The Dartford Raver.

The Maggot Sandwich has a lot of reader feedback and interactive comment this week, which I am very pleased to report; it is always nice to hear responses from readers, and to publish their thoughts on subjects of local interest. Reader Damion writes:- "Not sure if this is up your alley but while walking my dog along the Thames by the Riverside Gardens on Friday (the 1st) I spotted a seal resting on the mud of the river. When I got back to my flat (which overlooks the river)  I took the enclosed photo. It was not of the best quality unfortunately but it was the best I could manage. The seal happily basked in the mud until the tide came in and then it dived below the water, came up a few more times and then disappeared. From research I’m pretty sure it was a Harbour Seal. Shows the Thames is definitely the cleanest it’s been in a long time (what with the Humpback Whale being spotted a few weeks ago too)". Thanks Damion - I too have seen seals in the River Thames at Erith; I am led to understand that on a couple of occasions, seals seen in the river have been misidentified, and reported at people in difficulty in the river, and the RNLI has been called. I agree that seeing top tier predators in the River Thames does strongly indicate that the river conditions must be very good indeed, as the whole food chain must be present for seals and whales to enter the river in search for food. Seals are also commonly seen basking on the shores of the river adjacent to Slade Green Marshes. More on why seals are returning to the River Thames at the end of this update.

On Wednesday lunchtime, Simon Archer, the Priest in Charge of All Saints in Nuxley Road, Upper Belvedere announced:- "I am the Vicar of All Saints in Belvedere and I have just had someone come to the Vicarage needing help and when I turned away for a moment they stole my mobile phone off my desk. This was at about 10.10am. He was about 5’9”, claimed to be French and not speak much English. Mediterranean looking, Short black hair and black beard/stubble. He was wearing a denim jacket which had a bleached look to it. He used some A4 paper to cover what he was doing. Not looking to track him or my phone down but perhaps that might protect others from being targeted. The phone has been blacklisted, the number blocked and it will automatically erase as soon as it is switched on again (along with a message to the person who has taken it, polite of course! I am a vicar after all!). It is only a phone and everything is backed up so I’ve just lost a bit of glass and metal. Sadly as a priest I often get people in a great deal of distress or need turning up on my doorstep. I will not stop offering help, hospitality and welcome I might just be a bit more careful with my valuables next time!" Simon is somewhat more philosophical about the whole situation than I feel that many other people would have been under the circumstances. I know that many people have sympathised with him over the distressing incident. 

Following my article last week on Associated Motor Cycles Ltd, who in case you missed it, were a large and successful manufacturing organisation which was based in Plumstead for many years. They owned three major motor bike brands, namely Matchless, AJS and (latterly) Norton, which were designed, manufactured and assembled in their large factory in Plumstead, as you can see in the photo above - click on it for a larger version. Long time reader and now contributor David tells of his memories of the AMC factory and the people who worked there. He writes:- "I went to Woolwich Polytechnic Secondary School from 1960 to 1965 During those early years I roamed Woolwich and the surrounding area (often classed as 'out of bounds'). One of the best places to go during the warmer days was along the back turnings to visit the factory. The bikes would be wheeled outside the factory by the workers to give the bikes the final polish and inspection. In hindsight I think it was probably to give the workers some time outside! They would let me have a look at the bike and explain many of their features. I wondered at these incredible engineering masterpieces. I can recall the lovely smell the bikes had; a combination of polish and engine oil and fresh paint. It was also an insight into a life outside of the restrictions of a school in the 1960's. I was treated as an inquisitive youth rather than being told to keep quiet (but maybe that's another story). It must have sparked something inside me as I left school at 16 and got an apprenticeship with one of the many companies that lined Woolwich Road. I'm sure it inspired many other callow youths who were allowed to view these bikes. Of course as an apprentice I never had enough money to buy one and by the time funds were available I had moved on to more appropriate modes of transport (a Vauxhall Viva that cost £127). But what those early visits meant was that I wanted to have a hand in designing something as meaningful. A career spent in many drawing offices working on projects such as the Thames Barrier, the onset of Optic fibres and the challenge of incorporating their use in the telecoms industry, and many years in the oil and gas industry. But I think it may well have started with those wonderful bikes". A fascinating account; I must admit until I did some further research into AMC and their factory, I had no idea just how huge the factory and associated outbuildings were. In researching the article last week, I came across the connection between the AMC factory and Oscar winning actor and director Clint Eastwood. Next week I will be writing about another Oscar winning performer who has links with Belvedere. Answers on a postcard please if you can name the person - a clue - gas holder; alternatively, please feel free to leave a comment below, or instead you can Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Over the last couple of weeks, I have noticed a lot of new graffiti on bus stops and in many public areas locally. Unlike the usual highly stylised "tags" the writing is fairly clear and easy to read. The script, written in what appears to be permanent marker reads: "YouTube the Dartford Raver". Unsurprisingly if you input this phrase into the search function of YouTube, the result produced is a channel owned and operated by an individual called Jermaine Kerr, who you can see in the photo above - click on it for a larger version. His videos consist almost exclusively of him dancing around the his bedroom at what appears to be his parents house. He occasionally raps very badly, and seems to be completely unaware of what a complete wazzock he portrays himself as. I really don't think it is some sophisticated satire, or the creation of a fictional online comedic character. He is what he is; and I don't think his campaign of illegal graffiti has been of any real impact. Most of his videos have fewer than a couple of hundred views. I am also aware by publicising this rather immature and silly individual I am giving him the very exposure he desires. You can make your own opinion of Jermaine Kerr, and his "The Dartford Raver" YouTube channel by clicking here. What action the Police or Transport for London will take over his graffiti is open to debate, but Kerr does not seem to have thought through the consequences of his actions.

The redevelopment and improvement of what Bexley Council refer to as "the public realm" - which basically means public open spaces is moving ahead, mostly due to grants and public funding. Some examples of this include, but are not limited to improvements to the entrance to Erith Pier to create a new welcoming Pier Square to create new seating, planting and space for events and recreation.In April 2019 a public consultation on proposed concept designs was undertaken and over the summer a Design Review process has taken place. The design team is now working on updated detailed designs that will respond to the comments made at these two events. The pedestrianised area of Erith High Street outside the former Learning and Enterprise College Units will be decluttered and improved to complement the conversion of the units into a shop and offices and animate an unwelcoming cut through’. Erith High Street improvements will include new street furniture, landscaping and footway materials to create a brighter and more inviting place with a greater sense of safety. The pedestrianised section of Pier Road between Cross Street and Erith High Street will see public realm improvement, strengthening the physical and visual link to the Riverside Gardens, Erith pier and surrounding streets. Spaces will be created for seating, informal play, and green infrastructure. This project is currently at concept design stage, the transformation of Pier Road will introduce a safe shared space experience for cyclist and pedestrians. The vacant unit above the Farm Foods shop on Pier Road has stood empty for a number of years. The Council owns the freehold of the building, the whole of which is on a long lease to Farm Foods. The vacant unit above Farm Foods provides a large space that is important for assisting with decant from other sites. A feasibility study is currently underway to review the capacity of the space and provide cost estimates for an office fit out. Discussions are underway with Farm Foods regarding the Council taking a lease and with potential pre-lets. This proposal would bring added footfall to the town centre adding to its economic vitality. Retaining the open space at Riverside Gardens remains a key priority for the Council and local residents. A project to rejuvenate and refurbish the Gardens has recently launched. With £1.3m funding from the Mayor of London’s Good Growth Fund and additional funding from the council, Groundwork and Orbit, the project aims to upgrade this much-loved open space to improve visibility of and engagement with the river, creating opportunities for the community to use the gardens for play, leisure activities, planting and learning. It will also provide employment training through Groundwork’s Green Team. Designs will be developed in partnership with residents and community organisations, and the Council has commissioned Groundwork to lead this process. During the first stage of the consultation which has recently closed, Groundwork engaged with over 200 residents to hear about the views on the Gardens and gather ideas and aspirations to improve them. Procurement for a landscape architect team to develop the designs for the rejuvenated Gardens is nearly complete. 

