The R101.

I too the photograph above (click on it for a larger view) on Monday evening; it shows illegally fly tipped rubbish at the recycling centre just off James Watt Way in Erith, just behind the large Morrisons supermarket. The rate of fly tipping seems to be back on the increase, after somewhat of a lull. I reported the incident to Bexley Council, and the mess was soon cleaned up. There is CCTV coverage of the recycling site, so hopefully the perpetrators will be identified and prosecuted.

The long suspected end of The News Shopper looks like it is now in sight. The paper has been struggling for several years, and recently it has been discovered that the corporate owners of The News Shopper - a company called Newsquest, are about to put the papers website behind a pay wall.  Readers will be given the option to pay £4.99 per month or £52 per year for unlimited access to articles, with up to 80 per cent less adverts and the ability to leave comments and sign up to email newsletters. The scheme has been launched as Newsquest faces a decline in both advertising revenues and sales figures due to the coronavirus pandemic – a picture seen across the wider news industry. The problem that seems to be specific to The News Shopper website is that each page contains far more advertising and invisible trackers than most other news websites. All of this additional data which is loaded every time you visit the site makes the pages slow to load and "jitter" when you try and scroll down the page, as data is still being loaded. I have spoken to one leading News Shopper journalist - who has since left the company - and he confirmed that staff were acutely aware that the excessive junk being loaded by the website was driving away visitors. As well as this, recent updates to Google's Chrome web browser - now the most widely used web browser in the world - now has advert blocking functionality built in, and switched on by default. Many visitors to The News Shopper website who use Chrome do not see any adverts, or experience page loading problems due to the blocking actions - which many users are totally unaware of. Other web browsers such as Firefox are following suit. Advertisers are seeing a massive drop in click through advert revenue because of this. Putting up a paywall will further exacerbate this situation. Famously some years ago, the Sun website put themselves behind a paywall - and promptly saw their readership figures drop off a cliff. Before long they were forced to remove the paywall due to pressure from advertisers and their readership; from my understanding they have never returned to the reader levels that they had before. 

I had some very nice reader feedback after my obituary piece on pioneering radio figurehead Ronan O'Rahilly, founder of Radio Caroline last week. I had one long time reader ask if I would write a piece on another 1960's offshore radio station that in many ways was the diametric opposite of Radio Caroline - it was the smallest offshore radio station, but it had a very interesting - if brief - history. The Station was called Radio Essex.  It had a staff of about 12 and broadcast 24 hours a day. Everyone on this station did more than one job, the teamwork involved would probably have impressed the military that had been the sea forts original occupier. The tower had originally been an offshore gun emplacement and radar installation, but had been abandoned by the War Department during the middle 50s. Transmissions commenced from Radio Essex on 27 October 1965 on 222m, 1349kHz, with a middle of the road format during the day and pop music at night. The supplies came during favourable weather conditions aboard a small fishing boat called Kestrel. All supplies and even individuals were unceremoniously hauled aboard at the end of a badly frayed rope. The original ladders had been removed by Radio Essex personnel to reduce the possibility of uninvited guests getting aboard the platform. The forts original diesel generators had been fully restored by senior DJ/Fort Captain Richard Palmer, the diesel for which arrived in dozens of five gallon containers. These had to be hauled aboard and painstakingly poured into a former aircraft fuel tank situated on the main deck, where a plastic tube took the diesel to the generator room below.  The staff canteen and recreational area had originally been the officers mess and a store room became the stations studio. This contained two Garrard 401 turntables with Decca pick-ups,one turntable, a Vortexion tape recorder and a Reslo ribbon microphone.  The mixer was built by station engineers which fed a 50W RSC audio amplifier which was linked to the transmitter in the room next door. The transmitter was probably capable of 500W, however, due to the end fed long wire antenna and the rising and falling of the tide, which had the effect of moving the ground plane, the e.r.p. was probably only 200W. Staff worked about three weeks on and one week off, the station was run by Roy Bates and his family from their home in Southend-on-Sea. Towards the end of 1966, Radio Essex relaunched as BBMS 'Britain's Better Music Station' in effort to attract advertising from Kent as well as Essex. This was Britain's first local radio station and unbelievably, was the first British station to go 24 hours a day. It was very popular with night shift workers and had a clear frequency after midnight when co - channel stations closed down. The fort also allegedly had its own ghost or poltergeist. At one point, the entire structure was searched as the DJs were convinced an unknown person was aboard, nobody was found. On the 30th November 1966 BBMS was charged with contravening Section One the Wireless Telegraphy Act of 1949, making unlicensed broadcasts. The station was found guilty and fined £100, but continued broadcasting. It finally closed at Christmas, when similar court action was being taken against the other fort based stations. The legacy of Radio Essex still exists in a minor way, all BBC local Stations identify themselves as BBC Radio whatever, except one....BBC Essex, where the word Radio is still excluded. It seems inconceivable that offshore radio stations could openly operate from the sea forts, some for a period of almost two years. Yet neither the armed forces, Home Office, the police nor H.M. Coastguard knew, even roughly, where British territorial waters commenced. The Post Office's prosecution involved measuring the territorial limit from any coastal sandbank that became visible at low tide.

Now for a second radio related story, but one that is bang up to date. In a somewhat ironic twist of fate, a radio station that was set up in 1989 / 1990 which was specifically given the operating frequency of 558 Khz by what was then the DTI, have recently been wound up by the official receiver. Central London based Spectrum Radio has been issued with a Winding Up Order by the High Court of Justice. Spectrum is one of London’s oldest commercial radio stations, having launched in 1989 to provide multiethnic, foreign language programmes originally on 558AM. The frequency was allocated to the station in 1990 with the specific purpose of jamming Radio Caroline, who had been using the frequency for some years. Today the Spectrum Radio Network offers broadcast services from its premises in Southwark Street and has recently been advertising space available on DAB, and on 1584 Khz AM, which is currently used by Love Sport. Ofcom rules state that a company which has been wound-up cannot own a broadcasting licence, In a recent press interview, an Ofcom spokesperson said: “We will be getting in touch with the liquidators of Spectrum Radio to discuss the future of the licence.” Creditors were contacted earlier this month with details of the Insolvency Practitioners.

The photo above shows Bexley Road, Erith, back in 1910. A row of shops called Station Parade was later built on the site of the tram shelter shown above - it is now the site of the De Luci fish roundabout and the dual carriageway of Bronze Age Way. It is fascinating to see how the local area has changed over the years, not always for the better.  It is interesting to see that the shelter at the tram stop has open sides; knowing how the wind whistles along Bexley Road nowadays, it cannot have been any fun to stand at the tram stop in the winter, as I doubt it would offer very much protection from the weather. The boy in the photo seems to be staring at the photographer. I would imagine he was saying something along the lines of “Mister – wot are you doin?”. A fascinating snapshot of times gone by. If you have any old photographs of the local area which you would like to see featured on the Maggot Sandwich, please drop me a line to hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Another historic local photograph, sent to me courtesy of long time Maggot Sandwich reader and occasional contributor who goes my the pseudonym of "The reV". He writes:- "The R101 airship taken possibly 14th October 1929 at the junction of Colman Rd and Gilbert Road in Lower Belvedere, Fords Motor works across the river in the background. The R101 was one of a pair of British rigid airships completed in 1929 as part of a British government programme to develop civil airships capable of service on long-distance routes within the British Empire. It was designed and built by an Air Ministry-appointed team and was effectively in competition with the government-funded but privately designed and built R100. When built, it was the world's largest flying craft at 731 ft (223 m) in length, and it was not surpassed by another hydrogen-filled rigid airship until the Hindenburg flew seven years later. The R101 departed from England on the evening of 4 October 1930 for its intended destination of Karachi (then part of British India) via a refuelling stop in Egypt but sadly crashed in Northern France. Forty-six of the 54 passengers and crew were killed immediately. The inquiry came to the conclusion that a tear had probably developed in the forward cover, this in turn causing one or more of the forward gasbags to fail. Evidence showed that this would cause the R101 to become too nose-heavy for the elevators to correct. She hit the ground at just 13 mph. The cause of the fire was not established. Several hydrogen airships had crashed in similar circumstances without catching fire. The inquiry thought that it was most probable that a spark from the airship's electrics had ignited escaping hydrogen, causing an explosion. Other suggestions put forward included the ignition of the calcium flares carried in the control car on contact with water, electrostatic discharge or a fire in one of the engine cars, which carried petrol for the starter engines. All that is certain is that it caught fire almost at once and burned fiercely. In the extreme heat, the fuel oil from the wreck soaked into the ground and caught fire; it was still burning when the first party of officials arrived by air the next day".

