The waiting room.

I was a passenger on a 99 bus heading up Fraser Road and into Bexley Road on Monday afternoon; even by the standards of the normally congested junction, which feeds into the narrow bridge across the railway adjacent to Erith Station, the traffic was at an uncharacteristic crawl. I debated getting off the bus at the stop opposite Christ Church Erith, but on a whim decided to wait out the delay, as I was in no special hurry at the time. When the bus eventually reached the railway bridge, it became apparent that there was a reason for the congestion and delay. Five fire engines, six Police cars, including an unmarked Citroen Cactus and a couple of ambulances were crowded around the Eastern side of the De Luci fish roundabout, where it appeared that a metallic green Ford Ranger sports utility vehicle had been hit by a heavy goods vehicle. As I went past on the bus, I could see that the firefighters had cut the roof from the Ford Ranger, and appeared to have once person on a stretcher, whilst a group of other firefighters were crowding around the back seat of the wrecked vehicle; I could not see what they are doing, and to be honest I was quite thankful for this. The situation looked grave, but the emergency services were working quickly and efficiently to rescue the people involved in the distressing incident. What did surprise and to be honest, annoy me, was the number of civilian bystanders who were taking photos of the Police, ambulance and fire crews whilst they were working to save the unfortunate victims of the crash. Nobody seemed to think that it was inappropriate or distasteful to record video or take still images of what could have been at least one potential fatality. Suffice to say that even though it would have made a very news worthy item, I did not take any images. The accident highlights how dangerous the De Luci fish roundabout really is. One of the main problems is the number of foreign lorries who enter the roundabout quite fast, and with limited room to manoeuvre - usually after having come along Bronze Age Way; because the lorries are left hand drive, they have great difficulty in seeing vehicles that are already on the roundabout and are looking to use the third exit. It is easy to see how a foreign driver could fail to see a vehicle under such circumstances. The onlookers appeared to be treating the tragic situation as some kind of sideshow, which I felt was in very poor taste. There have been a number of projects suggested to widen the road bridge which crosses the railway next to Christ Church in Bexley Road, as this acts as a bottle neck, being only a single lane wide, whilst the other roads connecting to the De Luci fish roundabout are all dual carriageways. To date, apart from some temporary remedial brick work carried out on the bridge a couple of years ago, nothing has actually come to pass. What do you think? Did you see the accident, or the aftermath? Leave a comment below, or alternatively Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Earlier this week, the RSPCA declared that Erith, Thamesmead, Sidcup, Abbey Wood and Lower Belvedere as crisis sites for unauthorised free, or fly grazing areas for unwanted horses and ponies. Free, or fly grazing sees animals tethered and left on areas of open ground, waste land and even on football pitches or other areas intended for leisure use. in an interview with The News Shopper, RSPCA Inspector Nicholas Wheelhouse said:- "We find some people who have horses and have just kept them on undeveloped land, but as the developers are now snapping up these sites, the horses are being moved on. The knock-on effect is that with a shortage of green land we are finding that the owners are then tethering their horses on the side of the roads or keeping them in very poor makeshift enclosures, not even fields. It’s an issue that I as an inspector am seeing on the increase, as sadly, if the horses are not attended to well enough, welfare problems can start and that's when we become involved. I’ve seen horses in places you wouldn’t ever expect them to be and many in really built-up areas," he said. The practice of “fly-grazing” has become increasingly common both in the local area, and also around the country. Thousands of horses and ponies are being abandoned by their erstwhile owners as irresponsible breeding, spiralling bills and sale prices which have reached rock bottom take their toll. A pony can fetch as little as £5 at auction – if it sells at all, whilst stable costs, feed and vets bills can amount to around £100 per week per animal. The six main horse welfare charities have come together to compile a report on the situation; it would also appear that the European appetite for horse meat may be fuelling the situation – a £5 pony can turn into a £230 carcass on the European meat market. It may be that ponies are actually being farmed for live export to France, Belgium and Italy. The RSPCA have called for legislation that will enable them to more quickly identify owners and punish them with fines and the seizure of animals for fly-grazing. They also want a review of agreements allowing the free movement of horses not intended for slaughter between Britain, Ireland and France. The British horse population is thought to be just under one million animals in size. The vast majority are owned privately for leisure – a sector which, unlike the horse racing industry, has not historically been tightly regulated.  A new bill was brought into law a couple of years ago which hopefully may go far to changing this situation, thought to date implementations seems to have been patchy. The Control of Horses Act 2015 made changes to the law to deter people from illegally grazing or simply abandoning horses on public and private land, which, as mentioned earlier, is known as ‘fly-grazing’. As many as 3,000 horses are thought to be illegally fly-grazing across the country. The changes mean horse owners who fly-graze their animals without permission can now be dealt with more quickly and effectively. These changes to the law will give rural communities greater powers to deal with thousands of horses that are left to graze illegally without the land owners’ permission. Horses that are left to fly-graze can now potentially be re-homed much more quickly and effectively, improving the welfare of these animals and preventing disruption to communities. By allowing abandoned horses to be re-homed much more quickly, this act should encourage owners to pay proper attention to their animals’ welfare and ensure communities are no longer blighted by the illegal practice of fly-grazing, although in reality this is often not the outcome. Under the previous Animals Act 1971 an abandoned horse could only be disposed of after 14 days through sale at market or public auction. The 2015 Act means fly-grazing horses have to be reported to police within 24 hours, and owners now have four days to claim their animals. Previously, an abandoned horse could only be disposed of through sale at market or public auction. The 2015 law extends the options for dealing with abandoned horses, which now include private sale, gifting and rehoming. Hopefully this will go some way into resolving the long standing problem, although with the announcement of the local fly grazing crisis areas by the RSPCA on Tuesday, this in actuality does not seem to be the case. Actually determining the owners of the fly grazed animals is often very difficult, as the animals have no registration or other ownership documents. The owners are now resorting in some cases to leaving sick animals to die, rather than having them properly treated by a vet. Only last week the corpse of a pony was discovered in a small field in Sidcup. It would seem that no amount of legislation will stop the misuse of ponies and horses if the authorities are not prepared to enforce it properly.

