More fish?

Anyone who has ever visited, or even passed through Erith will be familiar with the object above - the infamous Erith Fish Sculpture, which occupies the centre of the roundabout in the town centre which connects Bronze Age Way, Queen's Road, Bexley Road and Fraser Road. Opinion on the sculpture is divided. As many long term readers will know, I have not been a fan since it was installed; in fact I originally described it as a "hideous psychedelic "Mister Whippy" style turd crapped on the town by some passing space alien". My views have now moderated somewhat. Erith is now so well known (notorious?) for the fish roundabout that it has become a real local landmark, and a key part of the identity of the town. I have been asked by people unfamiliar with the area how they will know when they have reached their destination. My response has been - "when you see the fish roundabout, trust me you will know!" The fish sculpture was created by local artist Gary Drostle, who has his studio in the Europa Industrial Estate in Fraser Road, less than five minutes walk from the roundabout. Gary is set to create several unique artworks for the Erith Quarry residential development site that is bounded by Bexley Road and Fraser Road. In an interview with the Bexley Times last week,  Gary Drostle said:- "It’s always a pleasure to work on a project so close to home,” said Mr Drostle. In this case the mural will be displayed just minutes from my studio on Fraser Road! The Quarry has a fascinating history, which will be a key source of inspiration for my artwork, and I am looking forward to working with London and Quadrant and Anderson's over the coming months to produce something the whole community will be able to enjoy.” Let's just hope Gary creates something a little less challenging for local residents this time around. The first houses on the Erith Quarry site are due to be completed some time late in the summer. I will be visiting the development to give an update on progress in the fairly near future. Back in 1973 the site now occupied by the Gary Drostle fish sculpture roundabout was then the location of the Wheatley Hotel - a Railway Hotel. A Railway Hotel was a combination of a pub downstairs, and a bed and breakfast upstairs; almost all railway stations at one stage or other had a railway hotel in close proximity - in this case, Erith Station was just across the road. In the time before the invention of the car, people travelling around the country would often need to break their train journey overnight. A room in a railway hotel was cheaper than a full hotel, as the features tended to be more basic, but they were convenient - they fulfilled the same function as  a modern Premier Inn - cheap and clean, at least in most cases. On top of this, local residents would use the pub located on the ground floor. I understand that the Wheatley Hotel was a pretty lively place on a Friday and Saturday night.

Nowadays Bexley is served by the excellent Bexley Brewery, located on the Manford Industrial Estate at the far Eastern end of Manor Road, just beneath the Erith Wind Turbine. The brewery is extremely successful, and produces some absolutely top notch ales, of which I am a great fan indeed - I was in the brewery on Friday lunchtime, picking up a couple of fresh pints for the weekend; whilst I was there a film crew were filming head brewer Cliff as he prepared a new brew. I have no idea what the filming is for, but no doubt I will find out sooner rather than later. It was not always the case. The local area was poorly served by local brewers for a very long time, although one former brewery certainly divided opinion.  If you ask a number of retired people who have lived locally for any length of time about Beasley’s Beer, you will get a number of responses – not all of them good. Beasley’s Brewery was located in Plumstead, in Brewery road, off Lakedale Road.  Before the Second World War,  it was owned by Harry Geoffrey Beasley, who had inherited the brewery. The income from this made him wealthy, and enabled him to spend much of his life engaged in his passion for anthropology; he travelled the world studying various tribes and peoples, and wrote many academic papers on the subject. He was considered to be a leader in his field of study, and in 1932 he became president of The Royal Anthropological Institute, a post he held until 1937, when ill – health in the form of Diabetes meant he had to stand down from the office. For most of his married life he lived in Cranmore House in Chislehurst, where he set up the Cranmore Ethnographical Museum, which housed six thousand exhibits that Beasley had collected during his travels. He died in 1939, when his collection was moved to the British Museum – just in time, as the house was destroyed during the Blitz. From the records I have read, Harry Beasley had a pretty hands – off relationship with the brewery from which he derived his not inconsiderable income. Some time ago, Local resident Roger Jewiss recalled the following story about day to day life for the average working man in Beasley’s Brewery: "My Grandfather was a blacksmith and during the depression found work a bit hard to find. He was pleased to get two days work to do a repair in the brewery. All employees were given two brass tokens a day which they could exchange for a pint of beer. My grandfather, very hot at his temporary forge, had used his tokens and was indeed very pleased when a brewery worker called down to him, “ Fancy a pint blacky?” “ Not 'arf,” replied my grandfather. Soon after, a copper vessel came slowly down from the vat above, on a long wire, and my grandfather gratefully quenched his thirst. “ Thanks”, he shouted back to his new friend, “that certainly was a long pint.”  “PINT!” came the reply, “that vessel held a gallon!”. The account was originally published on the Plumstead Stories website that you can see here. My Grandfather on my Mum’s side (and indeed my Mum) called the output of the brewery “Beasley’s beastly beer” as they both heartily loathed it. Apparently this was a not uncommon opinion at the time, thought for a period I understand that their beers had a royal warrant – if anyone has any details, I would love to hear from them. Beasley’s Brewery was taken over by the much larger Courage in 1963; not much later it was closed down. You can see a collection of Beasley Brewery photographs and beer mats which have been framed and hung on the wall of the excellent Robin Hood and Little John pub in Lion Road, Bexleyheath.

