The other left.

The two photos above were taken almost exactly fifty years apart; the upper photo was taken in the Summer of 1966, and the lower photo was taken by me in the Summer of 2016. They both show the same location - Erith High Street with the Cross Keys, Erith Playhouse and the Cross Keys / former Potion Bar. You can click on either photo for a larger view.

Erith is very much a town in flux; building work is being undertaken pretty much anywhere that you care to look. In the town centre, the fitting out of the forthcoming steak and fish restaurant opposite Argos is proceeding smoothly; work on the Fit4Less gym opposite Erith Health Centre is scheduled to open shortly – more on this later;  work is being carried out on the former White Hart / Potion site – although the details of this are still somewhat of a mystery. Phase two of Erith Park is now under construction, work has begun on Erith Quarry; the Tower Hill development (on the site of the old Bexley College building) is nearing completion. There has not been this level of construction in the town since the much criticised demolition of the old Erith town in 1966 and the subsequent construction of the hideous brutalist concrete shopping centre that replaced it – an action that still provokes strong negative reactions half a century later. I think if the original Victorian town centre had been preserved and restored, the whole character of Erith would be fundamentally different – I think that it could have become a Thames – side equivalent of Whitstable. All is conjecture of course, as nobody will ever know. After years of concrete blandness, the Erith Riverside Shopping Centre looks good, and the restoration work that has also been undertaken on local buildings such as the Cross Keys Centre make the local environment a far nicer place to be than it has for very many years. I will be running a feature on the new Fit4Less gym, and its owner Josh Waters in the next couple of weeks. I hope to publish the first photos of the interior of the gym before it opens to the public. Finally Erith is returning to the “whole town” it was before the old centre was so wantonly destroyed by the developers in the sixties. It has taken fifty years, but things are now definitely on the up.

Once again the News Shopper is showing that is no longer the local paper that it once used to be; they are currently running a story on “The Top 10 Takeaways in South London”. Not only is the London Borough of Bexley not in South London, but the takeaways listed include one in Wimbledon, and another in Hounslow! Not exactly what I would in any way call local. The forced closure of the News Shopper offices in Petts Wood and relocation of a handful of staff to Sutton in Surrey, with those remaining either made redundant, or made to work remotely from home. This has had an awful impact on the quality of local reporting – quite often there are real clangers in stories where the journalist is not familiar with the local area, and makes basic errors which a person conversant with the area simply would not make. I have sympathy with the few remaining staff, who are horrendously overworked, but the quality of the journalism has taken a turn for the worse. You can read more about the situation with the News Shopper and a couple of other local papers by clicking here.

Some very good and overdue news; The government is to review gambling machines amid concerns they may harm vulnerable people. As many as 600,000 people in the UK may take part in "problem gambling", said culture, media and sport minister Tracey Crouch. The review will take a "close look" at fixed odds betting terminals (FOBTs) - now common on high streets - and children's access to gambling. I have long said that a major review of gambling, both on the high street and online needs to be carried out. Government figures suggest the industry employs around 100,000 people in the UK and contributed more than £10bn to the economy last year. But, amid concern over associated social problems, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport-led review will assess its impact on individuals and communities. Fixed Odds Betting Terminals are sometimes referred to as the "crack cocaine " of the gambling world. I for one would like to see the amount of money possible to stake at any one time be limited to £2, and the maximum payout to be £20, but I am doubtful that this will happen, as the tax revenues the government makes from the current high stakes machines is just so high. There are too many vested interests. Personally I feel that the UK gambling industry needs a massive shake up. It has been allowed far too free a rein for years, and has exploited the market to the point where it is more powerful than some banks. People rightly get annoyed by the activities of certain banks and bankers, whilst seemingly overlooking the scourge of the high street and nowadays also the web, the big five bookies. If all this was not bad enough, the web based casinos and poker sites that operate on the periphery of some country’s laws are proving increasingly aggressive in trying to separate people from their hard earned cash. I have noticed that sites such as 888 Casino and 888 Poker use software resistant pop – ups and pop unders, which are embedded into legitimate web sites, usually without the owner’s consent. The fact that a large organisation would willfully contravene The Computer Misuse Act 1990 to try and promote its dubious services to me says a lot about their intentions.

It would seem that the Smart Watch market, which was never that large in global terms, is now in a fairly steep decline. Figures released in the last week show that the worldwide smartwatch market experienced a round of growing pains in the third quarter of 2016, resulting in a year-over-year decline in shipment volumes. According to data from the International Data Corporation, (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Wearable Device Tracker, total smartwatch volumes reached 2.7 million units shipped in the third quarter of 2016, a decrease of 51.6 percent from the 5.6 million units shipped in the third quarter 2015. Although the decline is significant, it is worth noting that the third quarter 2015 was the first time Apple's Watch had widespread retail availability after a limited online launch. Meanwhile, the second generation Apple Watch was only available in the last two weeks of the third quarter 2016. "The sharp decline in smartwatch shipment volumes reflects the way platforms and vendors are realigning," noted Ramon Llamas, research manager for IDC's Wearables team. "Apple revealed a new look and feel to watchOS that did not arrive until the launch of the second generation watch at the end of September. Google’s decision to hold back Android Wear 2.0 has repercussions for its OEM partners as to whether to launch devices before or after the holidays. Samsung’s Gear S3, announced at IFA in September, has yet to be released. Collectively, this left vendors relying on older, aging devices to satisfy customers." "It has also become evident that at present smartwatches are not for everyone," said Jitesh Ubrani senior research analyst for IDC Mobile Device Trackers. "Having a clear purpose and use case is paramount, hence many vendors are focusing on fitness due to its simplicity. However, moving forward, differentiating the experience of a smartwatch from the smartphone will be key and we're starting to see early signs of this as cellular integration is rising and as the commercial audience begins to pilot these devices." Apple maintained its position as the overall leader of the worldwide smartwatch market, yet it posted the second largest year-over-year decline among the leading vendors. Its first-generation Watches accounted for the majority of volumes during the quarter, leading to the significant downturn for the quarter. Its Series One and Series Two did little to stem that decline, although with lower price points and improved experiences, Apple could be heading for a sequential rebound in the fourth quarter 2016 - this might well align with the launch of their revamped range of iMac computers - sales of which have been dropping as potential customers hold off buying as they know that new models are on the way. Garmin posted the largest year-over-year increase among the leading vendors, thanks to its growing list of ConnectIQ-enabled smartwatches and the addition of the fenix Chronos. Whereas other smartwatches attempt to be multi-purpose devices, Garmin’s smartwatches focus on health and fitness, and the applications reflect that strategy. Its total volumes helped close the gap further against a declining Apple and extended its lead ahead over Samsung. Samsung finished the third quarter 2016, slightly higher from a year ago on the strength of its aging Gear S2 smartwatches. These still remain one of the few smartwatches on the market that feature full-time cellular connectivity. The company introduced its follow-up, the Gear S3, with a Bluetooth-only version as well as a cellular version, but it has yet to be released to the market. Lenovo (Motorola) suffered the largest year-over-year decline among the leading vendors, with multiple channels selling out of Moto 360 devices (both first and second generation) and a scarcity of its recently released Moto 360 Sport smartwatch. In addition, the third quarter 2016 marks the first time in which Motorola did not introduce a new smartwatch in time for the holiday quarter, adding to its decline in the market. Pebble arguably kicked off the smartwatch category with its original Kickstarter campaign in 2012. Since then the company has launched multiple variants of the Pebble watch and also introduced a new timeline-based user interface, though none of them achieved mass success. After another successful Kickstarter campaign in early 2016, Pebble released the Pebble 2 (oddly enough, the third generation) late in the third quarter. The new Pebble 2 is the first watch by the company to include a heart-rate sensor and has an overall focus on fitness. It would seem to me that Smart Watches have one niche - in the health and fitness market; they are used to monitor heart and breathing rates, and associated performance. Outside of this tightly defined area they seem to struggle to find any real relevance. As I have written before, the drop in sales may well be aligned to the fact that many people regard them as a solution looking for a problem. Personally I will stick with my two classic mechanical swiss watches, they look good, keep good time and a ten second wind will keep each of them ticking for at least 36 hours. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com. 

