James Watt Way – Car filled up driven off; C/Dam Vehicle Friday 04/01/2019, St. Fidelis Road – Damage to car; Criminal Damage U500 04/01/2019 Saltford Close; Theft of MV Monday 07/01/2019 Victoria Road – Van stolen; Other theft Tuesday 08/01/2019 Fit4Less Erith High Street – Items stolen from gym from a padlocked locker – Please be aware if you use this gym that someone has broken in to the lockers". Northumberland Heath ward:- "Not a great start to the new year with a burglary in Bronte Close on Thursday January 3rd between 8.30pm – 8.15pm. The victim received a call from Police at 8pm stating that two of his vehicles had been stolen, one a Mercedes Compressor, the other vehicle was a Ford Transit van which had been burnt out. Sadly, when the victim returned home he discovered that his property had been broken in to via a rear kitchen window. A number of high value items were stolen including watches and jewellery. One commercial burglary also overnight on Thursday January 3rd at the Brook Street Cemetery. The following morning the groundsman discovered a brick outbuilding had been broken in to. A hedge cutter, leaf blower and a chainsaw were stolen. Unfortunately we have had another attempted burglary in Northumberland Park at 7.30am on Wednesday January 9th. The victim heard banging noises from the rear of the property. The victim went downstairs but did not see anything. Entry was not made and nothing was taken. Two theft from motor vehicles this week, both of vehicle number plates. The first took place overnight in Brook Street between Saturday January 5th 3pm to Sunday January 6th at 9.20am when the victim discovered them missing. The second theft of Vehicle registration plates occurred overnight on Sunday January 6th and was discovered missing by the victim early on Monday morning. The team have been busy out and about patrolling and have conducted a number of stop and searches which have resulted in cannabis seizures".
Slade Green and Northend ward:- "There was a shed burglary reported overnight on Tuesday 2nd January in Festival Close. The suspect(s) got in via the back garden fence and stole gardening equipment from the shed. As a result of our follow up visit the victim is now going to register to set up a new N.watch for Festival Close. 2 vehicle crimes reported overnight on Friday 4th January. A vehicle was stolen from Brompton Drive and one vehicle had criminal damage by way of being keyed in Sheppey Close. Both these incidents are close to each other but no details at this stage to show they are linked. Overnight on Monday 7th January, number plates were stolen from a vehicle in Springhead Road j/w Manor Road. A stolen vehicle was recovered yesterday (Wednesday 09th January) by PC's Mark and James in Hollywood Way (photo above) after recent intel reports of some suspicious vehicles on the estate. Robust patrols will be ongoing. A recent good result from court with the following statement released: 'On Wednesday 3rd January 2019 Desmond Bartley of Frobisher Road, Erith pleaded guilty to racially aggravated assault which occurred on 11/10/18 at Tesco Express,119 North End Road, Erith. He was sentenced to 26 weeks in prison and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £200.' In the last week there have been positive stop and searches made by PC's Mark and James with drugs seized and one suspect due back for an interview". Thamesmead East ward:- "Thamesmead East has again been hit with car crime this week. Don't be a target Don't leave your valuables in plain sight Remove all Satnav mounts along with suction cup marks on windscreen. Cables left on show alert criminals to possible property left inside the vehicle. Burglary - No Burglaries this week. Theft of motor vehicle - Kale Road Thursday 3/01/19 between 1am – 10:45am Theft of motor cycle from outside the venue by unknown suspect/s; Criminal damage to a motor vehicle Saturday 5/1/19 between 2am – 10am By suspect/s smashing vehicle window, unknown at this time if any property has been removed from within. Curlew Close Saturday 5/1/19 between 8am – Sunday 7:45am Suspect/s have smashed vehicle window nothing taken from within. Theft from motor vehicle Thamesbank Place on Thursday 3/1/19 between 6pm – 6:07pm By suspect/s smashing vehicle window removing satnav from within vehicle; Rushdene Road Thursday 3/1/19 between 8pm – Friday 8:05pm Suspect has stolen victims vehicle registration plates.; Wolvercote Road Friday 4/1/19 between 5pm – Saturday 2:30pm By suspect/s smashing vehicle window and stealing loose change to the value of £10 from within vehicle; Kingfisher Close on Saturday 5 /1/19 between 8:30pm – Sunday 4:30am Suspect/s have smashed vehicle window by means unknown stealing wallet containing credit cards and £350 cash. Criminal