Cowboy builders.

The photo above shows the ground works that have been carried out to prepare the old Erith Riverside Swimming Baths site for redevelopment as a new residential site consisting of 12 mews houses and 55 apartments overlooking the River Thames. The workers clearing the site had a bit of a shock - their instructions were to level and grade the site ready for the foundations of the new structures to be dug. It had been assumed that the site was clear. It soon became apparent that this was actually far from the case. When the old swimming pool was demolished, the workers at the time were instructed to remove all construction materials from the site; it turns out that they did something far easier; in a giant equivalent of lifting a rug to sweep dust underneath it, the demolition workers just knocked down the building and used the rubble to fill the hole left by the drained and empty swimming pool itself. It would seem that something in the region of seventy percent of the construction material thought to have been carted away during the demolition process is still currently on site! This is going to add time and money to the site clearance programme. I wonder if any recourse or compensation can be sought from the historical demolition company for doing such a shoddy and half arsed job? It would seem that cowboy builders can affect large commercial developments as well as individuals.

Malcolm Knight of the excellent Bexley is Bonkers blog has been writing about the changes that Bexley Council have been making to the rules governing the use of Bexleyheath Broadway. A Public Spaces Protection Order has been imposed. This somewhat drastic measure is apparently designed to combat perceived anti-social behaviour. According to the Bexley council press release, the order prohibits “behaviour in a manner which causes, or, is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to another person. The  riding of pedal cycles, skateboards, roller blades, hover boards or other similar devices within the restricted area in a manner which causes, or is likely to cause, harassment, alarm or distress to another person, and the playing of any type of ball games in the designated area". According to the Council’s own documentation, Failure to comply with the PSPO without a reasonable reason for doing so is a breach of the order and a criminal offence. Significant and/or persistent breaches of the order could lead to a fixed penalty notice being issued or a summons to court. The charge for receiving a fixed penalty notice is £100, which would be reduced to £60 if paid within 14 days. All individuals breaching the conditions of the order would be monitored by a range of agencies to provide other necessary support and interventions. Council staff will take action to try to manage the risk that any young people who receive a fixed penalty notice gain a criminal record without fully understanding the potential of their actions”. This all seems somewhat draconian, and rather reminiscent of the kind of social policies employed by Kim Jong Un in North Korea. Civil rights group Liberty say:- “Public Space Protection Orders (PSPOs) are broad powers which allow councils to criminalise particular, non-criminal, activities taking place within a specified area. Unfortunately, we have frequently seen them used against the most vulnerable in our society, the homeless.  PSPOs are also being used to limit freedom of speech and the right to protest. PSPOs simply fast-track vulnerable people into the criminal justice system – rather than divert them away from it”. I get the feeling that this is a direct response to the recent riot amongst gangs of school age children that took place in Northumberland Heath, and that made the national news. Whether such an order is actually required is another point entirely. It seems to me to be an over – reaction, and a case of “doing something because we can do” – not because they actually need to. It does rather seem to me that it is going down the path of the infamous “Not the Nine O’ Clock News” over zealous policeman sketch, where a dim, racist and vindictive copper is being hauled over the coals by his boss, for repeatedly arresting the same man for “offences” including – “walking on the cracks in the pavement, possession of an offensive wife, wearing a loud shirt in a built up area during the hours of darkness, urinating in a public convenience, and looking at me in a funny way ”. I understand that the PSPO concept is shortly to be tested in court. Liberty and other similar organisations are keen to challenge the legality of the sweeping conditions that PSPO’s can impose. I get the feeling that once again we may encounter the law of unintended consequences. Time will tell. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Maggot Sandwich readers of long standing may recall that quite some time ago I explained why I refused to take advertising on the blog. One of the reasons I cited was that I did not want to be at the thrall of an advertiser or sponsor, and thus be muzzled as to what content I wrote. It would seem that my feelings on the subject have now been crystallised after a report from The Advertising Standards Authority specifically targeting Vloggers (video bloggers) who have been promoting commercial products and using product placement in their videos, for which advertising agencies and public relations firms have been financially rewarding them for. Whether The Advertising Standards Authority actually have any power over Vloggers is debatable; many are based outside of the UK, and other may be based in the UK, but use platforms that are hosted outside of the UK. I suspect that the ASA are having a bit of a “fishing trip” to see who they can scare into submission. I think that in many cases their words may prove to be an empty threat. I get the feeling that the ASA don’t really have much of a clue as to exactly how video services such as YouTube actually operate. Whilst a file may be uploaded from an I.P address in the UK, it may end up being hosted on a server in the USA, Japan or a host of other locations, from which it is then “broadcast” to viewers via the World Wide Web. Which country is legally responsible for video content? The country from whence it was uploaded, or the country that hosts the video files? Users may upload files using a proxy, mirroring the upload to a third location anywhere in the world – The Advertising Standards Authority would need the resources of GCHQ to track activity of this nature, and I cannot see it ever happening. I think some clueless Whitehall Mandarin is blowing off steam over something that they really don't have a handle on. Let’s see what happens.

The picture above may look familiar - and that is because I have used it before - I am recycling some second hand photons; it used to pretty much sum up Christmas in parts of Erith to a tee; the bus shelter even looks passingly similar to one almost opposite Pewty Acres. Nowadays the town is changing in such a rapid way that I feel that it is the very last time I will be credibly able to use the image, even in a satirical context. Erith is changing for the better in so many ways. As many readers may already know, I don't send Christmas cards, for a number of reasons, mainly as I think them redundant now that much of the world is now online, and via social networking, Email, Twitter and a host of other services, people keep in contact all year round, not just via a once a year bit of printed card. Cards use a huge amount of natural resources, both in their production and transportation, and generally get shredded or dumped after the annual festivities. I think we really need to move on from them. Think of this as my virtual season's greetings.

I know many regard me as a grumpy old curmudgeon when it comes to the Christmas festivities; and I suppose I am to an extent. I suppose having no children does mean that I don’t see the holiday from their perspective. For the most part it is a period for me to endure, rather than enjoy. I am not saying that the festival is a complete anathema, but it sometimes feels that way. One thing I really detest is the journey home from work on the couple of weeks’ before the Christmas break. One invariably encounters “amateur drinkers” who have been on a boozy Christmas lunch; not able to hold their drink (or to know when to stop before the effects impaired their actions) they generally make the lives of their fellow commuters insufferable, even if it is just by sitting close by and breathing alcohol fumes over their fellows; I have to say that when in the office, either in Canary Wharf or Watford, my habit is to start early and finish early. In doing this I avoid the worst excesses of those suffering from a Yuletide surfeit of Dizzyade. I feel sorry for fellow commuters that have to travel later in the evening – I have been there in years past, and it is not pretty!

You may have noticed that the Maggot Sandwich has been published rather earlier than normal this week; this is for a very good reason; This afternoon I will be attending a private screening Of the new Star Wars film “Rogue One”, and I won’t be around when I normally make the latest edition go live at around 1pm. In a tradition that stretches back as far as this time last year, mega Star Wars fan and all round good egg Nav Bhamra organises a private showing of the latest movie in the Star Wars franchise, with any profits being donated to worthy causes. I will feature photos taken at the event on the update next week.

The effects that the sudden and very unexpected closure of Northumberland Heath based double glazing company PJ Plastics continue to be felt. It would seem that there are a number of creditors who have lost money due to the failure of the company – individuals had given substantial deposits for windows and doors that will now not be delivered. One person, who wishes to remain anonymous wrote:- “We have just become a victim of PJ Plastics' demise. Having ordered a very large double-glazed window for our dining room at the end of September, and paid the deposit, we were looking forward to having the work done in the New Year. But, on a trip to North Heath post office, I noticed their shop across the road looked eerily empty. Closer investigation revealed the notice in the window advising of their closure. I feel particularly aggrieved because only six weeks had elapsed between them banking our deposit and then posting their notice of closure. Surely any financial difficulties they had must have been known to them when they accepted our order. Needless to say, we have received no communications from the company or the liquidators and I suspect they will have preferential creditors who will be given first options on any assets they have. This probably means we will lose our deposit and become a victim of fraud. My wife contacted the liquidators but they weren't particularly helpful. She also contacted her bank as she paid the deposit using her debit card. It is possible she may get her money back but they make it harder than it is for credit card payments. 'Twas ever thus! The silly thing is that if PJ progressed our order and built the window it will be of no use to anyone else. We put that to the liquidator suggesting the situation might be resolved but they did not get back to us”. This is a situation that I expect is quite widespread; if you have suffered as a result of the failure of PJ Plastics, do drop me a line – it can be in complete confidence, should you so wish. People should not have to suffer as a result the poor management and financial fragility of a vendor. Ironically as a previous customer of PJ Plastics myself, I am covered by my FENSA warranty – something not available to customers who have not had their goods delivered. The implications for a relatively small independent local company going bust can be far wider than many might imagine.

