Bank Chambers then and now.

Autumn has hit Erith hard, as you can see from the trees around Erith Riverside Shopping Centre in the photo above - click for a larger view. I recently acquired a lawn vacuum cleaner - my new synthetic lawn might not need mowing or watering, but it does not stop errant leaves and sycamore "helicopter" seeds from using it as a landing strip. A brief whizz round with the vacuum sorts it out - until the next batch begin to fall. I have now had my synthetic lawn for a couple of weeks and I am very happy with it. If anyone has any questions regarding synthetic lawns, please drop me a line to hugh.neal@gmail.com

The mystery of the old double decker buses parked in the Europa Industrial Estate in Fraser Road has been solved by one of my informants. The buses are owned and operated by a company called Abbey Travel, who operate a double decker bus hire business. You can see their fleet of double deckers by clicking here. Nice to get to the bottom of that conundrum.

I sometimes get questioned as to how I get so many local stories, and what my sources are. To be honest they come from all over the place; some are issues that have been raised by local newspapers like the News Shopper, but in my opinion have been inadequately explored. Others are from a small army of mostly anonymous informers who drop me pieces of information whenever they come across something that they feel might be of interest to the Maggot Sandwich readers. Another source is from announcements carefully squirrelled away on obscure and little visited web pages, or in the public announcement pages of local publications. Very few people actually read these, and many a time I have been able to bring something to wider attention due to Bexley Council or a commercial organisation trying to “hide in plain sight”. It is the same with applications for planning permission which have to be displayed in public – how many people ever stop to read such an announcement when it is attached to a lamp post, or placed in a vacant shop window? Not very many, I would think. I know that Malcolm Knight of Bexley is Bonkers has a similar enquiring mind – probably why we do tend to quite often feature similar local issues, albeit from slightly different approaches. This week a search of the printed version of the News Shopper (which incidentally does not get delivered in large parts of Erith) has brought up a story that will certainly be of local interest. A company with the rather innocuous name of Riverside Resource Recovery Limited has posted a statutory notice / official  announcement in the back pages of the aforementioned paper. The notice states “The variation application is made in respect of the Riverside Resource recovery facility energy from waste station (“the Facility”) which is located in Norman Road, Belvedere in the London Borough of Bexley. The Section 36 consent authorised the construction of the new energy from waste electricity generating station to treat a maximum of 670,000 tonnes per annum of waste with the capacity to generate up to 72 MW. The facility has been operating since 2013 (following commissioning which began in 2011), treating and recovering energy from municipal solid waste and commercial and industrial waste. The variation application is accompanied by an environmental statement which describes the main respects in which RRRL considers that the likely significant effects of the proposed changes sought in the application would differ from those described in the environmental statement submitted in 2002 in connection with the Section 36 consent.  The proposed changes include a request for approval for:-

• An increase in the maximum throughput of the facility from 670,000 tpa to 785,000 tpa of waste.
• The option for river borne waste to be transported to the facility from the Port of Tilbury in addition to the riparian waste transfer stations in Greater London.

No physical works or alterations to the existing facility are proposed as part of the variation application and no change is proposed to the consented application boundary approved under the original Section 36 consent and associated Deemed Planning permission (approved plan D1.2)".

Phew – apologies for the somewhat dense legal language, but the above is a direct quotation from the planning notice. It would seem that the energy from waste generating station in Lower Belvedere is seeking to increase the amount of waste that is processed through the facility each year. I seem to recall that when the power station was initially proposed, it was said that it would not be expanded, and the amount of road traffic would not increase as a consequence. Quite cleverly, the wording of the notice gets around both of these points by saying that the physical size of the power station will be unchanged, and waste will be delivered by river. They may not be breaking the word of the undertaking, but I feel that they are certainly encroaching on the spirit of it. Additionally the small print of the announcement (which is already in very small print to begin with) states that any objection to the application has to be submitted in writing no later than the 14^th of November, and that a hard copy of the full variation application and environmental statement can be obtained from Riverside Resource Recovery Ltd at a cost of £175! Surely an ideal way to put off local objectors. On top of this, the announcement is squirrelled away on one of the rarely read back pages, amongst the adverts for second hand cars and central heating boilers. It reminds me of a scene early in the first “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” book by Douglas Adams. The protagonist. Arthur Dent is lying in the road in front of his house, trying to stop diggers from demolishing his house after the council compulsorily purchased it without telling him. Mister Prosser, the man from the council planning department says to Arthur:-

“But the plans were on display…”

“On display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar to find them.”

“That’s the display department.”

“With a flashlight.”

“Ah, well, the lights had probably gone.”