The Bexley Times are reporting that BT is in consultation with Bexley Council in respect of the nineteen payphone boxes still remaining in use in the borough. British Telecom are saying that the number is no longer financially viable. The council will in turn be canvassing local residents for their opinions on the subject. I recall that some time ago there was a well – used payphone in Manor Road, outside of the former Royal Alfred pub. A reliable source told me that the phone box use got very much heavier, the further into the month one went. Apparently this was because local addicts would use it to phone their drug dealers when the credit on their mobile phones had run out. That all ended in the autumn of 2011 when joy riders in a stolen BMW lost control of the car and crashed into the phone box – you can see a photo of the damage above – click for a larger view. It was thought that as the pay phone generated a fair deal of cash, that BT would replace it, but after a few days the box was removed and the hole it left in the pavement was covered with tarmac. That was the end of what I understood to have been the most profitable phone box in the area, so I am not exactly surprised that less well – earning phone boxes are being retired. I do have concerns however; mobile phone signal coverage is generally good in and around Erith, due mainly to the cell transceivers and antenna farm on the roof of Electricity House next to the Fish roundabout. Other parts of the London borough of Bexley have far patchier coverage, not to mention what would happen in the event of a national or local disaster, or even a terrorist attack? One of the first things to go down in such an event are the mobile phone networks. The authorities have the ability to disable all mobile phones in a given cell or series of cells, with the exception of specialist mobile phones (which have to be approved by the Police and the Home Office) which are used by the disaster recovery teams in large organisations. In certain circumstances, the entire mobile phone network may go down. If this happens the only alternatives are old fashioned copper landline telephones, or the most reliable backup method of communication – two way radio. Unless, like me you are a Radio Amateur, the options for two way radio operation are very limited; CB and PMR 446 are pretty much limited to line of sight – 4 to 6 miles at sea level on average (your mileage may vary due to a number of factors I won’t go into here). This is where the organisation RAYNET steps in; RAYNET is a voluntary emergency service operated by Radio Amateurs that provide short, medium and long range voice, video and data communications in areas where there has been a total loss of mainstream communications. RAYNET volunteers train alongside the Fire Brigade, Police, Ambulance Service, Mountain Rescue and RNLI. When all other forms of communication have failed, radio will always get through. What I am really saying is, if you want to maintain reliable communications under any sort of adverse circumstances, then you really need to become a Radio Amateur – you can read all about how to apply here.

It has been a very long time since I had any kind of remarkable encounter on public transport, but on Wednesday afternoon I had one that is definitely worth a mention. I was returning home by train from work after a long day in the office. I had got to Woolwich Arsenal when two blokes entered the carriage and sat down on the same row of seats as me. They were both in their mid-forties, on the large side, very scruffily dressed and rather smelly, to be honest. They began a conversation in over – loud voices which the whole carriage could hear. One was telling the other one the best way to avoid railway ticket inspectors – “they won’t chase you if you run across the railway tracks”. The other then asked the first why he had not come round to meet him this morning. The first replied that he had rung but the other had not answered – to which the response was “are you sure you rang the right number?” – the other replied that he had shouted outside of the house, but did not ring the doorbell. The duo conducted the entire conversation in very coarse, expletive filled “Arthur Mullard” type voices – I don’t think they were in any way suffering from learning disabilities – they were both just extremely thick. After laboriously comparing the phone number the one had rung, they eventually came to the conclusion he had rung the wrong number. He had two mobile phones, one in each hand, and his ultra dim companion asked him to check the other phone as well “the one in your left hand” – the first bloke looked confused and looked at one of the phones, only for his mate to say ”no – your other left hand”. By this stage the double act had half the carriage listening in bemusement. The two clowns eventually got off at Abbey Wood. I think that their level of befuddlement at even the most basic of tasks was a mixture of general dimness and the ingestion of some recreational pharmaceutical. I seriously doubt that in their condition they would be capable of walking and chewing gum at the same time.

The News Shopper are reporting another road traffic accident in Bexleyheath Broadway, outside of the Asda supermarket. I for one am not surprised; the disastrous half pavement – half roadway where neither drivers or pedestrians can tell which is which has been roundly condemned, and has resulted in numerous accidents since the work was carried out. Bexley Council seem oblivious to criticism regarding the changes to Bexleyheath Broadway which have left the road far more dangerous to users than it was before. I get the feeling that the council will only make changes when legal action is taken against them by someone injured as a result of the wrong-headed decision to blur the distinction between pavement and road – a trendy theme in current street design, but which puts members of the general public at risk. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

The Peabody Trust housing association have announced plans for 1,500 new homes in Thamesmead, to be built in four phases, the first one of which will be a development of 525 new houses called the Southmere Village, which will consist of around half for sale, and half for affordable rent. The next three phases will be approximately one thousand new properties, which should be completed by 2024. Work on the Southmere Village development is due to start in the Spring of next year. I understand that plans also exist for a new library and I have heard rumours of a sports centre and cinema as well. Bearing in mind that before the 1,500 new houses are built, Thamesmead is a town equivalent in size to Wolverhampton in the West Midlands, yet has nothing like as many public facilities. Hopefully this will change with the new investment that Peabody is bringing to the area. Bexley Council are pressing Transport for London to extend Crossrail (which will be renamed the Elizabeth Line when it opens in 2018) from the currently planned terminus at Abbey Wood, though to Belvedere, Erith and Slade Green. This would be a relatively cheap and simple piece of civil engineering (at least when compared to the previous work), and would improve connectivity for the area to pretty much the whole of Greater London. Extending the Elizabeth line would entail widening the rail track bed between Abbey Wood and Slade Green – something relatively straightforward for much of the run, as the existing railway tracks are next to brownfield, former industrial land on the Kent bound side for much of the run. No tunnelling or bridging would be required, and any widening could be done with little need for compulsory purchasing and subsequent demolition of buildings, or too close encroachment to residential housing. I feel that an extension would be a win / win for all concerned. Abbey Wood has already seen the economic effect of the forthcoming Elizabeth Line, and I am certain that the effect would extend to Belvedere, Erith and Slade Green.

Maggot Sandwich readers who use versions of Windows earlier than Windows 10 may need to take precautions. If you’re looking to protect a PC with an older version of a Microsoft operating system such as Windows 7, you can use Microsoft Security Essentials to provide comprehensive malware protection that will help guard against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software. It provides free real-time protection for your home or small business PCs. However, Microsoft is warning of fake copies of its Security Essentials that if executed will throw a fake blue screen of death, take over machines, and lead users to technical support scams. Redmond regards the threat dubbed "Hicurdismos" as a severe threat which compromises PCs typically through bundled software installers and drive-by-downloads. Microsoft's anti-malware team are warning customers "Hicurdismos" will throw a full screen blue screen of death, disabling the ctrl+alt+delete task manager to prevent the user bypassing it, and hiding the mouse cursor to make it appear more legitimate. "Hicurdismos" misleads users and lures them into "calling a number that can lead to a fake technical support scam," the team say. "The threat of technical support scams has been around for years, but it’s recently been observed to be growing. We’ve seen attackers becoming more sophisticated with their social engineering tactics to try to mislead users into calling for technical support and then they are asked for payment to 'fix the problem' on the PC that does not exist." You have been warned. The bad guys get cleverer with every passing week.

The end video this week is a short documentary on the new Erith Park housing development, and what the residents think of their new homes. It makes for very interesting viewing; see what you think.

Self Service? No Service.

An event took place earlier this week that many had hoped would not happen. Bexley College in Walnut Tree Road was taken over by Bromley College. It has been marketed as a merger by Bromley College, who have also taken over Greenwich Community College. This is to form a new conglomerate called the South East London College Group. Unfortunately in the process, several key members of staff have fallen by the wayside, most notably Danny Ridgeway, the former Principal of Bexley College who has “retired”. The combined college organisation will be headed up by Sam Parrett, the former principal at Bromley College, who is now leading the newly-formed London South East Colleges. The financial success of Bexley College had been in doubt for some time. A combination of cuts in central funding, and a change in the law caused them all sorts of headaches. When the law changed, requiring all young people to remain in full time education or training until the age of eighteen has been very problematic for many further education and community colleges. There is a significant minority for whom education is not suitable, and who would rather be out working (or not, as may be the case). They leave school, sign up for a college course which they don’t attend, and they drop out of education. The funding their sign – up generates is soon cut when their non – attendance is noticed.  Many colleges suffer from “ghost” students to some degree or other. I think the whole ruling that young people should be in full time training or education until the age of eighteen is fundamentally flawed, and really needs to be revisited.

