The Pier Festival.

Yesterday marked the second Erith Pier Festival. Last year's inaugural event was expected to be attended by around four hundred visitors; in the event around four and a half thousand people turned up, which was helped by excellent, sunny weather. This year the weather was also excellent. As you can see from the photos above - click on any one for a larger version. The turnout was excellent this year, and there were an increased number of stalls. This year exhibitors were able to use the full length of the pier, including the dog leg area. At the time of writing, the attendance numbers for the event were not yet available, but it certainly felt that the numbers were significantly up on last year. Bexley Brewery had a very large marquee tent which housed their pop - up pub. As well as serving a number of their excellent, locally brewed real ales, they had a range of ciders and soft drinks on sale, all served in commemorative "Erith Pier Festival 2019" plastic glasses.  They also had a series of live music acts throughout the day and into the evening. There were a large number of food stalls offering a wide variety of cuisines, along with stalls for the RNLI, St. John Ambulance, The Erith Think Tank, and many others. More on The Erith Pier Festival at the end of this update.

Tuesday evening last week brought some drama to Erith; at 6.30pm a loud argument began between two groups of men in Morrison's car park. It started with three white males aged 45  - 55 in a shouting match with two men of Afro - Caribbean heritage of around the same age, over a red Vauxhall Astra hatchback. I skirted round them as I went to do some shopping in the supermarket. I reported the incident to the Morrison's duty security guard, and suggested he call the Police. He declined to do so and said it was nothing to do with him. When I returned home about 15 minutes later a fight was under way between one of the white guys and one of the black guys - the white guy was completely naked at this point. Not sure how this happened, but it was not a pretty sight. He was shouting, running around starkers and fighting with the other guy. The white guy appeared to be very drunk or under the influence of drugs. As you can imagine, quite a number of onlookers were present by this time. As no weapons seemed to be involved, and nobody seemed to be seriously hurt, I did not ring 999 or 101, as very likely by the time any Police turned up the fighters would be long gone. I phoned the Erith Police office, but got the voicemail. Later that evening I passed the car park for a third time, returning from an evening meeting. Three Police area cars were in the Morrison's car park, with their blue lights flashing. Understandably they were taking a very dim view of the earlier proceedings. Did you see anything? Drop me a line to hugh.neal@gmail.com with any information, which will be treated in the strictest confidence. 

Residents of the Eastern end of Erith may have noticed that Thames Water have been present at the junction of Appold Street and Wheatley Terrace Road, next to Abbey Car Breakers, on at some point, an almost daily basis; in fact the most recent visit was last night. There is a serious blockage problem with one of the drains under the road, and Thames Water have to repeatedly pump it clear. It is well known that the area around Appold Street / Manor Road and the Frobisher Road housing estate has historically had some serious issues with low water pressure and drainage blocking problems. I believe that the Appold Street problems are also linked to the British Gas substation that is hidden under the historic bridge in the road. There are  nasty smells from the substation. It got me thinking - who was the Appold behind the name of Appold Street? I did some research and found out quite a lot. It turns out that the name Appold comes from Victorian engineer and inventor John George Appold, who you can see in the photo above - click on it for a larger view. John George Appold was born in 1800 and died of cancer in 1865, as a very wealthy man. As a boy he showed considerable talent for calculation and a decided aptitude for mechanical pursuits, which he was enabled to gratify by introducing improvements in the processes in use in his father’s business - that of a fur skin-dyer, to which he eventually succeeded; and which, by his ingenuity and scientific improvements, he made very profitable. In the early part of his career there were but rare opportunities for improvement by mixing with contemporary scientists; but, as soon as it was practicable, Mr. Appold became a Member of the London Institution, where he enjoyed the advantages of the use of the Library, and of attending the evening meetings. In 1834 he was named one of the Auditors, and in 1844 he was elected one of the Managers; and henceforth he took great interest in the welfare of that Society. He devised many ingenious mechanical contrivances which he incorporated in his home. His major invention was a form of centrifugal pump used for drainage in the fens, which he demonstrated at The Great Exhibition of 1851, which won a gold medal. He also invented a brake for use in lowering telegraph cables into the sea, a system used when laying the first transatlantic cable in 1857. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1853. He was regarded as quite eccentric, and created many groundbreaking domestic implements, such as automatically opening and closing doors, an early form of air conditioning. Even the gates of his stable yard opened of themselves as he drove through, and closed again without slamming. His name will probably be most universally connected with the Appold Centrifugal Rotary Pump, which was so prominent a feature in the International Exhibitions of 1851 and 1862. He took great and unceasing interest in the laying of the Submarine Telegraph Cable to America, and the paying-out apparatus employed in the early attempts was mainly of his invention. He had amassed a large fortune by the end of his life in 1865, which, by his will, was very judiciously disposed of among his relatives and friends, he not having any family. All his workmen and servants were well remembered, and several bequests were made to scientific societies. Among others, he bequeathed one thousand pounds to the Institution of Civil Engineers, 'for the general use and benefit of the Society.' His connection with Erith, and the area around what is now Appold Street is down to the engineering company Easton and Amos, which was located in the buildings which now form part of Abbey Car Breakers, and also in buildings in Manor Road from 1865 until 1903. They produced and sold Appold designed pumps for industry, which were exported all over the world. John Appold is little remembered nowadays, but in Victorian times he was regarded as a very important person, hence how a road in the vicinity of the pump factory was later named after him.

Last weekend there were celebrations to mark the final completion of the Erith Park project - the large redevelopment of the once notorious Larner Road Estate on North End Road. As you can see from the photos above, the once run down and outright dangerous Larner Road Estate has been completely transformed into a bright and pleasant place to live. Orbit and developer Wates said of the event:- "Orbit and Wates Residential celebrated the completion of work on the award-winning Erith Park development in Bexley with a community event. Over the course of six years, the development partners worked with the community and key stakeholders, such as London Borough of Bexley, to transform the Larner Road estate into Erith Park. Throughout Phase 1 and 2 of work, seven tower blocks were replaced with 587 medium-rise homes, including 329 homes for affordable rent, 114 for private sale and 144 for shared ownership. To mark the significant milestone, a community event was held on Saturday 14 September. Maggie McCann, Orbit’s director of regeneration and partnerships thanked partners and residents for their contributions to the new community.  Maggie invited Cllr Teresa O’Neill OBE, Leader of the London Borough of Bexley, to join residents in unveiling the name of the new Arthur Street estate, which will now be known as Park East. Local resident, Tracey Kember kick-started the event with a DJ session to get everyone moving, while local residents organised stalls to sell cakes, knitted items, recycled goodies and sweets to their neighbours. Children from the area also got stuck in to the activities at The Exchange’s stall – trying their hands at balloon modelling, penalty shoot outs, arts and crafts, and stilt walking. Wates Residential, Orbit and Southern Land services also hosted stalls. Families took part in a scavenger hunt and one lucky winner took home a tablet computer. The event was also a public celebration of the sculpture commissioned by Orbit to mark the entrance of Erith Park. Artist Howard Boycott, whose design was chosen from 41 submissions, was present to talk about his work and the stories behind it. The 3.5m brick sculpture reflects the site’s history of Victorian brick making and incorporates decorative bricks made by residents. Hidden inside is the shape of a Stone Age tool - a reminder of the important Palaeolithic archaeology of the site. The Orbit and Wates Residential partnership continues with the redevelopment of the nearby Arthur Street estate. The £95 million project will deliver 280 new homes, of which 80 per cent will for affordable rent and shared ownership. Maggie McCann, Director of