Regular Maggot Sandwich reader Deborah contacted me shortly after I published last week's Blog update to let me know that Vox amplifier inventor Dick Denney was her Mum's next door neighbour for many years. His idea grew from a portable amplifier-speaker unit he developed, while convalescing from illness in 1952, for use with his Hawaiian guitar. In 1955, Dick demonstrated his system - not the first to be made in this country, but certainly the most effective - to the owner of a Dartford music shop, Tom Jennings, who proposed a joint manufacturing venture. So began Jennings Musical Industries, and the trademark, Vox, was applied to all Dick's JMI work. Indeed, the early 1960s rise of British guitar groups caused an explosion of interest that left JMI struggling to keep up with demand. Dick produced three more original designs - a 100-watt amplifier, three times the power of any previous equipment; a guitar-organ, allowing the guitarist to produce his own accompaniment; and a wireless microphone system, the forerunner of those used in today's stage musicals. This was on top of his work on his most famous creation, the Vox AC30 amplifier - the sound of the "British Invasion". Dick was born in Erith, and, at an early age, became interested in the guitar and amateur radio, whose novelty attracted thousands of hobbyists in the 1930s and to this day. He was soon a leading exponent of the Hawaiian guitar, and his radio skills enabled him to listen to American shortwave radio broadcasts, which inspired his creation of instruments and amplifying equipment. His fragile health excluded him from wartime armed forces; instead, he worked at Vickers' munitions factory, in Crayford, where he first met the accordion-playing Jennings, who shared his interest in musical innovation. After the war, Dick ran a radio and sound equipment shop at Belvedere, Kent, until illness - and the idea for the Vox - struck in 1952. Jennings sold JMI in 1964, by which time a franchise agreement had been struck with an American manufacturer for use of the Vox name. Dick left the company in 1967 to pursue a career as an independent consultant and designer, which he maintained until his death. You can see a very rare clip of Dick Denney on American TV quiz / light entertainment show "I've got a Secret" where he demonstrates the then brand new and very far ahead of its time Vox V251 Guitar Organ to a somewhat confused panel of contestants. The guitar organ shown in the video was the prototype, and the only one in existence when the TV show was filmed. Around seventy hand built models followed, but due to the bulk, requirement for an additional external power supply and the complexity of the guitar organ, not to mention the weight around the players' neck, the model may have been groundbreaking, but it was never a big seller. It was a direct predecessor, and inspiration to the SynthAxe of the mid 1980's. Yet another case of Vox being ahead of the game by a considerable distance.



One reader posted the following comment on Vox / JML last week:- "Your article on JMI brought back a few memories! I worked there in the office from 1966, and musicians would come in to arrange what equipment they wanted. Dave Clark would pop in wearing scruffy jeans and a t-shirt instead of his smart stage suit. One time I went across to the factory and there was Brian Jones (Stones) sitting cross-legged up on a pile of pallets playing a flute, in a world of his own. Meeting 'rock stars' in that environment made me see them not as idols, but people doing their job. Still bought their records though!" I also discovered that renowned Guitarist Vic Flick used one in recording the “James Bond Theme” heard first on the Dr. No soundtrack (1962). The Shadows, the great instrumental group led by guitarist Hank Marvin, were early adopters of Vox as well. I have had several former JMI / Vox employees contact me over the last couple of weeks with a number of recollections of working at either the Dartford or Erith factories. I have been in a bit of a quandary; the accounts that I have been sent do not always tally, with significant differences between them. Obviously memories dim - the events took place well over fifty years ago, it is only to be expected under the circumstances. I will be publishing further recollections of the company over the next couple of weeks; it was a very significant contributor to the whole 60's music scene.