Another piece of bad, but not unexpected news happened this week; Harriet Harper, the Project Manager for Regeneration and Assets for Bexley Council sent the following message to members of Erith Town Forum:- "I am emailing to update you on Erith Market; unfortunately a number of stall holders are unable to attend the market tomorrow and it has therefore had to be cancelled. As you are aware, the market launched as a trial in March and it has proved difficult to establish it as a weekly event in Erith due to a number of reasons. We feel this gives us a good opportunity to evaluate the lessons learned from the trial period and assess it in light of the feedback received. We will be instigating a temporary break for the market and will be working with key partners to re-launch a market later in the year. I trust the above is if assistance and we will continue to keep you informed. Please get in touch with erith@bexley.gov.uk with any feedback on the market that you would like us to consider". Last Wednesday I walked through the market area and there were four traders with stalls; this Wednesday there were none whatsoever. As several readers have told me in the past, it has been held on the wrong day. The most telling content was from a regular reader called Derek:- "I hear are giving Erith Market a trial go. When they know it will fail before they start. They only seem to be catering for the unemployed and the elderly. Because they are the only one that can go to the market. The market should have been bigger and on Wednesdays and Saturdays like it used to be. Saturdays for the people that go to work all week." Several local people have expressed the opinion that the revamped market had been "set up to fail". I must admit that the evidence would seem to support this view at present. It will be interesting to see what happens in future.

Bexley Council are proceeding with the next phase of the selloff of the family silver. Six open spaces are being offered for sale to the highest bidder. The sites being offered for sale are: - a plot of land adjacent to the railway in Gable Close, Crayford, the piece of land at the junction of Bexley Road and Kempton Close, Erith, the Millfield Open Space in Iron Mill Lane, Crayford, the junction of Napier Road and Wellington road in Belvedere;  the land on Holly Hill Road, Erith and the spit of land that separates Fraser Road and Alford Road in Erith. These are all relatively small parcels of land, some of which would have minimal commercial value. One thing that I do notice when looking at the list is that all of the areas are located once again in the Northern part of the London Borough of Bexley. Not one of the areas to be sold off is located in Bexleyheath, Welling, Sidcup or the other wealthier Southern parts of the Borough. This comes as absolutely no surprise; just as Bexley Council forcibly closed (against massive and very well organised opposition) the Belvedere Splash Park, but did not even consider closing the smaller and less popular one in Danson Park. The reason for this is sad, but pretty simple. Bexley Council concentrate on the South of the borough – the reason is that the Conservative majority council see no votes being either won or lost in the predominantly less wealthy, Labour voting North of the Borough. For this reason all of the unpopular money saving / money generating sell off projects the council undertake happen in the North – as this does not affect their primary electoral base in the wealthier, predominantly Conservative voting South. In essence in their eyes they have little or nothing to lose by ignoring the North of the borough.

More promotion is currently being done to encourage local people to book an appointment for a Smart Meter “upgrade”. These meters are part of the "internet of things". I have noticed that several of the national energy companies are currently targeting local residents with letters asking them to make an appointment to get their current electricity and gas meters replaced with a smart meter. Personally I have received three such letters from my energy supplier, EDF. As I have mentioned before, Smart Meters send real – time power usage data back to the supplier via a 3G mobile phone signal. This means that the meter does not have to be connected to a home data network. This sounds all well and good; the power company can bill you without having to send a meter reader to your house, and you get the option to monitor your power usage in an almost real – time way. There are however, problems. The data sent from the Smart Meter to the supplier is sent unencrypted, and “in the clear”; it is possible to intercept the data stream, and also a malicious attacker can potentially send instructions to the meter remotely. Several Smart Meter companies do tacitly admit this, but they play the whole lack of security aspect down. Secondly if one discounts the security implications, the various energy companies all supply different makes of Smart Meters, many of which are incompatible with each other. If you choose to change your energy supplier at some point in the future, you will need to have your Smart Meter changed again – with the associated additional cost to you that this implies. Tellingly on the EDF letter there are a series of frequently asked questions. EDF initially state in the letter that “your current meter is old and now needs to be replaced – you need to book an appointment for an engineer to carry out this work”. They then go on to stress how old meters can be inaccurate and possibly unsafe. There is a giveaway in the FAQ’s that follow though – and I quote verbatim:- “Occasionally we may be unable to install a Smart Meter, usually due to communications issues with signal strength. If this happens we will not replace your meter, but will contact you again when we believe the Smart Meter national infrastructure will be able to support a Smart Meter in your premises.” There is the smoking gun – they don't actually need to replace the meter for the accuracy and safety concerns expressed earlier – they purely want to do it to make you have a Smart Meter, with all the security, privacy and expense worries that they entail. I have a preferred technique for dealing with such unwanted attention – I ignore everything they send me until they eventually give up and go away. Smart Meters primarily benefit the energy companies, because they no longer need to employ meter readers. The benefits to the consumer are minimal at best, and when allied to the security and compatibility concerns mentioned earlier, they don't add up for me. As always, your mileage may vary.

Work continues on the Crossrail development, with much development continuing on the stretch between Plumstead and the terminus at Abbey Wood. In many ways this is one of the most complex parts of the entire Crossrail project (and before anyone comments “it is called the Elizabeth Line now” – it will only take on the new name when the entire project is completed and officially opened – until then it is still the Crossrail project). The Crossrail project will arguably be more transformational at Abbey Wood than anywhere else along the route. The Elizabeth line will halve journey times to many central London destinations and add twelve trains an hour to the services already provided by the operator Southeastern. The new station will open for Southeastern passengers in December 2017. From December 2018, an Elizabeth line train every five minutes at peak times will allow passengers to travel right through central London to Paddington. From December 2019, when the full route opens, passengers will be able to catch one train right through central London to Heathrow or Reading in the west. When fully open in 2019 it will add ten percent capacity to central London’s rail network, bringing an extra 1.5 million people to within 45 minutes of central London. The Crossrail project is also helping to drive regeneration along the length of the route. It has been projected that new line will support the delivery of over 57,000 new houses. Nearly half of planning applications within a kilometre of an Elizabeth line station has cited the new railway as a justification for the development proceeding, equating to around 5.3 million square feet of residential, commercial and retail space. One quite eye opening example is the journey time from the new Abbey Wood Station to Heathrow Terminal Four (the furthest terminal by train) will be only fifty one minutes. This figure is going to be the cause of much worry to mini cab operators all around the local area; a cab from Abbey Wood to Heathrow costs around £55 and can take up to a couple of hours, depending on the level of traffic congestion. Whilst the fare structure for Crossrail has yet to be published, I think it will be highly unlikely that the fare from Abbey Wood will cost anything like £55, and the journey time will be so much shorter. This is going to prove a real challenge to mini cab companies. I am aware that for many of them, airport trips are their “bread and butter”, as they are far more profitable than short tips to and from pubs or shops. I wonder how many companies will go under once the rail service is fully operational? It seems to me that mini cabs will be mainly confined to running short journeys rather than the profitable long haul journeys of yore with a consequent drop in income. What do you think? Feel free to leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

The photo above shows Erith Odeon cinema and the RACS shop adjacent to it, on opposite sides of James Watt Way. The photo was taken in July 1966. In 1936 Coles designed the "Odeon", Erith as an absolutely typical Odeon, with its slim faience-faced advertising tower contrasting with the more horizontally emphasized brick and faience body of the cinema. It opened on 26 February 1938 and seated 1,240 people. The cinema was later used as a bingo hall but was later illegally demolished (it was a Grade 2* listed building) and now a block of flats with offices and the new Erith Library stand in its place. The RACS shop has also long been demolished, and is now the site of a KFC drive through takeaway. The dockside cranes that can be seen in the distance between the buildings are now where the giant Morrison's supermarket is now located. 

