Jazz Sundays.

The photos above - click on each for a larger view, were taken by me last Sunday at the very first "Jazz Sunday" event, held in The Bookstore Cafe in The Old Carnegie Library in Walnut Tree Road, Erith.  As you can see the cafe was packed with visitors for the two hour live jazz show. Many of the visitors also had brunch whilst listening to the music. The Bookstore Cafe is phase one of the refurbishment and re-purposing of the old library. Phase two - work to convert the ground floor, where the main library space is located, and the upper floor, which used to house Erith Museum, and the former private apartment that once was home to the chief librarian and family is now due to start in the Spring. An announcement was made earlier this week, which reads:- "London Borough of Bexley and The Exchange have successfully secured National Lottery funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to restore the entire Grade II listed Old Carnegie Library in Erith. The National Lottery Heritage Fund has committed £980,000 towards a £1.8m project that will transform the upper two floors of unused space into new community workshops for textiles, woodwork, print, ceramics and gardening. The main central hall will be refurbished for community-led activities, including markets, exhibitions, festivals, concerts and performances. A unique local garden will also be created by the award-winning garden designer Sarah Price, with much of the growing, done by local school children and families. Councillor Louie French, Bexley’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Growth said: “This latest round of funding is good news for local people as it means that the entire building can be brought fully back into use for the benefit of the community.” “It’s a year since we finished the first phase of our investment, which saw the restoration of the lower ground area, the weathervane and full replacement of the roof of the building. We’ve been working hard with our partners since then to ensure that the rest of this beautiful building can be fully restored and it’s good to see that our hard work has paid off.” In February 2019, as part of its partnership project with the Mayor of London, the ‘Greater Erith Programme’, Bexley officially handed management of the building to local company The Exchange. Since then there have been more than 25,000 visits to the  building with local people participating in a variety of community activities and events and enjoying its new bar and café ‘The Bookstore’. The Exchange, with the help of partners, have also continued to source and secure additional funding.  Sarah Batten, Co-Founder of The Exchange, said: “The success of our National Lottery application is down to the Erith and wider community who have given us so much support over the past 12 months. With every visit to the café, every event attended, every kind donation or offer of support, it becomes more and more evident that this new future for the building can be achieved. There is still more work to be done, and funds to be raised, but we are confident that the beautiful historic building’s future will be secured.” Stuart McLeod, Director London & South at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “Thanks to money raised by National Lottery players, the historic Old Carnegie Library will be brought back into use for the community of Erith. An exciting programme of events and activities will ensure the heritage of the building and the stories of the people who have passed through its doors will remain at the heart of its future.” Over the next 12 months, the ambitious renovation works will take place alongside a packed events programme including both free and paid events including:- FREE: Family Craft Weekends, last Saturday of every month from 2-4pm • FREE: Jazz Sundays, on the fourth Sunday of every month from 12-2pm in The Bookstore • FREE: Open Mic nights, on the third Thursday of every month from 7.30-10pm in The Bookstore, to hear local talent from rapping and poetry to blues and folk • FREE: Embroidery Sundays: stitch, connect and chat every Sunday from 11-1pm in our Textile workshop • FREE: History tours of The Exchange, every Saturday from 3pm • Life Drawing classes, every Thursday from 7-9pm, £8 per session • Carnegie Ensemble concert, 24th April 2020, £10 • FREE: An exhibition of new design work inspired by the works of Bexleyheath resident William Morris, from 18th March in The Bookstore • FREE: Mother’s Day Weekend Plant Fair and workshops with Peckham partners L’Appartemente" I have to declare an interest; as some readers will already be aware, I am a governing board member of The Exchange, and I am the one who runs the weekly free tours of the old library building each Saturday afternoon at 3pm. No need to book - just turn up - the tour lasts between 45 minutes and an hour, depending on the number of tour participants and how many questions they ask.

In case you were wondering what happened last Sunday, when the customary Blog update Email did not appear. Let me explain. Every week, once the latest edition of the Maggot Sandwich has been published, I Email a select number of people to let them know that the latest edition is live. I use Google Gmail as my Email client of choice. At some point last week, Google changed their Email message rules. This was done to try and reduce Spam Email. When I send an update via Email, I blind copy (BCC) all of the recipients into the message. This keeps everyone's Email details private, and for many years this has worked very well indeed. Now blind copying in numerous Email addresses has been banned by Google - an absolute pain for me. The Blog update was still published - as you may be aware, I have not missed a Blog update every Sunday for thirteen and a half years - something that I am very proud of. The Email update may be history however. If this was not enough, my venerable Apple iMac computer has bitten the dust. It died in the middle of last week - looks like a hard disk failure - this Blog post has been courtesy of my tiny Raspberry Pi model 4 B emergency backup computer. Last Sunday I spent around 90 minutes online with Google support. Normally one cannot get proper support from the company - you just get sent links to a load of FAQ's and hobbyist chat rooms, but I have a paid Google account - which means excellent, professional support. Google suggested setting up a Google Group, which would enable me to send one email which would then go to all members of the group. The downside is that there is no way to automate the process of adding all of the members of my Gmail address book - each one needs to be manually copied and pasted. This will take me an age to do. On the upside, I have noticed that not sending out an Email update last week has actually not hurt my readership statistics one bit. I use Google Analytics to get an idea of what my audience like and dislike, and their general Blog reading habits. I fully expected that my reading figures were going to drop off a cliff - but this has actually not been the case at all; I am going to carry out an experiment over the next couple of weeks. I will carry on publishing a Blog update on Sunday early afternoons as I have done for so long, but I will not send out an update message (mainly as things currently stand, I cannot anyway). If the readership statistics stay as good as last week, then I may ditch the setting up of a Google group altogether, as nowadays I don't have as much free time as I used to. Don't worry - the Maggot Sandwich will continue as normal - nothing is changing as far as it is concerned. Comments to hugh.neal@gmail.com.

News reaches me that as predicted, Bexley Council have approved plans to build flats on the parkland in West Street, despite the protests and online petition opposing the plan. Local organisations including Friends of Riverside Gardens Erith (FORGE) and The Erith Think Tank organised a protest in December of last year - photo above - click on it for a larger version. The council vote was close 5 members voted for the redevelopment plans, and four against. Local Resident and FORGE founder, Joan McCarthy read a speech at the council meeting, opposing the plans to build on the popular and well - used park. Here is her speech in full:- "Thank you Chairman and Councillors for giving me the opportunity to speak and I would ask you to bear in mind the following points which all contribute to the London Borough of Bexley being a green borough to be proud of. The description “Land at the Junction of Macarthur Close and West Street” is misleading. It suggests the land is unused and superfluous to requirements.  It should be described as “West Street Small Park” as it is correctly named in the list of 100 parks and open spaces on Bexley’s own website. This is a mature small park planted with trees and grass which was specifically provided by the Council for the use of local residents when West Street was part of a General Improvement Area c. 1984. If approval is given to this application it would be in direct defiance of a planning condition imposed by this Council on the developer in 2003 when the adjoining blocks of flats were built;  namely, that this then well established little park should remain as is and left to mature – which it has done!  If conditions imposed by the Council can be overturned a relatively short time later how can we have any trust in the Council’s Planning and Legal departments? We cannot see how, in these circumstances, approval can be given to this application which would mean the loss of one of the most beautiful small roadside parks in the borough A well loved park used by residents and visitors with safe and easy access to the Thames Pathway. This application would destroy most, if not all, of the matured trees (approx. 30) in this lovely little park at a time when the Government is proposing that millions of trees should be planted to combat climate change.  Each of these doomed trees provides as much oxygen in a season as 10 people breathe in a year.  They are essential to mitigate the effects of the heavy volume of traffic emissions containing particulate matter which is deadly, especially to the young and elderly. These trees protect us from flooding and extreme heat by reducing temperature by about 7 degrees Celsius.  Also, insect life in mature trees cannot be replaced if they are felled. The Council’s website states that there are 623 hectares of open space in Bexley Borough. Erith has just over 5 hectares and this small park is 0.3 hectares.  How can the loss of this park be justified considering Erith has the least amount of open space compared to the rest of the Borough? This park is an essential “green break” between the extended Riverside Gardens to the east and the Council maintained churchyard of St. John the Baptist (which dates back to Saxon times) at the western end of West Street". What do you think? Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com. 