On a related subject, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the Erith branch of Cash Generator has now closed for good; US-owned Cash Generator plans to close all but a handful of branches and make hundreds of staff redundant, according to a claim from company insiders. The Erith branch is one of the first of a total of 68 branch closures. It is the latest in a string of lenders to scale down after being criticised for charging sky-high interest rates. A Cash Generator worker said in a recent interview: “We have moved away from offering loans to people on benefits, which was regarded as irresponsible lending. Now we have been told that stores not making a profit will be going.” Sister company Cheque Centre pulled out of the payday lending market after criticism by financial regulators. Both firms are owned by American loan giant Axcess Financial. The Financial Conduct Authority brought in rules last year capping how much lenders can charge. Since then, the number of payday lending shops has fallen from 1,400 to under 500. Earlier this year Wonga, Britain’s biggest online lender, revealed losses of £80 million following the clampdown. Cash Generator were notorious for huge markups on second hand goods they bought from cash strapped people, then sold on to other customers on a tight budget. A fairly typical example of the kind of customer service can be read from a disgruntled customer who writes:- "The Guarantee they offer here means nothing as they will just accuse you of dropping the item or whatever they need to say to make it your fault not theirs!. The consumer rights act 2015 also means nothing it would seem as when I returned a not fit for purpose, #Lenovo PC (PC screen doesn't light up!) to them on 19th October less than 24 hours after leaving the shop with it, the staff member laughed at me, and refused to repair replace or give me a refund of my £119.99 payment.  We also rang the manager direct and she flat out refused too!, preferring instead to accuse us of dropping it when we haven't, and their is no evidence or marks on the product to warrant this.  Not only that but come to think of it the item had no CE markings, or PAT testing label on it, And was sold to me with a 2 pin foreign plug attached to a cheap looking, 3 pin UK adapter! I am sure that alone is a breach of some consumer law or other!.  I am very disappointed at this shops non - existent customer service, they are liars.  I hope to prove it in court too!, my home has CCTV which shows I never dropped it getting it from my car, and the street I walked down and car park are covered, I shall instruct my solicitor to obtain footage from the CCTV operator.  I hope they get a massive fine for breaching consumer rights and the manager and staff members involved get what they deserve (sacked).  They have let down the Cash Generator Brand, And damaged my customer confidence in them I shall never recommend or shop there again". Quite. I view the likes of Cash Generator and Cash Converters in exactly the same light as Brighthouse - organisations designed purely to exploit the least well off in our society. I am glad that Cash Generator have closed down in Erith, and hope that they all rot. No loss at all.

Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association have just issued the following warning to local residents:-  "We have been made aware that burglars are targeting Bexley in the run up to Christmas. We are asking our volunteers to be extra alert and to note any suspicious persons or vehicles in your areas and to report this activity to us straight away. These thieves are gaining entry by smashing in back doors which must create some noise. If you hear what could be a burglary in motion please report it to police on 999; if you see suspicious activity such as persons hanging around or vehicles parked that are not familiar, please report this with full details such as date/time/registration number of vehicle and description of person(s) directly to us at Neighbourhood Watch. We will ensure it goes directly to the appropriate police department. Police Patrols are going to target the A2 slip roads in an effort to combat this increase in theft, which is thought to be by persons from outside of the Borough".

The photo above shows Erith High Street in 1910. By the look of it, the photo was taken in the Spring / Summer and on a Saturday afternoon, due to the number of men one can see standing around chatting. Back in those days of large families and small houses, the men would be told to stay out of the house until meal times. Working hours were long, and it was quite normal to go to work on Saturday mornings - one of the reasons football matches usually kick off at 3pm or thereabouts nowadays - a historical hangover. The only building in the photo above that still exists is the Cross Keys Centre, which you can just see in the centre distance. Everything else was demolished back in 1966 when the town centre was redeveloped - a move that many locals regret to this day.

Newly opened Erith gym Fit4Less has got off to a very good start. Pre – opening member registrations were the highest of any gym in the franchise chain, and since then the number of members has reached full capacity. I understand that monthly renewal levels are very high, and word reaches me that the place is already so successful that Josh Waters, the owner is in negotiations with Bexley Council about expanding into the vacant industrial unit next door. Bearing in mind that until Josh and his team took the corner unit opposite Erith Health Centre, it had been unoccupied and ignored since the building was constructed. It is now interesting to hear rumours that a couple of other businesses are showing an interest in taking the unit next to Fit4Less, after they have seen the success that the gym has already experienced. I think that especially bearing in mind the financial investment (not to mention risk) that Josh has put into the building, he should most definitely have first option on the adjacent unit. Erith town centre is finally opening up at night – not only is the gym open until late, but also the newly opened Riverside Fish and Steak restaurant opens until 11pm in the week, and midnight at the weekend. The whole pattern if town centre usage is now changing as it no longer becomes empty and barren after 6pm, as was the case for many years. I suspect that this pattern will continue to change and evolve, as other businesses realise that there is both life and customers after the retail shops close for the evening.

I am trying to discover more about a very colourful and larger than life character who lived in Erith during Victorian times; his name was Robert Austen, but he was more popularly known as "Robert the Devil" - he was an exhibitionist and showman, and I understand he had a strong man act that sometimes toured around North Kent and beyond. He had a couple of party tricks. He often drank in the pubs on Erith river front, and was notorious for betting other drinkers a pint of ale if he could swim across the River Thames from Erith to Coldharbour Point in Havering, Essex and back - which he invariably did. As I have previously written, the currents and undertow in and around Anchor Bay make this one of the most lethal stretches of the Thames for swimmers, and why most people who enter the river end up getting fished out by the Police or RNLI as corpses. It would appear that Robert Austen was a very strong and confident swimmer who could repeatedly challenge this - (although I would hazard a guess that he timed his swims for slack tide). On top of swimming the river, Austen would permit a man to break a granite kerbstone over his chest with a sledge hammer - for the price of a gallon of beer! More information if you have it please.

Do you remember that back in 2004 Coca Cola released a bottled water product called Dasani? The UK launch of Dasani is now taught in business schools as to how not to launch a product, and when you have launched it, what not to do when the launch does not go as planned. The problem was that Dasani was actually filtered tap water from Sidcup, where Coca Cola then had a bottling plant. Close similarities were seen with the "Only Fools and Horses" episode "Mother Nature's Son" where Del and Rodney sell tap water as "Peckham Spring" bottled water.  Bearing in mind that Peckham and Sidcup are only a few miles apart, the press picked up on this with glee. The video below tells the whole story of how the American Coca Cola executives completely mishandled the situation and made things worse than they already were, mainly due to not understanding British culture and slang phrases - as you will see in the short explanatory video below. It makes for fascinating and quite amusing viewing. Please feel free to leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Fit4Less opens.

After nearly two years of preparatory work, Josh Waters has opened the Fit4Less gym in Erith High Street, directly opposite Erith Health Centre. The commercial units that the new gym occupies have been vacant since the block was built nearly ten years ago. I for one am glad to see that they are finally being put to productive use after standing empty all of this time. I have been reliably informed that the gym is already doing very good business – word reaches me that it has had the largest pre – opening member sign – ups of any gym in the Fit4Less franchise chain. Not bad at all. I feel that it will do very well indeed – it is conveniently located in the centre of town, with lots of free car parking very close by, courtesy of Morrison’s supermarket; it also is very convenient for commuters heading home from Erith station, and is adjacent to the 99, 229, 428 and B12 bus routes, with more bus stops just around the corner. Compared with other gyms, Fit4Less offer a very competitive membership rate, with no long term annual commitment – an area where other gyms make their “hidden” money – usually by encouraging post - Christmas sign – ups to an expensive annual membership, which then gets used for a while, then forgotten. In this traditional business model, gyms are somewhat like mustard – the money is made by what is left on the plate – or in the case of the gyms, by the memberships purchased, but rarely if ever actually used.  As you can see from the photos above, the Fit4Less Erith gym is very modern and well – equipped, and is already proving to be very popular. I passed by on the opening night, and the place was crammed with local and not so local people having a look round at the facility. I happened to bump into Josh later in the evening, just before they closed for the night – he looked utterly exhausted, but very happy with how things had gone. He has been working incredibly long hours to get the gym open as soon as possible, after a couple of setbacks which were completely outside of his control. All is back on track now, and I predict a bright future for Josh and his venture. 

