Erith versus the Australians.

Bank Holiday Monday certainly brought the strongest storm winds to Erith that I can recall for several years. Many local residents lost garden fence panels and many trees were damaged; I noticed that the green panted security shuttering around the entrance to Morrison’s was buckled and seriously damaged by the high winds. The proximity of the wide open expanse of the River Thames right next to the supermarket means that the wind is effectively funnelled – amplifying the potential damage that very strong gusts can cause. There were also several calls made for the assistance of the RNLI. Gravesend's inshore rescue team were called to Erith Pier at 10.20pm on Saturday night (March 26th), and assisted shore-side police with their search for the person. No one appeared to be in need of help, and the lifeboat was stood down and returned to station. I am pretty sure I know the reason for this call – and of several recent “false alarms” to the RNLI over the last few months. Regular readers will have seen the aerial drone footage of Grey Seals basking on the muddy river foreshore by the Slade Green Marshes. The seals swim in the River Thames and often into the River Darent; they often float in  the water with their heads above the surface in and around Anchor Bay, and well-meaning passers by on the shore mistake the Seals for swimmers who appear to be in trouble in the water. Indeed, the average survival time for a person in the water is estimated to be eleven minutes, due to the extreme currents and undertow in the river in and around Erith Pier. Obviously the situation is somewhat different for Seals – the water is their natural habitat, to which they are perfectly evolved. There was a genuine additional incident involving a human this week - Gravesend's RNLI crew were called at 9.55am on March 30th to reports of a "person in distress" on Erith Pier, and concerns about the person's safety. The Met Police were also called, and the person was rescued and taken into the care of shore-side officers away from the River Thames. As I have mentioned before, the RNLI had to travel all the way from their base in Gravesend, which even at top speed must have taken quite some time. The nearest other RNLI station is at London Bridge, meaning that Erith is about equidistant between the two, and thus the furthest point from an RNLI boat and crew.  With the level of river activity increasing, and the number of incidents revolving around Erith Pier, it again strikes me that we could really do with an RNLI substation in the area. The number and seriousness of incidents should surely justify this? As I have previously mentioned, the former Port of London Authority office next to the wooden jetty and Erith Riverside Gardens would seem to be an ideal location (click on the photo above for a larger version) – it has electricity, running water and a loo / wash basin, and sufficient space for three or four volunteers to stay whilst on call. The adjacent wooden jetty would also provide an ideal place to launch an inshore rescue boat. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or Email hugh.neal@gmail.com.

The photo above shows Christ Church Erith, which forms one of the most noticeable landmarks in the town. It is actually quite a modern construction – the cornerstone was laid back in 1872; the land the church is built on was donated by Colonel Wheatley – initially church services had been held in a temporary building made of corrugated iron. The consecration service took place on the 6th June 1874 by Archbishop Tait of Canterbury. The church is built mainly of brick, in the Early English style that many Victorian architects favoured. The building cost around £8,000 – a sizable fortune at the time. A few years later the interior of the church was “Beautified” with a series of frescoes being added; representations of the resurrection, Christ with Angels, four historic Bishops of Rochester, and scenes from English history. These painted wall panels make the church interior look Medieval – certainly far older than it actually is, and make the interior one of the most stunning of any church in the area. I would strongly recommend that you pay the place a visit – the place may look fairly unremarkable from the outside, but the interior is something else altogether. The church bell tower and spire was added forty years after the main building was completed; the first stone on the 13th of June 1914, and was completed and dedicated on the 5th June 1915.

The News Shopper have reported that Bexley is the only London borough where property is on the market for less than £100,000, and buyers need to be looking for an Erith studio flat. The one-room apartments are selling for £94,995 in Frobisher Road, and £95,000 in St Johns Road, with Able Estates in Northumberland Heath. Online estate agent HouseSimple has ranked London’s 32 boroughs by the cheapest one-bed or studio flat available. The next cheapest to Bexley are the boroughs of Newham where studios are priced from £100,000, Lambeth where buyers can bag a flat for £105,000, and Croydon where residents can get on the property ladder for just £119,950.