“So had the stairs.”

“But look, you found the notice, didn't you?”

“Yes,” said Arthur, “yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying ‘Beware of the Leopard.”

The back pages of the News Shopper are the metaphorical equivalent of a locked filing cabinet in a disused lavatory – any organisation can publish an announcement or planning request there with the fairly secure knowledge that almost nobody will read it. Later when the objections start arriving, they can comfortably say “we did publish the announcement, sorry if you did not read it; now it is too late”. It is only the likes of Malcolm Knight and myself who patrol these dark and little frequented locations and bring such things to wider notice. We do it so you don't have to.

A mole deep within the cadre of the middle management in the Erith branch of Morrison’s has briefed me on the actions being taken since the store infamously scored a two out of five star “Scores on the Door” food hygiene award back on the 14th of July this year. The appraisal of the store found that the inspectors rated the supermarket as Poor for Food Hygiene and Safety, Fair for Structural compliance, and Some for Confidence in Management. This is clearly unacceptable for a “big four” high street supermarket – indeed, in my opinion, a score of two is unacceptable in any kind of case. It turns out that the store senior management have been in in a series of what the Army refers to euphemistically as “a meeting without coffee” – which basically means a real dressing down from the top brass. Subsequent to this, a series of out of hours deep cleaning exercises have been taking place; the checkout kiosks have now been completed, and the cleaning team are making their way around the store over the next couple of weeks. Hopefully improving things before the next scheduled inspection. I would imagine that if Erith Morrison’s does not get a five star rating at the next visit, some senior heads are likely to roll. If you work at Erith Morrison’s and know more, please contact me in complete confidence. I would like to know the details behind the deep clean, and the level of staff morale in the shop. Drop me a line to hugh.neal@gmail.com for a confidential chat.

Here is the next in my occasional series of "then and now" local photographs. The upper photo shows the view looking West along Pier Road, showing the building known locally as "Bank Chambers". The black and white shot was taken in 1965, just before the original Erith Town Centre was destroyed - an event that many locals consider ruined the town to the point that only now, over forty years later is it recovering. On the left is what in 1965 was Clarke's coal office, which was built in 1900; it was originally designed as the Erith branch of the London and Provincial Bank. Soon it was taken over by Charles H. Norris - sand and ballast merchants, and also Herbert W. Clarke and Co., barge and tug owner / operators. It is also interesting to note that all of the cars in the photo are of British origin - An Austin Mini, A Morris Minor 1000 and a couple of Austin 1800 "Land Crabs". In the upper photograph you can also see the now long gone Erith Methodist Church. It was replaced with the Erith Small Business Centre, which consisted of twenty five small office spaces and a few light manufacturing units, one of which contained a small company teaching ceramics and pottery production. That was demolished in the late 1990's and has been replaced with the block of flats you can clearly see in the lower photograph. The retail units on the ground floor have never been let to date. I understand that Nando's did enquire about leasing the largest of the three available units, but negotiations stalled when Bexley Council refused to grant them a reduction in business rates to cover the installation of around £30,000 of kitchen venting and air filtering equipment which would have been required for the restaurant. Hopefully a business will take them on soon. 

Not only has one new micro pub (the Penny Farthing) opened in Crayford, and a second is shortly to open in Blackfen (the Broken Drum), but Woolwich is getting a couple of rather upmarket pubs to compete with the frankly over priced and disappointing Dial Arch in the Woolwich Royal Arsenal development. The old Woolwich Equitable headquarters building in General Gordon Square has been given a major makeover and has been converted into "The Woolwich Equitable" a new pub and restaurant which opens next Thursday. It is operated by the Antic Pub Company, who have a well deserved reputation for taking old buildings in what could be termed "challenging" locations and turning them into successful venues. I understand that they also intend on purchasing and refurbishing the Volunteer pub in Powis Street. This has a patchy reputation at present, and if Antic can succeed in gentrifying central Woolwich, they will be on to a good thing. As I have previously written, the whole region from Woolwich through to Northfleet, along the expanse of the South East banks of the River Thames is ripe for investment and development over the next decade or so. I think we are in for some very interesting and transformative times. In the meantime it is only a twelve minute jaunt on the train from Erith to Woolwich Arsenal station - and the Woolwich Equitable is literally right outside the station entrance. I will be paying it a visit in the near future. 

