M25.

Following my article last week on the opening of the new Waterstones book shop inside the Mall, formerly known as Bexleyheath Broadway Shopping Centre, there have been two other outlets that recently have opened in a similar location in the centre of Bexleyheath. The fast food outlets Wing Stop, and Smoke and Pepper have recently opened in what used to be the large double fronted Argos store, directly opposite Bexleyheath clock tower. I can see both establishments in the photo above, click on it to see a larger view. Thanks to the reader who sent me the photo, and prefers to remain anonymous. After doing a bit of research online, I have discovered that Wing Stop is as the name suggests, primarily an outlet for chicken wings served with a variety of coatings and sauces. Smoke and Pepper primarily sells somewhat upmarket beef burgers, which I guess will be in direct competition with the nearby McDonald's outlet. The main differences between Smoke and Pepper and McDonald's is that Smoke and Pepper produces slightly more expensive, more upmarket burgers, and all of its products are Halal. The difference in price however, is relatively minimal, as over the last couple of years, all over the UK McDonald's restaurants have substantially increased their prices. It is a common misconception that McDonald's UK centrally set their food retail prices. This is factually incorrect, prices are actually set by the individual franchise owners. How well the two new fast food outlets will fare is currently unclear, but Bexleyheath already has a large number of takeaway food establishments, and I feel that competition in this sector of the market is and will be fierce. Having said that, it is good that after a long period in the doldrums, that the shopping centre is gaining new commercial tenants, and the area is starting to feel busier and more welcoming as a result. I know that local MP Daniel Francis has been deeply involved with encouraging new investment in Bexleyheath and the surrounding areas. I understand that he started his working career as an employee of Marks and Spencer in Bexleyheath. I would imagine that this must give him a better insight into the world of retailing than other people who have not shared his experiences. Comments to me at hugh.neal@gmail.com. 

I know that a substantial number of my readers also regularly consult the KentLive website for Kent county related news, gossip and information. Unfortunately it has recently been announced that the website is closing with immediate effect, and that the journalists involved in the sites' creation and maintenance are to be made redundant. The announcement on the KentLive website reads as follows:- "From October 30 our KentLive website will be switched off. We're sorry to bring you this news, and it's a decision we haven't taken lightly. KentLive was launched in 2016 to bring you live news, features and the best of What's On to people in and around Kent. We've loved informing and entertaining you, our readers, for 10 years, and we'll miss you all. We have championed this wonderful county, from coast to countryside, village to town, and have been immensely proud to do so. Our Kent journalists have been with you every step of the way, sharing your triumphs and celebrations, or the tough times, when there's been loss and heartache. We've highlighted issues which make your lives harder, whether that was with roadworks and public transport, education and healthcare, or crime and antisocial behaviour. KentLive has helped pave the way for telling untold stories from a wide range of communities, from refugees to Kent’s growing Black communities, through the work of our race reporter, always putting people at the heart of our stories and ensuring their experiences are represented accurately and authentically. We're honoured to have been part of your lives for the past decade. But it's time to say farewell and thank you. Times are tough in media, and hard decisions have to be made in the face of rising costs, competition, advances in technology and changing trends in how people consume news. Closing KentLive may come as a shock to you, and it's been an emotional time for us behind the scenes. But we are so grateful for your company, all your feedback, whether good or bad, and the fun we have had with so many of you along the way".

Last Thursday, the 29th of October marked the 40th anniversary of the completion of the M25 motorway. It was opened by then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. It was then and remains now Britain's busiest road. Back in 1986, the 117 mile long motorway which encircles Greater London, cost £1 billion. When it was originally designed, it was estimated that it would carry up to 100,000 vehicles a day, but very soon after it was completed, the number of vehicles using the M25 exceeded 150,000 every day. Ironically, although construction of the M25 did not start until 1975, the concept of a major road encircling Greater London was first conceived back in 1906, but at that time there was little justification for it, and the idea stalled. It was only after two world wars and the the massive increase in the number of privately owned vehicles that the idea was resurrected. The scale of the engineering involved in constructing the M25 was immense. Building the motorway required more than 2 million tons of concrete, massive earthworks, and the construction of bridges and junctions to connect it to the existing road network. The completed M25 linked five counties surrounding the capital and provided a major new corridor for businesses, motorists and the transport industry. As anyone who has used the M25 either as a driver or as a passenger, they will be aware that the road is regularly gridlocked, and always extremely busy. Some sections of the road have been widened to six lanes in each direction, but this has not proved to be a solution to the problem of congestion. Much has been written in the popular press, in literature, and even in music about the problems that using the M25 can bring. I think one of the most famous of these is the Chris Rea song, The Road to Hell.