Two former pub sites are now up for redevelopment; one of the two sites is mired in controversy; the developer was subsequently prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive. The London Borough of Bexley has commenced statutory consultation on planning applications affecting the future of two significant sites within the ward in question. The first of the two sites is The Belvedere Hotel, at the bottom end of Picardy Road. The three Belvedere councillors met with the owners of the site in April 2019 and made clear their aspirations for the site. This included that any proposed development should maintain the locally listed building and a pub or restaurant use on the ground floor of the current building. The planning application includes proposals to convert the existing building including the ground floor and to extend it to provide 6 flats (2 x 1 bed, 3 x 2 bed and 1 x 3 bed) with the provision of a further three 3-bedroom houses on the site. How a developer will manage to squeeze all of this on the tiny site is beyond me - especially if the requirement to keep the main pub building is met. The car park space could in no way accommodate three houses. The second planning application is for the very controversial site of the former Ye Olde Leather Bottle pub, located at 131 Heron Hill. The three Belvedere councillors have continually raised their concerns about this site over the last five years and the gross breach of health and safety regulations committed by the site owner. The site owner was successfully prosecuted following a Health and Safety Executive investigation initiated by complaints submitted by Cllr Daniel Francis, to which both he and Cllr Hinkley were interviewed and submitted statements. All three councillors are due to hold a virtual meeting with the site owner and members of his development team in early May and will raise the need to ensure due consideration is finally given to neighbours of the site, that the public right of way that runs through the site is maintained, that appropriate boundary treatments are installed to the boundary with Lesnes Abbey woods and whether the development will provide any contribution to affordable housing or local infrastructure. The planning application includes proposals to erect a building of up to four stories containing a 70 bed care home with associated care facilities, staff accommodation, landscaped gardens and undercroft parking. Once again I cannot see how a 70 bed care home with associated facilities could be built on the site - there is just not nearly enough space. What do you think of these proposed developments? 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:- "Once again another week goes by with no burglaries or vehicle crime to report. On Barnehurst Golf Course LFB were called to a fire that had been set alight deliberately. It appears unknown person/s are also chopping trees down in the vicinity of the golf course. Members of the public continue to play golf although the course is closed. The team have advised a number of golfers and all have left the course immediately without any further problems. The team issued two Section 59 warning notices to the drivers who were driving around dangerously in the vicinity of Parkside Avenue and I am pleased to say we have had no further complaints with regards dangerous driving. There appears to be more traffic on the roads over the last few days, lets remind ourselves that the Government's Guidelines still stand so bear in mind social distancing and only travel on public transport if absolutely necessary". Belvedere ward:- "We had a burglary on Tuesday 21/04/2020 in Coleman Road whereby a car was stolen in the early hours of the morning. The car subsequently crashed in Sidcup and the car was recovered. Wilton Road possibly still contains a brothel. We have visited the address in the last couple of months but cannot prove anything at present. If anyone has information about a brothel please let us know. If you are a patron it will be kept in confidence…We have recently been seeing more graffiti regarding the 5G and Covid conspiracy nonsense. There is some on the Thames Path, some on the footbridge over the train tracks on Mitchell Close and now some seen in Franks Park. If anyone is seen causing graffiti please call Police on 999 immediately. We have also had a report that a group of teenagers are congregating on Streamway on the grass area near to the allotments. We have no particular times or days so if anyone knows when they gather please let us know. We have been receiving more and more calls regarding neighbour disputes. In this unprecedented time, everyone (almost) being shut away indoors for the majority of the day, your neighbours will get on your nerves as everyone is stressed out and worried about the future. Please try to get along. Unfortunately we (as a society) have lost the ability to talk to each other, which causes more problems. If your neighbour is doing something to annoy then chat to them, talk it out, don't result to idle threats and name calling as this just leads to at least one party calling the Police and wasting our time. Think before acting. Please pass this message on. Thank you". Bexleyheath ward:- "Thursday 23/04/2020 2330-0030 Arson to vehicle Long Lane. Sunday 26/04/2020 1240-1310 Robbery Commercial cigarettes and alcohol stolen by threats to staff Erith Road. Sunday 26/04/2020 0100-1300 Theft of Motor Vehicle Tudor Walk. Whilst our crimes do remain low at the moment there are still criminals about, please do ensure that doors are double locked with keys and do not keep valuables in your vehicles. Stay Safe and Stay Home please also ensure all members of the household are staying home too, as we are finding many youths out and about. Good news a few groups stopped, searched and dealt with for cannabis Braeside Garage area. Known hotspot for ASB". Crayford ward:- "I am so please to say that there has only been one crime of note this week. Between Friday 17th and Saturday 25th April two vehicles parked outside an address in Samas Way were broken into; the victim saw her car door was unlocked and then her husband found his car door ajar, It was not recorded if anything was stolen. The team have been out and about patrolling open spaces to remind people of the COVID-19 lockdown rules, please abide by the rules. #stayhomestaysafe". Erith ward:-"This last week we been: Patrolling open spaces/parks across Erith and North Heath. Daily visiting all open shops in and around Erith town centre. These are carried out on foot, bike and car Weapon sweeps daily in areas that have come to our notice via the overnight crimes. Crime wise across Erith there has been no burglaries reported or motor crime. We are still under lockdown so remember to stick by the rules set out by the government". Northumberland Heath ward:-" Crime reports are low. Unfortunately we have a few Domestic incidents reported to us during this difficult time .The team have advertised Domestic Violence advice onto our twitter page @NorthumberlandHeath. There has been theft of petrol from Gulf Petrol station on Belmont Road ,Erith which is currently being investigated. Information regarding drug supply on Swanton Road and Northumberland Park also Frinstead Road. Increased patrols will be completed when Officers are available .Northumberland Heath SNT have been working with the ASB Team to see if a camera could be placed in Streamway regarding increased reports of drug activity and youths congregating in the area. If you would like to tell us about a breach of coronavirus please report online met.police.tua/tell-us-about/c19 the please see our twitter page for further information". Slade Green and Northend ward:- "A group of males broke in to the new development site at Egerton Place (Slade Green Road) at 6pm Sunday 26/04 and ran off when challenged but they did take some copper piping. CCTV is being checked. No other crimes of note. PC James found a knife by some garages in Manor Road on Sunday. No evidence to suggest it was used in a crime but it has been disposed of via the correct channels. Patrols have been ongoing in our parks and open spaces and for the most part there has been very little seen in the way of gatherings. Mark and James try and get everywhere as much as they can, when they can. If you do see groups regularly gathering, please report online or via 101". Thamesmead East ward:- "Between 4:30 pm on Wednesday 22/04/20 and 8:00pm on Saturday 25/04/20 a vehicle parked in Wolvercote Road had the rear window smashed. On Thursday 23/04/20 at 04:22 am the LFB attended a vehicle alight in the car park behind Muscovy House Kale Road, a second vehicle parked next the alight vehicle was damaged. Monday 27/04/20 a vehicle parked in Redbourne Drive had the front and rear number plates stolen.this happened after 06:30 am. There has been an increase in theft of vehicle number plates. Consider purchasing a set of Anti - Theft screws or bolts for number plates. Good news - PC Pruden issued a Community Resolution to a female who was in possession of cannabis. A Community Resolution is an alternative way of dealing with less serious crimes, allowing officers to use their professional judgement when dealing with offenders. It can be used for offences such as low level public order, criminal damage, theft, and minor assaults". West Heath ward:-"One attempted burglary in Langley Road this week. This incident took place on Monday 27/04/20 at 11.20pm. A male tried to put his hand through a small broken pane of glass in the front door. Entry was not gained. No reports of motor vehicle crime over the last week. The team are continuing to patrol anti-social hotspots and move people on if necessary with regard to the Covid19 regulations".

