The Pilgrim's Ferry.

I have a very disappointing story to tell; On Wednesday morning last week it was reported that food donated to the Bexley Food Bank at Erith had been stolen from Christ Church Erith. I contacted Reverend Simon Archer, Curate of Christ Church, who told me:- "We have a Food Bank collection box in the west porch. It was full and in fact overflowing yesterday (22nd August) so as the Erith Food bank is open Wednesdays I thought I would take it in. When I opened up the church this morning i noticed that most of the food had been taken. This has clearly happened in the few hours we leave the church open during the day on the 22nd, usually up until lunchtime. It may well have been someone in need themselves, and I will be praying for them, but by going through the Food bank we can distribute fairly to those who are referred to us. It means we can make sure we stretch the limited resources as far as possible and feed those who are genuinely struggling". This is the latest in a spate of thefts from the church, and in my opinion the lowest of them - stealing from those most in need. Previous thefts have included that of the church public address amplifier and sound mixer, and the theft of a bicycle from outside the West Porch (seen on the right hand side of the photograph above - click on the photo for a larger view). If you saw anything, or have any information regarding the theft of food that was destined to be given to the most needy of people, please feel free to contact me in complete confidentiality. Drop a line to me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Next week is going to be hard work for anyone living in the local area who works in London and commutes by train. From Tuesday the 29th August (the day after the Bank Holiday Monday), passengers using trains to get into London face major headaches as engineering work causes disruption to services across the bank holiday weekend and into the following week. For commuters using Cannon Street via the Dartford via Greenwich or the Bexleyheath lines, it means the introduction of rush-hour queue systems just to get into the station - expected to hold passengers up by 30 minutes, according to the official announcement, but according to sources I have contacted, they are actually expecting the delays to be far worse - possibly around an hour. Railway managers are urging people not to travel during rush hour through the station if possible, or even to work from home. Network Rail, which handles the rail infrastructure, and Southeastern which run the trains, are advising passengers that between Tuesday August 29th and Friday September 1st, there will be queuing systems in place at Cannon Street station during the busiest times, as Network Rail continues to rebuild London Bridge and the surrounding railway, as part of the Thameslink programme. I am aware that not all users of the Bexleyheath and Greenwich lines are aware of this forthcoming work, despite regular announcements on the P.A systems of stations that will be affected by the outages - many commuters are using earbuds and listening to music, and are unaware of the announcements.

The two new Thames Clipper ships are now in service on The River Thames as I originally covered a while back. Ferry Jupiter began service on Thursday August the 17th after completing the two hundred mile journey from the Wight Shipyard Co Ltd on the Isle of Wight to Clippers HQ at Trinity Buoy Wharf. She has joined sister ship Mercury, which was put to work on the Thames in June. In an interview with The Wharf newspaper, MBNA Thames Clippers’ co-founder and CEO Sean Collins said: “Being able to welcome our newest fleet member is a great milestone for MBNA Thames Clippers as well as the capital itself.  Having increased our capacity along the River Thames by 30% in the last two years through the continued introduction of new boats we’re proud to be playing a key role in opening up this London lifeline to even more commuters and visitors.” Apart from a few experimental runs to Gravesend, there is no indication that any consideration has been given to expanding the service to include Erith Pier - due mainly to the reasons I outlined in a previous update.

Following the comments from Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association last week in respect of some planned voluntary litter picking taking place in the local area. One regular reader and occasional contributor commented on the news:- "It's a shame that we need to rely on the kind volunteer litter pickers.  I take a walk around the Park Crescent / Lesney Park triangle most days with the dog, and often see litter on the grass verges, and pick it up when possible. My feeling is that the vast majority of this litter isn't dropped by pedestrians but mostly blown around the area because some local residents insist on leaving their recycling boxes and bins permanently in their front gardens (as ugly garden ornaments), usually without lids on the boxes, even though they have a side entrance and could store them out of sight. If they really, really, have to leave them in their front gardens all week, then it would be polite to make sure the lids are firmly on the boxes.  So let's put the lid on litter. Having said that, I filled two carrier bags up one day last week, with KFC empty cartons/plastic bottles/sweet wrappers/paper napkins, strewn on the grass verge outside an elderly neighbour's house.  I suspect that in this case the contents were flung out of a car window". In another Email related to litter, and in this case the "Butt Police" - the local litter patrols run by commercial company Kingdom Environmental Ltd, were the subject of a recent undercover investigation by the BBC Panorama team, and exposed a range of extremely dubious practices. My comments last week that the patrols operated by Kingdom concentrated mainly in Bexleyheath Broadway may have been somewhat premature. A long time reader who chooses to remain anonymous wrote:- "I have been reading Maggot Sandwich for years - do keep up the good work. I saw Sunday's blog on litter patrols and thought I'd pass on the attached. An unidentified yet lionhearted employee at Erith station posted this note on the station's window at the end of July. Not all heroes wear capes. I have seen these litter patrols outside Erith station in the mornings, so certainly useful to know. This note was removed with two days, by the way". You can see the poster that was displayed in the window of Erith Station above - click on the image for a larger view. Personally, I am not opposed in any way  to the use of private companies to enforce the litter laws, I just feel that Kingdom have been operating in a very high - handed manner, and also concentrating on the "easy wins" rather than on dealing with the endemic problems of commercial fly tipping which blight the local area. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com. 

As many regular readers will already be aware, I, along with several other local Bloggers have been very concerned about the state of what is left of our local newspapers. This is especially true of the News Shopper, which made a majority of its reporting staff redundant around this time last year. I have been in communication with fellow local Blogger Daryl Chamberlain of the excellent 853 Blog, which covers Charlton, Greenwich and Lewisham (the name of the blog comes from the old area telephone dialling code). Darryl - who is a "proper" journalist, unlike me, has been investigating the situation with the troubled newspaper for a couple of years now. As Darryl says:- "it's basically run together with the South London Guardian / Surrey Comet series as one newspaper series for an area from Weybridge to Gravesend. The distribution further into London is pretty much non-existent and has been for some time".  I can also add that the only real difference nowadays between the individual area versions of the newspaper seem to be the front page; when you get past it, the internal contents appear to be identical. The other problem of no longer employing journalists with local knowledge is that the accuracy of the stories posted goes out of the window. I have contacted them on a number of occasions when they have run a story with serious factual inaccuracies, and I know that I am not alone in this respect. One piece of feedback that the Maggot Sandwich constantly gets from readers is that they come to the Blog to get an idea of what is going on in the local area, as the News Shopper is as likely to be running a story about an event in Richmond as it is about one in Northumberland Heath. It ceased to be a local paper some time ago, and can now be considered a regional publication. The Maggot Sandwich attempts to fill this gap, and to provide news, current affairs and stories which I think would be of interest to the readership. I am just an enthusiastic hobbyist, not a professional reporter, and this all gets put together every week as something I do in my spare time. As many will be aware, I refuse to accept advertising (despite my host, Google, trying to persuade me to on a semi regular basis) and also accept no sponsorship or "freebies" from any organisation mentioned in the Blog. I try to remain completely independent, impartial and unbiased in my reporting.

