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 Royal Alfred refurbished.

Many readers will be familiar with the building in the photo above; it is the former Royal Alfred pub in Manor Road, Erith. The pub has been empty and unused for years due to a number of factors. It has been a landmark on Manor Road since it was built in 1874. Over the last couple of years, the building has been covered in scaffolding whilst a complete new roof was installed, and huge changes made to the internal architecture of the building, which was also extended to the rear by a significant degree. A very large amount of exceedingly expensive work has been undertaken, and I have a bit of a scoop - the first look inside the refurbished former pub, now that work on the refurbishment of the upper floors has just been completed, and before the first tenants move in to the extremely high quality apartments which are shortly to be available for private rent. You may recall that I ran a feature on the Royal Alfred almost a year ago, when the place was little more than a shell - you can read my original article by clicking here. things have progressed amazingly in the intervening time, as you can see in the photos I took last Saturday afternoon, which you can see below. Click on any one for a larger version. All of the photos were taken using natural light, and no electronic flash.

I was given free reign to go wherever I liked in the building, and take whatever photographs I wanted to; I have to say that the workmanship of the refurbishment is of an exceptionally high quality, and the materials and domestic appliances installed are all absolutely top notch. Manjinder and his family have done a stunning job - I expected the fit and finish to be good, but what he has achieved has exceeded my expectations by a substantial margin. Now that the upper floors are now complete, work will shortly begin on the ground floor - turning it from a building site into a new, expanded Londis store to replace the cramped and outgrown shop on the opposite corner of Appold Street that the Bains family have run very successfully since 2002. They plan to keep as much of the former Royal Alfred pub identity as they can. If you are interested in learning more about these lovely apartments, then drop me a line to hugh.neal@gmail.com and I will put you in contact with Manjinder.

The News Shopper are reporting a story that I predicted well over a year ago. The Dartford River Crossing Dart Charge system has not been anything like the success its operators had promised when the number plate recognition system was introduced. Recently released figures show that the Department of Transport has failed to collect a total of £32.5 million in unpaid fines, just from the last financial year. As I originally wrote, the Automatic Number Plate Recognition system used at the Dartford Crossing is easily fooled by dirt on the number plates, by certain foreign number plate designs with non – UK fonts, fog, rain and road spray. Basically unless the plate is scanned in near perfect weather and visibility conditions – something of a rarity in the local area, there is a strong chance that the number plate will not be recorded by the Dart Charge system correctly. On top of this, there is the well-known local issue of a large number of stolen and forged number plates in wide use by drivers which enable the criminal fraternity to travel over the crossing with impunity. If this situation was not bad enough, a lot of foreign drivers who ignore the Dart Charge system – the reports says that 437,304 unpaid crossing fines were forwarded to European debt recovery agents in the last year, very little, if any of which will be repaid. What also occurs to me, is if the level of fee avoidance is as high as now becomes apparent, how much does the collection process in itself actually cost? I wonder if it would actually work out cheaper to make the crossing – both the bridge and the tunnels free as had originally been intended? I have no vested interest in the Dartford Crossing myself, as it is not something that I personally use. I feel that the cost of administration versus the actual toll receipts could do with being looked at. Would a free crossing make a difference to the traffic levels in North Kent and South Essex? I am not an expert, but it would be interested to hear the opinion of a professional transport analyst on the subject.

One tends not to think of the local area as being one that fosters much in the way of agriculture; a fairly unglamorous South East London / North Kent suburb is not exactly the kind of place one would expect to find much in the way of food production. In many respects this may be the case, but in one particular area it is most definitely not true. Erith, Slade Green and Dartford are renown for the quality of honey that is produced in the area; indeed Dartford Bee Keeping Club have just won an award for producing some of the best quality honey in the country. I guess that this is due to areas such as the Slade Green Marshes, with the large open areas covered with heather, wild flowers and bulrushes. For what is thought of as a predominantly urban area, we actually have quite a large amount of uncultivated, wild wetlands and other places which bees find attractive. You can read more about Dartford Bee Keepers on their website here. I must warn you that the text on much of the site suffers extensively from rogue apostrophes – “bee’s” occurs on multiple occasions, amongst other misuses of possessive apostrophes. The site is obviously a labour of love, created by someone with rather more knowledge of bee keeping than good web design, or English grammar and punctuation.

Last week I ran an article on the proposed closure of Bexleyheath Police Station; Dana Wiffen of Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association sent me the following report on a recent public meeting to protest against the proposed closure:- "Thursday night’s meeting at The Council Civic Offices-main chamber, with representatives from The Mayor's Office including the Deputy Mayor-Sophie Linden and Bexley Police Borough Commander-Stuart Bell who took questions from a passionate 90 Bexley residents who attended. The top table included with the above two, plus Joyce Sutherland Chair of Bexley Safer Neighbourhood Board and myself. Many of those who attended were NW-Coordinators and most of NW's Committee was there also present, all NW members are volunteers that work in the Borough to try and reduce crime; all are against the planned closures of both front desk and then the police station itself, moving all police and front desk to Marlow House in Sidcup. There are also plans to close the police sub-offices in the Borough as well. We were told that this is part of a London wide programme to try and save £400 Million pounds from the MET's budget. Some of the arguments against were:- 1) Bexleyheath is Central to the Borough-Sidcup is not. 2) Bexleyheath allows a quick response to crime in the North of the Borough such as Thamesmead, Sidcup would not. 3) Bexleyheath is accessible from all parts of the Borough by bus, Sidcup is not. 4) Bexleyheath Town Centre has its own problems around pub closing times on Fridays and Saturdays - how would police responding from Sidcup be able to handle these problems quickly? 5) Pushing for a reality type police contact would exclude the 30% of over 65 year olds that do not have computer access. 6) There are no public parking facilities near to Marlow House and bus services to other parts of the Borough are limited making travel say from Erith to Sidcup difficult. 7) With a growing population in Bexley, the planned building in the North of the Borough as well as around Bexleyheath was pointed out with residents amazed that none of this has been taken into consideration. Although the figures for cost saving of Bexleyheath Police station were offered none were available for the amount of money needed to be spent on Marlowe House to allow it to take all the extra officers and vehicles and also the cost of installing a 24/7 front desk, which Marlowe House does not have at present. Already Bexleyheath Police Station has been devalued with the holding cells closed last year, it is ridiculous that police now have to take those arrested to either Plumstead Police Station or to Bromley meaning they can be off-line for a long period of time while offenders are booked in and they travel to and from Bexley. What seems just as bad is that Marlowe House does not have this facility either and there are no plans to include them if these changes are made. We feel that the plans to close both the 24/7 front office and police station will rip the heart out of community policing in the Borough, and that the already rising crime figures will continue during this process if it goes ahead. In addition to being able to respond the MOPAC on-line questionnaire (which is loaded towards the closure and reality policing), Bexley residents can sign an online (38 degrees) petition and if they prefer or do not have computer access they can sign hard copy petition and use it to gather their neighbours signature etc which are available from Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch. (Tele: 0208 284 5537 Email: bexwatch-office@btconnect.com). The fight will go on with the on-line petition approaching 3,000 signatures there is scope to push this to 10,000 in time for both types of petition to be presented to our London Assembly Member-Gareth Bacon in time for him to present to the Assembly in early November. It is important to remember and this seems something both the MET and MOPAC have lost sight of Community Police Officers on the beat are "the eyes and ears" for fighting crime along with NW-Coordinators who continue to work with these teams to reduce crime and improve safety for residents, with the ever present danger of terrorist activity and the continued increase in gun and knife crime as well as the continued rise in lawless and dangerous biker gangs, the closure will give them the green light to carry on with their criminal activities knowing there is even less chance of them getting caught. While we are assured that there is going to be 2 fixed officers in each ward, by the time they have travelled from Sidcup to their ward, set up planned "Hubs" and start working on their newly acquired tablets there will be little time to patrol their wards. Bexley's residents should be aware and act now, as once these plans have been rubber stamped, the plan to build flats on the site will be the next step and Bexleyheath Police Station will be gone forever". You can sign the anti Bexleyheath Police Station closure petition by clicking here.