Every few months, the IT press publishes a story along the lines of "this will mark the death of Email" highlighting some product or application which they think will end the dominance of Email, yet it never actually happens. Despite social networking (which many will know I personally despise) and other communication tools, venerable Email continues to the the tool of choice for very many people. This week Google, as the single largest web based Email provider in the world, announced what appeared to be a serious hack to their Email service. The truth was something rather more mundane. Gmail users in both the USA and Europe reported last Monday that that someone has indeed created and sent spam with forged email headers. These not only override the send address, so that it appears a legitimate Gmail user sent the message, but it also mysteriously shows up in that person's sent box as if they had typed it and emitted themselves. In turn, the messages would also appear in their inboxes as sent mail. Users have been noticing and reporting the problem for a few days on Google's Gmail help forum. In each case, users said that messages they never wrote were showing up in their folders. While using fake headers to disguise the source of spam emails is nothing new, it is very unusual for a copy of those messages to appear as sent mail. This, understandably, led Gmail users to worry their accounts had been hijacked. Google says there has been no breach in this case. Rather, someone has been spoofing email headers. "We have actively taken measures to protect against a spam campaign that impacted a small subset of Gmail users. This attempt involved forged email headers that made it appear as if users were receiving emails from themselves, which also led to those messages erroneously appearing in the Sent folder," a Google representative said in a recent interview on The Register website. "We have identified and reclassified all offending emails as spam, and have no reason to believe any accounts were compromised as part of this incident. If you happen to notice a suspicious email, we encourage you to report it as spam." How exactly the spammer was able to not only spoof the headers but also make the messages appear in mail boxes of the faked sender is still a mystery. According to experts, there isn't anything too serious to worry about here, and Google was not in any way hacked or compromised. Rather, this is one of the basic functions of Gmail that, in this case, is being abused by annoying scumbags. A technical staff member at IT Security company Spamhaus, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Register website that messages fall into the sent box when the person being spoofed is BCC'ed with the spam. Gmail notices that the BCC'd user was also listed as the sender, thanks to the spoofed header, and in an attempt to tidy things up, puts the message into the sent pile. In a legitimate context, this is a nice way to avoid inbox clutter – in this case, however, it tricks folks into thinking they have been hacked. The bottom line is that your Gmail account is actually secure.