Further reader reaction from John who writes:- "Thanks as ever for the little bit of contact with my old home area. It was interesting to read your notes about the Hainault Maternity Home. I managed a visit for a final look at the place briefly in September when I was visiting the area. I was however very interested in the little end video you added to your blog last  week. When I looked through I was astonished to see someone I recognised. The little segment at about 1m 27s into the video showing a gentleman in a greenhouse being interviewed was immediately familiar to me. I believe the man being interviewed with the flat cap was Mr Brown, the then Parks Superintendent. He lived in a lovely house located on the corner of Stephen Road adjacent to the track leading to the parks depot and nursery in Barnehurst. He was the father of an old school and scouting friend, Robert Brown and his sister who I think was Ann Brown. I believe their Scottish father was originally employed in the Royal Estate at Balmoral as a gillie, but later worked at Sandringham where he met his wife. He was well known for playing his bagpipes and I often wondered whether there was any link between the family of the infamous John Brown (played by Billy Connolly in the 1997 film Mrs Brown). I lost contact with my school pal many years ago so it was lovely to see his Father once again in this little video. The house they lived in, along with two others in Stephen Road, were very sadly demolished at the end of 2010 and the site is now the Groveland Park care home. I have great memories of visiting my friend Robert Brown at this house which I believe was actually owned by the Parks Department and also had old steam heated greenhouses in the grounds. The parks department depot was behind their house, but I believe it is all now gone. I attach a snap I took of the house on 8th December 2010 (shown above) before it was finally demolished". Thanks for the information John - I am sure that my readers will find it to be of interest. 

Recently the London Evening Standard's property section ran a story on Erith Quarry - the new housing development on Fraser Road that will include a new primary school as part of the project. The Standard is frequently sniffy and rather condescending about any areas to the South of the River Thames, and the recent article is no exception. The leader reads thus:- "Erith, a somewhat bleak, south-east outpost with a high level of dull social housing in Bexley borough, is one of the few places in London where you can buy a new three-bedroom house for less than £400,000. But with so much Thames-side regeneration and the bonus of Crossrail stations opening next year at nearby Abbey Wood and Woolwich, the future promises better homes and neighbourhoods for priced-out Londoners. Currently the district is a 40-minute commute to London Bridge or Cannon Street. First up is The Quarry, an eco development of 470 houses and 130 flats plus a primary school, park and play areas for children. Prices start at £325,000 for two-bedroom houses, with the low deposit Help to Buy scheme available too". Describing Erith as "Bleak" and "Dull" is to my mind both inaccurate and insulting to local residents. There may have been a time in the 1970's and early 1980's, when the hideous brutalist concrete Erith Town Centre held sway, always smelling as I recall it, of Jeyes fluid and stale wee, but since those low days, things have improved immeasurably in my opinion. What do you think? Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

The Erith Think Tank have announced details of their next meeting, which will take place on Tuesday 12th November - 7.30pm - 9pm in the conversation room at The Exchange in Walnut Tree Road. All are welcome. The agenda for the meeting consists of a discussion regarding West Street ('small park' - photo of the park above - click on it for a larger version) - Proposal by Tina of an 'activation' to raise awareness of BexleyCo's development plans, and how they might be stopped and / or improved. Brainstorming session to produce an alternative vision, and how we can secure the funds to do it. A presentation from Johnny about his meeting with Anderson's (Tuesday last week) regarding the change in the masterplan of The Quarry development, and the large increase in dwellings proposed on the site. Lastly an informal 'hello' from Princess Adeosun, Community Partnership Officer from Bexley Council, introducing herself, explaining her role, and discussing how she and the Think Tank can work together.