Malcolm Knight of “Bexley is Bonkers” reported earlier this week on a meeting of Bexley Transport User’s Sub Committee that took place on the 21st July. An issue was raised at the meeting which struck me as being of particular interest. Malcolm wrote:- “The police reported that they had issued a couple of speeding tickets but “the big issue” for the borough is people riding motorcycles without helmets. “They are very much aware that by not wearing a helmet there is nothing we can do. There is a group of people who will not wear a helmet specifically so that we can't pursue them.” Councillor Brian Beckwith (Conservative, Blackfen and Lamorbey) asked how many hand held speed cameras there were to cover the whole borough. The answer was two. Councillor John Davey (Conservative, Crayford) said the helmetless riders were wearing balaclavas and they were doing “wheelies on the pavement” and “not chasing them was absolutely ludicrous. It sends out completely the wrong message”. The police officer agreed but then dropped back into politically correct mode. Sometimes air support is called in to track the bikers “but it is not always practical. I don’t know what the answer is and I don’t see it changing”. From the research that I have carried out, it would seem that the Police are in a very difficult situation. One quotation I have read from an inside source said “British police very rarely engage in pursuits of any kind and need to get permission before they do engage. Police have a responsibility to protect the wellbeing of both those being pursued as well as the general public. Being pursued by the police frequently causes collisions that can kill or injure those being pursued and/or innocent bystanders. Motorcyclists are at such high risk of injury or death that police would never pursue, a motorcyclist without a helmet is a full scale deflection on the "will this pursuit kill someone" scale”. The problem with this policy is the message that it sends to the offenders and potential offenders – if you don’t wear a helmet (an offence in itself) you will in essence be immune from consequence. The Metropolitan Police have a set of guidelines that state that criminals on motorbikes or scooters that are not wearing crash helmets should only be pursued by Police helicopters. The demands on the helicopter crews are high, as anyone who has watched any of the numerous TV documentary series on Police chases will understand. It costs somewhere between £850 and £1000 per hour to operate a Police helicopter – which is usually considerably more expensive than the resale value of any bike or scooter being ridden illegally. It is a conundrum what to do in situations such as this, though I do feel that the current position of the Police Service actually does nobody any benefit. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

As I have previously written, I am of the opinion that other than for very specific uses (such as exercise and health monitoring) Smart Watches are a solution in need of a problem. Now, for some users a serious health related matter has come up with one fairly popular brand. Intel has recalled every single one of its Basis Peak smartwatches – as well as urging people to stop using them – because they can become dangerously hot. In June, San Francisco-based Basis Sciences – which Intel bought in 2014 – warned that its Peak smartwatches can cause skin burns and blistering, and hoped to issue a firmware update to correct the problem. It turns out that was impossible without stripping out most or all of its features. An Intel spokesperson said "We are issuing this safety recall of the Basis Peak watch because the watch can overheat, which could result in burns or blisters on the skin surface. It is important that you stop using your watch immediately and return it. Although we are stopping support for Basis Peak immediately, you can access your data until December 31, 2016. After that date, the Basis Peak services will be turned off. Once we shut down the services, your watch will no longer be able to sync, which will cause it to stop working". Some commentators have observed that it is entirely possible that Intel just got bored of running a smartwatch cloud service and pulled the plug, using the overheating problem as a convenient stopping point.

A report was published this week, the findings of which surprise me not in the slightest. A new report from its Department of Criminology at the University of Leicester suggests that supermarket self-checkout technology encourages even normally honest shoppers to commit theft. The report found that installing self-service checkouts raises lost revenue by 122 percent. Some of it is accidental – people forget to scan items, or get confused by instructions; other times shoppers get so frustrated with self-service kiosks that they feel justified in not paying. But the report  states that mostly people shoplift because the technology makes it so easy. Mobile phone scanning technology is just as vulnerable – the study found that at the end of a typical shopping trip, up to ten percent of items had not been scanned, leading to “shrinkage” (loss through wastage or theft) of about 3.9 percent of turnover. Unfortunately the technology makes it very difficult to prove that customers are deliberately stealing. One retailer admitted they almost never prosecute people. For that reason supermarkets are now introducing tagging systems so un-scanned items trigger alarms. Supermarkets such as Morrison’s in Erith have now expanded the number of self – service checkouts so that now half of all tills are of this type. Finding an open, traditionally staffed checkouts are becoming a challenge to find.  I have been told that the cost savings in checkout staff wage reductions is more than offset by both the increase in stock theft and the requirement to hire more security guards – who in any case are usually on a higher hourly rate than the checkout staff that they replace. I have always wondered why you have to pay the same price for an item when it is purchased via a self – service till when compared to a traditional one – after all, you are doing work on behalf of the supermarket, and surely this should be reflected in a cheaper cost? Personally I refuse to ever use self-service tills – why have a dog and bark yourself? I would not be at all surprised if the losses incurred via self-service till thefts cause the big supermarkets to re-think their strategy – which at no point is aimed at helping the customer – it is purely about making it as easy for the supermarket to collect money as cheaply and efficiently as possible.

You may have heard that the BBC is going to start enforcing licence fee payment by people watching BBC iPlayer. People who watch BBC programmes only on iPlayer will be required to buy a TV licence to view the content from 1 September. Previously a licence was only needed to watch live broadcasts, so catch-up content was technically exempt from the £145-50 annual fee. But due to a change in the law, a licence will be needed to download or watch BBC programmes on demand. Those who already have a TV licence will not be affected. Personally I have a licence, so will not be affected by this change, but I can foresee a lot of problems in enforcing this new regulation - in fact I think the BBC are making a rod for their own back - but they seem not to have realised this yet. In the "olden days" of analogue televisions with Cathode Ray Tube displays, BBC Detector Vans could patrol the streets - the vans detected the leaked local oscillator from the first stage of the radio receivers that picked up the TV signal. Colour TVs had more receivers to pick up the colour signals, and so could be distinguished from black and white sets. The local oscillators themselves could be quite powerful (as these things go), around about 1mW, so they were easily detected in the street having leaked back through cheap mixers and up the aerial cable. The same thing still applies today for Freeview digital sets. One of the problems I think they'll have with this new technology is that they cannot identify the people using devices. I will explain with the following theoretical scenario:- I have a TV licence, I'm entitled to watch BBC anywhere in the UK, including when I use a public WiFi network such as BT WiFi. I go to a friend's house, who has a BT hub. I use the BT WiFi that their BT hub has switched on by default. That friend has not got a TV licence, and I'm watching BBC at their place but not on their private WiFi that comes from the same BT Hub. However the BBC cannot tell the difference; they are not allowed to examine the network data packet contents, encrypted or not. Effectively they are doing a primitive traffic flow analysis attack on encrypted communications. Only the likes of the NSA and GCHQ have the kind of hardware, software and skilled operators to successfully undertake this kind of work. Another problem - two adjoined houses have their living rooms next to each other. The WiFi routers are in the same corner of the rooms, separated by only a couple of feet and the partition wall. One of the houses has a TV licence, the other one does not. I bet they are unable to direction find the emissions to the accuracy required to tell which of those WiFi routers is in which house. My fear is that the BBC will be too aggressive with prosecutions, and the courts will take an unreasonably optimistic view of the reliability of the technology. The UK courts have not exactly been that clever at sorting scientific fact from pseudo-fact, and there's too many holes in this technique for it to be relied upon as the sole evidence required to jail someone. The Courts have been appallingly willing to accept scientific evidence with low probabilities of correctness as being evidential fact. If an 'expert' states in court that something is fact then the court accepts that, and no amount of dissenting scientific opinion will change their mind. As defence you're not even allowed to challenge the "expert" evidence in court or even discuss probabilities. I feel the new licence conditions will be un - policeable, and unenforceable. 

The ending video this week shows the work that has been going on at London Bridge Station for the last few years. For those who use the station on a regular basis during the construction work, it has been a real pain, but when one sees what has been going on behind the scenes, the transformation and renewal is extremely impressive, and will be even more so when it is all finished in another couple of years from now.  See what you think. 

Erith Fun Day 2016.

Erith Fun Day 2016 at the new venue of the field behind Erith Sports Centre. The new venue meant that many more stalls and exhibitors could take place than in previous years. The new venue lacked the atmosphere of the Riverside Gardens, and was difficult to navigate with a child's buggy or wheelchair, but this was far outweighed by the positive benefits. Unlike the Riverside Gardens, which is located on a main road, the sports field is completely self contained, so small children were able to run around safely at will. I also noticed that visitors seemed to stay appreciably longer at the new venue - probably a combination of more to see and do, along with the fact the stalls were not set out in a line like they were in the Riverside Gardens, which used to mean that visitors would walk the length of the road, then go straight home; now they were far more likely to walk around in a circle and spend more time than before. 

Various bands and acts played on the main stage over the course of the afternoon. A couple of people suggested that a dedicated live music tent might be a positive suggestion for future Fun Days. The increased size of the event could certainly justify this. A strong wind blew for much of the day, and although the level of amplification used was by no means excessive, I heard a report that the sound of the fun day activities could be heard in Slade Green. 

