Arts.

The photo above was taken by regular reader and occasional contributor Miles, who photographed the abandoned Santander hire bike on the edge of Morrison's car park, and close to the Pier Square in Erith. It shows that not only are electrically powered bicycles and scooters on out of borough hire schemes being stolen and used illegally in the local area, but also conventional bikes used by the likes of Santander are also being hijacked and dumped locally. What is doubly ironic is that such bikes, when dumped will almost inevitably be used again by further thieves. It would appear that the geofencing facilities that the machines are meant to use are either defeated by the criminals, or are not working once the bikes are removed from the areas in which they are licenced to be used. As I have previously written, at the moment, the London Borough of Bexley does not permit any kind of hire bike whether conventionally powered or electric to be used on its roads. I have no idea what the fate of the bike in the photo was, but I can almost certainly guarantee it would have gone within a few hours from where it was placed. A case of one thief stealing from another. As always, comments and any general feedback to me should be addressed to hugh.neal@gmail.com. 

After the recent quite deep forays into the world of electric vehicles (EV’s) over some recent Blog updates, I have had some reader feedback asking for some background information about the relatively new type of fossil fuel which is currently widely available for traditional internal combustion engine equipped vehicles - apparently as a move towards reducing exhaust emissions; the reality seems to be far more nuanced and complex that the government backed publicity would indicate. There have been extensive column inches written about E10 petrol over the last five years or so. But much of what I have read has been somewhat contradictory or downright confusing. I will now attempt to clarify. In order to make conventional fuels less polluting, it was decided to blend in some renewable content such as biodiesel and ethanol. This is nothing new: it has been going on with E5 petrol and diesel in the UK for the past 10 years. Apparently, blending renewable fuels in this way has contributed to a CO2 emissions reduction equal to taking more than a million cars off the road. It has been said that migrating to E10 Petrol will have a greater positive impact on atmospheric pollution levels than the removal of  Tetraethyl Lead from petrol which began in the UK in 1989, and was mandated in EU law in 2000. Scientific studies had proven that raised lead levels in children's blood had a direct link with brain damage, hypertension and learning disorders and that children who lived near motorways and town centres had a far higher likelihood of developing these illnesses. A 1985 study in the US estimated that leaded petrol caused one million cases of hypertension per year and more than 5000 deaths from heart attacks, strokes, and other diseases related to blood pressure – and that was just for men aged between 40 and 59. So E10 fuel is here now, and it claims to be better for the environment. Vehicles manufactured from 2019 onwards usually have an E5 and E10 label close to their fuel filler caps, showing which fuels they can accept. Drivers of cars registered before 2002 have been advised not to use E10 in their vehicles, because problems have been reported. Research carried out by What Car? magazine revealed that E10 is potentially less efficient than the current E5 blend of petrol, with the problem being worse in smaller-engined vehicles. Drivers of shopping cars would end up filling their cars more often, which isn’t the point of owning a small car with a tiny engine. E10 Petrol is less volumetrically efficient - meaning you need more of it to provide the same amount of energy as existing E5 Petrol - so you get fewer miles to the gallon, and have to full your vehicle’s tank more often - with the associated increase in cost that this entails. Classic cars, motor bikes and even petrol powered lawn mowers and chainsaws will be unable to use E10 Petrol.  E10 petrol’s higher ethanol content is corrosive to rubber parts, gaskets, seals, metals and plastics, which causes engine damage, so it could dislodge deposits in older engines and fuel systems, causing blockages. Other concerns in respect of the use of E10 Petrol in pre 2002 vehicles are as follows - Higher ethanol content in petrol can make it harder to turn over an engine from cold. Ethanol’s higher volatility can contribute to vapour lock (petrol becoming gaseous) when operating temperatures are higher, causing stalling. Ethanol’s high solvency can cause problems with many seal and gasket materials that are used in fuel systems, as well as with fibreglass resins. Besides a risk of fuel leaks, rubbers and resins can get partially dissolved, producing deposits that could foul carburettor jets or fuel injectors. Ethanol can become acidic and cause corrosion of aluminium, zinc and galvanised materials, as well as brass, copper and steels coated in lead or tin. What owners of vulnerable cars can do is source replacement engine components made with ethanol-compatible materials. Otherwise, the quick fix is to use the higher-octane 97-99 RON ‘super unleaded’ E5 petrol, which is expected to remain available at most fuel stations after E10 comes into use. For readers with diesel powered vehicles, there is another solution which is far greener than using conventional fossil fuel, and even smells nice! Many food outlets use large quantities of cooking oil, which is usually vegetable based. When it has become contaminated, they store it for collection by specialist cooking oil companies, who pay good money to get hold of the oil. Where’s the money on old cooking oil? I hear you ask; well, it makes excellent bio diesel. There is a general perception that cooking oil needs to be specially treated before it can be used in diesel engines. This is actually not true. You can empty a bottle of Mazola or whatever oil you fancy straight into the fuel tank of your diesel vehicle and it will work a treat. The only thing you need to do with old oil is filter out any particles or bits of food – as these can clog up the fuel injectors of the engine. Old fish frying oil actually smells of the chip shop when you burn it in a diesel engine. Some twenty years ago Mercedes Benz commercial vehicle division did extensive tests on the use of vegetable oil versus conventional diesel in long term use as a fuel. They found that engines run on vegetable oil actually suffered significantly less wear and tear than those run on conventional diesel – this is not much of a surprise, as vegetable oil is a lubricant, and diesel is a solvent. Vegetable oil also has far lower levels of harmful particulates than Diesel, a factor of increasing importance nowadays. Vegetable oil has a lower energy density than diesel, so your miles per gallon does drop a bit, but the cost savings are so big that it makes it worthwhile. It is not illegal to power a road vehicle on old chip oil, as long as you have declared it to HM Revenue and Customs, filled in the relevant paperwork and paid the excise duty. One downside of this is that criminals are now stealing cans of old vegetable cooking oil from outside of restaurants in order to sell it for use as vehicle fuel. Obviously the crooks that are currently nicking cooking oil for use as fuel have no intention of declaring it to HM Revenue and Customs  – so if you see some shady looking characters in a van smelling of plaice and chips going past, be very suspicious…

