The Bonehill problem.

The photo above shows Erith High Street and the Riverside Gardens as they are nowadays; the Running Horses pub (once a great venue with an outstanding carvery and an excellent bar, but now sadly a shadow of its' former self) will soon be dwarfed by the proposed new block of flats and adjacent town houses by London and Quadrant. The public consultation took place as I documented last week. It will be instructive to find out just how much the developers take on board from the feedback given at the event in the refectory of the new Bexley College campus. Time will tell, and I will be reporting as the situation progresses. You can read more about the London and Quadrant proposal by clicking here. 

News came through late on Friday afternoon in respect of the areas of land that Bexley Council proposes to sell off. The News Shopper has a full list which you can read by clicking here.  I am pleased to say that Erith Riverside Gardens is not on the list - something that very many locals were concerned about. The small park in West Street is listed as being under threat - personally I would rather it stayed as an open space, but realistically the only people that I have ever see using it are winos and druggies, who sit on the benches and swig from bottles of strong cider. It could be really nice if it got some care and attention, but the council would seemingly rather sell it off. Another piece of land that is under threat is the area that separates Fraser Road and Alford Road that has a number of very attractive trees and a lawn on it - and a not so attractive, rather tumbledown electricity substation. I know the motivation behind selling off this sliver of land to developers - it is smack bang opposite the proposed entrance to the Erith Quarry development site. The money grabbing council can see a cash cow in the land - it would make entry and exit to the development far easier, although it would be an environmental and aesthetic loss to the area, and would increase the traffic noise for residents of Alford Road. I get the feeling this story will run and run. More on this later in the update.

You may have seen a story on the BBC News website recently, a warning about smart televisions, specifically those manufactured by Samsung – one of the biggest makers of domestic televisions in the world. The article warned owners that the voice recognition software the TV’s use “listens” to conversations held in the room where the TV is located, searching for key command words to respond to. It sends the voice data to servers run by a third party company called Nuance, who specialise in speech recognition. The “heavy lifting” speech recognition processing is carried out on Nuance’s servers, and the results returned to the television. What is unclear is how the voice data is transmitted, and if it is in any way encoded. The BBC article infers that this is a brand new story that they were at the forefront of investigating. Readers of the Maggot Sandwich with keen memories may recall that I covered this very issue back in December 2012, over two years ago. I actually have a Samsung smart TV, but I have the voice and gesture activation functionality disabled, and the web cam that is located in the upper bezel physically blocked; in fact I don’t really use any of the smart functions, apart from occasionally using the TV to watch catch -  up shows on BBC iPlayer. The computer functions of smart TV’s are better off being done on a proper computer – even the most powerful smart TV cannot compete with a “proper” computer in terms of user interface, smooth action and speed of response. Personally I would not buy a premium brand smart TV again, as the novelty functionality soon wears off. Quality of picture and sound is far more important, and what will last. As previously mentioned, if you are in the market for a new TV right now, don't bother with a 4K model – as there is very little 4K content available right now; you would be better off buying a cheap HD TV and waiting a couple of years until 4K content is more widely available, and the prices of 4K sets will have come down as well.

There has been quite a bit of publicity in the local press about the announcement that has been made by Southeastern Trains that from 2016 they will be offering free WiFi on their trains. What is not clear is whether this offer is applicable on all Southeastern train services, or just on the longer distance routes. It is all very laudable, but I think many regular users of the rail service would rather the money was spent on increasing train reliability and cleanliness, rather than adding to the ability for you to be able to Email your boss to say that you will be in the office late due to train problems. It is not without reason that Southeastern were rated as the train company with the lowest level of customer satisfaction in the UK in a recent survey. They also fared very poorly in a Which? Survey this week, where 33% of respondents had experienced a delay on the last journey that they had made on a Southeastern train. That really is just not good enough – the trouble is that there is little incentive for them to improve, as market forces have little if any effect on train companies – if you need to travel from A to B by train, you almost never have a choice of train operator – it is a case of “take it or leave it”.

The Maggot Sandwich has recently been fortunate to recruit a local restaurant critic in the form of Brian Silk, a well known local figure, who amongst other talents such as being an amateur singer / songwriter is also the manager of local football club Bexley Invicta. Brian writes:- "I read, with interest, your observation that central Erith no longer has a dedicated fish and chip shop, following the demise of the once-excellent Manor Fish Bar. However, not too far from the centre of town is the Riverside Fish Bar, in West Street, close to St John’s church. It might be a bit of a trek for many of your readers, but I suggest it would be well worth it. I have been a frequent customer since it opened, a couple of years ago, and I would say that the cod and chips is top notch. The Fishbar is one of those rarities - a shop that cooks the fish to order. This means that, while you have a bit of a wait, you know the fish is freshly cooked. And cooked to perfection, in my opinion. The batter is just the right side of crispiness and the cod is succulent and yielding. The chips are to my taste, too - firm, but not too crispy (although I appreciate that people will have very different preferences when it comes to their fish and chips). You should note that this is a 'medium cod and regular chips' and they are on a large steak plate. I have never ordered a large cod, because I can barely finish a medium. I have seen the shop’s large cod and it is significantly larger than the piece in the picture. PS. I am not the owner of the shop, nor a relative or friend of anyone connected to it!" Thanks Brian - hopefully your food reviews will become a regular feature. I will have to give the Riverside Fish Bar a try.