In a similar story, a reader alerted me to the advertisement above - which shows the former Belvedere Police Station which is now up for sale.  The plot of land, which is located on the corner of Woolwich Road and Nuxley Road in Upper Belvedere (NOT Nuxley Village - there never has been such a place - it is a recent, historically incorrect invention of estate agents that do not live around here, and have no knowledge of local history) is up for sale for redevelopment. Whilst I have no ideas what property development companies have expressed an interest in the site, but you can be pretty much certain that a large block of flats will end up being built on the site. Nuxley Road is already about to see some extensive changes; the very long established Walk Around store and the hardware store Nuxley DIY next door to it are about to close for good. The owner of the buildings is selling up and both buildings are being redeveloped for housing in the form of an apartment block. The whole nature of Nuxley Road is about to change. It seems that the threat of the closure of Bexleyheath Police Station and the selling off of Belvedere Police Station are not isolated cases; indeed it has come to my notice that our neighbours across the River Thames in the London Borough of Havering are experiencing a similar problem. Indeed the borough issued a public announcement last week that read:- “Havering Council Leader Roger Ramsey, is urging residents to speak out against proposals to close a number of police public access points. The Council strongly opposes the Mayor of London’s Office for Policing and Crime’s (MOPAC) proposal to close both Hornchurch and Rainham police stations along with seven Safer Neighbourhood bases.  Cllr Ramsey, said: “I understand that there are cuts being made to the service which has put the Mayor in a difficult position, but closing these stations and bases is a short-sighted decision. It will leave our residents feeling unsafe and for some, in particular residents in Rainham, this means having to travel over an hour to their nearest police station, which isn't acceptable. “I urge residents across the borough to attend MOPAC’s public meeting tonight (Wednesday 13 September), at the Salvation Army in Romford from 6pm to 8pm." It would seem from that midweek announcement that the two boroughs share a lot in common in terms of challenges that we both face.

In what has become an annual event, Riverdale Road based country and western musician and composer Wayne Jacobs has just won the ukcountryradio.com listeners club award for song of the year. He has won this award every year since 2012. This year he was also a finalist for UK country artist of the year and UK male country singer of the year. Mr. Jacobs is obviously very talented in his chosen field, and has been accordingly recognised. What surprises me is that he has not chosen to emigrate to the USA, where the main market for country and western music exists. It occurs to me that he would be in a far more receptive environment over there, and certainly far more ability to generate a substantial income for himself in the process.

The Bexley Times published a rather poorly researched story last week; it printed an interview with the Chief Executive of MBNA Thames Clippers, Sean Collins, after the recent trials of Thames Clippers ferrying commuters from Gravesend Town Pier into Central London. In the interview he said:- “The trial has been a total success so far, passengers have been asking a lot of questions to find out when a permanent service could be up and running and how much it will cost. These questions are the reason we are running this trial, I set up this company 18 years ago, and two years later people were asking me about a Gravesend service, the only reason we haven’t done anything sooner is because we’ve been working on other projects across London. We need to set out a full business case, it could take up to two years to start up a service, it would be great to see it stop at other places, such as Erith, Greenhithe, Dagenham and Thurrock. Because of demand we’d need to build at least two bigger boats, at around 300 capacity. They would cost around £6 million each and then there’s the cost of running to consider. By having new, bespoke boats, the journey time wouldn’t be longer, but for now the idea of additional stops is something we would have to evaluate in a business plan, as we would have to bring in the cost of setting up dedicated piers for the service.” Sean Collins obviously made his statement before consulting with either the Port of London Authority, Morrison’s Supermarket, or indeed Bexley Council. As regular readers will recall, I have previously researched and written about using Erith Pier as a embarkation / debarkation point for the Thames Clipper ferry service. The pier, albeit the longest on the entire river Thames, is a dogleg shape with the long axis running parallel to the river bank. At low tide, the pier “dries out” meaning river craft cannot access it for several hours each side of low tide. The solution for this would be to install a floating jetty which would extend into the deep water channel further towards the centre of the river. The problem with this solution is that there are a number of factors acting against it – firstly, a jetty extending from the pier might be construed as a hazard to navigation by the PLA – and would require hazard warning lights at night, and in times of poor visibility. Secondly, Morrison’s, who own the pier and have responsibility for maintaining it do not want it used as a ferry terminal, as commuters would use spaces in the supermarket car park which they would rather see in use for their own customers, and thirdly, Bexley Council say in not so many words that they are not interested; a spokesperson from the council was recently quoted as saying:- “We are not aware of any such proposal. There was a query raised with us about whether the service could stop at Erith pier but it does not have the facilities to allow a vessel to dock and fitting them would be very expensive. We are supportive of increased use of the river particularly for leisure and tourism, but the economics of a commuter service may be challenging. In this context we await the outcome of the trial with interest.” Local MP Teresa Pearce has examined the possibility of ferries stopping at Erith Pier, and she too was told that it was not going to happen. Personally I would love to be able to commute to and from Erith Pier to my place of work in Canary Wharf, but unless there are some drastic changes in policy by several involved organisations, I really cannot see it happening. Let's hope things change for the better.