I have long maintained that the Oyster card public travel prepayment system used by Transport for London (TFL) is full of faults and inconsistencies; this week this was only thrown into sharp relief by a report from the London Evening Standard. London’s commuters have been charged £365 million in the past six years for forgetting to tap in and out at train stations. One of the worst hot spots for Oyster over - charging is Bank station - a destination / interchange very commonly used by Bexley residents. The total revenue raised from incomplete journeys on the transport network rose by £53 million in just twelve months, increasing from a total of £277m in 2015 to £330m in 2016. In addition, those using contactless cards who did not tap in or out have been charged £40 million since 2015, with £5 million reimbursed. TfL said they have regular announcements and signage at stations reminding customers to touch in and out, and also regularly run marketing campaigns. There are also leaflets outlining how to use Oyster and Contactless at our stations and online. While they collect fares on behalf of National Rail, the London Overground and Docklands Light Railway, they are not responsible for the signage in all stations in the network. Nevertheless it does show that the refunding functionality of the greater Oyster card operation is failing and is not currently fit for purpose. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

I was doing some research into the history of Chislehurst Caves this week; I knew that they had a very strong link to the 1960's and early 1970's London live music scene, and bands such as The Rolling Stones, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, David Bowie, Pink Floyd and Status Quo all played on the small stage within the caves. Chislehurst Caves are not naturally occurring; it would be more accurate to call the place Chislehurst Mine, as it was originally a chalk and flint nodule mine, the earliest reference to which dates back to at least 1215AD. Pretty much everyone knows that it was a huge and impenetrable bomb shelter during much of World War II, but what is less known is that in the years shortly before the war it was Britain's largest mushroom farm! The caves have also been used as a location for a number of TV shows and some big screen movies, of varying budget and quality. The classic Doctor Who story "The Mutants", the spectacular flop that was the 1986 film "Biggles - Adventures in Time" and possibly most notably, the 1981 micro budgetted British sci fi horror movie "Inseminoid" were filmed mainly in the cave complex.

Some good news for local employment - the Amazon delivery warehouse located in Crabtree Manorway North in Lower Belvedere is due to take on some additional employees due to an expansion countrywide over the next year which will include the addition of around five thousand new jobs, at least some of which will be locally based. I know that opinion regarding Amazon and their working practices is divided, but more local jobs has got to be a good thing overall.