As I have written in the past, Erith and Crayford were the historic home of Vickers Sons and Maxim Limited, who had factories in both locations which made a whole range of armaments and ammunition, principally the Vickers Machine Gun – which was an easier to produce, lighter and cheaper version of the original Maxim Gun, invented by Sir Hiram Maxim - the most famous local resident. What is less well known is that Vickers Vimy heavy bombers were also constructed on a limited basis. It is thought that the aeroplane which transported Alcock and Brown on the historic very first flight across the Atlantic was one of those produced locally. In the present the fact that both Erith and Crayford were major arms manufacturing towns is unknown to many residents; indeed the only relic of the Vickers Sons and Maxim factory in Erith is that the area of shops and houses located at the bend where Woolwich Road becomes Fraser Road is still known by older locals as “The Pom Pom” – due to the sound of guns being tested in the dedicated shooting range that was adjacent to the factory for many years. I think it sad that many people still call the area by the informal name, but very few seem to know the actual reason for it. Nowadays one could be forgiven for thinking that all of the changes that have happened over the years that arms manufacturing was no longer something that no longer happened locally. In matter of fact nothing could be further from the truth. Slade Green is home to a company, which until 2014 was known as Manroy Engineering, and is now called FN Herstal - a company that specialises in the manufacture and refurbishment of machine guns and light cannon for the military. They also make all sorts of weapon mounts, gun turrets for armoured vehicles and assorted other military hardware such as specialised sniper rifles and vehicle armour packages. They keep a very low profile for security reasons, but they are actually located on the Power Works site on Slade Green Road, opposite  St. Augustine's church. It is amazing what a little bit of searching on Google Street view can find! Anyway, the Vickers machine gun or Vickers gun is a name primarily used to refer to the water-cooled .303 British (7.7 mm) calibre machine gun produced by Vickers Limited, originally for the British Army. The machine gun typically required a six to eight-man team to operate: one fired, one fed the ammunition, the rest helped to carry the weapon, its ammunition and spare parts. It was in service from before the First World War until the 1960s, with air-cooled versions of it on many Allied World War I fighter aircraft. The weapon had a reputation for great solidity and reliability. Ian V. Hogg, in the book Weapons and War Machines, describes an action that took place in August 1916, during which the British 100th Company of the Machine Gun Corps fired their ten Vickers guns continuously for twelve hours. Using 100 barrels, they fired a million rounds without a failure. "It was this absolute fool proof reliability which endeared the Vickers to every British soldier who ever fired one.” The Vickers machine gun was based on the successful Maxim gun of the late 19th century. After purchasing the Maxim company outright in 1896, Vickers took the design of the Maxim gun and improved it, reducing its weight by lightening and simplifying the action and substituting components made with high strength alloys. A muzzle break was also added. The British Army formally adopted the Vickers gun as its standard machine gun on 26 November 1912, using it alongside their existing Maxims. There were still great shortages when the First World War began, and the British Expeditionary Force was still equipped with Maxims when sent to France in 1914. Vickers was, in fact, threatened with prosecution for war profiteering, due to the exorbitant price it was demanding for each gun. As a result, the price was slashed. As the war progressed, and numbers increased, it became the British Army's primary machine gun, and served on all fronts during the conflict. When the Lewis Gun was adopted as a light machine gun and issued to infantry units, the Vickers guns were redefined as heavy machine guns, withdrawn from infantry units, and grouped in the hands of the new Machine Gun Corps (when heavier 0.5 in/12.7 mm calibre machine guns appeared, the tripod-mounted, rifle-calibre machine guns like the Vickers became medium machine guns). After the First World War, the Machine Gun Corps (MGC) was disbanded and the Vickers returned to infantry units. Before the Second World War, there were plans to replace the Vickers gun. However, the Vickers remained in service with the British Army until 30 March 1968. Hundreds of thousands of these guns were manufactured in Erith and Crayford over several decades, and during both World Wars, this meant that the towns were legitimate wartime bombing targets. During both World Wars, the area economically benefited – for example in 1914, the number of trams run in Crayford and Erith was increased to transport the large number of munitions workers many of whom worked for Vickers making ammunition for use on the Western Front. With most of the young men volunteering for military service (conscription was yet to begin) many women entered paid employment for the first time, something that directly led to the start of female emancipation with the Representation of the People Act 1918. I have written at some length about inventor and businessman Hiram Maxim in the past; Maxim was American born but later naturalised British. He invented the sprung mouse trap, the first practical machine gun, the incandescent light bulb (though he famously failed to get the patent registered before Thomas Edison and Joseph Swan) and  the first heavier than air aircraft. After moving to England in 1881, Maxim began his aerial experiments at Baldwyns Park near Bexley Village, in the late 1880's, leading to the construction in 1893 of his enormous biplane Test-Rig, which weighed about three and a half tons. The machine's two steam engines each produced 180 horsepower. and turned two pusher propellers each 17-1/2 feet in diameter. Since the device was intended to be a test vehicle it was held to a track, preventing it from rising more than a couple of feet. On the Maxim Biplane Test-Rig's third test run, on July 31, 1894, with Maxim and a crew of three aboard, it lifted with such force that it broke the reinforced restraining track and careened for some two hundred yards, at times reaching an altitude of two or three feet above the damaged track. It was believed that a lifting force of some four and a half tons had been generated. After this, Maxim allowed his assistants to demonstrate the flying machine on a number of additional occasions, but he took no further part in the development – he rightly realised that the machine was a design “dead end” as it lacked practical flight controls. It was not until 1903 that the Wright Brothers worked out their system of ailerons and rudders that made flying practical and controllable. 

The weather over the last couple of weeks has been notoriously atrocious. Much has already been written about the subject, and I don't want to repeat what has already been said. One thing that it has highlighted is something I have mentioned in the past, but I feel that needs to be restated. There is understandable concern and public interest in the current coronavirus outbreak, yet there is a risk of infection from another source, and it is far more likely that you will encounter it. People who put their feet on the seats on public transport is something that winds me up no end; not only is it antisocial, but it is extremely unhygienic. Even if the culprit has not directly stood in a dog turd, the harmful bacteria from excrement is washed all over every pavement when it rains and everybody gets faecal bacteria on their footwear, whether they know it or not. It is only after a period of bright sunshine that the Ultra Violet light from the sun kills the micro organisms, but for much of the time in winter the footpaths and streets of Britain are literally awash with harmful bacteria, mainly from dog droppings. When someone puts their feet onto a bus or train seat, they transfer some of this bacteria onto the fabric of the seat, where it can live quite happily for several days. In that time, multiple bottoms will have sat on the invisible bacteria colony, transferring some of them for another ride on an unwitting hosts' clothes. The person has only to touch the invisibly infected area to pass harmful bugs onto their hands, and from there, virtually anywhere. This is one of the main reasons that when you visit a hospital or nursing care home, you are strongly encouraged to use antibacterial hand gel, which is normally supplied in a dispenser by the entrance. A good wash with soap and hot water will do pretty much the same, if like me you are sensitive to the gel. I have been told by a couple of medical professionals that about a third of infections blamed on MRSA in hospitals and nursing homes are actually caused by canine faecal bacteria transferred from visitors' clothing. Think on this next time you see someone putting their feet on a seat. 

I came across the advert above in an old map of Erith that I have had for absolutely ages. It was old when I was given it. Hedley Mitchell was the largest and by far the most important shop in the old Victorian Erith town centre. It was the towns' department store, and as large and grand as Hides in Bexleyheath. Many older local residents recall Hedley Mitchell with great affection. The store had a very high reputation for formal service. It was the first building to be demolished when work began to create the new (and subsequently much hated) brutalist concrete shopping centre in 1966. In fact the first act of demolition was carried out by the then Deputy Mayor, Councillor Mrs M Barron, ceremoniously smashed the window of Hedley Mitchell's store to mark the commencement of the demolition of Erith Town Centre to make way for redevelopment. As a consequence, all the existing Victorian buildings were lost. With hindsight, this was a terrible mistake - the existing town centre should have been sympathetically restored. I gather that this was considered, but would have cost too much money; instead they built a relatively cheap but undeniably ugly replacement out of bare concrete. I don't know anyone who had a good word to say about it. Consequently a lot of businesses upped sticks and moved to Bexleyheath or Northumberland Heath, and it is only now, over fifty years later that much of the social and economic damage is being put right. The current Erith Riverside Shopping Centre is actually a very clever redesign of the much hated sixties structure, rather than a ground up new build, but it has been done with taste and sensitivity - something entirely missing in the original, which was a smelly and soulless concrete monstrosity, detested by all.

