Mysterious lights in the sky.

The photo above was taken by me recently; it shows the sun setting over Erith Pier at high tide. It is the only time when you can get a glassy stillness to the water - providing there is little or no wind. It is a beautiful place to be when the weather and tide conditions are just right. On Monday evening I had an exceedingly strange experience, which I want to share with you in case anyone can shed a light on what I saw. At about 8.30pm I was returning home to Pewty Acres after an evening shopping trip to the Morrison’s supermarket in James Watt Way, Erith. As many will know, the supermarket is located on the banks of the River Thames, which you can see in the photo above - click on it for a larger view. As I walked home across Morrison’s car park, I looked out over the river. Normally one can see ships moving up or down river, or aircraft coming in to land at London City Airport. This time I saw something which immediately grabbed my attention. I saw a total of eighteen (and yes, I did count) balls of bright light in the sky, travelling at what appeared to be several hundred miles an hour eastwards, away from London. Each ball of light was roughly the same orange colour of a sodium street light, and they were arranged in formations of three, in a chevron pattern. They appeared to be following the course of the river, and they travelled silently. I also saw much higher up a passenger plane making a descent to London City Airport. I watched the formation of lights for around two minutes as they travelled from horizon to horizon. I could hear no engine sounds from the lights (although I could hear the jet engine sounds from the passenger jet travelling in the opposite direction).  Normally if I saw an orange light moving in the sky, I would immediately identify it as a Chinese sky lantern, but these lights were travelling in formation, were far too bright to be lanterns, and were travelling far too quickly to have been blown by the wind (which in any case was blowing in nearly the opposite direction).  I have absolutely no idea what the lights were, but I am certain that many other people must have seen them as well. I am really surprised not to have seen any mention of this puzzling event on the local or regional press; I assumed that thousands of other people must have seen what I saw. Did you see the lights too? Do let me know – drop a line to me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.     

Concerns are growing locally in respect of Bexley Council and their plans to sell off the small public park in West Street. You can see a Google Street View image of the park above - feel free to navigate around the virtual area. Local Councillor Abena Oppong-Asare has written to the council, and she kindly sent me a copy of her letter, which I reproduce below for your information. "I am writing to you as an elected Labour councillor for Erith Ward in response to the council’s public survey regarding proposals for possible redevelopment of four open spaces. My response is on behalf of my Erith residents regarding the release of West Street small park and has been developed following discussions with Erith residents.  I appreciate the Council is facing substantial financial challenges, but I strongly oppose the removal of green spaces. Public Health England statistical data published in June 2015 shows that in Bexley, 22.5% (576) of children in Year 6 are classified as obese, worse than the average for England and I feel that keeping open spaces will help reduce obesity in the area. I recognise that the council has been trying to tackle obesity in adults and set up an adult weight management service in September 2014. We also need to tackle the problem of childhood obesity.  Public Health England has carried out research which has shown that over half of people living in deprived areas would take more exercise if green spaces were improved. Furthermore, good quality and well maintained parks are more likely to be used and local residents report higher ‘neighbourhood satisfaction’ and better health as a result.  A lot of regeneration is taking place in Erith. Bexley College Erith Campus opened a year ago. Erith Quarry received planning permission from Bexley Council in March for their development and there is possibility that the former Riverside Baths might be turned into flats. It is therefore vital that Erith maintains what is left of its green public space. I also have grave concerns about the way the survey has been conducted. Question 5 of the survey gives very limited options to residents objecting the closure of any of the parks. The council has many more options than the three mentioned and is misleading ones listed. I also don’t believe that it clarifies the reason to keep West Street small park.

The questions asked are as follows:

Substantial reductions in ground maintenance, which would result in unmaintained parks, the removal of children’s playgrounds and the loss of sports pitches. 

£1 million reduction per year in spending on other Council services. 

A Council tax rise of more than 1.99% (subject to a local referendum) 

I urge the Council to remove its proposal to dispose West Street small park and work with local residents, community groups and ward councillors to establish a way of keeping the park in public use while achieving savings for the council. I would like to conclude by saying that green open spaces are in scarce supply in our area and that West Street small park provides a valuable contribution to the street scene and environment in this deprived area of our borough. I would also like to thank you for giving me and residents in Erith the opportunity to add our comments. 

I look forward to receiving a reply to my comments. 