As anyone who closely follows Malcolm Knight's excellent "Bexley is Bonkers" blog, a huge amount of redevelopment and new construction work has been carried out in and around Abbey Wood for the last few years, and the completion of Crossrail next year will not bring an end to the work; if anything it may well increase as the whole area becomes more attractive to wealthier people from outside of the region, who look towards Abbey Wood, Thamesmead and Plumstead as being desirable places to move into due to their vastly improved transport connections. Much of Thamesmead is to be redeveloped, and it is predicted that the area around Abbey Wood Station will become a very desirable location. One victim of this development work has been The Cat Cuddles Sanctuary, which is run by Evina Koroni and has been running since 2009, although Evina has been fostering cats for charities such as Cats Protection Greenwich, Celia Hammond and Cats Protection Bexley. The sanctuary is threatened with closure after its application for planning permission was rejected by Greenwich Council. All in all this is a rather run of the mill story, and not one you would expect to create much in the way of upset. Not in this case. The News Shopper comments section on the story has gone mad; there are a small and very vocal number of residents from the area around the sanctuary who appear to be utterly opposed to the sanctuary, whatever accommodations or compromises the sanctuary operators offer. It would appear that feelings are running extremely high, but it seems to me that the real reason has nothing to do with the Cat Cuddles Sanctuary at all, the sanctuary situation is merely the focus of the frustrations of Abbey Wood residents over the problems that they have with overcrowding and car parking. As one rather more reasoned and sensible commenter writes:- "It seems that a very small minority have unfounded complaints mainly about an issue that has been resolved, and yet this comes up time and time again despite a suitable remedy being in place for some time. It is unfortunate that this issue is overshadowing the reality of this situation and hopefully there will be a positive outcome. This is not a sanctuary but a foster home where a few cats are living until new homes are found, would you have these poor creatures left in unsafe situations? There is little point in constantly combating against an issue that has been resolved, I have visited this street on many occasions and never had an issue with obstructions on the pavement. Parking has also never been an issue though this is London, in my street commuters come and park all day, the parking issue can be easily resolved with parking restrictions imposed though this it seems this is not currently needed or surely it would have already been addressed by now. This is rather like a tennis match with one person claiming there are continual litter deliveries and despite several people saying this has now been sorted and has been for some considerable time the main complainant does not acknowledge this. It seems that ears is upset for some reason and unwilling at this stage to consider communicating about existing rather than historic issues. As for the parking issue there is a lot of building work going on which is likely to increase cars in the area. Several of the staff have said they get the bus to volunteer at the foster home but this too is ignored in the comments. I for one park in Howarth Road to go to the garden centre as it is safer than parking on that main road. Impartial evidence provided from the environmental health states there is no issue with odour or noise and I have never noted any such issue. Again this appears to be an emotional rather than evidential response from a minority. It is difficult when upset to consider objective evidence, perhaps some distance and consideration of facts rather than anecdotal subjective opinion will assist in gaining clarity. I have seen that attendance at the foster home is by appointment only, this would indicate the proprietor is considering the impact and dealing with it in a considerate manner. Someone states they have 6 cars at their property, how many other people have multiple car ownership so is it a matter of residents parking that causes congestion rather than visitors. If the foster home was to close and a network of fosterers for example put in place, more cars would actually visit that address for advice and quick pick up for collection of the fostered animal on day of arrival which would exacerbate not resolve parking issues. That said I have never been unable to park in Howarth Road in the ten years of frequenting the area for a variety of reasons. As properties are coming on the market it seems many are being turned into HMOs, I know which sort of residence I would want in my street having suffered this, and many, though not all landlords allow properties to fall into a terrible state and residents, again not all, do not take responsibility for containing noise and rubbish to a reasonable level. The world is a selfish place, it really would be good if a charity that helps local people and animals, having operated without issues for so many years is allowed to continue. The noise and mess made by foxes is arguable far more noticeable than the quiet, calm of the foster home on Howarth Road. I will certainly support any motion for Evina Koroni to continue to deliver this invaluable service to the community and the poor creatures that would surely die in part without her and her team and appeal for scrutinisation of facts rather than the emotional responses that are so far noted here". You can read the full story, along with the huge array of comments both for and against the cat sanctuary by clicking here. I get the feeling that as the population of the local area increases over the next decade, such neighbourhood conflicts are only going to become more common and heated. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

And now a serious appeal for help by the local Police. Apologies for the grainy image above, but it was taken from a security camera located in the entrance hall of a retirement care home in Hazel Road, Slade Green at two minutes past ten in the evening on Sunday the 5th February. Video footage shows two scumbags stealing a large flat screen TV that they had taken from the old people's home. Anyone who knows who the scrote pictured above is can take some satisfaction in dropping them deeply in it by contacting Bexley CID via 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. Needless to say that the criminals are utterly the lowest of the low. The TV cannot be worth very much in monetary terms, but to the person from whom it was stolen, it would have almost certainly meant the world. When you are housebound, or a resident in a care home, the opportunity to get out often does not present itself very often, and for those with mobility or cognitive challenges, it can mean that the only real contact they have with the world outside of the home is via their television. I know this from experience - my late Dad was a resident at the Gallions View nursing home until his death in 2011, and for many of the residents of the home depended wholly on their televisions. How two individuals could lack the empathy and compassion to blatantly steal from an old people's home is utterly beyond me. I hope that these two are caught as soon as possible. If you can help, you can let the Police know anonymously should you so wish.

Manor Road in Erith has a rich industrial history that is unknown to many local residents. Before the First World War Erith possessed extensive brick fields in Manor Road, to the East of the town centre. The deposit of the iron rich brick earth stretched all the way into Slade Green, where a company called Rutter's Brick Works was in operation for many years. The finished bricks were exported by ship from Anchor Bay Wharf, which was connected to the pits and brickworks by a tramway. The semi liquid brick clay was transferred from the more distant pits to the main brickworks in Manor Road by a network of iron pipes; apparently the ovens which fired the bricks were kept working around the clock, and in cold weather it was not uncommon to find tramps and vagrants using the buildings as somewhere warm and dry to spend the night. Nowadays many businesses are still based at the Eastern end of the road, whilst the Western end is exclusively residential.