Now for the weekly local safety and security updates from Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association. The photo above shows Neighbourhood Watch coordinators who attended the Yorkshire Building Society at Broadway, Bexleyheath, to assist at a fraud awareness event, at which they were informing people all about scams. They have been invited back for regular events and look forward to seeing people there in the future. Barnehurst ward - no report this week. Belvedere ward:- "From Neighbourhood Watch Member - in Flaxman Court -Flaxman Court is a block of flats for elderly people (independent living). On 21st February someone allowed access to, two door to door salesmen which is not allowed. The men were very forceful and I can only describe them as ‘bullying' in an attempt to get the residents to buy items. However, I immediately informed the scheme manager who spoke to the men and asked them to leave the building which they did after being very verbal. From Police SNT Team - PCSO Robert Holmes:- On Friday 21/02/2020 we had a burglary in Ashburnham Road. A male had gained access via the front door but was seen and disturbed. Nothing taken and no damage caused. Over a two week period there was also a burglary in Eardley Road. The house was unfortunately ransacked. The suspect(s) had gained access via the rear door, causing damage. Unknown what was taken at this stage. We have had several thefts from motor vehicles recently on the ward. Please do take all valuables out of your vehicles and do not leave anything on display which might tempt a thief!" Bexleyheath ward:-"Monday 17/02/20 2000 Robbery Personal near Premier Inn Albion Road Head Phones and watch. Monday 17/02/20 1715 Robbery Personal Pushbike Stolen Council Offices Watling Street. Tuesday 18/02/20 1130 Purse Stolen from bag inside Library in Townley Road. Tuesday 18/02/20 0100 Criminal Damage nail in tyre Long Lane. Tuesday 18/02/20 1500 Attempted Theft Person Phone attempted to be taken from victims hand whilst using it Broadway - nothing taken.Wednesday 19/02/20 0330 – 0410 Burglary Business unknown items taken. Tuesday 18/02/20 1817 Theft from Meters Albion Road Car Park cash stolen. Thursday 20/02/20 1400 – 1430 Theft Person Phone taken from pocket Hospice Shop Broadway. Thursday 20/02/20 2000 – 2100 Theft of Motor Vehicle Swanbridge Road van taken keys still in victims possession. Saturday 22/02/20 0100 – 0615 Business Burglary Broadway cash and computer stolen. Saturday 22/02/20 2110 – 2115 Att Robbery on bus near Arnsberg Way - nothing taken. Friday 21/02/20 0900 – 1000 Burglary Bike Shed Clocktower Court 2 x pushbikes taken. Saturday 22/02/20 0700 Theft From Motor Vehicle Number Plates Stolen Hyde Road. Thursday 20/02/20 1200 – 1630 Theft of Motor Vehicle Albion Road. Tuesday 25/02/20 1510 – 1620 Theft from Motor Vehicle Catalytic Converter Sainsbury's car park. Tuesday 25/02/20 0945 – 1030 Theft of wallet on bus near Albion Road". Crayford ward - no report this week. Erith ward:- "Theft from and of motor vehicles is up. Please see the crime advice: Car security at home. Where possible ensure that your vehicle is parked on your driveway or in your garage if you have one. Alternatively, ensure your vehicle is parked in a well-lit area. Have an alarm and immobiliser fitted if your vehicle doesn't already have one. This is an effective way of deterring criminals. A Thatcham-compliant immobiliser or steering lock can help secure older vehicles. Locking wheel nuts are cheap and easy to fit to prevent your alloy wheels being stolen. Catalytic converters can be marked using a specialist metal security marking chemical and secure labels to warn potential thieves that the catalytic converter carries an identification mark. Securing your motorbike or scooter. If your motorbike or scooter doesn't already have one, consider having a Thatcham or Sold Secure approved electronic immobiliser professionally fitted. Ask your insurance company which devices they would recommend that will not invalidate your policy. If you have a security device fitted, always use it. A wide variety of locks can be used, such as chains or padlocks, disc locks and D locks. The most important thing to remember is to secure your motorbike to a solid object that can't be moved. Always put your steering lock on. When you are not using your motorbike or scooter, put it in your garage or a secure outbuilding with a fixed or ground anchor to secure it to inside the building. Don't leave your garage open and make sure your vehicle is covered up, even when you are at home. Crimes of note for the week Theft from Motor Vehicle Thursday 20/02/2020 Carrack House, Saltford Road. Theft from Motor Vehicle Friday 21/02/2020, Riverdale Road. Theft of Motor Vehicle  Sunday 23/02/2020, Chandlers Drive. Theft of Motor Vehicle Sunday 23/02/2020, Callender Road. Theft of Motor Vehicle Monday 24/02/2020 South Road. Theft from Motor Vehicle Monday 24/02/2020 Holly Hill Road". Northumberland Heath ward:- "Good news this week we have had no Burglaries reported within the last two weeks but unfortunately we have had several reports of theft from and theft of motor vehicles. Theft of pedal cycle from Belmont Road. Theft of motor vehicle - Vauxhall Grandland Estate from Bexley Road . Vehicle was then recovered a few days later. Theft of motor vehicle – Fiesta Ghia from Brook Street, Erith. Attempted theft of a motor vehicle on Northumberland Park. Victim found a strange key in the ignition and the the wires had been ripped out from underneath the dashboard. Theft of number plates from Penda Road, Erith". Slade Green and Northend ward:- "Only one crime of note this last week, a vehicle was stolen from Betsham Road between 1700 and 1900 hours on Friday 21st Feb. The owner was alerted after the van was seen by a friend in Springhead Road but not being driven by him. No further information at this stage". Thamesmead East ward:-"Burglary Residential - Walsham Close Monday 17/02/2020 13:00 - Monday 17/02/2020 13:02:00 Keys to the property were hung up behind the door which was insecure. Suspect/s have opened the door removed car keys stolen victim's vehicle. Motor Vehicle Crime - Kale Road, Trefoil House Sunday 16/02/2020 14:00 – Monday 17/02/2020 08:30 suspect/s have gained access to vehicle by unknown method, causing damage to rear seats as they attempted to gain access into the boot. Handbag containing keys stolen from inside vehicle. Lensbury Way Monday 17/02/2020 13:00 – Friday 21/02/2020 11:00 Catalytic converter stolen from Honda Accord by suspect/s unknown. Glimpsing Green Tuesday 18/2/20 06:40 – 08:20 victim parked car at location on returning to the vehicle it was found the rear windscreen had been smashed by suspect/s. Sydney Road Thursday 20/2/20 22:00 – Friday 21/2/2020 19:00 Motor vehicle stolen. Leatherbottle Green 21/2/20 15:00 – 17:00 victim reports suspect/s have stolen his motorbike. A neighbour stated they saw 2 men loading the bike onto a trailer. Wolvercote Road Friday 21/2/20 18:00 – 15:00 Saturday 22/2/20 unknown suspect/s have removed Catalytic converter from Honda Civic. Baylis Avenue Sunday 23/2/20 09:30 – 11:15 Victims reports upon return to vehicle the passenger front window has been smashed beyond repair by suspect/s unknown. Hinksey Path Monday 24/2/20 08:35 – 08:58 victim reports Toyota Corolla broken into via smashed driver's side window nothing taken". West Heath ward:- "One burglary reported to us in Amberley Road this week between the hours of 1200 – 22.28 hours on Friday February 21st. It is not known at this stage of the enquiry how entry was gained or if anything was taken. Theft of a front number plate in Axminster Crescent Wednesday February 19th 170 – Thursday February 20th 11.30. The team have been busy as usual conducting High Visibility patrols in uniform and plain clothes across the ward. One arrest was made this week for domestic criminal damage, and a youth found in possession of cannabis was interviewed at the station. Further drop in surgeries at the Library in Bostall heath will be advertised shortly".

The end video this week is a bit of a promotion for the local area. Let me know what you think; you can Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

The camper van.