Historically, Erith has made quite a large contribution to the world of sport. Did you know that Erith was once one of the centres of English cricketing excellence? What is now The Europa Industrial Estate was once a cricket pitch and recreation ground? On Saturday 20th September 1884 a local team of sixteen played an eleven raised By a Mr. H.H Hyslop - a local businessman, from the Australian touring side of that year. Hyslop's Australian team won. A similar match took place between another scratch Australian team again put together by Mr. Hyslop on the 3rd May 1890. The Erith local team was composed of eighteen local men, pitted against a visitors team which included nine members of the Australian test side. This match resulted in a draw. Hopes for a rematch were dashed when the cricket ground was sold and a heavy engineering factory built on the site. Nevertheless, local historians refer to the matches as "when Erith took on the Australians". As many of you know, I am not a sports fan, but it is fascinating to discover, as I have done during my research for this week's entry, that Erith and the surrounding have been pivotal in the development of several now major sports. Football had much of its' origins in Erith in the early 1880's. Prior to 1885-1886, only Rugby Union was played in Erith - there were three clubs in the area; Star Rovers RFC played on Lessness Heath, near the Eardley Arms pub. Erith Raven RFC played on the recreation ground adjacent to the aforementioned cricket ground, and lastly, Erith Anglo - Normans RFC played on Faulkner's Meadow. This club had to be disbanded when the meadow was purchased, and the Nordenfeldt gun works was built on the site; no suitable alternative playing ground could be found for the club and it was wound up. In April 1885 Association Football was introduced to Erith by a gentleman called Bernard Beard, who came to Easton and Anderson's engineering works as manager of the boiler shop. A club was formed, called Erith F.C which played on an area then called Hartley's Meadow - which was located on the banks of the River Thames, just of what is now Lower Road. As a result of a personal dispute between club members, a rival club was established called Erith Avenue F.C. At first, as they had no ground, they were forced to play all of their games away, but they later were successful in securing a ground in what is now Avenue Road. Meanwhile, Erith F.C relocated from Hartley's Meadow to Lower Belvedere. Several members of the team subsequently played for Woolwich Arsenal F.C, what was later to become the current Premier League Arsenal club. The present Erith and Belvedere football club was founded in 1922 and had its' ground adjacent to Belvedere railway station for many years, until arsonists destroyed their main clubhouse and Park View stand in 1997. The club soldiered on for two years, using portakabins on the site, until they entered into a ground sharing arrangement with Welling United in 1999, which is still in place to this day.

The Co-Operative Society also has strong roots in the Erith area. A co-operative shop was opened in Erith in 1868 by Sir William Anderson of Easton and Anderson engineering. The shop unfortunately soon failed, as it refused to give credit, and was patronised mainly by the emerging middle classes, for whom it was not intended.  1868 also saw a much more successful launch of the Royal Arsenal Co-Operative Society at Woolwich. By 1881 they had extended the delivery of bread and groceries into Erith. On the 30th March 1882, a co-op branch store, costing £1,225 was opened on the corner of Manor Road and what is now James Watt Way. A reading room was provided on the first floor by the society's education committee, and supplied newspapers and periodicals for public use. In 1887 this was extended to form a purpose built district library, with a budget of a whole £30 to purchase books. Over the years the trade increased with the surge in growth of the local population, to the point came where the building was not large enough, and new premises were constructed in 1893. It was not very long until this co-operative library fell into disuse, when the Andrew Carnegie sponsored public library in Walnut Tree Road opened in 1906. Records show that the co-operative library had some strange rules in respect of their employees. The first manager of the Manor Road based library was a Mr. James Hall, who had left school at the age of eleven. He was soon promoted to General Manager on the condition that he got married within three months of the appointment! He eventually got spliced four months after his appointment, but this was deemed to be near enough for his employers. Hall eventually rose to become General Manager of the RACS from 1902 until his retirement in 1918.