Piper Chic Mackie and the Black Watch Pipe Band; in the photo above Chic is checking the output of a set of bagpipes with some kind of measuring device. Rumour has it that when not playing music, the bagpipes can take still out a T72 main battle tank at over a hundred metres....

It was quite windy on the open sports field, and many stallholders had problems with their gazebos wanting to take off.  The event was very well attended, and much larger than in previous years. A new addition to the event was a beer trailer, which attracted a long queue of thirsty visitors; from what I could see, it only seemed to served lager, so it was of no interest to me personally. 

The local Police and Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association were well represented at the Fun Day - you can see Claire Tack (in black, to the left of the picture) trying to get out of my shot. She did not succeed!

The photo above shows the Current Mayor of Bexley, Councillor Eileen Pallen, with her husband (and Mayor's official escort) Mark, alongside Councillor Ed Boateng, who represents Erith Ward. All in all, the Erith Fun Day was a great success - many more exhibitors and visitors than ever before, and the weather was OK - no rain, though it remained overcast for much of the day. I think that thanks must go out to the organisers for what must have been a huge amount of work. Now I look forward to next year's event!

One thing seems clear to me since the News Shopper closed its Petts Wood Office and made its reporters spend much of their time working from home; through no fault of their own, the accuracy of their stories has suffered to a greater or lesser extent. They have also reduced their use of their staff photographer – a pleasant chap I have bumped into at many events over the last few years. The News Shopper seems now to rely on (usually poor quality) photos taken by eye witnesses using camera phones, and to employing stock images. They also seem to have increased their usage of screen captures from Google Street View. I understand that this is all a means to reduce overheads – running a local paper nowadays is a really hard thing to do, with advertising rates static or decreasing, and the widespread use of browser ad blockers by visitors to their website. I can appreciate all of these decisions the newspaper has had to make in order to be competitive, and indeed to survive. What I cannot understand is the dislocation of reporters from the local area when it affects the quality and accuracy of reporting. There have been several instances recently where stories have had serious errors that have not been picked up and corrected by the editor. Currently the News Shopper is carrying a story about the Bexley Business Academy; it says:- "An Erith school has been de-rated to “inadequate” by Ofsted after a damning report shows improvements are needed across all areas. The inspectorate has given The Business Academy Bexley (BAC) in Yarnton Way a withering set of scores including substandard levels of management and leadership and a shoddy quality of teaching and assessment. Ofsted also reported that outcomes for pupils in the secondary school are inadequate with progress is too slow across the curriculum - including in English and mathematics. White British pupils, and boys in particular, are making poor progress, the report adds. Teachers do not have high enough expectations of what pupils can achieve at the school and as a significant number of teachers are temporary, this is also inhibiting pupils’ progress, Ofsted inspectors believe. Management policies and practices are also weak meaning self-evaluation is inaccurate and therefore the school’s weaknesses are not comprehended. For example, in the secondary school, poor teaching has led to unacceptable behaviour from pupils, too much of which has gone unchallenged by teachers. Financial constraints have also led to reductions in provision, including for pupils who have special educational needs or disability”. The story is all very well – it is disturbing to hear that a key local school is underperforming, and it will be interesting to see what measures are put into place to restore the school’s performance. What does irritate me is a fundamental inaccuracy in the reported story. Yarnton Way connects Lower Belvedere and Abbey Wood, it is NOT located in Erith. Bexley Academy is located in Abbey Wood. The News Shopper has been making some fundamental errors of this nature recently, and it undermines their reporting authority and credibility. I note that even the negative Ofsted report claims that the school is in “Yarnton Way, Erith”, which is hardly cause for optimism. You can read the full Ofsted report by clicking here (download a PDF file).

Following my article last week about the break in and burglary at the Cross Keys Centre, and my invitation for suggestions as to how the £3.9 million regeneration fund for the local area could be spent, I got the following message from a regular reader who chooses to remain anonymous:-"You asked for regeneration suggestions. Not exactly Erith Town Centre, but it seems a shame the Council didn't have the money (or enthusiasm) to keep the Splash Park open. And surely they could regenerate the lovely Carnegie building before something awful happens to that.  I know you hope it will become a civilised pub, and I'm happy with that, but it would be good if Bexley still kept ownership and granted them a long lease. Or what about investing money in a regenerated lifeboat station by the riverside, as you have recommended previously? And what about the road improvement proposals they had, whereby the corner end of Christ Church's grounds would be sold to the Council to make Bexley Road a bit wider?   Is that still on the cards?   It all went very quiet. I don't suppose the Council own the unsightly block with the kebab shop near the fish roundabout and where the Erith Snooker Club was/is?  If they did, then that could be redeveloped and smartened up, with some proper shops.  But then there are still empty units in the town centre.  Perhaps the Council could invest some money there to somehow make it easier for businesses to survive??   I really don't know. Or put some stocks in the town centre to put those young toe-rags in who vandalise and steal. Talking of which, the youths whose photos you have published clearly touched the stair railings and other places - I assume they are not "known" by the police and have their fingerprints on record? "

Back in January I wrote the following:- "Word reaches me that production of the new revised BBC version of “Top Gear” is not going very smoothly. I understand that the pilot episode for the new format of the show has been screened to a test audience, who apparently hated it. BBC bosses have demanded extensive changes and re – shoots. Personally I am not bothered, as I won’t be watching the new BBC Top Gear when it airs in May. I am sure that many people like Chris Evans, but personally I cannot stand the man – my reflex action whenever I encounter him on TV or the radio is to either change the channel or switch off. I, like many “proper” Top Gear fans, am waiting for the announcement of the air date for the new car show starring Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond, and produced by “proper” Top Gear boss Andy Wilman which will be shown on Amazon Prime. I am happy to take out an annual Amazon Prime subscription just to watch the new show. Apparently even some of the crew working on the BBC revamp of “Top Gear” refer to the show using the acronym “TGINO” which stands for “Top Gear In Name Only”. I think this says more than enough about the confidence in the programme. Time will tell, but I would not place to many bets on the success of the show under the stewardship of Chris Evans." Oh how prophetic I was!

I received an Email earlier this week from one of my local contacts; she wanted to let me know about some positive developments that are about to take place in the Arthur Street Estate. The estate, which is located on the opposite side of Northend Road to the Erith Park Development (which, incidentally has recently won London Regeneration Project of the year at the London Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors Awards (RICS) and has been shortlisted for a National Housing Award for Best Regeneration Project). The Arthur Street Estate consists of three high rise blocks of flats – Cranbrook House, Cobham House and Canterbury House, and some low level accommodation – Challock House, Charing House, and The Nursery. Orbit Housing Association have managed the estate since February 1998. Historically the Arthur Street Estate has been regarded by many as somewhat of a problem, this is principally because historically there has been a large proportion of prolific offenders, people with a criminal background, and people with high support needs - particularly with drug and alcohol dependency living on the estate. Figures from a police report for the 12 months to 30 September 2011 showed 56 suspects of crime in Bexley living within the postcodes for Arthur Street Estate. Of the 56 crimes, only 1 was a motoring offence and 3 public order offences, the remaining 52 more high level crimes. The effect on community sustainability has been huge, with law abiding residents seeing this as short term housing, a means to an end. They have often been subjected to incidents of Anti  - Social Behaviour. This led to those residents requesting transfers, moving out from the properties and increasing turnover of residents. Orbit have been working with Bexley Council and various authorities to address these issues, and much good work has now been done, in a similar way to how Orbit were able to filter out the real trouble makers from the old Larner Road Estate, and not permit them into the new Erith Park Development, and since the start of the programme the situation has markedly improved. Now Orbit are about to start a new project in relation to the estate. They are consulting with the residents of the Arthur Street Estate regarding what they would like to see happening to it.  The invitation reads: “The Arthur Street estate is now almost 40 years old. Your local Orbit team has worked hard to keep this an attractive place to live but we don’t think that’s enough. We need to make some important decisions about the future of the estate to make sure we provide homes where people want to live, now and in the future. We want to hear your views. Should Arthur Street and Boundary Street: • Be redeveloped (similar to Larner Road/Erith Park)? • Left as it is? • Do you have other ideas? Drop in to our exhibition at Peareswood School on Saturday 16 July between 11am - 3pm and give us your views. If you miss the exhibition, our consultation will continue on Facebook Arthur Street Future after 16 July”. This sounds like an excellent opportunity for residents to actually have a proper say about what happens to their residential environment. My own view (as a non – resident) is that the main tower blocks are old, fuel inefficient and end of life, and should be demolished and replaced with modern, energy efficient apartments with better buggy and wheelchair access – as has proved so popular from the new flats on the Erith Park Estate. As for the lower – level accommodation, I feel that some could be extensively refurbished, but many of the buildings will have concrete frames, which are always problematic, especially as they age. To be honest, most of the housing stock on the Arthur Street Estate is old and looking understandably rather worn and past its best. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Following the despicable forced closure of Belvedere Splash Park by Bexley Council, the park has been closed and silent for the most part, with access to the site limited by metal barriers. The public toilets on the site have been unaffected by the closure of the Splash Park – they are some of the only public loos still open in the whole London Borough of Bexley. One of my sources tells me that there was a disturbance last Monday, when at around midday he drove past the toilets, where two fire engines were in attendance. Bearing in mind the toilet block is constructed of brick, and the interior is composed mainly of stone and porcelain tiling, it makes me wonder as to exactly what could have been burning? Apparently drinkers in The Eardley Arms (the Mos Eisley Cantina of Upper Belvedere), across the road were looking on with interest. I know Bexley Council are strapped for cash, but surely an insurance job on a public bog would be out of the question? If anyone can cast light on the origins of the khazi conflagration, please let me know.