The photo above shows part of Erith High Street back in the summer of 1966, shortly before it was all demolished to make way for the hideous 1970's brutalist concrete shopping centre, which was universally hated. It took the extensive re - modelling and re - engineering of the centre around twenty five years ago to turn it into the light and pleasant venue it is today.

Last Wednesday, September the 16th marked five years since the death of Sir Clive Sinclair in 2021 at the age of 81. A quintessentially British inventor and entrepreneur, Sinclair did not merely keep pace with the modern technological revolution - he democratized it.  Long before silicon valley giants made personal technology ubiquitous, Sinclair was bringing affordable micro computing and compact electronics to millions of living rooms, sparking a cultural and industrial shift whose echoes are still felt across the tech landscape today. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, computers were largely expensive, bulky machines restricted to corporate offices and university computer centres. Sir Clive Sinclair changed that trajectory entirely. The Sinclair Executive (1972) introduced as the world's first slimline pocket calculator, proving that complex electronics could be made portable and affordable. The ZX80 & ZX81 (1980–1981): Brought computing under the £100 price threshold, introducing home user coding to the mass market. The ZX Spectrum (1982): Featuring rubber keys and a signature rainbow stripe, the ZX Spectrum sold over five million units. It introduced colour graphics and (very rudimentary) sound, effectively giving birth to the UK's thriving "bedroom coder" software industry. Many of today's premier game developers, software architects, and technology leaders credit their very first line of code to a ZX Spectrum hooked up to a domestic television set. Sinclair was never content simply refining existing ideas; he relentlessly chased the future, even when the technology of the era wasn't fully ready to support his ambitions. In 1985, he unveiled the Sinclair C5, a single-seater, battery-electric tricycle. At the time, it was met with commercial failure and media skepticism. Critics cited concerns over safety, battery range, and exposure to the unpredictable British weather. Five years after his death, however, history looks far more kindly on his vision. In an age dominated by micro-mobility solutions - electric scooters, urban e-bikes (and unfortunately the problems associated with their misuse, as I have previously written) - the C5 stands out as a prototype for modern green transport. Sinclair foresaw the necessity of personal electric urban transport four decades before the rest of the automotive industry caught up.

