Abel Kerr.

The photos above were sent to me last Sunday afternoon - they show the aftermath of the terrible hit and run incident that took place at the pedestrian crossing in Queen's Road in Erith. There have been several accounts of precisely what occurred at just before midday last week, but the accounts differ substantially, and at the time of writing the actual turn of events is still unclear. The readers who submitted photographs were on the scene after the incident took place, and were able to record the reaction - including the arrival and subsequent departure of the London Air Ambulance, which landed in the Erith Riverside Gardens, as can be seen in two of the images above. The Queen's Road pedestrian crossing has been the scene of a number of accidents in the past. Thanks to readers Stuart and Miles for supplying the photos and information regarding the serious incident. If you were a witness to the accident, please contact me at hugh.neal@gmail.com in complete confidence. 

A request has been sent to me by Caroline Field, one of the bosses at Orbit Housing Association; Caroline writes:- "We’re about to select names for the new blocks and roads at Park East. As at Erith Park, we’d like to choose names with a real resonance for local people.  If you’ve got suggestions, either for an individual name, or a theme for the whole development, please contact caroline.field@orbit.org.uk.  We can put names forward but they are scrutinised by the Council who have the last say.  We can’t duplicate names which are used elsewhere in the area.  The emergency services also have a veto if they could cause confusion.  For example, we applied to call the main road through Erith Park ‘Erith Park Road’ but it was turned down in case it was confused with the Recreation Ground.  If they are named after a person, they have to have been dead at least fifty years.  We used up a lot of our ideas at Erith Park so we’d really love some new ones". If you have a suggestion and you would rather not contact Caroline directly, please feel free to send your suggestions to me, and I will ensure that they are passed on. One of the historical names that I have suggested could be used as a new road name is that of Kate Gildersleeves - the first female motorist, and the wife of Edward Butler - the real inventor of the motor car. Kate regularly drove the Butler Petrol Cycle around the local area.

You may recall that last week I wrote about a new company called Violet Daycare, which has applied to take over the former, and very controversial Bright Steps Nursery, which was forcibly closed down by the Police and Ofsted after two court appearances, where the judge found the operators of Bright Steps were incapable of running a child minding business after one of the nursery staff had smacked a child in their care, and the nursery management deleted the CCTV footage to hinder the subsequent enquiry. Since the closedown, a couple of other child minding companies have investigated the space in Electricity House, but until very recently, nobody took the plunge. Violet Daycare have now declared their intent to take on the premises with thirteen staff. After one of my most dedicated investigators has looked into the application, and the new company, it would appear that there could well be something shady going on. My source writes:- "The Applicant - Ms Violet Temisan seems to have been childminding for quite some time, but only from her home address given as (redacted) which just so happens to be within a stones throw away from where Pastor Chris Ogedengbe lives". Chris Ogedengbe is the leader of the African Church which shares Electricity House with the nursery, and she has a major financial interest in the building as a whole. As detailed in previous editions, it is known that the original Redeemed Christian Church of God that occupied the former tyre warehouse portion of Electricity House was wound up, and a new organisation called the King's Gen Foundation then took over. I have discovered that this arrangement did not last long, and the original name then soon was back in use. On top of this, a company called The Praise Embassy Limited was established in 2013, but was dissolved in 2017 and removed from the companies register. If this was not confusing enough, there is also her other active company set up in the Pastor's daughter's name - F Playgrounds Ltd. The new church group is being operated by exactly the same people as before, and that the name change is purely an administrative move to try and avoid enforcement actions by Bexley Council. My source continues:- "Checking with Violet Temisan's Facebook account shows connections with the church of "True Jesus Ministries" which her husband Gabriel appears to be involved with. Violet claims to be Ofsted registered etc. but so far I have been unable to find any record of her details ever being forwarded onto Ofsted. Also interesting that someone with limited assets is in a position to launch her very own business?" Link to the Violet Daycare company financial status report that you can read here. It does seem to me very unusual that a registered company with total assets of less than £2000 could be in a position to undertake the very expensive lease and refurbishment commitments that would be required to open a new nursery in the former Bright Steps space within Electricity House, not to mention, how will they fund the wages for the announced thirteen nursery staff?. What do you think? I make no assumptions, but I have to say that the available evidence does not make the situation look good. I hope that I am incorrect. Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

I have found out a strong link between a local company and a short lived, but incredibly popular 1960’s offshore radio station (which were erroneously labelled “pirates” by the popular press, but were in fact no such thing, as they operated outside of British territorial waters, and at least until the 1967 Marine Offences Act, were outside of the law). As I have previously written, Erith based Grooms “The Hygienic Baker”, who began in a shop in West Street in Victorian times, became extremely successful, and later moved into dedicated premises in Belmont Road, Northumberland Heath. This massive bakery also featured stables for the horses that pulled their vans, along with a tack room and even a forge for their dedicated Farrier. The bakery is still there nowadays, though it is now owned by Hovis, and the stables are long gone. What I have uncovered this week is that in the mid 1960’s, Rank Hovis McDougall (the company who took over and absorbed Grooms prior to the advent of British Bakeries, and the later name change to Hovis) were a major sponsor and commercial partner with offshore radio station Radio 390. Radio 390 was located on the abandoned Red Sands sea fort, off the coast of Whitstable. The station was the third enterprise to broadcast from the fort – previously it had been used by Radio Invicta from June 1964 until February 1965, followed by KING Radio from March to September 1965. Both these earlier stations were amateurish affairs, and used a relatively low powered one kilowatt AM transmitter feeding into a rather inefficient antenna system. This meant that their signal was not heard over a wide area, and they struggled to gain a decent audience, and consequently they were largely ignored by advertisers. All this changed with the advent of Radio 390, which was a far more slick and professional, and had both a rather more powerful ten Kilowatt medium wave transmitter (which they told people was actually thirty five Kilowatts, but it wasn't), and a huge and very efficient 297 foot tall vertical antenna mean that the signal of Radio 390 was audible all over London and the South East – the most lucrative market in the UK as far as advertising revenue was concerned. The format of the station was also a complete contrast to that played by the ship based offshore giants – Radio London and Radio Caroline; they both played non – stop pop music. Instead, Radio 390 was firmly targeted at housewives. When regular broadcasts began on the 25th September 1965 at 4pm on a wavelength of 388 Metres (773KHz) the musical format was easy listening, smooth classical and big bands – the first track played was “Moonlight Serenade” by Glenn Miller. While other offshore stations had shows lasting two or three hours, Radio 390's schedule contained a number of short programmes. This was more like a BBC schedule than an offshore one. And, although slightly more warm and informal, the presenters had an almost BBC-ish style too, even to the extent that at the end of each show one of the presenters would give a credit (“South Of The Border was introduced by....”) in the manner of a continuity announcer. As Radio 390 grew, other programmes were added to the mix. There was a daily drama serial, “Doctor Paul”, imported from Australia, and bravely scheduled opposite the BBC Light Programme's long-established Mrs. Dale's Diary; and there were shows devoted to musicals, blues, country and light classical music. After only three weeks on the air, the station was receiving some five hundred fan letters a day. By May 1966 National Opinion Polls estimated the station's audience as 2.6 million listeners, a majority of whom were women. This was an absolute goldmine for the advertisers, who flocked to the station in droves. Back in the sixties, it was less common for women, especially once they were married to go out to work; many stayed at home and looked after the children. They had almost complete control over domestic purchases such as brands of food and cleaning materials. The fact that Radio 390 very cleverly targeted this audience meant that advertisers were prepared to pay high rates to get their commercials broadcast; companies that took out ambitious and successful campaigns on Radio 390 included The News of the World, and the magazine Reveille, along with a host of smaller companies, but the biggest of the lot was for Mother’s Pride bread, which was produced by Rank Hovis McDougall in the Northumberland Heath bakery. There is some evidence to suggest that the advertising campaign and programme sponsorship on Radio 390 was so extensive that the baker became an investor and business partner in the radio station during the summer of 1966, though as the Government began to take action to stop the offshore stations, and prepared to introduce the Marine Offences Act, many investors decided to distance themselves from offshore broadcasting altogether. In September 1966, Radio 390 was taken to court for the first in a series of cases where they were accused of broadcasting from within British territorial limits. The cases were fought, and one by one they were lost by the station, they appealed, then lost the appeal; by the summer of 1967 the Marine Offences Act passed into law, and all offshore stations with the exception of Radio Caroline had ceased broadcasting. Radio 390 was also such a casualty. The station is largely forgotten now, but in 1966 it was one of the biggest radio hits in the UK, and had a real connection with the local area, thanks to the power of Mother’s Pride and the Northumberland Heath former Groom's bakery!