I don't normally comment on news stories that hit the national press - as an amateur journalist I feel that the professionals usually have a better handle on things than I could ever hope to have; however in this instance I think exactly the opposite. You may well have read about the very unusual situation that has occurred at the McDonald's restaurant at Crayford, where the staff have launched a large industrial dispute with the owners of the franchise, and have now threatened to go on strike. The workers in the dispute are being represented by the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union. The union’s national president, Ian Hodson said recently:- “In Crayford, people have been having their hours cut in favour of others preferred by the managers, while staff have also complained of bullying and sexual harassment. We’ve had complaints that one former employee is now living in his car because he couldn’t afford to pay the rent due to lost hours. McDonald’s has had countless opportunities to resolve grievances by offering workers a fair wage and acceptable working conditions. This is a call for change.” I know that the workers involved in the dispute have a number of issues, some related to pay, others related to how many hours they are being allowed to work, but the thing that most concerns me is the claim of bullying, favouritism and even sexual harassment in the workplace. I get the feeling that there is a lot more to this story than that which has been published by the press. Bearing in mind the local nature of this story, I would not be at all surprised if a reader might have background knowledge of the events that have led up to this threat of a strike. If you know what has really been going on, and would like to let me know in complete confidence, then please drop me a line to hugh.neal@gmail.com - you can be anonymous if you so wish.

I have been in communication with pub chain J D Wetherspoons over the last week, as a follow - up to discussions I had with them last year, concerning plans they have to open a pub in the local area. I had originally been quite optimistic that they might have put in a bid to take over and refurbish the failing Running Horses, overlooking the Erith Riverside Gardens, which you can see in the photo above - click on it for a larger version. The once great pub has been staggering on for a number of years, but it is sadly a shadow of what it used to be in the late 1980's / early 1990's when it was an incredibly popular venue with an amazing carvery restaurant on the upper floor. Back in the day you had to book in advance to secure a table in the carvery, and at weekends the place would be heaving with family groups. Food portions were large and well - cooked, and all three bars (two downstairs, and a smaller one upstairs) in the pub would be busy. Nowadays this is sadly very far from the case. I had suggested to Wetherspoons that they might wish to buy the place and refurbish it, as it would make an excellent Wetherspoons outlet. I got a response from their property acquisitions team on last Monday morning which read:- "Thank you very so much for your email regarding The Running Horses in Erith. J D Wetherspoon is interested in being represented in the town, but would rather a site closer to the shopping area.  If you know of any other sites of potential we would love to hear about them. Once again, thank you for taking the time and trouble to contact us". So much for that idea then; I don't think the property team actually realise just how close the Running Horses is to the Erith Riverside Shopping Centre, and I responded accordingly. They were also not aware that the shopping centre gates are closed at 6pm in the evening, and that the retail area is closed off from public access. My opinion is that it is looking less likely that we will get a Wetherspoons in Erith than I had originally anticipated, but it may be that an accommodation at another site closer to the town centre can be made.

It would seem that the Erith Lighthouse project has attracted more attention that some would have imagined. The London Evening Standard has written a very interesting piece on the project. They give the pop – up restaurant a very favourable review, though I do think that they unintentionally damn it with faint praise – they say that the Erith Riverside Gardens, where the Lighthouse Project is based are located “on a flood defence wall” – which I suppose in essence it is, but the gardens are so much more than that. It is good to see a paper like the Standard, which tends to be very North of the river centric, giving exposure to a part of the city that normally gets somewhat overlooked. I am hopeful that the Erith Lighthouse project will not be a one – off event, but in time will become an annual celebration of the local area. For far too long Erith and the surrounding areas have been regarded as a cultural and social backwater by the trendies in central and West London – perhaps that is now starting to change for the better. Time will tell.

The recently opened pie and mash shop in Erith town centre seems to be doing well; the outlet is located in the ground floor of the Nemesis Thai Boxing Gym. I can understand why the business would want to share a space with another organisation. The pie and mash shop is a bit of an experiment for the owners; Rather than commit large amounts of capital into leasing a full retail unit in Erith Riverside Shopping Centre, they have wisely chosen to test the market by instead subletting space in an existing business. If things take off, they can expand – if they don’t – their financial exposure will be limited. Any new food outlet in the town centre is to be welcomed, especially one that concentrates on traditional fare – there are already sufficient burger and kebab outlets as it is.