Prior to the regular weekly Neighbourhood Watch reports, a special update from Dana Wiffen, the Chairman, Neighbourhood Watch Office. November is courier fraud awareness month:- "In most cases of courier fraud, a fraudster phones their victim and claims to be from their bank, the police or other law enforcement authority. They then con the victim into revealing their PIN and credit or debit card details. Sadly, the most common victims of courier fraud are the elderly. Examples of courier fraud include; A scammer calls you, claiming to be from your bank or a police officer. They tell you either that: • a fraudulent payment has been spotted on your card that needs sorting out • someone has been arrested using your details and cards You may be asked to call your bank using the phone number on the back of your card. This convinces you that the call is genuine. But the scammer has kept the line open at their end, so when you make the call, you're unknowingly connected straight back to them or their friends. They'll either ask you for your PIN or ask you to key it into your phone. No bank or other legitimate service will ever ask you for your PIN. The scammer then sends a courier or taxi to pick up the card from your home. Even the driver may not know they're being used as part of the scam. Once the scammer has both your card and PIN they can spend your money. A different version of this scam is where you're contacted and told there's a corrupt member of staff at your bank, post office or bureau de change and the police need your help to identify them. They ask you to withdraw a large sum of your money, which the police or bank will mark, then put back into the banking system. They say this will help them identify the corrupt person. Once you hand the cash over, the scammers simply take it. Another example is when a fake police officer phones or approaches you and asks you to buy an expensive watch or other high-value item, to try to find out if counterfeit goods are being sold. Once you've bought the item, the scammer tells you to hand it to a taxi driver for transfer to the police. The expensive item is, of course, taken instead to the scammer's partner. The latest variation is where the scammer contacts you and says your bank account has been taken over and you need to transfer all the funds into a ‘safe account'. Of course, the new account is operated by the scammers, who then steal the funds". On top of this, Dana warns against pick pockets who are targetting vulnerable people in Bexleyheath Broadway:- "As mentioned in previous weeks pick pockets are working Bexleyheath Broadway and they are targeting elderly shoppers. Last week Police reported 5 purses stolen from shoppers in the following shops Dorothy Perkins, Greggs, Cancer Research Charity Shop, Card Factory, & New Look, plus a wallet stolen in the Broadway. PLEASE remind your more vulnerable residents to be aware of their purses/wallets are at all times and to zip up handbags and put wallets in trouser pockets". Now for the regular weekly local safety and security updates from Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association. First the report from Barnehurst ward:- "Barnehurst has suffered two attempted burglaries over the past week. The first one occurred in Holmesdale Grove at 03.00am on Sunday 03/11/2019 where a male is seen attempting to pick the door lock. The male had his hood up and a scarf covering his face. Suspect walked towards Perry Street. The locking mechanism to the front door had recently been upgraded by a locksmith leaving it more difficult for the suspect to gain entry. The second attempted burglary happened in Parkside Avenue again on Sunday 03/11/2019 in the early hours 03.04am. Video footage shows a male approach the front door and was then seen turning the handle, he then walked away and was seen walking in the direction of Northend Road with two other people, one wore a jacket that had a fluorescent strip on the back. Vehicle crime has crept up again. In Cheviot Close on Sunday 03/11/2019 a Sat Nav was found stolen. No damage was found to the vehicle however suspects had to unwire the Sat Nav to remove it from the vehicle. Between Friday 01/11/2019 and Sunday 03/11/2019 in Taunton Close a van was broken into and items taken. On Sunday 03/11/2019 between 06.00am – 0615am in Penine Way suspects have opened the boot of a vehicle and taken items from within however this vehicle had not been securely locked. Not only do we ask you to look at your home security but to consider your vehicle to. Criminals will attempt to break in to properties to obtain keys to vehicles. If you see anyone acting suspiciously in your road especially in the early hours call 999 straight away. Our next community contact session will be held on Tuesday 19th November 2019 at 11.00am in Barnehurst Golf Club". Belvedere ward:- "Burglary update – There was a burglary in Morvale Close on Thursday 31st October. The resident had not fully secured the front door of his home and through the night entry was gained and a laptop and bag were taken. On Friday 1st November another burglary occurred in Battle Road, again overnight, where entry was gained by damaging the rear door of the property. It is as yet unknown what was taken from the location. The team have been busy over the Halloween and Bonfire Night period, with assistance from officers of neighbouring wards (Erith, Northumberland Heath and Slade Green), visiting several wards to keep anti-social behaviour to a minimum. Several searches have been conducted on the ward during this period and drugs have been found. Community Resolutions as well as fines have been issued. PC Holmes and PCSO Worrall visited the Sikh temple last weekend to discuss the upcoming Sikh parade – which takes place on Sunday 17th November. We are continuing to have issues reported to us from a House of Multiple Occupancy on Barnfield Road (top end). If anyone is having issues with anti-social behaviour please contact us". Bexleyheath ward:- "Wednesday 30/10/19 Criminal Damage - vehicle in road being overturned. Wednesday 30/10/19 1555 Theft of BMW from Civic Offices Watling Street. Thursday 31/10/19 1800 – 1900 Palmer Crescent Criminal Damage to x4 vehicles by a group of 20 youths. Thursday 31/10/19 1900 – 1920 Burglary Church Road entry gained by way of smashed rear door – jewellery taken. Thursday 31/10/19 1315-1420 Theft of moped Albion Road car park. Friday 1/11/19 1600 Purse Stolen from bag hanging on bag of children's buggy in Card Factory. Saturday 2/11/19 2000 Royal Oak Road Theft of bus pass from person. Sunday 3/11/19 1800-2100 Theft of Motor Vehicle Long Lane Stolen Truck and Trailer. Monday 4/11/19 0140 Theft from Motor Vehicle Midhurst Hill van broken into and tools stolen – suspects arrested as CCTV images provided. Monday 4/11/19 2300 Theft From Motor Vehicle Number Plates Stolen. Ensure that doors and windows to properties are locked and secured with keys where applicable – revisit home security and lighting now the dark lights are coming. Please be careful with purse/wallets whilst out shopping, make sure they are secured inside your bags with a zip type handbag".

Crayford ward:- "It has been a very busy week for the team with Halloween and Fireworks night. Our police officers have been on late shifts dealing with anti-social behaviour and crime in the local area. Several youths have been identified and are now in the process of being referred for intervention for some, home visits and parental contact have been made for others to make their parents fully aware of the trouble and upset they have caused. Anti-social behaviour has included egg throwing, knocking stock over in shops and being a general nuisance to name just a few issues. A lady has reported that her bank card had been removed and used by a person unknown to withdraw £950 from her account over a few days. She does not know how they got her pin number, this is a timely reminder to keep PIN numbers secret, never disclose them to another person and keep the keypad covered when making a payment or withdrawing cash. On Sunday 27/10/2019 at 03.00 a Mercedes Vito van (RAC) was broken in to in Heath Road and cash and company credit card were stolen. On Friday 1st November a white Suzuki GSXR, number plate FY03USC which had a steering lock and disc lock through front wheel was stolen from Woodside Road, it is believed the bike was lifted. On Sunday 27th October it was reported that a padlock was smashed off a garage in Claremont Crescent and entry gained. Two Gents mountain bikes, a set of golf clubs, bag and electric golf trolley, petrol strimmer and petrol lawn mower were stolen. Diagnostic equipment and a silver BMW, registration S100PON was stolen with keys by two IC3 males from the rear of 31 Crayford High Street on Friday 1st November at 16.28, stolen whilst the mechanic wasn't looking. A black Carrera electric bicycle with accessories which was locked up outside Sainsburys was stolen on Saturday 2nd November between 04.00-07.50. Passenger tyres were slashed on a white Ford Galaxy in Iron Mill Lane between 21.00 on Thursday the 31st October and 08.50 on Friday the 1st November. Other vehicles were also targeted in a similar way but not reported to police. Number plates NL61LKF were stolen off a white Ford Transit it Lower Station Road between 17.30 on Saturday the 2nd November and 09.13 on Sunday the 3rd November. A catalytic convertor was stolen from a blue Honda Jazz onFriday the 29th October between 15.00-17.00 whilst parked in Bourne Road. A black Carrera bicycle with green lines was stolen from Serco at Thames Road on Saturday the 23rd October 06.10-06.30. A burglary occurred at Gable Close on Wednesday the 4th November between 04.00-04.30, two IC3 suspects aged between 15-20 years “popped” the UVPC door and gained entry and searched through coat pockets before leaving empty handed, facial images captured on home CCTV. Please ensure your doors are securely locked when retiring for the night and when leaving your property. More information on how to keep your home secure can be found on www.met.police.uk/burglary It will have been noticed on social media that an incident occurred Crayford High Street on Tuesday the 5th November at about 12.30. What started as a road rage incident observed by police led to the male passenger running from police and the driver of the vehicle attempting to make off with a vehicle being in collision with a police vehicle and street sign. The driver was arrested for several offences not linked to the road rage incident. The victim of the road rage incident was unharmed. Two vehicles were broken in to in the church car park in Old Road on Wednesday the 6th November between 18.45-19.45. A small holdall was stolen from one containing clothes and the other vehicle had a backpack containing a purse, gift cards, credit cards, door keys, glasses, employee smart card as well as other items". Erith ward:- "This last week we had a bike marking event outside Pier road police office. 8 bikes where marked and registered with bike register. I am looking at carrying out some more of these soon, Please email Adam from Erith SNT if you would like to be informed on new dates. Across Erith we are looking at increasing our NHW coverage, IF you know anyone who wants to be a NHW member in Erith let us know Theft from M/V is at a zero this week, best it has been for a good few months". Northumberland Heath ward - no report this week. Slade Green and Northend ward:- "A burglary occurred overnight in Newbery Road on Mon – Tues, 4th – 5th November. Keys were taken to the owners vehicle and subsequently the vehicle was driven away. Access was probably gained by using a gadget put through the letterbox and removing the key or lifting the door handle. If you have a UPVC door please ensure you lift the handle, turn the key and then remove it from the lock. In the early hours of October 31st, 3 vehicle crimes took place across the ward. A moped was stolen from Slade Gardens, a motorbike taken from The Nursery and there was an attempted theft of 2 motorbikes from Lincoln Road. The stolen motorbike was recovered in Bridge Road by our team. All the crimes took place during the same night. A male was arrested in Craydene Road for Failing to Appear in court on other charges. He has since been bailed to allow for further enquiries. Police officers from our team, North Heath SNT and Erith SNT have been working until midnight over the last couple of weeks doing mobile ASB (Anti-Social Behaviour) patrols across all 3 wards and there have been many groups dispersed, stopped and searched". Thamesmead East ward:- "During Halloween, a property in Maran Way had paint thrown at the front door, which cleaned off. Another property in Dalberg Way had a firework put through the letterbox, singeing the draught excluder and slight damage to the door, thankfully nobody was injured. Good news - On Thursday 31/10/19 a male, the team believe to have been responsible for the recent thefts from motor vehicles on the ward was given a 9 months prison sentence. On Tuesday 05 /11/19 PC's Pruden and Quarshie-Awuah arrested a female for failing to appear at court. At another incident, The 2 PC has also conducted four Positive stop and searches for drugs.Sunday 03/11/19 PCSO Hobbs was made aware by dog walkers of an abandoned motor vehicle on the Thames path, behind properties in Greenhaven Drive. The vehicle had been stolen. The owner, contacted by PCSO Hobbs remained with the vehicle until the owner arrived. Bexley Crime Survey the Bexley Community Safety Partnership includes the Council, Police, Fire Brigade, Health and Probation who work together to reduce problems of crime, anti-social behaviour and drug and alcohol misuse". West Heath ward:- "A surprisingly quiet week on the ward in relation to reported crime. We have had no motor vehicle crimes which is fantastic news .One shed burglary in Woolwich road which took place on Wednesday October 30th at approximately midnight, a black and red hybrid pushbike was stolen from a shed. The team have been working long shifts covering both Halloween and Bonfire night this week. One arrest by officers from the team for actual bodily harm".