The photo above shows what I occasionally refer to as "The Erith Big Sky" - Erith is the only place in the London Borough of Bexley where you can see from horizon to horizon without anything being in the way. I took the photo from Erith Pier a while ago. You can see Westwards, upriver towards London; the old wooden Erith Jetty can be seen in the middle distance, and on the horizon are the grain silos belonging to ADM Oils - the largest manufacturer of edible oils in Europe. If you have bought a supermarket ready meal in the UK, the oil used to cook it will have come from ADM Oils in Lower Belvedere. It is also one of the largest local employers, with around 1,200 workers, many of whom live in the local area. More on ADM Oils later in this update. The view above will be similar to that seen by visitors to Erith during the last Saturday in November; Just for once some good news from Bexley Council; Erith Riverside Gardens will be the location for a Christmas themed pop - up cinema on Saturday November 26th starting at 4.30pm. Two films will be screened - Home Alone  will be shown at 4.30pm, which will be followed by Gremlins at 6.30pm. The screenings follow Erith Riverside Shopping Centre’s Christmas fair on the same day, which will last from 10am to 4pm. The event is to be part of the Greater Erith programme, which aims to bring more people into Erith. Specific details of the pop - up cinema event are still sketchy - hopefully the event will be held in a marquee tent or other form of cover. The weather at the end of November is usually terrible, and the Riverside Gardens are one of the most exposed areas of Erith - the wind comes straight off the Thames, seemingly directly from Siberia. This could be a fantastic, creative and unusual event, providing the planning and execution are properly carried out. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

There have been numerous reports in both the local and national press about a higher than usual number of residential fires over the last few weeks. There have also been a number of violent assaults by youths against others in the form of firework attacks. Both the increase in fires and the attacks can be directly attributed to the misuse of fireworks. I have heard an increasingly large number of people voice the opinion that the law regarding the sale of fireworks to the public really needs to be revisited. Personally I  am of the view that one should need a licence to purchase fireworks, and that these would only be permitted for public displays, outdoor concerts, weddings and suchlike. The problem is that at the moment total idiots have access to fireworks, which are basically low explosives. The number of accidents and injuries that occur every year at this time are mainly down to irresponsible and malicious abuse of fireworks. Banning the general sale of them to individuals would go a long way to mitigate this. What do you think? Would this be an affront to personal liberty? Is it a price too high to pay? Let me know your thoughts.

This week marks what I refer to as TRP – Tweed Retirement Point. This is where the weather has got colder to the point where a tweed jacket worn over a shirt is no longer sufficient protection against the elements, and a hardier form of outer wear is required. For me, along with the first switching on of the central heating, this marks the first steps towards winter. It does seem that after the indifferent spring, followed by the uncomfortably hot summer, we seem to be heading back to distinct seasons, after a few years of cool summers and mild winters. Not sure if this is a good thing from a personal viewpoint (I really don't do heat well - anything over around 22 degrees Celsius is too much for me), but it should at least temporarily shut up that group who every year trot out the same mantra "we don't get seasons like we used to" and blame it on global warming. As I featured some time ago, all of the data used to model potential climate change is inaccurate, and the predictions made by both the pro and the anti - global warming theorists are now worthless. The reason for this is that nearly all weather stations that are used to collect temperature, precipitation, sunlight and wind data are located in towns and cities - wherever in the world you care to check. Some of these weather stations have been in continuous use for many years; quite often for more than a century. When the weather stations were first set up, they were often on farms and smallholdings in what were then the suburbs. Urban sprawl has now happened, and what were the suburbs are now in many cases a part of the city. Cities suffer from a condition known as Urban Heat Island - the concrete and metal that make up city tower blocks, and the tarmac that covers the ground acts like a giant storage heater, keeping the overnight air temperature artificially higher than it would otherwise actually be. When climate analysts compare the heat data, say from 1916 with 2016 they then see a marked hike in the overall temperature, which immediately gets blamed on increased Carbon Dioxide levels, due to pollution. Indeed this may also be happening, but the vast majority of the temperature increase is actually due to the heat leakage from air conditioning units and the buildings which house them. The overnight temperatures stay higher than expected, as the fabric of the buildings slowly leak the heat that they had built up during the day. What this means is that the historical meteorological records bear no relation to contemporary ones - it is a classic case of comparing apples and oranges. Both pro and anti camps in the climate change discussion really need to go away and re - evaluate their computer models, as they are all based on fundamentally faulty data. 

Word reaches me that the Bexley Police body worn video camera project has been delayed until January. The programme had been originally intended to begin in September, as I wrote at the time, but for reasons unknown there has been a delay. I am broadly in favour of the Police wearing video cameras to record their actions, as this will protect both the innocent and the Police from malicious claims of wrongdoing. My only concern is that the Police will be able to switch the cameras off and on at will. Personally I would like them permanently on, to save the accusation that for example, the Police turned off their cameras before giving a suspect a good kicking.  What do you think?