It would seem that there are a lot of frightened and angry people in Thamesmead right now; the murder of local resident 25 year old Olamide Fasina, who was stabbed to death by a gang of youths in Wolvercote Road last Tuesday has caused a storm of understandable concern. It is rumoured that he was killed over the non – payment of a debt of £400, although this has yet to have been confirmed. Local residents are fearful of further attacks, and accuse the Police of not patrolling the area, and thus sending out an implied message to the gangs that parts of Thamesmead are “no go areas” for the authorities. Locals also say that there is confusion amongst the Police as to where the boundaries between Bexley and Greenwich authorities are, and that they are reluctant to cross into a borough for which they have no remit. Personally I think if a crime has been committed, it should be investigated by whichever Police officers are in the vicinity, irrespective of their beats. In practice I would think that it probably is, but does not get seen for what it is. Quite a few local Police officers read the Maggot Sandwich; I wonder if any would care to enlighten us as to how the borough demarcation actually operates in practice? Nevertheless, Thamesmead has always had a reputation for gang violence – indeed much of the local frustration with the perception that the Police are not around and patrolling has been fuelled by the recollection of a very similar murder back in 2009, when 22 year old Moses Nteyoyo was ambushed and murdered by a very similar group of armed youths. A few community meetings were organised by the Police back then, and little else seemed to happen. Once again the Police are organising residents get – togethers in a community centre, but the feeling seems to be this is pretty much all that is going to happen. I think a lot of it comes down to visibility of the Police – they don’t just need to be doing something, they need to be seen to be doing something, which is not always the same thing.

As I have written in the past, Erith has far less of a crime problem than many people realise. Much of what there is tends to be low level anti-social behaviour, fly tipping, petty burglary, metal theft and small time drug dealing. These small scale crimes are exactly what Neighbourhood Watch is set up to combat. There is a deal of power when neighbours look out for each other, and a better sense of community can also result when a new Neighbourhood Watch is established. Erith Watch is the largest Neighbourhood Watch group in the London Borough of Bexley, and has nearly four hundred household in its’ remit. This week they had a notable success. You may recall that recently I wrote about a youth who had been terrorising pedestrians by riding an illegal and unlicensed trail bike along the pavements of Erith. The errant rider was caught on camera and reported to the North End Safer Neighbourhood Police Team. It all went quiet for a while, then there was a flurry of activity. The offender was traced and caught; when confronted with both the photograph and a formal written witness statement he confessed to the offence, and has now been given six penalty points. When these were added to the six he already held, it meant he was instantly disqualified from driving. The only issue with this is the youth is too young to hold a licence anyway. I understand that when he does become old enough, the history of motoring offences will count heavily against him. I suppose this may mean that he just returns to driving illegally, as he would have little to lose as long as he remained undetected. Hopefully the whole incident will give him the shake – up he needs to stay on the straight and narrow, but I for one am not holding my breath. What the incident does go to illustrate is that the Neighbourhood Watch model does work, and a strong message has been sent to the offender (and several of his mates) that their actions do have consequences. It also lets the local low – lives know that they are being covertly watched, and where required, photographed when they break the law. Some may say that this will only transfer the problem to another neighbourhood; I would concur that this is a possibility, but if that neighbourhood has an active Neighbourhood Watch, then it should not be an issue. You can see the Erith Watch website here; please feel free to join. What do you think? Feel free to leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com

Activity in respect of the proposals for construction on the old Erith Quarry site seems to be ramping up. A couple of residents have complained to the News Shopper that they have concerns that traffic levels will markedly increase in the area around the new development, affecting both Fraser and Bexley Roads and the turnings off these roads. One lady who is a resident of Athol Road commented that “We've only been in the road two years. People live there because it's a good, quiet road but it won't be for much longer with this going on now”. I can understand the concerns around the volumes of traffic – this is certainly something that will need to be addressed in conjunction with Bexley Council – roads will need to be restructured, and possibly widened to take account of the increase in volume. The comment about only having lived in Athol Road for two years, and it being a quiet place is a bit of a red herring in my opinion. The quarry site has been empty and unused for thirty five years, but for all of this period it was widely known that it would be built on at some stage – indeed the feedback from many locals has been that they were astonished that it has actually taken so long for any construction proposal to emerge. Any resident new to the area should have been made aware of the potential for the development of the quarry before they moved in nearby; any solicitors search would have revealed this information. I don't think that it is entirely realistic to expect one of the premium brownfield development sites in South East London to remain empty in perpetuity. Having said that, I think it will be incumbent on the developers to undertake the long term building work in a manner that is sensitive to the feelings of those living around the verges of the site. It seems to me that at the time of writing, the Anderson Group are bending over backwards to listen to local residents and alter their plans accordingly. I understand that there will always be some people who would rather that the quarry site be left undisturbed forever; this was never going to be a realistic outcome – there is a massive pressure on housing in all of Greater London, and especially in the East and South East, and the location close to Junction One of the M25, the A2 at the Black Prince interchange in Old Bexley, and the train links into London and out into Kent from Erith station do make the location exceptionally attractive to developers looking to appeal to a mature, professional customer base. It will be instructive to see how the proposal plans are modified after the second local consultation, held last weekend. I found both the developers and their professional consultants to be exceptionally open to suggestions and honest in their responses. What was made clear to me during my visit, and something that was said on a number of occasions is that Anderson’s are “in it for a long time”. An oft repeated criticism of the developers behind local estates has been that they treat the construction process like a commando raid – everything is prepared with the maximum amount of secrecy, the build is done as quickly as possible, and the developer then gets out as quickly as they can once they have been paid. Anderson have been promoting the message that they are in it for the long run, and want the Erith Quarry Development to become an intrinsic part of the greater Erith community. Thus far they have not given me any reason to doubt their veracity.