The photo above shows the marine dredger vessel the Sand Fulmar as it travelled up river past Erith, with a load of dredged seabed sand, as it was heading towards the Angerstein Wharf facility in Charlton. Angerstein Wharf is an industrial area and location of a marine construction aggregate and an associated cement facility and freight station in the Port of London, operated by the Cemex company, located on the South bank of the River Thames. The dredged sand is used in the construction industry. Erith gets a lot of passing shipping traffic, and occasionally you will see ship enthusiasts on Erith pier with their cameras and binoculars, especially when a ship of particular interest is scheduled to pass by. If you are interested in learning more about what ships are travelling up or down river, you can visit The Port of London Authority ship movement website here.

Last week the Metropolitan Police announced that they had identified and removed a debit card skimming machine from a cash machine (more properly known as an Automated Teller Machine, or ATM) in Bexley village. Where one has been found, it is highly likely that others will follow. So what exactly is a card skimming machine, and what does it do? A type of fraud which occurs when an ATM is compromised by a skimming device, a card reader which can be disguised to look like a part of the machine. The card reader saves the users' card number and pin code, which is then replicated into a counterfeit copy for theft. ATM skimming is like identity theft for debit cards: Thieves use hidden electronics to steal the personal information stored on your card and record your PIN number to withdraw cash or they illegally copy your account details from the chip or magnetic strip on your credit or debit card when you use an ATM. The fraudster then uses your details to create a fake or ‘cloned’ card to withdraw money from any ATM. The fraud requires two pieces of information, and they have to be gathered separately.  Firstly the scammer needs the card ID details, which used to be stored on the cards magnetic strip, but nowadays in most countries (including the UK) are more commonly stored on the card's embedded chip. A card reader placed over the ATM's real card slot. When you slide your card into the ATM, you are unwittingly sliding it through the counterfeit reader, which scans and stores all the information on the chip. However, to gain full access to your bank account on an ATM, the thieves still need your PIN number. That is where cameras come in - hidden on or near the ATM, tiny spy cameras are positioned to get a clear view of the keypad and record all the ATM's PIN action. The Police advise that users always pay attention to objects mounted on the ATM or located close by. A pinhole or off-colour piece of plastic could give away the camera's hiding place. Some ATM skimming schemes employ fake keypads in lieu of cameras to capture PIN numbers. Just like the card skimmers fit over the ATM's true card slot, skimming keypads are designed to mimic the keypad's design and fit over it like a glove. Be warned.

Bexley Council recently sold off the small green space / park in West Street Erith to a developer. Compared with some of the other open spaces sold off by the council, the West Street site did not raise a lot of objections, I presume as the main users of the small park are street drinkers and people engaging in anti social behaviour. On Monday, some technicians were seen in the park, along with a couple of vans and some towed equipment. At the time of writing the vans and the towed equipment is still on the site. They were carrying out a geological survey of the park, presumably prior to a developer submitting plans to redevelop the site. If you have any detailed information regarding this, please let me know. 

Thank you to the readers who answered my request last week for information about the mysterious old camper van that had been parked outside of the front entrance of Erith Hospital for a number of weeks. I had four people respond with valuable information, and one source, who wishes to remain anonymous was able to supply me with some very detailed and helpful information, which they sent me in a series of Emails on Monday morning. They wrote:- "You'll be happy to know this person has gone. Unfortunately he left behind his human waste. It seems he was just living there, it has been reported to police several times, the council also got told, as did DVLA more than once, it was without tax, MOT and insurance. I believe he was just using it as a base, as they had another van (never there during the day) that would park up and he would sleep in the RV at night. So, mystery solved. In total I believe he lived there for 6 weeks. He has been known to live in a car park in Thamesmead for up to 9 months! I first reported the vehicle to police when I did a search on the internet and found out the RV was without Tax and MOT, the same with his other white van, I reported both to DVLA and nothing much was done, so I called the police, when I did I was told he was the same with other locations, he moves place to place and it seems he only moves when people or himself can't stand the smell! He lets his waste pile up under the RV, it's extremely obvious what it is. The police told me it's known and is uninsured. 2 weeks then passed and still nothing had been done apart from a letter being sent to the home address the RV was associated with, asking for him to tax and MOT the vehicle. Other neighbours complained to all the same places too. My final call was last week, back to the council and they put me through to environmental health, they couldn't do anything. Yesterday while the sun was shining, my son who is 11 was out playing on his bike, he came in and said to my husband "there's a really bad smell coming from that RV, what is it?" Confused, husband went and looked and said it had completely over spilled. I got worried knowing that it's outside a hospital, a doctors surgery as well as the primary school down the road, everyone is at a risk, I was going to call and demand something happen to it today, but I woke up this morning and it made our Monday morning SO HAPPY, seeing he had finally left! Hopefully he won't return. Especially as we now know what we will be in for. When I left home this morning, a road cleaner happened to be driving down, I got so excited, I asked he use his machine to go over that corner where all his "left overs" are, he said he will do his best!" Great news, and thanks to the anonymous reader who also provided the covertly taken photo above of the camper van preparing to leave late on Sunday evening. I know some readers think that somehow I know everything that is going on in the local area, but this could not be further from the truth; I rely on information from readers. Any information on newsworthy issues will always be credited to those who supply it, unless you would rather be anonymous, as the camper van source above has chosen to do. You can contact me in complete confidence by Emailing me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

For many years the former Belvoir Tavern next to Belvedere Station - which was once known as "Belvedere's fighting pub" has lain empty and unused. Efforts to convert it into an African restaurant and night club were thwarted after the place lost its licence in 2010 after a series of pitched battles between rival drugs gangs from Peckham and Deptford which took place both inside the restaurant and in the street outside; on a number of occasions over a hundred people were involved. Shortly after the loss of licence, there was a mysterious fire which destroyed the upper floor of the building; indeed for many months the building was open to the elements, as the roof had been almost completely destroyed. Eventually the insurance paid up, and a new roof was installed and the building repaired. As far as I am aware it has been used as a residential dwelling since, and the bar area has been boarded up and unused. Now the building is due to be demolished after it has been acquired by Christ Chapel Ministries - a church which has been based in Charlton. The church plan to build a two-storey building with two hundred seats on the ground floor, along with a mother and baby room, and one hundred seats on the first floor with associated offices. Five car parking spaces, one disabled parking bay, and five cycle parking spaces are also set to be provided. Whilst it will be good to get the site put to some use after being mostly unused for the best part of a decade, I am aware that some locals have concerns over noise and parking congestion once the new building is open to users. I also wonder how the new Church building will fit in with Bexley council's long term plans for Lower Belvedere, and their desire to have a brand new town centre adjacent to the railway. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

A message from The Exchange, the not for profit group who are restoring the old Carnegie Library in Walnut Tree Road, Erith:- "To celebrate The Old Library’s 113th year we are hosting an anniversary weekend on 6th-7th April! There will be a whole host of activities including a party, embroidery and textiles master classes and tile-making. To celebrate The Old Library’s 113th year we are hosting an anniversary weekend on 6th-7th April! Entertainment will include music from eight-man brass band Don’t Problem". For further information on this, and other events taking place in the former library, please click here.

You may recall that last week in the section of the Blog update dedicated to the Neighbourhood Watch reports I mentioned that one particular observation by a Neighbourhood Watch member who saw some suspicious activity in the Erith Pier Gardens / Wharfside Close whilst he was approaching his parked car. I am now able to expand and explain what the person saw. The individual, who chooses to remain anonymous, wrote to me with the following account:- "A rather peculiar event occurred near Erith Pier Tuesday night I thought your audience would be interested to read. As I approached Morrison's car park I spotted a man in a high-vis jacket apparently setting fire to documents and other paraphernalia just off Wharfside close. This went on for quite some time as he gathered more materials from the back of his old vehicle, walking casually back and forth. I became particularly alarmed when he pulled what appeared to be a Jerry can at which point I thought it best to call the fire brigade just in case it escalated to something more serious. I'm unsure of what he was trying to achieve, or why he would do it in such a high trafficked area - nothing particularly jumped out at me for a justification. I have to say this is one of the more unusual events I've experienced in north-Erith. I have attached a video still I took, hopefully they can frame the scene for you". Thanks to the anonymous contributor; the event was certainly concerning, and it makes one wonder about the mental state of the person setting the fire only a few metres away from residential housing.