damage - Thamesbank Place on Tuesday 8/1/19 between 10pm – 10:52pm Brick allegedly being thrown at balcony door causing window to smash. Good News - Prolific offender in relation to motor vehicle crime, Zac Nevard, was arrested on Friday 4th Jan 2019. Nevard had been evading Police for a number of weeks, however following a recent social media appeal regarding wanted Zac Nevard, anonymous information received, resulted in his arrest at an address in SE2 for a number of offences. On Monday 7th January Zac Nevard pleaded guilty in court to burglary, assault and three theft from motor vehicle offences. Mr Nevard has been remanded by the courts and will be sentenced later this month. On Wednesday 2nd January 2019, the team discoved a BMW (Southmere Lake car park) which had been stolen by means of Robbery a few days earlier from an address in Illford. The vehicle was recovered to Charlton car pound, where a forensic examination took place. Hopefully suspect/s will be identified. The delighted victim has now had her vehicle returned. Next Community Contact session is on Tuesday 15/01/19 at The Link Bazelgette Way between 5-7pm". West Heath ward:- "A car was broken in to on King Harold's Way on Monday (7th January) at 1.30am. Fortunately, there was no damage and nothing inside to take. Residents, please do the usual - double-check belongings are out of your car or at least out of sight and doors are locked. The bad news is that from the beginning of the year there have only been two burglaries reported, although this is still two too many. One was an attempted in Lenham Road overnight Wednesday 2nd -Thursday 3rd January. Suspects attempted to gain entry by smashing a rear window. The other was in Kipling Road where a shed was broken into and garden tools taken sometime during December. Unfortunately there is even worse news, we have been hit for motor vehicle crime with 9 theft from motor vehicles and 2 vehicles stolen since the beginning of the year, most of which have been over the last 3 days. A car was stolen in Milford Road on Monday 7th January while the victim went back into their house leaving the vehicle running and insecure. A second vehicle was stolen in Plymstock Road overnight Monday 7th - Tuesday 8th January. Police made the victim aware of the theft after arresting a male in the stolen car. Number plates have been stolen from vehicles in Hythe Avenue, Hurlingham Avenue and Hadlow Road. In all, 6 vehicles have been broken into across the ward with the vehicles being searched and various items taken including wallets cash and cards. All were overnight. Please double check your vehicles are secure before you leave them and make sure you take your valuables with you and leave nothing on show. Last but not least a vehicle, with stolen number plates was set alight in Hurlingham Avenue on Sunday 30th December 2018, circumstances unknown".
The end video this week is a new piece of drone footage taken over the River Thames from Slade Green and over Erith Pier. The footage is silent, but it does give a very good idea of exactly what the river front at Erith looks like from above. Please feel free to leave a comment below, or alternatively you can Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.
Although technically not local, Romford based radio station Time 107.5FM is listened to by many people in the Thamesmead / Abbey Wood / Belvedere / Erith / Slade Green area. It is an excellent station which in my opinion epitomises exactly what local radio should be. They are very much community focussed, and interact very closely with their audience. This has certainly paid off for them; in two recent RAJAR polls, Time 107.5FM came out as the radio station with the longest listener hours in the entire UK - basically listeners listen to Time longer than listeners listen to any other radio station in the country - including the likes of BBC Radio 2 and 4, and way ahead of any commercial station. This has brought benefits to what is a tiny radio station in the greater scheme of things. For a start they have been able to charge higher rates for their large commercial advertisers. Conversely their advertising rates for small local businesses have been kept low, and they advertise charities and other not for profit organisations for free. Being a small radio station has its downsides, however. At 9.40AM yesterday morning, they went off air. I don't know if the station has a dedicated engineer (I suspect not), but it took them nearly half an hour to get back on air, only to go back off air a quarter of an hour later. I understand that they had a similar problem on Friday as well. Larger stations will have dedicated technical staff, and a backup transmitter, but a small community station such as Time does not have that luxury.