You may recall the video that ended the Maggot Sandwich update last week; it featured footage filmed in and around Erith, Crayford, Welling and Bexleyheath. I commented at the time that I thought it dated from the early to mid-1950’s – but I was not entirely sure. Local transport expert Dana Whiffen dropped me a line to explain the precise dating of the archive film. "The Q type single deckers seen in the footage were only on the 241 route during these 3 years (1949-52), they ran alongside RTL's which ran for a lot longer and were eventually replaced by RT type buses. There the video must have been filmed between 1949-52”. So there you have it – thanks to Dana for the piece of detective work.

I don't normally feature adverts or commercials on the Maggot Sandwich; as I have written before, any small financial gain I might make would be more than offset by the loss in impartiality and independence I so treasure. I am featuring the current TV commercial for Sainsbury's Halloween offers for one reason only. It features local Belvedere actress Isabelle Doherty in her first television appearance. She plays the little girl dressed as a pirate in the Halloween party - blink and you will miss it. Still, you have to start somewhere. Good luck to her. Comments below as always. 

The Golden Dustman.

Bearing in mind Erith is very much a maritime town, the River Thames does not really get the exposure or use one would expect. Historically Erith was an important port outside of London. Many ships which were too large to make it into the Port of London were unloaded at Erith, with their cargoes being taken further up river by Thames sailing barges. This was before the river was fully dredged and managed as it is nowadays. Today one can watch huge container and bulk carrier ships passing Erith river front on a daily basis; the best time to see ship movements is at or around the changing of the tide. As previously mentioned, some of the small and medium sized vessels can often be seen moored on Erith Pier as well. Some rather more photogenic craft will be appearing on the Thames soon. The annual Thames sailing barge race is due to take place on Saturday the 13th of July. It will be the 150th anniversary of this historic race, which was first run in 1863, when the barges were an integral part of river traffic and a major source of local employment, with thousands of boys and men crewing the river craft. The race starts at Mucking in Essex at 8.30am and finishes at Erith Pier at around 4.30pm, where many of the barges will moor. It will be an excellent opportunity for local sailing and photography enthusiasts to get up close to a large fleet of these classic vessels. The origin of this historic competition is well documented. It was the brainchild of a man who was nick named “The Golden Dustman”. His real name was Henry Dodd. He was born in 1801 into a very poor family; his first job was as a plough boy in arable fields that were within view of St. Paul’s Cathedral, which he did until he was in his early thirties, when he found employment as a “scavenger” – a sort of prototype recycling consultant. He soon discovered that the big money was in transporting waste, rather than actually sorting it. London was rapidly growing in size, and the population was booming. As the number of people in the capital increased, the amount of rubbish they generated went up. Dodd saw this as a very lucrative business opportunity, so instead of using slow and somewhat unreliable horses and carts to haul rubbish, he first hired, then purchased a fleet of sailing barges, which could transport far greater cargoes at a higher speed than any contemporary road solution. Most of the waste material Dodd was transporting was burned outside the capital, and the resulting ash was a vital ingredient in making bricks, which in turn were used to build the expansion of London. Never one to overlook a business opening, Dodd invested in several brickworks, including a very large site on what is now Manor Road in Erith. Nowadays, this kind of end to end ownership of all stages in a manufacturing process is known as “vertical integration” and Henry Dodd was a pioneer of it. All this made Dodd incredibly wealthy; he was one of the richest commoners in England, right at the start of the then new middle class. Dodd’s money bought him a degree of respectability in Victorian society (though I am sure there were whispers behind his back – though after having been brought up in the environment he had, I somewhat doubt if this bothered him). Dodd became a very enthusiastic patron of the theatre, and through this mutual interest he became very good friends with Charles Dickens. Dickens scholars believe that Dodd was the inspiration for the character of Mr. Boffin, the millionaire dustman who appears in the novel “Our Mutual Friend”. Dodd invested a large amount of money in sailing barges, and soon discovered that there was an intense rivalry between barge skippers. Never one to miss a main chance, he decided that in 1863 he would stage a sailing barge race – for entertainment, but also as a means to improve the business. The first race was only for his own sailing barges, and was run from Erith to Canvey Island and back, with the fist barge and skipper to make the round trip being awarded a generous cash purse, which was awarded under the auspices of the Prince of Wales Yacht Club. Many in society assumed that the event had Royal patronage (something that Dodd did little to discourage), but in fact it was named after an Erith pub! In 1864 the race was opened to all comers, and after a while it became such a big event the running of it was passed over to a committee of barge owners. Within ten years, specially built racing barges were being constructed purely to try and win the race. Passenger steamers would be chartered to follow the racing barges on their course, and records show that over 10,000 people watched the race from on board these steamers. Henry Dodd, the “Golden Dustman” died in 1881; he left a fund to sustain the match – an eye watering sum of £100,000, which today is equivalent to tens of millions of pounds. In the latter years of the 19th century, the event was covered by Charles’ Dickens son (who confusingly was also called Charles) in his annual gazetteer. For the Centenary Match raced in 1963, the two principle rivals in Britain’s coasting trade, F T Everard and The London and The Rochester Trading Co. lavished money on their fastest barges in an attempt to ensure success for craft which were, by that time, an anachronism in transportation terms. The 48 mile course was from Mucking to the Mouse Lightship, and then back up to Gravesend. F T Everard’s Veronica was the winner, leaving the rest far behind in her wake. The 150th Anniversary Match on Saturday 13th July 2013, has the contest finishing at Erith for the first time since 1894. Not only is this spectacle thought to be the second oldest sailing contest in the world after the America’s Cup, unlike the America’s Cup of 1851, it is still sailed in craft virtually unchanged since those times, and as such is in itself an especially important part of this nation’s maritime heritage. Hopefully the News Shopper and the Bexley Times will be covering the event, as it is of considerable historical and local interest. I will certainly be on the pier with my camera. Many thanks to one of my small group of local informants for bringing this fascinating story to my attention.