The end video this week is from the friars of Our Lady of the Angels Catholic monastery in Northumberland Heath; they describe themselves thus:-"We are a Capuchin Franciscan fraternity serving the parish of Our Lady of the Angels in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark, UK. We are a great international community of followers of Jesus, living the Gospel and rebuilding the Church in the UK. Hope you enjoy our services and reflections". The message below is for their congregation, with some information about the pandemic lock down.

A second incinerator.

Last June I featured an article about a proposal to construct a second waste incinerator in Lower Belvedere. London Mayor Sadiq Khan got involved with a project that has been condemned by both local MP's. Mr Khan had also come down against the plan that has been submitted by Cory Riverside Energy to build a waste incinerator on a site adjacent to the Crossness Nature Reserve, which is home to a number of very rare species of both birds and bats. The site would also be very close to the existing Cory waste incinerator pictured in the photo above - click on it for a larger version.  In an interview that has been published on the News Shopper and elsewhere, Mayor Khan said of the Cory proposal:- "London’s air is a toxic air health crisis and the last thing we need, in our modern green global city is another harmful waste-burning incinerator polluting our city. Emissions from incinerators are bad for our health, bad for our environment and bad for our planet. Instead of granting permission for an unnecessary new incinerator that will raise pollution levels in the boroughs of Bexley and Havering, the Government should focus on boosting recycling rates, reducing the scourge of plastic waste and tackling our lethal air. I am urging ministers to reject this proposal". Unfortunately - and as many had predicted, the second incinerator is now going ahead. The decision was made on 9th April by the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, to approve the development of a second mass waste incinerator at Belvedere. Councillor Stefano Borella (Slade Green and Northend ward) said “These proposals don’t support increasing recycling rates and evidence shows local authorities that use these facilities have seen their recycling rates suppressed. In addition, the increased traffic and congestion as a result of cable laying to Littlebrook power station in Dartford will impact on air quality as a result of the disruption. It is bitterly disappointing that this announcement was released at the start of the Easter weekend during the current pandemic, when residents priorities will be on other issues.” Councillor Dave Putson (Belvedere ward) said “This plant will detrimentally impact on the immediately adjacent Crossness nature reserve and will have a lasting impact on wildlife and habitats carefully nurtured over many years. In addition, this incinerator will increase fine dust particulate emissions and detrimentally impact on health and air quality in the local area” Local MPs and the Mayor of London have raised objections at the building of a second incinerator. Several key local figures, including Erith and Thamesmead MP Abena Oppong-Asare, indicated they would challenge the decision, while a spokesperson for the Mayor of London said officers would now review details of the decision and would comment further once it has been fully assessed. “The Secretary of State’s decision to approve the application for the Cory Incinerator is extremely disappointing, The Mayor’s team provided evidence and representations through the examination process to demonstrate that this facility is not needed to manage London’s waste and will have a detrimental impact on recycling, climate change and air quality.” There is no statutory appeal process and the decision can now only be challenged by individuals or authorities via a judicial review process. What do you think? Email me in complete confidence at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

I don't normally comment on stories that make the national news, but I am making an exception this week, as I had a personal involvement with the individual involved. You may have seen news articles and obituaries for Ronan O'Rahilly, who died last week. I met him a number of times, and had several telephone calls from him in the late 1980's and early 1990's when I worked for his brainchild, Radio Caroline. Much has been written about this maverick and eccentric man, but I am just going to focus on my personal memories and experiences with Ronan (or "The Old Man" as Caroline staff tended to refer to him). I found Ronan to be a thoughtful and charismatic person who would come out with outrageous ideas seemingly from nowhere. He had the same kind of "reality distortion field" often attributed to the late Steve Jobs of Apple. Ronan O'Rahilly was the person who changed the face of British radio – before Caroline the BBC only played a few hours of music a week, and were loath to broadcast anything challenging or different. It is probable that many British bands from the 60’s and 70’s would not have had the success they did without the extensive air time Caroline gave them - certainly both The Rolling Stones and The Who credited their early success to exposure on Radio Caroline, and George Harrison of The Beatles donated a lot of money to the Caroline organisation over the years. Ronan was behind the tours of the UK that the Stax and Motown labels undertook – this was when other UK radio stations played no music of black origin. Ronan was one of life’s eccentrics; he would come up with some utterly crackpot idea, but such was the power of his warmth, charm and personality, he would have you believing him – at least until he left the room. Usually a couple of minutes later, you would get a “hang on a minute” thought, and you would realise how bonkers what you had just been told actually was. Ronan had a soft half Irish / half American accent, and it became a running joke amongst Radio Caroline staff that if you heard the “Old Man” start a sentence with “Hey, I’ve got this really great idea!” you knew what followed was going to be challenging, if impractical, dangerous, or downright contrary to the established laws of physics - nevertheless, it would always be interesting. I recall that during one phone call he made to me, Ronan suggested replacing the antenna system on the Ross Revenge with a fully grown tree(!) He thought it would signal the stations support for environmental issues - the idea of using a tree as a radio antenna was of course impossible, impractical and about as left field as one could imagine - typical Ronan then. In his later years he was crippled by Vascular Dementia, and was moved into a care home in Ireland, Having lost my own father to dementia (albeit of a different type) I know how challenging caring for someone with the condition can be. My thoughts are with his family in Ireland, who have now lost the great, inspirational man, and a truly lovely bloke who changed the face of the British media for ever.

Erith Pier is a popular destination when the weather is good; I took the photo above (click on it for a larger view) yesterday. Whilst not appearing in the photo, a number of people were strolling on the pier, but all were keeping suitably apart from each other, and nobody was fishing.