Many readers will have seen the sign above, which is located on the side of the Wat Tyler pub in Dartford High Street, as seen in the upper of the two photographs above - click on either for a larger view. The pub is one of the oldest buildings in Dartford. The statement on the sign that Wat Tyler and members of his band drank at the pub before going to London to air their grievances to King Richard II is actually fanciful, tourist serving rubbish. The pub was actually known as the Crown and Anchor until 1966. The pub in any case, whilst very old, was not built until around 100 years after the Peasants Revolt. What is also interesting is that Wat Tyler gets all of the credit and fame for the Peasants Revolt, but in reality he was not even the leader of the group when it started. Here is some background to the Peasants Revolt, and what sparked it. By 1380, medieval Europe was in a shambles. There was plague and famine: The Black Death in 1348 had killed as much as one-half of the entire continent. The Hundred Years War between England and France, meanwhile, was dragging on and on. Religious law held sway, and people lived in ignorance and superstition. There was a rigidly hierarchical social structure that had existed for centuries, which fixed forever one’s place in society—one inherited the job of one’s father, whether it was a farm labourer or pig-keeper, an artisan like a blacksmith or carpenter, or a nobleman. It was a horrible time to be alive. In an odd irony, the devastation wrought by war and plague actually made things better in some ways for the peasantry. With so many people gone, there was now both a large amount of unoccupied land and a severe shortage of peasant labour to work it. The balance of economic power had unexpectedly swung to the favour of the peasantry, and they tried to take full advantage: demands were made for higher pay, better living conditions, and more land. The nobility fought back using pure repression: royal decrees were sent which limited the amount of pay and land a peasant could get and which restricted his movements, forcing him to stay on the manor estate on which he was born and preventing him from leaving to find work elsewhere. As social tensions became ever greater, an explosion was inevitable. In 1381, the English King was Richard II, only 14 years old. The real power lay with the advisors who ruled in his stead—especially with the King’s uncle, John of Gaunt. It was John who decided that the royal treasury needed more money to pay for the interminable war with France, so he created a new “poll tax”. This had nothing to do with an electoral poll: it was a simple head tax, to be paid by every adult male and married female in the country—and the same amount was to be paid by everyone regardless of how wealthy or poor they were. Today, we would consider this to be blatantly unfair—and so did the medieval peasantry. But while modern citizens can protest unfair taxes by voting and petitions, medieval people had no political or social rights at all—they were little better than slaves. Some of England’s peasantry found a way to avoid paying the new poll tax. England’s government depended upon local church records of marriages, births and deaths to keep track of each area’s census, and this record was often incomplete. Sometimes by bribery or favour, but mostly just by oversight and error, many people—as much as one-third of the population in some areas—did not actually appear on the tax rolls and therefore never paid the tax. When the King’s treasurers added up the money, they found that they were short. And so, they made the near-fatal decision to send in “commissioners” to find all the ones who had avoided the tax and make them pay up. The heavy-handed methods used by these commissioners provoked widespread resentment; many people were forced to pay another tax even though they had already paid the first time. On the 2nd June 1381, Lesnes Abbey in what is now known as Abbey Wood, was attacked by a mob of peasants armed with farm tools, led by a man named Abel Kerr, who was from Erith, and thought to have been a fisherman by trade. The Abbey quickly surrendered, and the tax records kept inside were burned. At the same time, other rebel leaders had gathered in the village of Bocking, in Essex, to draw up a manifesto. This was no disorganised mob of bandits and malcontents: it was an extraordinarily well-disciplined group of social rebels who knew exactly what they wanted to achieve, and now formed a comprehensive plan for how to get it. At Bocking they declared that while they had no quarrel with the young King Richard, they sought the removal of many of his advisors, including John of Gaunt. But they also put out a radical new demand: “to have no laws of England, only which they themselves had moved to be ordained”. It was the first time in European history that anyone had demanded that common people have the right to make their own laws. In a series of coded messages, word of the rebellion and its aims was sent to most of southern England. Within a week, the rebels had gathered an army of peasantry led by Abel Kerr - untrained and not well-armed, but large enough to pose a serious threat. Some of its officers were English Army troops who had been ordered to France but had deserted instead. The first target was the castle at Rochester, where a local serf was being held on charges of running away from his manor lord. The rebels took the castle without a fight—the serfs inside had opened the gates and let them in. Other strongholds soon followed. At around this time - records are somewhat imprecise (very few of the people involved in the Peasants Revolt were literate, and history tends to be written by the victors), a new leader of the revolt emerged; a man called Walter "Wat" whose profession was a house roof tiler - and thus got the name Wat Tyler. At this point, the Peasant Revolt took its most amazing turn of all - Wat Tyler and his men, numbering at least 60,000, decided to march on London, capture the Archbishop, and present their demands for reform to King Richard II himself. At the same time, other peasant armies from Cambridge and Essex converged on London (stopping along the way long enough to behead the chief royal tax collector in Essex and burn all the tax rolls). They began to arrive on the evening of June the 12th . As more and more groups of peasants approached, the young King and his councillors fled to the safety of the royal fortress at The Tower of London, the most secure place in the city and impossible for any but the most powerful and well-equipped army to take by force. But once in the Tower, the royal government was itself effectively trapped: the entire population of London at the time was only 40,000 people, and with most of the English Army away fighting in France there was only a small garrison of a few hundred in the city, enough to protect the King inside the fortress, but not enough to go out and drive away the much large peasant army in combat. There then occurred one of the most extraordinary events in English history: the young King Richard II and some of his advisors boarded a river barge and sailed to the place where the peasant army was encamped. Remaining on the boat, safe from possible capture, the King of England began talks with the rebellious peasantry. Unsure of how large the rebellion was, or even what the rebels wanted, Richard II at first simply demanded that the insurgent army should disperse and go home. Instead, the rebels submitted a list of names—high-ranking advisors to the King, many of whom were right there on the boat with him—which they wanted handed over to them for “justice”. Richard refused, and the barge returned to the Tower. The rebels decided to follow him. The demands the peasants wanted were divided into two groups; the first group were:- "End to serfdom (bonded labour). Free market (i.e. serfs could sell produce wherever they liked). Land rent to be reduced to 4d per acre. Free pardon for anyone involved in the uprising". The second group of demands were:- "Abolition of the aristocracy (except for the King). Abolition of the senior clergy (except for John Ball, as the next Archbishop of Canterbury). Local courts. Local police forces". These demands made, Pouring towards London, the peasants were joined by city residents who sympathised with them. On June 13th, the mass of people made their way to the only place where they could cross the River Thames - London Bridge. After entering the city, they killed a number of lawyers at the Courts of Justice and burned the estate house of the King’s uncle John of Gaunt (Gaunt himself was away in Scotland). Gathering up the stores of silver, gold and jewellery there, the rebels neither stole it nor redistributed it: instead, they dumped it all into the Thames. This was not an act of mere theft or looting: it was a conscious and deliberate political protest. By nightfall, the peasants controlled almost all of London. Richard II was now a virtual prisoner inside The Tower of London. Nearly half of the entire country was in revolt. The English peasantry—viewed by the nobility as savages who were barely above an animal level of ability—had organised a nationwide uprising, formed a powerful military force, planned and carried out a targeted campaign of political violence, and now had the royal government itself on its knees. At this point, though, the rebels were still rather naively convinced that the King was not their enemy—was perhaps even a supporter—but was being misled by bad advisors, and could be won to respect the rights of common Englishmen if only they could talk to him. Through a messenger, King Richard, having really no choice, sent word to the rebel leaders: he would ride out and meet them the following day. Then the rebels casually mentioned that they also wanted the heads of several of the King’s advisors. Richard left, promising only that the councillors would “receive justice”. The crowd followed, all the way to the Tower. In 300 years, The Tower of London had never fallen in battle, but when the peasants arrived, they found the gates open, probably by sympathisers. Swarming inside, they quickly found the Archbishop of Canterbury—who they held responsible for the poll tax—and beheaded him in the Tower’s chapel. The treasury minister soon followed. By the end of the day, convinced they had won all their demands, most of the peasant army left London and began the long walk home to the countryside. One small group of rebels remained behind. Led by Wat Tyler, they wanted more, and confronted King Richard the next day.  