This week we have ward reports from Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association:- "BEXLEYHEATH POLICE STATION / FRONT OFFICE CLOSURE - HAVE YOUR SAY. As covered in previous weeks, the London Mayor's consultation period for proposed changes that affect Bexleyheath police station runs until 6th October 2017 and Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch are keen that as many NW Coordinators and residents in the Borough have their say as possible to ensure that one of our vital services remains intact. These are the key ways that you can have your say: 1) Email the London Mayor’s Office directly giving your name and address. Please email the London Mayor’s office directly at consultation@mopac.london.gov.uk using the following as your pointer-guide:`“I call on the Mayor for London Mr Sadiq Khan to - a) Keep Bexleyheath Police station open with a 24 hour front office counter facility. b) Keep Bexleyheath Police station open. c) Recognise that the Police Station plays an important role allowing residents to report crime and anti-social behaviour in the area as well as seek advice and assistance from officers. Bexleyheath is and must remain an operational base for local officers which means they can respond swiftly to problems and calls. d) To recognise that Bexley, the borough, covers a large geographic area and that the principal police station must be at the centre of the borough bus transport hub and main ‘shopping area’ which is The Broadway Bexleyheath.” 2) Fill out the on-line petition at: http://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/bexleyheath-police-station-front-office-closure-1 . 3) We have a hard copy petition that we can send you as a document (or download here) to print out and for you to gather Name / Signature / Postcode / Tel no. (optional) from your residents. Alternatively we can supply you with a couple of forms or more to collect these details. We have over 1,000 coordinators; if each just collected 10 signatures we would have 10,000 signatures and we should be able to exceed this figure because many will collect more. In addition to the 3 options being offered above to protest against the planned closure, why not come along to this meeting: SNB Board Meeting in the Civic Chamber / Civic Offices at the top of Gravel Hill (Old Woolwich B.S. Building) on Thursday 7th September at 6.30pm. The main item on the agenda is the proposed closure of the front desk and then the police station itself. The Chamber is booked from 6.30pm. Please come along and bring any residents from your street who want to show their support for keeping the station / front desk and NW Office open. A representative from The London Mayor's Office (MOPAC) will be attending. Barnehurst Ward:- "Barnehurst Ward has suffered two burglaries in the past week. Both burglaries happened on Friday 18th August. The first one occurred in Lyndhurst Road at 21.30 hours. Suspects had ripped an alarm off the wall however the alarm continued to sound. A pane of glass to a rear patio door had also been smashed. On speaking to local residents Police were on scene very quickly and nothing has been reported stolen from the property. The second Burglary occurred on the same night in Pinnacle Hill at 22.20. The resident heard a loud noise and found the rear door glass pane had been smashed. The door to the garage was also found open. Entry is believed to be via the garage to the rear of the property. Again, nothing was taken from the venue. It’s easy to think house alarms go off in error and can be annoying but please bear in mind when house alarms are sounding it may not just be a fault with the alarm. Please contact Police so the property can be checked and secured and suspects, if still on scene or in the vicinity can be caught. Patrols continue to parks and open spaces. Weapon sweeps were carried out in Martens Grove Park on Monday 21st August and to Russell Park on Wednesday 23rd August as part of a Met wide operation to combat knife crime. Our next coffee with cops will be on Tuesday 29th August at Barnehurst Golf Club at 11am so please feel free to join us should you wish to discuss any issues you may have. Don’t forget to follow us on twitter @MPSBarnehurst to find out what we’ve been up to, crime prevention advice and details of our drop in surgeries". Belvedere Ward:- "The team have continued to visit residents across the ward in order to create new Neighbourhood Watches. We have also been busy after reports of Anti Social Behaviour by youths in the Nuxley Road area – in particular the car park adjacent to Albert Road and surrounding streets. Through subsequent patrols of the area in question, we have stopped and spoken to a large number of youths to offer advice on cycling safely". Erith Ward:- "There are a number of youths on mopeds regularly riding around illegally with faces covered, coming and going from Erith / Abbey Wood. Not only is the constant noise a nuisance every evening but I have witnessed them dealing drugs. They chase around on roads and paths to escape police and it is known by all that they steal bikes but no one can prove this. They are a danger to other car and bike drivers as well as children that play on local streets. They have also been seen going tooled up with baseball bats and other things. It starts about 6pm till 11pm every night. [NW Office: We have forwarded on this information to the relevant police SNT team and would ask that other residents that witness ASB locally let us know and we will forward on. Please consider also reporting on 101 or 999 if an emergency]". North End Ward:- "We’ve received a number of reports about Bike related Anti Social Behaviour in and around the Eversley Avenue and Eversley Cross area. We’ve stepped up patrols in these areas during the peak times identified to us. We’ve also been working closely with residents on the road, and via social media. If you have any further information on this issue please contact us. We’ve also been building up our intelligence picture in relation to motor bikes concerned in ASB traffic offences on the ward. We’ve been viewing CCTV, completing door to door enquiries and putting out social media appeals. We’ve also received some good intelligence from the community". Northumberland Heath Ward:- "The team are pleased to report very little crime reported to us in the last week with no burglaries. There were a large number of tools stolen from a work van on Thursday August 17th between 0800 – 1000am in Little Heath Road. The residents in and around Bexley Road have not reported any anti-social behaviour to us, although youths continue to do wheelies up and down the high street causing a nuisance to pedestrians and drivers. On Tuesday of this week we conducted a Community Litter Pick with the members of the council, councillors and local residents giving up their valuable time to help. The North Heath Family Church opened their door to us and provided refreshments and the use of their facilities to us all. We managed to clear a number of alleyways and the car park in Mill Road. Thank you to everyone who took part so willingly". Thamesmead East Ward;- "The team have been busy over the past week, because as well as dealing with every day aspects of the ward, we have also been on aid, (Operation Sceptre) completing weapon sweeps across the ward, in an attempt to find any disused weapons they may have been used in crime. As part of the operation, we have also assisted neighbouring wards in executing search warrants (23rd August). Two males were arrested at different locations, and drugs seized. A burglary occurred Chadwick Way on Monday 21st August, between 0900- 1645 hours. No damage to door, however victim discovered door wide. Cash and jewellery stolen. Another offence occurred in Chadwick Way, overnight Thursday 10th August, when a vehicle was stolen from the rear car park. There have been further reports of male’s action suspicious in the area. Please let us know if anyone sees any more suspicious activity in the area. During the early hours of Monday 21st August a male was disturbed trying to break into a vehicle in Grange Crescent. No damage caused, nothing taken. Between Sunday 20th August 10am and Monday 21st August 2pm, attempts were made to steal from a motor vehicle parked up in Manor Close. The victim discovered the glove box open, paperwork thrown on floor. No items of value taken. On Tuesday 29th August, the team will be at The Thamesmead Library from 2.15 – 3.15pm. Any issues come and see us".

I have had several people mention to me in the last few weeks that the local area is definitely feeling nicer than of yore; the redevelopment of so many areas, and the soon to be forthcoming large cash investment into Erith are already making a big improvement in an area that has been sadly overlooked for many decades. Things definitely feel like they are looking up. If you have any stories about the town and how it is changing, please get into contact with me, as I would love to hear them.

The plaque shown in the photo above (click on it for a larger view) is one of the least known artefacts in Erith - very few locals are even aware that it exists. The plaque, which marks the eight hundredth anniversary of the start of the Rainham to Erith Pilgrim's Ferry, which began in the year 1199. The plaque was erected on the wall next to the wooden jetty adjacent to Erith Riverside Gardens back in 1999. The Pilgrim's Ferry was used to allow travellers to cross the River Thames between Erith and Coldharbour Point in Rainham. There was an unsuccessful campaign back in 2010 / 2011 to try and get the ferry service restarted, as part of the "London Loop". The ferry last ran on a regular daily basis back in 1854.

The end video this week is from a group of people who create YouTube videos on the subject of exploring Britain's industrial archaeology; In the video below, they visit the Crossness pumping station to view the largest working rotative beam engine in the world. Give it a watch and see what you think.

A burglary.

You may recall that last week I wrote about a break in at the Cross Keys Centre in Erith High Street. The former pub building is being restored and converted into a mixed office space and community hub, which when finished will be open to the public. Since my last edition, I have received high definition CCTV images of the burglary, which happened on the evening of the 16th June. If you are familiar with the Cross Keys Centre - and after all it is one of the most striking pieces of architecture in the town, you will know that it clearly displays a number of CCTV warning signs on the exterior of the structure. I can only surmise that the youths did not care that they might be filmed whilst trespassing, breaking and entering and burgling the building whilst it was unoccupied on a Thursday evening. In the image above, you can see a group of youths at the back of the building, loitering on the first floor balcony, where one of the group is forcing off the shuttering covering the back door, and smashing the door glass to illegally gain entry to the multimedia presentation suite / conference room.

The second still image was taken twenty minutes later, when the group of youths exited the building. As they made their way down the metal staircase, they were clearly unaware that they were being filmed. The youth at the back of the group can be seen holding a Bose bluetooth wireless speaker in his right hand - he had just stolen this from the Cross Keys Centre.  

The third still photo was taken from slightly earlier in the chain of unfortunate events. It shows the same group as they climbed on the roof of one of the outbuildings to the rear of the Cross Keys Centre. It gives a pretty clear view of the faces of the group who were about to break and enter the building. If any reader knows the identity of any of the youths, please Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com, and I will pass the information on to the relevant authorities. As Julian Hilton, co - owner of the Cross Keys Centre said last week:- "The Cross Keys is an important building for the regeneration of Erith town centre, and we want to keep the doors open, not turn it into a fortress. Through Neighbourhood Watch we would like everyone's help in making sure young people don't vandalise and steal like this. This is the first incident of its kind in a long time and we hope it's the last".