It has been said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. A chap in Bostall Heath called James has recently set up a Blog called “The Bostal News” (sic) in which he cites the Maggot Sandwich as his source of inspiration. I am very happy that he feels that I have motivated him to write, and to take a keen interest in his local area. Starting off a blog is not an easy task; I sometimes look back at my early postings and wince. The style and content of the Maggot Sandwich did take quite a while to settle down into the form that it takes now. It is now only a couple of weeks until  the Maggot Sandwich has its’ seventh birthday. I did not think for a moment that it would last more than a scant few months – I certainly had no inkling it would achieve the following it now has; as of today I am getting a tad over 23,500 page views per month, which is quite astonishing. I hope that James keeps at it and produces something he can be justly proud of, though at present I don't think he's discovered the Blogger spelling and grammar checking functions. Still, blogging is a continuous learning process, and you have to begin somewhere.

On Monday, I attended a meeting at the Royal Society in Carlton House Terrace, near St. James’s Park. After the meeting (where I had a chat with Ian Peters CBE, the Chairman of British Gas, but that is another story), I was making my way out of the impressive Georgian building. When I reached the reception area, I saw a tall figure standing with his hands in his pockets. He looked vaguely familiar, and after a couple of seconds of trying to recall his name, I realised that there was a portrait of him on the other side of the reception area – it was Sir Tim Berners-Lee! He’s a fellow of the Royal Society, so I suppose that it was not so unlikely to see him on the premises. I did think of asking for his autograph, but then I thought that it would be a rather naff thing to do, so I nodded politely as I passed him on my way out of the building. There are very few people who can lay claim to have really changed the world, but Sir Tim Berners-Lee is most definitely one of them.