This weeks incident reports from Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association; Firstly from Barnehurst ward:- "Another Good week for Barnehurst ward with only one crime of note reported, unfortunately this was a nasty robbery which occurred at 12 noon on the 12th September near to Gravel Hill Primary School by two suspects riding a moped. The victim was crossing the road towards the school when a male wearing a crash helmet grabbed her necklace with such force that she was pulled to the ground. He then jumped onto the back of a waiting moped and made off down Gravel Hill towards the roundabout. If you have any information please call us with any details. Please be aware of your surroundings and take care of your property especially mobile phones and jewellery, for crime prevention advice on how to stay safe please visit the Metropolitan Police web site. We are aware of reports over the weekend of some ASB in Martens Avenue regarding youths on their pushbikes, we will be adjusting our duties to patrol at the relevant times and deal with the youths involved. Please join us on Friday 15th September at 11am at Barnehurst Golf Course to discuss any local issues or concerns that you may have. As always please follow us on twitter @MPSBarnehurst for regular updates from the team". From a member of the public in Martens Avenue:-  "Once again we are plagued by large groups of boys on cycle doing wheelies up and down the centre of the Martens Avenue, Bexleyheath. adjacent to the kids playground. This evening there are about 15 of them blocking the driveway of our house. When told to move they are abusive, rude and give you the one finger gesture. It is quite clear nothing seems to have been done with these kids who seem to be a law on to themselves. I can foresee that one of them will get hit by a car and seriously injured as they seem to hold no fear of traffic and indeed on occasions I have seen them play chicken down the centre of the road and force cars to slow down or stop. Something drastic needs to be done with these kids. They seem to have no respect for anyone or anything and I can foresee the time when if something is not done, one of the residents here taking the law into their own hands to deal with them. Their parents who should take some of the responsibility for these kids as they seem to do nothing and indeed no doubt if something is said to the kids about their behaviour, they would be soon knocking on doors and being confrontational. Please do something before things get out of hand". From Belvedere ward:- "We are continuing to canvass the ward to set up new Neighbourhood Watches. This is a lengthy process, but we have managed to set up 10 watches across the ward since we began. There has been ongoing Anti - Social Behaviour (ASB) by children/ youths acting in an intimidating manner and gathering in large groups in the public car park in Nuxley Road. We are monitoring this area and have spoken to residents of nearby streets to gain further information. Patrols of the area are set to continue and we have spoken to a number of young persons to advise them that any such behaviour will not be tolerated. There has also been a spate of thefts recently on the Belvedere Park estate in Lower Belvedere. Of note, uniforms belonging to the management company Pinnacle have been stolen. If there are any suspicions around people seen wearing these uniforms, we would urge residents of Belvedere Park not to allow these people access to any of the blocks on the estate and to contact Police immediately".

From North End Ward:- "A vehicle has been spotted parked in Appold Street with no registration plates. It looked like they had been forcibly removed . It's a blue Chevrolet and a photo has been sent to the local police team with relevant information". Copy of the photo above - click for a larger view. "There has been a burglary is Masefield Close (off of Bridge Road). Access was gained by a side window and air rifles, a tv and custom made remote control cars were among the main items stolen. The victim has been visited by SNT and is looking into getting CCTV at his home. There has also been an attempted bag snatch near the underpass on North End Road this week. Fortunately they didn’t get the bag but the victim is naturally very shook up. Patrols of the underpass area will be taking place and our advice is that if you are alone, please use the traffic lights at the bottom of Colyers Lane to cross the road. We have a surgery at 1800 hours on Tuesday 19th September in the Community Centre on the Rainbow Road estate. Please come along and say hello if you are around". Northumberland Heath ward:- "A burglary took place in Matfield Road where the suspect has been arrested and is currently on bail. Other than the burglary it has been a fairly quiet week on the ward apart from criminal damage to a motor vehicle parked outside the BNM Store in Brook Street where the victims window was smashed. This took place on Thursday 7th September between 0100 – 0500am. We have received a report from a member of the public of youths on pushbikes outside the post office in Mill Road throwing stones at passers-by. The incident was caught on film. Some rubbish was set fire to in Stream way, the Fire Brigade attended and put the fire out. No damage to property or life. On Thursday September 7th a member of staff from Erith School had her handbag stolen whist working in the school office." From Thamesmead East ward:- "No Burglaries to report. Delivery drivers beware – On Monday 4th September, food items were stolen from an ASDA’S delivery van, while the driver was with a customer, Kale Road. On Wednesday 6th September, a moped was stolen from Yarnton Way, however good news to report is that later in the day a male was seen with the bike, subsequently arrested and charged to court. Between Sunday 10th September and Tuesday 12th September a car was stolen from Pointer Close, officers managed to locate the vehicle in the Belvedere area, and has now been reunited with the owner. Just a reminder that between the 15th and 17th September a summer fete will be held at Southmere Park. Lots planned. 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. Contact us on 020 8721 2049 or Thamesmead.SNT@met.police.uk for more information, (or reply to this email to contact the NW office direct) For latest news from Bexley Police visit our twitter pages @MPSBexley and @MPSThamesmeadE".

The ending video this week shows the work to complete the new Abbey Wood railway station, which combines both the North Kent Line tracks and the new Crossrail (soon to be renamed Elizabeth Line) into one facility. Do give the short video a watch, and leave a comment below, or alternatively Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Dobbin and chips?

The photo above shows the M.V Shetland Trader - a bulk freighter that plies its trade on the River Thames past Erith on an almost daily basis. You may have seen photos of the ship featured on the Maggot Sandwich in the past. I took the photo above recently whilst the Shetland Trader was moored on Erith Pier. You can see a member of the crew engaged in some painting and maintenance duties - not much fun when the weather is currently so cold and windy.

You may recall that a few weeks ago I wrote about the level of unpaid crossing fees that have already built up since the Dartford QEII Bridge and tunnel converted from physically collecting tolls from motorists via a series of toll booths, to a new ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) technology, whereby a high definition camera will record passing number plates, compare them to a database and charge the owner of the vehicle accordingly. This week the News Shopper are reporting that Bexley Police have begun a campaign to educate local residents about number plate theft. On Thursday they visited a number of locations around the Borough, including B and Q in Lower Belvedere, Harrow Manor Way in Thamesmead, and the BP Connect garage in Northumberland Heath. The Police teams gave away anti – tamper number plate screws free to visitors. Some crooks physically steal number plates so that they can evade things like the London congestion charge and the Dartford crossing toll. This is a crude, but very effective form of identity theft. Other crooks look out for vehicles that closely resemble their own, and make a note of the number plates. They then get copies of the plates made up – plate blanks and lettering are easy to come by if you know where to look – I have even seen whole number plate making “turnkey” systems for sale on EBay, albeit not in the UK. This is a major issue – hundreds of false plates are in circulation, and the onus is on the legitimate owner to prove identity theft, rather than the other way around. Often many people don’t realise their plates have been duplicated until they get a letter in the post accompanied by a fine for non – payment of charges. I foresee this becoming an increasingly serious issue, and it will not be long before the popular press pick up on the story. It will only take a celebrity or senior politician to get sent a fine or summons for prosecution due to their vehicle ID having been hijacked before the tabloid press will be all over the story.