It is not clear how much of what happened on June 15, 1381, was planned and how much was accidental. With the rebel force now reduced to about 300 men and the hardcore leadership of the revolt in front of him, Richard II, though just a boy of 14, may have seen an opportunity to save his kingdom with his own force of about 200 men, and may have set up the meeting as a trap for the rebel leader, willing to risk everything in a final fight. Wat Tyler and King Richard met on horseback in the centre of the field, with their retinues behind them. As Tyler began to list his demands, a scuffle broke out involving one of the King’s squires. Tyler was attacked by the Mayor of London and stabbed, falling wounded off his horse. And then, just as it seemed that open combat would break out, the young Richard II boldly rode up to the peasant forces and shouted, “You shall have no other King but me—follow me!” He led them off to another nearby field. The wounded Tyler was taken inside a nearby chapel. And then, whether pre-planned or not, the final blow fell. As the peasant force gathered behind the King, every available royal force in London was quickly moved to surround them. Tyler, meanwhile, was dragged out into the street by royal troops and beheaded. The severed head was delivered to the King just as the royal troops surrounded them. The rebels all dropped their weapons and surrendered. With their leader dead, the bulk of their army disbanded, and the belief that the King was on their side shattered, the Peasant Revolt died almost as quickly as it had arisen. King Richard’s retribution was swift. Determined that such a revolt could never happen again, he hunted down and killed every rebel leader he could find — hundreds were executed by “hanging, drawing and quartering”, others were beheaded or hung. Thousands more were unofficially executed by local authorities, without even a trial. Of the rebel leaders, all but one were killed by the authorities. The only survivor was Abel Kerr, who mysteriously disappeared and was never heard from again. Whether he assumed a new identity, or was smuggled out of the country, we may never know. Whilst the story of the Peasants Revolt and the failed coup by Wat Tyler is well known, the leading role of Erith resident Abel Kerr is almost unknown. Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Now for the weekly local safety and security updates from Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association. Firstly the report from Barnehurst ward:- "Another burglary free week on Barnehurst Ward, and only three motor vehicle crimes to report. Overnight of Tuesday 14th January there was a theft of a catalytic converter from a Lexus in Parkside Avenue. On the morning of Thursday 16th January at Barnehurst Junior school, Barnehurst Close a victim had her car broken into and her bag taken. And finally between 08:00 and 11:30 on Monday 20th January in Twigg Close a vehicle was broken into and an untidy search conducted however it is believed nothing was taken. The team have been conducting patrols in various drug hotspots which resulted in a known male being searched and consequently arrested by PC Arif outside Sainsbury's on Erith Road. The next community contact session has been arranged for 11am on the Wednesday 5th February at Barnehurst Golf Course. Please feel free to come along and have your say". Belvedere ward:- "There have been recent burglaries reported in areas across the ward in the last few weeks – in New Road where entry was gained via a window at the front of the property and also in Heathdene Drive, Glendale Road and Ashburnham Road, where doors to the rear of each location were damaged substantially in order to gain entry. It appears that (in the case of Glendale and Ashburnham Road) the alleyways between residential properties are being used to access gardens. The team have been regularly conducting high visibility patrols of these alleyways as well as the affected areas. There have been several instances of shoplifting taking place in Albert Road, and from one shop in particular where a male has been acting in a threatening manner toward shop staff in order to obtain alcohol from the shop. The team have been working closely with the shop owner in order to identify the male responsible and will be making further enquiries in the coming days. Also, there have been 5 garages broken into in Tyeshurst Close recently – garage owners were unaware as the garages are not regularly attended. It appears that items were taken from two of the garages. Our next Street a Week event is due to take place on Monday 27th January 2020 at 5pm in Blakemore Way". Bexleyheath ward - from a Neighbourhood Watch member:- "A neighbour received a a scam call during the week. It was from someone claiming to be in connection with his washing machine and said that he needed to renew his insurance. His washing machine is in his wife's name and they don't have insurance so he thought it very odd. The person on the phone wanted him to give his credit card details. The number the call came from was 02033167819. I have looked it up and there isn't a lot of activity reported on this number but there was one person saying they'd received a call about washing machine insurance. Just wanted to let you know so that you could warn others not to be fooled in to giving their credit card details out over the phone". From the Safer Neighbourhood Team:- "Sadly we have had some robberies on the ward this week it appears that there is a group targeting school children for their mobile phones and airpods. This has also been an issue in Welling and as such there has been a heightened police presence in both areas and will be for some time. If anyone has any information regarding the identities of the robbers please do contact 101. Safety advice for any young person at the moment is to go straight home after school". Crayford ward - no report this week. Erith ward - no report  this week. Northumberland Heath ward:- "On the 17th Jan at approximately 20:58hrs the London Fire brigade reported a burnt motor bike, which was unidentifiable in Northumberland Heath Recreation grounds. Residents have also been reporting anti-social behaviour with youths driving Moped on Sussex road, Wheelock Close. Officers were able to identify some of the individuals involved and have now been issued S.59 warnings.( police powers to size vehicles for careless driving). Northumberland Heath have been working with the ASB team within Bexley Council and have completed an application for a new CCTV camera to be placed outside Northumberland Park and Sussex Road. On Saturday the 18 of January a victim had her handbag stolen while walking away from Mill Road to Charlieville Road via an alleyway located to the right of North Heath Social Club. As the victim was trying to pull her handbag away from the suspect , the victim has fallen on the floor and has resulted her receiving injuries including a broken finger and lower arms. A report of theft of number plates at Wilde Road. A catalytic converter has been stolen from a vehicle on Sussex Road. Another catalytic converter has been taken on The Drive, Erith. A witness has provided police with the suspects registration number. There are ongoing investigations being completed. Theft of a motorbike from Becton place. There has been reports of shoplifting at Tesco's on Bexley Road. Unfortunately there has been another report of a Burglary on Eastry Road". Slade Green and Northend ward:- "A pushbike and tools were stolen from a garage in Hazel Road between 17th and 18th of January. If you have a garage, please ensure the locks are secure. An Amazon delivery van was stolen from Slade Green Road at 5.20pm on Sunday 19th January. Fortunately the van and all the parcels were recovered a short while later in Belvedere but the driver has been advised not to leave his engine running while making deliveries. A male was found in possession of drugs in Daleview by PC Telfer on Sunday evening and the necessary warning forms were given to the suspect. PCSO Mark attended Slade ARA retirement group with our Ward Panel chair , Sandra Fox (who works for Barclays Bank) on Tuesday where they gave a talk around phone, internet and bank scams to all the members. Mark also attended Peareswood Primary school on Friday afternoon visiting all the classes during the end of week “Golden Time” where all the pupils have half an hour to take part in various activities of their choosing". From Member of the Public - in Dabbling Close:-"At approximately 12.55 hrs on Wednesday 22nd January a silver Kia pulled up outside my house, two men got out and cut the catalytic convertor off of my Toyota Pruis. This incident was captured on my Ring doorbell. The men were white wearing hoodies, aged in 20-30 and approx. 5'8'' A woman was driving their car". Thamesmead East ward:- "Burglary - Birkdale Close Monday 20/1/20 between 9:30am - 11:00am. Victim arrived home at 12:13 to find the front door smashed open by suspect/s unknown. Victim entered the property and found an untidy search of a bedroom, no other rooms within the property had been disturbed. Catalytic converter Theft - Mangold Way on Friday 17/01/20 between 8:45am – 11:25am from a Toyota Prius; Toyota Auris. Alsike Road – Friday 17/01/20 between 12:05am – 4:51pm.  Motor vehicle crimes - Yarnton Way Saturday 18/01/20 between 3:30am – 2:15pm unknown suspect/s smashed window to vehicle carrying out an untidy search, no property stolen. Hartslock Drive Mon 18/1/20 between 6:43am – 6:44am victim reports a male suspect has kicked the rear passenger door causing a dent. Report crime by calling 101 or in an emergency call 999". West Heath ward:- "One attempted burglary in Exmouth Road on Tuesday January 21/01/20. A male was seen at 01.56am on a ring doorbell trying the door handle before getting in to a car and driving away. No current information in relation to the vehicle. Theft of a catalytic converter from First Avenue on Friday 17/01/2019 at 13.06. The victim's neighbour saw the suspects tampering with the vehicle on their CCTV and alerted Police .A power drill was stolen from a work van parked in Lenham Road between Wednesday 15/01/20 21.20 – Thursday 16/01/20 .Entry to the vehicle was gained by drilling in to the lock on a side door. Last Saturday, we held our quarterly Ward Panel Meeting which was well attended. The panel decided that the current priorities would stay the same Burglary, Motor Vehicle Crime and ASB/ Drugs".