The photo above shows the original Erith Swimming Baths, which was opened in 1907; the pool was of relatively modest dimensions - it measured 60 x 25 feet, and was heated with waste heat from the adjacent Erith Power Station in Walnut Tree Road. The old baths were closed in 1967, when work on the Erith Riverside Swimming Baths began. That has now in turn been demolished, and the site on the corner of Walnut Tree Road and Erith High Street is undergoing preparatory groundworks before the construction of a series of town houses and apartments which will overlook the Riverside Gardens, which are to the West of the Erith High Street conservation area, and date back to 1937, when they were created to replace the former Cannon and Gaze flour mill, which was built on the site in 1903. Another firm that was established on the riverfront at Erith was Herbert W. Clarke and Sons, which was set up in 1890. They started out as barge owners and lighter men, but by 1911 they took over Anchor Bay Wharf, which until then had been owned by Eastern and Anderson. As soon as Herbert W. Clarke and Sons took possession of the wharf, they formed a new import and export business, which mainly exported coal to Holland and Belgium.  Nearby was a company called Mayer Newman and Co. who were engaged in the scrap metal business – the scrap yard still exists today. It is now called European Metal Recycling, but is still in the same location in Manor Road. Further East along Manor Road was a truly massive factory and works owned by Turner’s Asbestos Cement Co. Ltd. The site covered a little over forty three acres; by 1912 the company pioneered the development of asbestos roofing material, and also produced a wide range of guttering, piping and fireproof insulation material, as well as a lot of other components for the building industry. We are still living with the legacy of this today; many old buildings need to have specialist demolition contractors to remove Turner’s asbestos building products, as the dust asbestos produces when cut or abraded is severely poisonous. I think if the company was still around today, they would have been sued into bankruptcy – but of course, around a century ago, nobody was any the wiser. Another world renowned company that had a base in Erith were Royal Doulton, who had an extensive factory located just off Church Manorway. They made salt glazed piping and tiling (I wonder if the lovely green salt glazed tiles that used to adorn the exterior of the former White Hart, before they were illegally removed when Potion bought the place came from the Royal Doulton works? We will never know). Royal Doulton also made their fine china in Erith, when experimental designs were produced that depicted local scenes as their decoration. These pieces are now rare and extremely collectible. I recall seeing one piece featured on “Antiques Roadshow” some years ago. Erith has been the historical home to many other manufacturers over the years, some of which are still in existence. One such company is ADM Oils (whom I featured in detail a while back, and mentioned earlier in this update), which has a huge processing facility in Church Manorway, which employs nearly 1,200 local people. It originally started up in 1908, when it was known as Erith Oil Works – the business then was similar to now; they crush and process all kinds of seeds, to extract their natural oils, which are used in foodstuffs, cooking oils and animal feeds. The seeds, then as now are brought upriver in large bulk freighter ships. The distinctive huge concrete silos that are still present on the ADM site were constructed in 1916, where they were some of the earliest surviving examples of reinforced concrete construction in the UK. They were constructed by Danish structural engineering company Christiani and Neilsen, who invented reinforced concrete construction techniques. The earliest recorded industrial company established in Erith was a timber importing business called W.R Crow and Son, which was set up way back in 1795! I will feature more on the history of Erith and the surrounding area in the future. The best reference work on the local history of the town was the four part “A History of Erith”, written by John A. Pritchard, which is now out of print. It was originally written in 1965, and substantially updated and revised in 1989, when it was reprinted. I have not seen a work since which is a patch on this venerable publication. If you have any information which can add to this, please feel free to drop me a line to hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Long term readers may recall my antipathy towards automated payment tills in supermarkets, similar to the ones you can see on the photograph above - click for a larger view. It would appear that I am far from alone in this view. Academics at the University of Leicester's Department of Criminology have just published a report entitled:- "Developments in Retail Mobile Scanning Technologies: Understanding the Potential Impact on Shrinkage and Loss Prevention." What the academics discovered was that Although shops may think they are saving money by ditching staff in favour of automated systems, in fact, the amount of money lost through theft rockets after the introduction of self-checkouts. The criminologists found that the cost of stolen items more than doubles after the introduction of self-scanning. It is not just criminals taking advantage of the lax security. The report found that people who are usually honest resort to theft simply because they can, and do not feel it is as wrong when there is no human interaction. The frustrations many people feel at the self-service till may also lead shoppers to feel justified in stealing, the report found, while technology gives offenders ‘ready-made excuses’ for failing to scan items. Self-checkouts were found to provoke aggressive behaviour particularly when products would not scan correctly, or when staff had to intervene to over-ride faults or check age verifications. Giving customers the freedom to self-scan also gives them the opportunity to blame faulty technology, problems with the product barcodes or claim that they are not technically proficient as reasons for non-scanning, said the report. The study involved data from nearly 12 million shopping trips from four major British retailers as well others in the US, Belgium and Holland between 2013 and 2015. The researchers found that introducing self-checkouts raised the rate of loss by 122 percent to an average of 3.9 per cent of turnover. It is also difficult for retailers to identify whether a customer wilfully took items without scanning or were simply absentminded. The report found that prosecutions were a ‘legal and customer relations minefield’ with one company admitting it never prosecuted because a shoplifting charge could never be proved in court. The study concluded that retailers have made theft so easy that customers who would ‘normally and happily pay’ are tempted to commit crime and may start to see it as a normal part of shopping. Scanning items using hand-held devices or mobile phones was also fund to lead to errors. At the end of one shopping trip in a large supermarket researchers found that 10 per cent cent of items in a basket had not been scanned through genuine error caused by distraction because the ‘shopper is being asked to do too many things at once.’ Professor Adrian Beck, of the University of Leicester Department of Criminology, said: “Both loved and loathed by consumers, with the phrase ‘unexpected item in the bagging area’ striking dread into many a shopper, self-scan technologies are growing in use and likely to become even more prominent as we begin to be encouraged to use our own mobile devices to both scan and pay for products in the stores we visit. From the retailers’ perspective, the benefits seem obvious – less investment required in staff and checkout technologies, with the former being the biggest expense they face. For the shopper it could mean the end of checkout queues as product scanning and payment can in theory be performed anywhere in the store at their convenience. To borrow a well-worn phrase, ‘what could possibly go wrong’? Well, our research found that quite a bit could and does go wrong, with some potentially rather worrying long term consequences.” So it would seem that my thoughts on self service supermarket tills are actually backed up by factual evidence and academic analysis.  Whether the supermarkets will take any notice of this is another matter entirely. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

A relatively new programme has begun at Christ Church, Erith - the Parish Church near the Fish roundabout and the Bexley Road railway bridge. "Men in Sheds" is a project that is designed principally to help elderly men who have problems with isolation and associated depression. A Men’s Shed is a larger version of the typical man’s shed in the garden – a place where he feels at home and pursues practical interests with a high degree of autonomy. The Men in Sheds programme offers this to a group of such men where members share the tools and resources they need to work on projects of their own choosing at their own pace and in a safe, friendly and inclusive venue. They are places of skill-sharing and informal learning, of individual pursuits and community projects, of purpose, achievement and social interaction. A place of leisure where men come together to work. A Shed’s activities usually involve making or mending in wood (e.g. carpentry, joinery, turning, carving, whittling, marquetry, furniture renovation) but may include metalworking (milling, sheet metal, welding, etc.) bike repair, gardening, electronics, tool renovation, boat renovation, model engineering (model railways, planes) and even building a car! Reclamation, reuse and restoration will feature strongly – and some say that is true of the men too. Although Sheds mostly attract older men, some have included men of any age, women and young people. Whichever activities are pursued the essence of a Shed is not a building, which some don’t have, but the network of relationships between the members. You can read more about the Bexley men in Sheds project, based at Christ Church Erith by clicking here.

Half of British children will own a mobile phone by the age of eleven, according to new research published this week. The study of 2,000 parents shows the average child will receive a phone worth £120 on their eleventh birthday, and will then spend two hours every day glued to the device. But four in 10 parents end up regretting giving their youngster a phone at such a young age – as by their teenage years the child is transfixed by the likes of social media, texts, and computer games. Incredibly, researchers found one in 20 children will own a mobile handset by the age of six, as parents give in to primary school peer pressure. Owning a mobile phone comes at a price for parents – in addition to the £120 upfront fee, mums and dads will be expected to replace the phone at least twice due to it being lost, stolen or damaged. The study, which considers mobile phone ownership amongst children, reveals two thirds of parents will allow their child to have internet access on their device as soon as they get it. On top of this, 28 per cent of children are then allowed to use their phone all day without any supervision from an adult – despite 46 per cent have access to social media channels. The report also highlights that a third of parents fear their children spend far too much time on their phone – with one in eight youngsters spending more than four hours a day chatting to friends and playing games. According to the data, one in 10 children will use their mobile during the school day, and 12 per cent will log in to their phone as soon as they get home from school. Just 10 per cent of children can wait until after dinner before checking their phone. Just one in six parents will limit their child’s phone usage to emergencies only – with many admitting their child uses their phone for a range of activities. Unfortunately, purchasing a phone only adds to the worry parents have. A fifth of parents are concerned their child’s phone has now led to them not enjoying enough quality time with the family, and 16 per cent are concerned their child is missing out on face-to-face interactions with others. Apart from my usual antipathy towards mobile phones, I do have a concern that giving children such devices limits their ability to think for themselves or act fully independently. If they are out and miss the last bus, or some other problem occurs, all they have to do is ring Mum or Dad on their mobile phone to get picked up. They won't learn about improvisation, and in later life this will impair their ability to act in a fully independent manner. What do you think? Do the safety aspects outweigh the downsides of giving children mobile phones? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Bexley Council announced this week that they are rebuilding the former Belvedere Splash Park and transforming it into what they call the "Belvedere Beach" - a new play park, which will be open throughout the year. It has been designed to be fully inclusive, with a range of equipment that includes sensory and educational play areas. In keeping with the beach theme the park will also contain an interactive water play unit. The park has been funded by Cory Environmental - the company that operates the energy from waste station in Lower Belvedere. You can read more about the forthcoming new park here.  The new park is due to open in the Autumn of 2017. More in this story as it develops over time. The former Splash Park itself was something that had been very well used by parents with children – not just locally – I know of people who came from as far as Eltham, Chislehurst and Dartford to use the very popular summer facility. There was also a contributory factor that many Erith, Belvedere and Abbey Wood locals felt disenfranchised with the current administration running Bexley Council. The North of the London Borough of Bexley has traditionally been where heavy industry, the services and warehousing has been undertaken – historically this was due to the location of the River Thames, which was a primary source of communication. The South of the borough was wealthier, with many of the factory owners and industrialists needing to be fairly close to their business empires without living cheek – by jowl with their employees. One exception to this was the community in Upper Belvedere, which was extremely upper middle class in Victorian Times. Nevertheless history has dictated that there has always been an economic and social divide within the London Borough of Bexley – the borough gets wealthier the further South one travels – one could almost liken it to a microcosm of the entire United Kingdom I suppose. The problem that has vexed the Splash Park protesters was that a majority of the Bexley councillors don't really give a stuff about what happens in the North, since their mandate comes from voters in the South. The councillors feel that there are no votes to be won (or more importantly in the circumstances, no votes to be lost) in the North. They therefore invest little if any time, effort or attention in those areas. This may well be one of the reasons that the Danson Splash Park did not have the same closure threats – the councillors care about the wealthy voters in Danson, and want to keep them on side so that they can continue with their snouts in the trough. Those residents in the North just don’t count, I am sad to say.