There have already been some consequences regarding the changes in the train services on the North Kent Line. Apart from the lack of trains into Charing Cross, the planners at the Docklands Light Railway have decided to increase the number of DLR trains outside of rush hours on the Woolwich Arsenal to Canning Town branch. They are effectively doubling the number of trains on off – peak times on the Bank to Lewisham via Greenwich line, so that travellers should not have to wait more than five minutes for a train at any time. This can only be a good thing; the downside to all of this is that DLR staff are likely to go on strike from the 28th January for two days – I don't fully understand their complaints, but it seems to me that the withdrawal of labour is a fairly drastic move, and usually means that communications between the parties in dispute has failed. For many hard pressed commuters, it is very bad news, myself included, as I spend a great deal of time working in Canary Wharf, as do thousands of other people, all of whom will be inconvenienced by the action. Personally since the trains are all computer controlled, I don't see why that don't just run without their normal supervisor, who seems to be not much more than a glorified ticket inspector anyway. I have more trust in the computer to operate the train than I do in a human. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

You may have read in the popular press that certain car insurance companies are refusing to insure certain models of vehicle, the most widely known model being the latest Range Rover. The reason they cite is that crooks have cracked the digital keyless entry system on the upmarket off – roaders, and crooks can just walk up to the cars and drive away – the hack involves a device that mimics the electronic key fob, not only unlocking the doors, disabling the alarm and the immobiliser, and even starting the engine. I understand that Range Rover are currently investigating, and it is said that a recall of certain affected models for a firmware upgrade on their security systems is imminent. This is a bad state of affairs, but it would seem to be limited to a small number of vehicles from a specific car maker. Things are possibly going to get a whole lot worse though.  American security analyst Corey Thuen has discovered a state of affairs that could make the Range Rover security vulnerability look like small change. You may be aware that a number of UK insurance companies offer reduced premiums to drivers who have telematics “Black box” devices installed. Black box insurance works when your car is fitted with a small 'black box' device, about the size of a smartphone, which records speed, distance travelled and the time of day or night that you are on the road. The device also assesses your driving style by monitoring braking and cornering. It will also record the types of road on which you typically travel, and the times of day and night you tend to drive, to build up a comprehensive profile of you as a driver.  With a device fitted to your car you can access a website to find out how you are performing in each category. This will show you if you need to make any changes to your driving style, and will provide tips on how you can improve your driver score and bring down the cost of your insurance. As a rule of thumb it is assumed that driving fewer miles on less dangerous roads, while also limiting night time driving, will result in lower premiums. Policies linked to black box recorders charge premiums on a monthly basis, which means the insurer can adjust them swiftly to reward better driving (and punish those who show themselves to be a risky proposition). Aside from privacy concerns (personally I find the concept of being monitored via satellite repugnant, but I know many do not share my worries). The telematic devices may suit younger drivers – indeed I understand that some insurance companies will only issue policies to newly qualified drivers if they have a “black box” installed – at the driver's expense. In the USA there are over two million telematic monitoring units installed on vehicles, and it is likely that in the next few years they become widely spread all over the world. The problem is that the devices currently in use are extremely vulnerable to malicious interference. Corey Thuen said  “The firmware running on the black box is minimal and insecure. It does no validation or signing of firmware updates, no secure boot, no cellular authentication, no secure communications or encryption, no data execution prevention or attack mitigation technologies… basically it uses no security technologies whatsoever.” A skilled attacker could almost certainly compromise such telematics black boxes to gain remote control of a vehicle, or even an entire fleet of vehicles. Once compromised, the consequences range from privacy data loss to life and limb; also, there is the attack vector of progressive backend infrastructure. If those systems are compromised, an attacker would have control over the devices that make it out to the field. In simple terms, we have seen that cars can be hacked and we have seen that mobile cellular communications can be hacked.” Privacy of data within cars is also a growing concern, one highlighted by Thuen’s research. BMW this week said it had repeatedly been asked by technology companies and advertisers to hand over the data their cars generated, but it has refused to give in to those requests. Thuen said it would be possible to intercept data passed between the black boxes and the insurance providers’ servers, likely including location and performance information, as they do nothing to encrypt or otherwise protect the information they collect. From my research, unless the telematics companies and to a lesser extent the car manufacturers take data integrity and security more seriously, it is only a matter of time before there are disastrous consequences. I predict that hackers will compromise whole fleets of vehicles, demanding cash ransoms to release vehicles from their control, in a very similar method to the current spate of “ransomware” that has affected many PC’s – a remote hacker encrypts a users’ files, then demands a fee to release the encryption key. I don't see any difference between a desktop or laptop PC and a car – indeed modern cars have as much if not more processing power than a home PC, so the analogy is sound.

My observations last week in respect of the changes made to the Southeastern Trains service into London on the North Kent Line have inspired a response from regular Maggot Sandwich reader Paul Thomas, who writes:- "Interested in your comments on the changes to the train services along the Greenwich line and your comments regarding the platform alterations. When the Thameslink Programme(as the alterations caused by the works at London Bridge are called) was first mooted it was envisaged that the Greenwich Line would lose many services during the 4 year building programme. This has not happened to the extent that was originally envisaged, although the fact that trains from Erith run exclusively to Cannon Street is a pain for me personally as I used an early morning Charing Cross train. Getting to Cannon Street after work at night is also an inconvenience, but there really was no alternative to severing the link that allows Greenwich Line trains to cross the tracks as a new dive under is being created in the space the cross over occupied. These new lines will help the movement of trains and ease conflict of movement that currently cause delays on the approach to London Bridge. The platform extensions were done at the time they were simply because the engineers were available to do them at that point. The UK has a chronic shortage of civil engineers and the work has to be planned many years in advance. Network rail is already planning projects for the period 2019-2024, and seeking requests from rail companies, local councils and Government for infrastructure enhancements for 2025-2030. Crossrail is also using many engineers, as are many other civil engineering projects such as the alterations to the Dartford Crossing. The longer platforms were generally expected to accept 12 car trains from 2018/19 when The Thameslink Programme is complete. Once all these new works are complete and 12 car trains introduced and Crossrail starts from Abbey Wood, travelling along the Greenwich line and reaching Central London will be much easier and smoother. With regard to Woolwich Dockyard Station; The first carriage of the train cannot be inside the Tunnel if selected door opening is to be used as the driver needs to see the on-platform cameras for safety reasons. It was closed during the Olympics as the special timetable run during the events meant that in order to run the extra trains more capacity was needed and by not stopping at this much underused station precious minutes were saved. Hope this info helps a bit". Very interesting insight - and thanks very much for sharing it with everyone. Much appreciated. If anyone else has information that you feel others might find of interest, please get in touch with me - you will get full credit, or can be anonymous as you so wish.