This week we have another technology anniversary. It is the tenth birthday of Google Maps – a service that has revolutionised the way we navigate. Google Maps was by no way the first online mapping service, but the way in which it integrates satellite imagery, GPS data, conventional maps and the highly innovative Street View into one integrated online application which works over a wide variety of devices. The fact that Google Maps launched at around the same time as the first smart phones went on the market was also a shrewd move. Most many people know that before Apple launched the original iPhone, they were in talks with Google over integrating a Google Maps App as a pre – installed software package on all Apple mobile phones. It was only later that Apple decided to work on their own, alternative mapping application when Google launched Android – their own mobile device operating system, in direct competition with Apple. Apple Maps was, and is, somewhat inferior to Google Maps – for example, Apple Maps shows the location of Pewty Acres nearly half a mile from where it is actually located, and on the wrong side of the road. Google Maps is spot on. In many ways mapping services are the “killer app” for mobile use, and Google managed to launch their product at precisely the right time. There have been privacy concerns over Street View, and some counties like Germany have banned the collection of street level photographs for this very reason, though the ability to “zoom down” from a satellite view down to street level is something that many people use on a regular basis. Google are so committed to high quality satellite imagery for incorporation in Google Maps that they have actually bought two imaging satellites for a total of $500 million for the very purpose, enabling them to have “end to end” control over their product. It is something that has served Google well, though their innovation is more a case of being incredibly wealthy and able to fund a great many research projects, some of which may well amount to nothing. For example, Google have recently canned the Glass project after much adverse criticism of the smart spectacles due to privacy concerns. Google Glass caught the imagination of many technology reviewers.  Everyone who put on Glass said it was really cool. Unfortunately there wasn’t any one thing Glass did so well that some segment of the public said “I have to have Glass.”  There wasn't any need that Glass fulfilled so well that a group of customers bought Glass, used it and became committed to wearing Glass all the time. On top of this Google did not improve Glass in specific ways for an application to attract users from a target market to buy Glass.  In the end, by trying to be a “cool tool” for everyone Glass, ended up being something nobody really needed – added to the negative publicity, Google realised that they were not backing a winner, and consequently pulled the plug on the project. I predict that in 2015 Google will also close Google+ their clunky and unpopular social network, that was designed to compete with FaceBook, but has limped along for years. It will never be able to compete with FaceBook, which now has well over a billion users worldwide, with big growth still indicated to come in emerging markets in Africa, China and India. Google are simply too far behind with Google+ and offer no unique functionality to encourage users to switch from one social media platform to another – where it is unlikely they would find any of their friends. For these reasons I am pretty sure Google will cut their losses and close Google+ at some time this year.

The photo above was taken at the Danson Festival back in 2010; in those days the event would attract over sixty thousand people over the course of the festival weekend. Bexley Council have now permanently cancelled the event, citing environmental concerns about soil drainage. From what I can gather, this is little more than a convenient way for them to absolve themselves of any responsibility for the popular local event. An online campaign has been started to restore the Danson Festival, which has gained well over 3,300 members in less than a week. It sounds a very similar situation to the ongoing campaign to Save Belvedere Splash Park - the council make up an explanation for closure which looks on the face of it to have some credibility, but as soon as the reason is given any scrutiny, it falls apart under examination. Bexley Council are just trying to sell off the family silver in order for the top councillors to be able to line their pockets. Don Vito Corleone had more scruples than certain people sitting in the council chamber in Bexleyheath.

A couple of weeks ago I was using the pedestrian crossing on Queen's Road; the traffic had stopped for the red light, and I made my way across the busy main road. Once I had crossed, the lights stayed red for some time. An ambulance came round the hideous fish roundabout and up Queen Street. The drivers of the cars stopped at the traffic lights looked confused – they wanted to move out of the way for the ambulance, but also did not want to jump a red light and most likely get caught on a traffic camera. If you get out of the way of an emergency service vehicle and run a red light, stray into a bus lane, or cross a hatched junction, whatever your good intentions, you could be liable to a £60 fine (reduced to £30 if paid within 14 days). The fine in central London is over double this amount. The fines are levied by local councils, and the exact criteria do vary somewhat, but overall they would seem to be a very lucrative source of revenue for the local authorities. Last week the Daily Telegraph reported that a study by the AA showed that the level of fines levied on drivers who thought that they were doing the right thing in moving out of the way of emergency vehicles has now resulted in one in ten drivers would not enter a bus lane, or cross a red light in order to let a fire engine, Police car or ambulance through, even if the blue lights were flashing and the siren wailing. In London, with the virtual complete coverage of public spaces by CCTV, the figures were even more worrying; one in six drivers said that they would not give way to let an emergency vehicle through. Most drivers will still move aside to save a life, but in return local councils are dishing out fines to punish drivers trying to do good. A new campaign called Blue Light Aware has recently been launched to make motorists more conscious of the risks of interacting with emergency service vehicles on call. It makes clear the fact that “blue light” drivers have certain exemptions from the normal rules of the road that ordinary drivers don’t. They go onto explain that in most circumstances it is better to find their way around normal traffic, as they can traverse bus lanes and red traffic lights quite legally. It all sounds like a mess to me; one thing is for certain – the ordinary motorist is damned if they do, and damned if they don't move out of the way of a “blue light” responder. What do you think? Either leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