I had occasion on Wednesday to travel on the Bexleyheath railway line to Denmark Hill. I have visited Bexleyheath Station a couple of times in the last few years, but I am not that familiar with the place. I discovered shortly after reaching the station that I had just missed a Victoria bound train - the one I needed to catch to reach Denmark Hill; the Victoria trains only run twice an hour, so I had something like a 25 minute wait for the next one. Somewhat miffed, I pondered what to do with the time. It was then pointed out to me that the London bound platform at Bexleyheath Station has something one scarcely sees nowadays - a properly appointed waiting room for the use of passengers. As you can see in the two photos above - click on either for a larger view - the waiting room is light and airy, and immaculately clean. There is a small library of books available under an honesty service - if you take a book, you are asked to replace it with another for someone else to read. Pot plants are on the window sill, and the centre table even has a visitor's book - which has been signed by hundreds of people leaving compliments about the unexpectedly well - looked after and hospitable waiting space. Whilst I was there, a member of station staff came in to check that everything was as it should be in the waiting room - she even made sure all of the books in the two book cases were standing up straight. I understand that future plans for the waiting room include a gallery of paintings by local artists - apparently the final arrangements are being put into place for this over the next few weeks. The 1920's vintage parquet floor adds much character to the place. I had been entirely unaware of the waiting room until this week. I am pleasantly surprised by such local "hidden gems". If you know of any similar places in the local area that most residents are entirely unaware of, then please let me know, either by leaving a comment below, or by Emailing me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Now for the weekly local safety and security news from Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association. First an update from Barnehurst ward:- "Sadly we have had a Robbery reported on the ward this week. On Saturday 21st April at 9.30 PM the victim a male aged 14 years old was in the play park in Manor Way / Northall Road with a group of friends when five black males allegedly entered the park, surrounded him and using force stole his bag containing his mobile phone. If you have any information regarding this or any other crime please call 101 or report online, alternatively call crime stoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. The team have been busy this week robustly dealing with reported motor bike Anti Social Behaviour across the ward. On 24th April we seized an off ride motor bike from a local youth after he continued to ride anti socially after having received a Section 59 police reform act 2002 warning only 5 days previously. We have also identified another youth using an off road dirt bike, he was issued with a section 59 warning this week, we will see if he learns his lesson. Of note the seized bike was insured and the rider had a relevant licence, legal or not if you ride anti socially we will take your bike. Section 59 is an excellent tool that we can use in addition to reporting the rider/s for road traffic offences, once a warning is given if a similar offence is committed within 12 months then we can seize the bike. The warning is issued to the rider so if he changes or uses a different bike then we will seize that as well, there is no limit to the number of times that a bike can be seized after the first warning is given. On a lighter note the team were invited into Mayplace Primary School as mystery readers, a fantastic idea where surprise guests read to the year one children, they certainly were not expecting the police to turn up. Our book of choice was ‘Hairy Maclary ‘. Finally please join us for a chat about any local issues that may be concerning you. A member of the team will be at Barnehurst Golf course at 1pm on Friday 4th May. Please spread the word. We are on twitter @MPSBarnehurst and Facebook just search Barnehurst Police". Belvedere ward:- "The AA came to assist the team at ASDA this week fitting anti-theft number plate screws to vehicles in a bid to reduce vehicle crime in the area. 28 vehicles had screws fitted. 11 people also showed an interest in Neighbourhood Watch in a bid to reduce other crime such as burglary. We will be holding more similar events soon! PCSO Worrall has been delivering letters to hundreds of houses to further increase Neighbourhood Watch coverage. PCSO Worrall has also be patrolling and visiting the new streets we are due to be gaining on May 3rd to introduce ourselves to the new community. PC Holmes will be issuing a rider with a Section 59 warning for using a vehicle in an Anti-Social manner, meaning if done again their vehicle can be seized. That is the 5th section 59 we have issued this Spring. We conducted enquiries regarding a potential welfare concern of a resident, however all was well. PC Holmes and PC Green dealt with a vulnerable female who was lost from a Belvedere home and was unable to speak. The team managed to ascertain who she was and get her home safely. We have had 1 burglary and 1 attempted burglary this week, so please look out for your neighbours and report suspicious activity". Brampton ward:- "Brampton Ward continues to be relatively crime free with only two crimes of note reported between the 19th and 26th of April. Both were shop liftings with meat stolen from Sainsbury's in Brampton Road on Tuesday 24th, and a basket of wine taken from the Co-op in Pickford Lane on Monday 23rd. CCTV is being checked and investigation ongoing. Targeted high visibility patrols are continually in operation in the battle against anti-social behaviour and burglaries. A battle we appear to be on top at the moment. Please stay vigilant and remember it’s local elections on Thursday 3rd May, with all new ward boundaries coming into force". Christchurch ward:- "We are happy to mention that we have no reported burglaries on the ward over the last week. We have had one attempted burglary reported on the 19/04/2018 at Upland Road Bexleyheath. The suspect had tried to gain access to the property via the front door. We have had a report of a theft from motor vehicle that was reported on the 18/04/2018. A window was left slightly open and items was taken from within the vehicle, vehicle was parked up along West Street; A theft of mobile phone was reported on the 21/04/2018. The victims phone was taken from the shop counter in the Foot Asylum store. We also had another one reported on the 18/04/2018, a phone was taken when it was unattended along Rochester Drive; Also a theft of a purse was reported on the 21/04/2018 along the Broadway Shopping Centre. Recently we have been having issues with vehicles causing anti-social behaviour in the ASDA car park. The team have strategies in place to deal with the issue. Just to remind you all, on the 26th April we have our contact point which will be held at the Central Library Bexleyheath at 4pm. We will be there for one hour, if you are around please feel free to come and speak to us. We are keen to set up more Neighbourhood Watches on our ward. If you do speak to anyone who lives on the ward who does not have NHW set up on their street. Please put them through to us if they are interested in maybe joining". Colyers ward:- "Unfortunately this week there was a nasty distraction burglary to an elderly resident in Eversley Avenue. The resident employed gardeners after receiving a leaflet through the door for ‘Kent Tree Surgeons’. Whilst others worked in the garden one asked to use the facilities after which they all went to lunch but did not return. A short while after the resident discovered a large