Now for the weekly local safety and security updates from Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association. Firstly from Barnehurst ward:- "Good news, no burglaries to report on Barnehurst Ward. There have been two theft of motor vehicles. The first one occurred on Thursday 21/03/2019 between the hours of 07.00pm and 09.00pm in Hurstwood Avenue however Police spotted this bike being wheeled out of a property in Belvedere and subsequently seized the vehicle to return to its original owner. On Saturday 23/03/2019 in Pennine Way a white Ford Transit registration number YR57 JZM was stolen. Also reported was a theft from motor vehicle in Midfield Avenue on Monday 18/03/2019 which occurred overnight. Tools and a bunch of keys were taken from the vehicle. On Thursday 4th April 2019 at 4.00pm in Barnehurst Golf Club we will be holding a community contact session. We are keen for residents to come along to hear about what we do day to day on the ward and would like to encourage residents to join our ward panel meetings. The team will be happy to explain what this meeting entails should anyone be interested". Belvedere ward:- "On Thursday 21/03/2019 the team discovered a house had been broken into on Getrude Road. The rear door glass had been smashed and entry gained. An untidy search had taken place with drawers pulled out. The occupants were on holiday at the time. We have had reports from B and Q and ASDA about a group of youths causing a nuisance inside and in the car park of both stores. It seems like the youths are one and the same judging by CCTV images. We have managed to catch up with five of the youths. They were searched as it was suggested that one of them may be carrying a weapon. No weapons were found. The others are still being a nuisance. We are trying to time our patrols to catch these annoyances. If anyone has issues in either store please either contact the security teams in each or call Police on 101. A motorbike was stolen from an address in Caldy road on Monday 25/03/2019. The motorbike was found the following day by Erith SNT in Church Manorway and reunited with its owner. Our next Community Contact Session will be on Wednesday 10/04/2019 at 13:00 inside Starbucks, Clydesdale Way". Bexleyheath ward:- "We have had one residential burglaries on the Ward this week, in Leysdown Avenue, Bexleyheath, where tools were stolen from a shed at the bottom of the garden. the suspects were disturbed and dropped the tools nearby as they ran off. Please see the link below regarding keeping sheds or garages secure. https://www.met.police.uk/cp/crime-prevention/non-residential-burglary/secure-shed-garage/ . We had a vehicle stolen in Heathfield Road, where a staff member took a vehicle without company permission. The driver was arrested for drink driving, no insurance and taking a vehicle without permission. We had a theft from Motor vehicle in Long Lane, where number plates were stolen from the rear of the vehicle. Some good news, a vehicle was reported stolen from outside an address in Belvedere Road the owner then contacted police stating they had found the vehicle parked in a street nearby, they had forget where they had parked the vehicle. There was a GBH in Christie Close, where male had a single stab wound to his leg, no suspects have been identified for this as yet. A young man was dealt with for possession offensive weapon, where he was arrested after a fight, the male was seen to be swinging a belt during the fight. The Premier Inn and cinema car parks continue to be an issue with youths causing damage and smoking cannabis, the team take a robust approach in the area and this week there has been at least (10) ten stop and searches for cannabis and article to cause criminal damage. Smart Water - the team has been in Wenvoe Road offering residents Smart Water property marking kits, this area recently suffered from a spate of shed burglaries. Two males have been arrested in connection with these burglaries". Crayford ward:- "This seems to have been a week for criminal damage to motor vehicles for which there seems to be no obvious reason. On Tuesday 19th March between 07.35 and 17.30 the window of a vehicle was smashed whilst parked in Old Road close to St Josephs primary school. On Thursday 20th march between 18.50 and 19.10 all the windows of a vehicle were smashed whilst parked in Bexley Lane. On Saturday 23rd March between 11.00-14.30 a vehicle had “bulls eye” damage to the windscreen whilst parked in the underground car park at Town Hall Square. The front off-side window was smashed and the driver's door forced open on a silver Ford Puma whilst parked at Woodfall Drive. On Tuesday 26th March at approx. 20.00 masked Males were seen trying to gain access to a black BMW X5 whilst it was parked at Alcock Crescent, they were disturbed so their intention is not known. Front and rear number plates were stolen from a Fiat Jet whilst parked at Church Hill between 15.00 on 22nd March and 13.00 on Sunday 24th March. A catalytic converter was stolen from a Honda whilst parked outside Miller and Carter at Bourne Road during the daytime of 25th March. A white Seat Leon with the number plate KR68HKJ was stolen between 18.00 on Thursday 21st March and 10.00 on Friday 22nd March whilst parked in Burgate Close, the vehicle was believed to be locked and secure. Between 18.00 on Monday 18th March and 07.00 on Tuesday 19th March a large quantity of building materials were stolen from 94 London Road. An attempted burglary occurred at Lea Vale, date unclear, the owner had difficulty opening and locking the front door and believed it had been tampered with. It is believed that entry was made to a flat at Keats House in Bexley Lane through an open window, nothing stolen or disturbed on 19th March. We will be at the Age Concern meeting at Crayford Library on Friday 5th April between 11.30-12.30 giving some crime prevention advice".

Erith ward:- "Good news - A Stolen motorbike recovered from Erith industrial estate (image above) and owner has been informed. Our next Community Contact Session is Friday 29th March, 2pm at Costa coffee Erith. Around the Sandcliff Road area we have had 2 burglaries and one attempted, all where from gaining access from rear alley way through the garden in to the house – you can make your house a lot more secure by having a motion light solid back fences or even cctv, you do not have to spend a load of money, have a walk around your garden and try to spot any weak points. We are always happy to come around to anyone's house and offer security advice, just contact via email - erith.snt@met.police.uk" Northumberland Heath ward:- "Good news this week no burglaries have been reported to us. One report of criminal damage to a motor vehicle in Mill Road at 2am on the morning of Sunday March 24th. The vehicle was driving in Mill Road when the car was approached by a group of males, believed to be drunk. One of the males kicked the wing mirror and a bottle was thrown at the vehicle causing damage to the windscreen. The team assisted with immigration and environmental officers with a warrant at Darent Industrial Estate this week. Arrests were made for immigration offences. A metal structure has been fixed to a wall in Northumberland Heath Recreation Ground. This specific area has been a hotspot for drug and ASB crime for years and its hoped the structure will help in deterring large groups from using this area as meeting place. This is just one tool which may help deter this issue as we have already had CCTV in the area and increased patrols and stop and search here".  Slade Green and Northend ward:- "One crime of note in the last week was in Canterbury House, Boundary Street. The whole estate is pretty much empty as re-development starts very soon but over the weekend suspects gained entry to Canterbury House and took old piping and wiring from 60 of the 70 flats inside. We are working closely with Orbit Housing to try and identify anyone involved and to prevent the other blocks from being targeted before the building work commences. 3 positive stop and searches in the last week resulting in drugs being confiscated plus 2 Community resolutions issued and 1 is due back for interview soon. A knife was found close to the garages at the back of Alexandra Road and handed to one of our officers by a resident. There is no indication that this was used in any crime but it is now safely locked away. PCSO Mark assisted PCSO Adam from Erith SNT in recovering a stolen motorbike found in bushes on the Thames pathway at the rear of Tesco.Com in Erith. The bike has been taken to be forensicated (I guess this must be Police speak, as I have never heard of the word until now) before being reunited with its owner. PC James and PCSO Mark have given a personal safety talk at Inspire Community Trust in Whitehall Lane which is a day care centre for people with disabilities. 20 or so attendees enjoyed the talk and were given some tips on how to keep their belongings safe as well as themselves. If you would like a copy of the Little Book of Big Scams which has advice on all these matters, please let us know. PC James arrested a male in Frobisher Road on Weds evening who was in possession of a large quantity of drugs. He was later charged with possession with intent to supply (PWITS). Our next Community Contact Session is on Saturday April 6th from 9.30 in the café in Forest Road". Thamesmead East ward:- "Good News - The male who was awaiting sentencing for criminal Damage and Public order offence last week has been given a Community Order for 12 months- unpaid work for 80 hours, to pay the total of £300 costs to Crime Prevention Service and £85 to Victim Services. No Burglaries this week. Crimes This Week - Theft of Motor Vehicle: Mangold Way Wednesday 20/3/19 between 5pm and 9am Victim stated the vehicle was stolen and she no longer has the keys no further information; Criminal Damage to Motor Vehicle: Southmere Drive. Tuesday 19/3/19 between 10pm - 6:45pm Wednesday 20/3/19 victim believes someone has deflated car tyre; Criminal Damage to Motor Vehicle: Seacourt Road Saturday 23/3/19 between 3pm – 1pm Sunday 24/3/19 scratches surrounding the entirety of victims car causing significant damage to the paintwork; Arson to Motor Vehicle: Mangold Way Saturday 23/3/19 between 5pm – 1am Sunday 24/3/19 Victim informed by the fire brigade that vehicle was set alight deliberately by suspect/s unknown; Theft from Motor Vehicle: Lensbury Way Tuesday 26/3/19 between 11:30am – 2:35 pm. Suspect/s have cut part of the exhaust system from vehicle victims Catalytic Converter removed".  West Heath ward:- "We are very pleased to say we have had no reported burglaries and only one theft of a hand power tool from a van in First Avenue overnight Monday 25th to Tuesday 26th March between 8pm and 11am. If you would like a copy of our DIY Home Security Survey please email us on westheath.SNT@met.police.uk or call on 020 8721 2885. Further crime prevention advice is available on https://www.met.police.uk/cp/crime-prevention. We held a street briefing in Heath Avenue at the junction with Marley Avenue where the issues raised were drug dealing from vehicles late at night, off road bikes in West Heath Recreation Ground during school holidays and the large volume of learner drivers in the area".