The News Shopper are reporting that the Pizza Hut in Northumberland Heath that made the national news over the appalling state of its’ cleanliness has now re – opened after a full refurbishment. Actually that’s not quite what they wrote. Once again they got Erith and Northumberland Heath confused. Erith does not actually have a Pizza Hut; it does have a Domino’s delivery shop, and a host of kebab and fried chicken places that can knock up a pizza if required. Personally I don’t use any of them, as I think that pizza is one of the biggest consumer rip – offs around. The profit margins are phenomenal – after all, it is just a bit of bread dough covered with tomato sauce, a bit of cheese and some toppings – which then retails for around £10. I also find them heavy and hard to digest – “proper” Roman style pizza is thin enough to see light through, is given a very minimal topping and is designed to be simple, rustic fare – even a Milan style pizza, which has a slightly thicker base is still thin in comparison to the type of thing offered in the UK. The eye watering array of weird and eclectic toppings that are offered by many pizza retailers strikes me as odd – where in Milan or Rome would you find a chicken tikka or lamb doner pizza I wonder? To be honest, Pizza Hut has such a poor level of hygiene overall, that just because this franchised takeaway has had its’ act cleaned up for now, there is no guarantee it will still be that way in six months or a years’ time. I avoid it for all of the reasons above. Your thoughts and feedback are welcomed, as always.
The local area seems to be having a resurgence of interest in the arts and culture recently. Not only do the Running Horses have a monthly stand up comedy night, which I have heard very good things about, but the Red Barn pub in Barnehurst are hosting regular jazz music nights, the next one being on Friday the 28^th June with music from the Neil Tucker Group. The pub has a strong historic connection with jazz, and in particular Trad Jazz – it was the centre of the Trad Jazz revival movement, which began in 1944, when a group of amateur musicians, who worked at the Vickers armaments factory in Crayford came together at the Red Barn to form a Trad Jazz combo called “George Webb and the Dixielanders” who used to have a regular Monday night gig in the pub. After the war, the Dixielanders got a recording contract with Decca, and released a number of very successful records. In 1949 the trumpeter Humphrey Littleton took over leadership of the group from George Webb. The newly revamped Dixielanders then made some historical recordings with Sidney Bechet, and later moved to the Parlophone label, where they had a major hit with a track called the “Bad Penny Blues”. Back in 1985 the Jazz master George Melly unveiled a plaque on the outside wall of the Red Barn, commemorating its’ historical place in the great Trad Jazz revival. Incidentally, I used on occasion to see George Melly at Charing Cross station, where he was probably waiting for a train to his home in Blackheath. I used to think his outrageous, lurid suits were part of his stage attire; this was not the case – he really wore them in public! You really could not miss him, even in a crowd of people.

As some of you will be aware, I was a carer for quite a few years; my Dad died in 2011 after a ten year battle with the degenerative neurological condition known as Multi System Atrophy / Lewy Body Syndrome. Although no longer a carer myself, I am acutely aware of the issues and challenges that carers experience; I am chair of the Carers’ Network at my employer (a blue chip multinational). I was interested to see an article in the News Shopper earlier this week, which stated that the London Borough of Bexley has the third highest number of unpaid carers in the whole of London. Quite how anyone can come to this figure surprises me – many carers are not registered or described anywhere as a carer, but nevertheless have caring responsibilities – it is widely accepted that the figures from the 2011 census are nothing more than a finger in the wind. Something like one in six people in the UK are currently caring for someone other than a child, it really is the elephant in the corner as far as the welfare state is concerned – if the NHS had to fund all of the caring that currently gets done for free, its’ overall budget would end up more than doubling. One phenomenon that is now commonplace is that of what is known as the “Sandwich Carer” – a person who is caring for both small children and elderly parents – the increase in average life expectancy in the last few decades is a major contributor to this. The past week has been National Carers’ Week, and you may have seen a few references to this in the press; I was interviewed by the Reuters News agency the week before last in my capacity as a corporate Carers Network chair. It will be interesting to see when the article pops up.

I was gutted to discover that the oldest continuously run business in Erith is closing due to lack of business. Owen’s Iron monger shop has been in the town since 1905 and has been selling plumbing, electrical and building materials ever since. I have used the shop on several occasions, and it is a real pleasure to shop there –the two guys that run the place really know their stuff. Until a couple of years ago, Owens could also boast that it was the home to Britain’s largest cat, which used to sit in a box on the counter, watching the world go by. I recall that on one occasion when I was in the shop to buy some two core electrical wire, a chav in a hoody came into the shop with what looked like a pit bull on a very flimsy lead. The dog saw the cat and went berserk – barking and snarling and trying to lunge at the counter where the cat was sitting. Rather than running scared, the cat slowly and methodically climbed down from the counter and walked up to the dog, who was still making a fearful din. The cat swiped the dog’s nose with a paw complete with claws – the dog howled, then ran behind the feckless owner and looked terrified. The two chaps behind the counter were somewhat amused to say the least – they knew full well how territorial their pet was, and being as large as a bulldog, the cat had absolutely no fear. I do wonder if the animal was a cross with a Lynx or other wild cat, as it was so very much larger than any other domestic cat I have ever seen. Unfortunately the cat died a while back, and from talking to the two chaps in the shop, they still get customers coming in asking after it. From September even that will be no more. I am guessing that a combination of the downturn in the economy, and the spread of chain stores like B and Q and Wickes have take their core business away. A real pity, as the place has a real charm, and you can still order things in Imperial measures if you so wish (though I did once hear a customer asking for a three metre length of two by four) – which got me intrigued – the owners did not seem to mind, and the wood was soon supplied just as the customer had requested.