A new kind of fraud has been uncovered in the USA, and there are indications that UK based criminals are now copying the practice. As is often the case, what starts in America, soon gets exported elsewhere. This week the U.S Federal Courts warned of swindles involving people posing as federal court officials and U.S. Marshals targeting citizens, threatening them with arrest unless they pay some fake fine for failing to show up for jury duty. In an interview with Network World magazine, Melissa Muir, Director of Administrative Services for the U.S. District Court of Western Washington said in a statement “This year’s scams are more aggressive and sophisticated than we’ve seen in years past; Scammers are setting up call centres, establishing call-back protocols and using specific names and designated court hearing times. The bottom line is this: A federal court will never threaten an individual or demand the immediate payment —either over the telephone or money wire service— for fines or for not responding to a jury summons.” The court has warned in the past of e-mails scams from people claiming they have been selected for jury service and demanding that they return a form with such information as Social Security and driver’s licence numbers, date of birth, mobile phone number, and mother’s maiden name. According to the e-mail, anyone who failed to provide the information would be ordered to court to explain their failure, and could face fines and jail time. The e-mail also falsely claimed that it was affiliated with eJuror, an online registration programme. The email is fraudulent and has no connection to either the federal courts or to eJuror, the court system said in a statement. The Administrative Office noted that eJuror never requests that personal identification information be sent directly in an email response. Requests by courts to complete a qualification questionnaire would be initiated by formal written correspondence. Such letters tell jury participants how to access an authenticated, secure online connection. The court has also in the past warned of scammers using the threat of arrest unless of course you pay them off. Specifically the US Court statement said: "You've received a warrant by fax or email saying a federal law enforcement officer or an attorney for the government wants to arrest you. Charges may be for money laundering or bank fraud, or missed jury duty. To avoid arrest, the warrant says, send money. Again, it’s a scam. Be warned – it is very likely this practice has already made it across the Atlantic, and pretty much all of what applies in the USA will hold true over here.

The photo above was sent to me by fellow local blogger, Malcolm Knight of Bexley is Bonkers. It shows London Mayoral candidate Zac Goldsmith visiting the first session of the reinvented Erith Market on Wednesday. I was unable to make the event, as I was at work. I am sure that many other locals were in a similar position; I am extremely happy that the market has been revitalised, for a trial run at least. I would like to see it to also take place on Saturdays when more people could potentially attend - holding it midweek excludes a lot of potential customers, which is to nobody's advantage.

Former Conservative cabinet minister Michael Heseltine, now Lord Heseltine could be spending much of his time in and around North Kent over the next few years. He has been appointed to lead and establish a commission for growth in the Thames Estuary and surrounding areas. The Thames Estuary 2050 Growth Commission is expected to bring new infrastructure to help develop housing in areas of North Kent, South Essex and East London. Areas he will be responsible for include the forthcoming London Paramount Theme Park, the North Kent innovation zone and Ebbsfleet Garden City. In an interview with the Bexley Times, the acting chair of the South East Local Enterprise Partnership, George Kieffer said: “There is nobody better qualified in the context of both the Thames Gateway and regeneration than Lord Heseltine. The economy of the Thames estuary is integral to the long-term prosperity of the UK, thanks to its ports and trade links to mainland Europe. The timing of the commission’s announcement sends a positive message to everybody in the area that the government is committed to ensuring communities east of London realise their full economic and social potential.” On top of this, the Thames Gateway Partnership said “In the north Kent part of the gateway alone we estimate there is scope to deliver an additional 58,000 homes and 59,000 jobs. But for those new homes and jobs to be provided we need to find ways of securing new investment, especially in transport infrastructure. As the commission is established, it will report back at Autumn Statement 2017 with an outline for planned developments”.



This week I have a guest writer, who is a Maggot Sandwich reader of long standing, but has not made a contribution until now. My confidential informant has put together the following very well - written and informative piece regarding a local landmark, and their concerns about its future.

