Two stars.

The photos above show a couple of views of Erith Pier - the longest pier on the River Thames by quite some distance. Last year the very first Erith Pier Festival took place; the organisers expected around four hundred people to turn up to the inaugural event. As it turned out, something over four thousand people visited the pier on the day - helped by the excellent weather at the time. The Erith Pier Festival will be returning to the riverside on the 21st September 11am - 9pm this year. The festival will feature live music, various pop - up food stalls from the Erith Kitchen, Bexley Brewery will have a beer tent serving some of their excellent, locally brewed real ales, and there will be a number of children's entertainers as well. You can read more about the event by clicking here. Please note that the "Get there by boat" option is erroneous - it is not currently possible to visit Erith Pier by any public river service. If you own your own ship, that is however another story. 

I know that some sections of the popular press have been getting quite upset over the price of computer printer toner, and it is indeed a complete rip – off. I think that they were missing a trick, however, as there is something that is an even bigger con; I know it is something I have mentioned before, but I do feel strongly that it needs to be revisited. Why is the cost of men’s wet shaving razor blades so extortionate? Some are £15.75 for a measly eight blades. The materials involved in their construction and the labour utilised is minimal – the production lines are almost completely automated, and the materials are high quality, but there is little metal involved in reality. The only conclusion that I can come to is that the reason razor blades are so eye wateringly expensive is that the companies that produce and sell them seem to have the market completely sewn up. They charge so much just because they can. I think the only solution to this would be for a new player to enter the market to produce blades of an equivalent quality and durability (don’t get me going as to how quickly blades wear out – you are lucky to get four shaves out of a blade, nothing like the month of use that the manufacturers’ claim) at a fraction of the cost. I cannot believe that this would be technically or financially impossible. It takes someone with the kind of business expertise and audacity that have caused Ryan Air to overturn the short and medium haul air travel industry, to be able to challenge the big players in the men’s grooming market.  I bitterly resent being held over a barrel when it comes to shaving. On a side note, does anyone have a clue why there are no mousse or gel hair removal products targeted at men? A facial “Immac for Men” or similar might be an interesting product. I don’t know if there are any technical or medical reasons why such a product could not be brought to market. If you have any thoughts or suggestions, please leave a comment below. All comments will be moderated and published within 24 hours of receipt. Email me at the usual address:- hugh.neal@gmail.com.

A form of ferry service has been in place at Woolwich since the 14th century, as a way of allowing the community to safely cross the Thames. The service pre-dates all other tunnel and bridge crossings in the capital. The documentation from that date refers to the waterman who ran the ferry, William de Wicton, sold his business and house to William Halle, for £10. In 1320 the ferry was sold again for 100 silver marks. There is no further mention of the ferry during the years that Woolwich rose to prominence as a royal dockyard under Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. Much later, in 1810 the army established its own ferry that ran from Woolwich Royal Arsenal to Duvals Wharf. In 1811 an Act of Parliament was passed to establish a ferry across the Thames from Woolwich at the Old Ballast or Sand Wharf, opposite Chapel Hill, where the dockyard then terminated. The ferry became known as the western ferry and was run by a company that called itself The Woolwich Ferry Company. The Western ferry continued to operate until 1844, when the company was dissolved after a history of inept management. The current free ferry was set up in the 1889 and has run ever since. The ferry infrastructure at the Woolwich terminals had been in operation for over 50 years, providing a ‘roll-on/roll-off’ transport service, and has seen traffic volumes using the service dramatically increase over this period. Over 1 million vehicle crossings and 1.95 million passenger journeys were recorded using the service in 2014, which is operated and run by Briggs Marine Contractors, under a long term operating contract with Transport for London (TfL). Since the two new ferry vessels entered service earlier this year, there have been an almost constant series of mechanical and electrical breakdowns, labour strikes and other disruptions to the service, which the public was erroneously told the introduction of the new ships would prevent. There have been several problems with the new service; the ships are run by electric motors powered by diesel generators, and the new automated docking system is also powered by electro magnets. The diesel generators have so far proved far less reliable than predicted. On top of this, the electro magnetic docking system only seems to work properly when there is little wind or tide affecting the movement of the ferries as they dock. Anything less than perfect conditions causes the ferries to bounce on the docking mechanism, and fail to make a secure contact. I have read reports that the new ferries, despite their new technology, are actually far harder to operate than the old 1960's models that they replaced. On top of this, there are a series of ongoing labour disputes between the ferry crews and the management of the service; at the time of writing these are unresolved.

Shock news following the recent health and hygiene inspection of the KFC Drive Through (I will not call it "Drive Thru" as that is an abomination). Bexley Council inspectors visited the restaurant located at 1, Manor Road, Erith on Tuesday the 6th of August. After the visit, the chain outlet scored a worryingly low two out of a possible five stars on the "Scores on the Doors" hygiene rating system. The low, two star award, means that "Improvement is necessary" - not what you would expect of a large multinational food franchise. How could a multinational mega brand allow one of its stores get into a position that it can only rate a two out of five star rating? It is immaterial whether the store is company owned or a franchise – the standards expected are identical. The damage to the KFC brand should such information become widely known is difficult to calculate, but it certainly would not be good. The Erith store has had a history of problems; In the summer of 2016, I received several reports of certain menu items being unavailable when requested, and I also heard a couple of unsubstantiated rumours that the store was suffering cash flow problems. It would seem from the investment subsequently made into the store, that these rumours were either incorrect, or had been successfully resolved. The Erith KFC branch made it into the tabloid papers back in February of last year; one of the largest news stories both nationally and locally had been at that time that of the temporary closure of a majority of KFC fast food restaurants around the country due to problems with their supply chain management, which had recently been taken over by courier firm DHL. KFC outlets around the UK ran out of ingredients, and had to temporarily close. Footage, allegedly showing KFC staff transferring raw chicken from a car into the side entrance of the Erith store was taken by a local person and uploaded to Facebook. The uploader made a number of unsubstantiated claims about the restaurant, including that staff were sleeping in the building. This was all published by the Sun newspaper without verifying any of the claims - not surprising as the Sun is well known for not letting the facts get in the way of a good story. A local source informed me at the time that the box the workers had taken from the car into the back of the restaurant actually contained a selection of cleaning materials. I was also told that when the Erith KFC Manager realised that the workers could not serve much in the way of food, and they could not at that stage be sent home, he got them to carry out a deep clean on the kitchen and the public areas of the restaurant - an instruction that apparently did not go down too well with some of the staff.

The vintage photo above (click on it for a larger view) was originally taken by me as part of a school geography project on the River Thames, way back in 1981. You can see Erith Police Station - when it still was a police station, and not a seedy and badly converted bunch of low rent apartments as it is nowadays. Next to it are some buildings that were a remnant of the old Erith - they are boarded up in the photo; not too long afterwards they were demolished to make way for sheltered housing. I came across the photo whilst going through a huge pile of photographs whilst clearing out a cupboard in my Mum's house some years ago. Nearly all of the shots were consigned to the bin. A few choice ones I have kept, and may share a couple with you online in the next few weeks. Unfortunately the rest of the geography project photos of Erith have disappeared - I was hoping to be able to archive them, but sadly this is not going to be the case.

