The Nursery.

The photo above shows what used to be one of the offices inside the old Carnegie Library in Walnut Tree Road, Erith. Currently the office space is being used as a giant greenhouse / plant nursery for seedlings. The large windows on two sides of the space allow large amounts of sunlight into the room, making for an excellent growing area for small plants. When the seedlings are larger and more robust, they will be planted in the garden to the rear of the old library building, adjacent to The Bookstore Cafe. Indeed most of the seedlings are vegetables and herbs that once fully grown and harvested, will be used in the meals cooked in the cafe kitchen by head chef Marina Power and her staff, and served to customers. Plans are afoot to eventually have both chickens and at least one beehive in the garden - free range organic eggs and fresh local honey will be added to The Bookstore Cafe menu in due course. If you would like to see more of the former library building, which is now operated by not for profit group The Exchange, you can sign up here to join one of the regular, free behind the scenes tours of the building which are run every Saturday afternoon at 3pm by myself. The need to book is to regulate numbers; there is no charge for the tour. You can also see other activities taking place in the former library by clicking here. The Carnegie Library is really coming to life with a great many community events already taking place - with more still to come. There are some vacancies at The Exchange - both in volunteer and in paid roles. You can see the volunteering opportunities by clicking here. You can see the paid roles by clicking here. 

Now for part two of the three part essay on the state of the local train services by former rail worker and now landlord of The Kentish Belle micro pub, Nick Hair. Nick continues:- "When private companies order trains, much like when airlines order planes, they are buying not just the actual train but also the ‘slot’ in the production line. One train could become ready in, say, March 2020 for testing and training but then the next two might be earmarked for a totally different franchise so the second train for South Eastern might be stuck until August 2020 and so on. In short, a continued postponement of the South Eastern franchise is enough to allow other franchises across the country (and based on recent developments, other countries and their railways) to ‘steal’ construction slots and therefore distend the time taken to get a new fleet ‘online’ for the passengers to enjoy. With this in mind, we at the Lewisham and Bexleyheath Community Rail Partnership feel that the Government must, at the very least, determine the rolling stock strategy for the local Metro network and therefore ‘buy’ the production slots for these trains. If they do not, it could take until April 2020 for a new franchise to be installed and then, with about a 2-year lead time, procure trains. Realistically, we don’t have the time and trains are being crush-loaded further daily as more and more houses are built. Pensions. This is important: the BBC actually led on the relevant day this week that Stagecoach had miraculously been barred from all franchises in Britain as they refused to accept the Government’s ludicrous demands that new companies ‘plug’ the gap in pensions that currently total a despicable £7.5 Billion on a national basis (split then into companies / regions respectively). Stagecoach had submitted vastly more conservative bids, it is understood, than others that were aggressively pitching to take on new franchises; and given that the South Eastern area alone has thus far experienced 3 iterations of privatised / public company since privatisation in 1996 to today (that’s Connex South Eastern, a private firm; Southeastern, a Government subsidiary due to the failure of Connex and South Eastern, the current incumbent as a subsidiary of Govia), it is genuinely unreasonable to feel that the new franchisee should have to stump up all of the money to cover a deficit that could have existed since British Rail. Indeed, our view is that if a failure of the national, then privatised, then national and then privatised railway (again) in pensions has created the relevant share of the total £7.5Billion national gap in pensions, then it is the Government that must step in and ‘pay up’ and then simply ensure new private companies bother to regularly moderate the gap between theory and reality in pensions. Stagecoach’s exit from the modern privatised railway scene is bad for the railway: it simply removes yet more options from the competitive tender. Are we heading for a summer of discontent? Well, our understanding from the ASLEF Drivers’ Union is that the pay gap between South Eastern and other companies locally has been caused by South Eastern being unable to negotiate any more than an inflation pay rise annually due to not having many years left on their franchise. Indeed, as mere ‘tenants’ on a repeating short-term basis, they seem to have allowed such a significant pay lag that many drivers have gone elsewhere! Whilst we don’t wish to get political about train driver pay and whether or not they deserve their salaries, it is fair to say that a train driver on an urban railway is a train driver on an urban railway: in short, if a London Overground driver is worth almost £61,000 then so is a South Eastern driver; not the £53,000 they currently get. The £8,000 difference is, lets be honest, a decent incentive to cut your loyalties and move to a company that not only gives you more but also gives your family an Oyster card and such instead of mere leisure travel to somewhere like Hastings…" The final part of Nick's analysis of local train woes will be published next week. 