The ending video this week is a short film on the new ArcelorMittal Orbit - the world's largest and longest helter skelter, which is located in Stratford, East London. See what you think.

Erith Manor House.

Work has finally begun on repairing the fire damaged roof of Moat House in James Watt Way Erith; as you may recall, back in early August there was an extremely serious fire which destroyed much of the roof and top floor of the very recently opened block of apartments for affordable rent. All of the residents of Moat House were successfully evacuated from the building, and have subsequently been put up in temporary accommodation. The fire story made the national news. Things went very quiet since then, and my attempts at investigation had met with very little in the way of new information. I had heard contradictory reports regarding the standard of the temporary accommodation that the tenants had been moved into, but even those stories turned out to have little in the way of new information. Now things are finally moving. Over the last week scaffolding has been erected around Moat House, and preparations have begun to repair the damage the fire has caused have begun, as you can see in the photo above - click on it for  a larger view. Moat House is one of the most notable buildings in the centre of town, and the building is high enough to make itself a local landmark. It is also an important building in terms of providing much needed, high quality housing for affordable rent. Erith ranks only second to Dagenham in being the cheapest place to live within an hour's commute of central London. It is therefore becoming an increasingly attractive place to move to. I have to be honest, twenty years ago, when I first moved to Erith it was not because of the scenery or the local amenities, it was because it was very cheap at the time. That was in the days of the old hideous concrete monstrosity shopping centre, before Morrison's had opened on the old Erith Deep Water Wharf site, and when the only supermarket in the town was the small Co-Op in what is now the Farm Foods shop. Back then Erith had little in the way of amenities - what it did have however was extremely cheap housing. I was able to to buy Pewty Acres for a very reasonable £42,500 - a figure completely unimaginable now. The intervening two decades have seen Erith change hugely for the better - the refurbished Erith Riverside Shopping Centre, the Sports Centre, the Health Centre and the forthcoming new Fit4Less gym, to name but a handful of many other local amenities that have arrived in the town over the last two decades. Erith is now in a better shape than it has been for over fifty years - new homes and businesses are opening up left and right, and an influx of new people are moving into the area. There is a fair way still to go, but in my opinion things are getting steadily better, and there is more improvement to come. One mixed thing that is coming out of the gradual "gentrification" (I hate that term) of the town is that property prices are on the up. The News Shopper are reporting that research has looked at how difficult it is for someone in London to buy their own home without help from the ‘bank of mum and dad’ or a partner. It took the average salary in the capital of £34,320, banks lending buyers up to four times this figure and the average cost of a flat in London being £457,000. It then calculated that if prospective property owners put 10 per cent of their net salary away each month it would take a typical Londoner 121 years to buy that first home. Even saving 20 per cent of take-home pay, it would still take 60 years to get the keys to an average priced flat. In Bexley it would take just under 36 years to £94,311 – start now and you’d be there around this time in 2052. There currently is simply too little property being built; and whilst the London Borough of Bexley does not suffer from the absentee owner / investors as some other parts of London does, as the Elizabeth Line opens, property investors will undoubtedly hit on the area. Also on the subject of property, a tenancy fraud has been uncovered, and a man has been found guilty at Bexley Magistrates Court. The Bexley Times have reported that on October 19th, Faruq Hameed, of Bainbridge Road in Dagenham, pleaded guilty to two charges of dishonestly sub-letting his social housing flat at Cobham House, Boundary Street. Evidence collected by investigators showed Hameed was making a profit of almost £200 a month from one sub-letter, charging monthly rent of £650 - significantly higher than the £482.71 charged by Orbit Housing. An investigation By Orbit's fraud team revealed Hameed was not living at Cobham House but had been sub-letting it to others between May 2014 and December 2015, and from January 2015 to August 2015. For each charge Hameed was given six weeks imprisonment suspended for 12 months, to run concurrently; a community order for 80 hours of unpaid work and an Unlawful Profit Order for £4,800. He was also ordered to pay £500 costs and £80 victim surcharge, and a collection order was made. It would appear that the fraud did not take very long to detect and prosecute, which is good to know. I believe that Cobham House is part of the proposed Arthur Street redevelopment which Orbit plan once they have finished the second phase of the Erith Park development on the other side of Northend Road is completed. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

The photos above both shows Pier Road, Erith and how it looked in the past. Many thanks to the person who wishes to remain anonymous who sent me the upper black and white photo which shows the road in what appears to be the 1930's, and to Martin Barnes of the popular FaceBook group - Bexleyheath, Crayford and Erith, past, present and future, who sent me the lower colour photo of the same location, taken in 1966 shortly before the block of shops was demolished to make way for the much hated brutalist concrete shopping centre. 

It would seem that some serious consequences have come from the recent riot that took place in Northumberland Heath, that made the national news. Schools inspector OFSTED have made unannounced inspections of several local secondary schools, and have published a pretty damning report on their findings. Inspectors visited St Catherine's Catholic School, St Columba’s Catholic Boys’ School, Woolwich Polytechnic School for Boys and Erith School. The report’s author, Sir Michael Wilshaw wrote:- “I found it difficult to comprehend how the individual schools did not pick up, at an early stage, that a significant number of students were plotting and planning a fight at the end of the school day.  The pastoral and welfare systems of the schools should have been finely tuned to issues of this nature and particularly to the changing atmosphere in classrooms, playgrounds and corridors as students became excited and agitated by the prospect of trouble with other schools.  All my experience has taught me that in good schools, when trouble is brewing, staff intervene and take action very quickly before events take over and escalate. This is worrying.  Leaders do not ensure that the promotion of tolerance and respect towards pupils from different groups and cultures is effective.  They do not ensure that staff consistently challenge pupils’ misconceptions and stereotypes. Good behaviour, both in and out of school, is not promoted well enough. Pupils do not receive enough information about how to keep themselves safe outside school.  Leaders therefore do not fully prepare pupils for life in modern Britain.” The report follows the riot, which took place on the evening of the 19th September, involved more than a hundred youths; there were seven arrest made by the Police, and two people were taken to hospital as a result of injuries received during the mass disturbance. After extensive investigation, it would appear that the riot initially started in Bexleyheath Broadway. Even on a normal day, hundreds of pupils from schools in the area congregate here to catch buses home. There were rumours that teenagers from rival gangs were meeting to fight after the brother of one of them had been attacked. On school days, a couple of PCSO’s stand in the square to keep an eye on the children and to encourage them to move swiftly on to buses and out of the area. On the Monday of the riot, however, shopkeepers noticed a growing crowd of children. Soon skirmishes began, and when the PCSO’s and Police officers intervened, the youths used their free bus passes to travel to Northumberland Heath, where the main violence really kicked off. Initially it was thought to be inter – school rivalry, but subsequently evidence has come to light that there was almost certainly a racial element to the violence. Two local gangs – the Thamesmead based RA (Racial Attack) gang, which is composed of white youths were pitched against members of the Woolwich based black gang, T-Block. Several national tabloid papers have engaged in some pretty lurid speculation, but at the end of the day, the riot does not seem to be very much more than the usual lawless kids kicking off – aided by social media. Now the policing situation in Bexleyheath Broadway around the clock tower have changed markedly; instead of two PCSO's, there are ten PCSO's and full Police officers commanded by a sergeant who patrol the area from early afternoon until all of the school children have left the area. This must cost an utter fortune, and stopos officers from carrying out other duties. If you have any experiences or insight into this issue, please leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Bexley CAMRA have just published the following announcement regarding popular pub magazine "Draught Copy" :- "Given that "Draught Copy", which circulates to the majority of Bexley Branch pubs as well as to Maidstone/Mid-Kent and Gravesend and Darent Valley branches, urgently needs production hands, the editor has posted the item below in the latest pages. We would like to add our voices to the appeal for assistance. If you think either of the roles listed might be the thing for you or someone you know and you might like to try your hand at it then let us know in reply here and we will coordinate as appropriate. This is a first-class CAMRA campaigning opportunity. Last Copy? It is with considerable sadness that we tell you that with the departure of editor, Tim Mathews, to Emsworth, your free local newsletter must take a break until a new editor and production team can be mustered. Thank you for reading us over the many years that this publication has been available. Thank you, too, to our advertisers who have kept the production costs viable for us within the Maidstone & Mid-Kent branch. It has been an enjoyable time putting together Draught Copy and it will be missed. But we trust that this will only be a hiatus and not a funeral. If there are any members from the three branches Draught Copy represents, who would like to take on the role(s) of editor and typesetter, then do please let us know". It would be a real shame to see the end of "Draught Copy".