Erith has been the location for an astonishing number of world changing inventions. It is unfortunate that prime amongst these is one that will forever be associated with the carnage in the trenches of the First World War. Hiram Maxim, the American born, naturalised Briton who invented the eponymous Maxim machine gun had his factory at Erith, which I covered in some depth recently; Maxim's company later merged with the larger Vickers company to become Vickers Sons and Maxim, and went on to produce the most heavily used machine gun of WW1. It was responsible for more deaths in combat than any other weapon at the time. What a lot of people don’t realise is that the biggest killer of World War One was not a weapon at all, it was a disease. More people died during the great flu pandemic of 1918 than died as part of the conflict itself. Figures are somewhat vague, but it is estimated that five hundred million people around the world  became infected with the H1N1 influenza virus, of these, between fifty to one hundred million ended up dying; at the time this was between three and five percent of the world population, making it the deadliest natural disaster in recorded history.  What was especially unusual about the outbreak was that the victims were mainly young, normally fit people, rather than the elderly and infirm. The reason for this was that the H1N1 virus caused a massive over – reaction in the body’s auto immune system. The strong immune systems in healthy people were thus far worse affected than those in elderly people or infants, and consequently more people at the prime of their lives ended up dying. To maintain wartime morale, British and allied censors removed almost all references to the horrendous flu outbreak in newspaper stories featuring the UK, Germany, France and the USA, and instead focussed on flu stories in the then neutral Spain. Consequently the outbreak nowadays gets called the Spanish Flu, when in fact the terrible effects were felt all around the world.

It is now just over three months since I quit Sky TV after twenty three years of subscription to their satellite TV service. I was expecting to "go cold turkey" but quite the opposite has actually been the case. Despite Sky writing to me on a weekly basis, unsuccessfully trying to persuade me to rejoin. The quality of programmes on Sky, and especially the selection of premium movies leaves much to be desired, and I seriously resented paying for premium channels like Sky Atlantic, and still have to sit through advert breaks. All Sky subscribers are actually paying a subscription to watch adverts – it makes no sense. In the USA, commercial TV companies are already feeling the pinch. Some are cutting back on the number and length of their commercial breaks to try and tempt back customers who are now voting with their feet and leaving the traditional broadcasters and moving to subscription based, advert free streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. Netflix knows their customers hate adverts. "We know one of the benefits of an ecosystem like Netflix is its lack of advertising," Howard Shimmel, a chief research officer at Time Warner, told Bloomberg in an interview last year. "Consumers are being trained there are places they can go to avoid ads." In response to Netflix's advertising policy, many networks have actually cut back on the amount of ads they show in an effort to lure back in the younger Netflix / Amazon Prime Video generation. Media analyst CordCutting.com crunched some numbers and found that each Netflix subscriber saves themselves about 158.5 hours of commercials per year. The number will be somewhat lower in the UK and most of Europe, where fewer adverts are allowed per hour of broadcast television, but it is still a substantial number. As I have previously written, I consider the Sky business model to be fundamentally broken, and if they don’t move away from hugely expensive satellite broadcasting and convert to a full streaming service, I think they will be dead and gone in the next five years. What do you think? Comment below, or Email hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Now for the weekly local safety and security updates from Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association. Firstly the report from Barnehurst ward:- "There was a recent report of a burglary early hours of Thursday 8th August along Drummond Close Erith, entry was gained by smashing the front door of the property. Also there was a report of theft of motorbike outside an address along Normandy Way Erith between 9 pm and 9.30 pm The team shall also be holding a contact session between 4 pm and 5 pm at the Barnehurst Golf Club along Mayplace Road East if anyone wishes to speak to the team. If you do wish to pass on information to Police then please contact Crime Stoppers on 0800 555111. If you are after crime prevention advice, please look at the Met Police website which has lots of information that you may find useful. Remember in an emergency please dial 999 and 101 for non-urgent reporting". Belvedere ward:- "On the 31/07/2019 we had a burglary in poplar mount. The thieves stole gold, jewellery and tools. They gained entry via the rear windows and door, from the alleyway it is believed. Happened sometime between 10:00 and 21:00. The team assisted the RSPCA on 07/08/2019 by seizing two mistreated dogs form an address on Erith Road. Just over our border by PC Smith was happy to help out. We have, for a while now, had complaints about certain HMO's in Barnfield Road. If you are experiencing problems with any of the residents of the HMO's please let us know. Our next Street-a-Week will be on 18/08/2019 from 12:00 - 12:30 on Halt Robin Road, at the junction with Upper Park Road". Bexleyheath ward:- "There have been reports of fights and disturbances in and around the Golden Lion public house, Bexleyheath. The council is seeking witnesses for more information. here seems to be no reports off any burglaries or attempted burglaries on the ward over the last week A theft from motor vehicle was reported overnight on the 04/08/2019 & 05/08/2019 along Pinnacle Hill, tools were stolen from a van. Also along Rochester Drive Bexleyheath, suspects had tried stealing a van off the driveway at about midnight. A purse was reported stolen from an elderly female. Believed to have been taken in the H and M store on the Broadway, this was reported on the 03/08/2019. Also a wallet was reported stolen which was reported in ASDA on the 6/08/2019. There was a report of a victim using an ATM on the Broadway on the 01/08/2019 and was unable to use the machine. They were approached by two youths who allegedly tried to help him get the card out of the machine and victim thought this was suspicious and took their card and walked away. Money was taken from victims account, card was cloned. There was also another report of suspects calling the victim to say they need to upgrade their online banking security and to log on to their online banking which they did and money was stolen. The team regularly conduct patrols along drug hot spot areas and ASB areas on the ward and conduct regular stops and searches where necessary".

Crayford ward:- "On 3rd August between 12.00-14.30 a catalytic convertor was stolen from a vehicle parked in Bexley Lane. Between 1.20-1.25am on 3rd August two vehicles had items stolen from them in Falsfaff Close, items included two pairs of Rayban sunglasses, a handbag and a wine coloured Barbour jacket. Number plates were stolen from Stadium Way on 3rd August between 11.15-12.15, LX16VXB should be on a red Citigo Skoda. At about the same time on the same day and place, someone attempted to remove number plates from a silver Ford Focus. A Bosch garden strimmer and other items were stolen from a garden shed in Marden Crescent overnight between 3rd and 4th August. A green and white Greenmech Dual Feed towable wood chipper was stolen from a locked yard in Thames Road over the weekend 3rd and 4th August. A white Fiesta van GJ68XYU was involved in a road traffic accident at Swan Lane on Saturday 3rd August. It has since been reported stolen by an unknown person. Our next community contact session is on Wednesday 14th August between 16.00-17.00 at Vintage Lindy Lou's in Waterside Gardens, Crayford". Erith ward:- "We had the Erith Ward panel meeting and had a really nice turn out of people, if this meeting would interest you feel free to contact me for more information. The priories we set out which was chosen by the residents of Erith are as follows - Extra patrols around Compton Place which includes a meeting with the local Cllr. ASB patrols around West Street. Crimes of note - Burglary Residential 01/08/2019 Rutland Gate - By unknown suspect attempting to gain entry into victims house and damaging the front door and making off without gaining entry. Theft of Motor Vehicle 01/08/2019 Fraser Road. Theft of a  Motor Vehicle 02/08/2019 Avenue Road. Theft from Motor Vehicle 20/07/2019 Park Crescent. Theft from Motor Vehicle  03/08/2019 Bexley Road, Theft of Motor Vehicle 06/08/2019 James Watt Way".  Northumberland Heath ward - no report this week. Slade Green and Northend ward - no report this week. Thamesmead East ward:- "Burglary - No household burglaries this week. Crime prevention: Close and lock all your doors and windows, even if you're going out for a few minutes. Photograph and keep a detailed inventory of each item of jewellery and keep it in a separate place. Remain vigilant at all times Burglary Business/Commercial The Beam Engine House, located in Bazalgette Way, SE2 was broken Into between the hours of 4:00pm on Friday 02/08/19 and 07:50am on Sunday 04/08/19. Numerous items taken, unknown Total value of items taken and damage caused to gain entry, however a new roller shutter was costing about £3,500. Theft from Motor Vehicles - Between the hours of 11:245pm on Thursday 01/08/19 and 10:15am of Friday 02/08/19, a vehicle parked locked and secure on the drive of a property in St. Katherines Road, DA18, was broken into. No damage was caused to gain entry, the glove box was searched. A hire vehicle locked and secure parked Kale Road, had windows smashed, untidy search. The theft of a Catalytic converter had occurred at 10:55pm on Monday 05/08/19 in Grange Crescent, SE28. Between 9:am of Monday 05/08/19 and 8:00 pm of Tuesday 06/08/19,a vehicle was stolen from Eastgate Close, SE28.The theft from a motor vehicle occurred in Kale Road .The incident happened in May 2019, after the victim had noticed the passenger door was open and the victims purse was on the passenger seat. Bank cards and cash ,which apparently the victim had left in the vehicle were taken .bank cards were cancelled Victim had not contacted police regarding the theft, it was only after officers contacted the victim following a search of a male found to be in possession of the stolen cards. Good News - Message of thanks from the staff from at the Beam Engine House to Mark Headley - Designing Out Crime Officer and PCSO Dennis Hobbs for help given". West Heath ward:- "No burglaries reported to us over the last week. Unfortunately we have had a number of vehicle crimes. On Friday August 2nd at approximately 8.30 am a vehicle was broken into in Hythe Avenue, an untidy search of the vehicle was made but nothing appeared to be stolen. Attempted theft of an exhaust/ catalytic converter in Bedonwell Road on Tuesday August 6th between 10.30 – 10.40 am. A vehicle was broken in to in Glenview on Monday August 5th at approximately 9.45 pm via the driver's window. Untidy search of the vehicle, no further details known at this time. Theft of motor vehicle from Cranbrook Road between Saturday July 27th and Sunday August 4th, the victim was on holiday and returned to discover the vehicle missing. The victim was still in possession of the keys. Theft of a motor vehicle from Preston Drive on Wednesday August 7th between 4.15 – 4.30 am, thankfully the vehicle was later recovered. One report of criminal damage to a motor vehicle in Longleigh Lane on Saturday August 3rd between 1 am and 2 pm when the owner returned to the vehicle and discovered several dents that were not there before. The team arrested two prolific offenders over the weekend, one for failure to appear and the other was wanted on recall to prison".