The News Shopper has reported during the last week that commercial property developer Berkeley, who were given permission in 2017 to build shops and more than 110 flats in the historic ‘Building 10’ at the Royal Arsenal site in Woolwich. Berkeley have been back to the council requesting more commercial space. The developer will now have 3,215 square metres of shops – up from the previously agreed 1,747 square metres. Berkley’s plans for the Arsenal site include hundreds of homes, shops and a courtyard across Building 10 and 11. It comes as the council continues developing The Woolwich Creative District, which will see listed buildings at the Arsenal renovated into a cultural quarter of venues, studios and rehearsal space. What many people do not realise is that the Woolwich Arsenal site was used extensively to design and build Britain's early nuclear weapons during the 1950's and the start of the 1960's. After carrying out some historical research, I am astonished that there was not a serious accident on the site, which could have ended up in wiping out a vast swathe of South East London. This might sound like hyperbole but I can assure you that is is not. Britain’s early nuclear weapons were more than a little crude and shambolic; they lacked basic safety and security features, and potentially could go off on their own if the conditions were right - they were very much "built on the cheap". The main early post war bomb was called the Violet Club; it was a large implosion type un-boosted fission weapon that used a very large amount of Uranium 235 (which was less expensive and hard to enrich than the more efficient and powerful Plutonium 239 that the Americans and Russians used). Because of the very large weight – over 70 kilos of fissile material were used, the bomb was actually greater than critical mass (the amount of weapons grade fissile material needed to create a nuclear explosion) and could theoretically go off with very little provocation - a nearby thunder storm or electrical arc welding in its vicinity could in theory have caused it to spontaneously detonate. The safety features on the weapon would have been laughable had the subject not been so serious. The arming switch of the bomb was secured with a bicycle padlock and an Allen key. The hollow sphere of Uranium 235 that made up the warhead was filled up with 20,000 steel ball bearings, so that if the weapon did have its’ conventional explosive trigger accidentally go off, the sphere could not be crushed and go supercritical, causing a massive nuclear explosion. The ball bearings had to be removed before the weapon was ready to use. The trouble was, during routine maintenance, the bombs needed to be rotated to access various panels (including those that contained the bombs’ internal power supplies – a couple of six volt lead / acid motorbike batteries – (I told you these bombs were built on the cheap). There are several documented occasions when the rubber bung holding the ball bearings in place fell out when the bomb was turned upside down, and all the ball bearings fell out over the floor. This left a very live and unpredictable weapon that could have gone off spontaneously. While the Air Staff of the RAF ordered twelve Violet Club bombs, only five were made, and as British author Chris Gibson put it in his book Vulcan's Hammer "From the RAF's point of view, that was five too many." Other problems with the bomb included the fact that The weight of the ball-bearings increased the bomb's weight to 11,250 lbs which was greater than the capacity of not only the bomb release mechanisms of the V-Bombers but also the ground-transport equipment of the bomb. The outflow of bearings took at least half an hour under ideal conditions - in cold weather, the ball bearings could freeze together, making arming the weapon near-impossible. Once the bomb was armed by allowing the ball-bearings to flow out of the centre of the warhead, there was on way of making the weapon safe again. In fact, engine running was prohibited even with Violet Club "safed" as it was feared vibration would cause the plastic plug to fall out and inadvertently arm the weapon. Because the bomb was armed irreversibly, airborne alerts were impossible because take off and landing were too hazardous to attempt with an armed Violet Club. Dispersal of the V-force to outlying fields was impossible as the bomb couldn't be flown to the dispersal airfield and the bomb transport equipment couldn't handle the Violet