Erith based bagpipe expert Chic Mackie is in the news; he will be appearing on a forthcoming episode of BBC One TV show "The Repair Shop" at 4.30pm on Tuesday the 7th May. Chic will be playing a set of pipes recovered from the trenches of WW1. They have been refurbished by bagpipe maker ‘Blue’ MacMurchie. You can see Chic to the left in the photo above - click on it for a larger view. 

A reader sent me details of a fascinating story that until now I had been completely unaware of. Over sixty years ago, one of the most widely witnessed and studied UFO sightings of the 1950’s occurred locally. On the 17th of July 1955 at around midday an incident was reported in King Harold's Way between Upper Belvedere and Bexleyheath; a 30-foot-wide saucer-shaped object was allegedly seen to hover a few feet above a street in broad daylight by local resident Margaret Fry and her doctor on a very hot cloudless day. Car engines located nearby were said to have cut out. It was seen by around thirty people; the craft made a humming noise and landed at the junction of Ashbourne Road and Whitfield Road. It hovered over Bedonwell Primary School (now Bedonwell Junior School) for around one minute. It finally shot off into the sky. Another UFO had allegedly landed a few streets away at the same time. A similar object had been seen in Bexleyheath in 1952, and had been reported in the popular press of the time. Surprisingly for such an incident, it has not received the coverage of other sightings such as the famous multiple sighting at Rendlesham Forest in December 1980. I can note that both incidents occurred at times of high cold war paranoia, which may possibly have contributed to misinterpretation of events. I must say that I have personally seen an unidentified flying object in bright daylight – I am not saying that it was of extra-terrestrial origin, just that it was flying and did not resemble any kind of craft I had seen before. It all happened in the spring of 1994; I was walking along Picardy Road in Upper Belvedere, heading towards Belvedere Station. I had just passed Venmead Court when I saw something in the sky; I looked up and saw an object that initially I took to be a dark grey hot air balloon. Upon closer examination, I soon realised that the object was far bigger than a balloon and higher up in the sky, and was actually triangular shaped. It was flying slowly Northward, towards London City Airport. The object was visible to me for over ten minutes – long enough for me to reach the station and point out the object to others. It turned out that hundreds of people in the area saw the craft, and many reports were made – the story made the London Evening Standard. I am now of the opinion that the UFO may possibly have been an American B2 “Spirit” Stealth Bomber flying to RAF Lakenheath from a training mission – I doubt that I will ever know for sure. If you have a story to tell, Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