  

Over the past few months I have been involved in a situation which has been unlike anything I have experienced before; for various reasons I have had to keep very quiet about it, but the point has come where the matter has come to a head. Before publishing this article, I sent a draft of it to six people whose thoughts and opinions I greatly value and respect; of those six, five of them said that I should go ahead and publish. You may recall that back in August of last year I wrote a cautionary piece about a chap called Joshua Bonehill, and his dangerous, extreme right wing Nazi views. Bonehill runs a number of extremely offensive websites which you can easily Google (I will not dignify them with links from this site), and has featured prominently in the national press, including the Guardian, Russia Today and the BBC News website here. He is the person behind the campaign for the  “De – Jewification” of the Stamford Hill area of North London, that has had so much recent press coverage. He was arrested and charged with Malicious Communication last year, and narrowly escaped a custodial sentence for accusing innocent people of being paedophiles and many other outright vicious lies. Since then he has been back in court a number of times, again for online trolling and Malicious Communication. Only last week he was handed another suspended sentence for a further case; he was also arrested and charged with Malicious Communication and Racially Aggravated Harassment after he targeted Labour MP Luciana Berger at the end of last week. On top of all this, he is due in court early in May, after he wrote that foods Tesco sourced from Africa were infected with the Ebola virus. Understandably Tesco and their lawyers take a very dim view of this, and the court case which starts on the 5th May should prove most interesting.  I like to think of myself as a generally easy going person; many long-time readers will know that I have a personal, libertarian philosophy of “if it works for you”.  The premise of which is that I believe that people should be free to do whatever they like within the law, as long as it does not cause harm, inconvenience or distress to others. Joshua Bonehill is self professed racist, homophobe, misogynist, xenophobe anti - Semite who hates anyone who is not white and British and shares the extraordinarily offensive fascist views he has. The Judge, when sentencing Bonehill for his first offence of Malicious Communication, described the 22 year old as “moronic” and was inclined to award a custodial sentence, but after his defence submitted mitigating circumstances, he was sentenced to two years’ probation and 180 hours of community service. Back last August, Joshua Bonehill sent me an email, quite out of the blue. In the interests of liberty and free speech I publish it unedited, complete with spelling mistakes and grammatical errors below for you to make up your own opinion:-

Dear Hugh;

In your article you state that I "Live with my mother"; this is completely false. I've been living independent since the age of 14. Wish I did live with my mother though - would be a lot cheaper.  Nice attempt at painting me out to be some sort of autist spastic freak though; would have worked if you were a national newspaper; unfortunately you're a simple blog with a small following. 

Next - you state that I've been prosecuted for "spreading malicious lies about asians". This is completely false; I've never been arrested for doing that. 

Last - You state I am 22, my age is 21. (He is 22 now)

Please fix the errors with your article and I won't need to include your name in the harassment case that is being investigated against people of your Ilk. I will give you this one chance to co-operate otherwise you can expect a knock at the door. Clearly as you know very little about me or anything I do given the mistakes in your article; you have no idea as to what you're getting involved with. 

Here is the link to the blog post

http://arthurpewtysmaggotsandwich.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/better-scores.html?m=1

I will be checking back in a few days; I trust these issues will be remedied by then? 

Now - One last thing; you state in your biography that you were a "Radio Caroline DJ". Did Jimmy Saville also not work there? I know that travis did. Given the fact that all of these Radio DJ's are being ousted as nonces; maybe it's a valid call to publicly look into you and document this investigation through my Blog the Daily Bale which has a subscription list of over 1 million people. I would hate to be the centre of a witch hunt connecting me to paedophillia - would be an unbearable thought! 

So there's your one chance really and a bit of a taste of what you can expect if you don't co-operate; I'll go down the legal route first and if that fails then I'll destroy you publicly using my "Vast social network" as you claim in your website. 