The KFC drive through restaurant in Manor Road, Erith is currently partially closed for refurbishment. The “sit down” part of the fried chicken outlet is closed to the public, and only the drive through part is still functioning. The reason for this is that the fast food store is being refurbished and rebranded with the new KFC corporate look and feel. The red and white plastic look is being replaced with brick-effect walls and timber tables, designed to replicate a "kitchen as the heart of the home" image. A new feature being added to the restaurant is a semi-open plan kitchen that will allow diners to see their food being prepared. Its design should also allow service to be much faster. Commissioned artists will provide illustrations and photographs to adorn the walls - and the space will be brightly lit by low hanging copper lighting. This refurbishment is the latest battle in the all – out war that KFC Erith has with the large McDonald’s drive through that is located directly opposite it in James Watt Way.  The KFC has had a rocky history; back in February 2014 the Erith franchise applied to open 24/7, and a large local campaign was started to prevent this from happening. Fortunately common sense prevailed, and the franchise owners voluntarily withdrew the application when they saw the extent of local opposition. The Erith KFC franchise has also had problems with supply in the recent past; last summer 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 being made into the store now, that these rumours were either incorrect, or have now been successfully resolved. The new KFC store look is being rolled out all around the country, and the Erith store is merely the latest in the long line of outlets being thus rebranded. One problem the rebranding will not solve is the thorny issue of car queuing for the drive – through. Service at the drive through (and reportedly, the main store as well) is very slow; at busy times the cars queuing for the occupants to place orders get lined up all the way around the car park and out onto Manor Road. Though a busy main road, Manor Road is not very wide, and when queuing cars line up in the road itself, this causes terrible traffic hold – ups, as cars wishing to pass the KFC queue find it difficult to pass, as oncoming traffic can prevent overtaking manoeuvres. This problem has been reported to the local Police, but I am not aware of any solution being put in place. Perhaps the KFC refurbishment may lead to some traffic routing solution? Time will tell.

I was pleasantly surprised on Wednesday morning when I received an email from Bexley council telling me that the Regeneration team are planning two “consult the public” events, the first of which took place yesterday in Erith Riverside Shopping Centre, and the second takes place on Wednesday the 6th July on the triangle of land opposite the bottom of the shopping centre escalators. The Council announcement said:- “The London Borough of Bexley has been successful in securing funds for a number of projects aimed at regenerating Erith Town Centre. These projects aim to improve the town by providing new high quality housing and shops. They will improve the quality of key public space areas and see the launch of a number of projects aimed at revitalising the town centre”. This is all good news, and follows on from the announcement back in January when Councillor Linda Bailey, Cabinet member for Regeneration and Growth said "Erith has huge potential and our aim is to ensure it is developed in a sustainable way, with well-designed improvements that deliver the results local people need. We have also made complementary bids to two further funds managed by the Mayor of London and hope to be able to say more on that in the next few weeks." It would seem that a substantial cash fund of nearly £3.9 million has indeed been secured to develop and improve Erith Town Centre. I understand that the main focus of the regeneration will be the area between the old Erith Town Hall and the Post Office. I understand that the old town hall is currently almost totally unused, as the outsourced council tax and benefits functions carried out there have now been outsourced to Bromley Council in a cost saving bid. I have said before that I would be surprised if Bexley Council did not sell off the building and surrounding plot of land to developers. My concern is that they might try to package up the council office site with the old Carnegie gifted Library building next door to make a huge piece of real estate that they could sell for building flats on. The former Riverside Swimming Baths site at the lower end of Walnut Tree Road is already earmarked for redevelopment as town houses and apartments – the rapacious council would not surprise me if they tried to once again “sell the family silver” and flog off the rest of the land on the Eastern side of Walnut Tree Road. All the more reason I, and many other local residents would like to see J.D Wetherspoon’s take up the old Library building and sensitively conserve and convert it into a pub / restaurant. Wetherspoon’s have the deep pockets and cunning lawyers to challenge any underhand activities of Bexley Council – and are also very familiar with working with listed buildings – the library has Grade II listed status. What do you think the council should do with the regeneration money it has been awarded? What would you like to see in the town that is currently missing? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Some good news was pointed out by Malcolm Knight of “Bexley is Bonkers” that Bexley Council is about to launch a crackdown on Houses of Multiple Occupancy (HMO’s). Bexley Council published the following statement “The council is working to implement a range of new controls to take firm control of the issue. It wants to ensure that smaller properties that are converted to HMOs provide suitable accommodation and reduce the risk that they create problems for other residents. This is something which has only recently started to cause concern and we are taking steps to ensure we have the powers we need to protect the occupiers of the properties and their neighbours. London is growing fast and the demand for housing far exceeds the supply. It's important to remember that these properties help meet people's genuine need for housing. If they are properly managed, they do not generally cause problems." The council says it has been looking at a package of measures which may include a selective licensing scheme for parts of the borough, securing powers to licence small two-storey HMOs, and the adoption of an Article 4 directive which would remove planning permitted development rights for smaller HMOs. All this is good news, though how far Bexley Council will go in practice is not clear at this point. We will have to wait and see what actually happens. 

Local resident and Maggot Sandwich reader Raymond Ratcliffe sent me the the following piece, and some relevant photos, which you can also see below. "Ye Olde Leather Bottle – Heron Hill- Belvedere 1643 – 2016:-  This is what happens when Builders / Property Developers get hold of a building and a large area of land. First a little bit of history the core of the present building is said to date from 1643. In 1783, when this was acquired by Taskers of Dartford, it was described as the leather Bottle at Chalk-Stile. There is evidence for the building back to 1751 and the licences are recorded for the pub of this name back to 1726. The Leather Bottle was also a name given to a pub on the riverside. 

This happens when Builders / Property Developers get hold of empty properties. They do not care about any local history. By the way the public footpath through the property has all types of rubbish i.e. plastic bottles, papers and at the other end of the footpath is impassable due to loose ballast from the site and a shopping trolley blocking the way". Despite the age and history associated with the Leather Bottle, it was not a listed building - quite why I have no idea. The developers of the site have misled and outright lied to local residents - they said that they were merely clearing the car park and a small patch of land next to the historical pub - and their builders have been extremely rude, aggressive and abusive to anyone taking photographs of the demolition work, as Malcolm Knight of Bexley is Bonkers has reported previously. Our local history is being wiped from the map - this was possibly the oldest building in Upper Belvedere, and it has been destroyed. If this had happened somewhere else, there would have been public uproar. I am appalled.