Now that Spring is with us – incidentally my favourite time of the year. I love the lengthening hours of daylight and the way in which nature appears to wake up from the long winter sleep. Unfortunately it does bring problems with it. On Wednesday afternoon, whilst queuing outside of Morrison's in Erith, I watched two young foxes raiding the bins located outside of Wharfside Close. One resident came out of his townhouse and shouted and waved his arms at the two animals. They merely stared at him, then carried on their business as if he was not there. The problem of urban foxes not being scared of humans has been steadily getting worse for a number of years. Readers may recall my account from some time back; I was sitting in my living room reading one evening. I had the back door open. Suddenly I caught some movement out of the corner of my eye; when I looked up, there was a young adult fox, sitting in the middle of my living room less than ten feet from where I was sitting. I had to stand up and shout at it before it decided to move, and it calmly sauntered back across the living room, over the kitchen lobby, where it picked up one of my gardening boots in its’ mouth, before it tried to then make off with its’ plunder. Fortunately I managed to get it to drop the heavy boot. That was just one of several incidents I have experienced, and I see foxes on an almost daily basis. Some locals have taken to putting bricks on the lids of their recycling wheelie bins, but the intelligent and resourceful foxes soon learned to push the bricks off. 

The Coronavirus lock down has affected so many local businesses; some unfortunately may never recover, whilst others such as Bexley Brewery have introduced a door to door real ale delivery service, which I understand has been extremely successful. Many food outlets have been forced to close. One that has adopted a new business model is the long established Belvedere Tandoori. They recently published the following announcement:- "Dear customers, just an update as to where we are and where we might be going. As you all know we closed the restaurant 4 weeks ago completely, including takeaways. In the meantime, the staff have stayed productive by refreshing their food preparation skills with online courses as well as doing a Coronavirus course (yes there is one, £6.99 and tells you pretty much everything you knew anyway, like self distancing, PPE, sanitising and so on), although there was some interesting info on bacteria life cycles and it’s activeness on various surfaces amongst other things. We are looking at reopening the takeaway collection and delivery service. Deliveries can be contactless, meaning we would simply leave your food by your front door. Obviously for this to work, payments would need to be made over the phone using a credit/debit card. Delivery drivers will be wearing gloves and masks so you can use cash if you need to. All staff will be using masks and gloves at all times, maintaining a wash your hands every 15 minutes policy. Although, if you’ve worked in a restaurant kitchen you’ll know staff wash their hands pretty much every 2-3 minutes. Also all my staff drive so no one is using public transport either. Hope to see you guys soon. Belvedere Tandoori Management". 

I have uncovered a strange link with Hall Place in Bexley to one of the largest and most successful counter – intelligence operations in British history. Some readers may have seen in the past, the excellent Ben Macintyre television documentary on the World War II German spies and double agents that were controlled by MI5 throughout the war. The Nazis were under the impression that they had a widespread and successful network of spies in the UK, when in fact every single agent was working for the British, to the point that MI5 were actually controlling German Military intelligence for much of the war. This was a vital part of Operation Fortitude – the plan to keep Nazi high command from discovering when and where the D-Day invasion of France would take place. As Winston Churchill said “The truth is so precious, it needs to be protected with a bodyguard of lies”. As well as the fake agents sending false information back to the Abwehr (German Military Intelligence) the plan constructed entire armies of fake vehicles, buildings and radio messages indicating troop build – ups where in reality there was nothing but empty fields. On top of all this, the planning to fool the Nazis took some rather surreal turns. It was anticipated that in addition to using portable radio transmitters, and sending letters written in invisible ink via neutral countries, that any German spies in the UK would also want to communicate via carrier pigeon; this was a very old, but virtually undetectable method of passing secret information. The use of animals in covert warfare was nothing new; the Special Operations Executive (SOE) stuffed dead rats with explosive to be used in sabotage operations. The American Navy trained dolphins to place explosive charges under enemy ships, but the most bizarre use of animals has to be a plan hatched by a Royal Air Force officer by the name of Flight Lieutenant Walker; his plan flourished in that grey area that exists between ingenuity and insanity. His idea was called the “Double Cross Pigeon Racket” - a plan designed to wipe out the Nazi carrier pigeon operation in a single stroke. Every German intelligence section in occupied France had a carrier pigeon section; on top of this, collaborators within the French civilian population were being recruited by the Abwehr (German Military Intelligence) to act as a “stay behind” group, who would harbour German carrier pigeons to be released with vital intelligence messages in the event of a successful allied invasion. Lieutenant Walker was aware that Nazi propaganda minister Heinrich Himmler was a keen pigeon fancier, and he began to wonder if Himmler’s interest could be manipulated to the Allied advantage. If the Nazis could be fooled into thinking that British spy pigeons had infiltrated their lofts, then it would throw suspicion on the entire Nazi carrier pigeon service; if the Nazis could no longer trust their own pigeons, they might well end up killing the lot to be on the safe side. In the winter of 1943, Flight Lieutenant Walker presented his plan to MI5 with a memo entitled “Pigeon Contamination Plan” – “A stray or lost pigeon will almost always find its way into some loft. If a number of British pigeons could be disguised as German pigeons by putting forged German identity rings on them, then releasing them on the continent (deliberately choosing second rate birds which would be unlikely to attempt the long flight back over the English Channel) they would eventually find their way into German controlled pigeon lofts. Sooner or later the Germans would discover that they were being fooled. They would find two pigeons with the same leg ring number, or a grey pigeon wearing a ring that was clearly assigned to a red pigeon. They would begin to wonder just how many of their pigeons were phoney, and the only thing they could do would be to call in all of their birds and check them. Until they had checked all of their birds in all of their lofts they would be unable to use any carrier pigeon services, and by the time they had gone through them all, I would have delivered more phonies”. MI5 were enthusiastic and gave the project the go – ahead. The Germans were braced for the invasion of Europe by the Allies, the discovery that their carrier pigeon lofts had been infiltrated by double – agent pigeons could throw them off balance at a critical psychological moment. The double agent pigeons were housed in lofts all over the South East of England, one of which was based at Hall Place in Bexley, which was also the home of an SOE training unit and a Y- Intercept station run by the U.S Army (a radio receiving unit that intercepted Nazi signals communications for onwards transmission via dedicated phone lines to Bletchley Park for decoding). The “Double Cross Pigeon Racket” was put into operation, and …. Nothing happened. After the war, captured Abwehr records showed that the forged identification leg rings on the double agent pigeons were so convincingly crafted that the Nazi pigeon handlers never actually realised that the birds they were receiving were phony. The plan was so well executed that the Germans never realised they had been duped, and so carried on sending messages to their “agents” – all of whom were already working for MI5 anyway. A bizarre, ironic, but true story. What do you think? Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

The photo of old Erith above was taken in (I believe) 1901; it shows Pier Road looking up towards Cross Street. On the left is the bookshop owned by R.H Starkey, who also sold stationery. Next is Harry Palmer the Draper, and on the right is C.F Savage's Boot Warehouse. Nothing in the photo exists in Erith today, with the exception of the name Pier Road.