amount of cash was missing. There appears to be a series of similar burglaries linked to these ‘Tree Surgeons’. A window was criminally damaged to a property in Birling Road by persons unknown. A hire car was stolen from an address in Merewood Road Barnehurst sometime between Saturday 14th and Thursday 19th April". Crayford ward:- "We are pleased to report that there have been no burglaries during the last week. The team have conducted several mini traffic operations around Crayford at different sites during which the following offences were dealt with; 1/ Obviously speeding; 2/ Two vehicles for no insurance (which were seized and taken to our police pound); 3/ Driving without due care an attention; 4/ Driving without a test certificate; 5/ Driving not in accordance with a licence; 6/ Section 59 issued to a moped rider who was riding erratically causing ASB; 7/Driving whilst using a mobile phone. We have also carried out two plain clothed operations in an attempt to deal with the drivers of two vehicles that have apparently been seen dealing and smoking drugs in Heatherbank Close. Four weapon sweeps have also been conducted around the ward this week". Erith ward:- "On Wednesday night we had our Ward Panel meeting I will provide an update from the meeting next week when I have had a chance to process it all. We had a meeting with residents in Park Spring court about ASB from youths in the area. A housing officer also attended and an action plan was put in place. Weapons sweeps have been carried out across the ward as well as arrest enquires. Seized drugs on Erith Pier - Class A and B drugs have been found in a vehicle in Cricketers Close Erith after plain clothes patrols in the area". Lesnes Abbey ward:- "Burglaries: Garage burglary occurred on Thursday 20/04/18 on Abbey Road between the hours of 08:45 and 09.15. The unlocked side door to the garage was wide open. The victim went down the garden to investigate and found that one of the two ‘up and over’ garage doors leading to an alleyway which runs the entire length of the road, was also wide open. 3 children’s pedal cycles taken; Attempted garage burglary on Thursday 20/04/18 between the hours of 03:05am and 03:24am on Abbey Road. The padlock was broken, nothing was taken as the alarm was activated. Apparently the suspect walked off; A distraction burglary occurred in Bedonwell Road on Thursday 20/04/18 between the hours of 13:45 and 13:50 hours. The two elderly residents had let in 2 males ,who stated that they were doing work on another resident’s property at the bottom of the victim’s garden and that they needed to inspect the fencing. A jewellery box was taken. A burglary occurred in Bedonwell Road on Friday 21/04/18 between the hours of 11:30 am and 07:30 pm. The front door was locked and secured however the outdoor was shut but not locked. Upon returning later that day ,the victim’s discovered the inner main front door, which is made up of safety glass, has been smashed and entry has been gained - an untidy search has taken place within the majority of rooms within. The victim’s did not note anything missing at the time other than a small yellow wristwatch which was taken from a jewellery box in the main front bedroom". North End ward:- "Two theft from motor vehicle offences in the last week. On Weds 17th April around 11am, a resident left their car unlocked in Manor Road and returned a few minutes later to find their handbag had been stolen. On Friday 19th April at 4pm, in Northend Road, a resident left their car keys in the ignition (engine was off) then a few moments later saw a male take the keys from the car and run off along Northend Road. Both crime reports have been generated by not securing the vehicle. No matter how long you are away from your car, always lock it as you never know who is around. PC James arrested then de-arrested a male on Saturday morning in Appold Street Erith. The suspect was stopped as he was smoking cannabis but would not give any details as to who he was. Upon arrest, the correct identification was given and documents to prove it. He was de-arrested but given a cannabis warning for being in possession of cannabis and smoking it in the street. At last weeks ward panel meeting the three promises chosen for us to keep a closer eye on over the next few months were ASB in Daleview, Frobisher Road Crime prevention patrols and Boundary Street – Keeping an eye on the blocks as they are slowly emptied of residents before re-development". Northumberland Heath ward:- "One residential burglary in Hythe Avenue this week which took place on Saturday April 21st between 11am and 9.45pm. Entry was gained via an open kitchen window, an untidy search as conducted but thankfully nothing was taken. The victims believe they may have been targeted for Asian Gold; One commercial business burglary in Bexley Road early on Sunday morning April 22nd. Entry was gained by lifting a fence panel in a garden at the rear of the shop premises, two rear doors were forced to gain entry. Cash was taken from the till along with cigarettes and goods to the value of £2,000; One criminal damage to a vehicle parked in Collindale Road on Monday April 23rd. Youths were seen throwing objects in the street which resulted in a windscreen of a vehicle being smashed. The Northumberland Heath Ward Panel meeting was held at St. Paul’s Church in Mill Road last Thursday April 19th. This was well attended and it was decided that the team would continue to focus on anti- social behaviour and community engagement in the coming three months. The next Coffee with Cops event will take place at the Sunshine Café in Parsonage Manorway on Friday May 4th between noon – 1pm". Thamesmead East ward:- "No Burglaries to report on Thamesmead East this week. Thursday 18th April. Criminal Damage, Kale Road - By persons unknown writing and scratching offensive words on front door of victims property; Criminal Damage, Seacourt Road - The victim reports damaged by persons unknown etching the letter “X” into the wooden gate causing damage; Criminal Damage, Cherbury Close - Suspect caused damage to glass on patio door at the rear of the property, however the victim stated that this is the second time in 1 year that damage has been caused to her property. She does not believe she is being targeted, just that it is down to the fact her house is on the end of the row, where some children play. She believes that damage has been caused on this occasion by the children; Saturday 21st April - Attempted Theft of Cycle, Manor Close - At approximately 7.45pm the victim went outside his house to ride his bike when he saw a group of young males. After a few minutes one male suspect approached the victim and asked if he can ride the bike. When refused the suspect said “Give me your bike!”. The suspect then attempted but failed to grab the handle bar of the bike. The victim rode towards his house being chased by the suspect. When the suspect reach the front door he was met by the victims dog on the doorstep. PC Pruden dealt with a neighbour dispute by Community Resolution whereby the views of the victim had been considered and the suspect had accepted responsibility, apologised and agreed to have no further contact with the victim. While on patrol on Tuesday 24th April in Harrow Manor Eay PC’s Pruden and Nana responded promptly to a call where a member of the public found a knife near a building site. The knife possibly left by a workman was recovered before getting into the wrong hands and safely disposed of. PC Nana Arrested a male who was in breach of a court order. This week saw the last joint Ward panel meeting between Thamesmead East and Lesnes Abbey. Anyone wishing to join the Thamesmead East Ward panel please contact a member of the Thamesmead East Team on the details above. There will be a police contact session at the police base in Kale Road on Saturday 5th May between 2-3pm. Please come along".