The end video this week features a family who have recently moved into one of the large houses on the new Erith Quarry housing estate. Please feel free to leave a comment below, or alternatively Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

The 99.

Drivers who operate the 99 bus service between Bexleyheath and Woolwich, and back the other way are unhappy. In 2011, and then later in 2016 the very popular bus route was upgraded with brand new Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 double decker buses such as the example that you can see in the photograph above, which was taken by me last summer. These were modern, comfortable, well designed and had a flywheel based energy conservation system installed, which enabled the bus engine to shut off at bus stops, or when halted in traffic. The system is called Gyrodrive. When the bus comes to a halt, the engine cuts out completely. When the bus subsequently pulls away from the bus stop, it travels for a few seconds in complete silence, before the diesel engine cuts back in. This saves fuel and cuts exhaust emissions. The 99 bus route covers quite a large area, and has a couple of fairly steep hills on the way, the most challenging of which is Bostall Hill where the road passes though Bostall Heath. The Enviro 400 buses equipped with the Gyrodrive system were more than capable of managing this journey with relative ease. Recently the bus company Arriva - which operates many of the routes in South East London and North Kent, decided to replace the Enviro 400 buses with another model. These were sourced second hand from the Midlands (I have heard that Wolverhampton was the original location for the second hand fleet - but if you know better, please let me know). The "new" second had buses are Wright Gemini 2 bodied VDL DB300's, which do not feature Gyrodrive. They are an older design than the Enviro 400 models that they now replace. I have spoken to several drivers on the 99 bus route, and they are very unhappy with the Wright Gemini buses. They are slow and under powered when compared to the previous Enviro 400's, and they have absolutely terrible suspension, with almost no damping. They bang and crash over the slightest road imperfection, and have a very bumpy, unrefined and uncomfortable ride. One driver commented to me that the buses were so underpowered that he almost felt like asking the passengers to get out and push when coming up Bostall Hill. On top of this, the second hand buses are extremely unreliable. Last week I personally saw two broken down Wright Gemini route 99 buses, one of which had stopped right on the junction with Bexley Road and the Fish Roundabout in the centre of Erith. One driver told me that the rate of breakdowns was so bad that the bus garage in Plumstead had no spare buses - the reserves were already in use, covering for the units that had already broken down. It seems to me that Arriva may have been guilty of some false economy when purchasing these used buses. I have no idea where the Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 buses have gone - whether Arriva have deployed them onto another route, or sold them on to another operator. If you have any information, please get in contact with me by emailing me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

After the non - story fiasco last week that featured Erith's KFC Drive Through being featured in a number of national tabloid newspapers, including the Sun, this week The Sun have featured a further non - story in respect of Erith McDonald's Drive Through, which is located directly opposite the KFC. on the corner of Manor Road and James Watt Way. The News Shopper ran a story which they apparently sold on to the Sun, which concerned claims that a fourteen year old girl and her friend had been to buy food at the McDonald's outlet, and that they had been told that they would have to eat outside, as they were wearing school uniform, and the Erith restaurant policy is to only allow two school children in the building at any one time - and two school children were already in the place. The reasoning behind this is that the Erith McDonald's apparently has had some severe problems with anti social behaviour, mainly caused by local school kids. Whatever the rights and wrongs of the case - and on Monday when the incident is alleged to have taken place, it was indeed very cold outside, but the news report contains one significant error; as you will see in the screen capture above - click on it to see a larger version - The Sun article clearly claims that the staff at the Erith McDonald's "forced a teenage schoolgirl to eat her food in the snow outside". The only thing is - it was cold last Monday, but there was no snow whatsoever - that did not arrive until late on Tuesday. Once again the Sun is not letting the facts get in the way of a good story. I am not covering the snow we have had recently, as more than enough has been written about it elsewhere already.

It comes as no surprise to me that The London Borough of Bexley did not win, or even come close to winning the London Borough of Culture award for 2019. Twenty two boroughs, including Bexley entered the competition, with Waltham Forest coming first, and with Barking and Dagenham coming second. The London Borough of Brent will take the prize in 2022. A prize of £1.35 million has been awarded to Waltham Forest; among the projects which will now get funding are a laser-light installation in Epping Forest, a two-day film festival in Leytonstone in honour of Sir Alfred Hitchcock — the local boy-turned-Hollywood director, and a 50 square metre solar-powered light show on Walthamstow Marshes. The borough has built a reputation for the arts in recent years as artists priced out of inner London have moved in. The Waltham Forest council-owned Grade II listed William Morris Gallery, which was home to the designer for almost 10 years, was named Museum of the Year in 2013 and the borough is also home to a regular art trail where residents transform their homes into galleries and open them up to visitors. Its bid was supported by names including choreographer Sir Matthew Bourne, who grew up in Walthamstow, and Blur front man Damon Albarn, who lived in Leytonstone. Against such strong competition Bexley did not stand much of a chance, though this may well change in the future. Bexley and the arts have until recently not exactly been great bed fellows. The council does little to support the arts, and most art related enterprise is undertaken by local residents in a voluntary capacity - Erith Playhouse being a prime example. It is fortunate that local arts group The Exchange have now been formed, and since the early summer of last year have been working to promote the arts and local involvement. The Exchange were the people behind the Erith Lighthouse pop - up restaurant (which received much praise from the London Evening Standard at the time) and the associated artwork that was featured in Erith Pier. They have now taken on a truly massive project to refurbish and repurpose the historic Carnegie Library in Walnut Tree Road, and to convert it into an arts and community hub, with space for sole trader businesses to use. I am hopeful that in a few years, that The London Borough of Bexley will lead in creativity and the arts, and be in a position to win a future award.

