Street Watch.

Another application has been made to use the former and controversial Bright Steps nursery in Electricity House as a new nursery. The building has a long and fascinating history. The building in the upper photo is one of the landmarks of Erith. It is the first thing many visitors see when they enter the town for the first time, but it is also one of the least memorable. The large and nowadays rather run down and scruffy looking brick building is called Electricity House – though many locals are unaware of this. It was built back in 1938 and opened in November 1939 as a showroom and offices for the local electricity company, which at the time was run by the council. Pre – war services such as gas, water and electricity supply were quite commonly managed and supplied by local councils; the idea of private companies being involved was something that did not happen until after the war had ended. Electricity House was also a place where new electrical customers could view domestic appliances which they could buy via hire purchase (it sounds like an early version of BrightHouse, but without the crippling interest rates). As well as the showroom, Electricity House was home to what contemporary accounts say was a very upmarket dance hall with a fully sprung Canadian Maple floor; there was also a small Pathe cinema. The local electricity business was astonishingly successful – probably much helped by the fact that it offered the cheapest metered electricity in the entire UK at the time – one penny per unit. Ten thousand local people signed up for electrification in the first month alone, attracted by the offer of free connection to the local power grid – unusual at the time – many suppliers would even charge for the copper cable to connect new customers. In 1939 the Erith electricity board made a (for then) massive profit of £13,000. The idea was that the money would be used to improve local services and amenities for all, but the advent of war meant that early in 1940 Electricity House was handed over for war work, and once peace was restored, the money intended to benefit local people was absorbed by the LEB during nationalisation, and nothing was ever seen of the money. Much of Erith was still lit by gas until relatively recently. I believe that some houses in West Street did not get electricity until 1948 when the London Electricity Board was formed, and the local council control of power was nationalised. In the recent past, the building has courted controversy; A nursery called Bright Steps operated on the site for a number of years. It would appear that the nursery had been under performing for several years, and had refused to obey a series of previous compliance orders by Ofsted. The final straw seems to have been when a member of the public observed a member of the Bright Steps nursery staff smacking a child under their care. Subsequent to this, the nursery managers deleted CCTV footage of the assault, and tried to cover up the event when Ofsted and the Police then carried out an investigation. After a court case and an appeal, Ofsted removed Bright Steps licence to operate. Subsequent to this forced closure, the nursery part of the building was advertised for rent. A number of organisations looked into taking on the nursery space, but until now the nursery part of Electricity House has been empty. An application has just been granted by Bexley Council to a new nursery group called Violet Day Care Ltd. Their proposal states that:- "The proposal is to accommodate 50 Children of the following: 10 Babies – 0 year to 2 years of age. 11 Toddlers – 2 to 3 years of age. 29 Pre-School Infants – 3 to 5 years of age There is sufficient in-house toilets for adults and children, Main Kitchen to carter for the Nursery, Staff rest area, Baby changing facilities, Baby’s Milk kitchen, Children sleeping area and Outdoor play area. There are 4 parking spaces available for the Nursery’s use with sufficient turning space for vehicles to enter and leave in a forward motion. There will be no parking allowed on the public footpath. On-site parking will be for staff only. The majority of the children will arrive by public transport however, there is a bus stop with numbers of bus routes outside the Nursery. 2 minutes’ walk from Erith train station and a numbers of car parks nearby for parents use. The Nursery is to have 13 Full –Time Employees. Opening Hours : Mon to Friday – 07.00 till 19.00 Bank Holidays and Weekends - Closed. The proposal is to propose a Day Nursery to appease the need within the community and create some additional employment within Bexley Council. We have done some extensive works to the proposed property to bring it up to the standard for our children, however, we are willing to work with the council should there be any area that may need attending to now or in the future". The floor layout drawing in the lower of the two images above - click on either for a larger view - give an idea as to how the new nursery will be laid out. I am not sure if Violet Day Care Ltd are aware of the medium / long term plans to redevelop the entirety of Electricity House by Bexley Council. It may be that they are only looking to occupy the space until such time as the building is closed for demolition; at the time of writing I have not contacted the nursery operators. What do you think? Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

As regular readers will be aware, I am a keen student of the law of unintended consequences. This can be loosely defined as when someone makes a decision, or takes an action with one intent, only for an unexpected and different outcome to happen. Quite often this results in something being undertaken for a worthwhile and good reason, but in the end the outcome is bad. I feel that a new example of this is potentially about to happen. Last week, local Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinators were sent an Email which read:- "We are looking at the implementation of  Street Watch on Bexley borough, which  will be run in collaboration with Matt Roberts from the local council with the aim of extending this to Greenwich and Lewisham in the future.We had our first meeting on the 10/12/19 and we are now proceeding to the next stage .I am therefore looking to recruit enthusiastic members of the public ( 3 from each ward to start with ) who are willing to join this programme. They will be provided with appropriate training and equipment and we were hoping to  start with a decent group by the end of next January 2020. The volunteers will be given hi-viz jackets with street watch logo printed on and notebooks, They will be mainly on foot patrol and they will reporting any issues/incidents they come across  to the control room if urgent or otherwise to their ward officers . They will not be given MET radios but will be using the 101 and 999 service via their own mobile phones". My personal reaction to this appeal was that I am not convinced this is a good idea. To me it smacks of "Policing on the cheap". Putting relatively untrained (when compared to Police officers) members of the public on the streets and easily identifiable to the bad guys will leave them vulnerable and unprotected - an easy target, especially as they will have no backup - no Police radio, just a personal mobile phone. Bearing in mind many Neighbourhood Watch members are retired, and some do not have a mobile phone, this seems to me to be an assumption on the part of the proposers.  I don't feel that this has been thought through properly. What will the Met / Home Office liability be when a volunteer gets stabbed to death? The whole strength of Neighbourhood Watch is that they are a covert intelligence gathering organisation. Many in the public incorrectly think that Neighbourhood Watch is about volunteers patrolling the street - which (until now) it has never been. It is actually about passing on observations, and the identification of unusual activity reports to the local Safer Neighbourhood Police teams for investigation, and possible remedial action. The criminals do not know (for the most part) who Neighbourhood Watch members are. What will happen when a criminal follows a hi viz jacketed volunteer home, then later targets the house as a form of punishment? Back in September of 2015, Bexley Police requested that a certain Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator try to get covert photographs of members of a local motorbike gang who were suspected of carrying out a number of crimes. Due to Police cutbacks at that time, the Police did not have sufficient resources to undertake the work themselves, and thus reached out to Neighbourhood Watch. The co-ordinator managed to take photos of the gang members whilst they were engaged in illegal activity, but unfortunately he was seen by the gang, and was seriously assaulted, which let to a hospital visit. Due to various failings in the subsequent investigation, no prosecution of the perpetrators was made. I can foresee similar or worse issues coming to pass if Street Watch goes ahead in the form described above. What do you think? Email me privately using the Email address hugh.neal@gmail.com. There will be more on this controversial story in the weeks to come.