Many security organisations use high definition video cameras linked to sophisticated computer based facial recognition systems to detect and record the comings and goings of people in public areas and elsewhere. Facial recognition technology has improved markedly over the last decade. Although well-trained machines can recognise objects more quickly and accurately than most humans, they can’t handle change very well. Humans can still recognise the same faces even if they appear slightly differently, but for machines it’s more difficult because they process images by searching for particular features. Slight changes to images can mislead neural networks. Researchers from the Carnegie Mellon University and the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill announced. Results from their paper “Real and Stealthy Attacks on State-of-the-Art Face Recognition” were presented at last week’s ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security in Austria. Criminals and ordinary people wishing to avoid being recognised simply had to be mistaken for some arbitrary face. For impersonation, the identity must be recognized as someone the system already knows. The team trained neural networks to recognize 2,622 celebrities, three researchers and two volunteers. During the trials, one of the researchers – a South Asian woman – was incorrectly read as a Middle Eastern man 88 per cent of the time. Her paper spectacles hoodwinked the artificial intelligence into simply not recognising her. Impersonation is a little tricker. Although one male researcher wearing the paper glasses could pass as Milla Jovovich, an actress and supermodel, almost 90 per cent of the time, another male researcher had a hard time trying to impersonate Clive Owen, an actor – only succeeding around 16 per cent of the time. There isn’t anything special about the spectacles themselves. The frames were just printed on paper and overlaid on proper glasses. Obviously there are simpler ways to trick facial recognition systems. People can wear face masks or heavy makeup, but the authors of the report wanted to look for ways to trick the system inconspicuously, without tampering with the facial biometric software before or during the training process. “Facial accessories, such as eyeglasses, help make attacks plausibly deniable, as it is natural for people to wear them,” the security research team said.

Erith has cropped up a few times in the course of the greater history of the United Kingdom, most famously as the place where Alexander Selkirk – the real life “Robinson Crusoe” came ashore after being shipwrecked and living on a desert island. Something that until now has been less known is that Erith is thought by some historians from Bexley Local Studies and Archive Centre to have played a pivotal role in the Gunpowder Plot. In some information they released just in time for Guy Fawkes’ Night back in 2012, when they indicated that their research showed that in the summer of 1605, Erith Manor House, which was located on what is now Erith High Street, was rented under a pseudonym by Anne Vaux, the daughter of Lord William Vaux, the head of one of the wealthiest and most prominent Catholic families in the country at the time. Anne Vaux was known to arrange for safe houses to be made available for Catholic priests to hide up and hold underground church services – Catholics were widely persecuted in England at the time. Erith Manor House was considered an ideal location for Robert Catesby, Guy Fawkes and the other plotters against the King to hide up, as it had, according to Catesby “a secluded but convenient location” on the banks of the Thames, which had the added benefit of offering an easy escape route by boat, should the situation arise. What the plotters did not realise was that the intelligence service of the time was aware of them – spymaster Sir Anthony Standen, first assistant to Sir Francis Walsingham, who was then head of the English Secret Service, working directly for King James I, had broken up a plot (The Bye Plot – click here for more details) eighteen months before hand, and was now acutely aware that other Catholic activists had designs on the life of the Protestant monarch. Sir Anthony had informants all over the place, and soon became aware of the small group of men who were acting very suspiciously in and around Erith. Several of the plotters had also been seen in a number of taverns in Southwark, and it is possible that they were followed back to Erith, where their safe house was then discovered. When agents subsequently raided the house, the conspirators had already made their escape, and the place was deserted. Some of this is extrapolation from verified facts – it is certain that Anne Vaux did indeed rent Erith Manor House using the cover name Mrs Perkins, though it is not certain the Gunpowder Plotters did use it as their primary base of operations – there may well have been an underground Catholic church in the house, which in itself would have aroused suspicions. Unfortunately there is no opportunity for Erith Manor House to become a tourist attraction, as it was demolished in the 19th century after falling into a state of disrepair. Personally I think the story is somewhat fanciful. A group of wealthy gentlemen taking residence would stand out like a sore thumb in a small fishing village, as Erith was back at that time. Their fine clothes and expensive horses would mark them as outsiders, and this would be certain to at the very least provoke curiosity from local people.  I think it far more likely that their base of operations was located in Southwark, which in those days was effectively lawless.

I know many law abiding local motorbike riders are heartily fed up with the illegal activities of Bike Life TV UK – the gang of feral scumbags who congregate on their stolen, uninsured and unlicensed mopeds, motorbikes and quad bikes and who criminally ride, pulling wheelies and other idiotic stunts on public roads, causing distress and danger to civilised local residents. They have seemingly ridden with impunity for the last couple of years, but it would appear that this is now thankfully changing. The gang (who laughingly refer to themselves as a “family” on their website – which may be true in a sense, as many of their members would appear to be knuckle dragging inbreds). Bike Life TV UK held a get together in Blackheath last Sunday, where over a hundred illegal riders raced along roads, many not wearing helmets; this time the Police were present, and a total of seventeen illegal bikers were stopped by the Police using stinger tyre deflation devices when the riders refused to stop when ordered. Four riders were subsequently arrested and charged with a variety of offences, including disorder and anti-social behaviour – a fact I find hard to reconcile with the fact that seventeen illegal bikers had to be forcibly stopped by puncturing their bike tyres – I would have expected all of them to have been arrested under the circumstances? Still – it is a start. The Police regularly confiscate and crush illegal bikes – the trouble is, the criminal bikers just go and steal new ones. It would seem that the events of Halloween eve in Blackheath may be the start of a well – overdue crackdown on the gang. Their principal areas of operation are Thamesmead, Lower Belvedere and the Slade Green Marshes, although Bike Life TV UK are now such a large criminal group that their activities spread to a far wider area nowadays. Several of the group have been injured in carrying out stunts on public roads, and two have actually been killed. This needs to stop.

Bexley Brewery have announced their real ale lineup for Christmas - you can see their order form above - click on for a larger version - please feel free to download the form to print out and place an order with them. If you have not sampled their ales before, they produce extremely high quality beers made with locally sourced ingredients; I am  regular customer at their brewery and shop, located on the Manford Industrial Estate at the Slade Green end of Manor Road, Erith.

I have previously written at some lengths about by opposition to the government’s proposed roll – out of smart utility meters. News was published earlier this week that the IT system designed to underpin the smart meter roll – out remains unfinished. The last time it missed a smart meter deadline, the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) promised that “the new infrastructure is planned to go live at the end of September”. That did not happen. The IT system was initially planned to be up and running in April 2015, but was subsequently delayed until December 2015, then April 2016, then August 2016, and has now missed its September 2016 deadline. The project is being run by a subsidiary of Capita called The Data and Communications Company (DCC), which responsible for providing the communications infrastructure for smart meter readings. The smart meter infrastructure project was subject to an impact assessment back in 2014. The result of that assessment was that the project would come with an £11 billion bill to be paid by customers, and was described as “in danger of becoming a "costly failure" by a government report after a farcical number of delays and internal government warnings that it would most likely not be completed for another 50 years. Last year, the Institute of Directors warned that the smart meter project would add billions to consumers' bills and that the rollout "should be 'halted, altered or scrapped' to avoid a potentially catastrophic government IT disaster". As of today, the “timely rollout” of the smart meter system promised by the government has remained anything but, and the requirement to see domestic suppliers using the DCC by 1 August of next year seems as if it may not be met. The potential annual cost savings that energy companies claim, are frankly minuscule compared with an average household’s  other outgoings, and certainly too small to warrant drastic changes like replacing the fridge or oven, or less drastic ones like pre-emptively changing the lightbulbs. The irony of course is that those who would benefit the most from reducing their energy bills are generally those without the cash to do something about it. I am sure a lot of people on the bread line would like to save £20 a month by upgrading their electrical appliances, but they are a bit stuffed by not having the money to do so. The best most of them can do is to turn things off, and you don't need a smart meter to tell you that. Germany has already cancelled their own domestic smart meter programme, on the grounds that forecasts showed that it was going to cost far more money than it would have saved, and that is aside from any personal privacy or network infrastructure security worries that I have outlined in the past.