Now for the weekly local safety and security updates from Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association. Firstly the report from Barnehurst ward:- "Great News for Barnehurst Residents, we have had no crimes to report although the team have been busy on the ward patrolling and reminding members of the public about the Governments Guidelines around COVID-19. We have received reports of golfers continuing to play golf on Barnehurst Golf Course. A number of golfers have been advised, unfortunately we cannot patrol this area 24/7 but when on duty this is an area where we concentrate our foot patrols. The team conducted two stop and searches after officers smelt a strong smell of cannabis coming from the wooded area of the golf course. One male was dealt with for possession of cannabis. The team have also received reports from various residents with regards to vehicles driving dangerously in and around Parkside Avenue, Northall Road, Beverley Road and Manor Way. The team have been carrying out patrols and will be dealing with this matter. Any further sightings please let us know. Please stick to the guidelines and remember the social distancing measures of two metres. Stay Safe". Belvedere ward - no report received this week. Bexleyheath ward:- "Thursday 16/04/2020 0305 Burglary Russell Close -  entry gained by front door believed to have been after vehicle keys, nothing taken, suspects disturbed. Whilst our crimes do remain low at the moment there are still criminals about, please do ensure that doors are double locked with keys and do not keep valuables in your vehicles". Crayford ward:- "Criminal damage was caused to a silver Saab whilst parked outside Lyles Court in London Road between Sunday 15/03/2020 and Thursday 9/04/2020. Number plates EU63FPV stolen from a Silver Ford Kuga on Friday 10th April between 06.00 and 18.00 whilst parked in Heath Road close to the top end of Hillside Road. Garden tools were stolen from a greenhouse at the Crayford Way allotments between Thursday 9th and Friday 10th April. On Friday 17th April at approx. 03.50 police were alerted that 2 males had been seen trying to get in to the petrol station shop, they were apprehended whilst trying to break in to Hobbycraft a short time later. A sat nav was stolen from a silver Volkswagen whilst parked in Heathlee Avenue between 16.00 on Thursday 16th April and 13.05 on Friday 17th April, the front passenger window was smashed. A shed was broken in to at Crayford Way allotments on Saturday 18th April, the padlock was broken off and tools and plants were taken. A dashcam was stolen from a red Skoda whilst parked in Crayford High Street on Sunday 19th April at 23.12, the front passenger window was smashed. We are still in a period of lockdown, unless you are a keyworker, please don't go out unless it is necessary to purchase food/medicines or to take daily exercise with members of your own household. Please stay safe". Erith ward:- "This week we have been regularly visiting all the shops in Erith which I am pleased to add they have all been coping very well and people lining up have been extremely civilised. We will be carrying on visiting all the shops daily around Erith. Again this week crimes are lower than normal, we just need to not let any guards down, if you are going out please remember not to leave any items in you cars, even on lockdown items are still being removed from vehicles. If you go on bike rides and leave your bike for any amount of time for example to enter a shop to get a drink, Lock the bike up!. It takes less than a few seconds for an unlocked bike to be taken. After this lockdown I am hoping to acquire more bike marking kits and I will run a bike making event for local residents. I know this weather has been lovely but if you are sitting on a public bench watching the world go by enjoying the sunshine we will be asking you to go home, we are only doing this to keep everyone as safe as we can. This isn't something we are enjoying asking. Also Erith team have been patrolling Northumberland Heaths ward due to staffing numbers on that ward". Northumberland Heath ward:- "Another good week – Crime levels are down. A community Protection Notice Warning has been issued to a Landlord within Northumberland Park Road. This is aimed to prevent unreasonable behaviour that is having a negative impact on the local community. Hopefully this will prevent anti-social behaviour such as loud music .The residents have also been referred to ASB unit within Bexley Council. If you've having a problem with loud music, rowdy parties or barking dogs in your neighbourhood, your council can help https://mybexley.bexley.gov.uk/service/Noise_pollution. Officers completed stop and searches on two males seen loitering on Londonderry Parade, Stelling Road, Erith .One male was found to be in possession of cannabis. There has been a rise in domestic incidents within the Borough. If you are a victim of a domestic incident please see our twitter page for advice @MPSNorthHeath or speak to a member of the National Domestic Abuse Helpline team at any time, day or night 08082000247 or contact 999 if it's an emergency. We have had reports of Youth congregating and smoking drugs in Northumberland Heath Recreational Grounds and Streamway Erith. Officers have been completing patrols within these hots spot areas. If you see this happening please contact 101 and make us aware. Thank you to our NHS colleagues, those working within the ambulance service, all of the people that are helping to come together and make our communities as safe as they can be in this terrible crisis".

The photo above (click on it for a larger view) shows fly tipped compost and plant bedding material that was illegally dumped in Appold Street, Erith late on Friday night by persons unknown. If you witnessed this criminal act, please contact me in confidence, and I will pass the information on to the Police and Bexley Council. Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com. Slade Green and Northend ward:- "No notable crimes reported in the last week. 9 stop and searches have been made and one male found in possession of drugs near Grange House. A Community Resolution (official warning letter) was issued. Several groups have been moved on from a few places in the ward (Rainbow Road, Hollywood Way park, Frobisher Road) but as a general rule it seems that most people seem to be sticking to the rules and staying in so a big thanks from us. While we are giving out thanks, we would like to say a huge thanks to Mel, Sonya and everyone else helping Slade Green Big Local who, everyday, have a foodbank running from the hall of St Augustines and have been delivering food and activity packs to many residents and not just locally. Leaflets are being delivered where possible and anyone who wishes to help or contribute can pop along to the church to find out more or look up Slade Green Big Local on social media. If you do visit they are following social distancing guidelines. But a fantastic effort by a brllliant local group must be applauded and we wish them all the very best. St Augustines services are broadcasting live on Facebook and Zoom every Sunday from 1030am, anyone can watch, we will be this Sunday. There are prayer services too each day at 9am and 9pm. Lastly, please remember to stay indoors and save lives. Stay safe everyone". Thamesmead East ward:- "On Friday 17/04/20 at 6:15pm an attempted theft of a motorcycle occurred in Wolvercote Road.Sunday 19/04/20 between the hours of 9:15am and 3:30pm a Ford transit vehicle was stolen from Leatherbottle Green. There has been an increase in theft of vehicle number plates. Consider purchasing a set of Anti - Theft screws or bolts for number plates Between Saturday 18/04/20 at 11:00pm and 8:00am on Sunday 19/4/20 the outer pane of a double glazed window was smashed to a property in Maran Way. Sunday 19/04/20 whilst on cycle patrol on Manorway Green, a member of the public spoke to PC Pruden regarding a motor scooter, found parked in an alleyway in Goldcrest Close. Vehicle checks carried out by PC Pruden, came back to an address in Bledlow Close, where the scooter was stolen between the hours 4;00pm and 11:pm on Saturday 18/04/20. Monday 20/04/20 Felixstowe Road, a stolen motorcycle found. PC Pruden attended the motorcycle was recovered. A set of number plates were found in Crossway Park by a local resident, stolen from a vehicle in Bexley, were collected by the team and PC Pruden delivered the plates to the rightful owner". West Heath ward:- "One attempted burglary in Abbotts Walk on Friday 17/04/20 at approximately 4am. The occupant was woken by the sound of the inner porch door being tampered with. The occupant came downstairs and saw a male dressed in a grey tracksuit at the door. The occupant shouted at the male and he ran away in the direction of Brampton Road. A black Ford Fiesta was stolen by means of a burglary in Cumberland Drive overnight on Thursday 16/04/20 20.00 – Friday 17/04/20 10.00. Entry was gained via an implement used to pop the lock on the front door. Keys to the vehicle and house keys were also stolen. Theft from motor vehicle in Gipsy Road between Tuesday 21/04/20 – Wednesday 22/04/20 06.15. It is not clear at this stage if anything has been stolen as the car was rifled through. Theft of rear lights from a Mini Cooper parked in Gipsy Road on Monday 20/04/20 between Midnight and 10am. The team have made one arrest for theft this week. The team have continued to engage and advise members of the public during the Coronavirus and moving people on if necessary".