I have written on several occasions in the past about the situation in respect of unwanted ponies and horses that seem to about around Erith and Thamesmead (in fact the problem exists in many parts of the country). The problem is that there is a glut of animals which has in turn depressed the market to the point where they are now practically worthless. Only on Monday this week a foal was discovered in a water and mud – filled ditch in St. Thomas Road, Lower Belvedere. Despite the best efforts of the Fire Brigade, the foal died, most probably from Hypothermia. It is thought that the animal had probably fallen into the ditch the night before, and had spent all night in sub – zero temperatures. It was only when a passer – by noticed the foal in the morning that anything was done – albeit too late. The problem is that as the animals have no monetary value, their owners have little incentive to care for them. Some economists have suggested that if horse meat was more widely eaten in the UK, the large number of unwanted ponies and horses would have a monetary value as food; this ironically would ensure that many of the beasts would be better cared for. Personally I have no problems with eating horse – it tastes not dissimilar to steak, and is very low in saturated fat – what do you think – would you be averse to a portion of Dobbin and chips? Feel free to leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Guest contributor Dana Whiffen has written a very engaging piece on a band with local connections that teetered on the brink of major league stardom in the 1970’s. "Remember “Something in the Air” by Thunderclap Newman? John Speedy Keen was a friend and driver for Pete Townshend of The Who, Pete had recognised his songwriting skills and even included his “Armenia City in the Sky” on The Who Sell Out Album. Such was Pete Townshend’s admiration for Speedy’s song writing that he brought together with Keen two other musicians Andy Newman and Jimmy MCCulloch at the end of 1968 and they became known as Thunderclap Newman. They went into the studios in January 1969 with Speedy Keen on Vocals, guitar and drums, Andy Newman on piano and Jimmy McCulloch on lead guitar and Pete himself playing bass guitar and they recorded what was to become an iconic song titled “Something in the Air”.  It went to number one in the UK single charts holding off both Elvis and The Beatles from the top spot where it stayed for 3 weeks. Something in the Air was originally written for The Magic Christian film and by the end of 1969 it had sold 1 million copies being awarded a gold disc and was to later be used on soundtracks for The Strawberry Statement and Easy Rider CD deluxe edition and later in 2000 used in the film Almost Famous and in 2008 in an episode of My name is Earl and it continued to earn Speedy Keen a lot of money from royalties. Following on from the records huge success was the demand to see the band live, in order to perform they needed to add additional members so in the second half of 1969 they were joined by Jim Avery on Bass Guitar and Jimmy’s elder brother Jack McCullock on drums and they undertook a 26 tour date of the UK including playing THE BLACK PRINCE in Bexley Kent in a concert for Erith College Rag week. Due to Pete Townshend working on the next Who album “Tommy”, both Thunderclap Newman’s  “Hollywood Dream” their Townshend produced album and follow up single “Accidents”  were both delayed. This meant that the band lost important ground in a competitive music market and they failed to capitalise on the success of “Something in the Air” and by the time they were released , both failed to make their mark on the charts with “Accidents” only making number 44 and the album only 163 out of the Billboard top 200 chart. Speedy’s song writing talent was evident but he lacked the will to tour and upset his other band mates but either turning up late for rehearsals or not at all, because of this after their first UK tour both Jack McCulloch and Jim Avery left the band and they were replaced by Australians Ronnie Peel (bass) and Roger Felice (drums). They went onto to appear on TV programmes “How late is it” Top of the Pops” and “Beat Club” in Germany, and they toured the UK again in March 1971 and went on to tour Scotland  in March and early April 1971 again supporting Deep Purple on the UK  dates as well as in both tours of Holland and Scandinavia. Friction in the band mainly caused by Speedy’s low work rate and lack of motivation especially caused problems between him and Andy and reached an all time low and on returning to the UK in mid April they split up, just prior to being part of a 12 week package USA tour with Marsha Hunt and The Who, missing out on a chance to break into the USA market. Jimmy McCulloch had been recognised for his superb guitar playing and he went on to play with many bands including John Mayall, Stone the Crows and Paul McCartney’s Wings before his premature death at the age of 26 in 1979. Andy Newman went on to record a solo album titled “Rainbow” and also play on Roger Ruskin Spear’s (formerly of the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band) first solo album as well as touring with him. In 1973 Speedy released a solo album titled “Previous Convictions” with included Jimmy McCulloch and Roger Felice on some tracks, he also released another album in 1975 titled “Y’know wot I mean” but neither had much impact on the charts. Discouraged he tried his hand at production working on punk band “Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers first album LAMF in 1977 and also on Motorhead’s first album before quitting the music industry; he died at the age of 56 in 2002. With more recent increasing interest in Thunderclap Newman’s music,  In February 2010 Andy Newman resurrected Thunderclap Newman with new members Tony Stubbings on bass guitar, Nick Johnson on lead guitar, former Big Country drummer Mark Brzezicki and Pete Townshend’s nephew Josh Townshend on guitar and vocals, they went on to support the Big Country tour of the UK in 2011 releasing a CD titled “Beyond Hollywood”. Both former members Jack McCulloch and Jim Avery are still in touch with Andy Newman today". A fascinating story – thanks to Dana for writing such an interesting piece.

I noticed something on my way to Erith Station earlier in the week. A few years ago, many cars and people carriers would have stickers, usually in their back window with announcements like “Baby on Board” and “Show Dogs in Transit”. I gather the reason for this was that in the event of a serious accident, the emergency services would know to look for an occupant on the rear seat or parcel area of the vehicle. It did strike me that to have such a sticker in one’s car would be rather self – serving and self-important. I was not the only person to form this opinion; satirical magazine Viz printed spoof stickers reading “Dog’s Eggs in Transit”. Ahem. I notice that nowadays these stickers seem to have entirely disappeared. I don't know if others have observed the same issue?