An arts group that performed at The Old Carnegie Library in Walnut Tree Road, Erith last year have been nominated for a major award. The Performing Places Bexley project has been shortlisted for one of the National Campaign for the Arts' (NCA) Hearts For The Arts Awards 2020, in the ‘Community Cohesion’ category. The awards are designed to celebrate local authorities who are championing the arts. The short-listed ‘Performing Places’ programme was developed between the London Borough of Bexley and Professor Sally Mackey of The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and was funded by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Performing Places used drama to create an exciting and emotional story aimed at encouraging those that live in or visit a place to see it in its best light and to understand each other better.  Performing Places used the story of a parallel universe, Par-Bexia, whose young Par-Bexians came down to Bexleyheath, unplanned and unexpectedly. The project was developed in the borough over two years, working with primary schools, secondary schools and community groups using drama. The second year of the project saw the introduction of the use of augmented reality (AR). The project ended in July last year with a fantastic week of events and a special finale when visitors to the Broadway were able to meet Par Bexians of all ages before they headed back to their home universe. The project was made possible by the support and collaboration of a range of local partners, including Emergency Exit Arts who developed costumes, props and scenery, practitioners from Little Fish Theatre who delivered several community engagement events, Rose Bruford College and Bird College, whose students performed alongside Royal Central School of Speech and Drama students in the Broadway, and Bexleyheath BID who supported the delivery of the project in Bexleyheath Town Centre.

Pradas bar and grill - the large restaurant at 198 - 200 Bexleyheath Broadway, next to the Job Centre has now closed. It is currently being refitted and refurbished. Prior to being Pradas it was The Laughing Buddha - a Chinese restaurant, and before that it was a large Indian restaurant - where back in the 1980's I had my first ever restaurant curry. Once the refit is completed, it is going to be a Thai restaurant. Bearing in mind the nearest other Thai restaurants are in Dartford or Welling, this may well be a good business move on the part of the new owners. Thai cuisine is rather under represented in the local area. Another change to a local trader is that Roman Crops - the barbers shop in Pier Road, Erith is closing. The owner, Marco has been cutting local residents hair since the early 1990's; I understand that he has commuted daily to the shop from his Maidstone home. The shop will shut in February. As I have previously written at some length, leases for the shop units in Electricity House are not being renewed, and Bexley Council are actively seeking to buy out existing leases from the shop operators. The intent is in due course to compulsorily purchase Electricity House for redevelopment. The land is now worth more than the building - the only profitable part of the building is the mobile phone cell transceivers and the associated antennas on the roof, which I understand bring in a rental income of around £100,000 a year. An alternative gents barbers called Sav's is located very close by,  at no.4 Cross Street.

Drain cleaning products containing up to 95 percent sulphuric acid, which are intended for professional use only, have been taken off sale to the public at 4 discount stores by Bexley Trading Standards Officers. The move was made following a trawl of 54 retail premises across the borough. A further 4 suppliers who legitimately deal in ‘trade only’ sales were also found to be willing to sell to the public illegally. High strength sulphuric acid products have been connected to criminal acid attacks on people. In order to buy the industrial strength products, a purchaser must either be registered with The Home Office or registered in the Trade. At the initial visit by a Trading Standards Officer, the 8 suppliers were reminded of their responsibilities. A test purchase exercise was later carried out on all 8 suppliers to make sure that they were no longer supplying members of the public who do not have a legitimate trade use for the products. As a result, one supplier has received a formal written warning for not making the required checks and could face prosecution if they continue to flout the rules around supplying high strength sulphuric acid products to the general public.