Yours sincerely 

Councillor Abena Oppong-Asare Erith Ward"

Following my earlier, rather X-Files like experience, I thought that I should bring a note of scientific realism to the rest of the blog update this week. Today we are witnessing a similar outburst of enthusiasm over the to my mind unlikely notion that in the relatively near future, some people are going to be living, working, thriving and dying on the planet Mars. A Dutch non-profit venture called Mars One aspires to send four people to Mars by 2026 as the beginning of a permanent human settlement. In the United States, the non-profit Inspiration One has plans for a two-person team to fly within one hundred miles of the planet, launching from Earth in January 2018. And the entrepreneur Elon Musk, who runs a rocket company called SpaceX, has said he hopes to send the first people to Mars in eleven to twelve years. Unfortunately, this Mars mania - perhaps encouraged by the recent release of the sci fi film "The Martian" reflects an excessively optimistic view of what it actually takes to travel to and live on Mars, papering over many of the harsh realities and bitter truths that underlie the dream. First, there is the tedious business of getting there. Using current technology and conventional chemical rockets, a trip to Mars would be a gruelling, eight- to nine-month-long nightmare journey for the crew.  Nine months is a long time for any group of people to be travelling in a small, closed,  spacecraft. (it would have  to be far smaller and more functional than the relatively comfy confines of a habitable satellite like the International Space Station). Tears, sweat, urine and perhaps even solid waste will be recycled, the astronauts personal space would be reduced to the size of a small van. Crew members would be in microgravity for the entire trip, with consequent health problems: Bone mass wastes away,  teeth become more susceptible to cavities, the body’s muscles, including the heart, and even the small muscles that control the eye movements, atrophy and lose mass, and astronauts immune, digestive, vascular and pulmonary systems function at impaired levels. In addition, there will be persistent mechanical noise and vibration, sleep disturbances, unbearable tedium, trance states, depression, monotonous repetition of meals, clothing, routines, conversations and so on. Every source of interpersonal conflict, and emotional and psychological stress that one can experience in ordinary, day-to-day life on Earth will be magnified exponentially by restriction to a tiny, hermetically sealed, pressure-cooker capsule hurtling through deep space. To top it all off, despite these constraints, the crew must operate within an exceptionally slim margin of error. As with any cutting-edge technology, there will be continuous threats of equipment failures, computer malfunctions, power interruptions and software glitches. Getting there is the easy part. Mars is a dead, cold, barren planet on which no living thing is known to have evolved, and which harbours no breathable air or oxygen, no liquid water and no sources of food, nor conditions favourable for producing any. For these and other reasons it would be accurate to call Mars a veritable hell for living things, were it not for the fact that the planet’s average surface temperature is minus 81 degrees Fahrenheit. Oxygen on Mars exists as a constituent of water — the O in H2O. Thus, one way to get this essential component of air is to first obtain an adequate store of water. However, there being no proven liquid water reserves on Mars, water, too, must be produced from raw material sources, specifically from the soil, which contains large quantities of Calcium Perchlorate. One plan calls for digging up the soil and placing it into a heater that will evaporate off any water within it. The water vapour is then condensed into a liquid. Oxygen, in turn, can be separated from the hydrogen in the water by means of electrolysis, and then stockpiled. The nitrogen component of air could be “mined” from the thin Martian atmosphere. With these two constituents in hand, and then combined, we finally have a breath of air (although not “fresh” air). This is dependent on water being found in sizable quantities, locked up in the soil and rocks of the Martian landscape. At the time of writing, historical evidence for past stocks of water have been discovered, but it appears that much of it has long evaporated off into space.  These are only a few of the many serious challenges that must be overcome before anyone can put human beings on Mars and expect them to live for more than five minutes. The notion that we can start colonizing Mars within the next ten years or so is an over optimistic, delusory idea that it strikes me as nothing short of wish fulfilment. Much more has to be done before a viable, relatively safe and long term colony on Mars can realistically be contemplated. The proposals so far published all make sweeping assumptions in respect of conditions and the human technology – in a similar way to it always seems to be forty years away from hot fusion power generation becoming feasible in practical terms; we are a lot further away from a viable Mars colony than some of the pundits would have the pubic believe. I wish it was not the case, but unfortunately it is. Mars is still a distant dream.

The last few months have been very quiet in respect of the antics of Joshua Bonehill.  You may recall that I wrote extensively after the self-professed racist anti-Semitic homophobic bigot sent me a threatening and wildly inaccurate Email back in February. The reason that things have been so quiet is that Bonehill has been in prison awaiting trial. On Monday of last week, he went before Southwark Crown Court. He is charged with publishing or distributing written material intended to stir up racial hatred. It is alleged he posted links on Twitter in June to material that would stir up racial hatred ahead of a rally that organisers planned to hold in Golders Green, a predominantly Jewish area of north London. It was later moved and held in central London. Bonehill, of Yeovil in Somerset, loudly declared he was  “absolutely not guilty” as he appeared in the dock at Southwark Crown Court. He was remanded in custody to appear at the same court for trial. A provisional date of the 14th December was arranged. So Bonehill’s still in jail in the meantime. I just hope he gets some diagnosis and treatment for what would seem to be a serious mental illness.

