The tank.

Some good news. The damage to the Erith Wooden Jetty has finally been repaired. As you can see from the photo above (click on it for a larger view), the large gap in the jetty, which was caused by an unknown ship crashing into it in January; this has now been fixed. I am not certain if The Port of London Authority have officially reopened the jetty for public use yet; I am sure that the members of Erith Rowing Club will be keen to get the jetty back into operation. 

The Sunday opening hours for Morrison’s supermarket in Erith will be changing on the 23rd April. Instead of opening from 10 until 4pm, the hours are shifting to a new time of 11 until 5pm. This will only affect the Erith store, and not the stores in Thamesmead or Welling. I for one am not at all surprised by the change, which I feel makes a lot of sense. Each Sunday, after the Maggot Sandwich is published and the update Emails sent out, I usually take a wander round to the Erith shop to get something for my dinner. Whilst I am usually there a little before 3pm, there have been occasions where it has been considerably later. I have come out of the supermarket after completing my purchases only a few minutes before the current 4pm closing time, only to find people scurrying in trying to beat the closing time. Quite often it is not just someone popping in to get something they had missed from their earlier shopping trip, but even people heading in with a large trolley, hoping to do a major shop in the last five or so minutes of opening time. Hopefully the change in opening hours on Sundays will remedy this situation, but somehow I doubt it; the last minute shoppers will merely start shopping an hour later than before. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

A rather unusual story has surfaced this week, something that might seem more at home in an episode of TV comedy drama series "Lovejoy". Several tabloid newspapers have reported that a military tank enthusiast got rather more than he bargained for when he examined his latest purchase - a former Iraqi Republican Guard T-54 main battle tank. The Sun recounted the story thus:- "A TANK fanatic got a new model in a £30,000 trade-in — and found more than £2million of gold bullion hidden in the fuel tank. Nick Mead, 55, discovered the five gold bars in the Russian T54/69 while restoring it to add to his collection of 150 military vehicles. He and mechanic Todd Chamberlain were filming themselves prising open the diesel tank in case they found munitions and needed to show it to bomb disposal crews. Instead, they pulled out the bars, weighing up to 12lb — 5kg — apiece. Todd, 50, said a quick calculation suggested they were worth in excess of £2million. He added: “We didn’t know what to do. You can’t exactly take five gold bullion bars down to Cash Converters without questions being asked, so we called the police.” Nick runs Tanks-a-Lot, giving petrolheads the chance to drive any of his tanks on his farm in Helmdon, Northants." You can read the full story by clicking here. What makes the story so much more interesting is how the tank came to be in the UK in the first place; The Manor Road, Erith based recycling company at the time was known as Mayer Newman, later as Mayer Parry (and now European Metal Recycling). They were - as far as I have been able to determine, exclusively contracted by the Ministry of Defence in the early 90's to import, break and recycle tanks and other captured military equipment after the defeat of Saddam Hussein's army in the first Gulf War. The company experimentally brought three or four (the precise number is uncertain, but it was very low) T-54 Russian produced main battle tanks over to explore the logistics of breaking them for their component metals. The story goes that all but one of them were cut up, but the process took far longer and was far more complex and expensive than had been anticipated, and as the price of the various metals which made up the tanks had dropped in the intervening period, further potential breaking of hundreds of captured and imported T-54's became uneconomic, and the project was then shelved. For this reason the remaining T-54 – the one in almost mint condition (though minus ammunition and without firing mechanisms for the guns) was retained as a mascot for the company. I can recall that before I lived in Erith, I would occasionally see the T-54 when I drove past the yard. The thing became a bit of a minor local landmark for quite a few years. On one occasion it needed to be moved around the yard; one of the staff was an ex tank driver in the British Army – he was tasked with the job. What he did not know was that the controls for Warsaw Pact tanks were an exact mirror of those from NATO countries. He ended up driving the tank clean through the brick wall surrounding the yard, and across the road – it only stopped a couple of feet short of the industrial units on the corner of Frobisher Road. You used to be able to see the patch of fresh bricks which were used to repair the tank shaped hole, though nowadays these have faded and it is now invisible. The tank was none the worse for the accident, and later was used in several music videos, and also was the central vehicle in the movie “Tank Girl”. It would appear then to have been sold on an unknown number of times before it got to Nick Mead. It would seem that for all of those years the tank sat in the yard in Manor Road, nobody was any the wiser that the fuel tank was stuffed with gold bars!