Club when it had its ball-bearings in place. With such an unwieldy weapon, why was it even fielded? First of all, remember that the British were classifying the Violet Club as megaton-class weapon by calling it the Interim Megaton Weapon. It definitely was not a megaton weapon, perhaps more 400 kilotons at best, but certainly the tests at Christmas Island in 1957 did indicate to the Americans the British were succeeding at fielding their own H-bombs- even if those test detonations failed to created the desired thermonuclear reaction. So who was the target of the Violet Club? While serving notice to the Soviet Union that Britain was still a force to be reckoned with, it seems that perhaps the Americans were the target, so to speak - with a weapon in their inventory called Interim Megaton Weapon implying that newer designs forthcoming and the tests in 1957 making a good show of things despite failing to work as planned, in 1958 the United States repealed the McMahon Act and resumed full nuclear cooperation with the United Kingdom. The Green Grass warhead used in Violet Club would be the last all-British nuclear weapon as a new Mutual Defence Agreement signed as part of the repeal of the McMahon Act meant British designers now had access to more advanced and compact American designs. In fact, the successor to the much-despised Violet Club, the Yellow Sun Mk.2, used an Anglicised American Mk.28 thermonuclear warhead. But no other fission weapon ever fielded by any other nation approached the explosive yield of the Violet Club. The Violet Club bombs assembled at Woolwich Arsenal were thankfully the last of their kind - if one of the sensitive and accident prone weapons had detonated in Woolwich Arsenal , its 400 Kiloton warhead would have destroyed an area of around twelve miles in diameter. Luckily this did not happen, but if it had the geography of London and North Kent would be very different nowadays.
Before the main Neighbourhood Watch updates, a special report from From Mick Chattenton, Chief Inspector Neighbourhoods, Borough Police. Mick writes:- "On Wednesday 19/12/2018 Crayford SNT were advised that a black handbag had been taken out of the river Cray on Sunday 16/12/2018. It was believed that items within may have been stolen and the bag was kept in a safe place awaiting our collection from a local business. Our enquiries showed that the items including engraved silver goblets and an engraved silver tray as well as other ceremonial items had been stolen by means of an Asian Gold burglary in Bexley on Saturday 15/12/2018. We returned the items to the rightful owners who were delighted to receive them back as they have such sentimental and religious value. Whilst we were just doing our job in collecting and returning these items this is a great time to acknowledge the benefits of local neighbourhood policing and working with our local community. Many thanks to the Penny Farthing at Waterside, Crayford for the part they have played in restoring these items to their rightful owner". Now for the weekly local safety and security updates from Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association. Firstly from Barnehurst ward:- "There was a burglary reported on Sunday 06/01/2019 along Parkside Avenue. Entry was gained via the front door of the property as the door was not double locked. Vehicles were also stolen from the same address". Next for Belvedere ward, and an update on the homeless people reported last week:- "The homeless persons remain at the disused Belvedere Police station in Nuxley Road. The team have been speaking to the males at the location frequently and have assisted them in seeking medical assistance. We have also been working extensively with Bexley Council, Belvedere ward councillors and other agencies to assist in finding suitable accommodation for each of them. The female that was at the location has been placed in shelter elsewhere and we are hoping that the remaining two males will soon be placed in suitable accommodation. There have been two burglary reports recently – the first from a male who resides at a house of multiple occupancy in Ashburnham Road. Over the Christmas period his room was entered and a games console was taken along with a small amount of money. There was damage to a window suggesting that this was the method of entry. The second occurred in Abbey Road on Monday 7th January 2019 – the female occupant returned home from work to find that unknown person(s) have gained