Last week I wrote in some depth about the late Erith born comedienne Linda Smith. This prompted local resident and occasional Maggot Sandwich contributor The rEV to write the following article about Linda Smith and events shortly after her untimely death:- "In 2006 I was an avid listener to BBC7 (or Radio 4 Extra as it is now known), DAB radio was still pretty niche and a station playing classic comedy and radio plays even more so, but I lapped up the likes of Hancock, Round The Horne and assorted drama and documentaries as well as classic sci-fi like Doctor Who. I’d heard of some of the shows but being in my mid-30s I had never heard stuff like this before, quality laugh out loud comedies and programmes to make me ponder and get excited about that were made (mostly) 20 years or so before I was even born. Beat the hell out of what was currently on TV (even if no-one got the references I dropped into day to day conversation!) and as we had two small children I spent a lot of time in the kitchen pottering about so had the time and space to listen to the radio where as sitting on the sofa watching TV was a distant memory. I signed up to the BBC7 weekly newsletter and a few months after Linda Smith’s passing they announced they would be having a memorial tribute show and a competition to win tickets and a rather spiffing BBC branded portable Roberts radio. I’m not sure if I was the only entrant but I’m 99% sure I was the only entrant from Erith, Linda’s home town, whichever the case I won. I must admit I’d heard of Linda Smith but only vaguely. I remember about 10 years before hand flicking on the TV late one night and seeing her talk about “Eriff” in her stand up and had heard a few shows with her as a panellist on The News Quiz, Just a Minute and I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue but I can’t say I knew her or her comedy that well but was…proud (?) to have a comedienne who came from the same area I lived in (the only other one I can think of off hand from the local area is the brilliant Mark Steel, who originated from Swanley). The BBC7 controller (a lovely lady, sadly her name escapes me) contacted me to say I’d won and we ended up striking up quite a nice little friendship that lasted a few months after the tribute show. She seemed interested on my thoughts and enthusiasm about the station because of my age and the fact I went against the BBC’s demographics of who would listen to the station, she’d also run into Linda a few times whilst working at the BBC and was interested in my view on Erith (nicking and paraphrasing a line from Mr Pewty, I once told her the best view of the place was through the viewfinder on a bomber flying over). The night of the show rolled around and after securing a babysitter my wife and I trooped up to a studio theatre in the backstreets of London to sit and watch the recording of “Linda Smith: A Modern Radio Star” compared by Andy Hamilton (writer and performer in the rather fabulous Old Harry’s Game and BBC1’s Outnumbered) with a stellar cast of comedy stars, friends and colleagues including Jeremy Hardy, Mark Steel, Hattie Hayridge, Sandi Toksvig, Nicholas Parsons, Chris Neill, Tony Hawks, Phill Jupitus, Simon Hoggart, Barry Cryer and her partner Warren Lakin. I was a bit awestruck to be honest as we were sat in the front row and mingled with the cast in the bar. Some of these people I had grown up with on TV, read books written by them and in the case of Barry Cryer I was in the presence of a veritable God of comedy (he’s written or had a hand in writing for everyone from Bob Hope to Morecambe and Wise to John Cleese, Marty Feldman, The Goodies, Kenny Everett, the list is never-ending). I offered to buy him a drink and he laughed wryly and waving his bottle at the bar told me he drunk for free. The BBC7 controller was there too and was a gracious host and I noticed she kept watching me and my wife during the show when Linda’s life in Erith was brought up. The show that went out didn’t bear much relation to the one we watched as it was very off the cuff and relaxed and (Phill Jupitus especially) very sweary. There was obviously a lot of love for Linda in the room but even though her dying was the reason we were all there was no maudlin sadness, in fact there was nothing but joy. Sadly we had to leave just before the end of the show due to having to catch the last train home but it was a wonderful night and I can’t think of a warmer, more intimate, more affectionate send off to a comedian. She was obviously well loved by her contemporaries and that shone throughout the show". Fascinating stuff; I wonder how long it will be before the local area produces another entertainer of similar calibre?