The end video this week is a return to a local jazz combo who I first featured a couple of weeks ago; The Tom Fleming Trio were filmed in the main hall of the former Carnegie Library in Walnut Tree Road, courtesy of The Exchange. Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.  

The end of the phone box?

The uppermost photo above was taken last Sunday afternoon in The Bookstore Cafe in the former Carnegie Library in Walnut Tree Road in Erith. The Bookstore Cafe hosted a pop - up Vietnamese restaurant, which proved to be extremely popular. Many other events are being held in the former library building, including yoga classes which are held every Saturday morning from 8.30 until 9.30am in the Conversation Room, adjacent to The Bookstore Cafe. I know the details on the graphic above differ from those I have just supplied; I would strongly suggest that you contact the organiser, Ashley Bailey at ashley@bayleafyoga.com for the latest details and class timings. Visitors to the yoga classes are advised to bring a yoga mat, and to wear loose, comfortable clothing. The weekly classes cost £8 drop in, and £5 low income. Block booking discounts available. Click here for booking details. A new activity taking place in The Bookstore Cafe is a new board gaming club called The Wandering Meeple Express, which meet every Friday evening from 5.30 - 10.30pm. They are described thus:- "Join the Wandering Meeple Express @ The Exchange on Friday evenings for some tabletop gaming. The geeks will be on hand with the Wandering Meeple’s TOP 50 games for you to choose from, one of the games you wish to play not in the TOP 50 then make a request via messenger and we will have it there for you.  Fridays 5:30pm till 10:30 in The Bookstore Cafe, which serves a range of snacks, soft drinks along with beers, wine and spirits". You can see members of the Wandering Meeple Express in the middle image above - the photo was taken on Friday evening; click on it to see a larger version. A further pop - up restaurant event is happening in The Bookstore Cafe on Thursday the 22nd August from 7pm - 9.30pm. A group called Isle will be cooking and serving Contemporary Asian Food Fusion – Inspired by authentic Indian dishes with modern touches. Including Pakoras, Samosas, Tandoori Chicken and Lamb Curry. For the full menu, download by clicking here. Isle are passionate about providing good quality food in a relaxed environment. They use quality produce to bring perfectly spiced dishes to the table.

It would seem that the children's nursery operator, Sarah Carnegie - who very publicly announced that she was opening a new day nursery in the former Bright Steps nursery premises in Electricity House, adjacent to the fish roundabout in Erith, has now pulled out of the venture. The Bright Steps nursery had attracted a lot of negative publicity; After a number of interventions by Ofsted and Bexley Police, the Bright Steps day nursery, which had been run by Mr. Saula Ogunkoya was closed down after a series of legal compliance and child welfare violations. During a series of hearings at the Royal Courts of Justice during July, August and September last year, the proprietor of Bright Steps lodged a legal appeal against the withdrawal of the licence by Ofsted. The decision of the Judge -  Gillian Irving QC, was published on the 11th October. The case - Mr Saula Ogunkoya (Bright Steps Nursery and Day Care)  v Ofsted determined that:- "We find as a fact that:- (i) the Appellant failed to identify risks of harm, issues of health and safety, and to implement appropriate and safe child-handling practice; (ii) the Appellant repeatedly failed to manage children’s behaviour appropriately; (iii) the Appellant repeatedly failed to meet the requirements in relation to child protection procedures and safeguarding; his approach to the investigation into CO in 2016 and the allegation in 2018 is indicative of an inability and/or an unwillingness to learn from past mistakes and to prioritise the needs of the children in his care; (iv) the Appellant has historically and repeatedly failed to meet the learning and development requirements of the EYFS; (v) the Appellant failed to ensure the suitability of staff, specifically his sister CO in 2016; (vi) the Appellant failed to notify Ofsted of the police investigation into CO in 2016 and delayed suspending her; (vii) the history demonstrates that the Appellant is unable or unwilling to sustain compliance with requirements imposed by the regulations. (e) We find that the Appellant has been untruthful both to the Respondent, the Police, the Tribunal and all others involved in the investigation of the incident on 3/1/2018. His failure to co-operate mirrors his unwillingness to co-operate in November 2017. His lack of integrity and his failure to work openly and in collaboration with the Respondent results in the sad conclusion that he is not suitable to provide nursery provision. We therefore dismiss the appeal and there shall be no order as to costs". You can read the published full legal decision on the case by clicking here. From my reading of the court documentation, it would appear that the nursery had been under performing for several years, and had refused to obey a series of previous compliance orders by Ofsted. The final straw seems to have been when a member of the public observed a member of the Bright Steps nursery staff smacking a child under their care. It would appear that subsequent to this, the nursery managers deleted CCTV footage of the assault, and tried to cover up the event when Ofsted and the Police then carried out an investigation. Subsequent to this forced closure, the nursery part of the building was advertised for rent, and Sarah Carnegie negotiated taking on the lease. I contacted her for details of her new business, and we engaged in some correspondence, where I gave her some background into the situation with Electricity House, and how the entire building was likely to become the subject of a compulsory purchase order by Bexley Council at some point in the not too distant future. I surmise that this may well have deterred her from proceeding with the lease on part of the building; I see that she has now relocated The Carnegie Playhouse to White Hart Avenue in Thamesmead. I think she has made the right decision.