Regeneration and Partnerships, Orbit, said: “The event marked a momentous achievement for both the project team and community. We were able to celebrate the official completion of Erith Park after years of hard work, and also showcase our next venture, Park East. “Many of the Erith Park team will be bringing their experience to Park East and we are confident we can deliver yet another thriving community and leave a lasting impact in Erith.”Paul Nicholls, Managing Director, Wates Residential, said: “Our vision for Erith Park was to create delightful contemporary homes in a beautiful new neighbourhood. This event was where it finally all came together and we can confirm that, together, we’ve created a brilliant new community we can all be proud of.” I am glad to see the investment in social housing that is being made by Orbit in the forthcoming Park East. The influx of people into the area, not to mention the existing local population who will be returning to the area once the Arthur Street estate has been demolished and replaced with the new Park East estate will mean a substantial increase in the local population. On top of this, the aspirational development at The Quarry, at the other end of Erith will bring new residents moving from other parts of Greater London. It seems to me that all these additional people will need additional resources such as GP surgeries, dentists and other infrastructure services. Erith Park has been a good example of a redevelopment done well; in fact this has been recognised. Erith Park has been shortlisted for two national construction awards. The announcement of these reads thus:- "We’re delighted to announce that Erith Park has been shortlisted for two awards in this year’s Inside Housing Development Awards. Orbit and Wates Residential’s Erith Park development in south east London was shortlisted in not one but two categories: Best Regeneration and Best Partnership. The national awards ceremony will showcase the best of the best in housing development and regeneration, recognising the work of landlords, developers and architects across the UK. Working with development partners Wates Residential and architects Broadway Malyan, Orbit transformed the former Larner Road estate into Erith Park. Over the course of six years, seven tower blocks were replaced with 587 medium-rise homes. The development has overhauled an area that was almost entirely social housing (less than five per cent Right to Buy sales) into a thriving community where homes are tenure-blind between affordable rent, shared ownership, rent-to-buy and market sale. Continuing their success, Orbit and Wates Residential are set to embark on another venture at the neighbouring Arthur Street site – recently announced as the Park East development. Speaking on the news Caroline Field, Head of Regeneration at Orbit, said: “The whole team are really proud of the transformation of Erith Park and it’s wonderful to have our hard work recognised by industry experts.” Paul Nicholls, Managing Director for Wates Residential, said: “Our vision for Erith Park was to create contemporary homes in a beautiful new neighbourhood that everyone can be proud of, so we’re delighted to be recognised by our peers for making this vision a reality. We are now looking forward to continuing to build on the strong partnership we have developed with Orbit on our next partnership at Park East.” Winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on Wednesday 27 November 2019 in London". News reaches me from a reliable local source who prefers to remain anonymous that the Arthur Street redevelopment into what will be known in future as Park East has now had its planning permission approved by Bexley Council. The planning decision reads:- "Development At Arthur Street Arthur Street Erith Kent. Proposal:- Demolition of all existing buildings (excluding Warwick Court) and provision of 320 residential units in 5 blocks varying between three and nine storeys high, together with associated parking, cycle parking, hard and soft landscaping, play space, access and utilities. The scheme is subject to minor amendments as follows: Amendment to application site boundary; Minor changes to the public realm; Confirmation of temporary access arrangements for Warwick Court; Incorporation of bulky waste storage room within Block B; Inclusion of missing door to Block D plant room; Block B podium entrance pushed south to create a recessed entrance; Omissions of misplaced door swings on upper levels; Double door entry provision to all cycle stores; Removal of illustrative double stacker cycle storage equipment from each cycle store". The full list of documents relating to the successful application for planning permission for the redevelopment of the housing estate can be read here.