Long time Maggot Sandwich reader, and occasional contributor Dana Whiffen writes:- "45 years since Led Zeppelin played locally. Formed from The Yardbirds and even called The New Yardbirds for a short while in 1968 before changing their name to Led Zeppelin. They joined a host of other live bands that were working hard to make a name for themselves between 1968-1970. Then this music was known to rock music fans as “Underground Music” mainly because there was no national commercial media outlet for this music at the time. With pirate radio stations, music clubs and the many local live venues the only way to get recognition at the time. Many of these bands worked constantly playing live to a growing number of fans throughout the UK, while their albums at the time received moderate sales and made little impact on the album charts and they rarely released singles, knowing that they would not get played. Between 1968-1971 there were also numerous clubs that played their albums or tracks from them to fans of the music, I remember a local venue that was hot and sweaty and packed with dancing fans who wanted to hear tracks played loudly from bands such as Led Zeppelin, Ten Years After, Grand Funk Railroad, Humble Pie, Johnny Winter, Humble Pie, The Groundhogs, Wishbone Ash (who are to play the Mick Jagger Centre in Dartford in October 2016) and local bands like Stray. On March 12th 1971 Led Zeppelin played the University of Kent, tickets sold out on the day they went on sale for 60p each (12 shillings in old money). This year was a significant year as many of these bands began to break America and the UK and to attract the attention of the major record labels. While in early 1971 BBC Radio playlists included Carole King “It’s Too Late”, David Bowie “The Man Who Sold the World” and Janis Joplin “Mercedes Benz”. The same year, the already established Rolling Stones released “Brown Sugar” in May 1971 and in June The Who released “Won’t Get Fooled Again”, while The Beatles had already imploded and were making solo music. Led Zeppelin (whose bassist / keyboard player John Paul Jones comes from Sidcup) between 1968-1970 had completed 4 US & 4 UK tours their debut album Led Zeppelin was released in January 1969 making the top 10 in both the USA & the UK for a short period, but the release of Led Zeppelin 2 later that year together with their constant touring was to propel them towards the big time with Led Zep-2 making a big impact on UK & USA album charts and this even saw their first album return to the charts at the same time. In the USA their record company released an edited version of “Whole Lotta Love” from Led Zeppelin 2 and it sold 1 million copies and received wide-spread airplay, but it was not released in the UK. Between 1971-1975 they became one of the biggest rock bands in the World and by November 1971 they had released their 4th Album. It went on to sell 37 million copies worldwide and is listed as one of the best selling albums of all time. In 1974 they launched their own record label SWANSONG and went on to sign bands such as Bad Company, The Pretty Things and Maggie Bell (from Stone the Crows). From 1975 to the later part of 1977 they took a break from touring resuming at the end of 1977 with a North American Tour where they set an audience record of 76,229. In 1980 after the death of their drummer John Bonham the band split and they were brief reunions in 1985, 1988, 1995 and 2007 with John Bonham’s son Jason on drums. Fans had hoped for a full tour and new album but despite rumours and large cash offers Robert Plant has said no".

Every so often I feature an old and log forgotten technology that did not really take off. You may recall that I recounted the story of the Capacitance Electronic Disk video format a while ago. Now marks the fortieth anniversary of another media format that should have made it big, but due to a number of factors, it ended up being consigned to the parts bin of history. Back before all-digital music, back before the Digital Compact Cassette, back before even the Digital Audio Tape existed, there was a strange audio device that, briefly, captured the imagination of Hi-Fi enthusiasts across the world. The Elcaset, as it was called, was an enlarged cassette that started in Japan, wove its hidden, spinning spools round the world and then finished, appropriately enough, in Finland. The humble Compact Cassette was already more than a decade old in 1976, and its pros and cons had by then become fairly clear to most listeners. It wasn’t a huge reel-to-reel deck as used by pro studios, and was thus portable by the standards of the day—even though Sony's cassette Walkman was still a few years away. The sound was generally acceptable for a generation raised on crackly mono Dansette record players. But the small tape size—two sets of stereo tracks squeezed onto a strip of tape just 3.81mm wide—and the slow playback speed of 4.76cm (1⅞ inches) per second rendered the device incapable of really capturing and playing anything near the full sonic range that music ultimately requires. What's more, there was often plenty of hiss that couldn’t easily be masked. So 40 years ago, a trio of rising Japanese electronics giants decided to inject some quality into the game, something that they hoped would hit the Hi-Fi market as well as aspiring consumers and indie studios. Thus Panasonic, Sony, and Teac came up with the Elcaset, a larger small format. It was virtually twice the size of the old cassette—more like a paperback book in size, at a hefty 15cm wide, 10cm tall and 2cm deep. It contained quarter-inch tape running at double the speed of regular cassettes, which naturally gave the format greater frequency response and a wider dynamic range, as well as much less hiss. It also had six tracks, despite still playing back in stereo—the third track on each side was for a cue function that was designed as an additional facility that studios could use, but never fully implemented. The other big difference was that the Elcaset’s tape was gently pulled away from the body shell when it was played, so that even the most scuffed—or crudely-made—frame wouldn’t effect the audio signal. To put it in technical terms, the cassette had a high-frequency bandwidth that hardly got over 16,000Hz, whereas Elcaset exceeded 25,000Hz, and had a fine mid-band (the region in which most vocals and guitars live). It made a better noise, basically. The best Elcaset decks had three motors, three heads for playback, recording, and erasure, closed-loop dual capstan, VU meters, and remote control. All-in-all, they sounded pretty damn good. Sony, Teac, and Panasonic had their own top-of-the-range versions as well as more reasonably priced decks, and there was even a hand-bag sized "portable" version, the EL-D8, which looked like, and essentially was, a piece of mobile pro-audio kit. With a "big four" PR launch—input from Panasonic, Sony, Teac, and then Hitachi—for their "revolutionary Elcaset system," the format should have become a big seller. There were some good reviews, and certain pundits still claim today that Elcaset's overall performance was virtually as good as leading mid-range reel-to-reels at the time, such as the Revox B77. So with the cassette already battling the newish 8-track cartridge, the manufacturers believed Elcaset would apply the killer blow to the older format, leaving it to struggle with the 8-track for market supremacy. Unfortunately, Elcaset's arrival in 1976 coincided with the year that sales of several other innovations took off. One of these was the chromium oxide (CrO2) cassette which, while not quite matching the finesse of the Elcaset, did greatly improve cassette sound and could crucially be used in any existing cassette player. The CrO2 cassette cost 40 percent more than a normal tape, but for the audiophile or the discerning pop fan, there was now a premium recording-cassette that didn’t require a whole new deck. The leading tape manufacturer Sansui eventually started to make Elcaset tapes after Sony belatedly brought out a chrome tape of its own for the new decks. But this was already too late. For the compact cassette player there was also Dolby B, which looked and sound fairly fresh on the scene. Dolby B (which funnily enough followed after Dolby A) took out the hiss, reducing noise without overly affecting the sound, again adding value to the existing, cheaper, format. Another innovation, aimed purely at the Hi-Fi market, was a superb range of cassette players from Japanese firm Nakamichi, which had been making them since the autumn of 1973. These slowly gained a great reputation as they squeezed every last drop of sound from a compact tape and, when used with a chrome cassette, almost gave vinyl a run for its money. Decent examples of the legendary Nakamichi Dragon player still command three and four-figure sums today. And, speaking of money, one minus point amid a splash of mainly good reviews was the Elcaset’s exorbitant initial price—coming in at over £1,200 in today’s money. So when indie sound studios realised that the sound was going to be, in some cases, a little worse than a cheaper, used, reel-to-reel deck, that market started to shy away. The convenience of Elcaset would have saved a little studio time, but not enough to warrant the outlay. On top of this, reel-to-reel was comparatively easy to splice—to edit with, literally, razor blades - a technique I was taught back in the late 1980's when I was an intern at what was then BBC Radio London. Elcaset on the other hand could only be dubbed, and recording drop-ins could never be as accurate even if the cue system were ever completed. As for domestic sales, Hi-Fi was costlier back then anyway, but such a price was a big leap for all but the most dedicated audiophile. No way was the average person going to spend such an amount on what many just saw as a glorified cassette. The last straw, domestically speaking, was the failure of Sony and the others to provide pre-recorded tapes. Many people, even Hi-Fi enthusiasts, didn’t always want to have to record their own material. Some just wanted to buy Top 40 albums off the shelf of their nearest music store—but they couldn’t with Elcaset. This would prove to be an error that Sony barely noticed, and repeated with the Betamax video format—their last such content mistake; subsequently they bought up CBS Records as well as shares in various film companies. Elcaset tech was undoubtedly ahead of its time though, and the extra-shell tape handling that it featured would go on to dominate the video market for the following 25 years with VHS and S-VHS. The people behind the "biggest, bestest" cassette just hadn’t considered the public’s price limits, their love of prerecorded material, or even the possibility that existing rival formats could still develop their own innovations. In 1980 the Elcaset itself officially died, the last few thousand unsold players auctioned off at a fraction of their worth to the highest bidder. Incredibly, there were virtually no serious bids from the US, Japan, or even Western Europe, and the highest bid actually came from a Scandinavian distributor. So the last Elcaset players ended up in bargain basements in Finland, blasting out at the snowy forests while the rest of the music world began to forget about their beloved cassette’s short-lived big brother. There’s also no denying that these machines were built for the ages; there’s many a tale of Elcaset players being found in attics this century, after 25 or 35 years in storage, and still playing perfectly. Analogue audio fans still swap "elcassy" tips on sites such as tapeheads.net, and if you ever need to lube your belt and two spools—and you probably will with the older Sony tapes—this is definitely the place to find out how. There is now a niche but steady market in secondhand Elcaset players and unused Elcaset tapes, not just on eBay, but in Finland, the UK, US, and Poland. Bexleyheath hifi dealer Whomes used to sell Elcaset machines - especially the very high end models - I recall visiting the shop with my Dad and being given a demonstration - though Dad was never going to buy a machine - but a free look was something else altogether.