Kinds Regards,

Joshua Bonehill

I did not dignify his message with a response – I will not “feed the troll”. One hard and fast rule when engaging in any kind of dispute is to be certain of the facts. Bonehill makes a number of incorrect assumptions in his message; Jimmy Saville did not work for Radio Caroline, or indeed any offshore radio station. Dave Lee Travis last worked for Radio Caroline in August 1967 – when I was exactly three weeks old.  This is all entirely academic; his clumsy attempt at a threat through association really is a deductive dead end. Irrespective of this, despite having published malicious lies and been prosecuted for it back on the 25^th April 2014, and again on the 9^th February this year, and a further case forthcoming, on top of the Tesco Ebola trial; it would appear that Bonehill has not learned the error of his ways. I had planned to keep this story under wraps until Bonehill was sent to prison, but bearing in mind the huge amount of press coverage, that may now be too late. If I did not comment now that the press has caught the story, my entirely unwanted personal involvement with this vile individual could become irrelevant. On another note, it does strike me that Bonehill lacks any sense of irony or self awareness; one would surmise that one who espouses such anti Jewish bile would have thought to change his name from Joshua, the name of the Biblical leader of the Israelites after the death of Moses. Do feel free to read more about the person, and let me know what you think. It has been a stressful time. Feel free to leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

On a rather brighter and more positive note, Phase One of Erith Park (the long awaited replacement for what used to be the old and not greatly missed Larner Road Estate) opened last Monday. The photo above and text below is copyright Orbit Housing Association, and is used with kind permission. I had hoped to attend the opening of the new development myself, but due to pressure of work I could not spare the time to be there - Francois Jensen, the Communications Manager of the Erith Park Development kindly supplied both the photo above, and the text below "More than 100 customers and community stakeholders celebrated customers moving into the first new homes to be completed at the Erith Park regeneration scheme. Residents took part in an official ribbon cutting to mark the celebration, as well as enjoying a Chinese New Year themed street party with entertainment from a dancing Chinese lion and a costume competition. Erith Park is one of the largest regeneration projects in London and when complete, the £120m housing scheme will provide more than 580 new homes for local people, with the first 169 homes completed by March 2015. Cllr Linda Bailey, Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Growth at London Borough of Bexley, cut the ribbon at the event. She said: “I am thrilled that this day has arrived. A lot of hard work has gone into developing these homes and I am proud of the end result. I would like to extend a big thank you to the residents who worked so hard to help shape Erith Park and look forward to seeing them settle and prosper in their new homes.” The project is fully supported by the London Borough of Bexley as a priority project within Bexley Local Investment Plan and Regeneration Strategy. Tim Wates, Director of Wates Group said: “I felt delighted and privileged to be at this opening event and Wates look forward to an ongoing working partnership with Orbit, Bexley and the residents of Erith Park.” Deputy Chair of Orbit Group, Professor Tony Crook, said: “Erith Park is Orbit’s flagship regeneration project and is something we have had a vision for since the 1990’s. Thanks to a great partnership with residents, London Borough of Bexley, Wates Living Space and other strategic partners, we've been able to make that dream a reality. We are delighted to welcome the first residents into their new homes and hope they continue building the strong sense of community that they've already started.”

Many local residents were woken on Friday night / the early hours of Saturday morning by the sound of explosions and fire which came from the site of the Wurth warehouse and trade store in Yarnton Way. The News Shopper are reporting that the Fire Brigade have begun investigations into the cause of the blaze, which completely destroyed the building. Initial reports indicate that it may well have been started deliberately, and Police have started an Arson investigation. The video below shows the fire as it raged - it is a miracle it did not spread to the North Kent railway line, which runs right past the site.

Riverside Baths redevelopment.