A date for your diaries; Saturday the 22nd April will be national Record Store Day 2017. This is when independent local record shops are publicised and celebrated.  I am a supporter of independent, family owned shops, and it got me thinking. Not too long before Christmas I was walking through Soho on my way to a meeting at an office just off Berwick Street. It had been some time since I had passed that way, and I was pleasantly surprised at how the area has been cleaned up and made a lot more visitor friendly. I had cut through St. Anne’s Court – once a very seedy and run down area, but now a pleasant and very up market office and residential location. I really did not need to walk the route that I did, but there were personal reasons, as the area holds some memories for me. Back in the mid 1980’s St. Anne’s Court was the home to Shades Record Shop. This was a basement shop over which was built a structure that somewhat resembled a large garden shed that was plastered in posters advertising bands and films. Alice’s Restaurant was a pirate radio station operating out of North East London, which played an esoteric mix of mainly rock based music – the record shop was allegedly nothing to do with the radio station, but pretty much everyone knew the opposite. To enter the shop you had to go through a slightly forbidding (at least to a thirteen year old) doorway and down a flight of stairs to the shop itself. The first thing one noticed about the shop was the huge number of rock and heavy metal albums the place contained – albums from bands I had never heard of, and exotic imports from Japan and elsewhere; the second thing was the fact the ceiling of the shop was covered in black bin liners held in place with drawing pins. Initially I thought this was some kind of post punk arty design, but I soon found out that they were there for a far more prosaic reason; they stopped the rain from leaking through from the upstairs. It was that kind of place – initially it appeared quite intimidating, but the staff were knowledgeable and friendly, and every so often a rock star would pay a visit – Lemmy from Motorhead was a regular, and many rock and heavy metal bands would hold album signings in the shop. Guns N' Roses and Metallica, amongst others appeared in Shades before they became well known, for example. When I was working for Radio Caroline I did not have time to visit, and by the time I turned up in St. Anne's Court a couple of years later, I was only to find it boarded up and empty. Their lease had run out and the landlord had decided to sell the site to a property developer; shortly thereafter the shed was demolished and a new office building constructed on the site.  To be honest the area needed improvement, but nevertheless it was a shame to see the shop  disappear. Not long afterwards the radio station closed down, with some of the staff going on to form the excellent and ground breaking RFM Rock Radio, a station that nearly got a commercial licence, but ended up losing out to KISS FM. Shades record shop was a one - off place. You can read more about it here. Locally we still have long established independent record dealer Cruisin’ Records in Welling. I recall visiting the shop in the 1980’s – it held a bewildering variety of stock, from pretty much every musical genre; at the time it leaned towards jazz funk and soul, and I can recall hearing adverts for the shop on several dance themed pirate radio stations at the time. Erith used to have an independent record shop, which was part of a small chain – T.W Records was located on the site of the cab office on the junction of Pier Road and Cross Street. It was a strange place, managed by a person of (to me anyway) indeterminate gender. I never really worked out whether they were he or she, or perhaps somewhere in between (the public profile of transgender people back then was pretty low). They were not exactly unfriendly, more distant and uninterested – well, that was my impression anyway. The shop was on split levels, with most chart singles and albums on the lower tier, and the more obscure genres, along with a couple of slot machines, and the cash desk were on the upper tier. What anyone who ever visited the place always recalls is the ceiling, which was remarkable – giant purple plaster stalactites hung down, almost reaching head height when you were on the upper tier – they had been there for as long as I could recall. T.W Records also had a shop in Bexleyheath, near the clock tower, where the Furze Wren is now located, as well as a third in Plumstead High Street, though I never visited that branch. The Bexleyheath shop also housed a small cafe, that constantly seemed busy, though I reckon some of their customers nursed a cup of tea and a bacon sarnie for hours. It was a much more conventional looking shop, but both the Erith and Bexleyheath stores had one thing in common – it was widely known that they were both chart return shops. They had special tills that monitored record sales that fed into the weekly record chart. It was meant to be secret, but pretty much everyone – including the record company sales reps knew which shops were chart return, and always made sure that rarities, picture disks and other items desirable to collectors would make their way to those outlets. I recall that the Erith branch would often have large promotional displays in the window, which were left lit up at night, the glow from these would reflect off the purple stalactites to give an eerie atmosphere – very surreal stuff. A pity that the shops are long gone – but at least Cruisin’ Records are carrying on the tradition. Below you will see a mid 1980's TV interview with Shades record shop assistant Kelv Hellrazer (whose real name, if I recall correctly was Nigel). Do give it a watch, and support Record Store Day 2017.