The end video this week features something of a dying industry - the door to door milk delivery. The company Milk and More have their depot in Brook Street, Northumberland Heath. This short film describes the service, and how many of their staff have worked undertaking doorstep deliveries for decades. I wonder if this service can hold out much longer against the giant supermarkets. I certainly hope so. Comments to hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Moat House - a year on.

It is now just over a year since the fire that destroyed the roof and much of the upper storey of Moat House, the affordable rent apartment block in James Watt Way, Erith. The block had been open for less than two months before the fire happened. The block is still empty and covered with scaffolding as you can see in the photo above - click on the photo for a larger view. I have asked for updates from Moat Housing Association and other parties, but information has not been very forthcoming. I understand that the cause of the fire was thought to be down to a faulty voltage inverter on the solar panels installed on the roof of the block, but little if any detail has been released. When I most recently contacted Moat for an update, the only response I got from them was from their public relations department, which read:- "We have been working hard to bring the building back into use. Damage to the building was caused not only by the fire but also by the action taken by the fire brigade who pumped water into the building and the frame to ensure that the fire was fully extinguished. As a result, we have had to wait for the frame of the building to dry out fully before being able to restore the building. Clearly we will be bringing the building back into use as soon as we can and in the meantime we continue to work with Bexley Council to source other accommodation for the residents". This all sounds rather weak and designed to fob off any serious enquiries. Do you know any differently? Drop me a line to hugh.neal@gmail.com in confidence.

I have noticed a number of advertising posters on bus stops and hoardings around the local area over the last few weeks. The posters in question have a banner headline “Amazon are recruiting in Tilbury” and are encouraging local candidates to apply for positions within the expanding company. Putting aside any arguments in respect the working practises and conditions in an Amazon warehouse, one may also wonder why the adverts are appearing in Erith, Lower Belvedere and Northumberland Heath. I think the advertising may be somewhat misplaced; as you may well have experienced in the past, the “find my nearest branch” functionality of many companies websites can sometimes return some rather strange answers when the River Thames is involved. The algorithm that the find function uses in in many cases based on “as the crow flies” distances, rather than practically navigable distances, as this is a far simpler system to implement, and is “just good enough” in many cases. I get the feeling that the advertising agency employed by Amazon drew a circle on a map a number of miles around the location of the new distribution centre in Tilbury, and then rented advertising hoardings in areas contained within the circle.  Many of the jobs currently on offer at the Amazon depot are at the lower end of the salary band, and are likely to appeal to people who are not particularly well off, and quite possibly will not have access to a car. Travelling from the local area to Tilbury by public transport is a slow and quite arduous experience, and one that I feel would deter many people from applying for the roles on offer. It seems to me that Amazon have missed a major point in their targeted advertising. I know that I am not alone in wondering exactly why they had swamped the local area with advertising – it may have been an oversight on the part of their advertising consultants. If you don't have a car and live in Bexley, commuting to Tilbury on a daily basis might as well be Las Vegas. 

In a move that has not surprised many, Bexley Council have extended their trial of the controversial outsourced litter patrols until this time next year. The patrols, run by Kingdom Environmental Ltd were featured using some underhand, if not outright illegal tactics on a BBC Panorama documentary shown earlier this year. It was thought at the time that Bexley would use the findings of the undercover BBC investigation to terminate the Kingdom contract early, but the opposite seems to be the case. In any case, I have doubts about its efficacy; the litter patrols seem to be almost exclusively confined to Bexleyheath Broadway. From what I have been told, when the patrols were extended to Erith and Slade Green, they quickly returned to Bexleyheath after they found slim pickings. They have been termed the “butt police” by some local commenters – which seems to be appropriate, as even Kingdom Environmental’s own statistics show that 94.4 percent of fines were issued for cigarette butts – I guess that this is because they are regarded as “easy pickings” by the enforcement officers. What they are doing about fly tipping and other forms of littering are currently somewhat unclear. It would seem very little. Do you have any experiences regarding the “butt police” – what do you think? 

  

The photos above show the flower beds in the Erith Riverside Gardens. You may recall that these were replanted at great expense some months ago. I expressed my frustration at the time that after all of the new dwarf bushes were planted, they were subsequently not watered during a period of heat heat and absolutely no rain. I am a member of FORGE (Friends of Riverside Gardens Erith) and I raised the matter with them; it turns out that Bexley Council limit what FORGE can do in respect of maintaining the gardens, as the work is outsourced to a private company. I have since discovered that the private company has been cheating the Bexley council tax payer. A well - placed confidential source has passed me some information that leads me to suspect that the contractor was playing more than a little fast and loose in respect of the work they were being paid for in the Riverside Gardens. After a recent audit, it was determined that the contractor had not been weeding the flower beds, and of the 3,000 plants that should have been planted, 1,200 were never planted, and of the 1,800 that were planted, they were not watered, and subsequently approximately ninety percent of them have now died. As you can see in the photos above (click on either for a larger view), all of the plants that are brown are actually dead. The contractor is legally obliged to replace dead and missing plants, and has already been subject to a substantial financial penalty. The remedial work has to be completed by the 1st of December, or a further penalty will be imposed. If they had just done the job properly in the first place, instead of skimping, none of this need have happened. The other problem this highlights is that the prime growing period is in late Spring and early Summer - a time that has now passed. Newly planted bushes may well not thrive if introduced into the flower beds in the Autumn. 