The photos above were taken by me on Wednesday evening at the London and Quadrant exhibition to show local people the development they propose for the old Erith Riverside Swimming Baths site. The event took place in the refectory of Bexley College in Walnut Tree Road. I anticipated that I would be at the exhibition for little more than twenty minutes, but ended up staying there for over ninety.  I must admit that I arrived at the venue with somewhat of a preconception of what I was about to see. I was under the erroneous impression that the site was to get a single monolithic low – rise tower block, but this is certainly not the case. London and Quadrant hope to build a low – rise block, but they also hope to construct a number of three and four bed town houses both behind and to one side of the main block. To be honest, it does not look too bad, though the exterior design of both the apartment block and the houses does to my mind at least look like it is going to date quite quickly. You can see an artist’s impression below this paragraph - click for a larger view; one thing several visitors to the exhibition noticed was that whoever put together the graphic did not have any local knowledge. As you can see, a black car is shown travelling down Erith High Street from the East to the West – everyone in Erith knows this would be impossible, as the road is one – way from West to East! Nevertheless, it will be interesting to hear what feedback London and Quadrant get from the event. I know that some people were concerned about the proximity of the Walnut Tree Road electricity substation, which I understand takes power from Essex via large cables that run under the River Thames and feeds the power from them into the National Grid. This structure will be pretty much next door to the proposed new development, and from what I have been told, there is absolutely no prospect of it being relocated, as it forms part of the regional power infrastructure. The former swimming baths site is actually somewhat larger than it appears when viewed from the High Street; a corner of the space actually exists behind the car park of the Running Horses, which many locals may be unaware of. One thing I discovered during a couple of conversations I had at the event was that I did find out one thing of interest. London and Quadrant were the organisation that originally submitted a proposal for the Thames Gateway Project back in 2010 – the notorious plan which showed the Riverside Gardens being built upon. This was what prompted the formation of FORGE, and the campaign to preserve the gardens. It turns out that it was a mistake at the printer – London and Quadrant at no stage wanted to build on the gardens – it was a cock – up with the printer using the wrong file; by the time they realised it was a couple of weeks later and thousands of leaflets had already been distributed.  I was told by a London and Quadrant senior executive that the gardens and the scenic view across the river was the reason they wanted to build on the swimming pool site in the first place, and that they would hardly shoot themselves in the foot by building on that very view! I think many locals are justifiably cautious about the development, wondering if it could be "creeping redevelopment" with the Riverside Gardens merely being a further, future phase. Opinions in respect of the height of the tower block, the provision of a children's play area, more off - road parking and the colour of the bricks used in the structure have already been fed back to London and Quadrant. There will undoubtedly be more on this subject in the weeks to come. Leave a comment below, or email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com if you have feelings on the subject.

On Monday evening I saw something that made me want to bite my tongue; I knew however that if I said anything I would have most likely got a barrage of abuse. I was standing in the queue at a checkout in Morrison’s. There was a couple in front of me; they looked to be aged in their mid-sixties, and were expensively dressed. The man pulled out his wallet to pay for the contents of their trolley – he had eight or nine debit and credit cards, and inside the wallet was a white address label type of sticker – and written on it were the PIN numbers for each of his cards, along with the three digit number on the reverse of the cards. I could not believe someone would be so stupid as to record the PIN numbers of all of their cards and to keep the information in the same, easily stolen place. He was obviously worth a bob or two, and it was an open invitation for a mugger or pickpocket to steal from him. Not only that, but if he did have his wallet stolen, any money taken from his accounts using the legitimate PIN number prior to his reporting the theft would not be refunded by the bank or credit card company. Madness.

The Maggot Sandwich football reporter, Brian Spurrell has some encouraging news this week:-

DERES MAKE HISTORY AT HOLBEACH

Holbeach United    2          (Dube 3, Duffy 70)
Erith & Belvedere   3          (Walker 13, Miller og 34, Marsh 100)

FA Vase Fifth Round, 14 February

Erith and Belvedere FC made club history in Lincolnshire yesterday, reaching the quarter-finals of the FA Vase for the first time.  An outstanding extra-time winner by Adam Marsh, described by manager Matt Longhurst as “a goal worthy of winning any game”, took them into the last eight, where they host North Shields on 28 February - two rounds from Wembley! Holbeach, of the United Counties League, had an almost identical league record to Deres in the Southern Counties East, so a close tie was to be expected.  But it began with a calamity for Deres - a long goal-kick from Nick Conroy fell for Livo Dube, catching Deres keeper George Kamurasi in no-man’s-land as he advanced and lobbing him from 30 yards.  1-0 to Holbeach after three minutes. The lead lasted just ten minutes until a well-worked move saw Adam Marsh set up Byron Walker on the left-hand side of the box, who controlled the ball expertly and slotted past Conroy to equalise. Kamurasi’s kicking looked distinctly nervy for a while after this, and Danny Spencer nearly capitalised on one dodgy clearance, but the giant Ugandan has few peers as a keeper at this level and soon proved his worth with outstanding saves from Jamie Clarke and Jake Duffy, while at the other end Alfie May and Allan Matthews just failed to get a final touch in a scramble. It was Matthews who set up the goal that put Deres ahead on 34 minutes, but with little Deres input – his cross was headed back to the keeper by Kern Miller, who held his head in his hands as the stranded Conroy missed the header and the ball rolled into the net.  Despite Dube’s shot just wide just before half-time, Deres looked comfortable in the lead. The second half produced fewer chances but still an engrossing game.  Deres were 18 minutes from victory when a defensive mix-up saw the ball cannon off a defender into the path of Duffy, who made no mistake just inside the box to make it 2-2.  Duffy set up Miller for a chance soon afterwards which went too high, but 33-goal striker Alfie May came closest to a late winner on 86 minutes when his dipping shot was tipped over the bar by Conroy. Holbeach had shaded the second half, but Deres stepped up a gear in extra-time, and the tenth minute brought the best move of the match.  Substitute Ben Wilson was released down the left wing and sent over an inch-perfect cross which was met on the volley by Marsh.  An emphatic shot bulged the net to cause mayhem among the Deres team and on the bench. Deres were able to defend from the front for most of the remaining 20 minutes, and frustrated Holbeach went down to ten men when substitute Matt Nolan was shown a red card for clattering Sam Groombridge.  The Deres defender suffered a painful ankle injury, but with all three subs having been used, tried to return to the fray in the manner of Monty Python’s Black Knight missing a limb or two; he had limped five yards onto the pitch when the final whistle went. The Deres are thus in the last eight of a national competition for the first time since the FA Amateur Cup of 1945-46.  The Vase is a successor to the Amateur Cup (scrapped in 1974): not quite an equivalent competition but some of the cast are the same.  At the same stage in 1946 E&B beat Eastbourne, whom they beat in the first round this season; and the Amateur Cup was dominated by north-eastern teams, who have won five of the last six Vase finals.  North Shields are tournament favourites and will be very tough opposition in a fortnight’s time.
Holbeach United - Conroy, Anton, Parker, Warfield (Gibson 69), Miller, Spencer (Cartwright 19), Beeson, Duffy, Steadman, Clark (Nolan 60), Dube.
Deres - Kamurasi, Matthews (Minter 87), Craig, Richmond, Groombridge, Johnson, Hales, L. May, A. May, Marsh (Parkinson 120), Walker (Wilson 66)
Attendance - 265 Thanks Brian. could it be our local team will make it all of the way? Brian will be covering developments; expect an update from him in the coming weeks.