Although not exactly local, this story strikes me as of being of interest to many readers. One of the most famous landmarks on the River Thames marks its 80th birthday in the next couple of weeks. HMS Belfast, now a floating museum on the River Thames next to Tower Bridge, was originally launched back on March 17th 1938. She was launched by Mrs Neville Chamberlain to the cheers of hundreds of spectators. Since then she has served in the Arctic Convoys, fought in the Korean War, travelled the world and, famously, played a key role at the D-Day landings. one of ten Town-class cruisers, began in December 1936. She was launched on St Patrick's Day 1938. Commissioned in early August 1939 shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War, Belfast was initially part of the British naval blockade against Germany. In November 1939, Belfast struck a German mine and spent more than two years undergoing extensive repairs. Belfast returned to action in November 1942 with improved firepower, radar equipment, and armour. Belfast saw action escorting Arctic convoys to the Soviet Union during 1943 and in December 1943 played an important role in the Battle of North Cape, assisting in the destruction of the German warship Scharnhorst. In June 1944, Belfast took part in Operation Overlord supporting the Normandy landings. In June 1945, Belfast was redeployed to the Far East to join the British Pacific Fleet, arriving shortly before the end of the Second World War. Belfast saw further combat action in 1950–52 during the Korean War and underwent an extensive modernisation between 1956 and 1959. A number of further overseas commissions followed before Belfast entered reserve in 1963. In 1967, efforts were initiated to avert Belfast's expected scrapping and to preserve her as a museum ship. A joint committee of The Imperial War Museum, The National Maritime Museum, and The Ministry of Defence were established and then reported in June 1968 that preservation was practical. In 1971, the government decided against preservation, prompting the formation of the private HMS Belfast Trust to campaign for her preservation. The efforts of the Trust were successful, and the government transferred the ship to the Trust in July 1971. Brought to London, she was moored on the River Thames near Tower Bridge in the Pool of London. Opened to the public in October 1971, Belfast became a branch of The Imperial War Museum in 1978. A popular tourist attraction, Belfast receives over a quarter of a million visitors per year. As a branch of a national museum and part of the National Historic Fleet, Belfast is supported by The Department for Culture, Media and Sport, admissions income, and the museum's commercial activities. On 17th March, you can meet veterans from across HMS Belfast’s 80 year history and learn about what it was like to live and work at sea. A number of free events on board include the return of Signals at Sea, where families can learn how lights, radios, codes and flags were used to pass messages from ship to ship. You can also learn how to send your own name in Morse Code, as well as a new signal created specifically for the occasion. Amateur Radio group The Royal Navy Amateur Radio Society uses HMS Belfast as its' base, and operates out of the original ship's radio room. They are operating under a special event licence over the 80th birthday period, and they can often be heard on the 2 metre VHF band, calling on 145.500 - S20. The special callsign is GB8ØGGCN. You can discover more about HMS Belfast and her 80th birthday celebrations by clicking here.