Redevelopment of the Leather Bottle Pub on Heron Hill

The Leather Bottle has closed a few times over the past few years but new owners have always come in and it always opened back up again. It became obvious it had closed for good when over a weekend last year a JCB excavator arrived and started to flatten the site. Everything including trees and shrubs were removed and tons of soil taken away, as the site is at the bottom of the hill its neighbouring house’s foundations were looking precarious, the owners of the Leather Bottle site obviously thought so too as they hastily piled soil back to shore up the danger, tamping it down with the bucket of the JCB. My neighbours opposite started to notice things happening when previously their houses looked out on to trees, and greenery, these were now gone and the privacy that they enjoyed disappeared as well, now they felt exposed, they were now overlooked by the flats in Hattersfield Close. A quick search of the councils planning portal revealed no planning had been applied for, and people start calling the council panicking that they were going to start construction of buildings that would look directly into their properties. The council arrived in their own time at the site, they explained that the owners of the Leather Bottle were within their rights to clear the site but they were not within their rights to block the right of way / footpath that runs across what used to be the car park and garden area, the council also discovered that they'd cleared into council land (the woods). The owners of the site informed to council that they intended to build flats on the site and that in due course they would apply for planning permission. Everything went quiet for months at the Leather Bottle apart from the comings and goings of people now living in the pub. Fast forward until the Easter weekend just gone, another JCB turns up and starts to excavate tons more soils, the fence to the neighbouring house has fallen down and its replaced by plastic sheeting in an attempt at safety, its curious that these works seem to happen over a weekend and this latest major works happened over a the long Easter weekend when the council enforcement officers are not around. Tuesday morning came and I opened the children’s bedroom blinds to be greeted with the sight of a huge mobile crane, then what seems like an influx of building machinery and equipment starts to arrive. We are then treated to days of noise of sheet piling being installed. The Leather Bottle had appeared to have become a full on construction site with contractors turning up constantly.  Another check of the Councils planning portal reveals still no planning permission on the site. My neighbours and I are furiously trying to contact the council by phone and email, the former being pointless because there’s nobody available to take your call. Finally after three emails I get a response from the council which curiously is exactly the same as the one received by my neighbour. I am informed that ‘The current works are to stabilise the grounds’, well, I'm sure this wasn't helped by the removal of tons more soil over the Easter weekend, I'm told building control will visit the site once the installation of the pilings is complete to ‘check the integrity of the boundary fence and if necessary get this fully replaced’. They have received an application for the ‘pub itself to used as accommodation until they are in a position to submit an application for the redevelopment of the entire site’, its been used as accommodation since the cleared the site last year. Apparently planning has been submitted but currently there is a backlog on the planning portal. For a site that has no planning permission in place or the guarantee of it ever being so (unless they know something we don’t) they are spending thousands and thousands of pounds readying this site for major construction. House prices in the area have taken a leap in the last couple of years with the arrival of Crossrail, in my road alone we've seen increases in the region of 187 percent, ridiculous levels some may say. Major investment in the area has taken place with the building of the new Sainsbury’s by Abbey Wood station, the lottery funded redevelopment of the Lesnes Abbey area, and the council sinking money into the children's park with the addition of parkour and BMX/skateboard facilities. Are the council onboard with the development of the Leather Bottle site? You have to wonder, they've not been too perturbed by the level of work that been happening there and the would-be developers seem at ease pouring money into ground works for a site with no planning. I know that Malcolm Knight of Bexley is Bonkers shares my guest writers concerns; it will be instructive to see what comes of the case. If you have similar concerns, or some insight into what is going on with the former Leather Bottle and what was the garden area, please feel free to leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Earlier I mentioned candidate for London Mayor Zac Goldsmith did a meet and greet at Erith Market on Wednesday (there are other Mayoral candidates - your mileage may vary) one of the biggest challenges to whichever person wins the race to be the next Mayor of London will be dealing with the massive housing crisis which London and the entire South East of the UK is suffering. A short explanatory video is shown below.

Erith Market returns.