This week the Maggot Sandwich has a new guest writer - Mark Brooks OBE, founder of The Mankind Initiative - a charity which supports men who have been victims of domestic violence - you can see their website by clicking here. Mark writes about his experiences in an earlier role, which makes for fascinating reading:- "Way back in 1999, I joined National Savings (now National Savings and Investments – NS and I) as a press officer (eventually running the department) and discovered that Premium Bonds still existed. At the time they had broadly fallen out of fashion and were viewed as old fashioned – a relic of Post War Britain. Even when they were launched in November 1956 they were described by Harold Wilson, who later became Prime Minister, as a ‘squalid raffle’. Not so now, with 21 million people holding them and £79 billion invested (meaning 79 billion numbers are eligible for each draw when there were just 49 million in June 1957 – the time of the first draw!) The challenge in the early part of this century was for the organisation was to re-purpose them as a “seriously fun way of saving” based on the premise that instead of traditional interest, you had the chance to win a prize from £100 to £1 million – and you could withdraw your money at any time. As part of the wider public relations strategy, the plan was to plug into the historical element - tapping into both the fun side but also the serious side (if anything created in 1956 and was still around in 2000, it had to still have some form of modern-day purpose). A key part of this was to play off the machine that picked the numbers – ERNIE – or more correctly, Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment. The ERNIE machines (now on their fifth version – launched this year) are not computers so they cannot be programmed – they simply produce a string of numbers which are then matched to the database. The first matching number wins the top prize. Today’s version uses light to pick the numbers (quantum technology), but the original built in 1957 (and the subsequent three) used thermal noise.  Ernie 1 (seen in the photo above - click for a larger view) used an electric voltage applied to a glass tube filled with neon gas that generated electrons (the full science can be read here). The first ERNIE was commissioned in 1956 and had to ready for the launch of the first draw. At the time, ERNIE 1 was at the cutting edge of ‘computer’ technology and the government commissioned the Post Office Research Station in North London who created a team led by Sidney Broadhurst. Two pioneers of modern computer technology and World War Codebreakers, Tommy Flowers[ and Harry Fensom designed the machine based on Colossus, the world's first digital computer which they had created. The National Museum of Computing has produced a fascinating video on its history: In 2004, the old ERNIE 3 was coming to the end of its life and ERNIE 4 was being created. I came up with the plan of getting all four together for the first time. The challenge though was that no one at NS and I knew where ERNIE 1 was – was it in a basement, had it been destroyed, sold or lost. Certainly no one at NS and I’s headquarters in London or the Premium Bonds centre in Blackpool knew.  This pioneering piece of technology that was at the absolute cutting edge in 1956 and 1957 had literally disappeared. I started to advertise in the Blackpool media for information and also for any people who had been around at the time when Premium Bonds were launched. I was put in contact with a wonderful chap called Jack Armitage who had worked with the engineers on ERNIE 1. He recounted his experience in a wonderful  BBC interview – and also told me he thought the Science Museum had it. I visited the Science Museum in South Kensington and after spending a few hours with an archivist, we discovered a reference to it being at RAF Wroughton, their collections management facility in Wiltshire. Off I set to Swindon and after an hour at the base armed with just a photo to match it with, I found it uncovered standing up in a corner of an aircraft hangar – totally unloved and unappreciated. A piece of cutting edge British technology left almost by the wayside. It did not even have a sign saying what it was and anyone could easily mistake it for any old piece of computing technology. After the Science Museum realised the importance of the machine and with a suitable amount of embarrassment, we arranged to place all four ERNIE machines together for an exhibition in the Science Museum for a day which was a great success. It was led by Johnny Ball. Years later, organised by old colleague Tim Mack, ERNIE 1 was rightly placed on permanent display in the Science Museum between 2008 and 2015. Their description was: A side from its cultural influence, ERNIE has great technological importance. It was the 'son of' the world's first digital electronic computer, the code breaking Colossus, created during World War II to read messages sent by German commanders. ERNIE was built at the same place as Colossus, the Post Office Research Station at Dollis Hill, and by some of the same engineers. The Colossus machine was so secret that it was not until well into the 1970s that people began to hear of Colossus's wartime code breaking exploits, and the link between Colossus and ERNIE became clear". I have written at some length about Colossus in the past - which you can read by clicking here. Mark continues:- "I spent many happy years at National Savings and Investments and had a lot of fun with promoting Premium Bonds (often hour long local radio phone ins) and the history of the organisation in general. I invented the concept of the Agent Million character who is the person who personally tells someone they have won the £1 million jackpot every month, their Quarterly Savings Survey, won national awards for the campaigns (Chartered Institute of PR) and also met my fab wife Fiona who worked for Premium Bonds in Blackpool! Before I left in 2007, I even got to build a new console for ERNIE 4!" A fascinating account from Mark Brooks - and you can see a short explanatory video of the original ERNIE 1 below. Feel free to leave a comment below, or you can Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com. 

Organisations  and private individuals that deploy Facebook's ubiquitous "Like" button on their websites risk falling foul of the General Data Protection Regulation following a landmark ruling by the European Court of Justice. You can read the judgement in full - in English by clicking here.  The EU's highest court has decided that website owners can be held liable for data collection when using the so-called "social sharing" widgets. The ruling states that employing such widgets would make the organisation a joint data controller, along with Facebook – and judging by its recent record, you do not want to be anywhere near Facebook when privacy regulators start investigating. According to the court, website owners "must provide, at the time of their collection, certain information to those visitors such as, for example, its identity and the purposes of the [data] processing". By extension, the ECJ's decision also applies to services like Twitter and LinkedIn. Facebook's "Like" is far from an innocent expression of affection for a brand or a message: its primary purpose is to track individuals across websites, and permit data collection even when they are not explicitly using any of Facebook's products. The case that brought social sharing widgets to the attention of the ECJ involved German fashion retailer Fashion ID, which placed Facebook's tracking button on its website and was subsequently sued by consumer rights group Verbraucherzentrale NRW. The organisation claimed the fact that Fashion ID's website users were automatically surrendering their data – including IP address, browser identification string and a multitude of cookies – contravened the EU Data Protection Directive (DPR) of 1995, which has since been superseded by much stricter General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In 2016, Fashion ID lost in a Dusseldorf regional court, and appealed to a higher German court, with Facebook joining in the appeal. The case was then escalated to the ECJ, with the outcome closely watched by law and privacy experts. On Monday of last week, the ECJ ruled that Fashion ID could be considered a joint data controller "in respect of the collection and transmission to Facebook of the personal data of visitors to its website". Fashion ID, a German online clothing retailer, embedded on its website the Facebook ‘Like’ button. The consequence of embedding that button appears to be that when a visitor consults the website of Fashion ID, that visitor’s personal data are transmitted to Facebook Ireland. It seems that that transmission occurs without that visitor being aware of it and regardless of whether or not he or she is a member of the social network Facebook or has clicked on the ‘Like’ button. Verbraucherzentrale NRW, a German public-service association tasked with safeguarding the interests of consumers, criticises Fashion ID for transmitting to Facebook Ireland personal data of visitors to its website, first, without their consent and, second, in breach of the duties to inform set out in the provisions relating to the protection of personal data. The Oberlandesgericht Düsseldorf (Higher Regional Court, Düsseldorf, Germany), which is hearing the dispute, requests the Court of Justice to interpret several provisions of the former Data Protection Directive of 1995 (which remains applicable to this case, but has now been replaced by the new General Data Protection Regulation of 2016 with effect from 25 May 2018). In its judgment delivered last Monday, the Court found that, first, that the former Data Protection Directive does not preclude consumer-protection associations from being granted the right to bring or defend legal proceedings against a person allegedly responsible for an infringement of the protection of personal data. The Court also noted that the new General Data Protection Regulation now expressly provides for this possibility. The bottom line is that if you embed the Facebook "Like" button on your website, you are potentially exposing yourself to legal action. I feel that this is a definite case of the law of unintended consequences. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

British Telecom has formally notified Bexley Council that it proposes to remove 7 public pay phones in the borough. These pay phones are located as per the schedule above - click on it for a larger view. Consultation notices have been placed on the relevant pay phones and residents have already been asked for comments. The council have assessed these pay phones against Ofcom guidance and have published their 'First Notification' draft decision, setting out whether they agree or object to the removal of each of the affected pay phones. This document can be downloaded at First notification BT payphone removal consultation August 2019 (PDF, 111KB) or viewed at the Civic Centre, 2 Watling Street, Bexleyheath, DA6 7AT. Bexley Council would like to receive your comments on the draft decision by 5pm on 2 September 2019. You can submit your opinions in writing to the London Borough of Bexley, Strategic Planning and Growth Team, Civic Offices, 2 Watling Street, Bexleyheath, DA6 7AT. The Council’s final decision on whether to agree or object to the removal of each of the affected pay phones will be published at the beginning of September, followed by a formal response to British Telecom by their deadline of 11 September 2019. Bearing in mind that just over seven percent of the UK population don't own a mobile phone - that is roughly 420,000 people. Removing pay phones may be a move too far - especially in areas with a high percentage of elderly residents, who are statistically less likely to own a mobile device.