As if any local traveller did not already know it, Southern and Southeastern trains have been jointly ranked as the UK’s worst rail services. Passenger satisfaction dropped for both rail services since autumn 2015 in terms of both value for money and reliability of services, according to the National Rail Passenger Survey (NRPS). Punctuality ratings for Southeastern were an appalling fifty six percent. The rail company had one of the lowest levels of satisfaction when customers were asked how they felt about trains running on time. A third of people described the service’s punctuality and reliability as ‘poor’, with a 17 per cent drop in customers claiming they were satisfied. Nearly 40 per cent of those surveys also criticised how both companies handled delays. No surprises there then!

The widely reported experiment Bexley Council made in Welling to switch off street lights between 1am and 5.30am had thankfully been dropped. In a press release published on Friday, the following announcement was made:- "After considering the feedback from its recent, part-night lighting trial‟ in Welling and trials of LED lighting, the Council has decided to implement alternative energy efficient lighting technology, rather than turning street lights off between 1am and 5:30am. The street lighting trials took place as part of the borough's wider savings proposals to balance the Council's budget in the face of cuts in government grant and the rising cost of key services. They involved switching off street lights during the early hours of the morning. At the end of the trial feedback from residents was collected and other data reviewed, such as any changes in the level of crime or accidents. During the trial period, the Council also looked at alternative options for converting lighting to LED for reducing costs. After considering the feedback from residents, a programme to install LED lighting in Bexley's streets wherever possible will start later this year. We've listened to what our residents told us," said Cllr Alex Sawyer, Bexley's Cabinet Member for Traffic and Transport. "The consultation following the trial told us that they would prefer to have their lights on for as long as possible. We were also looking into different methods and found that improvements in LED lighting make it a viable and cost effective alternative. "I thank all of the residents who gave us their feedback after and during the trial period. Our newly elected colleague, Cllr Ray Sams, had the opportunity to discuss the issue with many local residents during the St Michael's Ward by-election campaign and they were pleased we had listened to their concerns.” LED lights are approximately 40% more energy efficient than traditional sodium lighting. They also require less maintenance. Overall the change in lighting methods is expected to achieve an annual saving of more than £300,000. The works are expected to start in Autumn 2016 and will be completed during 2018". I could have told them this from the outset! LED lighting quite plainly is the way forward - it strikes me that Bexley Council have carried out a divisive and expensive "pilot" scheme that was entirely without merit.

The ending video this week is a look around the exterior of St. John the Baptist Church - far and away the oldest church in Erith, which predates The Magna Carta by at least a couple of hundred years. Please feel free to leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Firepower.

The photo above shows the well - known Erith landmark, the former Cross Keys pub, which is in the process of being professionally converted into a mixed use office space / hot desking facility and a public amenity. The sensitive, high quality restoration and conversion of the listed building, which exists within the Erith High Street conservation area has been progressing steadily over the last couple of years. I know that many local people have already seen inside the finished parts of the very large building, and they have been greatly impressed by what they have seen. The work on the building has gone largely unhindered, but an exception to that rule happened last week; there was a burglary in broad daylight on June 16th, security camera footage of which has identified five adolescents breaking in to Cross Keys and taking a box containing a Bose wireless speaker. The multiple camera HD CCTV on-site has recorded some clear images which have been handed to the police for investigation. Cross Keys co - owner Julian Hilton said "Cross Keys is an important building for the regeneration of Erith town centre, and we want to keep the doors open, not turn it into a fortress. Through Neighbourhood Watch we would like everyone's help in making sure young people don't vandalise and steal like this. This is the first incident of its kind in a long time and we hope it's the last. " The Cross Keys centre will be a powerful community asset, and both theft and criminal damage from it hurt everyone locally in the long run. I will be publishing images from the multi - camera high definition CCTV footage of the incident next week - lack of time has prevented me doing so in this edition. The youths were extremely foolish in their choice of target. The Cross Keys is absolutely covered in state of the art hi def cameras, all of which are in perfect working order - if you study the photo above (click on it for a larger view) you may spot some of them - there are others on the rear of the building, and yet more that are cunningly concealed from view. Any information regarding the perpetrators of the break in can be sent to me, and I will then let Julian Hilton know. More on this next week. 