Software maker Adobe has patched nearly two dozen vulnerabilities in its Flash media player last week, including sixteen that lead to code execution, but is still serving flawed versions with hundreds of holes as part of its Shockwave bundle. The Flash vulnerabilities patched in the last week affect Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux as part of the version 19.x updates. It addresses code execution flaws resulting from buffer overflow vulnerabilities, memory corruption, and stack and stack overflow corruption - all of the nastiest types of software vulnerabilities. Flash was originally launched back in 1996, when web browsers could do little more than render basic HTML (the underlying code which makes up web pages) into colours and text. If you wanted any kind of animation, or streaming video on your website, you needed to use an additional third party toolkit – and Flash was the market leader for many years. Flash Player can run from a web browser as a browser plug-in or on supported mobile devices. Flash Player was created by software developer Macromedia, and has been developed and distributed by Adobe Systems since Adobe acquired Macromedia. Flash Player has a wide user base, and is a common format for games, animations, and GUIs embedded into web pages. Adobe states that more than 400 million out of more than 1 billion connected desktops update to the new version of Flash Player within six weeks of release. The problem with Flash player and the associated toolkits which it comes with is that it is generally accepted as being the single most bug – riddled piece of software to be found on any Windows PC, Mac or Linux box. It is notorious for being a continuous source of serious security vulnerabilities, and patching these seems to be the digital equivalent of painting The Forth Bridge – as soon as one set of security holes get patched, another bunch of them turn up. The irony is that most everyday computer users have not actually needed to have Flash installed on their computers for quite a while now. Over the years the technology built in to the humble web browser has advanced to the point where multimedia plug – ins such as Flash are simply not required. The web browser can use more modern coding such as HTML5 to do create the same functionality without the need for the performance and power sapping overhead of running Flash. Indeed, sites like YouTube, which once required the use of Flash no longer require it at all – everything runs more efficiently and smoothly on modern web browsers such as Google Chrome or Firefox, that Flash is but a distant memory.  In fact, Google (who are the developers of the Chrome web browser) actually block Flash files from downloading automatically, and Mozilla, the organisation behind Firefox are considering doing the same. Flash is old and very past its sell – by date. Very few computer users actually need it nowadays, and it has a horrible propensity for introducing some nasty security holes in your computer. Maybe it is time to wave Flash goodbye?

As Malcolm Knight of the excellent “Bexley is Bonkers” blog has comprehensively beaten me to publication (he publishes daily, I publish weekly) I cannot claim any kind of scoop on the story that the historic Lower Belvedere pub the Leather Bottle has not only closed down, but it looks like the land next to the listed pub building that once was home to the car park and garden is shortly to become the site of a four storey block of flats - at least that is what the local scuttlebut is saying, but no planning application has thus far been received by Bexley Council, and the grounds of the pub contain a well - known public right of way. It would appear that the pub building itself will be safe, due to the listed status of the structure. What will happen to it is currently rather unclear. The Bexley council planning website (never the easiest of experiences to try and extract information from) does not have any recent mention of the Leather Bottle. Hopefully more details will come to hand shortly. I for one am not at all surprised about the closure of the historic pub. I can recall that when I was in the sixth form at school, a group of us would meet in there on a Thursday evening when they had a live music night. The atmosphere was jovial, the staff and customers friendly, and a good time was had by all. I revisited the place a couple of years ago expecting more of the same – as the pub had enjoyed a reputation for being the best (if also the most expensive) pub in the locality. What I found was a scruffy and unkempt pub, surly staff and sour ale which the landlord denied was off. We stayed for one pint – most of which ended up in a pot plant, and left, never to return. I can assume that we are one a couple of many who deserted the place as it entered a terminal decline. One comment from pub review website beerintheevening.com said of the place “Have been using this pub on and off for over 35 years and have seen different owners come and go and of course many bar staff. Went in the other night and the bint behind the bar was chatting on her mobile phone rather than serving anyone. Naturally when she'd finished gas bagging she served the first person she came to which of course wasn’t the person who was next, The disgusting regulars do not have the manners to point out someone was before them and blatantly jumped the queue. What a complete hole this has become. Sad but true of many old haunts I’m afraid. Glad i used it in its heyday.” At least I understand the building itself will be retained, hopefully intact. More on this story in the future.

The ending video is something of a curiosity, and something I found on YouTube, It shows the Brooklyn Organ Synth Orchestra playing Mike Oldfield's classic "Tubular Bells" on a large collection of old synthesisers and organs. Very strange, but very good. See what you think.

The old college comes down.