As you will see from the scan of the certificate above, the Erith Watch team have won a national award; as you may already be aware, yours truly is one of a small team who operate Erith Watch, and I am webmaster of their website. It is very gratifying to see that we have received formal recognition for our work. You can view the Erith Watch website here. Erith Watch is the largest Neighbourhood Watch group in the London Borough of Bexley. The average Neighbourhood Watch group consists of around 40 houses. Erith Watch has just over 300 residential addresses under its' remit, and is looking to expand still further. Do feel free to join the Erith Watch website - even if you are not a local resident, you may learn more about safety and personal security issues that will help you wherever you actually live.

I notice that the lemon flavoured alcopop drink Hooch is now back on the shelves of supermarkets and corner shops all over the country. The drink was the poster boy of the alcopop craze in the mid to late nineties, but was taken out of production in the UK in 2003 following concerns that it, and other brightly coloured and fruit flavoured alcoholic beverages were encouraging under age drinking.  I was in Morrison’s last week when I noticed that it was back on the shelves in the off – licence area. After doing a little research, it would appear that its’ manufacturer (I won’t dignify it with the name brewer) is Molson Coors. They are targeting the re – launched Hooch at young men, attempting to woo them away from boutique ciders and other fussy concoctions.  The difference between Hooch when it was originally launched and now is that they have made the taste sharper and more lemony – partly to refute the original complaints that the drink was aimed at children who tend to have a very sweet tooth. They are also now recommending that it be served with ice – just like Magners, the “Irish” cider – which is actually made from apple pulp imported from Spain, and is coloured with caramel. It strikes me that alcopops do tend to attract the younger drinker – in my experience it tends to be young women, however – usually glugging on bottles of lurid blue WKD or similar. I don’t know if as the drinkers get older, their tastes mature too. I somehow find it hard to imagine an alcopop drinker moving on to real ale, but I would love to be proved wrong.

And now on to the ending video. I don't know if you recall that a couple of years ago, there was a Top Gear special, where Jeremy, Richard and James challenged their counterparts on Top Gear Germany to a series of car related challenges, and they famously turned up at the race track in a trio of two seat Spitfires? Well, I have found the out take video on YouTube, which shows them taking off and flying over South East England, on their way to the challenge, which was filmed in Belgium. Here you can see three normally grumpy and fractious middle aged blokes transformed into eight year old boys.

Erith Watch.

The picture above shows a promotional flyer for the Erith Watch neighbourhood watch website; it was designed by Smallcorn Associates, an independent Erith based graphic design consultancy. Click on the photo for a larger and more detailed image. The flyer was produced to promote the website amongst the members of Bexley Neighbourhood Watch Association at their annual general meeting, held in the Council chamber at Bexley Council Offices in Bexleyheath on Friday evening. I attended the meeting with friend and local resident Mark, as we are both involved in running Erith Watch. Local MP and recently appointed Minister for Security, James Brokenshire was the special guest. Suffice to say the meeting went very well, with the exception that many delegates became restive towards the end of the event, as Bexley have introduced parking fees in public car parks on a 24/7 basis, and many who had arrived by car were concerned that their tickets were about to expire. Mr. Brokenshire is an eloquent, charismatic and quick witted politician whom I expect to go on to even greater things; he can certainly talk a good talk. How he delivers, we will have to wait and see. It was noticeable that Bexley Council, though they provided the venue, did not have a single representative at the meeting, which sent out a very negative message to the attendees. It also seemed to be a snub to the Minister. Not something I feel was wise; it always makes political sense to keep friends in court.

Please note that the Erith Watch website is purely factual in nature - whereas I may opine, hold forth and moan about events on the Maggot Sandwich, that is not the tone or the place for the community website that we aim Erith Watch to become. Please feel free to join the site, if you want to know more about law and order in the area - please note that all applications are moderated before being accepted; this normally takes less than 24 hours.