Now for the weekly local safety and security updates courtesy of Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association. Firstly a report from Barnehurst ward:- "Barnehurst unfortunately has suffered one attempted burglary on 17/09/2019 between 02.30am and 03.00am in Cumbrian Avenue. Two males were seen on CCTV however the camera outside the property has been damaged. A piece of wood was found near the front door and there are forensic opportunities to explore due to possible finger prints on the door. No entry was gained. Vehicle crime continues on the ward. On 08/09/2019 at 11.05pm in Midfield Avenue two males were seen on CCTV. One male with a torch has rummaged through a vehicle on a drive way whilst the other male crossed the road to try handles to other vehicles. Overnight on 11/09/2019 in Westfield Road suspect gained access to a vehicle and stole a disabled badge. In Colyers Lane on 12/09/2019 between 11.30am and 01.30pm a catalytic converter was stolen. On 12/09/2019 at 09.45pm in Stuart Mantle Way a grey Honda motor cycle HF65XGP was stolen from the garden. In Holmsdale Grove vehicle registration plates WM03KEK were stolen on 13/09/2019 overnight. In Heath Way between 05.00pm on 13/09/2019 to 01.00pm on 14/09/2019 a silver BMW VRM CA07MKJ was stolen. On 16/09/2019 at 11.00pm a motor cycle was stolen from an address in Birling Road, we are unable to provide the registration number at this time. Over the weekend the team were busy rolling out Smart Water kits to residents of Westfield Road. We are aiming to get one hundred percent coverage here. Our next community contact session will be on Wednesday 25th September 2019 in Barnehurst Golf Club at 11.00am". Belvedere ward:- "PC Holmes has just arrested an outstanding male for Domestic violence that has been wanted for the past 2 months residing on the Belvedere ward. As well as visible patrols across the ward officers are on occasion undertaking plain clothes patrols in the hope of catching any potential villains unaware. This will continue throughout the winter months in the run up to Christmas. PCSO Jay continues his excellent engagement work in the community from school visits to reassurance and neighbour enquiries after burglaries have been committed on the ward. Unfortunately there has been one reported burglary this week at a house of multiple occupation in Coleman Road, Belvedere. Enquiries into this incident continue currently" Bexleyheath ward:- "There has been a report of a theft of motor vehicle that happened overnight along Latham Road Bexleyheath on the 16/09/2019, vehicle was stolen from the driveway Also on the 13/09/2019 – There was a report of a theft from motor vehicle along Haslemere Road Bexleyheath that had happened again overnight into the 14/09/2019. Vehicle was searched and items taken from inside. Also a male was stopped along Braeside Crescent Bexleyheath in relation to drug offences. Also another male stopped along Iris Avenue in relation to a harassment. There was also a report of a purse being stolen from an elderly victim whilst in M&S on the Broadway, purse was taken from the shopping trolley whilst victim was shopping. 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". Crayford ward:- "There has been two report of criminal damage to a motor vehicles along Maiden Lane Dartford, one on the 14/09/2019 and the other on the 13/09/2019 Also a report of theft from motor vehicle has been reported along Perry Street on the 14/09/2019. Also on the 12/098/2019 there was a report of a theft of motor vehicle along Hall Place Crescent. 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."  Erith ward:- "No burglaries again this week which is good news. However, theft from and of motor vehicles is still an ever present not only across Erith, but across most of Bexley. Most vehicle crime is preventable. It can take as little as 10 seconds for a thief to steal something from your car. The best way to protect your belongings is to lock your car whenever you leave it. Other things you can do include: Removing everything from the car; don't even leave a jacket where it can be seen. Closing the sunroof along with the windows when you leave. •Not storing things in the boot; take them with you. Storing car ownership information in your home, not your car. •Having a routine to ensure you always take the keys out of the ignition. Taking removable stereos and sat nav equipment with you. In addition, using secure (theft resistant) number plates can make your plates less attractive to thieves. Where you park can make a big difference to the safety of your car and your belongings. Look out for car parks approved by the police Safer Parking. You can find them by looking for their distinctive 'Park Mark' signs. More info here - http://www.parkmark.co.uk/ Theft of MV 15/09/2019 Rutland Gate, Theft of Motor Vehicle 13/09/2019, West Street, Theft from Motor Vehicle 17/09/2019 St John's Car Park, West Street, Theft from Motor Vehicle 17/09/2019 Corinthian Manorway, Theft from Motor Vehicle 17/09/2019 Queens Road, Criminal Damage 18/09/2019 Erith High Street, Theft from Motor Vehicle 17/09/2019, The next Community Contact Session will be at Costa Coffee, Erith on 24/09/19 at 2pm".  Northumberland Heath ward:- "After viewing the CCTV footage in Tesco on Bexley Road, the team were able to identify a male involved in an incident, further to this the team arrested a male who is now due to appear at court. This was a very good result for the team. Unfortunately, there have been a number of motor vehicle crimes committed on the ward this week. 11/9 at approx. 17:05 hour a vehicle was stolen from Oakdene Avenue. 10/9 Theft from a motor vehicle overnight on Carlton Road. 12/9 overnight a vehicle was stolen from Streamway. 13/9 Theft of number plates from a vehicle overnight on Avenue Road. 14/9 overnight a vehicle was stolen from Coniston Close. Between the 13/16 there was an attempted theft of catalytic converter from a vehicle in Walsingham Walk. There have been no burglaries in Northumberland Heath this week. Our next community contact session is on Monday 30th September at 10am in the Mill Road Library, please do come along and meet a member of the team and discuss any issues or concerns you have, or just pop in and say hello".