Semi regular Maggot Sandwich contributor Dana Wiffen has, after the recent and ongoing problems with SouthEastern Trains, written the following open letter to his MP, James Brokenshire; I think it may well be of interest, and strike a chord with many readers. See what you think:- "COMMUTERS AND TRAVELLERS TO LONDON BEWARE! Transport Minister Chris Grayling wants to destroy your choice of destination stations into London. I thought the massive engineering work at London Bridge was meant to relieve the pressure on trains being bottle-necked at London Bridge and therefore this would make everyone’s commute into Waterloo East, Charing Cross, Cannon Street and of course London Bridge stations easier. Oh no, Chris Grayling has other ideas, firstly he voices his thoughts that all trains on the Bexleyheath Line should only travel to Cannon Street, then when there is an outcry followed by a protest and petition, he says I probably won’t do that but I may halt services to Victoria Station as they are not as busy as the other routes into London terminuses. Here is a message for Chris Grayling, the Victoria route is busy, many passengers use it to travel to Kings Hospital (Denmark Hill Station) or to Victoria Coach Station (Victoria Train Station). Just because you can get a seat on this service does not mean it is underused, this is how the other services should be! The Transport Minister clearly does not understand the awful conditions suffered by commuters on SE-Trains, with overcrowding, signal failures, and train failures a constant problem. Promised longer trains have not materialised on the Bexleyheath Line and his comments that Crossrail when it opens in 2018, that it will relieve some of the problems and the need for the Victoria trains is ill advised and wrong. Instead of coming out with these crazy ideas, firstly concentrate on getting the London Bridge engineering works completed, then get rid of the useless SE-Train operators and either hand it to a new and better operator or let TFL run it. Improve and expand the choices of destinations to Victoria, Cannon Street, Waterloo East, Charing Cross and Cannon Street so that they can be reached from all lines, Woolwich, Bexley and Bexleyheath. Ensure that all commuters are able to travel on clean and on time trains that do not constantly break down and with plenty of carriages. His job is to listen to SE-Commuters who pay a fortune for travelling on poor train services most of the time and not look at ways of saving money and making it more difficult to travel to and from work. He has already lost his Party bucket loads of votes in the last election, would you vote for a party that helps support an operator that provides a useless service, and then threatens to make it even worse for commuters who have to go through even more hell than usual because of the engineering works around London Bridge?" What do you think? Leave a comment below, or alternatively Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com. 

I have had several Emails from readers over the last week asking me why I did not cover the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Marine Offences Act coming into force, which happened last Sunday. To be honest there are a couple of reasons; firstly the event had been extensively covered by the mainstream press - both Sky News (with an absolutely dreadful, badly filmed and very inaccurate piece) and the BBC News (with a far better article that was actually historically and technically accurate) covered the anniversary in some depth. Radio Caroline - the only offshore station to stay on air after the MOA came into force, also ran a series of events to commemorate the passing of the hated bill. Ironically the isolation and operational restrictions the new law brought into force back in 1967 coincided with the most creative and inspiring period in Caroline's history, when they switched from being a top 40 pop station to being Europe's first album station, and created a unique sound which many listeners still feel was their finest period - and something that they have returned to in the present. Secondly, I was only one month old when the MOA came into force, and thus was not best placed to have any involvement in the situation at that time. My involvement in Radio Caroline came far later - in the late 80's / early 90's when things were far different. You can see my photos from my time with the station by clicking here. There is a local historical connection to an offshore radio station, though it was not Caroline. Northumberland Heath based Grooms “The Hygienic Baker”, who began in a shop in West Street in Victorian times, became extremely successful, and later moved into dedicated premises in Belmont Road, Northumberland Heath, where it is to this day. This massive bakery also featured stables for the horses that pulled their vans, along with a tack room and even a forge for their dedicated Farrier. The bakery is still there nowadays, though it is now owned by British Bakeries, and the stables are long gone. Something now little known is that in the mid 1960’s, Rank Hovis McDougall (the company who took over and absorbed Grooms prior to the advent of British Bakeries) were a major sponsor and commercial partner with offshore radio station Radio 390. Radio 390 was located on the abandoned Red Sands sea fort, off the coast of Whitstable. The station was the third enterprise to broadcast from the fort – previously it had been used by Radio Invicta from June 1964 until February 1965, followed by KING Radio from March to September 1965. Both these earlier stations were amateurish affairs, and used a relatively low powered one kilowatt AM transmitter feeding into a rather inefficient antenna system. This meant that their signal was not heard over a wide area, and they struggled to gain a decent audience, and consequently they were largely ignored by advertisers. All this changed with the advent of Radio 390, which was a far more slick and professional organisation, and had both a rather more powerful ten Kilowatt medium wave transmitter (which they told people was actually thirty five Kilowatts, but it wasn't), and a huge and very efficient 297 foot tall vertical antenna mean that the signal of Radio 390 was audible all over London and the South East – the most lucrative market in the UK as far as advertising revenue was concerned. The format of the station was also a complete contrast to that played by the ship based offshore giants – Radio London and Radio Caroline; they both played non – stop pop music. Instead, Radio 390 was firmly targeted at housewives. When regular broadcasts began on the 25th September 1965 at 4pm on a wavelength of 388 Metres (773KHz) the musical format was easy listening, smooth classical and big bands – the first track played was “Moonlight Serenade” by Glenn Miller. While other offshore stations had shows lasting two or three hours, Radio 390's schedule contained a number of short programmes. This was more like a BBC schedule than an offshore one. And, although slightly more warm and informal, the presenters had an almost BBC-ish style too, even to the extent that at the end of each show one of the presenters would give a credit (“South Of The Border was introduced by....”) in the manner of a continuity announcer. As Radio 390 grew, other programmes were added to the mix. There was a daily drama serial, “Doctor Paul”, imported from Australia, and bravely scheduled opposite the BBC Light Programme's long-established Mrs. Dale's Diary; and there were shows devoted to musicals, blues, country and light classical music. After only three weeks on the air, the station was receiving some five hundred fan letters a day. By May 1966 National Opinion Polls estimated the station's audience as 2.6 million listeners, a majority of whom were women. This was an absolute goldmine for the advertisers, who flocked to the station in droves. Back in the sixties, it was less common for women, especially once they were married to go out to work; many stayed at home and looked after the children. They had almost complete control over domestic purchases such as brands of food and cleaning materials. The fact that Radio 390 very cleverly targeted this audience meant that advertisers were prepared to pay high rates to get their commercials broadcast; companies that took out ambitious and successful campaigns on Radio 390 included The News of the World, and the magazine Reveille, along with a host of smaller companies, but the biggest of the lot was for Mother’s Pride bread, which was produced by Rank Hovis McDougall in the Northumberland Heath bakery. There is some evidence to suggest that the advertising campaign and programme sponsorship on Radio 390 was so extensive that the baker became an investor and business partner in the radio station during the summer of 1966, though as the Government began to take action to stop the offshore stations, and prepared to introduce the 1967 Marine Offences Act, many investors decided to distance themselves from offshore broadcasting altogether. In September 1966, Radio 390 was taken to court for the first in a series of cases where they were accused of broadcasting from within British territorial limits. The cases were fought, and one by one they were lost by the station, they appealed, then lost the appeal; by the summer of 1967 the Marine Offences Act passed into law, and all offshore stations with the exception of Radio Caroline had ceased broadcasting. Radio 390 was also such a casualty. The station is largely forgotten now, but in 1966 it was one of the biggest radio hits in the UK, and had a real connection with the local area, thanks to the power of Mother’s Pride and the Northumberland Heath former Groom's bakery!