Bexley is Bonkers author Malcolm Knight is doing a first class job of documenting the construction works currently under way between Abbey Wood and Plumstead stations as preparations continue for the launch of Crossrail in 2018. The station will allow very fast rail access to large swathes of greater London and the outer boroughs that have until now been difficult to reach by public transport. It will also make travel into business areas such as Canary Wharf much speedier – the new Crossrail station at Canary Wharf is utterly huge – I work in an office building right next door, and have watched it go up over the last four years. When it opens, it will have six storeys of shops, a cinema, numerous restaurants, bars, a landscaped park and a roof gardens located over the rail tracks. The aim is to increase the working population to two hundred thousand people over the next fifteen years. Abbey Wood and Woolwich are cited as being two of the areas which will most benefit from the huge increase in cross – London travel capacity that will result from the huge capital project. The work being undertaken at Abbey Wood will be the largest addition to the local train network since the North Kent rail line originally opened back in 1849. As I have previously mentioned, the whole area between Woolwich and Erith / Slade Green is likely to experience a strong increase in house prices, as commuting times to both Central and West London will be cut considerably. It will be instructive to observe what actually happens; for example, Woolwich has been labelled as an “up and coming” area for over a decade, with nothing much actually happening. I think that when the Woolwich Crossrail station opens in 2018, things will finally get moving. When the realisation that Woolwich based commuters could be in Canary Wharf in eight minutes, the City in fourteen, Bond Street in twenty two minutes, and door to door at Heathrow in fifty minutes, I think new residents will flock into the town. I just hope that the whole of Woolwich benefits, and not just those fortunate enough to be able to afford  a place in the Royal Arsenal Riverside development, which to my mind is too isolated from the town proper – it is a high end gated development that to my mind is too introspective. Matters may improve if moves to migrate Woolwich Arsenal station from Travel Zone Four to Zone Three actually come to pass (the word is – “don’t hold your breath”). Whilst modern flats have been built over the giant Tesco superstore (which I understand is safe from the Tesco cutbacks I featured last week), most of the relatively affordable accommodation in Woolwich comes in the form of former council properties. It does beg the question, if former council / housing association housing stock is being sold off, where can people find somewhere to affordably rent? The usual answer is that people in that position end up moving further outwards and into the suburbs – into places like Abbey Wood and Thamesmead, where the Peabody Trust is investing £200 million to create what they call a new “garden suburb” that will include apartments along Thamesmead’s three miles of River Thames waterfront, and be connected to the new Crossrail terminus at Abbey Wood. As I have previously written, Erith is also in the middle of the largest boom in house building for at least a generation; we have Erith Park (a mix of social and commercial flats and houses on what used to be the old Larner Road estate), The Erith Quarry development (high end housing, a new Primary School and environmental landscaping), along with further housing on the site of the old Bexley College campus in Tower Road (more on this shortly). There are also housing developments in Slade Green – the upmarket Ratio housing scheme in Slade Green Road, along with the Howbury Centre rebuild project. The latest in this long and extensive list of newly built housing is one that many locals have been worried about, due to the potential implications to Erith Riverside Gardens. London and Quadrant housing association are holding a public exhibition on Wednesday the 11^th February from 4pm until 7pm  in the new Bexley College building in Walnut Tree Road. L and Q propose building a total of seventy one homes for people on a range of incomes on the former site of Erith Riverside Baths, which has been empty since the old swimming pool building was demolished due to vandalism after the replacement pool was opened at Erith Leisure Centre.  The main concern that many locals have is that any development of the old Riverside Swimming Baths site has will involve building on part or possibly even all of the Riverside Gardens – an area that is sacrosanct to Erith residents, but not seemingly to some Bexley Councillors. It will be instructive to see what plans London and Quadrant have for the prime riverside location. I will be attending the exhibition at around 5.15pm – as soon as I can get to the college after work; fortunately though I work in Docklands for much of the time, I start very early, and can normally get away at or around 4pm.

Bexley Brewery are going from strength to strength; they are now wholesaling draught real ale to a large number of pubs and clubs, not just in the local area, but as far as outlets in Margate and Dover. You can see a map, along with a list of Bexley Beer retailers by clicking here. They have also diversified their range of quality real ales to include a Golden Ale and a Porter, as well as their existing Red House Bitter and BOB (Bexley's Own Beer - my own favourite). They are holding a publicity session and "meet the brewers" at the Penny Farthing micro pub in Crayford next Wednesday evening. I have yet to visit the Penny Farthing, and unfortunately have to be elsewhere on Wednesday evening (all will hopefully become clear in the update next week). I would strongly encourage you to pop along to the local micro pub if you can; not only are such independent hostelries the best way to sample quality real ale and cider, but with Bexley Brewery staff on hand to answer questions, it is bound to be an excellent evening. 