Now for the weekly local safety and security updates from Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association. Firstly a report from Barnehurst ward:- "Unfortunately Barnehurst had suffered a burglary in Colyers Walk. This occurred on Tuesday 30/07/2019 between 09.45pm and 10.00pm when the resident heard noise coming from the window. Two windows were found to have been opened and a 4ft pole was seen in the leaning against the window sill. This pole does not belong to the victim and has been bagged for forensic purposes; On Tuesday 30/07 2019 PCSO Nolan was out on foot patrol in Manor Way when a fairly large group of boys were seen dangerously performing wheelies and surrounded a vehicle causing the driver to slow down and sound his horn. One of the cycle riders was recognised and will be be spoken to however we would like to speak to the other boys that were with him. If anyone see this group of 8 to 10 boys in or around Manor Way riding in an anti-social manner please call us. We will not tolerate this and the abuse they give to members of the public. The next community contact session will be at Barnehurst Golf Club, Mayplace Road East on Thursday 15th August at 04.00pm. Please come along if you wish to discuss any issues". Belvedere ward:- "There has been another attempt burglary at the Smerdon Centre, Lumley Close. Same as before, someone has tried to gain access through the roof windows. Happened towards the beginning of July. No entry gained, alarm potentially scared the suspects off. The centre are tightening security. If anyone is seen on the roof please consider calling 999 if the centre is closed. Further reports of motorbikes in the Lesnes Abbey Woods, mainly riding around in the middle of the wooded area. Please report any sightings of bikers. We know of two theft from motor vehicle at the Guru Nanak Temple car park. One was a white male driving a blue car, second was male. Both happened a couple of weeks ago. Please be aware of your surroundings and do not leave anything on display in your vehicles. A young male was caught by the team riding an off road bike in Picardy Manorway Underpass. He was given a section 59 warning for his trouble. The warning lasts for one year, if he rides this bike, another vehicle or someone else rides his bike in an anti-social manner within the 12 months period then that vehicle can be seized and crushed". Bexleyheath ward:- "There has been a report of an attempted burglary along Garden Avenue Bexleyheath just before midnight. Suspect had approached front door with a crow bar and had noticed the CCTV and had left the location, no damage was caused to the property and no entry gained. This was reported on the 30/07/2019. There has been three reports of purses being stolen around the Broadway, brief details below: 30/07/2019 – Dorothy Perkins Elderly female purse stolen whilst shopping between 12 and 1230 midday 30/07/2019 – Ellenor Hospice shop, purse stolen from backpack, incident happened between 1pm and 2.20pm. 29/07/2019 – Savers Store – purse stolen, incident happened at about 1300hrs. Also there was a report of a bag being stolen and cards being used around the Broadway area to make purchases. Believed to have been taken when in the Subway shop. This had taken place between 11am and 1.45pm. There has been two reports of theft of motor vehicles on the Broadway, brief details below: 27/07/2019 - Outside Premiere Inn at about 6am in the morning. 29/07/2019 – Grace Avenue, incident happened at around midnight. A theft from motor vehicle was reported along Heversham Road Bexleyheath. Happened overnight on the 27/07/2019 and 28/07/2019 between 10pm and 1pm the following day". Crayford ward:- "A white Honda 125 motorbike, registration LX18XCP was stolen from Ridge Way between 20.00 on Tues 23rd July and Wed 24th July at 10.00. It had been secured to a wall by chain, parts of the bike were found nearby. A black Honda CRV had its rear number plate EK05LLN stolen from Bourne Road, Industrial Estate on Friday 19th July between 08.00-16.00. A named suspect entered a property in Ducketts Road at 2am on Wednesday 24th July and stole cash and Samsung Galaxy S5 mobile phone. A front number plate RY05 WTJ was stolen from a Grey Mitsubishi Shogun in Bourne Road. We are out and about patrolling the ward and aware that anti-social behaviour is seen more during the school holidays. Our next community contact session will be held on Tuesday 6th August at Beano's café at Midfield Parade in Mayplace Road East. Please come along if you would like to have a face to face chat or please contact us via the usual channels". Erith ward - no report received this week. Northumberland Heath ward - not report received this week.

Slade Green and Northend ward:- "One burglary to report, between the 25th and 27th July – money and other personal property was stolen from a property in Rodeo Close whilst the owners were away, it appears that a window was prized open by the suspect/s, no suspects seen or known at this time. We've had a number of motor vehicle crime offences across the ward over the last week, the first one occurred on the 25th July in Whitehall Lane, around midday, on this occasion a window was broken and property was stolen from within, the second incident occurred between the 26th and 27th July, on this occasion suspect/s unknown have attempted to break into a transit van, they have damaged the locks but nothing stolen. On the 31st July at around 1300 hrs suspect unknown have stolen a catalytic converter from a car parked on Alderney road, and between 1000 hrs – 1700 hrs on the same date, and road, suspect/s unknown have stolen an exhaust from a parked car". Thamesmead East ward:- "Two more thefts of catalytic converters on the ward this week. Vehicles made after 1974 all have Catalytic Converters. There are 3 precious metals in your Catalytic Converter and thieves know this…..Protect your vehicle before you become a victim of theft. Mark your catalytic converter by etching your vehicle registration onto the metal shell, or by using a Secured By Design (SBD) approved forensic marking solution which is heat-resistant. This makes it easier for police to trace the converter back to your vehicle should it ever be stolen, and links offenders to a crime. Consider fitting additional security on your vehicle(s) by installing an SBD approved converter security product, such as a catalytic converter clamp. Attempted Burglary - Northwood Place 27/7/19 between 1am – 6am bottom lock of front door has clearly been levered from the outside making it impossible to use key to lock door. Vehicle Crime Manor Close 26/7/19 8pm – 27/7/19 7am Victims vehicle broken into no signs of forced entry logbook and car documents removed by suspect/s unknown. Turnbury Close 27/07/19 between 20:30pm – 28/07/19 7am victim noticed a big long scratch along the driver's side of vehicle possibly made overnight by suspect/s unknown. Wolvercote Road 28/7/19 8:15am – 2pm front and rear number plates removed by suspect/s unknown. Walsham Close 29/7/19 between 23:45pm – 23:50pm Victim chained moped to lamp post outside property. At approx. 2345 hours victim's girlfriend alerted him that his moped was being stolen as she could hear some kind of noise outside. When she looked through the window she saw three (3) males walking off in the direction of Crossway, one of them pushing the moped. It is believed suspects used angle grinders to cut through the chain. Haldane Road 30/7/19 3:30 am – 8am Rear number plate stolen by unknown suspect/s. Theft from Motor Vehicle x2 - Seacourt Road 31/7/19 between 12:05 – 12:48pm. Victims returned to vehicles on starting the engine a loud noise could be heard. Victim's alighted from vehicles where 2 members of the public stated they had been walking past and saw 3 males jacking up various parked cars. They were seen removing something from underneath each car which they put in their vehicle and drove off. This was found to be the catalytic converters. Good news; the team were contacted by a male living in Australia with concerns about the welfare of his mother who he had not heard from. Various telephone numbers had been given to him for his mum but when called they were unobtainable. He had sent her a birthday card but still no contact to him was made by his mother. His mother lives on Thamesmead East ward. PCSO Buckley carried out the welfare check passing on the concerns of the son. The contact telephone number was verified and an email was sent to the son re mum's welfare. PCSO Buckley received this reply from the son: “Thank you so much we had a very tearful reunion on the phone last night. I cannot express how much your assistance has meant to me it's a huge relief especially with the distances involved as you can imagine it's something I worry about every day. Plus being an only child I would imagine my absence in her life takes a huge toll, but at least I can contact her now and let her know how much I love and miss her. I'm so grateful for your email and your help from the bottom of my heart thank you.” West Heath ward:- "On Saturday July 27th , we held our quarterly Ward Panel Meeting which was well attended although the weather was inclement after the recent hot spell. The priorities for the next quarter remain unchanged, Burglary, Motor Vehicle Crime and ASB/Drugs. Unfortunately the spate of motor vehicles has continued this week. A Range Rover was stolen from a driveway in Axminster Crescent at 08.30am on Sunday July 28th, the victim is still in possession of the keys. Vehicle registration plates were stolen from a vehicle in Canberra Road overnight on Friday 26/07/2019 between 9pm and 07.50am the following morning. Vehicle registration plates also stolen from a vehicle parked in Abbotts Walk between Thursday July 25th at 3pm and Friday July 26th at 07.50am when the resident discovered them missing. Theft from Motor vehicle in King Harolds Way between 11.30pm on Friday 26th and 6am on Saturday July 27th. The victim discovered his vehicle with the doors open in the heavy rain. The vehicle had been rifled through and a small amount of loose change was taken. Sunglasses and £50 were stolen from a car parked in Bedonwell Road between 11.30pm on Friday July 26th and 00.30am the following morning Saturday July 27th".