As mentioned at the start of this week's update, the end video is a short film from BBC London's "Inside Out" current affairs show, and an item on why seals are now coming back to live in the River Thames. Please feel free to contact me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Nitrous Oxide.

It has been reported to me by a long time Maggot Sandwich reader that there is a serious drugs problem in the area in and around the former Bexley Mencap site in Lesney Park Road, Erith. The site, and the old house adjacent to it are shortly to be redeveloped for additional housing, with eighteen terraced houses and the third of the land  that the Council is retaining will have twelve supported living units for adults with learning difficulties built on it. In the meantime the old buildings are occupied by property guardians - individuals who get to live in the property at a very reduced rent, in return for caring for the building until such time as it is readied for redevelopment. The idea is not new, but it does have attractions - the building owner avoids their property being vandalised or squatted, with the attendant costs that this would involve, and people get the chance to legally live somewhere at a rent that is far below the norm for the area; the system should be a win / win for all involved. In this case it would appear to not be the outcome that had been anticipated. It is strongly suspected by local residents that one or more of the guardians occupying the old Mencap unit and the house next door to it are involved in the sale and consumption of illegal drugs, including Nitrous Oxide, as you can see in the photograph above - click on it for a larger version - the photo was taken by another concerned local resident. The situation was initially reported back in April, but it would appear that little has happened in the meantime to resolve it. The purchase, sale, storage or consumption of Nitrous Oxide as a stimulant has been a criminal offence since the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 came into effect on the 27th May 2016. One worried local resident initially wrote to the Council and said:- "There were dozens of the little silver capsules in the gutter, which I am told are in connection with drug taking.  This is not the first time there have been dozens of these capsules littered outside the premises.   A neighbour in Lesney Park Road has even seen a car parked nearby, and he watched the driver put on blue surgical gloves, sorted through some boxes (drugs presumably) and then drove a few yards up Lesney Park Road to the old Bexley Mencap site and carried on some business with the occupants.  I have also seen people coming out of the premises, late morning, in clothes similar to pyjamas and going to their car for something and then going back in.  So they are obviously being used as residential premises. Who owns these premises? Are the occupants being housed there at local rate payers' expense? This is totally unacceptable. These premises are just a few yards across the road from Christ Church Primary School. The children are surely at risk. Apart from the drug paraphernalia, there is often other debris outside, broken glass, old furniture etc.  The whole frontage is an absolute eye-sore.  The occupants are showing no respect at all for the surroundings, and are taking advantage. Lesney Park Road used to be one of the nicest roads in Erith. It is in a conservation area. What is happening now is a disgrace and very unfair on the local rate-paying residents.  Can the Council and the local Police please look into the goings on at the site and take control of the situation?" I hope to make further reports on this issue in the weeks to come; if you have any information to add, please contact me at the usual address.

As a follow-up on the broad daylight plant theft from The Cross Keys Centre reported on the Maggot Sandwich update published on the 4th of June,  thefts of more potted plants have come to light in the centre of Erith, including one splendid ornamental basket hanging from the Stone Court retirement home, an act also caught on CCTV.  Neighbours have reported seeing people not known to live in the immediate area looking at some of these items on display, but in every case except one it has been simply to admire these lovely additions to the streetscape, not to walk off with them. One person the plant owners would like to trace is shown in the pictures above - the upper one from CCTV recorded from The Cross Keys Centre, and the lower photo which was taken covertly in the Erith Riverside Shopping Centre, when the suspect was seen walking through it some time after the theft took place. His description matches that of a person seen carrying a large stolen oleander along the High Street on May 26th. The witness was struck by the odd behaviour of someone of strong stocky build, in a very distinctive polo shirt, walking very quickly along the street carrying an oversized plant. If you can identify the individual above, please contact me so that even if he is entirely innocent, he can be eliminated from Police enquiries. Email me in complete confidence at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

I don't normally comment on stories that have been covered by the mainstream press, but I am making a notable exception in this case, as the popular press have in general only reported on about half of the real story. Google has said it will no longer scan the content of Gmail messages to sell targeted adverts to users of the free service. Google made the announcement in a blog post on Friday touting the success of its G Suite, the cloud applications service for business. G Suite is advertising free and does not scan content – for the obvious reason that businesses wouldn't be very keen on that – and now Google says it will make the free Gmail service scanning-free too. In an interview in the Register website, a Google representative said:- "G Suite's Gmail is already not used as input for ads personalisation, and Google has decided to follow suit later this year in our free consumer Gmail service,  Consumer Gmail content will not be used or scanned for any ads personalisation after this change. This decision brings Gmail ads in line with how we personalise ads for other Google products. Ads shown are based on users' settings. Users can change those settings at any time, including disabling ads personalisation." The Gmail scanning system was highly controversial ever since it was introduced in 2004, but the advantages of the service were clear. At the time, most webmail accounts offered pitiful amounts of storage – 2MB for Hotmail, for example – while Google was offering a gigabyte and promised to increase that later. While people weren't particularly enamoured with the idea of having their emails automatically scanned, they certainly liked the storage enough to continue using it. Nevertheless, Microsoft's advertising department used the practice as a stick to beat Google with – albeit to very limited effect. Many Gmail users do not receive targetted advertising anyway; if you have any kind of paid relationship with Google, such as having extended paid for cloud cased storage, you do not get adverts in Gmail, also, if like me, you were one of the first 500 people in the UK to set up a Gmail account, then you too see no targetted adverts. Google are very conscious that of the 3 billion people on Earth who have access to a computer or mobile phone, around 1.2 billion of them have a Gmail account. Whilst not all of those accounts will be in active use, that is still an absolutely staggering figure, and Google are acutely aware that they are in a contest with Microsoft in respect of cloud based office computing - Microsoft have Office 365, and Google have G Suite. If a large number of users are familiar with the Gmail user interface, they will find the G Suite very easy to use, as it is based on a very similar look and feel. Ironically this is how Microsoft locked users into Microsoft Office for years; once a user had become comfortable with MS Office they were strongly disinclined to switch to another product which would require a fresh learning curve. Microsoft came quite late to the cloud, and it is now playing catch up with Google, who are now kings of that particular hill. Nowadays for a vast majority of computer users, their web browser is by far the most used and most important piece of software on their computer or mobile device.