The News Shopper reported earlier this week that a rather unsavoury lady called Sandra Okoh was sentenced to five years in prison for running an Erith based employment agency “Blue Feathers Guarding” which employed security guards and paid them only around £3 per hour, often on 24 hour shifts, whilst still charging their clients the full going rate. The employees did not complain or seek employment with other agencies as many if not all of them were in the UK illegally, and liable for deportation if they were found out. Okoh and two of her fellow company directors (who were prosecuted and jailed last year, as I reported at the time) used this fact to treat their employees as virtual slaves. Employees could not complain, as doing so could see themselves prosecuted and subsequently deported. It is thought that Blue Feathers Guarding actually turned away legitimate applicants for guarding vacancies on the grounds that they were not able to exploit such workers as they could with the illegal migrants. This sorry situation was only discovered when staff at the Cross Street Law Centre were alerted by a former Blue Feathers employee who acted as a whistle blower on conditions of anonymity. The employment agency was subsequently raided by The Home Office’s South London Criminal Investigations team, supported by the Security Industry Authority, raided the company's Viridian Way offices in October 2012.  When they searched the premises they discovered a large quantity of forged identification documents relating to staff who they had illegally employed. The game was up, and the people behind the company were suitably punished. All this is well and good, but unfortunately the News Shopper then dropped the ball – they completely missed the bigger picture. The Cross Street Law Centre was forced to close due to cuts in their funding in March last year – a fact reported on by the News Shopper at the time. This means that future detection of illegal employment practices is considerably reduced now, as there is nowhere in the area that a whistle blower could turn to. Secondly it raises the issue of the number of people that found work, albeit illegally in the past, and what has subsequently happened to them? It strikes me that we have a vibrant underground economy that is passing under the radar of both the benefits agency and the immigration service. Whilst not the most desirable of situations, it occurs that in a pragmatic sense this is not always a bad thing. Local people living illegally still have to eat, heat their houses and travel – all of which means returning money to the local economy. From conversations I have had in the past from people well – placed to know, it is entirely possible that if all the people illegally working in the UK were able to be accurately identified and deported, that large parts of the British economy and infrastructure would crumble. It is an interesting theory, and not something I would wish to see tested in practice. What do you think? Comment below, or Email me directly at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

I recently discovered that South East London and North Kent once suffered from a serious earthquake. On April the 12^th 1884, and powerful earthquake shook an area from Woolwich to as far as Margate. Initially residents thought that one of the armament storage warehouses at Woolwich Royal Arsenal had exploded – as had happened back on Saturday the first of October 1864, when two massive gunpowder stores on the marshes in Lower Belvedere detonated – which was one of the largest non – nuclear explosions in British history. It was understandable therefore that almost twenty years later many who experienced the massive explosion would automatically assume that the earthquake was caused by another accident whilst handling explosives. You can read more about the Belvedere explosion by clicking here. The earthquake was a different beast altogether; the epicentre of the quake was in South Essex, from there the shock waves spread out causing disturbance over an area somewhat in excess of 53,000 square miles. It measured 6.9 on the Richter scale and caused buildings to sway and develop structural cracks, chimneys to collapse, slates to cascade down roofs, and several fires were caused. In North Kent, well away from the epicentre, the effects were still profound. People were understandably terrified – the ground beneath their feet was moving, and great clouds of dust rose into the air. Some people were knocked over, whilst others were sick with fright. Some even wondered if the day of judgement had come, as the motion of the earthquake caused many church bells to ring spontaneously. Eventually the earthquake passed; fortunately there were few serious injuries and no reported deaths. To date the Kent earthquake of 1884 remains one of the most serious geological events to have taken place in England. Let’s hope we are not scheduled for another, as the potential damage both to life and infrastructure would be proportionally worse nowadays – there were few gas mains, almost no electricity cables and certainly no fibre – optic lines for an earthquake to destroy back in 1884 – the same most certainly could not be said of today.