Pollution campaigners protesting against the proposed London City Cruise Port at Greenwich’s Enderby Wharf have seen their latest, and possibly last, legal attempt to halt the development fail. A crowd-funded attempt to appeal a High Court ruling which endorsed the application was rejected by Lord Justice Henderson last Wednesday (February the 22nd). East Greenwich Residents Association, had taken Greenwich Borough Council to a judicial review in July 2016 for failing to address the cumulative impact on air quality of cruise liners “hotelling” at the new riverside stop. Campaigners, including Poplar and Limehouse MP Jim Fitzpatrick, had argued that on-shore power supply would prevent cruise liners having to run their heavy fuel oil engines 24 hours a day. That was considered by the council and operators to be unusual, expensive and impractical. When the judge ruled in the judicial review that the council had made no error in law in reaching its decision last year, the campaigners sought permission to appeal, which has now been refused. Without the provision of cleaner shore based power supplies, it is feared that the level of particulates and sulphur in the air not only in Enderby Wharf, but along the river Thames corridor - which will include Plumstead, Thamesmead, Abbey Wood, Lower Belvedere, Erith and Slade Green will also suffer as the cruise ships transit up and down river on a daily basis.

The end video this week is a bit of a find. It is the driver's eye view from the cab of a networker train as it travels from Erith Station to Cannon Street - a journey many locals make on a regular basis when commuting into London for work. Seeing the journey from the point of view of the train driver is something that you most definitely don't often see.

Happy Birthday.

I don't normally feature photos of myself on the Maggot Sandwich. I feel that doing so normally would smack of ego mania. This week I am making an exception, even if it is nearly twenty four years out of date. You will have probably seen in the press that this weekend (OK – actually Friday just gone, if you really feel like being pedantic) marked the 50^th anniversary of groundbreaking offshore station Radio Caroline. There has been much TV and press coverage of the birthday and the various events that have been held to commemorate the fact. The history of Radio Caroline is long and complex; several books have been written on the subject, with varying viewpoints on both the station and the people who worked on it. You can read the very detailed Wikipedia entry on the station by clicking here. Many people only know about the offshore radio stations in the 1960's, and don't realise that Caroline ran through most of the 1970's until the ship the Mi Amigo sank in 1980; after this they returned to the air in 1983 with a huge and very impressive ship - the former side trawler and ice breaker the Ross Revenge, which between 1983 and the hurricane of 1987 boasted a three hundred foot tall antenna mast, which was the highest free floating marine structure in the World. The Ross Revenge remained at sea until November 1991.  My time on board was towards the end of the station's time based at sea. Any semi clandestine organisation tends to attract eccentric characters, and Caroline was no different. In the greater scheme of things, my involvement with Radio Caroline was relatively brief – some people from the time, such as station manager Peter Moore are still hard at it today. My own time with Radio Caroline was between 1988 and 1992; You can see a handful of photos by clicking here. I have a couple of hundred others that are not yet digitised. Initially I was involved with a group of friends who helped run the shore side of the organisation, and arranged for secret supply deliveries to be made covertly to the Radio Caroline ship, the Ross Revenge, which was anchored fifteen miles off the Kent Coast, opposite the North Foreland in an area of sea called the South Falls Head. I made several secret supply runs on a variety of vessels – invariably these would set out from places such as Strood Pier or Ramsgate Harbour at the dead of night, laden down with fresh drinking water, food, technical supplies, new records, letters from listeners and most importantly, magazines and newspapers for the crew to read. At the time I was working as a trainee quantity surveyor for a very prestigious London company. More and more of my time was being taken up with Radio Caroline activities, to the point where I realised that I was going to have to give up the day job – which was not such a big step, as I was struggling with my surveying exams, and had already realised that life on a building site was not for me. I jacked in the job, and six weeks later I found myself on board the Ross Revenge. I had a dual role. In the daytime I was to project manage the complete repainting of the ship from stem to stern (I had encountered a very wealthy Radio Caroline fan who owned a large commercial painting and decorating business West of London, who was happy to supply the organisation with roughly £10,000 worth of high quality marine paint), then at night I hosted a radio show featuring album tracks and various quirky news items. I was fortunate that this all happened in the long and glorious summer of 1990 – the weather was excellent, sea conditions for the most part were calm, and life was good. I have a host of stories from my time with the station – many of which sound decidedly far- fetched, though in those cases I have photos from the period for proof! Several people have suggested that I write a book about my experiences, and maybe sometime I will. To be honest, quite a few other Caroline staff have written books over the years, and I wonder whether I would actually contribute anything worthwhile to the genre. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at sea on the Ross Revenge, and still keep in contact with my old boss Peter Moore from time to time (being honest, working for Radio Caroline is a bit like working for the Mafia – you never really leave). Nowadays, though the station has retained and restored the historic Ross Revenge, it broadcasts mainly online from land based studios. You can hear the station live right now by clicking here. Happy birthday Radio Caroline – an organisation I am proud to say I worked for; I think you gave me far more than I was able to give you.