Now for the weekly local safety and security reports from Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association. Firstly the update from Barnehurst ward:- "Unfortunately Barnehurst suffered a burglary in Northall Road on Saturday 11/01/2020 just after midnight. Suspects managed to force the porch and the main front door open however due to being disturbed the suspect had only entered the porch and grabbed a hand bag containing personal belongings as they left. Nearby CCTV shows suspects pulling up in an unknown vehicle. Four tall males got out of the vehicle and approached the property. Due to the footage being of poor quality suspects and the vehicle could not be identified. On Thursday Saturday 11/01/2020 In Hillingdon Road three tyres were found punctured. Due to no CCTV footage it is not known how or who caused the damage. PCSO's John and Cathy have made a start rolling out Smart Water in Holmsdale Grove. We welcome a new Neighbourhood Watch Coordinator for Badlow Close. The next coffee with cops will be on Tuesday 21st January 2020 at 04.00pm in Barnehurst Golf Club, hope to see you there". Belvedere ward:- Update from a NW coordinator:- "It was noticed by one of our neighbours who has external CCTV that the lads that have previously broken into our cars were at it again last night (Sat 12th/Sun13th Jan) at about 4am trying their neighbours car boots. If anyone knows of anybody that was broken into can they please pass it on to their Coordinator the NW Office and the police. Also, on Saturday a stolen white transit van that had been taken from Mangold Way over the Railway, was found at the east end of Fendyke Rd by its owner. The door lock and ignition lock had been removed and rear padlock cut off. All his personal building tools had been stolen. The police were informed". Bexleyheath ward:- "Thursday 9/1/20 1340 Marriott Hotel car park - theft of handbag from unlocked vehicle. Friday 10/1/20 2350 Theft of Motor Vehicle Oaklands Road. Friday 10/1/20 1200 Theft of Motor Vehicle Marriott car park. Saturday 11/1/20 1620 – 1715 Burglary Broom Mead Jewellery Stolen door handle lifted but key not turned. Saturday 11/1/20 1645 Theft of Mobile Phone from work place on Broadway. Sunday 12/1/20 1330 – 1430 Theft of Motor Bike Albion Road car park. Sunday 12/1/120 1900 – 2000 Theft of Mobile Phone from table in McDonalds. Sunday 12/1/20 1630 – 1700 Disabled Badge Stolen from unlocked parked vehicle in ASDA. Monday 13/1/20 1500 Purse Stolen from handbag whilst shopping on Broadway – unknown shop of incident. Tuesday 14/1/20 1000 – 1200 Mobile Phone Stolen from handbag whilst shopping on Broadway. Tuesday 14/1/20 1715 Theft of Pushbike from outside The Mall by Burger King. Tuesday 14/1/20 1600 – Wednesday 15/1/20 0120 Theft of Motor Vehicle Long Lane. Tuesday 14/1/20 0730 – 0930 Theft of Catalytic Convertor from vehicle Erith Road. Wednesday 15/1/20 0000 – 1500 Garage broken into Midhurst Hill nothing taken". Crayford ward:- "Over night on 12th/13th January garage break in took place in Lea Vale. Power tools and rolls of lead belonging to a roofer were taken". Erith ward, from NW coordinator:- "Just to inform you all we have had a burglary at the single numbered end of Vickers Road on Wednesday 9th January, whilst the occupant was carrying out the afternoon school run . It appears that entry was gained via the front bay window which was broken at the time or not lockable and then exited through the front door. Contents stolen appear to be small personal items and as such I am not aware of the full details . NW NOTICE Please be aware that the school run time is an ideal time for burglars to target your property, please ensure you lock all doors and windows not forgetting that handles pushed up do not secure lobby or conservatory doors from criminals. Try to get into the habit of following your own course of action when you lock up your home. This will ensure that you don't forget anything. Here's what we recommend you do before you go out: •close and lock all your doors and windows, even if you're only going out for a few minutes •double-lock any door •make sure that any valuables are out of sight •keep handbags away from the letterbox or cat flap and hide all keys including car keys, as a thief could hook keys or valuables through even a small opening •never leave car documents or ID in obvious places such as kitchens or hallways •in the evening, shut the curtains and leave lights on •if you're out all day, then it's advisable to use a timer device to automatically turn lights and a radio on at night •set your burglar alarm •make sure the side gate is locked •lock your shed or garage •lock your bike inside a secure shed or garage, to a robust fitting bolted to the ground or wall, like a ground anchor No crime update from the week we apologise I have had been issues bringing up the crimes for the last week, people has been reported and should be back to normal next week. Motor Vehicle crime is still high in Erith keep checking you leave nothing in your motor overnight". Northumberland Heath ward:- "This week has been a busy week for the team. We have completed 2 multi agency meetings with regards to individuals whose properties have been at the centre of ASB. The team has issued a section 59 warning to a male causing ASB with his vehicle. The team alongside Orbit Housing have issued a breach of tenancy warning. We had a very good turn out to our recent contact session on Monday, we were able to give burglary prevention advice. Unfortunately we have had 2 burglaries this week, the first was on Swanton Road and the second was on Parsonage Manor Way. Again we have had a number of thefts from motor vehicle. Our next community contact session is on Wednesday 29th January 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:- "No crimes of any note to report this week. Please be aware that this does not mean we can be complacent. Keep all valuables out of your vehicles and always ensure you lift the handle and turn the key if you have a UPVC door. Last Sunday PCSO Mark attended Rainbow Road to give out Smart Water property marking kits and was assisted PCSO Adam from Erith SNT (photo above - click on it for a larger version). Over 60 kits were given out to local residents. Please keep an eye out for another event very soon. Our next CCS is on Saturday 25/01/2020 from 6pm at the Pier Road SNT base in Erith. There are some issues around parking and driving at Chrome Road by the Community Centre car park on a daily basis during morning and afternoon school drop off and pick up times. Please please ensure you do not block any driveways or mount the path as you drive around. Yes space is very limited etc but there have been a couple of near misses with some children going to school. If you do drive to Haberdashers, please be careful and if necessary, park further round the estate. We will be carrying our patrols as and when we can to identify any repeat offenders". Thamesmead East ward:- "Attempted Burglary/Business - In Lensbury Way between the hours of 9:30pm and 10:30 pm on Monday 13/01/20 unknown person/s gained entry via an unsecure door to the laundry room and gone into the medical bins. The laundry door has now been made secure. Nothing of value stolen. Motor vehicle crimes - The catalytic converter was stolen from a Toyota parked in Mangold Way between the hours of 00:01am on Wednesday 01/01/20 and 3; 15pm Tuesday 07/01/20. A van containing power tools also parked in Mangold Way was stolen between the hours of 5; 00pm on 07/01/20 and 06:55am on the 08/01/20. A vehicle parked in Wolvercote Road locked, secure had the front passenger window smashed, and the car radio stolen, the theft happened between the hours of 9:00pm on Tuesday 14/01/20 and 5:20am on Wednesday 15/01/20. Criminal Damage Motor Vehicles – On Thursday 09/01/20 suspects were seen jumping on the roof of a vehicle parked in Seacourt Road causing extensive damage. GOOD NEWS - Following a joint operation with another agency, PC's Pruden and Quarshie-Awuah arrested two persons involved in theft of goods from a local pharmacy. A substantive amount of goods are involved Investigation into the theft is ongoing". West Heath ward:- "Our Coordinator for Lodge Hill has reported- that his son's moped was stolen off our drive on Saturday 12th afternoon at around 3pm from Lodge Hill, DA16, we have reported to the police and received a CR number. The bike was locked but they managed to get the lock off. Vehicle details: Black Honda PCX 125 with L plates displayed Reg: KD19NKF NW - If you see this vehicle please let either the police or our office know and we will pass on information to owner. A burglary took place in Madison Crescent on Wednesday January 8th between the hours of 16.20 and 18.30. The rear back door to the property was smashed and cash and jewellery were stolen. Unfortunately another burglary took place in Lenham Road on Tuesday January 14th sometime before 6pm. It is believed entry was gained via the rear door. A laptop and jewellery were stolen. An attempted burglary in Brampton Road took place on Monday January 13th between 01.10 and 01.25. Damage was caused to the rear door but entry was not gained. We have also been hit by motor vehicle crime over the last week. On Friday January 10th at 20.45 two vehicles in Canberra Road suffered substantial damage by an unknown suspect. All the windows to the vehicle were smashed.  Two males were arrested in Harvel Crescent in the early hours on Friday morning January 10th having been seen tampering with vehicles in Woolwich Road. A catalytic converter was stolen from a vehicle parked in Heath Avenue on Tuesday January 7th between 11.40 – 11.55am. A moped was stolen from a driveway in Lodge hill on Saturday January 11th between the hours of midday and 20.10pm. A red Nissan was stolen from outside the victim's address in Hartley Road between midnight on Tuesday January 14th - 7.26am on Wednesday January 15th".