Now to some crime reports from Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association; firstly from the Northumberland Heath Ward:- "Just a reminder that there is a litter pick on Tuesday 22nd August between 4pm-7pm. Please meet at Mill Road Car Park at 4pm. The Car Park, Alleyways and High Street are to be cleared. All residents welcome. There appears to be an increase of vans being stolen across the borough, one has been stolen in Parsonage Manor Way, and one from Becton Place in the last week .Both vehicles were work vans . If possible please do not leave any paperwork or tools on show and remove valuable tools from your vehicles. A black Jaguar has been stolen from Winchelsea Avenue on Saturday August 12th at approximately 2000 hours. We are pleased to report no reported burglaries in Northumberland Heath in the last week, however a resident has reported someone climbing over her rear garden wall in the alleyway behind the chicken shop in Bexley Road. Please be vigilant and remember to close all windows and ensure all doors are locked when leaving your property unattended. There has been reports of drug exchanges taking place in Limewood Road and reports of nuisance vehicles and bikes congregating outside the Northumberland Heath Recreation Ground. Our next drop in Police surgery will be held on Thursday August 24th at 1pm in the Northumberland Heath Library in Mill Road Erith". Thamesmead East Ward:- "No Burglaries to report this week. Vehicle crime reported as follows - Theft of Motor Vehicle, Haldene Road, 11th August 2017; Theft from Motor Vehicle, Haldene Road, 11th August 2017, vehicle parts removed. Female arrested for possession of cannabis, Templar Drive, enquiries ongoing. Due to recent vehicle crime, the team have been patrolling areas targeted and are looking to use the CCTV van in the future". Erith Ward - from Police SNT Team - PCSO Adam Winch:- "Over the last week we have checked car parks for any would-be thieves, patrolled in the pouring rain we had on Wednesday – I got completely soaked twice! Found a lost Staffordshire Bull terrier, we hope is now with their owner, visited and had a coffee in the new lighthouse near Erith Pier. Extra patrols carried out in Franks park, Including early morning patrols. Visited and wished luck to the new Pie and Mash shop which opened 14/8/17  next door to Sams 99p store. The next police SNT surgery is at Morrison's on Friday 25th August at 4pm. Please feel free to pop along!" Christ Church Ward - From Police SNT Team - PC Ian Williamson:- "There have been 2 reports of Criminal Damage to motor vehicles. One within Palmer Road and one in Broomfield Road, where an arrest has been made. There has also been a Criminal damage report in both Rowan Road and Robin Hood Lane. There has been a theft of motor vehicle in Heversham Road and there have been two serious assaults around the Broadway area one of which an arrest has been made and the second the investigation continues but an arrest is highly likely. The team have also been liaising with second hand shops / pawnbrokers within the ward with a view to deterring the distribution of stolen goods passing through these premises. PC Laing and PCSO Little stopped a youth with cannabis on the ward and the youth offending team and taking this forward". Belvedere Ward - From Police SNT Team - PC Ash Green:- "The Belvedere Team have been very busy this week. Following reports of vans being broken into in the Travelodge car park, Clydesdale Way we have stepped our patrols in the area and been more of a visible presence while residents have been out at work during the day. We would like to use this opportunity to remind people that it is imperative to remove valuables from vehicles. We have regularly been patrolling our regular hot spots and have been posting pictures on Twitter. We have received reports of groups of youths on bikes causing a nuisance in the Upper Belvedere / Nuxley Road area and as and have stopped many youths on bikes in Upper Belvedere to provide them with some brief cycle safety advice and take their details. PC Green has taken numerous statements and CCTV relating to shopliftings in both Upper and Lower Belvedere. We are working with staff, particularly in Upper Belvedere, to deter the shoplifters. PC Green has also continued investigating and progressing the issue of motorcycle and vehicular ASB in Lower Belvedere". Barnehurst Ward - From Police SNT Team - PC Mark Laker:- "Another good week for Barnehurst ward crime-wise with only one crime of note reported (please note we do not include domestic crimes in this update) unfortunately a red Honda JF57 scooter was stolen from outside an address in Parkside avenue, the scooter registration number LM65 XXR was parked under the front window of a property secured with a chain on the back wheel and was taken between 8pm -10pm on the 8th August . If you have a bike of any kind please make sure that if possible it is secured to an anchor point. Please see our Twitter page - @MPSBarnehurst - for crime prevention advice. On Monday 14th we received reports of youths climbing over a car in Martens Avenue, thankfully no damage was caused, our ASB Patrols continue in and around our parks and open spaces We have seen some excellent results with very little ASB reported to us".

Since I wrote the piece on illegal moped riders a couple of weeks ago, I have been doing some research into how the problem of illegal, stolen mopeds and motor bikes is dealt with in other parts of the world. It would seem that British Police, and the Metropolitan Police in particular are rather more liberal and forgiving than Police in certain other parts of the world. I have watched countless YouTube videos of Police chases in Brazil; the officers pursuing criminals on bikes generally give the fleeing criminals a blast of the siren and a flash of the lights – and if the criminals do not immediately pull over, the officers use their car to ram the offender off the road; indeed some Police cars seem to be fitted with reinforced bumpers specially designed for such a task. There is even one video of Brazilian drug enforcement officers ramming a drug smuggling plane on an improvised jungle runway to stop it taking off. It would also would seem that some other police forces around the world also use a higher percentage of officers on motorbikes to pursue illegal bikers, and they do not give up the chase if it turns potentially dangerous for the criminals. You can see an example here. I am not of the opinion that the Met should take up this tactic on a routine basis, but it does occur to me that it ought to be an option available to them in certain specific circumstances. I don’t think that very many Londoners would strongly object to a policy of this nature. I think that many people are sick and tired of the crime wave carried out mainly by teenagers on stolen bikes on false number plates. Members of the public are losing patience with the Police, who seem to be powerless to stop them. I know that in reality this is not the case, and certainly in Bexley, the Police have got illegal bikers as one of their three highest priorities. I feel that the problem in part comes from central government and the Metropolitan Police leadership, who effectively hamper the actions of the officers “on the ground” with excessively restrictive rules of engagement. What I really fail to understand is why the bikers are obsessed with wheelies – they seem to spend as much time as they are physically able to on their back wheel. Why? What is the point? It would be just as effective and considerably cheaper to have “I am a complete pillock” tattooed across each of their foreheads. Bike Life TV UK don’t just ride around intimidating other road users and pedestrians, I understand that some of their members are involved in other types of crime. I have heard it said (but not confirmed) that some gang members move drugs around Thamesmead and Plumstead using junior gang members as couriers. Body building and Mixed Martial Arts are also popular with gang members – I have also heard to date unsubstantiated rumours that they have a major stake in the trading of illegal anabolic steroids. This might well explain the extremely violent nature and short tempers of Bike Life TV UK members – who may well be suffering from “Roid Rage". The London Evening Standard covered the gang and their illegal activities a while back. you can see the article by clicking here. The problem with legitimate vehicle number plates being stolen is particularly bad in Abbey Wood, Belvedere, Erith and Slade Green, and the rise in such thefts can be closely correlated with the deployment of the cashless payment system at the Dartford River Crossing. The new system relies on users pre – registering their vehicle on the Dart Charge system, and the system using optical character recognition to scan and identify the users’ vehicle registration plate, and then debit their account with the relevant fee for using the crossing. Putting aside the inevitable comments about “the crossing was meant to be free for locals once it had been paid for” – which I do not contend, it strikes me that there is a level of resentment about the Dartford Crossing and the charges it makes which seems ingrained in the local psyche. It seems to me that many of the local crooks steal registration plates not just to anonymise their mopeds - which are not permitted on motorways or on the Dartford Crossing, as they are not full motorcycles - which go for free, but also to use the Dartford Crossing with impunity. As I have previously mentioned, it has recently become apparent that many crimes happening in The London Borough of Havering are being committed by crooks from The London Borough of Bexley. It would seem that the illegal rider think that if they operate away from their home base, they will be less likely to be recognised by the authorities - something I think is unlikely to actually be the case at all.  The ending video is a documentary on bike gangs that was shown last year on BBC Four; it heavily features gang members from Thamesmead, and is well worth a watch, even if much of it leaves one annoyed as the criminal scumbags try and justify themselves to the interviewer. Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Mother's Pride and Radio 390.