I may use an Apple iMac as my main home computer, but I am most certainly no Apple fan boy – I don't have an iPhone (or any mobile phone whatsoever, for that matter), I don't have an iPad or other such portable device. I like Apple computers because they are very well made, ergonomic and mainly because Apple OS X is based on BSD Unix – a rock solid, industrial strength operating system that has been around since 1977. It predates Windows and Linux (love Linux, not so keen on Windows) and was a wise choice when Apple were looking for an alternative operating system after they realised that their own proprietary Mac OS9 was not cutting the mustard. Many of Apple co – founder Steve Jobs quotes on life the universe and technology are enshrined by Apple fan boys as some kind of gospel; personally I find much of what he said at public meetings to be crass and somewhat self – serving. One thing I most certainly do agree with him, is his stance on the multimedia web browser plug in Flash. Flash has been around for nearly twenty years and it has always been a vector of malicious computer attack, and also the cause of many crashes – back in 2010 Steve Jobs said “Symantec recently highlighted Flash for having one of the worst security records in 2009. We also know first-hand that Flash is the number one reason Macs crash. We have been working with Adobe to fix these problems, but they have persisted for several years now. We don’t want to reduce the reliability and security of our iPhones, iPods and iPads by adding Flash. To achieve long battery life when playing video, mobile devices must decode the video in hardware; decoding it in software uses too much power. Many of the chips used in modern mobile devices contain a decoder called H.264 – an industry standard that is used in every Blu-ray DVD player and has been adopted by Apple, Google (YouTube), Vimeo, Netflix and many other video streaming companies. Although Flash has recently added support for H.264, the video on almost all Flash websites currently requires an older generation decoder that is not implemented in mobile chips and must be run in software. The difference is striking: on an iPhone, for example, H.264 videos play for up to 10 hours, while videos decoded in software play for less than 5 hours before the battery is fully drained. When websites re-encode their videos using H.264, they can offer them without using Flash at all. They play perfectly in browsers like Apple’s Safari and Google’s Chrome without any plugins whatsoever, and look great on iPhones, iPods and iPads”. Since Jobs made this speech, Google have removed Flash use from YouTube and exclusively use the H.264 codec – which all modern web browsers support natively. Having said all that, Adobe (who now own the Flash brand and technology) persist in publishing new versions of the now outdated media player. Flash has serious security flaws which malicious attackers exploit to do nasty things to your computer, and however regularly Adobe issue patches and updates, the insecure design of the underlying architecture means that hackers soon find a loophole and Flash is once again compromised.  My advice to you is to Uninstall it and see how you get on across the web. If you really need it, go into your browser settings and make it click-to-play. That means Flash files aren't automatically opened on every page, reducing the risk of being owned by a dodgy advert or malware injected .swf file. In Google Chrome, go to Settings, click on the Advanced Settings link, click on Content Settings under Privacy, scroll down to Plugins, select "Click to play" and save. In Safari, open Preferences, go to the Security tab, click on Website settings alongside Internet Plugins, select Adobe Flash, and alongside "When visiting other websites", select "Ask" or "Block". You can whitelist certain sites in the box above. In Firefox, type “about:config” (minus the quotation marks) into the browser address bar and press “enter” and click on the "I'll be careful" button, and search for plugins. click_to_play. If it says "false" in the Value column, double click on it to change it to "true". Then restart Firefox. You now have true control over your web browser, and thus your computer.

The photos above were sent to me by a local photographer who chooses to remain anonymous. The shots show the demolition of the old Bexley College campus in Tower Road. I understand that the demolition has not been straightforward, and it is taking longer than was initially anticipated. The site will be ready for re - use for housing once fully cleared. More on this in a future update.

As regular readers will be already aware, I have been warning of the pernicious nature of bookmakers and their Fixed Odds Betting Terminals – often referred to as the “Crack Cocaine” of gambling, as it is possible for a gambler to lose up to £100 every twenty seconds. Betting shops are limited to five such terminals in each shop location; it is said that the main reason there has been an explosion in the number of betting shops on most high streets is that the betting shop chains open extra shops just so that they can get more Fixed Odds Betting Terminals out there – and until recently, cash strapped local authorities have accepted the extra bookmakers outlets, as they would rather get council tax payments from a working business, than leave an empty shop unit that earns no revenue. Things now do appear to be changing, however. The government recently raised the rate of duty on gaming machines, which has had the knock – on effect of making many bookmakers far less profitable, as the FOBT machines have historically been the most lucrative source of income from betting shops. Traditional gambling on sports events has lost a substantial amount of ground to the electronic machines. The number of betting shops is being slashed on many high streets; Ladbrokes, the second biggest gambling chain in the UK closed ninety of its 2,250 stores in the last year, including the one that used to be located in Erith High Street, which nowadays still stands empty. It expects to close more this year, as does its rival William Hill, which recently cut 420 jobs and closed 109 betting shops. Whilst the loss of jobs is to be regretted, the employment situation is not all bad; in many cases the old betting shop units are being converted into restaurants – this trend has been strongest in central London and the West End, but there are indicators that it may spread to other areas. If we really have weathered the recession, but the betting companies are now laying higher taxes and rates of duty, we may see a real retreat of them from the high street, and hopefully the return of healthier alternative businesses.