The end video this week is a bit of a curiosity; it features clips of vintage cine film from around the London Borough of Bexley. Do give it a watch, and see what you think.

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.

Erith and the Gunpowder Plot.

The photo above shows a somewhat unusual view of the (in)famous hideous Erith fish statue roundabout, which at least brings the benefit of making the arrival of a visitor to the town a memorable event - you are hardly likely to forget the garish monstrosity after all!

It would seem that the problem with the illegal bike gang Bike Life TV UK - otherwise known as "Chavs on Mopeds" is somewhat wider than I had originally realised; last week I reported about criminal acts that the gang have been seen carrying out in Slade Green, Erith, Lower Belvedere and principally Thamesmead. I was then under the impression that this was the extent of the area terrorised by the group. It would seem that they have now expanded to cover a far greater geographical area. At Halloween, At least two hundred riders were seen on streets from Lambeth to Bromley, allegedly jumping red lights, mounting pavements and provoking a number of complaints to the police at around the same time as an illegal rave near Vauxhall turned violent.  Sightings were posted on social media, with witnesses saying that a large group of riders had splintered into smaller gangs that set off fireworks near to main roads. Reports came from Lambeth, Southwark, Lewisham, Greenwich, Croydon and Bromley. At its peak, there are said to have been over two hundred riders in one large body, who brought a high level of disruption to traffic in Brixton and Streatham. A Facebook page aimed at London bikers, UK Raise It Up, had called on supporters to join the Halloween ride at the end of last month. On Saturday morning they wrote a post under the heading “Halloween Ride Out” asking riders to send private messages to get information about the plans for the evening. Shortly before the riders were first seen amassing in south London, a video was uploaded of a man wearing a balaclava, who said: “When we get to the linkup spot, I want to make sure that everyone turns their lights off, everyone turns their bikes off. Make sure you have petrol before you leave, because I don’t want to stop.”  I don’t really think that I need to add any personal comment to this, as it speaks pretty much for itself. There was a leading article in the London Evening Standard on Monday about the gang, which you can read here.  You can also see video footage of the gang stealing petrol, snacks and drinks from a petrol station whilst violently intimidating staff here. I know that both the Police and Neighbourhood Watch are treating the problem of illegal bikers as a local priority; some concrete action has already come of this; here is an excerpt from the current North End Safer Neighbourhood Police Team newsletter:- "For several months we have been patrolling Erith marshes to prevent and deter people using off road bikes in this area. These patrols have continued throughout October. To date we have stopped and issued over 30 warnings to people explaining that despite a common belief, no one has permission to ride motorbikes on the marshes. The warnings stipulate that if they are stopped again within 12 months in similar circumstances their bikes will be seized by Police. Bexley Council have now authorised works to be completed to replace the pinch gates near to the yacht club which will prevent access for motorbikes onto the marshes".  

Some people are either woefully lacking in self – awareness, or are just outright stupid. This week an Australian woman reported that she had won a bet at the recent Melbourne Cup horse race; she then posted a photo of herself with her winning ticket on Facebook with the caption  "Winner winner chicken dinner!!" Quite. Shortly thereafter, the woman told a local radio station that she went to cash in the ticket, only to find out it had already been claimed by someone else from an automated pay-out kiosk. It seems someone on Facebook saw the image, complete with the ticket's details, and used the photo to claim the AU$900 (£420) in winnings from an automated cash machine by scanning the code from the snapshot. The woman said she did not know who the culprit was that swiped her winnings, but said the photo was limited to Facebook friends. She is, understandably, considering a major cull of her friend list on the social networking site. She also told the radio station that police were investigating the theft.  I have to say that I am not surprised – so many people publish intimate details of their private lives on social networking sites, with seemingly little or no thoughts of the potential consequences. Not very long ago, the investigative journalist Gerard Tubb contacted me about a story I had published on the Maggot Sandwich – he commented that I was exceedingly hard to profile, as apart from the Blog and an Email address, there was almost no personal information available about me online. He was impressed at how small my online profile was, considering I have been blogging for over nine and a half years. I explained that I am acutely aware of personal privacy and consequently I don’t use social media. The Maggot Sandwich is my sole front on the digital world.