access to her home via a rear door of the property. It is apparent that the address was approached via an alleyway adjacent to the rear of the property which can be accessed by Monks Close or New Road. Damage had been caused to the lock of the door when entry was gained. A substantial amount of money had been taken from the property. Should anyone have seen anything in relation to this incident (between 9 a.m and 1 p.m) on that date, please contact the team on 0208 721 2050. A resident contacted the team on Monday 7th January to report that they had discovered a knife which had been placed in their recycling bin. This was subsequently recovered by the team and has been taken to Bexleyheath Police station for destruction. Our next Community Contact session is due to take place on Wednesday 16th January from 4pm at the Belvedere library in Woolwich Road". Bexleyheath ward:- "Here is our brief summary of what the team has been doing over the last week and what's been happening. Unfortunately we have had two reports of burglary on the ward: Izane Road – Suspect forcing open rear door on Monday 07/01/2019; Epsom Close – Entry forced into the porch area of the property. Car keys stolen, two cars taken on Sunday 06/01/2019. On Friday 04/01/2019 – There was a report of a purse stolen from Poundland along the Broadway Bexleyheath. Also there was a report of a theft from person on Friday 04/01/2019 – a member of public was a victim of pickpocketing along the Broadway. Also, here are two reports of theft from motor vehicles: Theft from motor vehicle - Midhurst Hill, tools taken – Saturday 05/01/2019; Theft from motor vehicle – Birchington Close Tuesday 01/01/2019. Tablet taken & vehicle damaged. There was also one report for theft of motor vehicle along Iris Avenue / Upton Road on Friday 04/01/2019. Below are reports for criminal damage to motor vehicles: Methuen Road – Between Friday 04/01 – Saturday 05/01/2019 vehicle ignition barrelled but not taken. Near Iris Avenue – vehicle parked up doors found open. Police attended and secured vehicle, Friday 04/01/2019. The team are regularly conducting targeted patrols for burglary and anti-social behaviour. Also there was stops made in the ASDA car park in Bexleyheath, this was in relation to vehicles with drives causing anti-social behaviour. Forthcoming event:This Friday 11/01/2019, the team has a contact session between 2pm & 3pm at Café Nero on the Broadway. If you do wish to pass on information to Police then please contact Crime Stoppers on 0800 555111. Please do not hesitate to contact us via Twitter, Facebook, email and the ward phone. Remember in an emergency please dial 999 and 101 for non-urgent reporting". Crayford ward:- "We are really sorry to say it has been a productive week for burglars and thieves in our local area. On Sunday 30th December a child's mini moto was stolen from a garden shed in Dale Road, it is a blue and white Yamaha Moto X with a number 7 on the side, it is for a child aged 7-10 years. On Thursday 3rd January a black Peugeot motor cycle GK65 KVX was stolen without keys by means of the steering lock being broken in Marden Crescent. On Friday 4th January at 2.15 am residents were woken by footsteps within their home and realised that their BMW was being stolen. The person driving crashed the vehicle nearby and was arrested at the scene. A road rage incident occurred in London Road on Friday 4th January at 18.45 and a blue Ford had a damaged door and smashed window, the suspect was driving a red Vauxhall. On Saturday 5th January at 2.20am a taxi driver reported that his Vauxhall Zafira had been criminally damaged in Woodside Road. A silver Peugeot KS02NXK was stolen from Woodfall Drive between 22.00 on Thursday 3rd January and 12.00 on Friday 4th January without keys. On Saturday 5th January between 01.00-06.00 there was an attempted burglary in Grazeley Close. The suspect attempted to gain entry by pushing out the glass in the top of the front door, there were tool marks around the door, thankfully the door was double locked and no entry was gained. At 5.30am on Sunday 6th January a member of the public reported seeing a young male smashing a window at a property in Iron Mill Lane. The property was entered and a untidy search was made, it is not known what may have been stolen at this time. We will be knocking on doors around the area of Hall Place later this week as part of our street-a-week initiative". Erith ward:- "Please beware that there has been