Over the last few years I have occasionally mentioned radio stations – both legitimate and otherwise that I have worked for in one manner or another. I have always had a deep interest in radio – even when I was at primary school, I would find old radios and pull them apart to try and work out what made them tick; at one stage I managed to convert an old Bush valve receiver into an amplifier / speaker for my bedside transistor radio – even if it was only to listen to Ed Stewart on “Junior Choice” on Radio 1. When in secondary school I started to listen the land based pirates which you could find all across both the Medium Wave and (what was then termed VHF) FM bands. The early 80’s were a formative time for unlicensed broadcasting – at that point little government thought had been given to widening commercial licences, and things such as community stations and special event licences just did not exist – with the notable exception of Radio Thamesmead, which at that time was available via cable only to residents physically located in Thamesmead. All sorts of pirate stations broadcast from whatever high points they could find – usually the roof of a tower block – radio signals on the FM band travel in straight lines, so the higher up the transmitter / antenna are, the further the signal can theoretically travel – though other factors also come into play. My own favourite stations at the time were Alice’s Restaurant, and later Rock FM, which broadcast out of the Epping / Hainault area. Another station – which only came on during Monday nights was called Imagine – it played melodic rock and electronic music from bands like Tangerine Dream. When I was in the 6^th form at school, I worked Saturdays at independent computer store Silica Shop in Hatherley Road, Sidcup, and so was not at home to listen to the various other pirate stations that broadcast on Saturdays. A friend handed me a cassette he had recorded of a pirate station that he said sounded like nothing he had heard before. I listened to the tape and was doubly astounded; firstly the station sounded very slick and professional – they had jingles and sound effects, and even had hourly news bulletins. Secondly, I recognised several of the voices as being people I knew, including one who was a school teacher of mine! I said nothing and carried on with the Saturday job. Sometime later when I had left school, I bumped into several of the people whose voices I had heard on the tape – typically we met in a pub – the Fox in Upper Belvedere (which back then was excellent, unlike now). One thing led to another and I was invited up to the studio. The station was called Radio Lumberjack, and it was run from a large semi-detached house in Bexleyheath. Most of the upper floor of the house had been converted into a main studio and a newsroom / production facility. Unusually for such a setup, the transmitter was located in the studio itself. Normally land based pirates would have a small, low powered UHF link transmitter which sent a hard to track signal to a much more powerful VHF FM transmitter located on the roof of a nearby tower block; the thinking behind this was that the authorities could easily track and confiscate the main FM transmitter, but the low power link signal was far harder to detect – thus meaning it was less likely for the studio to also be raided – though this still was a danger. I later found out that the reason the chap behind Radio Lumberjack was unconcerned about the possibility of being raided was that his day job was as a member of the Department of Trade and Industry Radio Investigation Service – the pirate radio hunters of the time! He knew well in advance of any possible raids, and any documents pertaining to Radio Lumberjack promptly got “lost”, so the station got no official investigation at all, and operated with impunity for several years. Having such a “mole” right at the heart of the opposition proved invaluable later, when a number of Radio Lumberjack staff became involved with Radio Caroline – but that is a story for another day. Radio Lumberjack broadcast an eclectic range of music, interspersed with comedy sketches and novelty jingles. I soon became a regular presenter, hosting the evening album music show between 8pm and midnight – allowing pretty much all the other DJ’s to disappear up the pub. The humour on Radio Lumberjack was pretty surreal – much of the comedy material was written by the station staff. There were many spoof adverts, with commercials for fictional companies such as “Bethlehem Motors – car faith healers – save money and save your soul! With one simple low cost prayer, we can have your vehicle back on the road”. “Tacky’s Nightclub, with your host, Bland Groover”. Also, “Gaskets motor spares – suppliers of neo Georgian suspension, arc brake lights and stained glass windows”. Best of all, a commercial for the Thamesmead Tourist Board, with a cod salsa song “it’s the place for fun, it’s the place for sun, come to Thamesmead – go on day trips to all the popular holiday destinations like the Belvedere Rift Valley – home of the world famous earwig farm; enquire at the Thamesmead Tourist Board office – the little green hut behind the bike sheds in Thamesmead High Street!” It was all very slick and professional; the chap that ran the station was a big fan of Kenny Everett, but had his own unique style. Each presenter had their own introductory jingle – mine started with an incredulous voice – “oh my God.... It’s Arthur Pewty!” followed by the sound of Stuka dive bombers, explosions and collapsing buildings, accompanied by a massed band of Daleks screaming “Arthur Pewty, Arthur Pewty!” It was all very over the top and wacky. My pseudonym came from the meek and mild insurance salesman Arthur Pewty from the famous Monty Python sketch about the marriage guidance counsellor. When I first started my evening show, I racked my brains to think of a suitably surreal and silly name for it. I had already got my nickname, and recently I had read a history of 1960’s offshore station Radio London, where John Peel got his big break into radio. John Peel had a show called “The Perfumed Garden” where he played a lot of hippy music and recited poetry sent in by listeners (some of it toe curlingly bad, but I digress). I thought that my show needed a really surreal title, so, as a play on “John Peel’s Perfumed Garden”, “Arthur Pewty’s Maggot Sandwich” was born. I was part of Radio Lumberjack for a couple of very happy and memorable years, and made friends that I still have to this day. The station naturally ran its course, and in time some of the more dedicated members – the station owner included became involved in Radio Caroline. That is a story for another time.