The end video this week features local stage school Theatre Box, who before the lock down were based in The Old Library in Walnut Tree Road, run by charitable community benefit society The Exchange. Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Mi Amigo.

Not only did the garden fence at Pewty Acres suffer in the recent storms. but local business The Royal Alfred Premier Store in Manor Road lost some roof tiles and some lead flashing was damaged by the gales. The former pub, on the corner of Appold Street is in a very exposed position, close to the River Thames, and thus quite vulnerable to wind damage. The scaffolding was erected to make access to the roof possible for the workers who carried out the repairs, which apparently only took  a day to complete. The former Royal Alfred pub was converted into a large Premier convenience store with luxury apartments above in 2017. You can see my photos of the interior of the apartments by clicking here. Comments to hugh.neal@gmail.com.

The photo above (click on it for a larger view) was taken a few weeks ago at The Bookstore Cafe in Walnut Tree Road, Erith. It was the first Jazz Lunch to be held, and as you can see there was an excellent turnout. Unfortunately all events at The Old Library are on hold, as is now the case for a great many locations around the UK at present. The Bookstore Cafe is currently not open to visitors, but you can order freshly cooked food to be delivered to your home, as the kitchen is open and working for deliveries only.  The Bookstore cafe is now available on Deliveroo:- The Bookstore Cafe - Opens at 09:00 - £0.99 delivery - £5.00 minimum - The Old Library, Walnut Tree Rd, Erith, London, DA8 1RS. All food is made with fresh ingredients, working with and supporting local producers. All profits generated by The Bookstore Cafe go towards maintaining The Old Library and The Exchange community programme.

Fake news is often used to promote fears. These fears are then used as a means of obtaining access to personal information and money. Fake news and scams have the same root. Before you believe what you are reading and whether you will make a decision on what you have read, you need to consider a number of factors. This especially true in the present situation, with many so called "experts" on the Coronavirus situation holding forth on social media. For example, this week hoax social media messages have spread fears that Coronavirus is being spread at petrol pumps. Twitter posts and Whatsapp messages supposedly from NHS nurses have been shared warning people to wear gloves to prevent "rapid spreading". Public Health England have dispelled the notion that petrol pumps specifically are a worry. A spokesperson said: "Petrol pumps are no worse than other surfaces, although we do recommend people use gloves and wash their hands after using them." Many fake news spreaders have a personal agenda to promote. Sometimes interesting or gratifying or controversial facts, posts and memes are complete fabrications. The fact that tens of thousands of people have ‘Liked’ an article doesn’t prove that it’s true. (Though it doesn’t prove that it isn’t, either). The fact that one or more of your very intelligent and well-informed friends posted it isn’t conclusive proof that it’s accurate, either. Sometimes, very bright people fall for bogus messages because they want to believe them: for instance, because they fit with their political views, or offer some exciting gift, or refer to some threat that they don’t have the technical knowledge to recognise as improbable. Intelligence and omniscience are not synonyms. Sometimes, people just don’t care: they like the story the message tells too much to check it for factual accuracy.  The late scientist and philosopher Professor Carl Sagan produced what he called his “baloney detection kit” – a series of rules to employ when encountering any potential guile or manipulation. “1. Wherever possible there must be independent confirmation of the “facts.” 2. Encourage substantive debate on the evidence by knowledgeable proponents of all points of view. 3. Arguments from authority carry little weight — “authorities” have made mistakes in the past. They will do so again in the future. Perhaps a better way to say it is that in science there are no authorities; at most, there are experts. 4. Spin more than one hypothesis. If there’s something to be explained, think of all the different ways in which it could be explained. Then think of tests by which you might systematically disprove each of the alternatives. What survives, the hypothesis that resists disproof in this Darwinian selection among “multiple working hypotheses,” has a much better chance of being the right answer than if you had simply run with the first idea that caught your fancy. 5. Try not to get overly attached to a hypothesis just because it’s yours. It’s only a way station in the pursuit of knowledge. Ask yourself why you like the idea. Compare it fairly with the alternatives. See if you can find reasons for rejecting it. If you don’t, others will. 6. Quantify. If whatever it is you’re explaining has some measure, some numerical quantity attached to it, you’ll be much better able to discriminate among competing hypotheses. What is vague and qualitative is open to many explanations. Of course there are truths to be sought in the many qualitative issues we are obliged to confront, but finding them is more challenging. 7. If there’s a chain of argument, every link in the chain must work (including the premise) — not just most of them. 8. Occam’s Razor. This convenient rule-of-thumb urges us when faced with two hypotheses that explain the data equally well to choose the simpler. 9. Always ask whether the hypothesis can be, at least in principle, falsified. Propositions that are untestable, unfalsifiable are not worth much. Consider the grand idea that our Universe and everything in it is just an elementary particle — an electron, say — in a much bigger Cosmos. But if we can never acquire information from outside our Universe, is not the idea incapable of disproof? You must be able to check assertions out. Inveterate sceptics must be given the chance to follow your reasoning, to duplicate your experiments and see if they get the same result. Certainly some very thought provoking principles. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or alternatively Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