For what seems quite a long time now, Erith has been very much of a dormitory town. Once the sun goes down, the place seems to go to sleep until the next morning. A lot of people commute into London. You only have to use Erith Station to know how busy it gets in the morning and evening peak periods – the term “rush hour” seems to me to be inappropriate, as the period last several hours twice a day. Even the relatively recent arrival of Erith Riverside Shopping Centre has not altered this; the centre closes its huge steel gates at 6pm sharp, and the centre of Erith is thus closed. The only pub in the vicinity of the town centre is the Running Horses – a hostelry that is way past its golden years of the late 80’s / early 90’s when it was a venue of choice with an excellent first floor carvery with an amazing view across the River Thames, which made the venue extremely popular with whole families. The place still serves food, but it is pretty indifferent and far less well patronised than of yore, and it has an appearance of being rather tired and run down. Other than this, the town centre basically closes at 6pm. Much has been said of encouraging local residents to eat or socialise locally, as to do this currently one really needs to go to Northumberland Heath, Upper Belvedere or Bexleyheath to find any half decent pubs or restaurants. The only post 6pm eating options are fast food outlets like KFC and McDonald’s, or opting for a takeaway, and taking your life in your hands in respect of the risk of food poisoning. Besides which, a takeaway really does not fulfil the idea of eating out. Plans are afoot for a new restaurant smack bang in the town centre, but outside of the Riverside Shopping Centre gates. I am sworn to secrecy at the moment, but once the moratorium ends I will have an exciting announcement to make on a venue that should regenerate Erith as a night time venue. Watch this space.

News reaches me that the long established local business Crayford Citroen, which has been located in London Road, Crayford for the last thirty years, and owned by the Waller family during all of that period has been sold to the Wilmoths Group – the largest Citroen dealer in Kent. The reason for the sale was that the Waller brothers wanted to retire, and felt that selling the business on as a going concern would be their best option. I understand that all warranties and service contracts will transfer seamlessly between the two companies – so customers should experience a continuity of service. It is a pity that yet another family run company is no more, but that seems to be the way of things nowadays.

Here is a new track from Chap Hop pioneer Professor Elemental, who says "I'm British". Quite.

Contrary to the expectations of certain media pundits, global sales of televisions are actually falling. Many expected sales to increase as countries such as China and India become more wealthy, and more of their huge populations can afford to buy a TV set. Worldwide TV sales are currently around seventy million units per quarter, likely to drop to around fifty million by the end of 2014. Some of the drop can be attributed to the fact that most Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) television sets have now been replaced by flat screens (mostly LCD flat screen technology) and that the market in Europe, the Americas and the Far East is now saturated. Strangely, the purchasing figures in developing countries are not rising as had been predicted; the uptake of new TV sets has not risen as the GDP of each developing nation rises. On top of this, the manufacturing giants of the 1980’s and 1990’s – the likes of Sony and Panasonic are now being eclipsed by newer, more agile companies in Taiwan, China and South Korea, the largest of these being Samsung, who are now the market leader in mid price televisions. The bottom line is not as many people are buying televisions as had been predicted. The reason for this is that we may now be entering the very beginning of the “post television” world. Viewers no longer wish to sit in a specific place to watch a programme – the concept of the TV as the heart of the living room is something that may have less importance in future. Viewers want content on mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets – and it is noticeable that there has been a massive surge in iOS and Android tablet sales, which seems to mirror the drop in television sales. It seems that people all over the world, but especially in developing areas are bypassing TV and going directly to viewing TV content online via iPad and Android tablets. If this was not bad enough for the manufacturers, not only have sales slowed, but those of the lucrative “Smart Television” sector have positively stalled. Speaking from my own experience, I can see why. I have a Samsung 46ES8000 smart television, and don’t use any of the smart features at all. After the initial novelty of having a web browser, on demand content from BBC iPlayer, and basic computer through the television, I found that everything apart from showing TV content could be done better by other, dedicated devices. Basically smart televisions are good at being televisions, and pretty poor at everything else. Word seems to be getting around that you are better off buying a cheaper non smart TV and spending the difference on a laptop or tablet device, or indeed do what those in the developing world appear to be doing, and dispense with the TV for good. I know that the BBC are very aware of this change in viewing habits; this is one of the main reasons that they are spending so much money and effort to upgrade and expand BBC iPlayer with extra features and increased levels of content – they know that they have to compete with the likes of Netflix and LoveFilm with users viewing content on multiple platforms. The dominance of the goggle box in the corner of the living room is ending, and I foresee the funding model will also have to change –doing away with the licence fee and replacing it with a subscription. How the BBC radio network would fare if this was to happen is open to debate, but I think it will end up coming to pass in the end, and probably sooner than many anticipate.