Slade Green and Northend ward:- "2 vehicles have been stolen overnight on the 16/09 and 17/09. One from Frobisher Road and one from Duriun Way. Enquiries are ongoing for cctv and to see if the crimes may be linked. PCSO Mark assisted Kent police in the recovery of a stolen vehicle found in Betsham Road on Tuesday (pic attached) The vehicle is linked to theft of catalytic converters in the Swanley area and is now being forensically checked. A good bit of cross border working. St Augustines church has a Welcome café every Tuesday from 11-2. PCSO Mark attended this week and chatted with Jim the vicar as well as around 10 residents and 4 St Paul's school children who also were present having their lunch in the local community. A great place for the community to come together and chat, engage and more importantly, eat cake!! We also attended the Slade Green Big Local Community Safety Partnership meeting with some good plans put in place for the next year of their plan. Our next Community Contact session is on Saturday 28/09/2019 from 9am at the Forest Road café". Thamesmead East ward:- "Several thefts of Catalytic Converters this week vehicles being targeted are Toyota Prius and Toyota Auris. Attempted Burglary: FAIRWAY DRIVE Wednesday 11/9/19 between 9am – 8pm Victim returned home and found the Yale lock which had been picked was jammed. There was evidence of the door being forced however no entry was gained. Vehicle Crime: SEACOURT ROAD SE2 Wednesday 11/9/19 between 2am – 12:48 Front number plate removed from vehicle by suspect/s unknown. Overton Road SE2 Saturday 14/9/19 between 8:35pm – 1am Victim informed by a neighbour that vehicle had been broken into. Victim returned to vehicle which was now unlocked. Victims leather wallet which had bank cards and pin numbers recorded on a piece of paper had been removed by suspect. The cards have been used to on three occasions to withdraw £300, £90 and a further £300. Maran Way Wednesday 15/9/19 between 2pm – 3pm on 17/9/19 Catalytic Converter removed from vehicle by suspect/s unknown. Holstein Way Monday 16/9/19 at 7:15 victim witnessed a group of youths on pedal cycle's riding along kicking wing mirrors off several cars, one of which was victims own. Templar Drive Monday 16/9/19 between 9:35am 5:30pm victim parked vehicle outside a resident's garage. When victim returned to vehicle both front tyres were flat and wheel trims removed by suspect/s unknown. Maran Way Wednesday 17/9/19 between 12 noon – 3pm Catalytic Converter removed from vehicle by suspect/s unknown. Wolvercote Road Tuesday 17/9/19 between 11:30 – 11:45 victims neighbour witnessed vehicle being jacked up by suspect/s who removed Catalytic Converter. Wolvercote Road Tuesday 17/9/19 between 7:30am – 7:30pm Catalytic Converter removed by suspect/s unknown". West Heath ward:- "No burglaries reported to us this week, however we have a continuation of motor vehicle crime. Fishing equipment and power tools were stolen from a van in Sidmouth Road overnight 11.35pm on Wednesday September 11th and 06.15am on Thursday September 12th. There was no sign of forced entry. Theft of a motorcycle in Milford Close between 6pm on Friday 6th September and 10pm on Saturday September 7th. Theft of a Toyota Yaris in Berkley Avenue on Thursday September 12th at 2.10pm. A silver Ford Focus was stolen from Winchelsea Avenue overnight on Thursday September 12th and was discovered missing at 7.45am on Friday September 13th. Theft of a white Sprinter van from Axminster Crescent overnight between Monday September 16th 10.30pm – 0730am the following morning Tuesday September 17th. The victim is still in possession of the keys to the vehicle".

The end video this week shows the Erith Pier Festival and gives a good idea as to just how many people attended the excellent and very popular local event. I am hopeful by the next Maggot Sandwich update that attendance statistics will be available. It felt to me that more people attended the event than the inaugural event last year. I am certain that the popularity of the festival will mean that it will be a regular annual event for many years to come. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or alternatively 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.