In what is becoming a sad habit, the Gravesend RNLI lifeboat has been called out yet again to Erith after reports of a person apparently about to throw themselves into the River Thames. I am unclear as to whether these reports, which are now coming in on an almost weekly basis are involving numerous different people, or just one deeply troubled individual who has tried suicide on multiple occasions. I think that this really does underline the need for an RNLI lifeboat substation in Erith, possibly located in the old Port of London Authority building adjacent to Erith Jetty, as I have highlighted before. What do you think?

Erith has cropped up a few times in the course of the greater history of the United Kingdom, most famously as the place where Alexander Selkirk – the real life “Robinson Crusoe” came ashore after being shipwrecked and living on a desert island. Something that until now has been less known is that Erith is thought by some historians from Bexley Local Studies and Archive Centre to have played a pivotal role in The Gunpowder Plot; they indicated that their research showed that in the summer of 1605, Erith Manor House, which was located on what is now Erith High Street, was rented under a pseudonym by Anne Vaux, the daughter of Lord William Vaux, the head of one of the wealthiest and most prominent Catholic families in the country at the time. Anne Vaux was known to arrange for safe houses to be made available for Catholic priests to hide up and hold underground church services – Catholics were widely persecuted in England at the time. Erith Manor House was considered an ideal location for Robert Catesby, Guy Fawkes and the other plotters against the King to hide up, as it had, according to Catesby “a secluded but convenient location” on the banks of the Thames, which had the added benefit of offering an easy escape route by boat, should the situation arise. What the plotters did not realise was that the intelligence service of the time was aware of them – spymaster Sir Anthony Standen, first assistant to Sir Francis Walsingham, who was then head of the English Secret Service, working directly for King James I, had broken up a plot (The Bye Plot – click here for more details) eighteen months before hand, and was now acutely aware that other Catholic activists had designs on the life of the Protestant monarch. Sir Anthony had informants all over the place, and soon became aware of the small group of men who were acting very suspiciously in and around Erith. Several of the plotters had also been seen in a number of taverns in Southwark, and it is possible that they were followed back to Erith, where their safe house was then discovered. When agents subsequently raided the house, the conspirators had already made their escape, and the place was deserted. Some of this is extrapolation from verified facts – it is certain that Anne Vaux did indeed rent Erith Manor House using the cover name Mrs Perkins, though it is not certain the Gunpowder Plotters did use it as their primary base of operations – there may well have been an underground church in the house, which in itself would have aroused suspicion. Unfortunately there is no opportunity for Erith Manor House to become a tourist attraction, as it was demolished in the 19th century after falling into a state of disrepair. Personally I find it unlikely that the Gunpowder Plotters would have used Erith as a main base of operations; Nobility and the wealthy would stand out like a sore thumb in the Erith of 1605, which, much like now was inhabited by working people who back then were mainly involved in trade on the River Thames and fishing. If the plotters wanted to keep a low profile, expensively dressed strangers appearing in Erith would not be a very intelligent idea, as they would not have fitted in with the locals. Tying up a purebred, high quality horse outside an inn in Erith back then would have been the equivalent of parking a Ferrari 488 GTB outside of the Running Horses nowadays - people would most definitely notice, and tongues would wag.

Bexley Neighbourhood Watch Association have made the following announcement about metal thefts in the borough: "The London Borough of Bexley is asking Neighbourhood Watch members to please remain vigilant against metal thieves who have been known to callously target the borough's war memorials. Fortunately, last year was problem free in the run up to Remembrance Day, but in previous years there have been thefts of bronze plaques from Sidcup Place Memorial and Oaklands Road Memorial, Bexleyheath. Any memorial in the borough could be a potential target. The Council is asking Neighbourhood Watch members to report anyone they see working on the borough's war memorials, even if they look like bona fide workmen. Reports can be made to the Council's Cemeteries Office weekdays between 9am and 5pm or by telephoning 020 3045 3691. Outside these hours, residents can contact Crime Stoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111".