The photograph above is around 160 years old, and thus well out of copyright. I have digitally restored it, as the original was very yellowed and covered in dark spots. The photo, which you can see above, is what may well be the earliest surviving photograph taken in Erith. It depicts a structure that was apparently known as the Round House. Can you see the lady sitting on the steps? The man with the what looks like an outsized musket can be clearly seen in the foreground - the weapon is actually what is known as a punt, or duck gun. It is a muzzle loading flintlock weapon that was designed operate in a similar way to a modern 12 bore shotgun - firing a cloud of lead pellets at the intended target. The punt or duck gun was designed to be fired from the prone position, as if you were standing, the ducks and geese would see you and fly away, and also they had a fearsome recoil, likely to knock you off your feet. The usual way of operating such a weapon was to use a small boat (punt), lay down lengthwise in it, and to float out into the river or pond and then to wait until a flock of game birds landed nearby, then give the unwitting flock a broadside. Not very sporting, but that did not count for much when you were trying to bag some food for the table. Some years following this, an article about the history of the area was written. It details events that took place after the Round House was demolished. It makes for fascinating reading. The article was originally published back in 1925 in the Kentish Times - it was written by "Tumbler" Bell, the pioneering sportsman and union activist of late Victorian times who became a chronicler of old Erith in the pages of the then local newspaper. He wrote:- "Prior to the establishment of Messrs Easton and Anderson’s Engineering Works on the river bank at the bottom of what is now known as Manor-road, Erith, what was known as the Round House stood on the site. A short distance away was Anchor Bay Farm, occupied by old Mr and Mrs Harry Graham, who saw the rise, decline and passing of both the engineering works and Messrs J R White and Co’s brickfields. They lived to a ripe old age, deservedly respected by all who knew them. To provide housing accommodation for the workmen, the houses in Appold-street, Wheatley-terrace, James Watt-place, and Rumford-place were built, and owned by the proprietors of the engineering works.  Houses were also built on one side of Manor-road, including the Royal Alfred public-house. After sundown the locality was very dark, the exception being the well-lighted Royal Alfred, consequently the spot for congregation was the “New Light”, and by that name the house was generally known. The youths of the neighbourhood used to meet outside this house to discuss Rugby football, quoits, running, etc. There were English, Irish, Scotch, and Welsh lads.  Many could play fifes, whistles, etc.  A fife and drum band was formed; practice was allowed in the “Shant” (a long, narrow wood building, in which Easton and Anderson’s workmen took meals). When proficient, the band paraded the streets, and a good show it made.  All went well till the day it was discovered that the side drummer’s mother had converted the drum into a cinder sieve. The band broke up as a consequence. The “New Light” was used by workmen from both the works and the brickfields.  Lively arguments took place as to who could run the faster, which usually ended with the men taking off coats, waistcoats, and boots, toeing a line in the centre of the road, and racing each other along the road, round the houses, or round the backs in the brickfield.  That soon started the running craze, and young brickmakers and foundry workers were soon finding quiet spots for practising to prepare for racing each other at a given distance. When talking to admirers or critics some of the runners boasted of remarkable running feats done.  One evening one of them visited the “New Light”. After drinking a quantity of liquor, he began to boast, and got so speedy that those present deliberately doubted his statements. “How far is it from the ‘Light’, up Manor-road, to Beadle’s Bridge, round Crescent-road, to the bridge at Whittingham’s shop, and back to the ‘Light’, and how long would it take you to do it?”  He told them.  Challenged, he took off coat, waistcoat, and boots, and toed the line in the road. Watch in hand, the time-keeper and starter got him off, and immediately stopped the watch. All went back into the “pub”, to wait.  After a time the runner stumbled into the bar, panting heavily. The judge showed him the watch, and said, “You’ve done it in no time.” “If I hadn’t fallen down twice, I’d have done it much quicker,” said the runner. Amusements would be arranged to take place on the same day as major events. A farmer’s four-wheeled waggon was stood opposite the “pub”, to be used as a platform for singing contests, bobbing for apples, eating treacled rolls, etc.  A well-greased pole with a leg of mutton tied at the top was erected for a climbing competition. Running races and other items took place. On these occasions Don Andrews (a local comic singer) would climb into the lamp frame at the top of the lamp standard nearby, and recite the words of a ditty, and finish each verse with “Sing, brethren, sing,” and the assembled crowd would join “Don” and sing wholeheartedly."