The end video this week features a quick virtual tour around London Southeast College, Bexley Campus - what was formerly called Bexley College. The building is located in Walnut Tree Road, Erith - directly opposite The Old Carnegie Library. 

The need for tweed.

The Hav Snapper (photo above - click for a larger view) is one of a small fleet of bulk freighter vessels that moor regularly on Erith Pier; it is used to transport spoil material dug from the Crossrail tunnel development down into Essex where the earth and mud is being used in a land reclamation project. It is a case of win/win - you dig muck out of a hole under London, then use it to create some new land elsewhere. A bit of clever and creative thinking.

The News Shopper have been vocal in their editorial promoting stripping off in the hot weather. I am pretty sure that editor Andrew Parkes is seeing who he can successfully troll in his editorial piece on the subject. Parkes writes: "Personally, I’m all for people showing off just as much as they feel comfortable with. And before anyone climbs onto the ‘sexist bandwagon’, the same applies for men or women – get ’em off and don’t be afraid to show off your natural beauty." After extolling his opinion on the virtues of stripping off, He then goes on to say "While we’re on the subject I honestly believe the majority of right-minded, perfectly decent people look forward to the warmer weather precisely because the number of beautiful bodies on display will increase". Whenever I read the phrase "right minded people" it sets my alarm bells ringing. The user of such phraseology is usually either a rabid communist or a neo nazi. You don't tend to get moderate writers using the term. All the more reason why I think the whole piece is designed as a vehicle for a big wind - up. Nevertheless, I fundamentally disagree - the editorial talks about tuning white skin into bronzed flesh. Does he not realise that tanning is the bodies' method of defending itself against the harmful Ultraviolet radiation from the Sun? If you are tanned, your skin is damaged, and you are at an increased risk of several kinds of skin cancer. Personally I keep every possible body surface covered with a robust layer of tweed; I refuse to modify my clothing because of a surfeit of heat. I dislike the heat in any case - the best strategy for me is to stay indoors in the shade, with a cooling fan running close by. As with pretty much anything, if you ignore it for long enough, it goes away. 