Concerns are growing in respect of the future fate of Hall Place, the borough’s stately home located conveniently close to the A2 at Old Bexley. The trust which has run the historic house and formal gardens has announced that it is no longer able to operate.  Cuts to the trust’s council grant and the prospect of becoming self-sufficient by 2020 mean the Tudor house and gardens will be handed back to the council as of April 2017 after a unanimous vote by trustees. Bexley Council have announced that the historic site is safe, but I share the concerns of many local residents. Speaking in the Bexley Times, Councillor Peter Craske said it was  “a ‘difficult decision’ caused by the gradual removal of funding from central government. The council recognises the significance of Hall Place and Gardens - an important and well-loved heritage site – which is not only an impressive historic destination for residents and tourists, but also provides a premiere wedding and event venue. In recognition of its value, I would like to make it absolutely clear that it will be ‘business as normal’ for Hall Place House and Gardens – both as a visitor attraction and also as a wedding/event venue.” From the experience these reassurances may count for little, though at present it is too early to say for certain. I doubt that anything drastic will happen to Hall Place – I don’t foresee it being converted into a Travelodge, for example (Hall Place is a Grade 1 listed historic building) but I do think that changes are likely to take place. If you have any insight into this, please leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

The ending video this week shows Erith Pier - the longest pier on the River Thames, and one of the most overlooked and underrated features of the town. The video shows the pier both with the tide out, showing the extensive mudflats, and at high tide. When the weather is nice there are few better places to be than strolling on the pier. Have a watch and see what you think.

The other left.

The two photos above were taken almost exactly fifty years apart; the upper photo was taken in the Summer of 1966, and the lower photo was taken by me in the Summer of 2016. They both show the same location - Erith High Street with the Cross Keys, Erith Playhouse and the Cross Keys / former Potion Bar. You can click on either photo for a larger view.

Erith is very much a town in flux; building work is being undertaken pretty much anywhere that you care to look. In the town centre, the fitting out of the forthcoming steak and fish restaurant opposite Argos is proceeding smoothly; work on the Fit4Less gym opposite Erith Health Centre is scheduled to open shortly – more on this later;  work is being carried out on the former White Hart / Potion site – although the details of this are still somewhat of a mystery. Phase two of Erith Park is now under construction, work has begun on Erith Quarry; the Tower Hill development (on the site of the old Bexley College building) is nearing completion. There has not been this level of construction in the town since the much criticised demolition of the old Erith town in 1966 and the subsequent construction of the hideous brutalist concrete shopping centre that replaced it – an action that still provokes strong negative reactions half a century later. I think if the original Victorian town centre had been preserved and restored, the whole character of Erith would be fundamentally different – I think that it could have become a Thames – side equivalent of Whitstable. All is conjecture of course, as nobody will ever know. After years of concrete blandness, the Erith Riverside Shopping Centre looks good, and the restoration work that has also been undertaken on local buildings such as the Cross Keys Centre make the local environment a far nicer place to be than it has for very many years. I will be running a feature on the new Fit4Less gym, and its owner Josh Waters in the next couple of weeks. I hope to publish the first photos of the interior of the gym before it opens to the public. Finally Erith is returning to the “whole town” it was before the old centre was so wantonly destroyed by the developers in the sixties. It has taken fifty years, but things are now definitely on the up.

Once again the News Shopper is showing that is no longer the local paper that it once used to be; they are currently running a story on “The Top 10 Takeaways in South London”. Not only is the London Borough of Bexley not in South London, but the takeaways listed include one in Wimbledon, and another in Hounslow! Not exactly what I would in any way call local. The forced closure of the News Shopper offices in Petts Wood and relocation of a handful of staff to Sutton in Surrey, with those remaining either made redundant, or made to work remotely from home. This has had an awful impact on the quality of local reporting – quite often there are real clangers in stories where the journalist is not familiar with the local area, and makes basic errors which a person conversant with the area simply would not make. I have sympathy with the few remaining staff, who are horrendously overworked, but the quality of the journalism has taken a turn for the worse. You can read more about the situation with the News Shopper and a couple of other local papers by clicking here.

Some very good and overdue news; The government is to review gambling machines amid concerns they may harm vulnerable people. As many as 600,000 people in the UK may take part in "problem gambling", said culture, media and sport minister Tracey Crouch. The review will take a "close look" at fixed odds betting terminals (FOBTs) - now common on high streets - and children's access to gambling. I have long said that a major review of gambling, both on the high street and online needs to be carried out. Government figures suggest the industry employs around 100,000 people in the UK and contributed more than £10bn to the economy last year. But, amid concern over associated social problems, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport-led review will assess its impact on individuals and communities. Fixed Odds Betting Terminals are sometimes referred to as the "crack cocaine " of the gambling world. I for one would like to see the amount of money possible to stake at any one time be limited to £2, and the maximum payout to be £20, but I am doubtful that this will happen, as the tax revenues the government makes from the current high stakes machines is just so high. There are too many vested interests. Personally I feel that the UK gambling industry needs a massive shake up. It has been allowed far too free a rein for years, and has exploited the market to the point where it is more powerful than some banks. People rightly get annoyed by the activities of certain banks and bankers, whilst seemingly overlooking the scourge of the high street and nowadays also the web, the big five bookies. If all this was not bad enough, the web based casinos and poker sites that operate on the periphery of some country’s laws are proving increasingly aggressive in trying to separate people from their hard earned cash. I have noticed that sites such as 888 Casino and 888 Poker use software resistant pop – ups and pop unders, which are embedded into legitimate web sites, usually without the owner’s consent. The fact that a large organisation would willfully contravene The Computer Misuse Act 1990 to try and promote its dubious services to me says a lot about their intentions.

It would seem that the Smart Watch market, which was never that large in global terms, is now in a fairly steep decline. Figures released in the last week show that the worldwide smartwatch market experienced a round of growing pains in the third quarter of 2016, resulting in a year-over-year decline in shipment volumes. According to data from the International Data Corporation, (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Wearable Device Tracker, total smartwatch volumes reached 2.7 million units shipped in the third quarter of 2016, a decrease of 51.6 percent from the 5.6 million units shipped in the third quarter 2015. Although the decline is significant, it is worth noting that the third quarter 2015 was the first time Apple's Watch had widespread retail availability after a limited online launch. Meanwhile, the second generation Apple Watch was only available in the last two weeks of the third quarter 2016. "The sharp decline in smartwatch shipment volumes reflects the way platforms and vendors are realigning," noted Ramon Llamas, research manager for IDC's Wearables team. "Apple revealed a new look and feel to watchOS that did not arrive until the launch of the second generation watch at the end of September. Google’s decision to hold back Android Wear 2.0 has repercussions for its OEM partners as to whether to launch devices before or after the holidays. Samsung’s Gear S3, announced at IFA in September, has yet to be released. Collectively, this left vendors relying on older, aging devices to satisfy customers." "It has also become evident that at present smartwatches are not for everyone," said Jitesh Ubrani senior research analyst for IDC Mobile Device Trackers. "Having a clear purpose and use case is paramount, hence many vendors are focusing on fitness due to its simplicity. However, moving forward, differentiating the experience of a smartwatch from the smartphone will be key and we're starting to see early signs of this as cellular integration is rising and as the commercial audience begins to pilot these devices." Apple maintained its position as the overall leader of the worldwide smartwatch market, yet it posted the second largest year-over-year decline among the leading vendors. Its first-generation Watches accounted for the majority of volumes during the quarter, leading to the significant downturn for the quarter. Its Series One and Series Two did little to stem that decline, although with lower price points and improved experiences, Apple could be heading for a sequential rebound in the fourth quarter 2016 - this might well align with the launch of their revamped range of iMac computers - sales of which have been dropping as potential customers hold off buying as they know that new models are on the way. Garmin posted the largest year-over-year increase among the leading vendors, thanks to its growing list of ConnectIQ-enabled smartwatches and the addition of the fenix Chronos. Whereas other smartwatches attempt to be multi-purpose devices, Garmin’s smartwatches focus on health and fitness, and the applications reflect that strategy. Its total volumes helped close the gap further against a declining Apple and extended its lead ahead over Samsung. Samsung finished the third quarter 2016, slightly higher from a year ago on the strength of its aging Gear S2 smartwatches. These still remain one of the few smartwatches on the market that feature full-time cellular connectivity. The company introduced its follow-up, the Gear S3, with a Bluetooth-only version as well as a cellular version, but it has yet to be released to the market. Lenovo (Motorola) suffered the largest year-over-year decline among the leading vendors, with multiple channels selling out of Moto 360 devices (both first and second generation) and a scarcity of its recently released Moto 360 Sport smartwatch. In addition, the third quarter 2016 marks the first time in which Motorola did not introduce a new smartwatch in time for the holiday quarter, adding to its decline in the market. Pebble arguably kicked off the smartwatch category with its original Kickstarter campaign in 2012. Since then the company has launched multiple variants of the Pebble watch and also introduced a new timeline-based user interface, though none of them achieved mass success. After another successful Kickstarter campaign in early 2016, Pebble released the Pebble 2 (oddly enough, the third generation) late in the third quarter. The new Pebble 2 is the first watch by the company to include a heart-rate sensor and has an overall focus on fitness. It would seem to me that Smart Watches have one niche - in the health and fitness market; they are used to monitor heart and breathing rates, and associated performance. Outside of this tightly defined area they seem to struggle to find any real relevance. As I have written before, the drop in sales may well be aligned to the fact that many people regard them as a solution looking for a problem. Personally I will stick with my two classic mechanical swiss watches, they look good, keep good time and a ten second wind will keep each of them ticking for at least 36 hours. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com. 