reports of a theft in Fit4LESS in Erith the report read items left in locked locker, when returned to locker door was forced open and wallet and other items taken, bank card was used in this time as well. So please be on your guard if you use this gym. Staff members are fully aware of this. Upcoming dates of note: Erith Ward panel meeting – Thursday 17th January 1900 Erith Pier Road Police station; Contact Point – Friday 11th January Costa Coffee Erith 11am; Contact Point – Thursday 17th January Erith Library 2pm. Crimes of note for the week: C/Dam Vehicle Thursday 03/01/2019 Parkspring Court, Erith High Street; Shoplift >£199 Thursday 03/01/2019 Wm Morrison Supermarkets Plc, James Watt Way; Shoplift £200 Thursday 27/12/2018 11:15:00 Wilkinson, Town Square – Items stolen from store; Making off Thursday 03/01/2019 Wm Morrison Service Station, James Watt Way; Burg Res Wednesday 02/01/2019 Rutland Gate – Front door damaged; Making off Morrisons, James Watt Way – Car filled up driven off; C/Dam Vehicle Friday 04/01/2019, St. Fidelis Road – Damage to car; Criminal Damage U500 04/01/2019 Saltford Close; Theft of MV Monday 07/01/2019 Victoria Road – Van stolen; Other theft Tuesday 08/01/2019 Fit4Less Erith High Street – Items stolen from gym from a padlocked locker – Please be aware if you use this gym that someone has broken in to the lockers". Northumberland Heath ward:- "Not a great start to the new year with a burglary in Bronte Close on Thursday January 3rd between 8.30pm – 8.15pm. The victim received a call from Police at 8pm stating that two of his vehicles had been stolen, one a Mercedes Compressor, the other vehicle was a Ford Transit van which had been burnt out. Sadly, when the victim returned home he discovered that his property had been broken in to via a rear kitchen window. A number of high value items were stolen including watches and jewellery. One commercial burglary also overnight on Thursday January 3rd at the Brook Street Cemetery. The following morning the groundsman discovered a brick outbuilding had been broken in to. A hedge cutter, leaf blower and a chainsaw were stolen. Unfortunately we have had another attempted burglary in Northumberland Park at 7.30am on Wednesday January 9th. The victim heard banging noises from the rear of the property. The victim went downstairs but did not see anything. Entry was not made and nothing was taken. Two theft from motor vehicles this week, both of vehicle number plates. The first took place overnight in Brook Street between Saturday January 5th 3pm to Sunday January 6th at 9.20am when the victim discovered them missing. The second theft of Vehicle registration plates occurred overnight on Sunday January 6th and was discovered missing by the victim early on Monday morning. The team have been busy out and about patrolling and have conducted a number of stop and searches which have resulted in cannabis seizures".
Slade Green and Northend ward:- "There was a shed burglary reported overnight on Tuesday 2nd January in Festival Close. The suspect(s) got in via the back garden fence and stole gardening equipment from the shed. As a result of our follow up visit the victim is now going to register to set up a new N.watch for Festival Close. 2 vehicle crimes reported overnight on Friday 4th January. A vehicle was stolen from Brompton Drive and one vehicle had criminal damage by way of being keyed in Sheppey Close. Both these incidents are close to each other but no details at this stage to show they are linked. Overnight on Monday 7th January, number plates were stolen from a vehicle in Springhead Road j/w Manor Road. A stolen vehicle was recovered yesterday (Wednesday 09th January) by PC's Mark and James in Hollywood Way (photo above) after recent intel reports of some suspicious vehicles on the estate. Robust patrols will be ongoing. A recent good result from court with the following statement released: 'On Wednesday 3rd January 2019 Desmond Bartley of Frobisher Road, Erith pleaded guilty to racially aggravated assault which occurred on 11/10/18 at Tesco Express,119 North End Road, Erith. He was sentenced to 26 weeks in prison and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £200.' In the last week there have been positive stop and searches made by PC's Mark and James with drugs seized and one suspect due back for an interview". Thamesmead East ward:- "Thamesmead East has again been hit with car crime this week. Don't be a target Don't leave your valuables in plain sight