Bexley Neighbourhood Watch Association have recently made the following announcement:- “We are pleased to announce that working together with Officers from St Michael's Safer Neighbourhoods Team in Bexley that we have managed to achieve full Neighbourhood Watch coverage in St.Michael's Ward. This ward, the first in Bexley and one of the few in London to achieve total coverage, now have all of the 56 streets on the ward covered by Neighbourhood Watch, with around a thousand residents signed up. Sergeant Bryan Young, head of the St Michael's Safer Neighbourhoods Team said: “When I joined St Michael's ward over a year ago, one of my commitments was to reduce the fear of crime in Welling. I thought that one of the best ways to do this was involving the community through increasing Neighbourhood Watch and community contacts. My team have worked really hard from the beginning of October when I set the task of getting every road on the ward covered by Neighbourhood Watch. As part of The Met Police's Operation Shine Campaign, my team leafleted every one of our 56 streets and spoke with many residents and as a result, I am proud to confirm that we now have 100% Neighbourhood Watch coverage on the ward”. Dana Wiffen, head of the Bexley borough Neighbourhood Watch Association said: “We are pleased to announce that St Michael's Ward is the first in the Borough to reach 100% coverage this is largely due to hard work of St Michael's policing team who have canvassed hard on our behalf although it would have not been possible without the full administration back-up of our Neighbourhood Watch office, so well done to Claire Tack and the team of volunteers for also making this possible and ensuring that all those that said yes at the time of the police visit still wanted to continue a week or two later. Inspector Paul Sanders said: “As the Inspector for the area which includes St Michaels ward, I am really proud of what has been achieved here. The police team have gained the support and trust of the public and have secured 100% Neighbourhood Watch coverage. This is a fantastic achievement and I am incredibly grateful to those residents who have made this happen. St Michaels enjoys low crime levels and a joint police and community effort will ensure it stays that way and becomes even safer”. This will hopefully now act as an incentive for other police teams in Bexley to work towards the same goal, already Sidcup, Blendon and Penhill are working in this way with monthly roadshows”. As many readers may know, I also run a large Neighbourhood Watch group; if anyone is thinking about getting involved with Neighbourhood Watch, and is not sure how to get started, please drop me a line and we can have a private chat. It is not difficult, and you can really make a difference to local safety and security. It can also help to foster an old – fashioned sense of community, with an added benefit that many insurance companies offer better rates to both house and contents insurance in areas where there is an active Neighbourhood Watch presence.  Drop a line to hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Several news sources have announced that the maximum limit for NFC equipped debit card cashless payments (sometimes known as “bonk and pay) is to be raised from £20 to £30 this coming September. Personally I am concerned by this – for many people £30 is a substantial sum of money. To be able to “spend” or make a transaction of up to this amount simply by being in proximity with a suitable reader is something that has long worried me. When the contactless cards were first issued the maximum limit for a non – PIN number payment was set at £10; the banking industry has long lobbied for this to be increased. The problem is that contactless technology is not 100% reliable, and it also has a history of security vulnerabilities, as I have described in the past. Just like when Chip and PIN was introduced, where the onus on proving the transaction had / had not occurred was transferred from the bank to the individual, the responsibility for the security of your bank account is biased strongly on the side of the banks – basically any transaction that happens on a “bonk and pay” card is the responsibility of the card user, not the bank. Getting refunds from swipes made in error, or where a fault occurred can be extremely difficult. There is also the issue of non – Pound sterling transactions not being limited to £20 (£30 in September) due  to a fundamental fault in the way the limit rules are enforced. Personally I think that swipe to pay is not for me – I have a bog standard “Chip and PIN” card, which might be slightly less convenient in certain limited circumstances, but it is a whole lot more secure - unless you are the gentleman I mentioned earlier in this posting, of course! If your bank sends you a contactless card which you might not actually want, you can contact them to replace it with a standard card. This is a service that the banks don't advertise, but do offer if asked directly. I asked for a standard card when my previous bank debit card turned up with contactless payment enabled, and when my current card arrived in the post at the end of December, I was anticipating having to visit my branch to ask for a replacement – my concerns were unfounded; it would seem that the bank had made note of my preferences and sent me a bog standard card – a nice touch.