The Bexley Times are reporting that BT is in consultation with Bexley Council in respect of the nineteen payphone boxes still remaining in use in the borough. British Telecom are saying that the number is no longer financially viable. The council will in turn be canvassing local residents for their opinions on the subject. I recall that some time ago there was a well – used payphone in Manor Road, outside of the former Royal Alfred pub. A reliable source told me that the phone box use got very much heavier, the further into the month one went. Apparently this was because local addicts would use it to phone their drug dealers when the credit on their mobile phones had run out. That all ended in the autumn of 2011 when joy riders in a stolen BMW lost control of the car and crashed into the phone box – you can see a photo of the damage above – click for a larger view. It was thought that as the pay phone generated a fair deal of cash, that BT would replace it, but after a few days the box was removed and the hole it left in the pavement was covered with tarmac. That was the end of what I understood to have been the most profitable phone box in the area, so I am not exactly surprised that less well – earning phone boxes are being retired. I do have concerns however; mobile phone signal coverage is generally good in and around Erith, due mainly to the cell transceivers and antenna farm on the roof of Electricity House next to the Fish roundabout. Other parts of the London borough of Bexley have far patchier coverage, not to mention what would happen in the event of a national or local disaster, or even a terrorist attack? One of the first things to go down in such an event are the mobile phone networks. The authorities have the ability to disable all mobile phones in a given cell or series of cells, with the exception of specialist mobile phones (which have to be approved by the Police and the Home Office) which are used by the disaster recovery teams in large organisations. In certain circumstances, the entire mobile phone network may go down. If this happens the only alternatives are old fashioned copper landline telephones, or the most reliable backup method of communication – two way radio. Unless, like me you are a Radio Amateur, the options for two way radio operation are very limited; CB and PMR 446 are pretty much limited to line of sight – 4 to 6 miles at sea level on average (your mileage may vary due to a number of factors I won’t go into here). This is where the organisation RAYNET steps in; RAYNET is a voluntary emergency service operated by Radio Amateurs that provide short, medium and long range voice, video and data communications in areas where there has been a total loss of mainstream communications. RAYNET volunteers train alongside the Fire Brigade, Police, Ambulance Service, Mountain Rescue and RNLI. When all other forms of communication have failed, radio will always get through. What I am really saying is, if you want to maintain reliable communications under any sort of adverse circumstances, then you really need to become a Radio Amateur – you can read all about how to apply here.

It has been a very long time since I had any kind of remarkable encounter on public transport, but on Wednesday afternoon I had one that is definitely worth a mention. I was returning home by train from work after a long day in the office. I had got to Woolwich Arsenal when two blokes entered the carriage and sat down on the same row of seats as me. They were both in their mid-forties, on the large side, very scruffily dressed and rather smelly, to be honest. They began a conversation in over – loud voices which the whole carriage could hear. One was telling the other one the best way to avoid railway ticket inspectors – “they won’t chase you if you run across the railway tracks”. The other then asked the first why he had not come round to meet him this morning. The first replied that he had rung but the other had not answered – to which the response was “are you sure you rang the right number?” – the other replied that he had shouted outside of the house, but did not ring the doorbell. The duo conducted the entire conversation in very coarse, expletive filled “Arthur Mullard” type voices – I don’t think they were in any way suffering from learning disabilities – they were both just extremely thick. After laboriously comparing the phone number the one had rung, they eventually came to the conclusion he had rung the wrong number. He had two mobile phones, one in each hand, and his ultra dim companion asked him to check the other phone as well “the one in your left hand” – the first bloke looked confused and looked at one of the phones, only for his mate to say ”no – your other left hand”. By this stage the double act had half the carriage listening in bemusement. The two clowns eventually got off at Abbey Wood. I think that their level of befuddlement at even the most basic of tasks was a mixture of general dimness and the ingestion of some recreational pharmaceutical. I seriously doubt that in their condition they would be capable of walking and chewing gum at the same time.

The News Shopper are reporting another road traffic accident in Bexleyheath Broadway, outside of the Asda supermarket. I for one am not surprised; the disastrous half pavement – half roadway where neither drivers or pedestrians can tell which is which has been roundly condemned, and has resulted in numerous accidents since the work was carried out. Bexley Council seem oblivious to criticism regarding the changes to Bexleyheath Broadway which have left the road far more dangerous to users than it was before. I get the feeling that the council will only make changes when legal action is taken against them by someone injured as a result of the wrong-headed decision to blur the distinction between pavement and road – a trendy theme in current street design, but which puts members of the general public at risk. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

The Peabody Trust housing association have announced plans for 1,500 new homes in Thamesmead, to be built in four phases, the first one of which will be a development of 525 new houses called the Southmere Village, which will consist of around half for sale, and half for affordable rent. The next three phases will be approximately one thousand new properties, which should be completed by 2024. Work on the Southmere Village development is due to start in the Spring of next year. I understand that plans also exist for a new library and I have heard rumours of a sports centre and cinema as well. Bearing in mind that before the 1,500 new houses are built, Thamesmead is a town equivalent in size to Wolverhampton in the West Midlands, yet has nothing like as many public facilities. Hopefully this will change with the new investment that Peabody is bringing to the area. Bexley Council are pressing Transport for London to extend Crossrail (which will be renamed the Elizabeth Line when it opens in 2018) from the currently planned terminus at Abbey Wood, though to Belvedere, Erith and Slade Green. This would be a relatively cheap and simple piece of civil engineering (at least when compared to the previous work), and would improve connectivity for the area to pretty much the whole of Greater London. Extending the Elizabeth line would entail widening the rail track bed between Abbey Wood and Slade Green – something relatively straightforward for much of the run, as the existing railway tracks are next to brownfield, former industrial land on the Kent bound side for much of the run. No tunnelling or bridging would be required, and any widening could be done with little need for compulsory purchasing and subsequent demolition of buildings, or too close encroachment to residential housing. I feel that an extension would be a win / win for all concerned. Abbey Wood has already seen the economic effect of the forthcoming Elizabeth Line, and I am certain that the effect would extend to Belvedere, Erith and Slade Green.

Maggot Sandwich readers who use versions of Windows earlier than Windows 10 may need to take precautions. If you’re looking to protect a PC with an older version of a Microsoft operating system such as Windows 7, you can use Microsoft Security Essentials to provide comprehensive malware protection that will help guard against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software. It provides free real-time protection for your home or small business PCs. However, Microsoft is warning of fake copies of its Security Essentials that if executed will throw a fake blue screen of death, take over machines, and lead users to technical support scams. Redmond regards the threat dubbed "Hicurdismos" as a severe threat which compromises PCs typically through bundled software installers and drive-by-downloads. Microsoft's anti-malware team are warning customers "Hicurdismos" will throw a full screen blue screen of death, disabling the ctrl+alt+delete task manager to prevent the user bypassing it, and hiding the mouse cursor to make it appear more legitimate. "Hicurdismos" misleads users and lures them into "calling a number that can lead to a fake technical support scam," the team say. "The threat of technical support scams has been around for years, but it’s recently been observed to be growing. We’ve seen attackers becoming more sophisticated with their social engineering tactics to try to mislead users into calling for technical support and then they are asked for payment to 'fix the problem' on the PC that does not exist." You have been warned. The bad guys get cleverer with every passing week.

The end video this week is a short documentary on the new Erith Park housing development, and what the residents think of their new homes. It makes for very interesting viewing; see what you think.