The end video this week comes from American firearms historian Ian McCollum, and it is an examination of one of the prototypes of the very first ever machine gun, which was built at the Maxim armaments factory in Fraser Road, Erith. Hiram Maxim was the first person to create a truly practical and functional machine gun, based on a patent he filed in 1883. He pioneered the recoil operating system – the concept of harnessing the recoil generated by a firearm to perform the actions of reloading that firearm. His patent was based on a lever action rifle, but his intent was to create a machine gun, complete with belt feed and water cooling. After a testbed “forerunner” gun, he built this model which he called the “Prototype”. It was meant as a proof of concept, and used in many public exhibitions and demonstrations. The Prototype used a hydraulic rate of fire control system which could be set as high as 500 rounds/minute (interestingly, the US Marine Corps example goes up to 600 rpm) and as low as just one round per minute. The gun did not have a trigger as we would recognise it today, but rather a single lever like a vehicle accelerator which acted as both trigger and fire rate control. Only three of these Prototypes exist today, with one belonging to the US Marine Corps, one on public display at the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds, and this one in the National Firearms Centre reserve collection also in  Leeds.  Please feel free to leave feedback and comments to hugh.neal@gmail.com. 

The Bombe.

I took the two photos above (click on either for a larger view) on Tuesday afternoon in Walnut Tree Road, Erith. They show the freshly restored roof and iconic copper weather vane on top of the classic Carnegie Library building, which is currently being refurbished and repurposed before it opens to the public as The Exchange. The aim of The Exchange is to create a community centre and a focus for local arts, heritage and culture, and to create somewhere for local people to use as a base for learning and advancement. It will have meeting rooms, creator spaces and a cafe / bar area. There are many plans for activities to take place in the Carnegie Library building when it re - opens in the New Year, once the first phase of the refurbishment and reconstruction work is completed. Initially the lower ground floor of the building will be opened, with the ground and upper floors opening once the subsequent second refurbishment phase is completed in due course. The project is costing a considerable amount of money, which is coming from a number of funding sources, including the Mayor of London's Office and The National Lottery. In 2016, the London Borough of Bexley secured £926,600 from the Mayor’s London Regeneration Fund to repair and renew Erith’s Carnegie building. The council have also inputted over £900,000 to this first phase of works that will bring the lower ground floor of the building back into public use. The design has been led by Robin Lee Architects. The Exchange will be taking on a long-term lease for the building, and will be reopening the building in January 2019 with a host of arts, heritage and community activities and the Book Store café. More on The Exchange and the Carnegie Library restoration next week. 

Some news about Bexley Brewery; the very successful local business, which is based on the Manford Industrial Estate at the Eastern end of Manor Road, next door to Erith Yacht Club is temporarily closing its brewery shop. The reason for this is due to their increased demand for their superb quality real ales, they need to extend the ale conditioning room, which is air conditioned and temperature controlled. The expansion will take over the area at the front of the brewery which is used for the shop, bar and off sales area. For this reason the shop will be closed whilst the building work is undertaken, and an alternative location for the shop can be built. Whilst the shop is out of commission, you can still buy ale from their brewery tap - the exceptional Bird and Barrel micro pub in Barnehurst Road, Barnehurst, close to the railway station. 

Last Monday evening I watched the first episode of a new BBC TV series entitled "Monkman's and Seagull's genius guide to Britain" which is described as "University Challenge icons and real-life best friends Eric Monkman and Bobby Seagull are on a road trip with a difference. Feeding their insatiable appetite for knowledge, they visit Scotland, England, Northern Ireland and Wales in search of hidden gems of British scientific and technological ingenuity". This is the sort of television programme that really interests me - two interesting and knowledgable presenters travelling around the UK highlighting less well known engineering and scientific landmarks. There was a definite local theme to the first episode - not that a casual viewer of the show would necessarily have realised. The BBC description of the first episode reads:- "Their genius guide through England showcases an assortment of remarkable inventions. It begins with a trip to Blackpool Pleasure Beach to experience Sir Hiram Maxim's 1904 Captive Flying Machines, the oldest amusement ride in Europe. These miniature rocket-shaped aeroplanes were designed by the eccentric inventor who created the first portable machine gun but whose ultimate goal was to achieve powered flight. A vertiginous spin on this historic ride gives Monkman the perfect opportunity to describe in detail the theory of centrifugal force". As regular readers will already be aware, I have written on several occasions in the past about Erith based local inventor and businessman Sir Hiram Maxim. The story of the captive flying machine amusement park ride is a little inaccurate. It is inferred during the programme that Maxim created the ride in 1904 in order to publicise and promote his Maxim Flyer flying machine. This is actually inaccurate - by 1904 the Wright Brothers had already performed a whole series of controlled, powered heavier than air flights. As I have previously written, Maxim's flyer predated the Wright Brothers efforts by launching his steam powered flyer in Baldwyn's Park in 1894 where it accidentally took off whilst taxying along rails. The Maxim Flyer predated the amusement park rides by some years; indeed, the first ride - the one now located on Blackpool Pleasure Beach is reputed to be constructed at least in part from materials reclaimed from The Maxim Flyer after it was scrapped.  The Maxim Flyer predated the Captive Flying Machines amusement ride by several years - something not picked up in the nonetheless excellent TV show. 

Last Saturday the first Abbey Wood Village Food and Craft fair took place. Fellow local Blogger Malcolm Knight of "Bexley is Bonkers" attended the event and took a fine series of photos which you can see by clicking here. The event looks to have been a great success, and will hopefully become a regular event in the local social calendar.

In a classic example of the law of unintended consequences, Morrison's in Erith are now suffering financially after their decision to voluntarily discontinue their 5p carrier bags. As of Thursday this week all of the wire hand baskets in the shop have been fitted with wireless security tags. I understand from talking to staff that since the 5p carriers were dropped back in June, that the level of basket theft has sky rocketed; one staff member told me in confidence that at times up to forty percent of the hand baskets were missing from the supermarket. Whilst some baskets were returned to the store by the customers who had taken them home, a significant number disappeared forever. Bearing in mind the baskets cost around £15 each to replace, that is a significant loss. I am not aware as to the cost of adding RF security tags to each basket, but when hundreds of baskets for the one store are taken into account, the spend must be considerable. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com. 