I see from the Bexley Times that the final public loo in the borough has been sold for £239,000 - way above the original estimate. The khazi (photo above), in Townley Road, adjacent to Bexleyheath Library, will now be redeveloped, though at present the exact intention of the new owner is unclear. I somehow think it unlikely that they will re-open it for the comfort and convenience of Bexleyheath's shoppers. There is now nowhere to pump your bilges or ride the porcelain bus in the entire borough. Most pubs or restaurants do not permit the public to enter purely to relieve themselves - what are we meant to do? It is not exactly clear what the policy now is; it is hardly socially acceptable or hygienic to use a bush or dark corner to relieve oneself, and you cannot hold on forever. I am wondering if any forward thinking entrepreneur has come up with some subtle and ingenious solution?

Google have been busy updating their aerial views of the local area; they have now updated Google Maps and some roads on Google Street View, but some parts of Erith are still using photos taken back in 2006. Below is a sample updated very recent overview shot of Erith Town Centre - click for a larger version.

I was pleasantly surprised to read in the press that the Wombles are to play Glastonbury this year. I think that a certain number of regular attendees probably think they are there every year, mainly due to the phenomenal quantity of recreational pharmaceuticals they habitually ingest. Nevertheless, I find it quite curious that festival organiser Michael Eavis regrets that they were included on the bill; I get the feeling, like Rolf Harris a few years ago, they will end up being the best thing on the bill, and a sleeper hit with the crowd. Anyway, on a slightly oblique theme, here is an excerpt from an episode from "Bottom" where the boys have gone camping on Wimbledon Common, only having forgotten to take any food with them. They are now wondering how many calories there are in a Womble...



Some Council contractors are keener than others on doing their jobs; I took the photograph below at 10pm on Thursday evening; it shows a grab lorry collecting some spoil after a hole was dug by the Gas Board on the Slade Green facing lane of Manor Road. The hole itself is still there, no doubt a number of workers will gather to stand around it, leaning on shovels and drinking tea, as is the traditional way with the British worker. The bulk of Manor Road still has a broken and cracked surface; the multi million pound resurfacing project conducted in July 2009 has seemingly failed in short order. I understand that the top layer of asphalt was a then new formula that was designed to have superior wet weather grip, and most importantly to reduce the amount of road noise from tyre rumble from the large number of passing commercial vehicles. Alas, the surface has cracked and crumbled under the incessant heavy goods traffic, and the whole road is in desperate need of being relaid. With council budgets being cut, I feel that this is unlikely to happen any time soon.

Now that the discount Furniture shop has closed down in Erith Riverside Shopping Centre, the Nemesis Thai boxing gym is starting to take shape. It appears that the owners are partitioning off about one third of the floor area of the old shop to make a smaller, self contained unit to house the gym. The larger remaining part has posters in the window, announcing the forthcoming arrival of "Pound Town" - what would appear to be a discount goods store. I am a bit ambivalent about this - it is good to see the building in productive use, but is another outlet for cheap and tacky tat really the message that we want to be sending out about Erith?

I notice that the double shop unit opposite Argos in Erith Riverside Shopping Centre has been glazed and is now ready for fitting out; I surmise that it is booked and in preparation for use. I have not currently got a clue as to what company will be occupying the space - if you know, please drop me a line, or leave a comment below. I would like to see someone like John Lewis moving into the centre, but I think I am more likely to see Elvis riding Shergar down Fraser Road than for this to take place.

I am not much of a gamer; apart from an occasional session of "Angry Birds" I don't really play much on the computer - through a mixture of lack of time, and lack of ability. I have found a rather diverting online game called "Lord of Ultima" - it is a bit like Sim City / Civilisation, where you have to build up an empire in a pseudo Dungeons and Dragons kind of environment. The main difference is that it is entirely browser based, with nothing to install. The game is also free - you can buy add - ons and extras, which is how the supplier makes their money, but it is quite possible to play for absolutely nothing at all. It is also possible to "dip in and out" of the game as you see fit, and it does not appear to affect game play. You can see a screen capture of my own first city below. You can play Lord of Ultima yourself by clicking here.

The main video clip this week is a bit of a rarity. It is from Queen guitarist and top astronomer Dr. Brian May. In 1983 he had a solo project, and recorded a track inspired by the Japanese puppet / Manga television show "Starfleet" - which was itself heavily influenced by Gerry Anderson shows like Thunderbirds. Starfleet also influenced subsequent series such as "Transformers". Anyway, you can Google away if you want to know more about the background - the video, of quite stunning cheesiness, nevertheless is rather entertaining. You can see why Queen had Freddie Mercury as a front man - May is an excellent song writer, but here he lacks screen presence - the action speaks for itself though. Incidentally, as well as May, Eddie Van Halen also plays guitar on the track - it is quite obvious who plays which part, as they both have totally unique sounds. So here you are - two of the World's best guitarists playing on a music video featuring spaceships, lasers and flying robots - what's not to like?