Following my article last week on Bexley Women’s Aid in Welling. I have since been informed that they also have a drop in at 15 Rodeo Close (Slade Green Big Local office) between 10 and 12 every Wednesdays (Term Time) and at Erith Baptist Church Hall (Queen Street) between 10 and 12 every Thursdays (Term Time). These are definitely more local.

I think this is a classic case of something that has happened in the USA and will therefore shortly be occurring in the UK too. When Google ran a Super Bowl advert for its Google Home device, it woke actual devices belonging to users watching the advert. Now get ready for the intuitive, and annoying, extension of that: Advertisements that do this on purpose. Burger King is releasing a TV advert in the U.S  intended to deliberately trigger Google Home devices to start talking about Whopper burgers, according to Technology news website BuzzFeed. An actor in the advert says directly to the camera, “Okay Google, what is the Whopper burger?”  The advert was not done in partnership with Google. And the question remains whether there is something Google might do to prevent triggers such as the one in this commercial. The Verge website is reporting that Google has disabled Home from being triggered by the ad. Amazon’s Echo has had similar issues with being triggered by television. Earlier this year, a news anchor in the U.S accidentally triggered Echo devices belonging to viewers, causing them to order dollhouses.  The feature on Home that Burger King is exploiting is voice search. Google hasn’t announced any plans to make money from voice search, or from adverts on other features included on the Home device, but the question has been out there.  The company recently caught flak from Home owners by running what sounded quite a lot like an advert, about Disney’s new live-action version of “Beauty and the Beast.”  Google declined to comment regarding this issue, which was originally published online on the Recode website. Burger King said in a statement to Recode that the advert is “essentially breaking the fourth wall” of advertising. Personally I would never even consider purchasing such a device - the potential security implications are mind boggling.

The parking permissions on Appold Street, off Manor Road in Erith are being suspended due to major gas main repairs and upgrades, which mean that the road will have to be dug up.  It got me thinking - who was the Appold behind the name of Appold Street? I did some research and found out quite a lot. Thanks also to local history experts Martin Barnes and Ken Chamberlain for their invaluable input. It turns out that the name Appold comes from Victorian engineer and inventor John George Appold, who you can see in the photo above - click on it for a larger view.  John Appold was born in 1800 and died of cancer in 1865, as a very wealthy man. He devised many ingenious mechanical contrivances which he incorporated in his home. His major invention was a form of centrifugal pump used for drainage in the fens, which he demonstrated at the Great Exhibition of 1851, which won a gold medal. He also invented a brake for use in lowering telegraph cables into the sea, a system used when laying the first transatlantic cable in 1857. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1853. He was regarded as quite eccentric, and created many groundbreaking domestic implements, such as automatically opening and closing doors, an early form of air conditioning. Even the gates of his stableyard opened of themselves as he drove through, and closed again without slamming. His name will probably be most universally connected with the Appold Centrifugal Rotary Pump, which was so prominent a feature in the International Exhibitions of 1851 and 1862. He took great and unceasing interest in the laying of the Submarine Telegraph Cable to America, and the paying-out apparatus employed in the early attempts was mainly of his invention. His connection with Erith, and the area around what is now Appold Street is down to the engineering company Easton and Amos, which was located in the buildings which now form part of Abbey Car Breakers, and also in buildings in Manor Road from 1865 until 1903. They produced and sold Appold designed pumps for industry, which were exported all over the world. John Appold is little remembered nowadays, but in Victorian times he was regarded as a very important person, hence how a road in the vicinity of the pump factory was later named after him. 