Some of the feedback that I get from regular readers is related to technical content on the Maggot Sandwich. Some readers are not keen on it, and tend to skip the occasional technical subject that I write about, but a majority seem to like the technical articles. I am conscious that I cannot please everyone all of the time, and I try and mix and match technical articles with those of a more general and widespread appeal. I have had some positive feedback in the past regarding the articles I have written on technology failures and why they happened. Examples of this include the VHS versus Betamax war of the early 1980's and the well intentioned but ultimately doomed Capacitance Electronic Disk (CED) analogue video disk system. Another technology that emerged in the late 90's and early 2000's that was expected to revolutionise the way people rented and bought movies in the years before streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video were created, but ultimately it failed at the first hurdle, and nowadays very few people are even aware that the system existed. Back in the day when VHS was still the market leading video format, and DVD was a relatively new invention. The film companies were getting very concerned that their long established business model could be in danger. The VHS market was a known, reliable money-spinner for studios. They knew that, around six months after the cinema release of a film, they could release it on video to rent, charging video hire shops up to £90 for a tape. Then, a few months on, they could charge £10 - £13 for a version to buy, the key difference being generally fewer adverts (save for an infamous VHS release of RoboCop from Virgin Video, with half an hour of adverts before the feature), and a smaller box. It all extended the financial life span of a film, and was a golden goose that many were wary of slaying. A US based electronics retailer and a law firm got together to come up with a new rival to the DVD format that would allow them to control how a rental disk was watched. That format was DIVX. Not the digital video codec – that was DivX – rather an alternative, disc-based video rental system that was launching at the same time as DVD. The idea of DIVX was that a disc would cost around $4.50 in the US, against the $25-30 retail price of a DVD. Then, once you played it in your DIVX player – you needed one of those too, and not a standard DVD deck – you had 48 hours to watch it. Ironically, it is the same kind of idea that sits behind digital video rental stores now, such as Sky Store and Google Play or Netflix. The DIVX disc would work for 48 hours, and you could extend this for an extra fee to get another two days of use from it. If you wanted to keep the film, and remove the restriction, you could pay again to upgrade it to a DVD Silver. Retailers were also set to release DIVX Gold discs (basically, bog standard DVDs), but none ever appeared, nor did the DIVX format ever leave the US. For starters, an assortment of retailers backed DIVX, thinking this would maintain the idea of getting two payments for a home format release from consumers (this was before they hatched on the idea of multiple special edition releases of the same film on DVD). Disney, Paramount, Universal and Fox all released titles on DIVX, with around 300 films ultimately made available onto the format. Most were pan and scan releases, lacking a widescreen option, with barely any of the special features that DVDs were being stuffed with. DIVX was clearly being aimed at casual movie watchers, rather than film fans - yet film fans set alarm bells ringing. Fan resistance was vehement against DIVX, and this was a very early example of an internet campaign against a planned format. The quality of DIVX releases was questioned, whilst there were fears that having more than one disc format would lead to consumer confusion. Furthermore, the DIVX system technically had the ability to feed back information over your telephone line as to what you were watching, and some questioned the Big Brother nature of that. That said, Netflix, Amazon etc do that by default now, and barely anyone bats an eyelid. Times have changed. DIVX ultimately failed in 1999, with the ability to view DIVX discs switched off in the summer of 2001. DVD had won the battle. With DVD victorious, so the rental window system ended in the US pretty much on the spot. Stores still offered DVD rentals, but of discs you could buy at an affordable price. More and more people opted to simply buy a film outright on day one, especially as the advent of internet shopping had brought with it some hefty discounts on discs. In the UK, the move away from rentals was slightly slower, held back by one or two video hire companies such as Blockbuster, and some of the film distributors still keen to hold onto some form of window. But then there was a cultural difference. Whereas the American market had regularly seen big titles, even on VHS, go straight to sell-through, in Britain, it was a novelty. It is ironic that, in its own way, rental has made a comeback, albeit through online, on-demand services that let you instantly ‘rent’ a film for a two-day period. But the catalyst there too has been a format change. If video to DVD brought an end to traditional rental and a move to us buying more physical copies of films, the hard disk and broadband-driven era is taking things back a little the other way. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or alternatively Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Now for this weeks local safety and security updates from Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association. Firstly a report from Barnehurst ward:- "Barnehurst Ward have suffered a burglary and an attempted burglary in the past week. The burglary took place in Holmesdale Grove on Friday 23rd February. At 05.31pm the victim received a notification from the door bell system informing the victim there was a male at the front door. The male is seen to walk away to join another male at the front of the drive. Both males proceed to walk down the side alley. Moments later at 05.37 a grey Mercedes with blacked out windows appears from the alley and parks in front of the property for a few minutes, it reverses into alley and drives off at speed. The rear door to the property was found damaged and the window had been smashed. Entry was gained and an untidy search was found in the bedroom with items of jewellery of little value strewn across the bed. Nothing had been taken. One male was described to be white, wearing a black baseball cap, black coat, blue jeans and a red scarf was worn across the face. The second male was also white, wearing a black coat with the hood up, black jeans and trainers with a white sole. Also on the 23rd February at 02.00pm victim was at home when a loud noise was heard coming from the rear of the property. As the victim entered the kitchen, an Asian male was seen crouched down holding a crow bar in the rear garden. On seeing the victim he fled with another person exiting through a side gate onto the drive, direction from there is unknown. The Asian male was described as wearing a dark blue jacket and a dark blue woolly hat and was about 30 years old. It is believed both suspects were male. There has also been one theft of a motor vehicle which occurred on Tuesday 27th February whereby a grey Volkswagon Golf, Registration number VX 15 DZB was stolen from Hall Place Crescent. Our next coffee with cops will be held on Wednesday 7th March at 11.00pm in Barnehurst Golf Club. Please come along for a chat with the team. In the meantime stay safe, keep warm and look out for your elderly neighbours who may feel stranded due to the dangerous icy conditions outside. I’m sure some would appreciate a helping hand". Belvedere ward:- "Over the last week, A/PS Green and PC Holmes have been involved in three arrests. The first was in relation to a wanted male who we were alerted to in Erith Town Centre. This male was wanted for 2 separate offences and was further arrested for possession of cannabis which was in his possession at the time of his initial arrest. The second male was arrested in Ambrooke Road as he was wanted for several offences. Subsequently, Daniel Mills, aged 33 of Picardy Street, Belvedere was found guilty at Bromley magistrates Court on 26th February 2018 of making off without payment x 2, motor vehicle interference, possession of cannabis and failing to attend a drugs intervention programme. He was sentenced to 42 days imprisonment, 14 days on license, fined £415.00 and further costs to be paid to victims within the next six months. The third was in relation to a male who had failed to appear at court for environmental offences. He was arrested at his home address in Lower Belvedere. Whilst on patrol in Lower Road, A/PS Green and PCSO Worrall observed a blue quad bike parked on the pavement. Checks were carried out on the vehicle, and the owner of the bike was spoken to at length. Details have been recorded by the team, should this vehicle come to notice in the future. PCSO Worrall assisted Northumberland Heath ward officers in visiting victims of burglary and attempted burglary in Parsonage Manor Way and Matfield Road respectively. Neighbouring addresses at both locations were also visited in order to raise awareness of both incidents within the community. Finally, the team – assisted by officers from Northumberland Heath SNT, Colyers SNT and North End SNT conducted a drugs warrant in Brigstock Road. There were a quantity of drugs seized from the address and also other items discovered within the property. This investigation is currently ongoing". Christchurch ward:- "We are pleased to mention that their have not been any burglaries over the past week . We believe this is as a result of a number of great arrests. But unfortunately we have had one report of an attempted burglary along Broomfield Road on the 16/02/2018. Suspects had walked along the front drive and tried to gain entry to the property. In relation to motor vehicle crime. On the 22/02/2018, we have had one report of a theft of motor vehicle that was taken from the driveway along Freta Road. Also a report of a theft from motor vehicle on the 19/02/2018 along Rochester Drive, number plates were removed from the vehicle. Two reports have been received over the last week where wallets have been stolen from the victims and we have one victim of pick pocketing, below is a brief summary of them: 26/02/2018 – Wallet was stolen from victim whilst they were shopping in TKMaxx 24/02/2018 – Wallet stolen along the Broadway area; 22/02/2018 – Victim was pick pocketed whilst shopping in Pound Land. There was also a report of property that was stolen from outside McDonalds on the 21/02/2018. The team has been conducted some outstanding work whilst also proactively patrolling on a regular basis. We have noticed youths are starting to congregate outside the Bowling Alley and around Methuen Road & Oakland’s Road, the team is engaging with them to reduce ASB. We have been receiving reports of youths on push bikes riding dangerously on busy main roads. We have been told that they slow traffic down by riding in the middle of the streets doing wheelies and also being verbally abusive towards motorists. We have stopped youths on the ward along Iris Road to advise them to be cautious whilst on their bikes and to think about their safety as well as for other members of public. Parental letters have been sent to some Parents. Following residents’ concerns of youth disorder on the Broadway, Police took positive action in implementing dispersal zones in which a number of people were arrested and subsequently we have had positive results at Court. Schools have been fully engaged and are committing in working in partnership with us. We have received complaints of drug dealing taking place along Hawthorn Road and Methuen Road. These streets are regularly patrolled to help tackle this problem. The team is conducting extensive enquiries with regards to the theft of purse from the 97 year old female outside the Conservative Club". Colyers ward:- "We are pleased to say another low crime week for Colyers Ward this week with no reported burglaries and just one theft from motor vehicle. A car window was smashed and a Satnav and purse were stolen from a car in Badlow Close overnight on Monday 26th Feb sometime between 7.30pm and 10am the following morning. Please remember to take everything with you, leaving nothing on view, before leaving and locking your car. Colyers and North End SNT held a joint Crime Prevention event in the Shell garage on North End road on Saturday 24th February. The ward officers have been busy assisting with patrols for the knife point robberies and yesterday (Wednesday 28th) Colyers SNT assisted Belvedere team with a drugs warrant on their ward. Cannabis , cash and other items were seized". Crayford ward:- "Not too many crimes of note this week. A secured moped was stolen from the driveway of a property in Mayplace Avenue sometime between 20.00 on the 25/02/18 and 11.00 on 26/02/18. On 22/02/18 at approx. 22.00, police received a call about suspicious behaviour near a vehicle in Dale Road. On arrival the main group had left leaving one male standing near some bushes. Police were made aware that items had been placed in those bushes. The male was searched and arrested for having drugs and intending to supply and having a police baton. He was further arrested as the motorcycle he had was not road legal as it had no MOT or insurance. We have been dealing with anti-social behaviour near the Europa Gym and Town Hall Square and have now identified some of the youths concerned in this behaviour. We will now liaise with other agencies to deal with them appropriately". Lesnes Abbey ward:- "Burglary - On Monday 26/02/18 between the hours of 03 :10 pm and 06:55 pm a burglary occurred in Wyfold house, Wolvercote Road. Entry was made via the front door. Nothing was taken. Between Friday 23/02/18 and Saturday 24/02/18 a burglary occurred in Manorside Close, the UPVC outer door had been kicked open. Attempted burglary occurred in Glenview between Thursday 22/02/18 and Saturday 24/02/18.Damge to the woodwork and the padlock hasps. Attempted burglary in Brampton Road occurred on Saturday 24/02/18 between the hours of 01 :00 pm and 07 :00 pm, no entry was gained but the outer front porch door had been bent by suspect/s using an implement. Motor Vehicle Crimes - During the early hours of Friday 23/02/18 a motor vehicle parked in Manorside Close was broken into and music sound systems stolen. Between 00:12 am and 00 :30 on Saturday 24/02/18 a motor vehicle parked in Coralline Walk was damaged resulting in the number plate hanging off. A set of anti tamper screws were supplied to the victim for carrying out the repair. On Saturday 24/02/18 a motor vehicle was stolen from outside of a property in Burchabro Road. Good news on the stolen vehicle, it was later found and is now in the police car pound. The owner has been informed. Date for your diary - Have a say day. Any motorists using the BP Connect petrol station on Harrow Manor Way, SE2 9TA on Wednesday 07/03/18 between the hours of 11:00 am and 12:00 midday, pick up some Motor Vehicle Crime prevention information from the Lesnes Abbey team". North End ward:- "Unfortunately 4 vehicle crimes have occurred in the last week. 2 were overnight on Sunday / Monday near each other. Both were Theft from Motor Vehicle, one in Betsham Road, window smashed, items taken from within and the same scenario in Frobisher Road. Paintball guns were the items taken from the vehicle in Betsham Road and ongoing enquiries are being made. On Sunday afternoon number plates were stolen from a car in Betsham Road although the rear one snapped as it was being removed. A motorbike was taken in the early hours Friday 23rd Feb from Hazel Drive, the padlock was cut off the BMW bike which has yet to be recovered. There was also and attempted burglary at Cobham House at some point during the last week, no exact day or time as the victim wasn’t there for a few days but on his return he noticed damage to his door frame. Neighbours have been spoken to but nobody has seen or heard anything at this time. PC James Telfer was working with the Belvedere team on Saturday and spotted a male he knew was wanted for numerous offences, he was promptly arrested by PC Telfer, remanded in custody and given a 42 day sentence on Monday. Excellent work by James. On Saturday evening PC Mark Brookes-Smith and PCSO Mark Pigott had a crime prevention table at the Shell Garage on Northend Road. This was a joint effort carried out with our Colyers SNT colleagues. There was a lot of interest from the garage customers and Crime Prevention advice and leaflets were given out to over 50 people. If you would like any crime prevention information, please let us know and we can arrange to get you leaflets, property marking pens etc and even have a one to one advice session with you if you require one. We have a Community Contact session on Tuesday March 6th from 1pm at Slade Green Library in Chrome Road, please come along and say hi if you are free". Thamesmead East ward:- "One burglary to report this week which occurred on Monday 26th Feb during the early hours of the morning (Harrow Manor Way). The front door was forced open, and electrical items were stolen, including laptops, and mobile phones. During the early hours of Friday 23 Feb, two motor vehicles were broken into, a bag and a wallet were stolen, Southmere Drive and Seacourt Road. Please don’t leave any valuable items on show in your vehicles, even for a short amount of time. A motor vehicle was stolen between 0100 and 0800 hours, at Thamesbank Place. On Monday 26th Feb, the team were out conducting arrest enquiries in relation to suspects wanted who live on our ward. Despite being unsuccessful, word quickly must have got round, because no more than an hour later, the suspect attended his local Police station, and handed himself in. He was subsequently arrested and sent to Court the following morning. If at first you don’t succeed, etc etc. Our base at Limestone Walk, opposite The Taris shop will be open this Saturday 3rd March. Any issues, please feel free to come along and let us know. On the 8th March, the team will be at the Link, Bazalgette Way, SE2 9BS, between 1630 and 1730 hours, again please come and say hello to us".

The end video this week is a short film about Bexleyheath; it is well worth a watch. See what you think and feel free to leave a comment below; alternatively Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.