Bexley Neighbourhood Watch Association have just published the following announcement that may be of interest to local readers. Shopwatch is a Neighbourhood Watch scheme, originally set up as a trial in Bexley Village, it is works via an email loop (sharing of information) between Neighbourhood Watch, the shops registered and their local police team. We heard of various stories of distraction theft even from charity shops in the Village and were also aware that shops either end of Bexley Village were unaware of what was happening. Under this scheme "ShopWatch" all registered shops which is most of them were kept informed of crime trends and also let us know of any incidents so that all information could be shared and this saw a significant fall in shop crime in the Village. Because of its success and the eagerness of other Police Teams to see this rolled out in his areas/wards shops we have since worked with them to increase membership to a wider area in different towns in the Borough. We have now enrolled most shops in The Oval Parade Sidcup, Blackfen, Wellington and Blendon Parades, Mayplace Road East, Crayford Town Centre, Northumberland Heath-Erith and Welling with membership now well over 250 shops, we plan to continue to include other shopping parades throughout the Borough in 2015. Our most recent ShopWatch alert has seen information passed on about a shoplifter with a full description of person. ShopWatch is our latest non-residential schemes, which we run in addition to HoundWatch (Dog Walkers registered members walking their dogs report suspicious people etc) PlotWatch (fighting against allotment crime), FaithWatch (combating crime in and around places of worship), and finally HorseWatch for Stables (here they have had theft of saddles etc). If you would like to become a member of any of the schemes mentioned or alternatively you would like to set up a Watch in your road/area/block please contact us at the following;-

Telephone: 0208 284 5537
Email: bexwatch-office@btconnect.com

The end video this week is a sequel to the piece of historical video that I featured a while back that was compiled by local history enthusiast Martin Barnes. It shows all sorts of activities centred in and around Bexleyheath Broadway over the last hundred years - do give it a watch and let me know what you think - leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Yesterday and today.

The photo above was taken on Friday; it shows one of the lower profile housing developments that is taking place in Erith. This new apartment block is located in James Watt Way; it is being built by Moat, and consists of six one bedroomed apartments, twenty nine two bedroomed apartments and five three bedroomed apartments, all for affordable rent. The development has been partly funded by Boris Johnson and the Mayor of London's Housing Office. Affordable rental housing is to be applauded - there is just not enough of it coming onto the market right now. The downside for the future residents of this particular block is that it is sandwiched between Morrison's petrol station on one side, and the KFC drive - through on the other. Residents will be assailed by vehicle fumes and the smell of fuel on one side, and the pong of frying chicken oil on the other, and constant noise from both sides. Still, overall the development is good for the town - I guess that beggars cannot be choosers when it comes to affordable housing - if the site had been more pleasant, a developer would have wanted to build expensive apartments to sell at a greater profit.

Not long ago I read an excellent book on the recent history of Kent by historian Bob Ogley which recounted an event that I had never even heard about, that happened quite locally back in 1968. In those days Chatham dockyard was still being operated by the Royal Navy as an active base. It employed hundreds of local civilian workers, as well as military personnel. As a side note, the location of the dockyard at Chatham is one of the main reasons the North Kent rail line was built as early as it was; whilst it did serve the then new phenomenon of commuters from South East London and North Kent into central London, the main impetus behind the creation of the rail line so soon after the invention of the steam engine was clear – it was to connect the dockyard with both the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich, and the Admiralty buildings in central London. The whole of the military operation of Victorian Britain (and thus the Empire) was dependent on the North Kent railway line – something few people nowadays are aware of; I digress – back on August the 17^th 1968, a fire broke out on HMS Valiant – a Royal Navy submarine that was in dry dock undergoing a refit. The specialised submarine dock had only been opened in June 1968, and the Valiant was its’ first customer. The submarine dock was constructed between numbers six and seven docks, and was designed for the refit and refuelling of the non-Polaris class nuclear attack submarines employed by the Royal Navy. The base had a huge cantilever crane for the removal of nuclear reactors, an office block, underground workshops and a health centre. The Valiant-class was the first fully British nuclear fleet submarine (the first British nuclear submarine, HMS Dreadnought, used an American nuclear reactor). There were only two boats of the class, HMS Valiant commissioned in 1966 and Warspite the following year. Both were built by Vickers at Barrow-in-Furness, and based at Faslane during the sixties and seventies.. The class was based on Dreadnought but twenty feet longer and nine hundred tons greater submerged displacement (4900 tons). They also had a Paxman diesel-electric generator for emergencies. In 1967, Valiant set a then Royal Navy record of sailing 12,000 miles (19,312 km) submerged in twenty-eight days, from Singapore to the UK. Whilst in refit, a fire broke out aboard the Valiant, and extensive damage was caused. Both the dockyard fire department, and the civilian Chatham Fire Brigade attended the blaze; there were immediate concerns that a release of radiation could be resultant of the blaze, and nuclear contamination crews were summoned with protective clothing, respirators and Geiger counters. No release of radiation was found, despite intense speculation on the part of both local and national press at the time. The Valiant was successfully repaired, and later returned to active service. Valiant re-commissioned at Chatham in May 1972, later returning for a second refit in 1977. By 1975, Chatham Dockyard was the only Dockyard in Britain to undertake the refitting work of two nuclear submarines - Churchill and Dreadnought - at the same time. This was known as 'dual streaming'. In October 1975, the Dockyard even entered into 'triple streaming'; Churchill awaited re-commissioning at the end of the month; Dreadnought remained in refit and Conqueror entered refit for the first time at Chatham. The older nuclear-powered submarines of the Valiant / Churchill classes were prematurely withdrawn from service as a result of serious cracking in the primary cooling circuits of their nuclear reactors. The Swiftsure class had similar power plants and experienced the same problems. One, HMS Swiftsure, was decommissioned for this reason – if the components affected happen to be located in areas where high radioactivity is present, it is often too dangerous to make a repair - instead that have to be scrapped. HMS Valiant was finally paid off from naval service in 1994. Nowadays HMS Valiant has been decommissioned from the Royal Navy and is stored afloat at Devonport. The defuel (removal of the reactor and all radioactive materials) of HMS Valiant, which was docked in 14 Dock for Dock Down and Lay-up Preparations, was successfully completed and the submarine left 14 Dock on the 6 March 2003. It had been moored in 3 Basin along with other de-fuelled submarines. The problems encountered with the engineering works on the Valiant and other early nuclear submarines was not the one expected – no radiation was released, and no radioactive materials lost. The problem was far more prosaic, but arguably just as deadly. All of the submarines, and pretty much all of the surface vessels refitted at Chatham in the 1960’s and 1970’s used large quantities of Asbestos, both as pipe insulation, and for fire – proofing. Many of the civilian and military personnel were exposed to Asbestos dust during engineering works. As is now well known, exposure to Asbestos particles over time can cause Asbestosis, as well as several types of cancer. Nationwide there are nearly five thousand asbestos-related deaths a year (about half of which are from mesothelioma). The Medway area, which includes Chatham dockyard, is in the UK’s top four for asbestos related deaths. A total of 104 people died from mesothelioma in Medway between 2006 and 2010. This is way above the number one would expect from such as geographically small area. I understand that several legal cases have been lodged by former Chatham Dockyard workers with the Ministry of Defence over Asbestos related illnesses allegedly caused to people working there in the past.  I ought to make it abundantly clear that the dockyard (now a popular museum and film location – it is regularly used by the producers of “Call the Midwife” to stand in for 1950’s Poplar, and the producers of films including Sherlock Holmes – a Game of Shadows, Les Miserables, Children of Men, and The World is Not Enough have used the place as a location) is absolutely not now an asbestos or radiation risk. The dockyard makes for a fine family day out, with plenty to see and do for all ages. It even has an excellent pub / restaurant in the Ship and Trades, run by Shepherd Neame. You can read about the Chatham Historic Dockyard Museum here.