Local convicted multiple murderer Arthur Simpson - Kent lost his appeal against his whole life tariff when he appeared in court on Tuesday last week. Arthur Kent’s lawyers failed to persuade Lord Chief Justice Lord Thomas and two other leading judges at the Court of Appeal in London that the term should be reduced. He killed his partner, the former EastEnders actress Sian Blake, 43, and their sons, Zachary, eight, and four-year-old Amon, after the actress, who was terminally-ill with motor neurone disease, planned to leave him and take the boys with her. Once he had killed the three, he buried their bodies in the garden of their rented bungalow in Pembroke Road, Erith. The bodies were not discovered by the Police for three weeks. They had been repeatedly beaten and stabbed in a series of frenzied attacks. Simpson-Kent, who admitted three counts of murder, was sentenced at the Old Bailey last October by a judge who said he had been left in "no doubt'' he should receive the most severe punishment available for his ''truly horrific'' crimes. He was thus awarded the very rare sentence of a Whole Life Tariff – which means the only way he will ever be let out of prison is on the written orders of the Home Secretary, something that has rarely if ever happened. In his case, life really does mean life in prison, with no chance of parole. I used to see Sian Blake with her children occasionally walking around Erith Riverside Shopping Centre, and every so often in Morrison’s. I did not know she was an actress, or had been in EastEnders at one time (I am not a soap watcher).  I had not seen them for some considerable time before their untimely demise, I guess as her Motor Neurone Disease got worse, and she was forced to limit her mobility; the whole case is tragic. As far as I am aware their former bungalow in Pembroke Road is still empty – see the photo above. When the case first broke, I used Google Maps / Google Street View to locate the property; when I did, the image that the Google Street View camera car had captured of the house showed one of the little boys standing in the left hand window, looking out into the street. It had obviously been taken some time prior to the tragic events. I immediately decided that I would not publish or make reference to the image out of respect to the deceased and their surviving family and friends. I might have well not have bothered, as a couple of days later, the Sun newspaper published the image of the “ghostly” child in the window. I felt that this was in the very poorest of taste, but then the Sun is not exactly known for letting propriety or good taste get in the way of a good story.

Riverdale Road, Erith based country and Western singer songwriter Wayne Jacobs has been nominated for another three music gongs in the 2017 UK Country Music Awards. One of the nominations is for Best UK Country Artist of the year. I also understand that Wayne Jacobs has also written a song dedicated to Donald Trump. Personally I think this is pretty unnecessary, as President Trump already has an ideal signature song - "If I only had a brain" from the Wizard of Oz.

It would seem that the riot in Northumberland Heath last September has resulted in a long term legacy of fear and intimidation. A large number of local residents met with representatives from Bexley Police last Thursday in the Northumberland Heath Social Club. An officer has been assigned as overall lead for keeping the peace in Northumberland Heath; his name is Inspector Darren Murphy; he is leading a crackdown on anti-social behaviour, which is now regarded as the priority policing issue in the area. It seems that a majority of the youths / school children that engaged in the riot and subsequent fights and anti-social behaviour in Northumberland Heath are not from the area at all – they have mostly come from Woolwich and Plumstead. During an interview with the Bexley Times, Inspector Murphy said:- "I want to develop the use of Section 60 stop and searches, so if we hear of any problems our officers can stop and search anyone in the area without grounds, we’ve come away from that recently but following an increase in violence and knife crime it’s come to a point where we need to do it. We’ve identified a number of the youths and have established most of them aren’t from here, for whatever reason there coming in from surrounding areas such as Woolwich and are doing what they do, we’ve upped resources here, you can imagine how difficult that’s been during the events in London, but we still manage to have a safer neighbourhood team as well as the two officers working later in the night. We’re working with businesses such as Tesco to cut down on theft and loitering as well as with TfL to get Oyster cards taken away so these youths can’t make their way into the area. Our intelligence is improving, three months ago I couldn’t have told residents when there were going to be problems, but now we’re getting calls from parents, neighbours and schools telling us what is going on, Once we know what’s happening we can put dispersal orders in place to stop it, and we need that support to continue by ensuring that concerned residents contact their local safer neighbourhood police team NorthumberlandHeath.snt@met.pnn.police.uk.” It seems that what seems like a quiet and friendly place is actually blighted by a culture of violence and intimidation mostly led by school children from outside of the area. Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association recently published the following report on the public meeting and the outcome from it:-"The Northumberland Heath Safer Neighbourhood Team along with Acting Chief Inspector Peter Bodley, Inspector Darren Murphy, The Bexley Council Neighbourhood Services and local Councillors held a meeting at the Social Club in Mill Road last Thursday. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the ongoing anti-social behaviour in and around Northumberland Heath. Although it was a sweltering evening, the meeting was well attended with approximately seventy local residents and business owners in attendance. Each attendee was asked to fill in a questionnaire and a question and answer session took place. The senior Management Team from Bexleyheath Police Station explained the locations of where the main issues are and what we are trying to do to resolve them. Several individuals have been issued with a Community Protection Warning Letter with conditions asking them not to congregate in groups in and around Northumberland Heath or act in a manner which local residents may find intimidating. The Warning Letter if not adhered to will then result in a Community Protection Notice issue and court proceedings to follow. One youth has already broken his agreement and has been spoken to along with his parents to highlight the seriousness of his actions. The Team have been working very hard to collate evidence against individuals who are choosing to break these agreements. Street Pastors conducted trial patrols last week to try to engage with local youths, we are hoping that we will receive positive feedback from this experiment with a view to further patrols and engagement. A cannabis Warning form was issued to a male found in possession of cannabis behind an alleyway in Bexley Road. On a happier note, there has been very little in the way of crime reported to us this week, with no burglaries or vehicle crime. The next drop in Surgery will be held in the Library at Mill Road on Friday July 7th at 2pm". If you have experienced any issues in Northumberland Heath relating to anti-social behaviour, please get in touch with me in complete confidence; you can Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