Last week marked the sixty first anniversary of the first regular transmissions from an offshore radio station called Radio Essex. This small, relatively short – lived, but extremely influential station broadcast from the abandoned ex – WW2 military Knock John anti – aircraft fortress in the Thames Estuary. Test transmissions started on the 27th October 1965 on 1365 kHz Medium Wave, and regular broadcasts started on the frequency of 1353 kHz on the 7th of November 1965. The station was the first to broadcast around the clock, with no overnight shut down. The station used a modified Royal Navy ship’s transmitter, with a reported output power of 1,000 Watts. The actual radiated power was certainly quite lot less than that – indeed some sources say that the transmitter actually only had an output power of between 25 and 35 Watts. Nevertheless the station was able to cover large swathes of Essex and North Kent, and soon built up a dedicated listener ship thought to be around 30,000 strong. The station had an unusual format; they played middle of the road, easy listening music in the daytime, and a top forty pop format overnight. There is an excellent account of the full story of Radio Essex, and its rise and eventual fall on the Pirate Radio Hall of Fame website here.

Something rather unexpected and certainly unwelcome has happened since the various Covid-19 lock downs that took place five years ago. A family of drugs (or more accurately a series of chemically very similar synthetic compounds) that were banned back in 2016 have made a dramatic return to common use by drug abusers. It in known by a generic name - Spice - which in turn was named after the fictional drug featured in the "Dune" novels and movies. Spice is extremely powerful, and users are mainly those who are homeless, suffering mental health issues (which drugs commonly make worse) and prisoners. Generally the most vulnerable members of society. Spice is actually a generic name that refers to a whole class of medicines called synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists, which control functions as fundamental as sleep, appetite and libido. These drugs were developed in medical research labs, but the formulae were hijacked from research literature and sold as “legal highs” in the first internet drug craze of the late 2000s. Every time the UK tried to crack down on it, a new variant – usually more potent, often more toxic, and always more obscure – has been developed to take its place. There are now dozens if not hundreds of synthetic cannabinoid mutations now available. The UK finally banned it and all variants in 2016, but that only made its sale more profitable, and supply has stayed level, with the previously mentioned recent peak. Professor Harry Sumnall, a member of the Home Office’s Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), said in an interview that the economics of producing the substances – often collectively dubbed “spice” – versus that of growing traditional cannabis made them an appealing proposition. Sumnall said the ingredients were easily available online. “We were making some in the lab the other day. Very, very easy to do, pretty much shake and bake. Really easy to make, highly profitable, these drugs aren’t going anywhere.” Spice is now sold on the streets for under £10 for a 0.5 g bag. Spice users can be in grave danger. Synthetic cannabinoids, when abused, can cause tachycardia, hypertension, hallucinations, nausea and vomiting, seizures, memory changes, somnolence, respiratory depression, acute anxiety, psychosis and death. The potency of these chemicals outstrips that of most recreational drugs, often by a factor of 100: an active dose of street heroin might be 100-200 mg and a typical line of cocaine might contain 75-100 mg, but most variants of spice are active at just 1 mg, making accurate dosing impossible. After 2016, Spice use dropped in most parts of the UK - but not in prisons - because it is easily smuggled, does not have a characteristic odour like Cannabis, and can easily be mixed tobacco to make a roll - up cigarette. It is said that smoking certain types of Spice can cause time to appear to pass more quickly - something desirable for many of those who are incarcerated.  Spice is made in China and imported to the UK by criminal gangs, who dissolve the powder in acetone and spray it on to herbal matter such as Damiana - a wild shrub that grows in Mexico, Central America, and the West Indies. The volatile solvent evaporates, leaving the plant matter infused and ready to smoke. The chaos seen in city centres in recent years, with smokers sprawled out on benches or paralysed on pavements, was caused because batches of the drug vary wildly in strength and content: one might contain a 1:100 mix, while another could be as high as 1:10 – meaning a single draw on a joint might incapacitate users instantly.While the dangers of spice and other “novel psychoactive substances” are at the forefront of public consciousness, the numbers of people seeking treatment for their use are minuscule compared with those presenting with problems from using traditional cannabis.

Since we have just had Halloween, this weeks' end video describes a murder with unusual consequences for the time. The video describes itself thus:- "In 1890, a young machinist named Walter James Lyons committed a shocking act of violence on the streets of Plumstead. What drove this 20-year-old to murder a decorated soldier in broad daylight? The answer lies in a moment of rage, a clash of Victorian morality, and a mother’s decision that scandalised an entire community. Leaving the Old Bailey to decide: was Walter truly a killer, or just a son pushed beyond his limits?" As usual, please send any comments or other feedback to me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.