The launch of the “Dart Charge” at the Dartford River Crossing seems to have gone relatively smoothly. The scheme went live on the evening of the 30^th November. Charges apply to any vehicle crossing the bridge / going through one of the tunnels between 6am and 10pm – overnight the journey is free. The Highways Agency have stated that eighty five percent of the vehicles transiting the crossing during chargeable periods have paid up. That still leaves a whole lot of drivers who have not paid. Bearing in mind the Dartford Crossing gets roughly a million transits a month, that would mean that something in the region of 300,000 vehicle crossings have been made but not paid for. The new system uses Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) to identify vehicles as they cross the River Thames. Drivers are supposed to prepay online, or to pay later within twenty four hours of using the service. Anyone not doing so will be sent a penalty charge notice costing £70, reduced to £35 if paid within fourteen days, and rises to £105 if left unpaid for twenty eight days. I suspect, as I have written before, a substantial number of fees will remain unpaid; ANPR technology is useful, but unreliable in anything other than perfect conditions. Some number plates will not be recognised, or will be misread – it only requires rain, mist, dust or a flurry of snow to disrupt the computer linked camera system. On top of this I suspect that a substantial number of regularly evading users will be using cloned number plates – a problem that is growing over time. Over all of this, there is the continuing resentment that local people have over the whole charging system; when the crossing was paid for, it was meant to be free – though how anyone actually believed this was going to happen, I do not understand. The Dartford Crossing is such as cash cow that any operator would be stupid to cut off such a lucrative money generator.

The photo above was taken from an old 8mm colour amateur movie shot in Erith in and around the town centre in 1972 / 1973. The shot is an interesting one as it shows the old and the new. To the right of the image you can see the then new concrete shopping centre, which had only just been constructed. To the left of the photo you can see the old Victorian shops in Pier Road, shortly before they were demolished to make way for the building that nowadays houses both Farmfoods and the Erith Police Office. Local Historian Ken Chamberlain has kindly supplied me with some information and photos of this old row of shops, and I will be covering this in more detail next week.

The photo above was taken on Friday afternoon in Pier Road, as close as possible to the site of the original shot - unfortunately the positioning is not exactly the same, but it does give you an idea as to how much the town centre has changed over the last half century. One of the few businesses to make the transition is Howells and Harrison the Pharmacist - which you can see in the right hand side of the upper photo, and also again now, renamed simply as Harrison's Pharmacy. An excellent shop then and now. Whilst the shopping centre now looks much better clad in brick, rather than the hideous Brutalist concrete, it is actually a very clever refit - the original concrete skeleton is still there, but now looks better than it ever used to. 

Some news that really ought not to surprise many, Apple’s shiny (relatively) new iPhone 6 can be spoofed with the same fake fingerprints that tricked its older sibling, the iPhone 5S. According to mobile security firm Lookout, which said it discovered that it is possible to create a fake fingerprint that is capable of fooling the TouchID fingerprint security sensor of the latest iPhones (6 and 6 Plus are apparently equally vulnerable). Despite the addition of secure payment app Apple Pay to the iPhone 6, the in-built security has not evolved enough over the last year, the security experts warn. iPhone users are still vulnerable to the exact same security flaw as a year ago. The main difference is that now, with Apple Pay, the bad guys have more incentive to abuse access to an iPhone. The central problem is that the TouchID fingerprint scanner on both the iPhone 5S and iPhone 6 can be fooled with a cloned fingerprint lifted from a shiny surface and recreated using easily available PVA wood glue. Germany's Chaos Computer Club was the first to crack Apple's TouchID fingerprint lock, a trick replicated by Lookout last September and replicated recently on the  newly iPhone 6. "Sadly there has been little in the way of measurable improvement in the sensor between these two devices," explained Lookout researcher Marc Rogers in a blog post. "Fake fingerprints created using my previous technique were able to readily fool both devices." In the future it may not even require hackers to have physical access to a potential victims’ fingerprints; a further report, also originating in Germany states that it is possible to recreate fingerprints from hi resolution digital photographs. Security researchers claim to have cloned the thumbprint of the German Defence Minister by photographing her hand at a press conference. In a presentation at the annual Chaos Computer Club hacker gathering in Berlin, biometrics specialist Jan Krisller – known in the hacker community as "Starbug" – explained how he'd taken a variety of photographs of Ursula von der Leyen when she gave a press briefing in October. Krisller used a telephoto lens with a focal length of 200mm and took the photographs from six feet away, he said. He then used commercial fingerprint software from Verifinger to map out the contours of the Minister's thumbprint. To get that into something that could be used on a biometric scanner, Krisller employed the same technique he demonstrated at the conference last year, where he successfully defeated Apple's TouchID fingerprint lock. The technique employs digital photographs, flexible materials, and laser printers to create false fingerprints. Krisller said the research inspired him to look at other ways photography might be used to defeat biometric security – for example, to copy the unique iris print of German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Using high-resolution images from her election campaign materials, he said, it was possible to print out an image that might fool a basic iris security scanner. This issue will only become more serious and widespread as very high resolution digital cameras become more widely available. Both market leaders in high end digital photography Canon and Nikon have models with image sensors with 36.3 million pixels in a single image. At this level of potential detail, if a very high quality lens is used, a huge amount of biometric information can be extracted from the image. This is one of those classic laws of unintended consequences. I get a feeling this issue will run and run.

On New Year's Eve afternoon, I was queueing at one of the checkouts in Morrison's. The man in front of me had around a dozen jars of various varieties of pre - made pasta sauce in his trolley. I had to bite my tongue and not say anything. Mass produced pasta sauces are both a culinary abomination and a waste of money - not to say that they also contain a large number of additives. Fresh pasta sauce is so cheap and easy to make that I really cannot understand why someone would pay more for a vastly inferior alternative. Every so often I publish the occasional recipe, and this week is no exception. This is how to make a very basic pasta sauce - I have been using this for years, with very successful results.