The Erith and Belvedere Football Club correspondent Brian Spurrell reports:- "Erith and Belvedere FC are among the last ten teams left standing in a national competition whose final takes place at Wembley!  Their FA Vase fifth round tie at Holbeach United was postponed yesterday, which means they’re still in the hat for the quarter-final draw to be made by the FA tomorrow lunchtime.  The Deres’ Barnehurst neighbours Phoenix Sports were soundly beaten 4-1 at North Shields, so E&B are the south-east’s last presence in the competition. The Deres, currently 2nd in the Southern Counties East league, travelled to Holbeach (8 miles east of Spalding in Lincolnshire) on Friday, staying in a hotel to prepare for the tie.  Many of their supporters were en route to the game when news broke that it had been postponed owing to a partially frozen pitch.  So they’ll try again next Saturday. Holbeach United are 3rd in the United Counties League, and the other postponed tie was between Glossop North End (2nd, North West Counties) and Dunston UTS  from Gateshead (3rd, Northern League).  The six teams already through to the quarter-finals are:
Ascot United (5th, Hellenic League)
Highworth Town near Swindon (8th, Hellenic League)
North Shields (2nd, Northern League)
St Austell (3rd, South West Peninsula)
Shaw Lane Aquaforce from Barnsley (4th, Northern Counties East)
Tadcaster Albion (1st, Northern Counties East)
So tomorrow could either bring us a massive home game or a very long away trip!  The FA website will have the news tomorrow afternoon.  Meanwhile the Deres face Canterbury City in a league game at home (Park View Road, Welling) on Tuesday night".

The news that Ocado are building a large distribution centre just off Bronze Age Way is very encouraging news indeed. Three thousand brand new jobs for an area with a higher than average level of unemployment is excellent news. The location of the new warehouse complex makes good sense – there is plenty of unused land in the area, it is relatively cheap, especially when one considers its relatively close proximity to central London, along with excellent road links to the A2, M20, M25 and the South Circular. Coincidentally Ocado have just published their first quarter showing profits, so hopefully business is picking up for the online retailer. Construction of the new distribution centre is due to begin later this year, and should be fully operational early in 2017. There has been no word yet as to when the company will start recruiting for roles in the local area. Ocado will be joining Tesco, Asda and Lidl, all of whom already have warehouses and distribution centres in the local area – underlining the combination of relatively cheap real estate and excellent communications that the area between Erith and Lower Belvedere offers to the retail and service industries.

I was perhaps a little premature when I announced the formation of a new ten officer Police squad to patrol Thamesmead after the recent spate of drug and gang related violence, there has been yet another shooting last week. Police were called to Erebus Drive in West Thamesmead after gun shots were reported at around 4.30am on the 1^st February. This is one of the upmarket areas of Thamesmead, which is adjacent to the Woolwich Royal Arsenal Development, and not where one would normally expect gang related shootings. A chap called Clive Massi was found with a number of people in a couple of cars – he was suffering from one or more gunshot wounds. Ambulance staff tried to stabilise him and got him to hospital, but he succumbed to his injuries two hours later. The usual talk – backers on the News Shopper website have made assumptions as to what had happened – and I must admit that the circumstances reported make the situation look like it had some kind of gang involvement, but until the Police complete their investigations nobody will know for sure. Whatever the specifics of the event, locals will understandably continue to not feel safe walking the streets.  I am unsure if the new Police team have actually started work yet, but it would seem that they are desperately needed in an area which is getting an unenviable reputation for lawlessness. Until September 2011, I used to spend a great deal of time in the area in and around Erebus Drive. My late Dad’s nursing home was (and is) in Pier Way, which leads in Erebus Drive, and the river frontage with some very nice (and expensive) riverside apartment buildings. Not quite as fancy an address as the Woolwich Royal Arsenal next door, but desirable nonetheless. Whether the residents will feel the need to club together to hire private security to patrol their estate, as already happens in the Arsenal is debatable.

The end video this week is something that you may not have seen before. It features a singer / songwriter who really ought to be a lot better known. He is a blues / rock guitarist of amazing virtuosity call Joe Bonamassa. The music press have dubbed him "the new Eric Clapton" - though personally I think he sounds a little more like David Gilmour. The video shows him playing at the Royal Albert Hall. He's well known to musos and listeners to the DAB radio station Planet Rock, but thus far has not broken through to the mainstream. Incidentally, the somewhat dilapidated Fender Stratocaster that Bonamassa is playing in the video was lent to him by the family of the late Irish blues master Rory Gallagher, who was a large influence on the playing style of Joe Bonamassa. The track "Sloe Gin" is a Bonamassa trademark - listen to the blistering solo at the end. The guy is a master craftsman of the guitar. Comments below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.