Long – term Maggot Sandwich readers may recall that in the past I have mentioned FrightFest – the UK's premiere fantasy and horror film festival. One of the main sponsors and organisers of the annual festival are Darenth based video and TV production company Splice Media. FrightFest will be taking place over the long weekend of the 25th to the 29th of August at the VUE West cinema complex in Shepherd's Bush. You can see a list of all of the films that will be shown at the festival by clicking here. Tickets for the event can be obtained by clicking here. 

Bexley Council reported earlier last week that it was joining with Lewisham and Greenwich to make use of Connect Care, a new data sharing initiative designed to speed up health services. The programme was supposed to combine data from hospitals, community health bodies and GPs’ patient records together with local authorities’ care systems to form one record for each person. For example, if someone receiving home care was to go visit Queen Elizabeth Hospital emergency department, the nursing staff will be able to access details of your medications and the social care plan in place for you. Then, their social worker and GP would be able to see that you attended Accident and Emergency  and take appropriate action. This all sounds like excellent, forward - thinking stuff, if it was not for one fact. The NHS currently has the worst reputation for data security of any organisation in the UK. Whistle blowers alerted the UK's data watchdog to twenty NHS trusts, thirteen local government authorities, five courts and five central government departments with reports of serious data breaches in 2014 (the most recent year for which records are currently available). An extra 498 data breaches were self-reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) by the NHS departments. Further, 148 local government departments also admitted to losing personal information, a Freedom of Information request has revealed. The breaches ranged from losing hardware like a USB key or printed copies of patient information for example, to uploading sensitive information to websites, to technical failures and hacking. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Cafcass, the children and family’s court service, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and the Crown Prosecution Services were named and shamed. The NHS’ title as ‘most investigated’ for potentially serious data breaches by the ICO could be the nail in the coffin for health secretary Jeremy Hunt’s highly controversial care data program. The scheme to feed patient records into a UK-wide data program was proposed to allow online access from any health service and to serve as an extra revenue stream for the NHS by selling "anonymised" information on to third parties. Of the breaches that were self-reported, four breaches were served undertakings, highlighting their seriousness. They were in the retail, health, local government and estate agent sector. Now perhaps you can understand why I was about to formally request that my data not be stored in this new system - as I have no faith whatsoever on the information being kept safe and private. You can download an opt - out form from here - good old fashioned NHS technology - you have to print out the form and post it to them. Not quite like writing on the back of a sealed envelope, but almost. Only days after the announcement by Bexley Council, the Department of Health announced a complete reversal of policy; The controversial  patient information-sharing scheme has been binned. The closure of the scheme was announced in a statement by minister for life sciences George Freeman MP. It follows a review by the National Data Guardian Fiona Caldicott which recommended better safeguards for the sharing of patient data. Freeman said: "In light of Dame Fiona’s recommendations, NHS England has taken the decision to close the care data programme. However, the government and the health and care system remain absolutely committed to realising the benefits of sharing information, as an essential part of improving outcomes for patients. "Therefore this work will now be taken forward by the National Information Board, in close collaboration with the primary care community, in order to retain public confidence and to drive better care for patients." The Care data programme has faced ongoing controversy and delays since it was first announced three years ago. The main concern around the programme has been the sharing of sensitive medical information with commercial entities without explicit consent. So far one million people have opted out of the scheme. However, the report by Caldicott  recommended that patients must be allowed to opt out of their personal data being used for purposes beyond their direct care. It said not enough had been done to gain patients' confidence in the scheme. Earlier this year, a leaked document revealed that the Royal Free NHS trust had controversially signed a deal with Google's DeepMind to give the outfit access to 1.6 million patient records. Responding to the announcement, Phil Booth, coordinator of medConfidential, warned that while the "toxic brand" may have ended, the government policy "continues to be the widest sharing of every patient's most private data". He said: "The care data programme did exist, and has a toxic legacy leaking across the NHS".

The rather pleasant photo above of Erith Riverside Gardens was taken back in the summer of 1966 - exactly fifty years ago. It shows how both the gardens and the river have changed in the intervening half century. 

The second photo from the summer of 1966 shows Erith High Street. The only building that is still present nowadays is Erith Post Office, to the extreme right of the photo. All other buildings have sadly been demolished. Thanks to the ReV for sending me the historic shots. 

If some readers think my concerns with cyber security are a little on the paranoid side, then perhaps you should consider the following story; security researchers at Binghampton University in New York State have been investigating the use of smart watches, and have discovered that a person wearing a smart watch is vulnerable to malicious snooping which can reveal details of their cash dispenser PIN number and other private information. By combining smart watch movement sensor data with an algorithm to infer key entry sequences from even the smallest of hand movements, the team was able to crack private ATM PINs with 80 percent accuracy on the first try and more than 90 percent accuracy after three tries. Mobile systems and cyber security expert Yan Wang said in an interview on the IEEE.org website “I have to admit, at the beginning, I thought this would be science fiction, but it can actually be done. There are just so many sensors on these wearable devices. It provides sufficient information of your hand movements.” There has long been concern over the security of smart watches, fitness trackers, and other internet-connected wearables that gather sensitive information, such as what time of day a user leaves their home. To infer user inputs on keyboards, past cyber security studies have used cameras to observe how a hand moves over a keypad or machine-based learning techniques to train a program to detect user movements.  Now, spying on a PIN just got much easier, thanks to sensors that measure acceleration, orientation and direction in wrist mounted devices. The researchers conducted 5,000 key-entry tests on three different keypads—a detachable ATM pad, a keypad on ATM machine, and a QWERTY keyboard. Twenty adults performed the tests wearing one of three different devices: the LG W150 or Moto360 smart watches or the Invensense MPU-9150, a nine-axis motion tracking device. The security team downloaded sensor data from the tests, which recorded hand movements down to the millimetre. Using an algorithm they called the “Backward PIN-sequence Inference Algorithm,” the team was able to break the codes with alarming accuracy. The most challenging part of the process was eliminating errors that emerge when trying to calculate distance moved based on acceleration, says Wang. The team found the best way to minimize those errors was to work backwards: Most people end a PIN entry by pressing ‘Enter’, so the team started with the Enter key, then traced backwards to each preceding key—a hacker’s version of join-the-dots. The method does not require an attacker to be anywhere near an ATM or other key-entry pad (such as an electronic door lock or computer keyboard). Instead, data can be stolen by either a wireless sniffer placed close to a keypad to capture Bluetooth packets sent by the wearable to a smartphone, or by installing malware on the wearable or smartphone to eavesdrop on the data and send it to the attacker’s server. All very worrying stuff.

And now let me publish an appeal to all the readers of the Maggot Sandwich. The weekend of the 23rd / 24th July will mark the tenth anniversary of the start of Arthur Pewty’s Maggot Sandwich. The blog has not missed a Sunday publication since then. I would be interest in getting feedback from you on the blog – how you discovered it, what you like / dislike, and any anecdotes related to the Maggot Sandwich that you might have. The specifics are open to you. If you would like to write a short piece for publication on the 10th birthday edition, please Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com at least three days before Sunday the 24th July with any submission. Your submission can be anonymous should you so wish.