This week marks the fortieth anniversary of an event that has largely been forgotten, but that had a major impact on radio broadcasting in the UK and Europe at the time. It is forty years since the Radio Caroline ship, the Mi Amigo sank in a North Sea storm. The rescue of the crew by the RNLI was so hazardous that the coxswain of the lifeboat was awarded the RNLI's highest honour. The story of the sinking, and the subsequent heroic rescue was told by one of those involved - the DJ Stevie Gordon, who related his memories to The Pirate Radio Hall of Fame. Stevie writes:- "During my time on board Radio Caroline, we worked around the clock in shifts. But little did I realise what was in store for me that March afternoon in 1980 as I headed for my cabin and my usual siesta. “Every man has his 15 minutes of fame” and mine were soon to begin. “You'd better get up, Stevie. We're off the anchor”. Tom Anderson didn't seem unduly worried and indeed our ship, the Mi Amigo, had lost its anchor before and been adrift on several occasions. Not when I was on board though! I was up in a flash and hurried upstairs to find out what was happening. There was a heavy sea but we were used to that and the radio station was broadcasting normally. However my first glance outside showed me that we were not at our usual location. There should have been seven or eight crew on board. The make-up tended to be three or four English DJs, two Dutchmen who read the news and presented a live breakfast show for the daytime service aimed at Holland and Belgium, a transmitter engineer, a cook and occasionally a sailor. However, due to a mix up, although all those who were due shore leave had been taken off, there was only one replacement. Hans Verlaan was on his first tour of duty and had only arrived a few hours earlier. That left just us three Brits who between us knew the ship inside out, and the ship's canary. Looking back, I can see that, with the usual complement, lives could very easily have been lost but at that early stage none of us had any idea how the affair would end. “We'd better get the emergency anchor down!” Tom Anderson again and, yes, he knew how to do it. He had been on board the previous time it was needed. There seemed to be no immediate danger so I told Tom I would, as a courtesy, notify the coastguard but not until the ship was once again at anchor. He made his way forward to the bows and my other English colleague, Nick Richards, went downstairs to see if there was any water in the bilges. There wasn't, but that was the only good news! Tom Anderson was in trouble. The reserve chain was not wound around a drum or stored in a locker but lay in an untidy heap in the forepeak. The anchor itself was mounted above the chain on a slide and secured in place by rope binding. Using a large knife Tom had slashed through the ropes but, instead of sliding into the sea, the anchor sat stubbornly fast on the slide. Watching from the bridge, that was the first time I became aware that this time things might not go as smoothly as before. I could see Tom struggling to get the anchor free and I knew just how easily he could get swept overboard with it. The weather was steadily deteriorating but, just for a moment, there seemed to be a chance. Slowly at first, the reserve anchor was beginning to move. Tom had time to get clear. There was a rush of the chain, the anchor went down and the ship was no longer adrift. Time to notify HM Coastguard. My call was immediately answered and, although at first the fact that we had moved was not known, our new position over a sandbank close to a busy shipping lane was soon confirmed. Then an unexpected question! “We've got a lifeboat out” the coastguard told me. “Do you want to come off?” Surprised, I gave him an assurance that all was well. The ship was back on anchor, I reported, and there was no need for anybody to leave. That information was accepted but I was again told that there was a lifeboat standing by in the area. The six hours since I had been called from my bunk had disappeared. The time was now 9pm, low water, and the Mi Amigo sat ever so gently down on the seabed. For the first time in nearly three days the ship was lying quietly, there was still no water in the bilges, and there was time for a cup of tea. We could now see the lifeboat about a mile away at the edge of of the sandbank and, although we didn't yet have any idea how quickly our situation would change, we would soon be very grateful that it was there. The tide turned, the sea began to rise and once again there was movement in the ship. But what on earth was that awful banging? As the ship rose and fell with the tide, it was banging loudly on something which caused a series of shudders right through the vessel. (Probably what was left of the first chain was trapped between the hull and the seabed.) “There's water in the bilges. We'll need the pump running”. Nick Richards was as confident with the engine room as Tom had been with the anchor. Well, let's hope everything goes alright this time, as well. But the water continued to force its way in to the bottom of the ship. Nick had three very fast pumps running and the water was soon over the bilge plates, which meant the ship had taken in about two feet of water stem to stern. Watching from my station on the bridge I saw Nick making his way along the deck towards the engine room door suddenly waist deep in a breaking wave. I knew then that we would have to abandon ship. Neither of my English colleagues disagreed with my decision but, before we left, the radio station had to be closed down. None of us thought that the ship might be lost forever. We were more concerned about what could happen to the radio equipment if it got wet. Especially if it was still turned on! We were leaving because that was the sensible thing to do. Tom and I made our way to the studio, and Nick went to the transmitter hold to switch off there. We left our new Dutchman in the mess room out of his depth in every way. In a brief final message I told our listeners what had happened and why we were leaving the ship “... hoping that the pumps can take it” added Tom. And my final words: “from all of us for the moment, goodbye and God bless.“And then the four of us were upstairs at the door opening out onto the deck. The time to go had arrived. However there seemed to be no chance of the lifeboat coming alongside. The sea was much too rough. As the Mi Amigo rose on a wave, the lifeboat seemed to disappear in an adjacent trough, and then vice versa. Every time he tried to approach us only the extraordinary skill of the coxswain prevented his lifeboat from smashing into the Mi Amigo. A first attempt to leave from the stern was quickly found to be impossible. If we were to get off, it had to the usual way over the side! Coxswain Charlie Bowry brought his lifeboat up as close as he dared. For a brief moment the two ships stood quietly side by side and Tom and I bundled Hans Verlaan into the arms of the waiting rescuers. After his shaky start in the business, Ton Lathouwers (these days he prefers his given name) went on to become president of Sky Radio and a billionaire! However moments after we had passed him over to the lifeboat the raging sea had pushed the two ships one hundred yards apart. Nobody else was getting off just yet. We looked at each other and then, with a guilty start, Nick asked “What about Wilson?” The ship's canary was named after an earlier Prime Minister and we couldn't just leave him to his fate. Nick flew back into the mess room to get him. Then, once again, the lifeboat managed to close in but this time Wilson in his cage was first across followed immediately afterwards by Nick Richards. That left Tom and myself, and the weather was still getting worse. Quite a few minutes passed before the lifeboat managed to fight its way in and then there it was and it looked good! We couldn't both go. In case of an accident, one of us had to remain behind. Everything happened very quickly! The lifeboat was coming alongside. Tom and I turned to look at each other. “Go on then!” I told him and helped him on his way. No heroics on my part. It just seemed the thing to do. After all, I was the senior announcer even if he had worked for Caroline longer than I. But now I was alone. Too late to wonder if I had done the right thing. I was standing on the top of the deck rail, hanging on for dear life to a stay attached to the broadcasting mast. And there I remained until finally the lifeboat managed one last time to struggle alongside. Charlie Bowry had of course been making numerous attempts, but the storm was too severe and kept pushing him away. But, some twenty minutes after Tom had been snatched to safety, there they were again. Still grasping the stay, I reached out my other arm. Strong hands clamped around it like a vice. I was safe, and my few minutes of fame generated by the attention of the world's press and other media were about to begin". Footnote: daylight revealed that the Mi Amigo had sunk on the edge of a sandbank but part of the antenna was still above water. RNLI Coxswain Charlie Bowry received the RNLI's highest award for bravery for the rescue. Many at the time thought that this was the end for Radio Caroline, but this proved to be very far from the truth. The next chapter in Caroline's history was about to begin.

Radio Caroline returned to the air in 1983 with a huge and very impressive ship - the former side trawler and ice breaker the Ross Revenge, which between 1983 and the hurricane of 1987 boasted a three hundred foot tall antenna mast, which was the highest free floating marine structure in the World. The Ross Revenge remained at sea until November 1991.  My time on board was towards the end of the station's time based at sea. You can see a photo of a very young me above - click on the photo for a larger view. Any semi clandestine organisation tends to attract eccentric characters, and Caroline was no different. In the greater scheme of things, my involvement with Radio Caroline was relatively brief – some people from the time, such as station manager Peter Moore are still hard at it today. My own time with Radio Caroline was between 1988 and 1992; You can see a handful of photos by clicking here. I have a couple of hundred others that are not yet digitised. Initially I was involved with a group of friends who helped run the shore side of the organisation, and arranged for secret supply deliveries to be made covertly to the Radio Caroline ship, the Ross Revenge, which was anchored fifteen miles off the Kent Coast, opposite the North Foreland in an area of sea called the South Falls Head. I made several secret supply runs on a variety of vessels – invariably these would set out from places such as Strood Pier or Ramsgate Harbour at the dead of night, laden down with fresh drinking water, food, technical supplies, new records, letters from listeners and most importantly, magazines and newspapers for the crew to read. At the time I was working as a trainee quantity surveyor for a very prestigious London company. More and more of my time was being taken up with Radio Caroline activities, to the point where I realised that I was going to have to give up the day job – which was not such a big step, as I was struggling with my surveying exams, and had already realised that life on a building site was not for me. I jacked in the job, and six weeks later I found myself on board the Ross Revenge. I had a dual role. In the daytime I was to project manage the complete repainting of the ship from stem to stern (I had encountered a very wealthy Radio Caroline fan who owned a large commercial painting and decorating business West of London, who was happy to supply the organisation with roughly £10,000 worth of high quality marine paint), then at night I hosted a radio show featuring album tracks and various quirky news items. I was fortunate that this all happened in the long and glorious summer of 1990 – the weather was excellent, sea conditions for the most part were calm, and life was good. I have a host of stories from my time with the station – many of which sound decidedly far- fetched, though in those cases I have photos from the period for proof! Several people have suggested that I write a book about my experiences, and maybe sometime I will. To be honest, quite a few other Radio Caroline staff have written books over the years, and I wonder whether I would actually contribute anything worthwhile to the genre. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at sea on the Ross Revenge, and still keep in contact with my old boss Peter Moore from time to time (being honest, working for Radio Caroline is a bit like working for the Mafia – you never really leave). Nowadays, though the station has retained and restored the historic Ross Revenge, it broadcasts mainly online from land based studios located in Strood High Street. Coincidentally, there was a story published this week in The Sun about Radio Caroline and organised trips to visit the Ross Revenge, which you can read here.