It would seem that the Department of Transport have back pedalled on their original proposals to cut the number of London destinations on the North Kent line, so that trains would only stop at Cannon Street, and not at London Bridge, Waterloo East or Charing Cross. The government has confirmed it is “not proposing to cut specific services” in its controversial consultation into the future of the South Eastern rail franchise. The Department for Transport’s document has come under intense criticism from passengers and local politicians for its proposed changes to some services between Kent and central London. More than 20,500 people have signed a petition objecting to a suggested example that all Metro services on the north Kent (between Dartford and Charlton), Greenwich and Bexleyheath lines would terminate at Cannon Street only, claiming the changes would make their lives “a misery”. I think that the opening of the Elizabeth Line may well ease congestion problems on the overland trains when it comes into operation in 2019, but I think the DoT have been somewhat shocked by the number of people signing the protest petition, and the vehemence of opposition to the proposed cuts in London destinations. Time will tell as to what will happen. This one may well run and run.  You can view and sign the online petition protesting at the possible destination station cuts by clicking here.

Another rail related story has broken this week; after a very long period of apparently nothing happening, Bexley Council have approved a large development on Crayford Marshes, which will cover an area of approximately 58 acres. A freight rail interchange on Crayford Marshes will include a warehouse, new road access, and a bridge over the River Cray. Donna Zimmer of the Friends of Crayford Marshes, expressed concerns about building on greenbelt land because of the endangered animals living there. In an interview she gave to the News Shopper earlier this week she said:-" Greenbelt should only be considered for planning applications in very special circumstances, such as when the damage to the area and wildlife is outweighed by greater environmental benefits. As a Bexley resident I am concerned about the extra pressure and delays this will now put onto our rail services, the extra pollution and traffic problems that will be caused by the HGVs and car movements in Bexley to this site. As a naturalist and regular visitor to Crayford Marshes I am saddened to think that not only will we now lose the precious wildlife including the rare birds that live, feed and breed at Crayford Marshes but but the people of Bexley, the cyclists, dog walkers, runners, ramblers, naturalists and future generations will lose the mental health benefits of visiting such a relaxing natural environment, forever.” The new warehousing and freight marshalling yard would create much needed new jobs for the area, and some have questioned whether the marshes, which get little use, would be better built upon. The main group who do use the marshes do so illegally - the scumbag unlicenced bike riders that plague the area, many of whom are members of Bike Life TV UK - the notorious gang who have caused so much trouble in Thamesmead, Lower Belvedere, Erith and Crayford over the last couple of years. Personally I am ambivalent about the fate of Crayford Marshes - I feel that both sides have not made compelling arguments for or against - what do you think? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Last week I mentioned the long abandoned Erith Pop in Parlour site, and asked if anyone knew what was happening to it; a long time reader and occasional contributor contacted me with the news that the site was shortly to be redeveloped as three one bedroomed and two, two bedroomed flats - an architects drawing of the frontal design is shown above. Click on the image for a larger version. My only concern is that the upper floor flats may well overlook the existing houses in very close proximity to the new block. What do you think?

The ending video this week is a bit of a curiosity; it shows clips from Stanley Kubrick's classic 1971 film "A Clockwork Orange", and the locations where the film was shot. As many readers may already know, much of the movie was shot in and around Thamesmead. Ironically the main locations in and around the Tavy Bridge area have now, or are in the process of being redeveloped, so this short documentary may be one of the last records of the now gone movie locations. The eagle eyed may also notice that the same locations were also used for the more recent E4 comedy sci fi TV series "Misfits" which was set in the same dystopian universe as "A Clockwork Orange"

Porch piracy.