The ending video is a short documentary on the origins of London - how the great city came to be. 

Bexley Brewery opens.

On Thursday lunchtime I was invited to visit the Bexley Brewery, which is located in unit 18 of the Manford Industrial Estate, off the Eastern end of Manor Road in Erith. It was the occasion of the brewing of their very first production beer - BOB Pale Ale. I could smell the sweet malty aroma that is associated with brewing as I neared the site; and when I got into the brewery it was a scene of intense activity. I realised that I was going to be a bit of a "fifth wheel" so I made my visit brief and took some photos. I will be returning in a week or so to see the transfer of the finished real ale into casks and bottles. The photo above shows a general view of the brewery.

The photo above (click on it for a larger view) shows the hot mash steeping in the mash tun. I was standing on the mezzanine floor that you can see in the top photo, and looking down. A large amount of steam from the grist in the mash tun made the photo quite difficult to take, as the 18-200mm Nikon zoom lens was steaming up!

Here you can see the pile of brand new, still wrapped aluminium beer casks, complete with the customised "Bexley Brewery" logo on them. They will be unwrapped and sterilised before they are ready for use.

Here is the man himself, owner and brewer Clifford Murphy - the man behind the Bexley Brewery, and a very nice chap too. I think he will become an integral part of the Erith business community, and the "go to" person for the supply of quality real ale in the local area. 

In the two weeks since the Erith Fun Day, the feedback that I have had regarding the event has been overwhelmingly positive; people have been saying that contrary to popular opinion, Erith really does have a strong sense of community and cohesion. The turnout at the event was good, helped by the pleasant weather, and even the excruciatingly awful live band covering classic punk tracks could not put visitors off. The band made up for a lack of musical ability (the “singer” could not hold a tune in a bucket) with enthusiasm, but there was a collective sigh of relief when they finished. I lost count of the number of people that I bumped into during the course of the afternoon; it seemed like everyone visited the Fun Day at some point, or that is how it felt to me anyway. It just goes to show what an important resource Erith Riverside Gardens are; it is the centrepiece of the town, and the only place in the London Borough of Bexley where the public can get access to the River Thames. Personally I visit them at least once a week when the weather is nice; the Riverside Gardens and the nearby Erith Pier are two unique places that give visitors and locals alike a chance to see the ever changing Thames and the constant river traffic.

Collecting old computers is becoming a serious hobby for some people. You only have to look at YouTube video channels like “Lazy Game Reviews” to see that there are people who take the whole thing very seriously. Collecting old computers takes a great deal of space; one of the things that discourages me from getting involved – Pewty Acres is very short on storage capacity, which is just as well, as otherwise I might well end up with all sorts of beige tat (if you recall my article on the discolouration of 80’s home computer cases that I wrote about a while ago). In the USA classic computer collecting has already hit the big time; in fact on the 22^nd October, auction house Bonhams will be holding a sale in New York City, where a mint, working Apple 1 computer that is one of the fifty earliest models hand built by Apple guru Steve Wozniak will go up for sale. The computer is a bare mother board (users were expected to build their own cases and supply a monitor and tape recorder as well as a keyboard input device). The machine has a very low specification by modern standards – 4Kb RAM, a one megahertz 8 bit 6502 processor and a screen display of 280 x 192 characters, in upper case only. The machine is estimated to sell for approximately half a million dollars. Like art, rare old computers will sell for what people are prepared to pay for them. In 2013, another pristine, early Apple 1 sold at auction by Christies for $387,750. I think this is all a tad excessive; the Apple 1 was not the first personal computer, though it was a very early one. The first computer actively designed for use by hobbyists in the home was actually the Altair 8800 – the computer made famous by the film “War Games” – the first Hollywood movie about hacking.

News that Gravesend RNLI rescued a man who had somehow fallen off Erith Pier early last Saturday morning has been published by the News Shopper. Apparently passers by saw a man clinging to one of the pier legs just before 7am; he was rescued by the Gravesend life boat. If the tide had been ebbing or flowing strongly there is a good chance that the man would have been pulled from the pier leg and out into the main stream; the undertow would have quite probably sucked him under. All of this can happen in a few minutes. The excellent men and women of the RNLI did a sterling job; my concern is that even by very fast launch, the response times of a rescue vessel to the stretch of the Thames off Erith is still considerable. A vessel has to come from London Bridge or Gravesend, unless by happy chance it happens to be on patrol in the local vicinity. My comments over the last couple of weeks recommending that a RNLI sub station be set up in Erith have been further underlined by recent events. Unless a small Erith based crew are set up, sooner or later the rescue boat from Gravesend or London Bridge is going to take too long to arrive, and there will be a death. The history of river based deaths off Erith would support this. I strongly feel that the old, former Port of London Authority hut by the wooden causeway on the river front would be an ideal location for a small RNLI team. I think that it is only a matter of time before we have a fatality unless something concrete is done. What do you think? Leave a message below, or contact me directly at hugh.neal@gmail.com

The final cosmetic work to complete Bexley College has been under way this week; tons of topsoil have been delivered to the site, and have been laid ready to take grass. It has amazed me just how quickly the site has gone from a series of holes in the ground to a fully functioning building. The first students were able to enter the new building as of last Monday morning, though at this point this is only to enrol on a course. Actual classes will commence shortly. London Mayor Boris Johnson is due to open the new campus on the 7th October, and I have an invitation to the event. I am unsure of when Bexley Council will be clearing the piece of rat infested wasteland at the South end of the site; it really needs to be done soon, as otherwise the rats will migrate into the college building on the lookout for food. My eco friendly “Kentucky fried rat” solution that I outlined last week has not met with widespread approval, though for the life of me I cannot understand why?

Malcolm Knight of the Bexley is Bonkers blog has been keeping a close eye on the work being carried out on the rail lines between Abbey Wood and Plumstead, in preparation for the forthcoming Crossrail development. He notes something that I had suspected for a month or so – the work is running seriously behind schedule. According to the timeline on the Crossrail website, the new temporary station should be finished, and the new footbridge opened. Neither has been done – in fact the station building shows scant evidence of even having been started. I understand that there have been a number of problems – stormy weather making the footbridge sway around so much when it was due to be fitted that a decision was made to abandon the work on safety grounds. On top of this, Malcolm reports that much of the prefabricated components that have been delivered to site don't actually fit – something I thought was nigh impossible in the age of AutoCAD and computer controlled milling machines. I have to say that I have seen much bashing of bits of construction with large lump hammers when I do my twice daily commute past the site, which gives credence to the observations of others. Just when the temporary station will appear is still a mystery.

Following my piece on the hidden waiting room at Erith Station, I got the following comment from regular reader Mrs B:- Yes I do remember the waiting room on the London bound platform at Erith Station.  It became an eyesore and was vandalised quite often and quite a scary place.  I must say that when the station had its makeover some years ago, it was a bit of a relief to find it boarded over and cosmetically it was a good idea.  It is too much to hope that a nice, comfortable, warm waiting room would stay in that condition for very long once the mindless yobs had got their hands on it. The communication system needs improving at Erith Station - if you are up the end of the London bound platform waiting for a train, it is impossible to hear announcements, or to see the one illuminated indicator board which is down the other end. And of course it is ridiculous in this day and age that there is no lift.  I am not sure what is directly underneath the hidden waiting room - but would there be access for a lift shaft there? Some very valid points, though I think the waiting room concept could do with being revisited - possibly with some very visible CCTV to discourage the yobs and vandals? What do you think?

Unfortunately I was unable to get down to Erith Pier to see the tall ships when they visited London; a bit of a flap at work meant my time was taken up elsewhere. On Friday I had an Email out of the blue from blog reader Rosemary Thomas, who wrote:- "I took a couple of photos from my flat in Erith of the flotilla of Tall ships on Tuesday. I am unsure if you managed to get to see them yourself so please use my photos in your weekly blog if you so desire. I have to say I haven't seen so many people on the pier since the Olympic Flame". Thanks ever so much for thinking of the Maggot Sandwich and forwarding the photos above - click on either of them for a larger view.