The local area has produced some outstanding engineers over the years. Yet one name that should be famous seems have been almost forgotten, and today if one thinks of local engineers, the mind goes to his rival Sir Hiram Maxim (Knighted in 1901) generally known for his machine gun and his experiments with heavier than air flight in Bexley, or to Richard Trevithick, who died at Dartford in poverty in 1833 after a lifetime spent developing the steam engine. The name of Sir William Anderson is largely unknown today, despite his achievements, and his strong local connections. One of Sir William Anderson’s biggest claims to fame was that he was instrumental in the invention of the smokeless explosive Cordite, which is used in shell casings as the propellant.  His early life was remarkable - He was the fourth son of John Anderson, a member of the firm of Matthews, Anderson, and Co., bankers and merchants of St. Petersburg, by his wife Frances, daughter of Dr. Simpson. He was educated at the St. Petersburg high commercial school, of which he became head. He carried off the silver medal, and although an English subject received the freedom of the city in consideration of his attainments. When he left Russia in 1849 he was proficient in English, Russian, German, and French. In 1849, he became a student in the Applied Sciences department at King's College, London, and on leaving became an associate. He next served a pupilage at the works of Sir William Fairbairn in Manchester, where he remained three years. In 1855 he joined the firm of Courtney, Stephens, and Co., of the Blackhall Place Ironworks, Dublin. There he did much general engineering work. He also designed several cranes, and was the first to adopt the braced web in bent cranes. In 1863 he became president of the Institution of Civil Engineers of Ireland. In 1864 he joined the firm of Easton and Amos of the Grove, Southwark, and went to live at Erith, where the firm had decided to erect new works. He became a partner, and eventually head, of the firm which at a later date was styled Easton and Anderson - as per the advertisement shown above - click on it for a larger version. At Erith he had the chief responsibility in designing and laying out the works. Part of the business of the firm at that time was the construction of pumping machinery. Anderson materially improved the pattern of centrifugal pump devised by John George Appold. In 1870 he proceeded to Egypt to erect three sugar mills for the Khedive Ismail, which he had assisted to design. In 1872 he presented to the Institution of Civil Engineers an account of the sugar factory at Aba-el-Wakf, for which he received a Watt medal and a Telford premium. Anderson next turned his attention to gun mountings of the Moncrieff type, and designed several for the British government, which were made at the Erith works. In 1876 he designed twin Moncrieff turret mountings for 40-ton guns for the Russian admiralty, which were made at Erith and proved highly successful. Later he designed similar mountings for 50-ton guns for the same country, and about 1888 he designed the mountings for the battleship HMS Rupert. About 1878–82 he was occupied with large contracts which his firm had obtained for the waterworks of Antwerp and Seville. To render the waters of the river Nethe, which was little better than a sewer, available for drinking purposes, he invented, in conjunction with Sir Frederick Augustus Abel, a revolving iron purifier, which proved perfectly effectual. He contributed a paper on the Antwerp Waterworks to the Institution of Civil Engineers, for which he received a Telford medal and a premium. About 1888 Anderson was asked by the explosives committee of the War Office to design the machinery for the manufacture of the new smokeless explosive, cordite. He had hardly commenced this task when, on 11 August 1889, he was appointed director-general of the ordnance factories. The duties of this post prevented him from continuing his work in relation to the cordite machinery, which was committed to his eldest son. Anderson made many improvements in the details of the management of the arsenal, and introduced greater economy into its administration. His improvements at the arsenal included the introduction of the eight hour day for his 17,000 workers and demonstrating that output did not suffer from the reduction of hours from 54 to 48 per week. Sir William Anderson lived in Erith for thirty four years, commuting by rail to his office in The Woolwich Royal Arsenal. He was also very involved with the Church – he served as Superintendent of the Sunday Schools of Christ Church Erith for twenty five years, and was also a licensed lay reader, who conducted services at a mission chapel supported by Christ Church. In his spare time Sir William Anderson was a keen maker – he would construct toys and gifts out of wood and metal that were made with exquisite attention to detail and workmanship. Contemporary reports say that Sir William Anderson was a rather serene, laid back man. An article in the Institute of Civil Engineering Journal in 1899 said “His character was a beautiful one, he was filled with a love of all things, and everyone that really knew him loved him also. He had no love of money and worked for work’s sake and because it was a sacred duty, rather than for gain, and he freely spent that which he had for the benefit of others, and but little on himself. He always had a serene and calm mind. No one ever angry, or heard a hasty or unkind word proceed from his lips. Those in difficulty or trouble naturally came to him assured in advance of any help or advice, and no genuine case of distress was disappointed”.  Sir William Anderson suffered from heart problems for many years, and eventually this led to his death on the 11th December 1898. A plaque dedicated to him can be seen on the wall of the North Aisle in Christ Church Erith. It reads “To the Glory of God, and in memory of Sir William Anderson KCB, FRS, DCL. For many years the earnest and devoted Superintendent of the Sunday Schools for this parish. He entered rest on December 11th 1898. Erected by subscription from the teachers, children and friends of the Sunday School”.

You may well have seen one or more of the web pages that I have screen captured above - click on any of them for a closer view. There are many other, similar ones out there. They all claim to be able to make you hundreds of thousands of pounds / dollars richer in a period of a few weeks with absolutely no risk to yourself. The process by which they say that you can become rich is by using a system called Binary Option Trading. Whilst they are marketed as electronically assisted stock market trading systems, they are little more than a form of online gambling. These platforms may be considered by some as gaming or gambling platforms rather than investment platforms because of their negative cumulative payout (they have an edge over the investor) and because they require little or no knowledge of the stock market to trade. According to Gordon Pape, writing in Forbes magazine, "this sort of thing can quickly become addictive... no one, no matter how knowledgeable, can consistently predict what a stock or commodity will do within a short time frame". Though binary options sometimes trade on regulated exchanges, they are generally unregulated, trading on the internet, and prone to fraud. Many binary option "brokers" have been exposed as questionable operations. With such binary option brokers, there is no real brokerage; the customer is betting against the broker, who is acting as a "bucket shop". Manipulation of price data to cause customers to lose is common. Withdrawals are regularly stalled or refused by such operations. On top of this, if you look at all three of the websites featured, they all have very similar wording, and all offer £10,000 / $10,000 to you if you sign up, if you have not made this amount of profit after the first month. If this was real, the sites would have gone bust within a couple of months. Savvy people would create a swathe of online identities, sign up with each one, then do very little for a month - the site would (in theory) then pay them £10,000 for each account that had not earned that amount through trading - like that was ever going to happen - the fraudsters really did not think this through very clearly. On top of this, the same model / actor is used on both the "Greenwood Formula" and the "Cambridge Method" websites. The faces of the "satisfied users" on the "Greenwood Method" front page are actually models hired from the media / marketing talent hire website Fiverr.com - if this was not enough, the amounts the fictional users claim to have earned since Greenwood and Cambridge went live in March is simply too high from the amount of capital the users are supposed to have invested - even using the wildly over the top rates claimed to be returned, there simply has not been enought time to have accumulated that amount of credit. Any kind of examination of these sites will lead one to realise that they are fraudulent and bogus. Basically anyone who says that they can help you to earn hundreds of thousands of pounds in a few months is doing nothing more than trying to rip you off - please avoid and ignore under any and all circumstances.

Following my scoop story last week that broke the news that pub company J.D Wetherspoon are currently actively looking for a site to open an outlet in Erith. I thought that I had better start doing what the acquisitions team at Wetherspoons were no doubt already doing - researching the demographics of the area - what the population size and composition actually is. This is what I have discovered.  In the 2011 census the population of Erith was 12,053 and is made up of approximately 51 percent females and 49 percent males. The average age of people in Erith is 35, while the median age is lower at 33. 75.6 percent of people living in Erith were born in England. Other top answers for country of birth were 5.9 percent Nigeria, 3.4 percent India, 1.0 percent Zimbabwe, 0.8 percent Ireland, 0.8 percent Ghana, 0.7 percent Scotland, 0.5 percent Jamaica, 0.5 percent South Africa, 0.4 percent South America. 89.6 percent of people living in Erith speak English. The other top languages spoken are 2.8 percent Punjabi, 1.1 percent Polish, 0.6 percent Yoruba, 0.4 percent Portuguese, 0.4 percent Lithuanian, 0.3 percent Turkish, 0.3 percent Tamil, 0.3 percent Russian, 0.3 percent Shona. 38.5 percent of people are married, 12.5 percent cohabit with a member of the opposite sex, 0.6 percent live with a partner of the same sex, 30.1 percent are single and have never married or been in a registered same sex partnership, 10.3 percent are separated or divorced. There are 640 widowed people living in Erith. The top occupations listed by people in Erith are Administrative and secretarial 15.2 percent, Professional 14.5 percent, Elementary 12.0 percent, Administrative 11.3 percent, Associate professional and technical 10.8 percent, Skilled trades 10.7 percent, Elementary administration and service 10.5 percent, Caring, leisure and other service 10.1 percent, Sales and customer service 9.2 percent, Managers, directors and senior officials 9.1 percent. So now you know.