There has been another incident of a person in the River Thames off Erith; on Sunday evening last week, emergency services were notified that a man was in the river next to a couple of moored tugs. He was reported clinging to the side of a tug, but unable to get out of the water at approximately half past seven in the evening. The inshore lifeboat came from Gravesend to rescue the individual, but by the time it had arrived the man had been in the water for nearly an hour; if this had happened in the winter, the man would have died from exposure in that time. I once again call for the creation of an RNLI sub station at Erith to serve the area of the Thames between Woolwich and Dartford, plugging what appears to be a gap in the current lifeboat coverage. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Some worrying news has emerged over the last week or so; the main encryption system used in online banking, web based shops like eBay and Amazon, “Smart” payment cards and a host of other vital services has been cracked – in the laboratory at least. The crack is currently only experimental, and to the best of current knowledge it has not been employed in the real world, but as with any of these things, it is only a matter of time before crooks find a way to “weaponise” the discovery. The most common, and indeed until now the most effective form of data encryption is a system known as AES 256. AES stands for Advanced Encryption System. This advanced encryption algorithm is unclassified and is "capable of protecting sensitive government information well into the next century," according to an announcement by the National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) and is the most trusted process the for development of an advanced encryption standard algorithm. It  is easy to implement in hardware and software, as well as in restricted environments (for example, in a smart card) and offer good defences against various attack techniques. In June 2003, the U.S. government announced that AES could be used to protect classified information, and it soon became the default encryption algorithm for protecting classified information as well as the first publicly accessible and open cipher approved by the NSA for top-secret information. The NSA chose AES as one of the cryptographic algorithms to be used by its Information Assurance Directorate to protect U.S national security systems. Its successful use by the U.S. government led to widespread use in the private sector, leading AES to become the most popular algorithm used in symmetric key cryptography internationally. The transparent selection process helped create a high level of confidence in AES among security and cryptography experts. AES is more secure than its predecessors - DES and 3DES - as the algorithm is stronger and uses longer key lengths. Until very recently AES encryption was considered to be pretty much bullet proof; that is, until information leaked online about a rather unusual method of trying to break it. Researchers at Fox‑IT have managed to wirelessly extract secret AES-256 encryption keys from a distance of one metre – using £200 worth of parts obtained from a standard electronics store – just by measuring electromagnetic radiation. At that distance sniffing the keys over the air took five minutes, but if an attacker got within 30 centimetres of a device, the extraction time is cut down to just 50 seconds. The research team used a simple loop antenna, attached it to an external amplifier and bandpass filters bought online, and then plugged it into a software defined radio USB stick they bought for £20. The entire cost of the setup was less than £200 and the device could be hidden in a jacket or laptop case. The researchers used this kit to record the radio signals generated by the power consumption of the target system running an ARM powered chip. By measuring the leakage between the processor and the data bus, the data showed the peaks and troughs of consumption as the encryption process was carried out. By running a different encryption run on a test rig, the researchers mapped out how the power consumption related to individual bytes of information. That allowed them to take guesses at the 256 possible values of a single byte and the correct choice showed the highest power spike. "Using this approach only requires us to spend a few seconds guessing the correct value for each byte in turn (256 options per byte, for 32 bytes – so a total of 8,192 guesses), In contrast, a direct brute-force attack on AES‑256 would require 2256 guesses and would not complete before the end of the universe." The electromagnetic signals drop off rapidly the farther away you are from the target, but the researchers still managed the extraction from a distance of one metre, even though it took much longer to do so. Spending more on the equipment, however, would increase the range and speed of the attack. There are, of course, some caveats. The tests took place under laboratory conditions, rather than in a busy office or server room where other signals might interfere with the data collection. Nevertheless it is an interesting example of how an attack previously thought of as unfeasible due to cost and distance has been made easier by smarter and cheaper technology.

A road tanker dropped a large volume of Rapeseed Oil on the roads of Erith on the evening of the 26th June. The oil spill closed Lower Road, Bronze Age Way, Queens Road, South Road and North End Road from around 6.30pm. The Fire Brigade put sand on the large spill, which trailed all of the way back to the ADM Oil processing facility in Church Manor Way, which employs nearly 1,200 local people. The company originally started up in 1908, when it was known as Erith Oil Works – the business then was similar to now; they crush and process all kinds of seeds, to extract their natural oils, which are used in foodstuffs, cooking oils and animal feeds. The seeds, then as now are brought upriver in large bulk freighter ships. The distinctive huge concrete silos that are still present on the ADM Oil site were constructed in 1916, where they were some of the earliest surviving examples of reinforced concrete construction in the UK. They were constructed by Danish structural engineering company Christiani and Nielsen, who invented reinforced concrete construction techniques. ADM oils have in the past been guilty of causing the terrible smells that we have experienced in the local area. The reason for this was that the filters on the oil seed boiler chimneys used to not be changed as often as they were supposed to be. Lately ADM's plant engineers seem to have been a lot more conscientious in this respect, and the sickly smell has now been largely absent, thankfully.

The end video this week shows a factory that has been very important to many people in the area over the last seventy years or so, but over the last couple of decades has seemingly gone very quiet. It is the huge Ford vehicle plant at Dagenham, just across the River Thames. Due to automation the plant does not employ nearly as many people as it did in the past, and it no longer produces complete vehicles; instead it produces a vast number of engines and transmissions for both private and commercial use throughout Ford production facilities in and around Europe.  Do give the short video a watch, and please feel free to comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Crimbo.

The information sheet above was published by Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association on Wednesday. The two individuals pictured have a long history of stealing motor bikes, riding them locally without a licence, tax, insurance or a helmet, and then breaking the bikes for parts, which then get sold on. They have been a regular presence on the Frobisher Road Estate, off Manor Road in Erith for some considerable time. I am not aware of what other sentence they have had imposed. The issuing of a Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) goes over and above any judicial sentence - it is on top of, not instead of. In case you were wondering, a Criminal Behaviour Order (often known as a Crimbo) is a court order that replaces the better known Anti Social Behaviour Order (ASBO). The Crown Prosecution Service describe the CBO thus:-“On 20 October 2014, new anti-social behaviour (ASB) sanctions were introduced and Criminal Behaviour Orders (CBOs) replaced post-conviction anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs). The CBO is available on conviction for any criminal offence in any criminal court. The order is aimed at tackling the most serious and persistent offenders where their behaviour has brought them before a criminal court. CBOs include prohibitions to stop the anti-social behaviour, and may also include requirements to address the underlying causes of the offender's behaviour. The court may make a CBO against an offender only on the application of the prosecution. For a CBO to be made: The court must be satisfied, beyond reasonable doubt, that the offender has engaged in behaviour that caused, or was likely to cause, harassment, alarm or distress to any person; and that the court considers making the order will help in preventing the offender from engaging in such behaviour. The CBO replaces the Anti-social Behaviour Order (ASBO) on conviction and the Drinking Banning Order (DBO) on conviction. The main differences between the ASBO on conviction and the CBO are: The behaviour (first limb of the test for imposing an order) only need to cause or be likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to any person (removing the "not of the same household" requirement); The "necessity" test becomes a "helpfulness" test (as with that for Football Banning Orders); and the court may impose requirements as well as prohibitions. The police will usually raise the possibility of an application for a CBO against an individual at the point of charge. A local authority may also approach the prosecution directly with a request to consider an application for a CBO without having to go via the police. The police / local authority must provide evidence to support the request for a CBO. Prosecutors should be alert at charging stage and beyond to cases in which a CBO application may be appropriate. Before applying for a CBO for a youth, the prosecution must find out the view of the local youth offending team (YOT). In practice, the organisation preparing the application for the CBO (the police or local authority) will find out the view of YOT. If the views of YOT are not present on the file, the prosecutor must contact the police / local authority to request the information. A CBO may be varied or discharged by the court which made the original order. Either the offender or the prosecution can make an application but if this is dismissed by the court, neither party can make a subsequent application without the consent of either the court or the other party. It is a criminal offence if an offender fails to comply, without reasonable excuse, with the prohibitions and / or requirements in the CBO". It sounds to me as if the CBO is designed to fill in the loopholes and weaknesses of the old ASBO system. Anything that curbs the local lowlives has a thumbs up from me. 