Much has been written in both the local and regional press about the plans for various new river crossings over the Thames; the Gallions Reach, Lower Belvedere and possible Silvertown bridges. Depending on the point of view of the author, the new river crossings are either going to be a very strong economic stimulus for the entire region, or a massive threat to the environment.  One thing that seems to be clear is that the bridges will almost certainly follow the toll model as used by the existing Dartford River Crossing. It is furthermore mooted that the Blackwall tunnel will start charging tolls at some point in the future. I think that in order to finance the crossings something of this nature is pretty much inevitable. Once again I can see the law of unintended consequences coming into play; now that vehicle excise disks are being phased out to be replaced by an automated vehicle number plate recognition system. The Police would be able to instantly check the licensing database to confirm that a vehicle was properly covered. The problem is that there are already a large number of vehicles on Britain’s roads which are using cloned registration plates. If, as is mooted, the new river crossing tolls will also use automatic number plate recognition technology, it may well result in an upsurge in plate cloning; traders who cross the river on a regular basis may well find the temptation too much. The trouble with recognition systems is that they shift the burden of proof to the accused – you have to actively prove that your car was not in the area where the transgression took place, as the assumption will be that no cloning had taken place. This is a disturbing shift; previously other factors were also taken into account, but whether this will be the case in the future is currently unclear. On another tack, I am still convinced that a relatively shallow tunnel under the Thames between Rainham in Essex and Lower Belvedere in Kent would be a far superior engineering and transportation technology solution than a conventional bridge. You may recall that I wrote at some length about it here.

I work for a large multinational company; staff were recently asked to bring in their passports as it is now a legal requirement that companies can legally confirm the identity of their staff – apparently the UK Border Agency is upping the ante and insisting that companies can verify the identity of their employees. In my case this was a bit of a problem, as I don't have a passport. I contacted the HR team carrying out the checks and asked what other forms of identification were accepted; there was much ooing and umming and scratching of heads before I got two different answers from three different people. It would seem that this issue will be coming up all over the country as companies struggle to comply with the law. I am still waiting to get a definitive answer in respect of other documentation that can be used to satisfy the UK Border Agency. 

There has been much press and television coverage of the hundredth anniversary of the start of the First World War. Understandably much of this has focused on the huge loss of life and the virtual elimination of a whole generation of young men. What has had almost no coverage is the positive things that came out of the first truly modern war. Sadly, large scale conflict seems to have a stimulus to science and technology – and not just in finding new and yet more devastating ways to kill people. A chap called Doctor Harold Gillies – a New Zealand born surgeon, who earned the title of “The father of plastic surgery” pioneered reconstructive surgery on wounded soldiers who had been injured in the trenches, and who had a remarkable local connection. Harold Gillies initially opened a small unit in the Cambridge Hospital at Aldershot which had beds for two hundred injured men. He pioneered the use of skin grafting – a technique he adapted from one first used by professor Hippolyte – Morestin in France, he employed dental reconstruction techniques invented by Charles Valadier, coupled with the use of X-Rays, and photographs to detail the injuries of his patients; he was also fastidious about cleanliness and the use of antiseptics (a very important point, as antibiotics were yet to be discovered, and deaths from sepsis or blood poisoning were still common). Gillies also came up with the simple but effective policy of ensuring that all patients were attached to a luggage label listing their injuries, and where the injured soldier needed to be sent for treatment – many of the men were unable to speak through injury, or otherwise rendered unconscious. Once the Battle of the Somme took place, the two hundred bed unit in Aldershot was drastically overcrowded – at one point there were ten patients for every bed. A new home needed to be found for the plastic surgery unit, and one was found at Queen’s Hospital at Sidcup (what is nowadays Queen Mary’s).  The unit took up much of the hospital, and it was conveniently close to the Royal Artillery barracks at Woolwich, where a small number of patients were located during their convalescence. Doctor Gillies was an interesting man – on top of being a very early pioneer of plastic surgery, he was a great golfer, a professional standard violin player, rowed in a winning team for Cambridge University in the boat race, and created a comedic alter – ego called Doctor Scroggy which he used to entertain his patients. He would walk around the wards of Queen’s Hospital at night, dispensing champagne and oysters to the injured soldiers, despite the strict ban on alcohol within the hospital grounds. He encouraged the recovering men to perform theatrical productions and shorter skits, which often involved the recuperating soldiers dressing in drag. Gillies was aware of the emotional as well as physical trauma he was treating – and his solution was to make recovery fun. His influence was such that later, in the Second World War, he was able to rebuild the burned faces and hands of airmen, alongside his better known cousin, Archibald Mcindoe, whose disfigured pilot patients later formed The Guinea Pig Club. Harold Gillies also performed the first gender reassignment operations, and became a leader in the field of sex change surgery. Between the 14^th of October 2014 and the 14^th February 2015 there will be an exhibition on the life and extraordinary work of Dr. Harold Gillies at the Hunterian Museum in the Royal College of Surgeons in London WC2. He was ahead of his time in so many ways, and much of his work first undertaken at Sidcup has been used as the foundation for modern reconstructive surgery.

Another link with the local area and the First World War has come via transport specialist Dana Whiffen who writes:- "B2737-B-Type Bus honours those transport workers that lost their lives during the 1st World War. A bus will be en route to France as part of the museum’s centenary programme later this month. At the outbreak of the war in August 1914, buses were commandeered for the war effort. Many mechanics and drivers were recruited along with their vehicles. The resulting staff shortages meant women were employed for the first time as bus conductors to keep the city moving. During the war over 1,000 LGOC buses, one third of their fleet, were sent to the front. Most served in France or Belgium but some went as far as Greece.  The buses were fitted with protective boarding and painted khaki. Most were used to transport troops to and from the front lines. Each vehicle could carry 24 soldiers and their equipment, compared to 34 seated passengers in London. The buses also had other uses, some were converted into lorries, others served as ambulances or even pigeon lofts. After the war buses that could be repaired returned to the streets of London. The B2737 began service in January 1914 and served route 9 between Barnes and Liverpool Street. B-Type buses also ran around the Erith and surrounding areas there are photos of them running into Eltham from central London. When war broke out B2737 along with many others were commandeered by the war department. B2737 was luck enough to return to London service after the war many did not as they were destroyed.. Then B2737, served as a Traffic Emergency bus – ‘no frills’ solution to relieving pressure on congested routes. In 1922 it was finally sold to the National Omnibus & Transport Company for use outside London. Few buses have survived the hundred years to tell their tale. The B2737 has been restored using original parts from all over the world, some coming from as far afield as Australia. It will make its emotional journey to both Belgium and France later this month". 

Wherever you look at the moment you will see coverage of Smart Watches, principally the Apple Watch. For some reason Apple always get blanket coverage in the UK press whenever event the most trivial of new products is launched. I have a theory regarding this; even when Apple were in the doldrums both technically and financially, with cheaper Windows PC’s taking much of their market share in the mid 1990’s to the mid 2000’s, one sector stayed loyal to the Mac – the print and publishing industry. Historically this has always meant that journalists tend to be very well disposed to Apple kit. They definitely seem to have a pronounced unconscious bias towards Apple when writing about technical matters. To anyone considering a smart watch from any supplier, I would urge you to wait; they have terrible power consumption problems (you can only expect around 12 – 14 hours between charges), are currently very limited in their functionality, and new, improved models will inevitably be launched  within a few months – look at what happened when the first iPad was released – the public went loopy for it, only to have the iPad 2 released scant months later. The same will happen with smart watches. Personally I think that they are a solution looking for a problem, but it is entirely possible that someone may develop a “killer app” that changes this perception. In the meantime I suspect that many may stump up for one, only to be bitterly disappointed when the reality fails to live up to the hype.

The evenings are now noticeably drawing in and it is pretty much dark by 8pm. The temperature is still pretty reasonable, but this won’t be the case for very much longer. There comes a time in the year where I reach what I like to call the “Tweed Retirement Point (TRP)” this is when it becomes too cold to just wear a tweed sports jacket when out and about. This is my personal signifier for the true onset of winter, and it does tend to be somewhat variable. I think that the annual retrieving of heavier overcoats from the wardrobe is one of the things I least look forward to in the course of the annual cycle, but one that unfortunately cannot be avoided, just like the first appearance of a pale and scrawny, bare chested youth seems to signify the beginning of spring in Erith. It won't be very long before the trouble makers are happily ensconced back in their darkened and noxiously smelly bedrooms, playing their X-Boxes and awaiting the Spring.

It has been a long time since I featured any dark humour on the blog, so here is a video featuring a number of popular cartoon characters from the 1980's and what they are up to now, years after they lost their popularity and high incomes. See what you think and please feel free to leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.