It would seem that the story I featured last week about the pedestrian crossing over the Angerstein Wharf Branch Line near Charlton has hit a nerve with local residents and commuters alike. Network Rail announced that the widely used and almost unique pedestrian crossing was due to close on the 13th April, after being open to the public since 1852. Locals were only given eight days notice of the impending closure. After this was announced, a campaign to keep the popular crossing open was started, and the MP for Greenwich and Woolwich, Matthew Pennycook contacted John Halsall, Network Rail’s Route Managing Director for the South East. The outcome of this was a summary of the meeting by Matthew Pennycook, which reads as follows:- "Aside from apologising profusely for various mistakes made in terms of communication, primarily the letter that went out to residents which appears to have been drafted by an engineer rather than anyone with a passing familiarity with public affairs, the following is what we touched on during the call: - The temporary postponement of the crossing closure should not be interpreted as a shelving of it, merely a temporary reprieve. Network Rail are very clear they need to overhaul the outdated signalling system that is currently in place on this line as it has contributed to regular (in their world) freight derailments over recent years. It is the installation of this new signalling system that would bring freight closer to the crossing point. This is what would present a danger to pedestrians not, he was at pains to argue, because they are likely to be hit by 5mph freight trains but because (he pointed out this has tragically happened elsewhere) there is a real risk on an open crossing that people try to cross underneath stationary freight and are injured/killed when trains start moving. If the number of freight is set to increase (see below) the risk in this regard increases too. Network Rail are also responding to a projected increase in freight along the line up from one or two per day to 20 or so. This is in itself a good thing in that it means less aggregate transported by road and therefore less air pollution but I pressed Halsall on whether it was a definitive increase or merely an aspiration on the part of the aggregates. Network Rail are clear they have a legal right to undertake a closure if necessary. Halsall told me the walk to Westcombe Park station was a comfortable five minutes from the PA2 polling district in Peninsula south of the Woolwich Road (Farmdale Road, Fairthorn Road, Gurdon Road etc). I set him straight with regard to the journey time on foot as well as pointing out what a dangerous, unpleasant walk it is compared to the existing crossing. Where are we now? Halsall agreed to send out regular updates to residents and his team will have oversight of what now goes out in terms of communication. More importantly, he agreed to carry out a proper review pending a final decision. This review will determine not only whether the projected increase in freight is definitive or merely aspirational but also for him and his team to give further consideration to whether there are alternative measures that can be taken rather than installing the proposed new signalling system. He mentioned the possibility of new, upgraded tracks (in order to prevent derailments) which may obviate the need for the new signalling system. In turn, I suggested (if the new signalling system proved to be a necessity) the installation of a small pedestrian walkway over the line. I strongly made the case for either of these options, or indeed any others that may be feasible, even at increased cost, if the alternative is an outright closure". The final outcome of this campaign against closure is unclear; it would be a real shame if the only pedestrian railway crossing in Greater London* was lost due to petty bureaucracy. *Actually it is not the only pedestrian rail crossing in Greater London - see the end video for an explanation and a view of the other crossings.

Now for a bit of an appeal for information; can anyone provide me with details of the old barge that used to be moored in the small dock at the Western end of Erith Riverside Gardens? It was there for years, and I believe it was the home of the local Sea Scouts. Secondly, from around the same period (the early 1990's if my memory serves), the small minesweeper that was moored on a buoy on the Thames off Erith, which I believe was used by the sea cadets and the Royal Navy Reserve. I think it was moved away or scrapped in around 1997, but I cannot be certain. Can anyone advise? These two vessels seem to have been lost in the mists of time, even though they were important landmarks back in the day. If anyone has any memories, or better still, photos of these two vessels, I would be extremely grateful for any information that you can provide. 

A new radio station launched yesterday. Maritime Radio, a Greenwich based station aimed at the population of Greenwich, Woolwich, Blackheath and Lewisham is now on air. You can see their website here. They broadcast on 96.5 FM and online. The signal in Erith is not great - but then, we are outside of their primary coverage area. The signal in Upper Belvedere is considerably better - due not only to the slightly closer proximity to the transmitter site, but also due to the fact that Upper Belvedere is located on a hill, and the height helps the low power VHF FM signal. If any readers can supply reception reports from their location, that would be greatly appreciated. Please email your findings to hugh.neal@gmail.com. 