Now for the weekly local safety and security updates from Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association. Firstly the report from Barnehurst ward:- "We are pleased to report there has been no burglaries  on the ward over the past week. There has also been no reports of vehicle crime which is really good news. Barnehurst Officers assisted with a Licensing Operation on Barnehurst Ward. The operation was aimed at identifying drug dealers and users of cocaine. Drug testing kits and drug dogs were used to identify potential offenders who were searched accordingly. Arrests were made for possession of drugs. A number of residents from Holmsdale Grove received smart water kits over the weekend. Holmsdale Grove residents were offered the smart water due to the alley ways that run round the rear of the property's. In the past burglars have used these alleys to gain entry to property's with less chance of being seen. Lastly we regret to inform you, due to COVID-19 all community contact sessions will be cancelled as from today". Belvedere ward:- "The office have just had an email from a resident in Belvedere to say - 'Just had two cold callers at the door claiming to be from ‘Money Saving Expert' or ‘Money Expert' to talk about bills during the virus. It's a scam trying to get people to switch energy suppliers. Don't entertain them. They clearly have nothing to do with the well known website by that name'. I also had one of these cold callers knock on my door on Tuesday afternoon and in the evening in Northumberland Heath. It is uncertain as to whether this is a scam or not, but there will always be those who try to profiteer at times like this". Bexleyheath ward:- "Tuesday 10/03/20 Theft or Purse Stolen whilst in M and S Broadway. Wednesday 11/03/20 1745 – 12/03/20 0730 Theft From Motor Vehicle Upton Road. Wednesday 11/03/20 1500 Theft of Purse Stolen whilst in Charity Shop Broadway. Thursday 12/03/20 0105 Theft from Motor Vehicle Broomfield Road. Monday 16/03/20 0825 - 0845 Theft of Phone Belvedere Road. Monday 16/03/20 1415 – 1630 Theft of items from locked locker The Gym, Broadway. Monday 16/03/20 1620 Theft of items from locked locker The Gym, Broadway. Monday 16/03/20 1445 – 1630 Theft from locked locker The Gym, Broadway. Please be careful and do not take valuable to The Gym, Bexleyheath Broadway, as there has been a spate of thefts from the locked lockers". Crayford ward:-"There was an attempted burglary in Marden Crescent on Tuesday 10th March at approx. 9.15, the victim was aware as they received a CCTV alert on their mobile phone. The rear door had tool marks on but entry was not gained. A pedal cycle left outside and unlocked at flats to the rear of Crayford High Street was stolen between 20.00 on Thursday 12th March and 09.00 on Friday 13th March. A catalytic converter was stolen off a Honda whilst parked at Tanners Close between 18.30 on Thursday 12th March and 09.30 on Friday 13th March. A wing mirror was stolen off a vehicle (description not given) whilst parked in Mill Place between 22.30 on Friday 13th March and 08.15 on Saturday 14th March. Another catalytic converter stolen off a blue Honda whilst parked in Ridge Way between 18.00 on Friday 13th March and 09.00 on Saturday 14th March. The rear number plate LV69KCC was stolen off a Ford Transit whilst parked at Kennett Road on Tuesday 17th March. These are uncertain times, we will not be holding community contact sessions for the time being but please be assured that we are here if you need us. In an emergency please call 999, for non-emergency calls please call 101 or go on line at www.met.police.uk. We can be contacted on 020 8721 2584 if you would like to speak to one of the team directly, please leave a message if we don't answer and we will call back when we are next on duty. You can also contact us by email Crayford.SNT@met.police.uk" Erith ward:- "For anyone concerned we are carrying on as normal covering Erith. This will even include working from home for extra hours if needs be. There is 4 teams that work out out of Pier Road police office and we will all work together to help each other out. Just to remind you, you can report non urgent crimes online this will free up our call centre for more urgent calls. Weekly Crimes of note report - Friday 13/03/20 Theft of Motor Vehicle Park Crescent. Saturday 14/03/20 Theft of Motor Vehicle Bexley Road. Saturday 14/03/20 Theft of Motor Vehicle Sandcliff Road. We are looking to see if any of these are linked. Monday 16/03/20 Burglary St Francis Road - entry to flat via front door number items removed. Monday 16/03/20 Theft of Motor Vehicle South Road".  Northumberland Heath ward - no report received this week.

Slade Green and Northend ward:- "Theft of Motor vehicle Friday 13/03 Rainbow Road, Theft of Motor vehicle Saturday 14/03. Overnight on 15-16/03 there were 3 Theft From Motor vehicles recorded all on the Frobisher Road estate including Power tools taken from a van. Burglary between 7pm and 7.15pm on Saturday 14/03 at Wessex Drive. Rear patio door left unlocked and items stolen, the suspect was disturbed by the victim. Aggravated burglary on Manor Road at 1145pm Sunday 15/03. Victim was injured in the seemingly motiveless violent incident. CID are investigating. Reassurance visits and patrols have been made by SNT officers. PC's Mark and James have had 2 positive drug stop and searches with the relevant warnings given. This week's crime prevention has been based around moped crime. In particular the garage area behind the shops in Bridge Road was checked where stolen bikes are often found. All garage areas are being checked. At this moment, we are working as normal during the coronavirus situation except all engagement activities have been cancelled for now. We will try and keep you updated during this difficult and unprecedented time of any major news. In the meantime, please keep an eye out on any vulnerable family members, friends and neighbours". Thamesmead East ward:- "Lensbury Way Wednesday 11/3/20 6:30pm – 12/3/20 5:50pm Victim states Vehicle broken into by suspect/s an untidy search of glovebox nothing reported taken. No damage to vehicle seen. St Katherine's Road Saturday 14/3/20 7pm – Sun 15/3/20 1:30pm Catalytic Converter removed by suspect/s unknown from victims vehicle Honda Accord. Criminal Damage - Harrow Manor Way Saturday 14/3/20 5:30 – 6pm Victim reports hearing a loud bang downstairs when investigated the kitchen window in the property had been smashed by suspect/s. A brick was found on the front lawn". West Heath ward:-"One attempted burglary this week in Exmouth Road. This incident took place on Wednesday March 11th between 10.30 – 15.00. The resident came home to find the barrel lock on the front door had been tampered with. Her key bent as she attempted to put in the lock. Entry to the property was not gained. Theft of number plates from a vehicle parked in Hurst Lane. This incident took place between Monday 16/03/20 15.00 – Tuesday 17/03/20 -12.00. Theft of a black Mercedes from a driveway in Dryhill Road on Wednesday 18/03/20 at 01.30 when the tracker on the victim's phone was activated. There is no further information regarding the location of the vehicle at this time. The team have made three arrests this week so far, these arrests were made as a direct result of stop and searches. The arrests were for non-payment of fines, possession of an offensive weapon and possession of a knife".

The end video this week is pretty topical; it features American TV chef and expert in the science of food and cooking, Alton Brown, giving a demonstration in a very effective way to wash your hands. Comments to hugh.neal@gmail.com.

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.