Following the terrible fire in Moat House last week, there have been a few developments. It turns out that the fire alarm in the building actually worked exactly as it was programmed to do. The claims that the alarm did not sound were true in a way, but not in another. It turns out that many modern multiple occupancy alarm systems are not designed to sound out loud to the whole block, but only to alert the occupants of flats potentially affected by the fire. Regular reader and occasional contributor Caroline Field, Project Manager with Orbit Housing Association (and unconnected with the Moat House development) explains:- “Interesting to read about the fire - and have of course made mental note to be particularly careful of the wiring sign off on our PVs. However just to pick up on one of your points, it would not normally be fire service advice to have a fire alarm in a block of flats. Each flat would have an individual (these days, mains wired) alarm which would go off if the fire was actually in your flat. Firstly of course it would go off every time someone burnt the toast. Secondly the strategy is generally that residents stay put. (unless the fire is in their flat of course) The flats are all built to a high standard of containment and people should stay put until the fire brigade either make safe or rescue them from the building. If you think about it, the last thing you need is people all panicking to leave the building, quite likely leaving their safe flat to blunder into the fire zone. There are also obviously risks to people going down stairs etc (lifts can’t be used) in haste, perhaps when they are drowsy , panicked, disabled, drunk, encumbered with children etc. They will also get in the way of the fire brigade who will be arriving and wanting to get rapidly to the site of the fire. All flat blocks will have automatic opening vents – AOVs – which open in the event of fire and help to ensure that smoke, gases etc. don’t amass in the stairwells. There’s no point giving people an alarm and then telling them to stay put –they won’t!. To put it in perspective, about five years ago there was a fire in Cambria House. The flat where it happened was totally gutted. The landing was very dirty with smoke - presumably when the door was opened for the family to escape or when the fire brigade went in. The old lady in the flat next door was pottering around her flat until a very nice fireman knocked on the door to ask her to leave. Her flat was totally unaffected. Remember that this was a really old flat – and just before they all had fire protection upgrades”. Fascinating stuff – and to be honest, it does make perfect sense. I guess that the new residents of Moat House were unaware of, or had forgotten how the alarm system operated. Moving into a new home could well cause "information overload".

The upper photo was taken by Pier Road based professional photographer George Gilbert early in the morning of Sunday the 17th of July 1966. It shows what Erith High Street looked like fifty years ago, including L.B Stevens the Butcher. The only buildings still in existence in the photo are The Cross Keys, which can just be seen to the extreme right of the photograph. Slightly to the left of it you can just see Erith Post Office, which is still open as well. It was only a very short time later that the whole of the centre of Erith was demolished to make way for a horrendous brutalist concrete shopping centre, which was universally loathed (and as a child, my main recollection of which was a strong smell of stale wee and Jeyes Fluid). I don't know a single person old enough to recall the old town centre who would not have it back if it was possible. The lower photo shows the last day of trade for L.B Stevens - Master Butcher, photographed on Saturday the 27th May 1967, just before the shop was shut for good and demolished. By the look of things, the immaculate shop, with Len Stevens in his bow tie, spotless apron and straw boater hat was a real credit to the area. If the redevelopment vandals had not come in and demolished things, I do wonder if Stevens the Butcher would still be running today? With the increase in popularity of traditional suppliers, with high end butchers Carnivore opening in Sidcup, Erith could have become a haven for foodies. How things might have been different if wiser heads had been in control.

Back at the beginning of July I wrote a piece about a long dead recordable music format called Elcaset, which was developed and marketed by Sony. It was designed to offer reel to reel recording and playback quality in an outsized cassette case, Whilst technically the Elcaset analogue format was very clever, it was very expensive and it never really took off. In fact, the manufacturer Sony ended up killing off Elcaset with another of their own formats – Minidisk. A couple of readers have asked for more history on Minidisk, so here goes. The MiniDisc format began as a research project in the labs of electronics giant Sony in the early 1990s. In those pre-iPod, pre-flash memory days, engineers were struggling with the problem of how to make music portable. Sony was riding high on the success of their Walkman analogue cassette players, which had come to dominate the market in the 1980s. But they were bumping up against the limits of the media: both cassette tape and CD Walkman devices really could not get any smaller, because the medium itself was the limiting factor. Devices like the cassette tape Walkman WM-EX88 and the CD D-J50 were not much bigger than the cases that the cassette tape and CD were stored in: they literally could not get much smaller and still hold the tape or CD. What was needed, Sony decided, was a new way to store music. This new format was the MiniDisc. This development was spurred by two inventions: a new audio compression format called ATRAC and a storage system called the magneto-optical disc. The Adaptive Transform Acoustic Codec (ATRAC) was developed by Sony engineers who figured out an important fact: your ears are good, but not that good. They are attuned to picking up certain sounds better than others. Specifically, if there are two sounds at similar frequencies, your ear can’t separate the two. This is especially true of high frequencies: our ears are more attuned to picking out low frequencies like the rustle of a tiger in a nearby tree. At higher frequencies, your ear is not able to pick out the details. So, what ATRAC does is to effectively lump these frequencies together, losing the specific details that your ear can’t hear anyway. (That’s the theory, at least; audiophiles will argue otherwise, but let’s leave that aside for the moment). ATRAC breaks the sound down into 24 frequency bands, and selectively compresses the sound, with smaller bands (that preserve more of the detail) at lower and middle frequencies, but losing a lot in the high bands. There is much more to the process than that (you can read all of the details here - trust me, it is extremely technical), but the end product is that it compresses the sound down so that the ATRAC version is one fifth of the size of the CD version. Each disc could hold 74 or 80 minutes of music, although this could be expanded with later models that could compress the music more to hold up to 320 minutes. The first MiniDisc players were launched in 1992, accompanied by a large advertising campaign touting the benefits of the new format. Initially, Sony tried to pitch it as an alternative to CD, a new format where you would buy albums on a MiniDisc. The first pre-recorded album was Emotions by Mariah Carey, which was perhaps indicative of the state of mind at Sony after the launch was a spectacular failure, with Sony reportedly selling less than 50,000 players in the first year. The MiniDisc never caught on as a pre-recorded music format, as CDs were the music format that everyone used. Never ones to admit defeat, Sony decided to try again in 1996. This time, they decided to play up the recordable and reusable aspects of MiniDisc, touting their new discs and portable players as being tougher, better and cooler than CD or tape, because you could easily move tracks from CD or tape to MiniDisc, then skip or shuffle tracks on the player. This relaunch met with some success: the MiniDisc players were lighter and more flexible than CD players, and they offered the skip protection and shuffle play features that cassette tape players were missing. Other manufacturers (such as Aiwa and Sharp) supported the format and started offering recorders and players. The new breed of portable MiniDisc players could record music directly from the digital output of a CD player, so the quality was great. You could also sacrifice quality for more music, storing up to 320 minutes of audio on those that supported the higher compression levels. One niche market that loved the MiniDisc were radio journalists. The aforementioned ability to write to MiniDiscs meant that you could record to them with many portable MiniDisc devices, and the ATRAC compression worked extremely well for voices and ambient sound recordings. It didn’t have quite the premium audio quality of DAT (Digital Audio Tape), but it was cheaper and more reliable than the notoriously mechanically finicky DAT recorders. The game was soon up, however, when Apple announced the iPod. The benefits of the iPod over the MiniDisc were obvious: the first iPods offered 5GB of capacity that meant up to 1000 songs, or hundreds of hours of music, while each MiniDisc held just 320 minutes at most. And the iPod didn’t ask where the music came from, or limit how you could copy it: it accepted most MP3 files without complaint or limitation. This caused a seismic shift in this industry: the iPod went on to sell millions, while the MiniDisc remained a niche product that was loved by some, but ignored by most. The writing was on the wall. The MiniDisc format lost ground over the early 2000s as MP3 players got better and better. Even the uniqueness of MiniDisc being able to record audio on the player was lost, as solid state recording devices started offering more flexible recording and editing features than MiniDisc ever could for professional users. The Minidisc format was discontinued by Sony in early 2013, though many fan sites and third party resources are still available for a product that never really made it out of a niche.