Hugh's basic pasta sauce recipe.

Ingredients.

1 can of chopped tomatoes

1 large onion, finely diced

3 - 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

2 tablespoons of olive oil

2 teaspoons of dried mixed herbs

1 teaspoon of dried Oregano

3 small Bay leaves

Dash of Worcestershire Sauce.

Method.

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan or wok; add the finely diced onion and cook until it starts to soften, then add the garlic and fry until the onions are translucent. You can then add a generous dash of Worcestershire sauce (it will initially smell overpowering, but will mellow remarkably as it cooks), followed by the tin of chopped tomatoes and the bay leaves. Cook for around ten minutes when the sauce starts to reduce, then add the dried mixed herbs and Oregano, and cook for another five minutes, adding a dash of water if the sauce becomes too dry. Serve with cooked pasta of your choice. You can add chopped mushrooms, sweet peppers, finely chopped carrots or celery to this basic sauce to make it a little more interesting, or even add minced beef before the chopped tomatoes to make a basic Bolognese sauce (I don't subscribe to the theory that Bolognese meat should be a mixture of minced Pork and Beef - firstly this seems too complex for what is essentially an Italian peasant dish, and secondly I am Pork intolerant, and have to avoid all Pig related products). Nevertheless, the basic recipe can be modified as you see fit. It tastes infinitely superior to the shop bought jars, and is far better for you. The raw ingredients also cost a fraction of the factory bought stuff, so what is there not to like? If you would like more details on my recipes, do feel free to drop me a line to hugh.neal@gmail.com - let me know what you think.

Another long running story is that of the Emirates Air Line cable car, (locally nicknamed the Arabfly Dangleway) which Greenwich and Charlton blogger Darryl Chamberlain of the 853 Blog picked up on a couple of weeks ago, when he submitted a Freedom of Information Request to Transport for London in order to discover how many commuters were using the cable car to commute across the River Thames. When the answer came back as “none” he wrote a rather pithy blog posting about the subject that you can read here. Later both the London Evening Standard and now the Daily Mail have picked up on Darryl’s research. The Mail sent a reporter down to the cable car to interview the few hardy souls who were using it, and discovered that with one notable exception the riders were tourists, or people out for a joy ride, rather than people commuting to or from work. This makes sense – the cable car journey is slower and more expensive that using the Jubilee Line tube which is a far more time efficient method of making the same journey – when you are a regular commuter, you want the most painless travel method possible.

You may recall that I have been covering events in respect of the closure of Britain's largest dedicated water play park - the Belvedere Splash Park by Bexley Council. There has been a large and dedicated campaign by local residents to keep the park open; over the last few weeks things have gone very quiet, and I have had messages from several Maggot Sandwich readers asking me if the campaign organisers had given up. This is far from the case, as campaign lead Ian Doherty explained in a recent Email to me:- "The Save Our Splash Park campaign was started in mid-October to fight the decision of the ruling Tory Council to close the 100 year old beloved water park in Belvedere Village. Unfortunately due to work commitments and a rash of family bereavements I've been unable to devote time to the campaign recently but with a New Year it’s a new push. We will be aggressively courting local councillors to try and get them on our side and possibly linking up with the organisation that wants to save the local libraries and well as other interested community groups. For more information please see our Facebook page". Well, that clears up that uncertainty. More on the campaign next week.

Over the last couple of years I have been highlighting technological anniversaries, and this week it is a big one. The first of January 2015 marks the thirtieth anniversary of the first commercial telephone call made on a UK cellular mobile telephone network. The companies we know as Vodafone and O2 today were Racal-Vodafone and Securicor-Cellnet back then; phones were the size of a small suitcase and only did voice calls - no text or apps, let alone any kind of camera or GPS. The two companies had spent the months up to the 1st January launch deadline fighting for cell sites and testing coverage, particularly in London. There was no hint of site-sharing. The services used analogue TACS (Total Access Control System), and later ETACS (Enhanced TACS), as more frequencies became necessary. As mentioned last week, the analogue calls could easily be monitored using a radio scanner - as in the infamous Princess Diana "Squidgygate" tapes. The cellular service was not actually the first mobile phone system available - there was a Carphone Radio service called Band 3, but that was push-to-talk and all calls had to go through an operator to be connected. Calls were limited as was the number of users. You had to go on a waiting list and wait for a subscriber to close an account before you could buy one. It was complex, limited in coverage and extremely expensive. The first modern, cellular call was undertaken by Vodafone's Michael Harrison, the son of former Vodafone Chairman Sir Ernest Harrison, who was the first to test the system, calling his father at midnight on 1 January, 1985. Michael Harrison secretly left his family’s New Year’s Eve party at their home in Surrey in the UK to surprise his father, calling him from London’s Parliament Square. Harrison made the historic call from one of the first mobile devices – a Transportable Vodafone VT1, which weighed 11lb (5kg) and had around 30 minutes of talk time - more on this groundbreaking device in a bit. Harrison recalls that the line was crystal clear, although the excited shouting of New Year’s Eve revellers in London created considerable background noise. As Sir Ernest Harrison answered the phone, Michael said: “Hi Dad. It’s Mike. This is the first-ever call made on a UK commercial mobile network”. Which isn't quite “one small step” but is better than, “Watson come here I want to see you". The official press launch was held days later at St Katherine’s Dock in London where Vodafone had hired comedian Ernie Wise make the first public mobile phone call. Wise brought the same transportable device to St Katherine’s Dock in London in a 19th century mail coach, using one of the oldest forms of communications – sending a letter – to highlight the speed and convenience of these new mobile phones. Ernie Wise’s call was received at the original Vodafone headquarters, where a handful of employees were based in an office above an Indian restaurant in Newbury, Berkshire. Heavy and cumbersome, the first generation of mobile phones were sold in the UK from 1984 – before the first products were even available and before the network was officially live. Such was the demand for a fully portable, cellular phone that more than two thousand orders had been taken by the Vodafone sales team before Michael Harrison made his call from Parliament Square. By the end of 1985, over twelve thousand devices had been sold. Very soon afterwards a good friend of mine got given a VT1 portable TACS phone by his then employer, British Telecom. The phone was so powerful that when he made trips to the Carrefour Hypermarket in Calais, he could call his Mum to find out what she wanted him to buy, connecting via the British mobile phone cell in Dover (there was no international mobile roaming back in those days). The video below is a modern take on a period commercial that has been made by Vodafone to commemorate their 30th anniversary as a mobile phone service provider. See if you can spot the mistake - the girl walking a dog and using a VT1 unit would not have been able to make or receive a call, as there is no antenna connected to the bulky transceiver unit! Feel free to leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.