It is amazing how Erith changes with the weather; when overcast and rainy, the town seems to metaphorically sink into the gloom, but conversely when the sun shines, the place perks up considerably. I noticed this last weekend when I went out with my camera to get some photos of the town centre and the Bexley College new campus on Walnut Tree Road. As you can see in the shot above, the building is steadily taking shape, ready for opening in September, at the start of the 2014 / 2015 academic year. I have been invited for a guided tour around the new college, and will be reporting back, complete with photographs once I have had a good old nose around next Thursday. I cannot help but feel concerned that the old Erith Library, which as you can see above is located directly opposite the new college campus, is still left unused and locked up. It is an excellent building, and to my mind in every way far superior to the soulless and anodyne new library, which is located opposite Erith Health Centre in Erith High Street. The old library building was gifted to the town by the Andrew Carnegie Foundation. I really wish it could be put to some use, as I think otherwise the building could end up being demolished to make way for yet more flats. Erith is under a lot of development pressure at present; the overheated property market all over Greater London has meant that developers have been snapping up  affordable land all over the place. Erith has a reputation as a town that has (relatively) affordable housing that is in easy reach of central London. One can get from Erith to London Bridge or Cannon Street in around forty minutes by overland train, and the forthcoming Crossrail link to Abbey Wood will mean easier access to places in West London and Heathrow, again making the local area more desirable for the commuter looking for a convenient place to live. The downside of this is that currently it feels like every scrap of land is either built on, or about to be built on. The apartment block that is sandwiched between the KFC Drive Through and Morrison’s petrol station on the old Erith Trades and Social Club site is taking rapid shape; the Erith Park development, currently the largest housing development in Europe is proceeding apace, and the huge area of brown field land on what was the old gravel pit located between Bexley Road and Fraser Road has been earmarked as the potential location for a thousand residential properties. This is over and above innumerable smaller scale developments that are springing up all around the town. Erith is undergoing building growth unlike anything I can recall, and in many ways it will bring opportunities to the area; my concern is that I have seen little activity in respect of improving water supply, drainage and other essential amenities, and how schools and social services will cope with the influx of new people, especially in this current harsh economic climate – things may be getting better in the City, but in the less trendy suburbs, there has been little evidence of new employment and financial recovery.  What Erith needs is a new employer on the scale of Morrison’s or ADM Oils – two huge organisations with resources that really make a difference to the local economy.  Tesco have opened a delivery depot in the area, but compared with some of their other sites, it is relatively small scale, and as warehouses are largely automated nowadays, they do not provide the number of jobs one would have seen historically.

One local company based in the Manford Industrial Estate on Manor Road may not be the largest employer, or the most prosperous, but they do have a couple of important things going in their favour; they have a very specialised field, and they have a great sense of humour. Cat Flaps South East are a dedicated supplier of cat flaps ranging from the most simple mechanical flaps to the most sophisticated micro chip reading cat flaps which will only admit your own cat and not half the moggies from the neighbourhood. You can see a short promotional video about them below. I wish them every success.

I am not a great party goer; unless the person holding the party is well known to me, I must admit that I tend to decline invitations. The reasons are various, but one of the main ones is that when I invariably get talking to someone, and they ask what I do for a living and they find out I work in IT, the reaction is like that of a moth to a flame. The party goer will almost without exception then regale me with tales of computer problems and a tedious list of issues that they cannot resolve. Almost as night follows day they will then ask me to “take a look” at their PC. What this infers is that they then expect me to fix their computer woes for free. The fact is, I have not got my hands dirty fixing hardware issues or resolving software bugs on personal computers for years; my day job involves massive corporate databases and applications which may span over multiple servers and thousands of desktops around Europe, the Middle East and India. I employ resources from various technical specialisations to actually carry out the remedial work “on the coal face”.  All this is lost on the person wanting my individual help. When I tell them I am not really the person they need, they tend to counter this with “I can pay you your going rate”.  What they don’t realise is that my corporate charge rate is nearly £500 per hour (please note this bears absolutely no relation to my actual wages – it is what my employer charges clients, and how they make shed loads of money – believe me, the consultancy business is extremely lucrative for the large corporate professional service providers). On top of this, my knowledge of Windows is minimal at best – I think it more than likely that they know more about Windows than I do (I run a Mac and various Linux boxes myself, and only use Windows when I am being paid to – my background is in Linux and Unix). You can get a good idea of what I am talking about by clicking here. I have even gone to the extent of, when asked at a party, saying that I am an undertaker – it certainly kills the conversation stone dead, if nothing else. You would not get a party goes expecting a landscape gardener or plumber to do work for free, so why expect someone with an IT background to do so? Do please feel free to comment below, or Email me directly to hugh.neal@gmail.com.

The News Shopper did not really do justice to local (Dartford) chap Nicky Boardman, and his excellent blog “tooupbeatforcancer.com” which covers his struggle with a rare form of terminal abdominal cancer. I feel that he should publish the blog as a book; it is excellently written – both upsetting and blackly humorous in turn. You will find yourself both disturbed by his plight, whilst also laughing at his turn of phrase, for example Chapter One of the blog is fetchingly entitled “The Day My Bum Fell Out”. Nicky Boardman writes unflinchingly about his situation and the experiences he has gone through; the blog can be harrowing, but his prose is beautifully crafted, and often very funny indeed. Unfortunately I doubt that there is going to be a happy ending to Nicky’s story, but his online writing may help bring greater attention to this horrible, invisible killer. Highly recommended.

I received some very pleasing news from one of my anonymous sources on Wednesday. As long time readers will be aware, I am keen to preserve and promote community pubs, and to ensure that they are run to the benefit of locals. There is one notable exception to this – an establishment called the Phoenix, which was located in Lower Hythe Street, Dartford (photo above copyright David Anstiss). I am delighted to be able to announce that the place has recently been bulldozed flat. Back in November 2009 I wrote a scathing report on the place, which got me a lot of enemies for a while – you can read the piece here. A small (ancient and rather smelly) unrepresentative sector of Dartford’s biker community took umbrage to what I said, all of which was true; the pub allowed smoking inside, served very underage drinkers, and had posters on the walls promoting extreme racist hate organisations. On top of that, there was an elderly motorbike in a side room which was in the final stages of disintegration, and reeked of raw petrol. With all of the smoking going on, I was surprised that the whole festering morass did not go up like a Molotov Cocktail. Patrons were seen urinating up the pubs’ exterior walls, and the place was covered by a barely suppressed aura of menace. Some readers thought that I was exaggerating for effect, but actually nothing could have been further from the truth. After my piece and a few challenging comments, it all then went quiet for a while, then in January 2011, the following story broke, initially in the local papers, but soon after in the national tabloids. The Dartford Messenger reported: “Police found guns, ammunition, and knives when they raided The Phoenix, in Lower Hythe Street. Officers executing a firearms warrant at the pub found a loaded handgun in a cabinet, a cloth-covered .22 rifle in a cupboard, a dart gun, a Taser-style stun gun, and a large amount of ammunition, including rifle rounds. They also discovered shotgun cartridges, a clear sealed bag containing three white bullets, and a small bag of Class B drug amphetamine". According to the report from North Kent Police's licensing department, search teams found knives and "an assortment of other weapons throughout the bedroom and the rest of the living quarters at the pub”. To which I then commented “The place has been a threat to civilised society for some time, it being the base of a group of racist thugs and drug dealers - the place would not look out of place in a Guy Ritchie gangster movie. The thugs call themselves bikers, but the bikers I have known for years would be offended to be associated with this lot. The Phoenix should be bulldozed and the hole concreted over. As Ellen Ripley once said "Take off and nuke them from space - it's the only way to be sure". Well, my wish has now been granted. The Phoenix is now no more. It will not be missed by many.

One of the most important and heavily used main roads in Erith is being closed for extensive improvement and remodelling. Manor Road will be closed for a period of ten weeks from the 16th June to allow it to be completely rebuilt. The road has had attention in the recent past. It was resurfaced in 2009, and again in 2011, but in both cases the new surface started disintegrating within months of being laid; not something you would wish for when one considers the cost of the special road noise reducing tarmac formula is somewhat over £1 million per mile to the council tax payer, this is not good news. This time a far more dramatic set of repairs are planned. The road is being constructed pretty much from scratch, something that really should have been done before. The crumbling road foundations are being dug out to a depth of several feet and replaced with new material being installed. The work will be carried out in phases, so that access to homes and businesses will be kept, albeit with some fairly dramatic diversions – if you look at the graphic above, it will give you a good idea of the drastic route changes both buses and private vehicles will be subject to for the duration of the rebuilding project. Personally I feel that it will be a lot of short term pain for a lot of long term gain. Finally the council and their contractors are doing what they really should have done back in 2009. Hopefully by the end of the summer Erith will have a road to be proud of. I will be documenting the work over the forthcoming weeks, and will post any interesting developments – watch this space.