As I have previously mentioned, Erith Riverside Shopping Centre is shortly to get a couple of new shops – a Subway sandwich takeaway, and a new expansion to the existing Mambocino coffee shop / café which will offer “sit down” dining in the evenings. This will be the first honest to goodness restaurant in central Erith for many years (I refuse to count the cafeteria in Morrison’s, before anyone points it out). This is all excellent news, and the sooner both outlets open, the better. There is also a public event aimed at the children coming up shortly - The centre will be hosting its annual Easter fun day from 11am to 4pm on Saturday March 19, with a variety of themed stalls. An egg hunt will also be held across the centre, with hunters just having to keep their eyes peeled for Easter themed posters in the windows of selected shops, go inside and receive a treat from the retailer. There will also be a free face painter on hand to transform children into chicks, bunnies and fun Easter characters for the children to meet. It sounds like I had better avoid the centre on the day. I am not exactly in the demographic that the event is trying to attract. Another welcome piece of news which has been rumoured for the last year or so is that a new weekly street market will be launching in Erith soon to attract footfall and new businesses to the town. The market will be held at the eastern end of Pier Road, a location which provides a link from Morrisons’ superstore to the centre of Erith, encouraging customers to spend more time in the town. Initially, it will feature around ten stalls offering products including clothes, accessories and more, to complement businesses in the Erith Riverside Shopping Centre. It is a pity it is (initially at least) only going to be held on Wednesdays, starting Wednesday the 30th March and will last for up to fourteen weeks, and the feedback from the public and Erith Town Forum will decide as to whether it becomes a permanent fixture. Why it is not also being held on Saturdays, as Erith Market traditionally always was is not presently known. Still, i will be paying it a visit with my camera when it does start, and I sincerely hope that it does well. 

I recall back on the 26th November 2003 when three Concorde jets flew in formation over London to mark their final flights and their retirement. I was standing on the flat roof of the office building where I worked, in Blackfriars Road, Southwark. It was an extremely impressive, and very sad sight – a triumph of Anglo – French engineering being given the chop by a bunch of faceless bean counters who knew the price of everything and the value of nothing. It was for many years thought that the classic aircraft would become museum pieces and that would be the end of the era of supersonic civil aviation. Recently it has become clear that this may well not be the case. A group of Concorde experts claim to have received adequate financial backing to recommence flights by the end of this decade. Aviation enthusiasts who may not have the means to fly on board could also have the opportunity to admire an aircraft placed on permanent display in central London. A group calling itself Club Concorde, which comprises former Concorde pilots, charterers and frequent fliers, among others. Though British Airways and Air France have no plans to recommence Concorde flights, the group has now secured what it believes to be sufficient financial backing to independently return the supersonic aircraft to service. They have two aims: firstly, to place one of the aircraft on a purpose-built platform positioned by the London Eye and above the Thames; secondly, to return another to use as part of a Return to Flight project. Drawing from a £40 million investment, the club is aiming to purchase a Concorde currently stationed near Orly Airport in Paris, and to place it as the main draw in a £16-a-head London tourist attraction that would include a restaurant offering dishes that were originally served on Concorde flights. Club president Paul James hopes the plane could be on display by 2017. Getting Concorde back in the air would be rather more complex. The club has access to an additional reserve fund worth £120 million and plans to use this revenue to purchase a Concorde currently on display at Le Bourget airport in Paris. When restored (and painted in an entirely new, neutral colour scheme) and also deemed safe to again take to the skies, the plane would be deployed for use in fly-pasts at air shows and made available for corporate and special events, as well as for private charter. Club Concorde is aiming to recommence flights by 2019, to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the inaugural Concorde flight, and should the initiative prove a success the organisation may subsequently aim to make a second Concorde flightworthy at a later stage. Bearing in mind the entire venture will be financed by private money, I think it is entirely laudable. None of the retired Concordes were anywhere near their maximum airframe flight hours, and they were built to exceedingly high engineering standards. Providing the two machines to be returned to service have been correctly stored over the last thirteen years, there is no reason why with sufficient time, money and skill that they could not be refurbished, updated and returned to service. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

You may recall that I recently wrote about how the imminent arrival of Crossrail (more properly now entitled The Elizabeth Line) has already had an effect on local house prices. Now, a survey undertaken by estate agents Rightmove has shown that the average price of a two bedroomed terraced house in Abbey Wood has risen by 34.7 percent between 2015 and 2016. The survey was based on like for like properties within a one kilometre radius of Abbey Wood station. Rightmove said that the rise was due to  a number of factors, including the Elizabeth line, people looking for better value further out from the centre of town, and London property proving to be an attractive investment. The downside of this, as I have mentioned before, is that it is becoming increasingly difficult for first time buyers to get on the property ladder – and considering that the Abbey Wood / Belvedere / Erith / Slade Green area has been viewed as the joint best value region in which to buy a home within the M25, along with Barking and Dagenham. With the forthcoming opening of the Elizabeth Line, this may well cease to be the case. As other areas of Greater London become unaffordable to anyone other than a Russian Oligarch or Saudi Royal, then the search for (relatively) cheaper housing will march ever outwards.