The last week has seen another technology birthday, and I am very surprised that nothing seems to have appeared in the popular press about it, especially when one considers how very important the development has been. This week marked the 125th anniversary the beginning of the London Tube system. The City and South London Railway (C. and S. L. Railway) was the first deep-level underground "tube" railway in the world, and the first major railway in the world to use electric traction. Originally intended for cable-hauled trains, the collapse of the cable contractor while the railway was under construction forced a change to electric traction before the line opened – an experimental technology at the time. In November 1883, notice was given that a private bill was to be presented to Parliament for the construction of the City of London and Southwark Subway. The promoter of the bill and engineer of the proposed railway was James Henry Greathead who had, in 1869–1870, constructed the Tower Subway using the same tunnelling shield/segmented cast iron tube method proposed for the CL and SS. The railway was to run north from Elephant and Castle, in Southwark, south London, under the River Thames to King William Street in the City of London. The tracks were to be placed in twin tunnels 10ft 2in in diameter. The CL and SS was originally intended to be operated by cable haulage with a static engine pulling the cable through the tunnels at a steady speed. Trains were to be attached to the cable with clamps. These would be opened and closed at stations allowing the carriages to disconnect and reconnect without needing to stop the cable or interfere with the progress of other trains sharing the cable. The additional lengths of tunnels permitted by the supplementary acts challenged the practicality of a cable-hauled system and before a solution could be found the cable contractor went out of business. Given the small dimension of the tunnels, steam power, used on London's other underground railways, was not feasible for a deep tube railway and had been prohibited by the enabling Act. The solution adopted was electrical power provided via a third rail beneath the train. Although the use of electricity to power trains had been experimented with in the previous decade and small-scale operations had been implemented, the C and SLR was the first major railway in the world to adopt it as a means of motive power. The system operated using electric locomotives built by Mather and Platt collecting a current at 500 volts from the third rail and pulling several carriages. A depot and generating station were constructed at Stockwell. The limited capacity of the generators meant that the stations were originally illuminated by gas. The depot was on the surface and trains requiring maintenance were initially hauled to the surface via a ramp but a lift was soon installed. In practice, most rolling stock and locomotives only went to the surface for major maintenance. The railway was opened officially by Edward, Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) on 4 November 1890. It was opened to the public on 18 December 1890. Initially, it had stations at: Stockwell, The Oval, Kennington, Elephant and Castle, Borough and King William Street. The original service was operated by trains composed of an engine and three carriages. Thirty two passengers could be accommodated in each carriage, which was provided with longitudinal bench seating and sliding doors at the ends, leading onto a platform from which they could board and alight. It was reasoned that there was nothing to look at in the tunnels so the only windows were in a narrow band high up in the carriage sides. Gate-men rode on the carriage platforms to operate the lattice gates and announce the station names to the passengers. Due to their claustrophobic interiors, the carriages soon became known as padded cells. Unlike other railways, there were no ticket classes or paper tickets; when the railway began operations, a single flat fare of two pence, collected at a turnstile, was charged for all passengers. Despite the cramped carriages and competition from existing bus and tram services over its route, the railway attracted 5.1 million passengers in 1891, its first year of operation. To alleviate overcrowding, the fleet of rolling stock was enlarged. In 1933, the line, and the rest of the Underground Group was taken into public ownership. Today, its tunnels and stations form the Bank branch and Kennington to Morden section of the London Underground's Northern Line.

The video clip above shows Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin, who visited Crossrail’s Canary Wharf, Woolwich and Abbey Wood stations to view progress on Europe’s biggest infrastructure project and to see first-hand the regeneration taking hold across southeast London. It just goes to show how much work has already been completed on this largest engineering project in Europe. This is very much the modern version of the original City and South london Railway of Victorian times.

I received the following Email earlier this week, which I thought may well strike a chord with many readers:- "I was reading your blog as I normally every week. I was reading this week’s entry about the Christmas closures for South Eastern Trains. I am working up until 1900 on Christmas eve and then from 27th until 31st December. I am livid by this as I am a Gold Card season ticket holder, and I cannot get into work over the festive period. I have to be in work at Southwark right next to Southwark Station, at 0630 and I finish at 1830. I cannot drive in either due to active parking restrictions. I cannot get into work on time over Christmas. I have contacted South Eastern via Twitter (rare for me as I don't normally use it), I contacted them as I am working all over Christmas. When I contacted them, they tried to assist, but I felt I was getting fobbed off with every conversation. They said I can get into Victoria then change on to 2 tubes. What is more concerning for me is Christmas Eve. I finish at 1830 then I have no trains as they finish at 1800, so I will have to try and get home to Erith by other means, which will be a nightmare, so will be late home to spend time with my wife and kids. I feel sorry for the Christmas revellers trying to get home after partying on Christmas Eve having no trains! I understand the works need to be carried out, even a rail bus between New Cross and London Bridge would be more acceptable than nothing. This has now convinced me even more, that when my season ticket runs out in January, I will not be renewing it. Unreliable trains, dirty trains, cancellations all the time, no service, what more can I say. I will be returning to the motorbike option to commute, and will return when TfL take over the South Eastern franchise and turn it into London Over ground. Sorry to rant on, but these works are the last straw for me!" Please feel free to leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

I had the following message from Caroline Field of Orbit Housing Association. Caroline runs the Erith Park development, the replacement for the late and not very lamented Larner Road Estate. Phase one of the new Erith Park is now open and in full use, and phase two is well under way. Caroline is keen to have some thoughts and input from Maggot Sandwich readers, as she writes here:- “Could I recruit you and your readers to help us with suggestions for the new roads and apartment blocks in Phase 2 of Erith Park?.  As you know, for Phase 1 we found names from Erith’s history – local companies, famous people born in Erith and local philanthropists.  I t was great that people from the Starkey, Gunning and Downton families all joined us for a recent celebration. We’re keen to repeat the theme on Phase 2 and all suggestions of names with a local resonance are welcome.  All the personal names on Phase 1 are of men and it would be nice to balance that with some women. ( I did find out, after the sign was printed, that Kitty Butler, wife of Edward Butler can be considered the first female motorist, so  missed that opportunity).  It’s not usual to name places after living individuals – I’ve always assumed that this is in case they disgrace themselves later in life!  I don’t want to sound too snobbish but names also have to ‘work’ as an aspirational street or block name – I have to get them approved by our marketing team”. Do you have any thoughts and suggestions that you can provide? If you do, please send them to my usual Email address hugh.neal@gmail.com and I will forward them to Caroline for her consideration. You can follow Caroline on Twitter here.