Every local radio station set up in the Bexley area has historically closed down through a lack of both money and listeners. The original community radio station Radio Thamesmead, which originally broadcast by cable from its’ studios in Tavy Bridge later metamorphosed into RTM Radio in 1990, when it got itself a FM broadcast licence on 103.8 Mhz. It was very much a community centred station, and any profits generated were ploughed back into projects to benefit the local area. It ran successfully for nearly ten years, until in 1999 it was successful in an application to the Radio Authority to change its’ remit and become a fully commercial operation. When this was permitted, the station changed its’ name to Millennium 106.8 FM in the year 2000. This name was again changed in 2003 to Time FM, in an attempt to try and forge a link with the Greenwich Meridian, and to strengthen its’ local identity. Shortly thereafter the station was purchased by the Sunrise Radio group, and was run by them until 2009. The stations’ audience ratings were never that good, though it did have a small, but dedicated following. In its’ final year, the audience had shrunk to just 13,000 people – less than one percent of the listening audience for the area. Sunrise put Time FM up for sale, famously putting an advert on the station’s website before any staff knew about it. No buyer was found, and the station closed for good in April 2009. One of the presenters back then was a chap called Craig Hannington, who’s one of the people now behind Miskin Radio - more of which later; in a way this does provide a degree of continuity between the old and new stations. Time FM was not alone in being a local radio broadcaster – there was a second contender, which actually had studios in Erith, based on the Europa Industrial Estate in Fraser Road. This was a station called TGR Sound 103.7 FM. It was a volunteer run, not for profit station that went on air back in November 2006 and set out to provide community information and news, as well as both mainstream and specialist music programming. When it initially started, it was Internet only, but soon got an FM broadcast licence. To say the station was homespun would probably be probably under – describing it. There were many occasions when I would tune in and be able to hear a conversation going on in the studio, as the presenter had forgotten to switch the microphone off whilst they were in the middle of playing a track.  Bearing in mind part of their mission statement was to train future presenters, a certain degree of mistakes were I suppose to be expected, but it did seem that things went wrong with depressing regularity – it was as if there was no supervision of inexperienced presentation staff. Coming from my own historical background in radio, it was very easy to work out what was going wrong and when, and it made for occasionally painful listening. TGR stood for Thames Gateway Radio. It was designed to be a community resource, not a commercially viable radio station. It was funded from a mixture of government and GLA grants. Once the recession began to bite, the funding soon dried up and TGR Sound was forced to close down. I am always supportive of local enterprises, but TGR Sound was really not very good at all, and it never really succeeded in finding an audience – I doubt that many people in the London Borough of Bexley realised that it existed, and if they did come across it whilst tuning around the radio dial, they probably thought that it was a particularly inept pirate. Things are different nowadays – the number of amateur / hobby stations that broadcast online is huge and extremely varied. A potential listener can be spoiled for choice. A new radio station has not long been set up; You may not have heard of Miskin Radio. They are a small band of volunteers who have set up a new local station. This is what they say about themselves:- "Miskin Radio is a community radio service, open to anyone in Kent and the surrounding area who has an interest in radio and/or the media industry. We deliver and support community integration by providing opportunities for young and old, people from different cultures, genders and those with or without disabilities to come together and work as a team, producing and/or presenting programmes, features, campaigns and ideas for broadcast that they have created. Miskin Radio has been broadcasting via the internet since April 2012. We also broadcast on the FM waveband across Gravesend and Dartford during the Summer 2012 Olympic Games. During this time we assisted Kent Police with relaying traffic bulletins and breaking news during the games, which also gave local residents’ prior knowledge of any road closures or changing circumstances that affected them. We will continue to broadcast via the web until we have successfully secured a full-time radio license from Ofcom’s next community radio round, due in 2013/2014, if successful we will be bring local radio back to the North West Kent area which is lacking within the media currently. Before going ‘live’ full training is provided to all volunteers by industry professionals, ensuring the knowledge, skills and techniques used within the radio industry are passed on to them." Quite; I hope that they do well, but they have an uphill struggle ahead. The history of local radio does not read well. Every station that has been set up in the area has ended up closing through lack of money. As a follow – up to this story, there is another radio station which may be making an appearance in the area next year. I cannot say any more at the time of writing, as plans are subject to change. Suffice to say if things come together, it could be a big treat for the people of the area, and especially Erith. Watch this space.

Yesterday I was saddened to hear of the death of singer / songwriter JJ Cale. He was one of those artists that many people had not heard of, but whose songs were immensely popular. The song "Cocaine" is thought by many to be an Eric Clapton original - not so; it was written and first performed by JJ Cale, from his superb 1976 album "Troubadour". Cale mixed classic Americana, bluegrass, blues, country and a bit of rock to make a totally unique, laid back sound. He was a major influence on the sound of Dire Straits. I was introduced to his music by my Dad, who had an incredibly diverse and eclectic musical taste. You can see JJ Cale playing "Cocaine" below - click to make the video full screen.