The woes of Southeastern Trains, and anyone (myself included) who is unfortunate in having no choice but to use their terrible service have got even worse this week. On Thursday there was more service disruption on the North Kent Line, after a track defect outside of London Bridge station affected trains travelling to and from Cannon Street, Charing Cross and Waterloo East. The disruption lasted for most of the day, and my own journey back from Greenwich to Erith was delayed by forty five minutes - and I got off quite lightly compared with some other unfortunate travellers. The sooner that TfL take over the franchise the better, in my opinion. 

I saw the sad news about the former TV star and magician Paul Daniels, who has been sent home from hospital for his final days with terminal brain cancer. I used to know him, back at the height of his fame in the early to mid-1980’s, as he was one of my customers when I worked at a Saturday job at Silica Shop in Hatherley Road Sidcup, who at that time were the largest independent computer retailer in the UK, which at its peak had an annual turnover in excess of £45 million - a huge amount back then. You can see an example of a typical Silica Shop advertising flyer above - notice the large amount of detailed text - this was a Silica Shop trait - they lumped huge amounts of technical detail into all of their advertising; something that would put off a lot of potential shoppers today. All this is targeted advertising is routine nowadays, but back in 1983 it was unique, and Silica Shop had debatably the most sophisticated customer database used anywhere in the United Kingdom at the time. My own thoughts are that if Silica Shop had taken this self-written ground breaking business software and ported it onto the then new IBM PC, they would have had a huge business in selling and supporting enterprise level Customer Relationship Management (CRM) applications now. Instead they continued to shift boxes of home computers, and eventually went out of business in the mid 1990’s. If the management had employed a more creative vision, Silica could have been a global software name like Oracle Corporation now. I have to say that I learned more about computing in my few years working at Silica shop than I have learned anywhere else. My entire career in IT has been built on stuff I picked up in a quiet side street in Sidcup. I digress:- Paul Daniels would always ask for me in person – for what reason I really don’t know. He came into the shop maybe once every six Saturdays, and would always spend around £800 – which was a lot of money back in those days. He had several Atari 8 bit computers, and he was one of the first people in the UK to have an Atari 520ST – a pioneering sixteen bit pseudo clone of the Apple Macintosh at a quarter of the price, and with colour graphics. To be honest, Paul Daniels was a challenging customer. He knew his stuff, and would try and trip you up – but my product knowledge was pretty sound back then, and it was very rare that he managed to get one over on me. Looking back, it was obvious that he must have liked my service – as there were other staff who whom he could have asked for, but he would always ask to be served by me. I recall him getting somewhat spiky when he asked me what I had thought of his show the Saturday before, and I responded that I had missed it (I had been down the pub with my mates – what did he expect – not that I mentioned this to him). If I had been earning commission on sales, I would have made a small fortune from him alone. Sad to see him in the current circumstances. 

The photo above was sent to me by Maggot Sandwich reader and Chairman of the Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association, Dana Whiffen. It shows London Mayor Boris Johnson visiting Welling Welling on Wednesday to congratulate Bexley Neighbourhood Watch Association, and the local Welling Police teams of Falconwood and East Wickham for working together to achieve 100% Neighbourhood Watch coverage in these two wards. Coverage in Erith and Slade Green has yet to reach these levels.

When travelling back from occasional business meetings I need to attend in Watford, I find myself on a Southeastern train from London Bridge back to Erith. I am usually travelling during the mid-afternoon period, before the start of the busy period (the term “rush hour” is a misnomer, as it lasts for several hours in the morning and evening). On several occasions a person has walked along the carriage, placing packets of tissues on empty seats opposite commuters. The tissues are accompanied by a note saying that the person placing the tissues is unemployed and has young children to feed – this is done in the hope that travellers will hand over cash in sympathy. Earlier this week British Transport Police announced that the beggars are part of several organised criminal gangs travelling to the UK for three month “tissue begging tourism” stints. The beggars target off – peak travellers to avoid sceptical and aggressive regular commuters and very packed trains. The begging notes apparently all have identical wording , and some are even commercially laminated – something quite pricey for someone who is meant to be penniless. Southeastern, Thameslink and Southern Rail have all issued warnings to their customers about the issue. What also interests me is that if the person is meant to be skint – how did they afford to pay the train fare? Of course they did not. In an interview with The Metro newspaper on Monday, British Transport Police Superintendent Jenny Gilmer was quoted as saying “We have noticed a pretty significant escalation of reports. There is no doubt that this is an organised activity, and it is clearly profitable for people. There are members of the public who are handing out money”. The message would seem to be, don’t give these people money for tissues – it is an organised criminal con. Have you seen these operators in action? What do you think? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