The photos above (click on either for a larger version) show the pop - up - cinema event held last night in Erith Riverside Gardens. As I mentioned last week, the event had not received very much advanced publicity, and unfortunately attendance figures reflected this; about forty hardy parents with children turned up to brave the winter evening to watch the movies Home Alone, followed by Gremlins on a big screen. The promised food and traders did not appear, and no facility was made for toilets either - the nearest being those in Morrison's supermarket about seven minutes walk away. Having said that, the organisers were very enthusiastic and friendly - although all but one admitted to never having visited Erith before, and knew nothing of the town or its inhabitants. The lady from Bexley Council was very helpful and chatty, and it turns out that she was a Maggot Sandwich reader - they seem to pop up from everywhere, much to my surprise. It was fortunate that it was not raining and the wind was still - something very unusual on the riverfront at this time of year - normally it comes screaming in over the Thames, seemingly direct from Siberia. I was very pleased to see a social event of this nature being organised locally, but it was evident that there was a lack of knowledge of the local area and possible weather conditions - had there been even the slightest of winds, the cinema screen would have been blown flat in moments. I am hopeful that a second event will be organised for next year, but in a space heated marquee tent with provision for portaloos and maybe a BBQ and hot drinks for sale. I would have thought that local BBQ specialist Steve's Kitchen could provide just such a service. What do you think? Did you go along, or like many I have talked to, did you not know about the event? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

The Bexley Times reported recently about an abandoned cob pony that was found on Sidcup Golf Course. The animal was severely neglected and close to death when it was found by RSPCA inspectors. The cob pony has been given treatment and is now expected to survive; inquiries are under way to discover who left the horse in such a terrible state. In an interview with the paper, Ellen Thomas, an RSPCA inspector said “This poor horse was so emaciated and still we thought he was dead at first. Then as I approached him, he weakly lifted his head, so I knew we had a chance to save him. It seems he was dying of thirst. There was no water at all in the field and there were reports that he may have been lying there for two days. He also had very overgrown hooves and had clearly been neglected. It seems likely he had been just dumped there and left to die in this very secluded spot, and we urge anyone with any information about who may have done this to call us. Gradually, we did manage to get him to sit up, and then bumble on down to the horse box so we could take him to the vet to be cared for and treated. It took him a long time to get there because he was so weak - and we have now named him Bumble as a result. He’s in a critical condition but doing as well as he can do - and we have everything crossed that he will make a good recovery.” This is something that is becoming increasingly common, as is the phenomenon of “fly grazing” that has become such a concern in the local area – Thamesmead, Abbey Wood, Lower Belvedere and Slade Green have been especially hit by persons unknown leaving scruffy and under cared for horses on public land for them to illegally graze on. 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 last year which hopefully may go far to changing this situation. The Control of Horses Act 2015 makes changes to the law to deter people from illegally grazing or simply abandoning horses on public and private land, which 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 be rehomed much more quickly and effectively, improving the welfare of these animals and preventing disruption to communities. By allowing abandoned horses to be rehomed much more quickly, this act will encourage owners to pay proper attention to their animals’ welfare and ensure communities are no longer blighted by the illegal practice of fly-grazing. 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 new 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 new 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.

Bexley Council are making a change in policy which I can pretty much guarantee will give them cause for regret. They are moving all reporting of street light faults to a purely online form. You will no longer be able to phone up the Highways Department, instead residents will have to complete a form on the council website. The move is expected to cut administrative costs, with all reports being automatically sent to the council’s maintenance contractor. This might all sound fine, but have you ever tried navigating the Bexley Council website? It is an awful unnavigable mess, and even finding the page you want is a real challenge, as the search functionality does not work as intended, and the site layout could have been designed by M.C Escher. I find that when one eventually stumbles across the content you were actually looking for, it is prudent to bookmark the page for later reference, as your chance of finding the page again are pretty slim. If this was not enough, as Malcolm Knight of Bexley is Bonkers has discovered, that just because you report something to the Council, it does not mean that they then do anything about it. He reported a couple of incidences of fly tipping, complete with still photographs and video of the offences being committed. After a month he has still not had a response from the Environmental Crimes Unit of Bexley Council. I have worked with the unit in the past, and found them to be dedicated and efficient; in the intervening couple of years, the person I usually contacted has retired, and it would seem that much of the role has been outsourced to a private contractor.