Whilst laptops and desktop computers have been subject to malware attacks, phishing and all sorts of digital nastiness for years, and a whole industry has grown up in creating defences against these compromises, mobile phones seem to have largely escaped the attention of the black hat community. Until recently, that is. The mobile phone networks were very cleverly designed to be secure by default, and a lot of effort has gone into maintaining that level of security. It is rumoured that many top cryptanalysts are lured away from jobs at places like GCHQ by very lucrative offers from the cash rich mobile network operators, who can afford to pay the top candidates salaries that they could have only dreamed of whilst in government employment. Despite this, a German IT security researcher has uncovered a way in which he can take control of any mobile phones’ SIM card, then subsequently hijack the handset by cracking the encryption on the device. The phone networks have always been able to remotely take control of any phone on their network –  the ability so to do was built into the original standard; understandably it is not something that they are particularly keen on everyone knowing about, but the feature has always been there. Here is a very brief explanation of how it works:- GSM mobile phone networks are secured by what is known as shared secrets; each subscriber (customer) is issued with a unique cryptographic key, which is embedded in their SIM card. A copy of that unique key is also held by the network – the network can identify the user by comparing the keys – when they match, a connection is permitted. Until now, these private keys have remained secure from hackers, but that seems to have changed. Highly reputable German security expert Karsten Nohl has discovered two unrelated security flaws in the GSM encryption standard that, when they are combined, could result in millions of mobile phones around the world becoming vulnerable to attack. Such attacks could include call interception by a third party, the interception of NFC “pay by wave” cashless transactions, and even the complete takeover of your mobile handset. It is not easy task to extract the secret encryption key from a SIM card, but recent increases in computer power, and the flaws uncovered by Karsten Nohl have created a “crib” – a back door making cracking the encoded key very much easier. Nohl’s crack uses a special type of SMS message – one that is normally used by the phone network to send information to the phone, rather than send text to the user. Normally this class of message contains information such as details of new roaming arrangements between network operators, new deals on call rates, and all sorts of relatively boring administrative information the phone handset needs in order to interact with its’ network. The thing is, this particular type of SMS message can be used to do a lot of other things too. If the message contains the correct, authenticated encryption key, it can completely overwrite the phone’s operating system. This is something that the network operators very rarely do, but it is built into the original GSM standard “just in case”. Nohl’s system crack involves sending a fake SMS message, pretending to be a system instruction from the network. The message does not include the authentication key (because at this point he does not have it). Most SIM cards will detect the lack of key and flatly reject the instruction. Some older SIM cards have a flaw – rather than rejecting the message, they respond with a digitally signed error message, which basically says “sorry, I did not understand your message – can you send it again?”. The message the older SIM cards send contains a copy of the digital encryption key for that phone, though the key itself is encrypted, but the encryption system used in the older SIM cards (called 56DES) is now crackable with a modern laptop and some easily downloaded software. Once the key has been broken, the mobile phone with the cracked SIM card is completely controllable by the hacker – and the user will have absolutely no idea it has happened – the phone will not ring, beep or show an SMS message; as far as it is concerned, it has just been taking legitimate system updates from the mobile phone network. With a cracked encryption key, the miscreant can reprogram the SIM card to do just about anything; redirect SMS messages to another phone, change the preferred network operator, run up huge bills to premium rate numbers, authenticate payments via services like PayForIt, and also generate false payment transactions if the phone is equipped with contactless payment functionality.  Karsten Kohl estimates that around a quarter of all mobile phones are vulnerable to this serious exploit. It does not matter what make or model of phone you have – what is far more important is how old your SIM card is; many people become very attached to their SIM cards and hang on to them though they may change the handset itself every eighteen months or so. If your SIM card is more than a couple of years old, you should seriously consider asking your network operator for a replacement. If they ask why, tell them that your current card only support 56DES encryption, and that has been hacked – they will give you a new card without a problem, as the networks are now aware of the serious security breach. The reason the networks don’t just issue all of their users with a new SIM card is simple – it costs money. If you run a large network like Vodafone or EE, it will cost around a pound to send each user a new card – and if you have ten million subscribers, this is a big hit to explain to your shareholders. I reckon this story will hit the mainstream press pretty soon. You can say that you read it here first though. As if this was not bad enough, Karsten Nohl has gone on to say that the second vulnerability in the GSM phone system also relating to SIM cards. Apparently there is a flaw in the JavaCard operating system used by the SIM card, though Nohl has yet to release details of it, as he is still researching the issue. Suffice to say from what he has already revealed (and he has impeccable credentials) the whole roll out of EE’s contactless payment scheme later this year may be under severe jeopardy, unless some drastic changes are made to their security model. If your SIM card – and by extension your mobile phone – does get compromised, it is pretty unlikely that you would have much in the way of recourse from your network provider. All the traffic and transactions authorised by your device would look exactly like they had been undertaken and authorised by the owner – there is no “smoking gun” to prove the phone had been remotely hacked. If you are unsure, contact your mobile network and request a brand new SIM card; this (for now) should keep you secure. Better still, do as I do and lead a quite satisfactory life without a mobile phone.

Health Minister Norman Lamb MP got himself into some very hot water this week, with a very group whom he ought to be supporting. He said that Neighbourhood Watch members should be given the task of feeding and washing vulnerable pensioners in their watch area. Quite how he came up with this one is anybody’s guess. He went on to say that “the truth is that many people in this day and age lead miserable lives. If someone lives on their own and has substantial care needs, and the extent of their life is getting out of bed, getting washed, sitting in a chair and going back to bed, with no-one to see during the day, that is a miserable life. We have a national movement that looks out for whether our houses are being burgled, so should we not be thinking – all of us stepping up to the plate – about whether there are people on our streets who have care needs, or who might be lonely and could do with a bit of companionship?” What Lamb says has some merit, but it is also obvious he does not have a clue about the roles and responsibilities of a Neighbourhood Watch group. I can speak from experience. I was a carer for many years, and I run the largest Neighbourhood Watch group in the London Borough of Bexley. It is true that Neighbourhood Watch do encourage neighbours to look out for local elderly and vulnerable people – to look for signs like lights being left on in the day time, and post not being taken out of letter boxes. What we don’t do is go on patrol like Police officers on the beat (it amazes me the number of people who think Neighbourhood Watch is like some kind of paramilitary organisation that organises foot patrols around their “patch”, ready to pounce on any wrong doer, or person who puts their bins out on the wrong day).  The fact is, we are there to assist the Police with local intelligence – “The Khans at number 42 are on holiday this week – must keep an eye on their place” – that kind of thing.  It is also to assist people with crime prevention measures, like advice on using Smart Water kits, arranging for the Police to provide free security audits on local houses, and keeping an eye out for suspicious activity, fly tipping,  fraudulent door to door sales people, and the like. What we are not is a modern version of “Dad’s Army”- which it would seem is what Norman Lamb seems to think. Neighbourhood Watch members don’t have nursing or other skills needed to assist elderly or infirm neighbours, nor in many cases do they have the time. It is true that a substantial proportion of Neighbourhood watches are run by retired people; this does not mean that they have nothing else to do with their time – the kind of people who volunteer to serve in the community usually are involved in a number of activities on top of their watch work. Others, like myself and my deputy, have demanding full – time jobs, as well as other duties. Norman Lamb seems to have got his ideas confused. I am sure that he meant well when he made his statement – it is just a pity he did not consult with Neighbourhood Watch first, as he’s ended up making rather a fool of himself. Bexley Neighbourhood Watch Association have already issued a statement that their member watches are not expected to provide any additional services over and above those already provided and agreed on. Hopefully mister Lamb will think before he speaks in future.