It strikes me as ironic that only weeks after the Erith Cross Street Law Centre was forced to close its doors due to the withdrawal of public funding, that a major local story breaks which has led to substantial custodial sentences to two individuals that almost certainly would not have happened had it not been for the actions of the aforementioned law centre. Two individuals  - Anthony Okoh and Victor Chiazor have been convicted to four and a half years and eighteen months in prison respectively, after having been found guilty of conspiracy to facilitate a breach of immigration law, contrary to the Criminal Law Act 1977, and using unlicensed security operatives contrary to the Private Security Industry Act 2001. The two crooks had been running a private security firm called Blue Feathers Guarding, which formed part of a scam which netted the duo around six million pounds. The fraud was simple. They hired in security staff – many of whom were both unlicensed and untrained, along with some being illegal immigrants. The firm charged clients the regular market rate for security guards, but only paid the guards £3 per hour – less than half the legal minimum wage. One exploited worker who was a legal UK resident contacted the Cross Street Law Centre, and was advised on their legal position; subsequently the Home Office criminal investigation team, and a task group from the Security Industry Authority investigated the activities of Blue Feather Guarding. They found that in addition to paying illegally low wages to their staff, they were deliberately targeting illegal immigrants and turning away legally resident applicants for guarding positions, as they knew that illegal immigrant employees would not report the low wages to the authorities for fear of being deported. It was a classic example of ensnarement – the company could treat guards as virtual slaves, and by all accounts, this is indeed what happened. If the case had happened now, the chances are it would not have been stopped, as there is no local recourse to anyone requiring free employment legal advice. The law centre is no more, and I feel sure that a number of similarly criminal employers are now breathing a sigh o f relief. I know that Erith and Thamesmead MP Teresa Pearce was also very active in getting this case to court; something that does not surprise me at all. As many readers will know, I have a very jaundiced view of party politics, and have a default view that “you know a politician is lying because their lips are moving”. I make a notable exception in the case of Ms Pearce, who I know quite well. She sincerely cares about the local area, has lived here for years, and does a hell of a lot of great stuff that never gets into the press. Personally, I would support her whichever of the mainstream parties she represented, as she puts local people and issues before all of the Westminster claptrap; something I feel is very unusual nowadays.

A question. Why do modern computer keyboards have CAPS LOCK keys? Who ever (apart from deranged people ranting on discussion forums) uses block capitals anyway? The key seems completely redundant. Personally I think that they are included out of a misplaced sense of tradition. An old mechanical typewriter might have need of a caps lock key, but I really am at a loss on their continued existence. Answers please on a postcard, or better still leave a comment below.