The photo above was taken by one of my local anonymous sources. It shows the rear of the K Spice African restaurant after a kitchen fire back in July. My source writes:- “I refer in particular to K`s Spice African restaurant which used to be a takeaway, since 2010 became a licensed sit in restaurant causing much noise and disturbance to us all and the anti-social behaviour when it closes at around 11pm drunken customers proceed to their cars in the Pier Road car park, frequently using it as an outside toilet. We have been complaining to the council and police for the last 6 years but nothing seems to ever improve. It has recently been granted planning permission to be knocked through into Mumbai curry house and will become twice the size. I just wanted to mention and publicise that we had a fire here too, Thankfully not anything like the scale of the one that occurred last Monday, but just as scary. It happened on Wednesday 20th July `16 (a really hot day) at 4.50pm. The cooking oil drums which K`s spice stupidly store in their ` rear fire exit` exploded, melting the plastic roof setting fire to the huge piles of cardboard and rubbish also regularly stored here ! The fire brigade said it was `Very poor housekeeping`”. I have to say that I too witnessed the fire; it was only the very rapid arrival of the Fire Brigade that stopped the minor conflagration from turning into a major blaze that would have seriously threatened the flats above the block. K Spice have had brushes with the authorities in the past; they unsuccessfully applied for a very late night licence, which only got refused after strong protests to the council from local residents. You can read the story from back in 2014 here. As I have previously mentioned, I get the impression that several businesses are engaged in a mini "land grab" over Electricity House and the block next to it in Pier Road. I think several savvy local business people are buying up as much of the place as possible, prior to a large developer coming along to buy the entire site for redevelopment. The snooker club recently got sold for £305,000, and as it only brings in £28,000 a year in rent, something is definitely happening. I think that property speculation is going on, and it will not be very long before an offer is made for the entire site - the land is now worth far more than the buildings on it. What do you think? Do you have any information concerning this? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

It would seem that Bexley Council have now belatedly taken action regarding Houses of Multiple Occupancy (HMO). At present only HMOs with three or more floors, containing five or more people in two or more households and with shared facilities need a licence – Bexley has 22 of these properties, although there are thought to be around 1,400 smaller dwellings that under current Bexley rules do not need to be registered. Now, later than most London boroughs, Bexley is finally adopting an “Article 4 Direction” It means that in the future, all HMOs would need planning application approval – and this should come into force early next year. Leader of Bexley Council Teresa O'Neill said in an interview with Bexley Times "We understand residents’ have some concerns around HMOs and it is unfortunate that on occasion these properties are used simply to maximise profits by a small minority of private landlords. We must recognise however, that there is also a need for well managed HMOs in the borough. Many are used by students or young professionals, some are there to ease the enormous housing pressure that we are currently under. But we must have some better local regulation in place. This new licensing scheme is being proposed in the current absence of any nationally applied rules.” The decision to proceed with the new licensing scheme was taken by Cabinet Member for Adult Services, Cllr Brad Smith on the 12th of August. The decision will now be subject to a seven day Council 'call-in' period. Following that the next stage will be a ten week consultation period on the new licensing schemes, during which the Council will engage with tenants, landlords, managing agents and other interested parties. Following consultation the licensing schemes could be introduced from early in 2017.The 'Article 4 Direction' means that in future all HMOs would need planning application approval. The nature of the legislation means that this would come into place late next year. Houses of Multiple Occupancy can be a great success. The former Homeleigh care home in Avenue Road, Erith is a case in point. I have described Avenue Road before as “The Beverly Hills of Erith”. It is a very desirable location, with some lovely detached and semi-detached houses, mostly built in the 1930’s. The former Homeleigh care home now houses a number of formerly homeless people. It was unable to continue as a care home due to changes in planning regulations which meant it was no longer suitable for use as a care home, but there was nothing wrong with the building in itself – and just for once Bexley Council took the pragmatic decision to re-purpose the otherwise functional building. There was initial wariness from local residents about the move, but the feedback I have had recently seems to indicate that the arrangement is working very well indeed. HMO's are not automatically bad - it all depends on how they are set up, managed and regulated.

Over the last week you may well have noticed a number of people on the river front at Erith, and on the Slade Green Crayford Marshes; they were equipped with binoculars and cameras. If you wondered who they were, and what they were doing, then I will explain. The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) conducted its fourth annual seal survey. Combining aerial surveys of the Essex and Kent coastlines, as well as sandbanks in the outer Thames Estuary, with more traditional boat and land-based studies, ZSL’s conservation scientists have been counting latest numbers of the marine mammals, as well as looking out for any emerging health trends. Data collected from the research will reveal any change in harbour seal populations and also highlight the ratio of harbour seals to the larger and more dominant grey seals, which increasingly compete with harbour seals for food and territory. Last year’s ZSL seal survey counted 451 harbour seals and 454 grey seals in the Thames Estuary. The 2016 edition will provide the latest update on these figures and also inform future conservation and management of seals in the region.This will be done through implementing the Greater Thames Seal Action Plan, providing scientific evidence during any planning applications that may impact seals, as well as generating comprehensive population data to inform future research in the region. As I have previously mentioned, the seals swim in the River Thames and often into the River Darent; they often float in the water with their heads above the surface in and around Anchor Bay, and well-meaning passers by on the shore sometimes mistake the seals for swimmers who appear to be in trouble in the water. Indeed, the average survival time for a person in the water is estimated to be eleven minutes, due to the extreme currents and undertow in the river in and around Erith Pier. Obviously the situation is somewhat different for seals – the water is their natural habitat, for which they are perfectly evolved. I understand that at least one RNLI callout recently has been as a result of a misidentified seal mistaken for a swimmer in distress.

This weekend has been the first outing for the limited overnight operation of certain tube lines in London. The end video this week shows the behind the scenes final preparation for the 24 hour tube which were made last weekend, when trial runs were made, and the last safety testing was undertaken. Please feel free to leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.