Many thanks to occasional contributor and regular reader Gary for the following information. It would appear that Ofcom, the government department who enforce and licence UK broadcasting have taken a back step. They were originally not going to do anything other than grant licences to digital DAB plus radio stations, as they viewed the future of analogue AM and FM radio as being out of date and no longer relevant. It would appear that the listening public have reacted against this, and Ofcom are now announcing that they will permit a very few new and original AM and FM local community radio licences. This is quite surprising, as I'm aware that Ofcom wanted to sell off frequencies that they would stop other operators from using to make money for the government. As readers may be aware, I do indeed have a historical background in radio broadcasting, although nowadays, it was a very long time ago. 

In an interesting and very welcome development, over the last couple of weeks I have had numerous email correspondence with local MP, Daniel Francis. The most recent subject we have been discussing has been the situation with a number of shop closures in Bexleyheath Broadway and in The Mail shopping centre, as I outlined in last Sunday's blog update. Earlier last week, Daniel sent me a very detailed and precise email explaining what was going on to remedy this situation. After some discussion, I am publishing his formal response, as I feel that many readers will find it of interest and also quite encouraging after the doom and gloom that I unfortunately had to report last week. It would appear that a lot is going on behind the scenes to bring new businesses into the local area, and not only encourage more physical shopping but also to provide valuable employment to local people. Daniel writes:- “The rise of on-line shopping and issues both during and since Covid has increased the challenges for high street retailers. Since my election in 2024, I have met both the Bexleyheath Business Improvement District (BID) and the management of the shopping centre which is owned by New River numerous times. They have worked tirelessly to devise a plan to bring empty units into use which I believe has come to fruition in recent months and is demonstrating the confidence of retailers to invest in Bexleyheath. Last week, Choice clothing store has moved into the former Poundland store. The New River website confirms the intention for Waterstones to open in the former Choice store in the near future. (The photo above - click on it to see a larger view - shows the hoarding installed prior to the shop opening next to the EE Store in The Mall, near the main entrance). I understand conversations have been ongoing to bring Waterstones back to Bexleyheath for a considerable time and I know New River has worked incredibly hard to secure their tenancy. Clintons has also returned to the shopping centre this month. As they also own Card Zone, the smaller Card Zone store has closed but as Clintons is in a large unit, it has led to less empty floor space in the centre. New River has also worked to split the former Argos store into three units with Smoke and Pepper opening shortly alongside Jamaica Blue and Wingstop that have opened in recent months. The New River website also states that two further units including the former New Look store are under offer. If New River do secure tenants for these units, it will leave very few empty units in the centre. This would include the units recently been vacated by Three as they have merged with Vodafone and moved into their store, the unit vacated when Claires recently closed all its stores and as explained above the unit which was Cardzone. I am hopeful that the work of New River is heading to a position which will see very few empty units. Given the successes outlined above, I know they will be working hard to find tenants for these. In addition to the new tenants listed above, New River has also attracted Momo’s, Lavisa, Grape Tree and Way to Wear in the last 15 months. Across the centre of Bexleyheath, Barclays Bank, Buzz Bingo, the Furze Wren and Vodafone have all had refurbishments in recent months demonstrating a confidence to invest in Bexleyheath. I know there remains uncertainty over the T J Jones store, but I am continuing to lobby on this matter and hope they will stay in Bexleyheath. While I accept in an online world, with out of town shopping centres and retail parks and with cost of living pressures there are challenges for the retail sector, I think the current new store openings and refurbishments in Bexleyheath show a confidence to invest in the town.”

According to the KentOnline news website, it is reported that a planning application has been received by Bexley Council by Bow Arts Trust to turn the former Erith Town Hall in Walnut Tree Road into artists’ studios. According to the report, The charity says it wants to create “a sustainable creative and community hub” which delivers “long-term social, cultural and economic value through affordable workspace for artists.” You can read the full article on the KentOnline website by clicking here. 

The end video this week features the brand new trains now operating on the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) out of Woolwich Arsenal Station. Comments should be sent to me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.