The News Shopper also reported this week that a gun had been retrieved from the mud on the banks of the River Thames at Erith; this is a fairly regular occurrence. The thick, deep mud of the Thames has been used as a way of getting rid of evidence since Roman times. Quite a lot of the archaeological items found on the Thames foreshore are things that have been chucked in the river to get rid of evidence. In this weeks’ case, the gun in question is nothing more than a rather poor quality spring operated air rifle, not a rim fire or centre fire weapon. It was probably thrown into the water by kids after it broke, by the look of it. I would imagine that the Police who retrieved it must have been a bit disappointed, though I completely agree that they could not take any chances.  The irony is, there are almost certainly a whole pile of illegal, dumped weapons in the same stretch of river as the broken air gun was found, but unless you are prepared to fund a large, and very expensive full search of the area, they are likely to stay in the mud for eternity.

The ending video this week is an episode of an American TV show called "Good Eats" which has never been shown in the UK. It is not just a plain cooking programme; instead it is a bit like a culinary version of the old Johnny Ball show "Think of a Number",  covering the science behind food and cookery. Well worth a look, as it is entertaining as well as being educational.

The old and the new.

In previous years I have written a year end summary as my first entry to the New Years' Maggot Sandwich; but not this year. If you want to see what has happened to me over the past twelve months, click on the Blog Archive button to the right of this text - you get a drop down menu allowing the selection of Blog entries by month. All very easy. The photo above shows a good analogy to the end of the old year and the beginning of the new. To the left is my old Apple wireless Mighty Mouse, and to the right, its' successor, the Apple Magic Mouse. The reason for the change is simple. The Mighty Mouse has a design flaw. The small grey scroll ball on the rounded mouse body picks up sweat and grease from your fingers, and after a while the ball stops scrolling. The mouse body has a unitary construction, and it cannot be disassembled for cleaning. There are a multitude of solutions available online, and a number of videos discussing the issue on YouTube. The fix that worked for me for over a year was to turn the mouse bodily upside down and rub the scroll ball backwards and forwards over a clean sheet of paper. This had the temporary effect of rubbing off the finger grease and restoring the scrolling action. These cleaning fixes have got progressively less and less effective, to the point that the mouse seems to have now permanently lost the scroll ball functionality. I bit the bullet and went over to the Apple Store at Bluewater yesterday afternoon, and bought one of the new completely touch sensitive Magic Mice. Initial opinion is good. You can read all about the revolutionary Magic Mouse here.

As you may know, I am a great fan of hot chilli pepper sauces; indeed, I have a collection of them on my desk at work, which several of my colleagues share and contribute towards. Ian bought me an excellent new one as part of my Christmas present. It is somewhat unusual, as it is based on Indian Lime Pickle - a flavoursome, sour and spicy condiment that is unfortunately very oily and heavy. A company called Holy Cow have developed a healthier alternative that is less oily, and free of preservatives and nasty additives. You can see their range of products by clicking here.

I reported a while back that Erith Morrison's had installed four customer operated automatic scanning tills. It would appear that supermarkets in the future will expect customers to scan and pack their own shopping, from a recent article in the business section of the Times.

They sparked fears that the days of the checkout girl were numbered, that a feature of British supermarket shopping for more than half a century was coming to an end — and on Wednesday those fears, if not quite realised, were stoked even further. NCR, the American technology company behind 80 per cent of the UK’s self-service checkouts, has predicted another bumper year in 2010, forecasting a 50 per cent increase in UK sales of the self-service scanning machines that have become a feature of stores nationwide. Seven thousand have been installed in supermarkets since their introduction in 2002. According to Elton Birden, the managing director of NCR in Britain: “Self-service checkouts will revolutionise retail in the same way that selfservice supermarkets did 60 years ago. It’s going to be a combination of existing customers rolling out and new users. It’s still a small percentage of the overall checkout.” Non-food retailers, and the fast-fashion market, in particular, are the next target in the march of Mr Birden’s machines. Self-service counters cost about £8,000 each, including installation, and NCR estimates that they pay for themselves in about 15 months. A third more tills can be squeezed into a store and checkout staff can be deployed elsewhere. But the devices — and their frequent complaint of “unexpected item in bagging area” — are disliked by many shoppers, who argue that retailers are asking customers to do their work for them and that it reduces interaction with staff. NCR argues that the counters cut prices. “Staff can be redeployed to the shop floor, so it can actually improve service,” Mr Birden said. He argues that interaction with staff at the checkout on a convenience shopping trip is usually minimal, anyway. Much like supermarkets in the Fifties, NCR believes that it is benefiting from modern social change, especially the growing convenience market. People are making more shopping trips, for fewer items — hence the spread of convenience outlets to meet demand — a phenomenon attributed by analysts to the breakdown in the nuclear family and traditional working patterns. NCR believes, moreover, that shoppers’ desire for healthy and fresh food and a growing desire to have cravings satisfied immediately have also driven the convenience boom. The number of self-service checkouts will more than double to 15,000 in the next three years, according to Retail Banking Knowledge. The attraction for retailers is such that Tesco is testing a supermarket without any staffed checkouts at all. Nearly every Asda store, apart from its 24 non-food standalone stores, is equipped with self-service scanners — about 2,500 in total. Sainsbury’s, the third-largest supermarket, has 1,800 self-service checkouts in 220 stores, and Morrisons, the No 4 supermarket, says that 9 per cent of its checkouts, or about 1,000, are self-service. Even larger stores have adopted the machines because they allow shoppers to purchase a few items quickly without getting bogged down in a queue behind customers on their weekly shop. Justin King, the chief executive of Sainsbury’s, recently defended the supermarket’s use of self-service checkouts. Asked on Times Online about the impact of the checkouts on customer service, he wrote: “A growing number of our customers love the speed and freedom selfservice checkouts provide. They might listen to their music and not want to talk with anyone at the checkout.” He added that Sainsbury’s would always have manned checkouts for customers who prefer not to scan items themselves. NCR said that the self-service checkouts also helped to improve availability by freeing staff to replenish shelves. The weakest link in a supermarket’s supply chain is most often that between the stockroom and the shelf, according to research by the British Retail Consortium.