Every so often I like to highlight something that locals may not be aware of; Thamesmead has had a food bank for quite some time, and recently one has also been set up in Erith. I asked Reverend Julie Conalty of Christ Church Erith to be a guest writer this week to explain exactly how the food bank works, and what they do. I have also found out that they are planning a credit union as a secure and far more affordable source of credit compared with the pay day loan companies that proliferate and charge thousands of percent in interest. More on this in future editions. 

Bexley Foodbank – Erith Distribution Centre

Like the esteemed author of this blog, prior to moving to Erith I too supported the Greenwich Foodbank in Thamesmead. When I became vicar at Christ Church Erith, it seemed evident to me that Erith was also in need of a Foodbank Distribution Centre. From the leafy vicarage it is hard to tell, but our parish is the 4th most deprived in the Rochester Diocese. Recent changes in benefits regulations have undoubtedly made things even tougher. Fortunately my fellow ministers at St John’s Erith and Queen Street Baptist Church agreed that in addition to praying for our local community, our churches should follow Christ’s command that we quite literally feed the hungry. Avery Hill Christian Fellowship had already set up a Trussell Trust Foodbank for Bexley Borough but at that point were only distributing from Sidcup, so we teamed up with them to set up the Erith Distribution Centre based at Queen Street. Every Wednesday and Saturday morning from 10am until 1pm at Queen Street Baptist Church Hall our volunteers distribute food to local people who have been sent by the JobCentre, Citizens Advice Bureau or other recognized referral agency (a ticket is needed from a referrer who knows more about the circumstances of the individual claimant). The food bank cannot provide a long term solution to poverty – it is designed to plug gaps and address crises - but at the moment we can’t keep up with demand. In Erith we are distributing food faster than it comes in. Morrisons in Erith have come on board to support us (you may have seen the trolley for donations down there) and many churches in the borough now collect food for Bexley Foodbank, but we still don’t have enough. If you want to find out more then go to www.bexleyfoodbank.org.uk. You can deliver food donations direct to the Erith Distribution Centre during opening hours or drop food off in the box in porch at Christ Church from 8.30am to 11.30am any Sunday morning. Finally I need to say that there really is something very wrong with a society that seems to be removing the safety nets that protect vulnerable individuals and families from poverty and deprivation. As I write this there are media reports about how the UK targets to reduce child poverty will be missed – even the most optimistic projections for wage and employment growth suggest that absolute poverty is still forecast to be a full 16% above target by 2020. Volunteers and donors are stepping in, but we must not lose sight of scandal of people going hungry in the UK. So don’t just give food (or time or money) to the Foodbank, raise your voice in protest.

The Revd Julie Conalty, Vicar of Christ Church

I have found out a strong link between a local company and a short lived, but incredibly popular 1960’s offshore radio station (which were erroneously labelled “pirates” by the popular press, but were in fact no such thing, as they operated outside of British territorial waters, and at least until the 1967 Marine Offences Act, were outside of the law). As I have previously written, Erith based Grooms “The Hygienic Baker”, who began in a shop in West Street in Victorian times, became extremely successful, and later moved into dedicated premises in Belmont Road, Northumberland Heath. This massive bakery also featured stables for the horses that pulled their vans, along with a tack room and even a forge for their dedicated Farrier. The bakery is still there nowadays, though it is now owned by British Bakeries, and the stables are long gone. What I have uncovered this week is that in the mid 1960’s, Rank Hovis McDougall (the company who took over and absorbed Grooms prior to the advent of British Bakeries) were a major sponsor and commercial partner with offshore radio station Radio 390. Radio 390 was located on the abandoned Red Sands sea fort, off the coast of Whitstable. The station was the third enterprise to broadcast from the fort – previously it had been used by Radio Invicta from June 1964 until February 1965, followed by KING Radio from March to September 1965. Both these earlier stations were amateurish affairs, and used a relatively low powered one kilowatt AM transmitter feeding into a rather inefficient antenna system. This meant that their signal was not heard over a wide area, and they struggled to gain a decent audience, and consequently they were largely ignored by advertisers. All this changed with the advent of Radio 390, which was a far more slick and professional, and had both a rather more powerful ten Kilowatt medium wave transmitter (which they told people was actually thirty five Kilowatts, but it wasn't), and a huge and very efficient 297 foot tall vertical antenna mean that the signal of Radio 390 was audible all over London and the South East – the most lucrative market in the UK as far as advertising revenue was concerned. The format of the station was also a complete contrast to that played by the ship based offshore giants – Radio London and Radio Caroline; they both played non – stop pop music. Instead, Radio 390 was firmly targeted at housewives. When regular broadcasts began on the 25th September 1965 at 4pm on a wavelength of 388 Metres (773KHz) the musical format was easy listening, smooth classical and big bands – the first track played was “Moonlight Serenade” by Glenn Miller. While other offshore stations had shows lasting two or three hours, Radio 390's schedule contained a number of short programmes. This was more like a BBC schedule than an offshore one. And, although slightly more warm and informal, the presenters had an almost BBC-ish style too, even to the extent that at the end of each show one of the presenters would give a credit (“South Of The Border was introduced by....”) in the manner of a continuity announcer. As Radio 390 grew, other programmes were added to the mix. There was a daily drama serial, “Doctor Paul”, imported from Australia, and bravely scheduled opposite the BBC Light Programme's long-established Mrs. Dale's Diary; and there were shows devoted to musicals, blues, country and light classical music. After only three weeks on the air, the station was receiving some five hundred fan letters a day. By May 1966 National Opinion Polls estimated the station's audience as 2.6 million listeners, a majority of whom were women. This was an absolute goldmine for the advertisers, who flocked to the station in droves. Back in the sixties, it was less common for women, especially once they were married to go out to work; many stayed at home and looked after the children. They had almost complete control over domestic purchases such as brands of food and cleaning materials. The fact that Radio 390 very cleverly targeted this audience meant that advertisers were prepared to pay high rates to get their commercials broadcast; companies that took out ambitious and successful campaigns on Radio 390 included The News of the World, and the magazine Reveille, along with a host of smaller companies, but the biggest of the lot was for Mother’s Pride bread, which was produced by Rank Hovis McDougall in the Northumberland Heath bakery. There is some evidence to suggest that the advertising campaign and programme sponsorship on Radio 390 was so extensive that the baker became an investor and business partner in the radio station during the summer of 1966, though as the Government began to take action to stop the offshore stations, and prepared to introduce the Marine Offences Act, many investors decided to distance themselves from offshore broadcasting altogether. In September 1966, Radio 390 was taken to court for the first in a series of cases where they were accused of broadcasting from within British territorial limits. The cases were fought, and one by one they were lost by the station, they appealed, then lost the appeal; by the summer of 1967 the Marine Offences Act passed into law, and all offshore stations with the exception of Radio Caroline had ceased broadcasting. Radio 390 was also such a casualty. The station is largely forgotten now, but in 1966 it was one of the biggest radio hits in the UK, and had a real connection with the local area, thanks to the power of Mother’s Pride and the Northumberland Heath former Groom's bakery!

I came across this weeks' end video somewhat by accident. It has been made by a local person who wants to illustrate how much Erith has improved over the last few years; it is mostly a slide show featuring locally taken photographs. I noticed with some amusement that roughly half of the photographs are actually mine, and have been copied from my Flickr photo site here. I am rather flattered - though it would have been nice to have been asked before they used them! See what you think anyway, and feel free to leave a comment below.