London and Quadrant, the developers of the Erith Quarry housing development published the following press release this week:- "L and Q and The Anderson Group, developers behind the new homes at The Quarry in Erith, are looking for a local artist to help them celebrate the history of the land. The developers want to showcase the story of The Quarry’s past, present and future using photos and anecdotes from local people. These will then act as inspiration for artwork displayed on the hoardings surrounding the site, as well as featuring at a special exhibition in the town. Erith historian Kenneth Chamberlain and local history enthusiast Martin Barnes remember The Quarry from their teenage years and have already provided a number of photographs for potential inclusion. The pictures date from the 1930s onwards and show everything from ‘Loomers’ at the quarry face, to the locomotive which used to transport the loads from the quarry and the quarry after the landfill was nearly complete. L and Q and The Anderson Group are now encouraging more locals to come forward and share their memories. Set to launch its first homes for sale in spring 2017, The Quarry will comprise of an exceptional collection of around 470 family houses for sale, 130 unique apartments for private rent and a state-of-the-art three form-entry primary school. With sustainability at its heart, this new eco-development will be surrounded by woodland and feature a conservation area the size of around three football pitches, not to mention cycle routes, play corridors and a village green. Christine Shea, Regional Sales Director at L and Q, said: “We’re really excited to hear back from local artists who can help us create a wonderful tribute to the area. The Quarry has played such an important part in the lives of local people for so many years and we hope to bring its history back to life and to celebrate the exciting future that lays ahead. We have already received some wonderful photographs from Kenneth and Martin and we hope more people will get in touch with their experiences.” If you’re an artist who would like to get involved or if you have photos or stories to share, please contact the team at landq@grayling.com. A grant will be made available to the selected artist. Prospective homebuyers interested in finding out more about The Quarry can register their interest at thequarryerith.co.uk and follow developments on Facebook and Twitter".

The photo above shows the view looking Eastwards towards Erith Town Centre along West Street. From the vehicles in the shot, and the state of construction of the tower block on the horizon, I would hazard a guess that the photo was taken in around 1970.

Once again Bexley Council has been accused of selling off the family silver for short term gain; last week the council agreed to the sale of four areas of formerly public land in the borough, two of which are in Erith. It does seem to me that not only do Bexley Council offer some of the poorest levels of service of any Greater London borough, but they are selling off anything that they can lay their hands on in order to try and raise more cash. I do question their efficiency and business acumen, as they seem to be able to do very little with large amounts of cash – I feel that a commercial business would be far more efficient in the operation of the borough. Many of the council senior executives have never had a job in the “real world” – a problem which is also common with the current crop of Westminster politicians. Locally we are fortunate that MP for Erith and Thamesmead Teresa Pearce spent many years working as an accountant prior to entering politics – a relatively rare instance of someone in public service who has actually had a real world job before changing career to enter politics.

Word reached me courtesy of regular Maggot Sandwich reader Alison. It would appear that "hit and run" incidents are not limited to the roads in and around Erith. There has been a collision between a vessel and the Erith Wooden Jetty, which is adjacent to Erith Riverside Gardens and Erith Rowing Club / Kort Propulsion marine engineers, based in the former River Police HQ in Erith High Street. Alison writes:- " I wasn't sure if you were aware of the broken jetty by the old police station at Erith (photo above taken by Michael Lucas)? The Port of London Authority (PLA) first contacted Erith Rowing Club on Thursday afternoon about it. The PLA believes the damage occurred as a result of a 'hit and run' incident late at night and would welcome any information about it. The contact at the PLA is Michael Russell, tel 01474 562415 or 07711 640082 email: michael.russell@pla.co.uk.  The latest update is that the PLA has removed the loose and damaged parts of the causeway and is intending to carry out a survey for the timber for repairs on Monday (28th November). At the moment it is unclear when the repairs will take place, but it is likely to be a few weeks." If anyone saw anything suspicious regarding a collision between a ship and the jetty, please let Michael Russell know - at present the jetty is completely out of use for the immediate future.