The Royal Artillery "Firepower" museum at Woolwich is set to permanently close on the 8th of July. Most of the collection will move to a new 'heritage centre' in Wiltshire, expected to open by 2020, while some will be retained for a permanent exhibition at the Greenwich Heritage Centre in Woolwich Arsenal. I would imagine that many readers may be thinking "what museum?" It has never been given anything line the level of publicity or promotion that it needed, and the visitor levels have always been extremely low. It nearly closed back in 2007, until a bailout programme was put together, but this time it is definitely closing; the land it occupies on the Woolwich Arsenal Riverside development is now worth so much money that the museum building will almost inevitably be knocked down and rebuilt as luxury flats in time for the opening of Crossrail. It is a great pity the museum has had to close, but I feel that much of the problem was that a vast majority of the general public had no idea that it even existed. I feel that this has been an opportunity wasted, and now it is too late. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

More controversy exists over the government's "Help to Buy" housing scheme. Would-be-homeowners in large parts of England are being priced out of a government scheme to help first-time buyers, an investigation by the BBC has discovered. The Help to Buy Individual Savings Account (HTB Isa) was introduced last year to help people save for a home. The problem was the price limits the ISA was set up to work with were far too low in London and the South East. In many areas, the average price of a starter home exceeds the maximum purchase cap of £250,000, or £450,000 in London. In Erith the average asking price for a two-bedroom house is £258,350, which is £8,350 above the cap for accessing the bonus with a Help to Buy ISA. When one considers that Erith is officially one of the cheapest places to buy property anywhere in Greater London, this news is very unwelcome. As I have previously mentioned, I could not afford to buy Pewty Acres if I was in the housing market today; I guess I was just in the right place at the right time, back in the day. This is no comfort for aspiring first time buyers now, of course. 

The photograph above shows the reproduction of Colossus, the World's first electronic, digital, programmable computer. The Colossi (there were at least ten of them by the end of the war) were responsible for shortening World War II by around two years, and saving countless hundreds of thousands of lives. The fully working replica in the photo above is based at The National Museum of Computing at Bletchley Park, near Milton Keynes. Contrary to what you may have read in the tabloid press, Colossus was NOT used to break the Nazi Enigma code; instead it was used to assist in the cracking of the even more fiendishly complex Lorenz Cipher. In so doing, the cryptanalysts at Bletchley Park were in essence reading Hitler's Email. The National Museum of Computing has innumerable other fascinating exhibits, to which has recently been added something from rather more recently. An archive that tells the story of how the 1980s hack of Prince Philip’s online mailbox led to UK anti-hacking legislation has been deposited at The National Museum of Computing. Robert Schifreen, the "white hat" ethical hacker at the centre of the 1980s controversy, compiled the archive, which details Schifreen’s two-year-long legal travails following his open hack of Prestel, BT’s pre-web online service. Schifreen and the late Steve Gold managed to hack into BT's Prestel Viewdata service, famously accessing the personal message box of Prince Philip in the process. The Prince Philip incident only happened following a number of attempts to shock BT into action after the telecoms company initially showed no interest in bolstering the security of its system. Involving the Royals prompted BT into calling in the police, setting off a chain of events that led to the the arrest of Schifreen and Gold in March 1985 and the subsequent prosecution of the two technology enthusiast journalists. With no anti-hacking law in existence at the time, the archive gives details of the passage of what turned out to be in effect a test case through three courts ending in the acquittal of Schifreen and Gold in the House of Lords (at that time the highest UK court) in 1987. The archive includes Schifreen’s '80s-era hacking password book, transcripts of his interviews with police, legal correspondence, the jury bundle and a substantial number of press cuttings.  In 1985, the internet did not exist, home computing was beginning to take off, Prestel had recently become the first online service available to the UK public but there was no real awareness of the need for computing security and no law explicitly against computer hacking. Schifreen, aged 22 at the time, collected user names and passwords and investigated computer databases not supposedly open to the public but accessible all the same. In a statement, Schifreen explained: “Hackers in those days never started until 6pm because it was so expensive to go online with a dial-up connection before that. But 6pm was a significant start-time because the Prestel security staff had gone home and weren’t there to deal with automated messages telling them that there had been three unsuccessful attempts at a log-on to Prestel. I could read the messages, delete them to cover my tracks before security arrived for work next morning. In effect I was a Prestel System Manager. I even managed to hack Prince Philip’s Prestel Mailbox and was quite open about it,” he added. Schifreen was surprised at how Prestel handled his reports of issues with its systems, which these days would have earned him a bug bounty payout. Thirty years ago he was treated to arrest and trial. “I made no secret of what I was doing,” Schifreen explained. “It was 1985. The Computer Misuse Act came into existence in 1990. I was doing nothing illegal! I phoned Prestel and told them what I could do. I thought they might give me a job. They didn’t. They called Scotland Yard,” he added. Initially charged and convicted of forgery at Southwark Crown Court, that decision was overturned on appeal by the Lord Chief Justice. After a further appeal by the prosecution, the Lord Chief Justice’s decision to acquit was upheld by the House of Lords. Some readers may be aware that I too was involved in a hacking case at a roughly similar time in the early 80's, whilst I worked at Silica Shop in Sidcup. The difference was that we did not get caught and did not seek any publicity - in any case at the time of the event, no law prohibited such actions, and at the time it was all completely legal. All long in the past now. 

Following from some interesting information from long - time Maggot Sandwich reader Sharon, I publish below some information on the company which is building a new low - cost gym in the three retail units opposite Erith Health Centre. The units have been unoccupied since they were constructed ten years ago. The gym company describe themselves and the site thus:-  énergie is the UKs Market leader in the growth segment of fitness and wellness franchising. énergie has developed four niche brands aimed at targeted consumer groups and following the sale of a number of master licence agreements, has licensees and franchisees in England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Poland and Qatar. With nearly 100 units now operational and in presales, 39 new projects underway, a membership base of over 95,000 and network turnover at c. £26m, énergie is the largest and fastest-growing fitness club franchisor in Europe. The unique range of niche products offered by énergie ensure that the right business model is provided in the right location. For instance in this location where we consider the club would benefit from the ‘Low Cost’ proposition, we launch clubs under our Fit4less brand, in contrast to our full service énergie Fitness Clubs brand, which offers a higher service and facility proposition ideally suited to more affluent or suburban locations. Therefore in summary we are entirely confident this is the correct gym proposition in the correct location for the market we are looking to service. Thus offering vital facilities for what is currently a vastly unengaged  population segment but one which the government guidelines are striving to tackle.

We have not had a food related end video for some time, so this week here is how to make an authentic British Indian Restaurant style Lamb Balti. It makes me hungry just looking at it. Feel free to leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.