The on / off situation with the Thames Gateway river crossing has been brought to the attention of the press once again by Lord Adonis (a name reminiscent of a minor character from He – Man and the Masters of the Universe). The peer, who is shadow minister for infrastructure is keen for the project to be restarted after it was kicked into the long grass by London mayor Boris, back in 2008. Lord Adonis is backing the “Bridge East London” campaign, which is highlighting the fact that there are currently twenty two river crossings West of Tower Bridge, and only two to the East of it. This is a bit ingenuous – part of the reason for fewer crossings West of Tower Bridge is that the River Thames gets dramatically wider, the further east it goes, along with this, the geology of the underlying river bed changes, becoming harder to work , making both bridge building and tunnelling substantially more challenging. The project that was abandoned back in 2008 will be back on track if Lord Adonis gets his way. A connection between Beckton on the North bank of the Thames, and Gallions Reach on the South bank was backed by 68% of local residents when they were polled. The problem with this is that many of those polled don’t live in the area around the Southern side of the proposed river crossing in and around the Gallions Reach Nursing Home. The home, which is now situated in a very sleepy and quiet residential neighbourhood, would be a next door neighbour to a crammed dual carriage way. Imagine living in the middle of the Sun in the Sands Roundabout on the Blackwall tunnel approach road, and this will give you an idea of the noise an disruption. On the flip side, the Gallions crossing would reduce the dreadful bottle – neck that happens twice every day at rush hour (more like several hours) and it would also open up the deprived and poorly used area in and around Beckton to development and investment. It might also encourage the wealthy residents of the private Woolwich Arsenal residential development to venture into East London from their gated community once in a while.  One comment that occurs time and again is that a majority of people are in favour of new river crossings, be they tunnels or bridges, just as long as they are not on their own doorstep. One place that could conceivably make an ideal location for a new tunnel would be from Ferry Lane in Rainham across to the A2016 Bronze Age Way in Lower Belvedere. It could potentially link buses run from Rainham railway station to Belvedere Station,  and motor vehicles from the A13 through to the South Circular via Eastern Way, and the A2 via Bronze Age Way and Northumberland Heath. This crossing would have to be over and above the much more ambitious crossing that would be required at Northfleet or Ebbsfleet to connect the proposed new garden city discussed last week with Essex and the Eastern approach to London. I know that there is a school of thought that the more roads you build, the more traffic you will get; this may be true to some extent, but there are a finite number of drivers in the area, and they won't all be using their vehicles all of the time. Personally I think the benefits to the region from having vastly improved cross – river connectivity would greatly exceed any increase in pollution levels; in any case, by the time any of these new crossings actually come to pass, the numbers of very low or zero emissions vehicles will be far higher than now, so the pollution issue may to some extent actually be moot.

If you ask a number of retired people who have lived locally for any length of time about Beasley’s Beer, you will get a number of responses – not all of them good. Beasley’s Brewery was located in Plumstead, in Brewery road, off Lakedale Road.  Before the Second World War,  it was owned by Harry Geoffrey Beasley, who had inherited the brewery. The income from this made him wealthy, and enabled him to spend much of his life engaged in his passion for anthropology; he travelled the world studying various tribes and peoples, and wrote many academic papers on the subject. He was considered to be a leader in his field of study, and in 1932 he became president of the Royal Anthropological Institute, a post he held until 1937, when ill – health in the form of Diabetes meant he had to stand down from the office. For most of his married life he lived in Cranmore House in Chislehurst, where he set up the Cranmore Ethnographical Museum, which housed six thousand exhibits that Beasley had collected during his travels. He died in 1939, when his collection was moved to the British Museum – just in time, as the house was destroyed during the Blitz. From the records I have read, Harry Beasley had a pretty hands – off relationship with the brewery from which he derived his not inconsiderable income. Local resident Roger Jewiss recalls the following story about day to day life for the average working man in Beasley’s Brewery: "My Grandfather was a blacksmith and during the depression found work a bit hard to find. He was pleased to get two days work to do a repair in the brewery. All employees were given two brass tokens a day which they could exchange for a pint of beer. My grandfather, very hot at his temporary forge, had used his tokens and was indeed very pleased when a brewery worker called down to him, “ Fancy a pint blacky?” “ Not 'arf,” replied my grandfather. Soon after, a copper vessel came slowly down from the vat above, on a long wire, and my grandfather gratefully quenched his thirst. “ Thanks”, he shouted back to his new friend, “that certainly was a long pint.”  “PINT!” came the reply, “that vessel held a gallon!”. The account was originally published on the Plumstead Stories website that you can see here. My Grandfather on my Mum’s side (and indeed my Mum) called the output of the brewery “Beasley’s beastly beer” as they both heartily loathed it. Apparently this was a not uncommon opinion at the time, thought for a period I understand that their beers had a royal warrant – if anyone has any details, I would love to hear from them. Beasley’s Brewery was taken over by the much larger Courage in 1963; not much later it was closed down. You can see a collection of Beasley Brewery photographs and beer mats which have been framed and hung on the wall of the excellent Robin Hood and Little John pub in Lion Road, Bexleyheath.

The ending vide this week is a hoot. A German chap by the name of Jeorg Sprave, who makes incredible devices powered by industrial strength rubber bands; the chap is quite a character and his YouTube channel is well worth a visit if you want to admire some high quality German engineering along with a laugh. Do give it a try. Here he constructs a revolving anti Zombie gun, which fires high energy toilet brushes at the evil undead. You could not make it up. Comments below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.