Some Maggot Sandwich readers may well have seen the disturbing story published recently in the News Shopper. It featured a resident from the Gallion's View Nursing Home in Thamesmead. Magdaline Aza had been receiving palliative care at Gallions View nursing home for just over a month when she was taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital by paramedics on March 4th.  The Bupa-run facility, in Pier Way, was given "requires improvement" status after its last CQC inspection on March 19. When she was admitted to hospital with multiple bed sores - the worst of which was a grade four - Mrs Aza was "dirty and unkempt and her hair was matted", according to a safeguarding investigation carried out by Greenwich Council. The report concluded the pressures sores she was admitted to hospital with "must have occurred whilst Mrs Aza was resident at Gallions View Nursing Home", despite Bupa saying she left the home with only two grade two sores. I have a historical stake in this story; my late Dad was a resident at Gallion's View for six and  half years until his death in 2011. I always found the place to be well - run, the residents to be well looked after, and the place to be a happy one. The only exception to this was one of the care assistants, who turned out to have been a long term criminal - a lady called Michelle Roberts got sent down for three and a half years for a range of thefts, including from her own relatives at her Uncle’s funeral in Southend in 2011, and from other friends and well wishers when she fraudulently claimed that her son had cancer so that she could obtain money for his treatment. You can read the story here. Many readers think she only got six months in prison, but the judge sentenced her to six months for each offence, which are to run concurrently. Knowing the Gallions View team up to 2011 as a whole, I am sure that they would have been horrified at the news that a former employee could turn out to be such a nasty and dishonest piece of work. I know that a lot can change in four years, and that historically the senior management of Gallion's View had been weak - in the time Dad was in there, the place had countless bosses, one of whom lasted less than six months. The staff "on the ground" were overall excellent. The problems for care homes are rooted in the gap between the costs of care and the amounts local authorities are paying for residents. There are staggering variations in fees across the country, ranging from £350 a week to as high as £750, according to consumer watchdog Which? The Local Government Association itself estimates that there will be a £2.9 billion annual funding gap in social care by the end of the decade. This gap will widen with the introduction of the national living wage next April, which will add another £1bn to the costs of care homes between now and 2020. The shortfall is a big problem for the industry, because the majority of residents in care homes are at least partly financed by the state. According to the benchmark LaingBuisson Care of Older People market report, 37 percent of care home residents have their places wholly paid for by local authorities. Another 12 percent pay extra on top of their local authority funding, and 10 percent are funded by the NHS. An estimated 41 percent are private residents who pay for themselves. There are more than 430,000 elderly people living in care homes in the UK, and the sector employs 1.4 million people. However, between October 2014 and March 2015, the number of care home places in the UK fell for the first time. A total of 3,000 beds were lost as closures exceeded new openings A number of groups – Barchester and Care UK among them – are increasingly focusing on private residents who pay their own fees rather than using state backing. At Care UK, for example, the number of self-funding residents has risen from 26 to 32 percent in a year. These private homes are more profitable and account for most of the new investment, leaving state-funded residents in homes whose owners may not be able to afford refurbishments.The charity Age UK claims there are examples of care homes being refurbished specifically so they can target private rather than local authority patients, while some are charging private residents more to make up for the shortfall with state-backed residents. The fees paid by local authorities are estimated to have fallen by more than 5 percent in real terms over the past five years.The perilous state of care homes is of particular concern for Britain because of its ageing population. According to the Office of National Statistics, the number of people aged over 65 will rise by more than 40 percent in the next 17 years. By 2040 almost one in four people will be over 65. 

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

As I have written before, I am not looking forward to the relaunch of BBC's motoring show "Top Gear" with a new lineup of presenters headed by Chris Evans. Personally I dislike Evans and will switch over, or switch off anything I see or hear him appear in. I predict the new "Top Gear" will last two seasons before being quietly dropped, whereas the new Amazon Prime based car show presented by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May will be highly successful, and will actually cause many viewers to purchase an Amazon Prime subscription specifically to watch the show. This is all somewhat academic, as the real broadcasting revolution is not happening in traditional television, but online. An example can be seen below. Three young chaps who each have a very successful motoring based YouTube channel have got together to produce a series of videos which they have posted online. Here you can see them on holiday in a borrowed house in Monaco; they have a challenge - is it quicker to drive down the road to the local supermarket to purchase ingredients to then make a pizza at home, or would a pizza bought from a takeaway restaurant in nearby Italy take less time? The first team to get their pizza on the dining table wins. See what you think.