Bugger that, is all I can say - why have a dog and bark yourself? I resolutely refuse to use these dreadful devices. Part of the whole shopping experience is the service and interaction with the staff - and as has been previously proved, the auto tills are not very secure. In fact, the whole chip and PIN security system is indeed threatened, as you can read by clicking here. I refuse to do the supermarkets' work for them - and I detest these impersonal infringements on our shopping experience.

A photo of the local area from the air, courtesy of Google Earth. As already mentioned, the area has now had a Neighbourhood Watch scheme started, so with any luck the level of petty crime, burglary and general Chav induced nastiness should start to reduce. The Neighbourhood Watch web site can be found here.

You can view my Flickr photos online by clicking here. Comment as you see fit.

The dreadful and intrusive Oyster card system went live on the local train network on the 1st January - they have very stealthily brought in this additional means of spying on ordinary people. The system records every journey a user makes, then stores the information permanently, despite this contravening the Data Protection Act. The whole premise that Oyster is cheaper than individual fares is an utter travesty; they artificially increased the single fares to make Oyster look like good value. The ability the unelected and un-policed officials on both a local and national level have to monitor and spy on ordinary people is one of my greatest worries.

Local radio station WNKR have had an epic broadcast over the holiday period; in fact it has been so successful and popular that the internet stream I mentioned last week has been recorded by U.S radio giant WBCQ, who have then rebroadcast it over their hugely powerful shortwave transmitters for listeners all over the world. You can listen to several samples of their programmes by downloading some MP3 files of their shortwave transmissions here.

A photo above of is of Hengist - a new addition to the Atkinson - Davis family, part of the extended Pewty clan. He's recently arrived from Battersea, and a very handsome chap he is indeed.

Does anyone else think that Top Gear has jumped the shark? (For a definition of Jumping the Shark, please click here). I still like the show, but feel that it has run out of ideas and is now just going through the motions. The recent Christmas special really just underlines this. To be honest, their expedition to Bolivia was frankly predictable and boring. I have always loved the show, and thoroughly agree with the recent Channel 4 decision to award  Top Gear as the TV show of the decade. I just think that enough is enough, and that the producers should call an end to the programme before it ends up becoming a parody of itself. You can read an editorial about the situation from Top Gear producer Andy Wilman here.

One event that occurs each Christmas without fail is the appearance of multiple pirate radio stations on the AM band; mostly on short wave. There is an excellent web site which documents the various activity on the short wave bands that you can view by clicking here. They usually only broadcast for a few hours before going off air or changing frequency. One of the largest, most powerful and most professional of these broadcasters is Weekend Music Radio from Scotland; They were on air over the festive break, and I was in contact with them. In exchange, they sent me a virtual QSL card. If you are not aware, in amateur radio terms, a QSL card is a written acknowledgement of a listener having heard a particular radio station. In ages past, these would be sent in the post, whereas nowadays they are usually emailed.  Here is the WMR QSL card, so that you can get an idea of what they are like:

I just wish that the BBC would terminate the contract of that interminable bore and pretentious quarter wit Melvin Bragg. His adenoidal whingeing and pseudo intellectual posturing just go to underline what a superior presenter Paul Gambuccini is. Bragg's appearance on either television or radio is an instant cue for me to switch off.

I have been a user of Google since they first came online back in 1998 - their great strength back then was their clean and uncluttered home page, which loaded relatively speedily over a 14.4K dial up modem. A great bonus over the cluttered and advert filled alternative of Yahoo. Google have progressed in great strides, to the point where they now provide a credible rival to Microsoft as information supremos. This I feel is part of the problem. They are getting too pervasive - Gmail, Google Docs, Google Maps, Chrome,  Chromium OS and so forth. I like what they do, but in the words of Tom Waits "There's always free cheese in the mousetrap".  I just worry what they will eventually do with all the information that they have gathered. Knowledge is power. I would hate to see them go over to the dark side, as Microsoft did in the early 1990's. I fear this is becoming increasingly inevitable, however.

The two part Doctor Who Christmas special was generally regarded to be a bit of a mixed bag; you can read a number of online reviews here. I thought that David Tennant made a fine Doctor over the past four years, and I am sorry to see him go.

The video clip this week is the teaser trailer for the forthcoming 2010 season of Doctor Who, starring new actor Matt Smith. Some familiar faces turn up - it should be interesting.