Regular readers will no doubt recall my musings on the empty former Port of London Authority building on the Erith Riverside Gardens, next to the wooden jetty that is used by Erith Rowing Club and others (see the photo above - click for a larger version). I had wondered why it has been left unused for so long – from my understanding it has water and power, and would make an ideal sub – base for the RNLI, who have major bases in the Pool of London and at Gravesend, but nothing in between. Another organisation that could benefit from the riverside office could be the Maritime Volunteer Service - is a uniformed civilian maritime training organisation and support emergency service in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1994 as a response to the disbandment of the Royal Naval Auxiliary Service (RNXS). Volunteers follow similar rates and ranks, traditions, vales and ethos as the Royal Navy and Merchant Navy. The patron of the Maritime Volunteer Service is HRH Prince Michael of Kent, Honorary Rear Admiral, Royal Naval Reserve and Commodore-in-Chief, Maritime Reserves. The Maritime Volunteer Service has over 450 members in more than 30 units around the coasts and estuaries of the United Kingdom. The founding unit of the MVS was MVS Portsmouth. Each unit meets weekly for training which is put into practice afloat using a range of craft including powerful RIBs, launches, dories, purpose made rescue craft and even offshore training ships. One unit has even purchased a hovercraft to provide safety cover in shallow waters and mud banks. The MVS maintains strong links with the Combined Cadet Forces, the British Armed Forces, the Merchant Navy and other maritime organisations.  The aims of the Maritime Volunteer Service are:-  (1) To train people in nautical and maritime skills to recognised international standards. (2) To assist at maritime events around the country. (3) To provide a support emergency service both afloat and ashore in times of need. The nearest MVS units are in Putney and in Gravesend – once again, a unit somewhere in the middle would seem to be a good idea. Erith has a very strong maritime history and tradition; surely something of this nature would be a good idea? What do you think? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

The Crossrail project is likely to make the most significant changes to the transport infrastructure of the local area since the Dartford tunnel first came into operation in 1963. It will halve the time taken to travel across London from East to West or vice versa, and it is likely to bring investment and new residents to areas that until now have been thought of as being undesirable. I feel that Woolwich is going to benefit greatly; ever since I was small, Woolwich has been touted as “the next big thing” – but for one reason or another it has never really taken off. I feel that this is now on the verge of change. The Docklands Light Railway terminus at Woolwich Arsenal station brought relatively wealthy residents to the Royal Arsenal development, though as I have written previously, it is a pity that so many of them treat the estate as a gated residence, and don’t venture into Woolwich town centre. Crossrail will bring more new people to the town, and with them, new money. General Gordon Square was given a much – needed makeover prior to the 2012 Olympic Games, and one of the historic buildings in the square has now been rebuilt and given a new lease of life. The former headquarters of the Woolwich Equitable Building Society have now become a very classy pub and restaurant, right in the heart of Woolwich. I have to say that I have not visited it yet, but hope to put this right in the very near future; reviews on the place are universally positive. The existing up – market pub / restaurant in the town is The Dial Arch, which is actually located on the Royal Arsenal site. It is a nice location and building, but in my experience the food is at best adequate, and very expensive in comparison with other local Young’s pubs such as the excellent Malt Shovel in Dartford. I know that The Dial Arch will have higher overheads than The Malt Shovel, but charging nearly double for the same meal is just too much. The Woolwich Equitable will provide some good competition for high quality food and real ale. I will review the place in the near future. If you have already visited The Woolwich Equitable and have thoughts that you would like to share with others, please get in contact in the usual manner.

To end this week we have a new Simon's Cat cartoon - always a real treat. This one is a Valentine's Day special called "Butterflies" - OK it is a day late, but who's counting? Comments below as usual.