I get very annoyed by Apple Mac users who claim that their computers are “virus proof” or some such thing – whilst Macs are pretty robust, any computer that can run executable code can run malware. I have a Mac, and love it,  but I would not claim it was any more robust than any other platform. This is backed up by the news that The first "fully functional" ransomware targeting OS X has landed on Macs – after somehow smuggling itself into downloads of the popular Transmission BitTorrent file transfer client. Transmission's developers have warned in a notice splashed in red on the app's website that if you fetched and installed an afflicted copy of the software just before the weekend, you must upgrade to a clean version. Specifically, downloads of version 2.90 were infected with ransomware that will encrypt your files using AES and an open-source cryptographic library, and demand a payment to unscramble the documents. Transmission has millions of active users. It is possible the application's website servers were compromised, and the downloads tampered with to include the KeRanger nasty. Those who have had files encrypted will be asked by the malware to cough up US$400 in Bitcoins, paid to a website hidden in the Tor “dark web” network, to get their files back. In an interview with Reuters last week, Ryan Olson of Palo Alto Networks said "It is a little bit surprising because ransomware has been so incredibly popular for Windows, and mobile platforms, It's now of the most popular criminal business models. The fact that it hasn't made it to Mac shows that it's had a great amount of success on the Windows side. But the fact that [the malware] was distributed through a legit application demonstrates that we will see this again." The KeRanger malware, which imposes a 72-hour lockout window unless the victim pays 1 bitcoin (around £320), appears to have been first discovered via a rogue version of Transmission, a widely popular BitTorrent client. For some time now, ransomware has primarily targeted Windows machines—threatening total data destruction if the ransom isn't paid. Recently, even a Los Angeles hospital was infected, which resulted in the payment of a $17,000 ransom. In June 2015, the FBI said it had been contacted by 992 victims of CryptoWall, a similar ransomware scheme, who have sustained combined losses totalling over $18 million. In the UK fewer reports have been made, but this may be due to embarrassment / desire to protect an organisations image and business credibility. An analysis of the KeRanger ransomware showed that “The KeRanger application was signed with a valid Mac app development certificate; therefore, it was able to bypass Apple’s Gatekeeper protection. If a user installs the infected apps, an embedded executable file is run on the system. KeRanger then waits for three days before connecting with command and control (C2) servers over the Tor anonymizer network. The malware then begins encrypting certain types of document and data files on the system. After completing the encryption process, KeRanger demands that victims pay one bitcoin (about £320) to a specific address to retrieve their files. Additionally, KeRanger appears to still be under active development and it seems the malware is also attempting to encrypt Time Machine backup files to prevent victims from recovering their back-up data.” All very grim stuff. Time Machine is Apple’s proprietary backup and restore application (and very good it is too). I have not heard any reports of infections reaching the UK, but as is usual with this sort of thing, it is probably only down to time. 