The Erith Pier Festival will be taking place next Saturday. It will be the final outing of the year for the successful Erith Kitchen gourmet food stalls pop - up village, which will be located on the pier, rather than in front of Morrison's car park, as in previous appearances. There will be live music and other entertainment, which will take place between 11am and 9pm on Erith Pier. I will be along during the day with my camera - do come over and say hello if you see me.

Families of Indian, Bangladeshi and Pakistani origin living locally are currently being targetted by thieves. The criminals are specifically looking to steal high purity gold jewellery from families of Asian origin. Chairman of Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association Dana Wiffen said:- "There is some concern that burglars are again targeting Bexley's residents with the aim of stealing Asian Gold which is known for its purity and high quality. Bexley NW can only urge all parts of the community to be alert for these slippery thieves. We know that many in areas that were affected by, or living in areas near to, where there were break-ins earlier this year have joined us and have purchased “Smart Water” security marking kits, using our member's only discount code which offers a reduced price. We can only urge you if you have not purchased this, to do so as soon as possible, and if you are aware of any friends and family that live in Bexley who were planning to join us but how have not yet, please encourage them to join us and mark their valuables. Our aim is to make it as difficult as possible to steal your valuables. Reported burglaries for the previous week were 7 with 3 attempted. We want to help keep these burglary figures low and with your help we can. Remember, anything you see that appears suspicious like cars with occupants hanging around, get the make, model, number of occupants, registration number and pass it to us with time and date and we will ensure the police get this information. If you think they are about to commit a crime phone 999". More from Neighbourhood Watch later in this update.

Just as Christmas seems to be advertised and promoted far too soon nowadays, I have already seen supermarkets and shops such as The Works running promotions for Halloween. Halloween seems to be taking over as the main winter festival from Guy Fawkes Night. Halloween was originally created in pretty much its’ current form by 18th century Irish people, the word is a corruption of All Hallow’s Eve. Irish immigrants to America took the tradition there, and it was exported back across the Atlantic in the early 1980’s. Although Halloween was celebrated before this time, it was a far lower key and less involved affair. I am convinced that the increase in popularity of the Americanised version of the festival can at least partly be laid at the feet of Steven Spielberg and his movie “ET – The Extra Terrestrial”. The film carries strong Halloween themes such as dressing up and “Trick or Treating” which prior to the opening of the film in 1982 had been relatively uncommon in the UK. The massive popularity of the film exposed may children of the time to take on the American aspects of the Halloween festival; many of those children now have children of their own, and the festival thus now has an amplified resonance not previously seen. Personally I am not struck with the whole thing, which basically encourages small children to demand goods with menaces, but I am probably in a minority.

I watched a live series of lectures and demonstrations which were broadcast on YouTube throughout most of Friday; as some of you will be aware, I have an interest in cryptography and code breaking, not only because of a familial connection; my late Great Uncle Horace is thought to have been one of the Post Office team led by Tommy Flowers that constructed the Colossus Mk1 and Mk2 computers which were used at Bletchley Park to establish the rotor settings for the Lorenz Cypher, which was used to encrypt messages sent from the Nazi High Command in the last few years of WWII. In the years prior to this, Bletchley Park were mainly engaged in breaking the Enigma Cipher. In a live video link-up with Poland on Friday, the reconstructed Turing-Welchman Bombe pictured above - (click for a larger view) at The National Museum of Computing at Bletchley Park attempted to find the key of the day and break Enigma messages just as it did during the Second World War. Ruth Bourne, a wartime Bombe operator, was present to verify the process as the TNMOC (The National Museum Of Computing) Bombe Team attempt to find the key to decrypt messages that will be sent from Poland throughout the day. The challenge was part of a live video link-up with the World Computer Congress in the Poznan Supercomputing Centre, Poland. At the conference, the audience  also heard papers relating to cryptography, the Bombe and Alan Turing from presenters including Sir Dermot Turing, Dr Marek Grajek and Dr Roger Johnson. Based on the work of Polish mathematicians who first broke Enigma before war began, Alan Turing and Gordon Welchman created the Bombe - an electro mechanical analogue computer - to automate the decryption process to reveal enemy Enigma messages about their current operations. For security reasons, the Enigma key for each network in the field was changed by the enemy every day (at about midnight). Bletchley Park cryptographers and operators would try to discover that key as quickly as possible so that the day’s messages could be deciphered and invaluable intelligence obtained. The complete process including the interception of the Enigma-encrypted Morse messages from across the world, transmission to Bletchley Park, the attempt to discover each day’s wheel settings and the production of the plain text of the decrypted messages was demonstrated live to an audience both in Bletchley Park, in Poland and around the world via YouTube. The working reconstructed Bombe can be seen almost daily at The National Museum of Computing at Bletchley Park. Thanks to private donors the Bombe moved to the Museum in spring 2018.

Now for the weekly safety and security updates from Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association - firstly from Barnehurst ward:- "Another fantastic week across the ward with no crimes of note reported (up to 17/09/18) The team have had a busy week which has included assisting Crayford ward with a drugs warrant resulting in the discovery of a quantity of class A drugs namely cocaine and ketamine. The Safer neighbourhood teams work closely together and regularly assist each other to carry out warrants and tackle ASB issues. If you have any information regarding this or any other crime please give the team a call in strictest confidence or call Crime Stoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 Please make sure that your home is secure. If you have a UPVC or multi locking door mechanism simply shutting the door will not prevent burglaries. Most use a system of hooks and latches but these only work if you lift up the handle and then turn and remove the key. Double lock the door every time you leave the house, even for a short period of time and before going to bed at night. It only takes a matter of seconds for a burglar to open a door that is not double locked. We are continuing our street a week campaign, a local initiative to visit at least one street a week and meet as many residents as possible across the ward. This week we have visited Defoe and Appledore Close Please join a member of the team at Barnehurst Golf Course on Thursday 27th September at 1pm for a chat about any local issues that may be of concern. If you cannot make our contact sessions the the team will be happy to pay you a home visit or at a location of your choice. We are always looking for additional venues to hold our meetings, if you have any suggestions please get in touch, ideally the venue will need to be on Barnehurst ward As always you can follow us on Twitter @MPSBarnehurst and Facebook Barnehurst Police for crime prevention advice and to find out what the team have been up to". Once again no report from the Belvedere ward, so we will move on to Bexleyheath ward:- "Unfortunately, we have had a report of an attempted burglary on the 17/09/2018 along Broom Mead Bexleyheath. The house alarm had been activated and neighbour discovered an attempted break in. The team are conducting daily weapon sweeps to keep offensive weapons off the streets to help reduce crime. No weapons have been found on our ward. We also assisted with a warrant on a neighbouring ward. Sunday 16/09/2018 – A criminal damage to motor vehicle was reported opposite the Meze restaurant. A side window was smashed and keys taken from within the vehicle; Saturday 15/09/2018 – Royal Oak Road Bexleyheath – Suspect was trying door handles on the street; Friday 14/09/2018 / Saturday 15/09/2018 – A theft of motor vehicle had been reported along Leysdown Avenue Bexleyheath; Sunday 16/09/2018 – Theft from motor vehicle reported at the Marriot Hotel – Number platers stolen from a motorcycle. Sunday 16/09/2018 – Victim had sold vehicle and suspect had given cash to victim and taking money out. The team are still targeting patrols around Martens Grove and Grove Road including the garages to reduce anti-social behaviour. If you do wish to pass on information to Police then please contact Crime stoppers on 0800 555111. Please do not hesitate to contact us via Twitter, Facebook, email and the ward phone. If you are after crime prevention advice, please look at the Met Police website which has lots of information that you may find useful. Remember in an emergency please dial 999 and 101 for non-urgent reporting".