As we head towards Christmas, a relatively new form of crime is becoming increasingly common. It is called Porch Piracy – criminals targeting people’s porches and apartment entrance halls to steal parcels delivered by courier services. As more and more people buy online from web based retailers such as Amazon, the theft of goods in transit has become a major concern. Whilst some customers fill in the “special instructions” section of the delivery details online with details of a neighbour who a parcel can be left with in the event of them not being home to answer the door themselves, many do not. Delivery personnel may in such cases leave parcels in porches, in bin cabinets, or even propped up against the front door. Personally I have seen Amazon parcels left unattended on many occasions – and these definitely attract both opportunistic and dedicated thieves. Ways to counter “Porch Pirates” include:- 1. Lock boxes: You can build or purchase a rugged lock box for your porch.  Bolt it down to a permanent surface, concrete or asphalt work well. Install a simple combination lock on the box and then share that combination when you purchase something online.  Nearly every delivery service has a “special instructions” section during online checkout. Delivery personnel can then key in the combination and deliver your package to a secure box. To add even more security, change the combination frequently or when you feel you've given it out too many times.  2. Security Services: The emergence of Porch Piracy has created an entire industry determined to prevent these thefts. Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer, has a service called Amazon Locker. Instead of a package being delivered to your porch, the packages arrive at a nearby Amazon Locker location, where they’re placed in a secure compartment. You can collect your package with a code and without waiting in line or talking to anyone. There is a general delivery locker system in Morrison’s in Erith, which has recently been installed. 3. Timely Package Collection:  Pick up your package as soon as it's delivered or have a neighbour collect it. Courier services such as UPS, FedEx and Amazon all have tracking services. This allows you to monitor the progress of a shipment very closely by tracking it online and even by receiving email or text alerts.  You can be notified the moment your package is delivered and then make arrangements to have the package collected. Porch Piracy is a crime of opportunity. If the package doesn't sit on your porch for long the opportunity to steal it is vastly decreased. 4. Security Cameras: Security cameras are a tried and true deterrent for all manner of criminal behaviour. Thieves are very aware of cameras and often look for them before attempting a theft.  Also, if you do ever have a package stolen, you have video evidence to pass along to police and online stores. Camera packages can be purchased relatively inexpensively from places such as Maplin, and come with a wide range of options, including wireless capabilities which make them easy to install.  Some systems have the ability to remotely monitor your home from mobile devices like tablets and cell phones which adds an extra layer of security and better peace of mind. 5. Security Signs: If all of the previous options seem too expensive or too much hassle consider posting a sign in your front window informing the would be Porch Pirate that your home is under video surveillance or has security alarms.  Many criminals are not going to take the time or the chance to call your bluff and proceed with their theft. Again, this is a crime of opportunity, and thieves may not see your package as a great opportunity if they think there is a chance they might be recorded - even if they can't immediately see the security cameras. Personally I have CCTV front and back at Pewty Acres, and have a designated neighbour to take parcels if I am not available. I find that this greatly reduces the risk of parcel theft. This is a problem which is only going to grow in severity unless steps are taken to prevent it.

It would seem that the proposed Thames river crossing between Rainham in Essex and Lower Belvedere (see the map above - click on it for a larger view) has been kicked into the long grass; no mention was made of it during Mayor of London Sadiq Khan’s recent speech on London’s future transport infrastructure. It would seem that the cross river link has been dropped from favour in preference for some of the other cross – river options. My suggestion for a tunnel under the river, of a similar design to that already in place at Strood on the River Medway seems to have fallen by the wayside. This has not been lost on Gravesham MP Adam Holloway, who opposes another proposed crossing of the River Thames potentially located to the East of Gravesend; he was interviewed in the News Shopper, saying:- "The reality is that this is a looming disaster that is going to become a scandal when the public realise that the £5 billion opportunity to fix the M25 is about to be wasted – and when we all realise that it is too late to stop a plan that is going to result in another 40 years of misery on the M25. Unfortunately, ministers who are not experts on roads must listen to Highways England - a quango that changes the numbers in support of whichever option they have favoured over time. By the time the ministers hear the voices of the public, it will be too late.” The fact remains that we have very few river crossings East of Tower Bridge, and the further East on the River Thames you travel, the wider the river becomes, and thus the more expensive any form of river crossing becomes.