I took the photo above a while back, whilst on the Woolwich Ferry; it was an experiment in black and white, moody photography. There has been much concern locally for a couple of years; there have been strong messages from TfL and the Department of Transport were looking to phase out the Woolwich free ferry. This would be a very poor move if it happened, as records of a ferry across the River Thames at Woolwich date back as far as 1308. The documentation from that date refers to the waterman who ran the ferry, William de Wicton, sold his business and house to William Halle, for £10. In 1320 the ferry was sold again for 100 silver marks. There is no further mention of the ferry during the years that Woolwich rose to prominence as a royal dockyard under Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. Much later, in 1810 the army established its own ferry that ran from Woolwich Arsenal to Duvals Wharf. In 1811 an Act of Parliament was passed to establish a ferry across the Thames from Woolwich at the Old Ballast or Sand Wharf, opposite Chapel Hill, where the dockyard then terminated. The ferry became known as the western ferry and was run by a company that called itself The Woolwich Ferry Company. The Western ferry continued to operate until 1844, when the company was dissolved after a history of inept management. The current free ferry was set up in the 1889 and has run ever since. You can read more about the opening of the free ferry service by clicking here. Good news regarding the continuation of the Woolwich Ferry service; It was announced earlier this week that two brand new ferry boats will be commissioned to replace the three ageing vessels in operation – John Burns, Ernest Bevin and James Newman. The reliability of the modern boats making up for the loss of the third vessel (I doubt this - there will always be a need for a backup ship). In addition, there will be new mooring facilities at Woolwich and North Woolwich, the embarkation points. The work should be complete by March 2018, according to papers lodged with TfL’s finance and policy committee. In an interview with The Wharf newspaper, TfL's general manager of river services Andy Thompson said: “We are working to extend the life of the Woolwich Ferry service into the 2020s. We’ve completed work on the jetties and lifting bridges, so we are now focussing on the ferries themselves, and can confirm that we are planning to buy two new boats to replace the existing 1960s vessels. The buying process for these has now started and we have encouraged a number of ship building companies to bid for the contract. Alongside this, we recently consulted on plans for new fixed river crossings in East London, including two new crossings at Thamesmead and Belvedere, which could be delivered by 2025, subject to funding.” Whatever your opinions on the proposed bridges / tunnels, it does annoy me when people talk of Thamesmead and Belvedere, as if they were in East London! 

The Slade Green Community Forum have just released the following request for help:- "On the weekend 15/16/17 April we will be commemorating the 75th anniversary of the 'Slade Green Heroes' whose brave actions saved the centre of Slade Green from being blown up ( is a copy of the commemorative plaque at the railway station for anyone who doesn't know the story). Below is a summary of what is currently planned (with support from Slade Green Big Local) and the help we need. Note that some dates/times are provisional. Below that note details of two current consultations, in particular proposed new ward boundaries that will divide Slade Green between two wards, and Erith likewise. Friday 25th March to Sunday 3rd April - Distribution of publicity material. We are in need of people to help with the deliveries to all local roads. Friday 15th April 8 - 11 pm Slade Green & Howbury Community Centre. World War 2 Dance. We need a couple of volunteers to check tickets on the door, and volunteers to help with set up from 7pm and with clearing away after the event. Saturday 16th April - morning - children's event at St Augustine's Hall, time and details tbc. Saturday 16th April 2pm - 2.15 pm at Slade Green station. Commemoration at the site of the commemorative plaque. Does anyone know a bugler who can play The Last Post? Generally, could do with some people to help with stewarding and some people to look after invited guests. Saturday 16th April 2.45 - 4 pm Afternoon Tea at the British Restaurant (St Augustine's Church Hall). Remembering the use of the old St Augustine's Church Hall as a British Restaurant during the war (it served meals to people who had run out of rations, and provided meals for local armaments factories and schools). We're serving a simple afternoon tea and will have displays about British Restaurants and about local history prepared with help from the Crayford Archive and Slade Green Library. We need some help serving refreshments, and people who can help with set up between 12.30 and 1.30 and with clearing away afterwards. Also we'd be pleased to have any donations or loans of period photos or information. Sunday 17th April 3.30 - 6pm Big Band Concert at Slade Green Christian Fellowship (corner of Elm Road and Slade Green Road). The Little Big Band are students and teachers from Bird College and we will be splitting any proceeds with them as they are fundraising to take their band on tour (aside - they were really excellent when I saw them at a church in Blendon last year). We need help with checking tickets on the door, with the interval refreshments, and ensuring that pre-ordered refreshments are taken to the band members". 

The end video this week features extended coverage of the Erith Model Railway Society 2016 exhibition, which took place over the weekend of the 30th and 31st January at Longfield Academy. The exhibition featured over thirty railway layouts. See what you think, and either leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.