Remove all Satnav mounts along with suction cup marks on windscreen. Cables left on show alert criminals to possible property left inside the vehicle. Burglary - No Burglaries this week. Theft of motor vehicle - Kale Road Thursday 3/01/19 between 1am – 10:45am Theft of motor cycle from outside the venue by unknown suspect/s; Criminal damage to a motor vehicle Saturday 5/1/19 between 2am – 10am By suspect/s smashing vehicle window, unknown at this time if any property has been removed from within. Curlew Close Saturday 5/1/19 between 8am – Sunday 7:45am Suspect/s have smashed vehicle window nothing taken from within. Theft from motor vehicle Thamesbank Place on Thursday 3/1/19 between 6pm – 6:07pm By suspect/s smashing vehicle window removing satnav from within vehicle; Rushdene Road Thursday 3/1/19 between 8pm – Friday 8:05pm Suspect has stolen victims vehicle registration plates.; Wolvercote Road Friday 4/1/19 between 5pm – Saturday 2:30pm By suspect/s smashing vehicle window and stealing loose change to the value of £10 from within vehicle; Kingfisher Close on Saturday 5 /1/19 between 8:30pm – Sunday 4:30am Suspect/s have smashed vehicle window by means unknown stealing wallet containing credit cards and £350 cash. Criminal damage - Thamesbank Place on Tuesday 8/1/19 between 10pm – 10:52pm Brick allegedly being thrown at balcony door causing window to smash. Good News - Prolific offender in relation to motor vehicle crime, Zac Nevard, was arrested on Friday 4th Jan 2019. Nevard had been evading Police for a number of weeks, however following a recent social media appeal regarding wanted Zac Nevard, anonymous information received, resulted in his arrest at an address in SE2 for a number of offences. On Monday 7th January Zac Nevard pleaded guilty in court to burglary, assault and three theft from motor vehicle offences. Mr Nevard has been remanded by the courts and will be sentenced later this month. On Wednesday 2nd January 2019, the team discoved a BMW (Southmere Lake car park) which had been stolen by means of Robbery a few days earlier from an address in Illford. The vehicle was recovered to Charlton car pound, where a forensic examination took place. Hopefully suspect/s will be identified. The delighted victim has now had her vehicle returned. Next Community Contact session is on Tuesday 15/01/19 at The Link Bazelgette Way between 5-7pm". West Heath ward:- "A car was broken in to on King Harold's Way on Monday (7th January) at 1.30am. Fortunately, there was no damage and nothing inside to take. Residents, please do the usual - double-check belongings are out of your car or at least out of sight and doors are locked. The bad news is that from the beginning of the year there have only been two burglaries reported, although this is still two too many. One was an attempted in Lenham Road overnight Wednesday 2nd -Thursday 3rd January. Suspects attempted to gain entry by smashing a rear window. The other was in Kipling Road where a shed was broken into and garden tools taken sometime during December. Unfortunately there is even worse news, we have been hit for motor vehicle crime with 9 theft from motor vehicles and 2 vehicles stolen since the beginning of the year, most of which have been over the last 3 days. A car was stolen in Milford Road on Monday 7th January while the victim went back into their house leaving the vehicle running and insecure. A second vehicle was stolen in Plymstock Road overnight Monday 7th - Tuesday 8th January. Police made the victim aware of the theft after arresting a male in the stolen car. Number plates have been stolen from vehicles in Hythe Avenue, Hurlingham Avenue and Hadlow Road. In all, 6 vehicles have been broken into across the ward with the vehicles being searched and various items taken including wallets cash and cards. All were overnight. Please double check your vehicles are secure before you leave them and make sure you take your valuables with you and leave nothing on show. Last but not least a vehicle, with stolen number plates was set alight in Hurlingham Avenue on Sunday 30th December 2018, circumstances unknown".
The end video this week is a new piece of drone footage taken over the River Thames from Slade Green and over Erith Pier. The footage is silent, but it does give a very good idea of exactly what the river front at Erith looks like from above. Please feel free to leave a comment below, or alternatively you can Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.