You may have recently come across the web page above, or something very similar, which seems to show Sir Richard Branson promoting a particular product - as you may already have guessed, the story is very far from what it appears. The web site begins with this:- "Branson is sending shockwaves throughout all of Britain by revealing his secret formula that the average British worker is using to make fast money from home. Branson says, “It’s even dangerous to talk about it, because the powerful elite does not want the average British worker to have this much wealth. Because the wealthier the population is, the less power they themselves have. They hate me for sharing this!” After a hearty introduction about how top secret the whole opportunity apparently is, readers are then told to click another link which, just like the first link, redirected across several domains before landing on a landing page - The Brit Method. If it wasn’t clear already, this has nothing to do with Richard Branson. Despite the sales pitch on the previous website and the Facebook post many innocent web surfers stumbled across, this isn’t something he “accidentally” shared. The inclusion of Branson’s name is simply a flat out lie. The Brit Method is a site that promotes Binary Options trading, but does so using an unrealistic and dramatically hyped sales pitch. Essentially, that sales pitch describes Binary Options as a shortcut to financial wealth and a guarantee to quick wealth. It is neither. Binary Options is actually a form of trading where the trader predicts whether a particular stock will rise or fall in a short period of time, where traditional trading involves the purchase of stock. If the trader predicts the stock rises or falls correctly, they get a fixed return on the amount they invested. If they don’t, they lose the investment. The Brit Method goes under other guises, including The Aussie Method and The Irish Method. Binary Options trading is akin to gambling. Despite claims made by various websites like The Brit Method, it isn’t a get-rich-quick system. There is no way to ‘game’ or cheat at Binary Options trading. There are no “killer systems” or “proven formulas”. It is gambling, and most of those who embark upon it are unlikely to make any significant return on their investment, and of course risk losing all the money they invest on it. Sites like The Brit Method and the people behind the fraudulent Richard Branson themed Facebook post / dodgy faked website don’t care, because they get paid a commission for luring visitors to Binary Option websites. Using hyped, misleading and plain deceptive sales pitches means more people they trick into signing up. In my opinion, the outcome of this fraudulent con is:- 1. Facebook doesn’t really care what sort of websites sign up to their sponsored advert platform. 2. Get-rich-quick schemes are always ever-present on the Internet. 3. Don’t get involved with Binary Options trading.

Millions of British people have no idea what their home telephone number is, according to new research. Sixty per cent of the nation only have a landline because they need it for their broadband connection. If the phone does ring, a third of people assume it’s an automated or sales call, and 22 per cent never answer it . Only one in five knows their landline number, according to a recent survey of 2,000 UK adults. Almost four in ten use their home phone once a month or less, with six in 10 admitting they only pay for a landline just to access the internet. Six in 10 say they wish they could de-clutter their homes by getting rid of their landline completely, a 20 per cent increase from a study conducted in 2014. A fifth of survey respondents reckoned their home will be landline-free within two years, if not sooner. Due to the rise of social media and mobile phones, over half of the nation consider the landline a ‘redundant’ piece of technology, rising to seven in 10 among 18-24 year olds. Incredibly, of the respondents who had children aged 16 and under, 14 per cent reported that they had children that have no idea what a landline is. A third of respondents said that they use their landline for keeping in touch with grandparents or older relatives. Almost half say they give out their home number to sales people and companies, to stop them getting their mobile details. Thirty-six percent of Brits only use their home phone once a month or less often, and one in ten homes has already made the jump to going landline-free. The report also says that a fifth of British households have at least one old landline handset sitting unused in the back of a cupboard. Personally I buck this trend; I detest mobile phones and a landline works just fine for me. I am all for freedom of choice - whatever works best for you, in my opinion.

Abbey Wood’s new station is beginning to take shape with the timber structure of the distinctive roof now complete. The Austrian timber construction firm, Wiehag has installed the impressive glulam (glued manufactured timber) wooden panels which form the iconic shape of the station’s roof structure. The roof has been constructed using a combination of 31 tonnes of steel beams and girders to support the loads of the beams. The main timber beams are each 45m long, which is the equivalent of four London buses end to end. Below is a time lapse photography recording of some of the recent construction work. Give it a watch and leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.