Crayford ward:- "This week your team have been very busy. On Saturday 15th September we successfully executed a drugs warrant in Ridge Way. We were advised that youths were riding motorcycles off road on the Braeburn Park Wildlife Reserve, officers stopped them and they were issued with Section 59 warnings. This means that if they or their vehicles are causing anti-social behaviour in this manner again, the bikes can be seized and they will have to pay a fine to get them back or they will be destroyed, usually a lesson well learnt! Four people were processed for using their mobile phones while driving. Open spaces have been patrolled as there have continued to be calls about drug use and dealing, there have been other visible patrols around the ward too. On Wednesday 12th September at approx. 12.20 a grey Vivaro van, VO65 UNP was stolen in Crayford Way. The driver had just made a delivery and was walking back to the van, the key to the vehicle was attached to a keychain on the driver's trousers. A male described as white, aged 35-40 years snatched the key, pushing the victim to the ground with the intention of stealing the van. On Thursday 13th September at about 14.45 a lady was walking along by Next in Tower Retail Park, her handbag was on her shopping trolley when she tripped over, realising then that a stocky man had run off with her handbag containing keys, purse, currency and medication. Police were called to an aggravated burglary on Friday 14th September between 21.45 and 22.15 in Ridge Way. The suspects broke in to the property, the occupants were elsewhere and came to no harm. The suspect has been named and he will be arrested for a number of offences. Our next surgery will be held on Thursday 27th September at Crayford Library between 2-3pm. We will also be attending the Age Concern coffee morning on Friday 28th September between 11.30-12.30. Would you like to join our ward panel? We meet every three months to discuss ward issues, you can help make a positive difference in your local community. Please contact us via email: Crayford.SNT@met.police.uk if you are interested". Erith ward:- "Over the last few evenings we have focused our patrols on the West Street area we have been carrying out stop and searches and late night patrols in the area over this time the tasking team and A/PS Pete Rose and PC Marc Smith have also helped us out patrolling this area – Big thanks to them. We have also been doing daily weapon sweeps in the area on one sweep we found 3 knives in a bush, 2 of them 12inch in size. You can see images of these on our twitter page @MPSErith . Also we have joined Moat housing and carrying out home visits in James Watt Way. Other theft - 13/09/2018, Barclays Bank Plc, TOWN SQUARE; Shoplift <£200 - 13/09/2018, Wm Morrison Supermarkets Plc,JAMES WATT WAY; Criminal Damage U£500 - 11/09/2018, RIVERDALE ROAD; Theft from motor vehicle - 13/09/2018, TOWER ROAD; Theft from motor vehicle -14/09/2018, MORRIS DRIVE; Theft from motor vehicle - 13/09/2018, CORRAL HEIGHTS, CHICHESTER WHARF; Shoplift £200 - 14/09/2018 Iceland Foods Plc TOWN SQUARE. Feel free to pop along and meet us for a chat at Costa Coffee Erith - Wednesday 3rd October, 12 midday". Northumberland Heath ward:- "It has been a relatively peaceful week on North Heath since our last update. There has only been one reported burglary which happened within a house of multiple occupancy. Pc Smith and PCSO Reid were busy patrolling the ward and stopped a male with cannabis in Limewood Road which resulted in the male being dealt with by way of a Community Resolution. We have been patrolling widely across the ward responding to issues raised by resident, including Walsingham Walk where the residents have reported groups of youths gathering and causing a nuisance. One group of youths that are known to us were stopped there, given advice and moved on. We have a drop-in surgery at North Heath Library on Wednesday 26th October 2018 at 2pm so please come along".  Slade Green and North End ward:- "We will start with the bad news this week, a burglary occurred in Lincoln Close between 8 and 10am last Thursday (13th Sept). Entry though the garden and a window, family gold jewellery stolen. There was also an attempted burglary in Moat Lane whereby tool marks were seen by a front window that wouldn't close properly. The incident was reported on Saturday 15th Sept but there is no actual time frame as to when this may have occurred. All victims have been spoken to by SNT officers and reassurance given along with crime prevention advice. There is good news however. PC Mark and PC James have been busy, they have had 3 positive drug stop and searches with all the necessary warnings given, 2 Section 59 warnings issued to 2 males riding off road bikes, one in Rainbow Road and one in Bridge Road (pics above) and a female was stopped after being seen selling toys from a carrier bag in Daleview. Enquiries are being made into if the toys are stolen and she is due in for an interview very soon to explain what she was up to".  Thamesmead East ward:- "On Tuesday 11/09/18 at 07:45 am a vehicle parked outside one of the local shops in YARNTON WAY,DA18 had the driver's side window smashed and various items taken ,all this happened while the driver was carrying out a delivery. Between the dates of 01/10/17 and 15/09/18 a vehicle which had been notified off road and was to be sold was stolen from THAMESBANK PLACE, SE28. Local Event - There is a new community event every Wednesday for the over 50s between 12noon – 3:00pm at THE ATRIUM, TEESWATER COURT MIDDLE WAY, THAMESMEAD, DA18 4DG. iPhone launch - With the launch of Apple's new phone ,you may see an increase in crime ,as criminals try to obtain the latest phones. Don't text while you're walking you won't notice potential thieves approaching Keep away from road-sides if your mobile is in your hand. Use the security features on your phone, such as keyboard locks and remote data wiping . Make sure they are all activated to stop thieves accessing your phone and personal data. Know how to identify your phone if its stolen. Find your IMEI number by dialling *#06# from your phone and keep a written note of it. If the phone is stolen, report it to the police and your mobile provider to stop it being used. Register your phone on www.immobilise.com. Police recover more than 2,500 items registered to the website on average every month. GOOD NEWS - Good partnership working with Peabody Housing Association resulted in a stolen motor bike being found, the owner contacted, who stated that his insurance company were now the owners. They in turn contacted to collect the motor cycle from the housing association premises. PCSO Buckley came across a 27 year old female ,who stated that she was homeless and had slept in a stairwell for a couple of nights. The female was taken into the Thamesmead East police base in limestone walk, made comfortable with hot food and tea. After making further enquiries, PC Pruden was able to make contact with a relative, who confirmed the female's details which amounted to the female having mental health issues. The female was accompanied to Queen Elizabeth hospital with PC Pruden and the relative to be assessed. Police Surgery - Friday 28/09/18 between the hours of 1:00 pm and 2:00pm at THE LAKESIDE MEDICAL CENTRE YARNTON WAY. An opportunity for members of the community who prefer face- to – face contact to speak with a Dedicated Ward Officer". West Heath ward:- "There was one reported burglary and two attempted burglary on West Heath Ward between Wednesday 12/09/18 and Tuesday 18/09/18. There was also one reported theft from motor vehicle during the same period. The property was last secured about 1800 on Thursday 13/09/2018. On Friday 14/09/2018 a member of public has called police after he noticed that the front door was open. Police have attended, and the front door was indeed open. It is suspected that the door was kicked open. Entry was gained and untidy search took place. The victim stated that there was some loose change missing. The venue is a dog grooming salon in the Pantiles. There was an attempted burglary in Selsey Crescent Welling on Wednesday 12/09/2018 at 12:37pm. Two males in a van and on pushbikes were taking scrap metal out of a skip and a person was seen leaving a house. Nothing was taken. There was an attempted burglary on Pembury Road Welling at about 14:20 pm on Tuesday 18/09/2018. Two young black males seen running at the door trying to kick the door open. The door was damaged. There was a theft from motor vehicle in New Road London SE2 0PN between 0830am on 10/09/18 and 0115 am on 11/09/18. The vehicle was parked in the street and suspect unknown smashing drivers window entering vehicle taking the vehicle battery then decamping by means of a vehicle and in direction unknown".

The end video this week features a chap exploring the former Soviet Foxtrot class submarine that has been moored off Strood Pier on the River Medway for many years. The boat, (not ship - submarines are always referred to as boats) was thought to be abandoned, but this would appear to be incorrect - restoration work is now being undertaken on the cold war relic. The chap in the video is very enthusiastic, but pretty clueless; nevertheless it makes for entertaining and instructional viewing. I would very much like to visit the submarine when and if it re - opens to the general public. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.