You may have seen the trailer for a new British film that came out on Friday; an espionage thriller called Red Joan, starring Dame Judi Dench. The film is loosely (and I use the term advisedly) based on the life of Melita Norwood (pictured in the lower of the two images above), who many experts believe was the most important Soviet spy in Britain during the Cold War. The reviews of the film have been lukewarm, at best, and from what I can make out, the film bears very little resemblance to actual historical events - the protagonist has a different name for some unknown reason, and many of the incidents in the film either never took place, or if they did, the circumstances were dramatically different. Critics have written that the film is everything from "preposterous" to "inaccurate". Long time readers may recall that I wrote about long time Nursery Avenue in Bexleyheath resident, British communist and covert KGB spy Melita Norwood, also known as "The Bolshevik of Bexleyheath" and "The Spy who came in from the Co-Op" back in October 2011. At that point it was thought that she was not really very important and that MI5 had not had her arrested as they felt that she was not a high risk to security. This was before The Mitrokhin Archive relating to Soviet espionage over the last eighty or so years was released. The archive has been the property of the Churchill Archive Centre at Cambridge University since they were handed over by MI6 after they had been analysed in the late 1990’s. At over two thousand closely hand written pages, The Mitrokhin Archive is the largest academic record of Soviet era spying known to exist. It was created by KGB Major Vasili Mitrokhin during his thirty years as a KGB archivist in the foreign intelligence service and the First Chief Directorate. When he defected to the United Kingdom in 1992 he brought the archive with him. One of the conditions of Vasili Mitrokhin’s defection was that the documents were to be released into the public domain when they were no longer likely to endanger any operations. This has now happened, and much historical detail concerning KGB operations in the West is now open to public study. MI5 had only found out about her spying activities in when the Archive reached their hands, by which time Norwood was an old lady (she died in 2005). Melita Norwood was a civil servant at The British Non – Ferrous Metals Research Association (a research organisation that conducted work ostensibly into areas such as the effects of corrosion in pipes and seawater cooled condenser tubes used in warships; there is also some debate that the organisation was a cover for British nuclear weapons research, though there is contradictory evidence regarding this). She had access to the safe that contained documents graded as secret and above, and photographed thousands of pages which were handed over to her KGB masters. The Mitrokhin Archive says that Norwood, far from being a minor and not very significant figure in Soviet espionage, was actually the most important and highly regarded female spy in KGB history. She had been secretly awarded the Order of the Red Banner and granted a lifetime pension of £20 a month. It seems to me that the KGB would not have given her this very prestigious award simply for passing them information on rusty warships. The Order of the Red Banner was the highest award of Soviet Russia, subsequently the Soviet Union, until the Order of Lenin was established in 1930. Recipients were recognised for extraordinary heroism, dedication, and courage demonstrated on the battlefield. The order was also awarded to individuals as well as to military units, cities, ships, political and social organisations, and state enterprises. In essence the award was not given lightly. Despite the contradictory evidence, I find the claims that Norwood stole many of Britain’s nuclear secrets and enabled the Soviets to create their own nuclear weapons to be very credible; it is ironic that this person, acknowledged by the KGB as their finest female spy would live for much of her life in a comfortable if unremarkable semi detached house situated in Nursery Avenue in Bexleyheath. After her story came out and Melita Norwood gained a degree of infamy, my Mother saw her on a local bus on a couple of occasions, and felt sorry for the old lady who was often the target of loudly whispered gossip by fellow travellers. She did what she did for ideological reasons, and was quoted as saying “I did what I did, not to make money, but to help prevent the defeat of a new system which had, at great cost, given ordinary people food and fares which they could afford, a good education and a health service”. It is not known if at the time of her active spying career if she knew of Stalin’s state sponsored programme of mass murder or the millions he consigned to Gulags, or indeed the incredible repression and shortages undergone by all but the political elite in the corrupt Soviet system. It may well be that she was naive and credulous – as many Europeans were prior to World War II. Whatever the reason, she went to her grave knowing that communism was dead and the belief system it engendered was thoroughly and thankfully discredited.

Now for the weekly safety and security updates from Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association. Firstly a report from Barnehurst ward:- "We are pleased to report there have been no burglaries in the past week, In fact we have had a really positive month so far with only one residential burglary at the beginning of April. There has been one theft of motor vehicle in Hillingdon Road on Wednesday 10/04/2019 between 22.00 and 0130 hours. A screw cap from the number plate and cards belonging to the victim were found in The Chase off Long Lane and the vehicle was later found in Thamesmead and recovered by Police. The original number plates were missing from the vehicle. Between Monday 01/04/2019 and Wednesday 17/04/2019 in Birling Road a rented garage was broken into. Details as to what or if anything has been taken is unknown as yet. Our next community contact session is on Tuesday 23/04/2019 at 11.00am in Barnehurst Golf Club". Belvedere ward:- "On Wednesday 10th April there was an incident involving a group of male youths that had gathered in Picardy Road and were observed in possession of weapons. The team took part in a search for this group however they had left the area prior to the arrival of Police. You may recall that the team had identified several youths that had been acting in an anti-social manner across the ward recently. As we had referred the group to Bexley Council, the decision has been made to offer Acceptable Behaviour Contracts (ABC's) to those that have been identified. These contracts are discussed with the individual and certain ‘conditions' are considered in an effort to curb anti-social behaviour. The team are in the process of visiting the remaining three members of the group that we have now identified and once spoken to, they will also be referred to Bexley Council. There was a burglary in Norman Road overnight from Saturday 13th into Sunday 14th April. Car keys and a vehicle were stolen from the property. There was an attempted break in in Elmbourne Drive overnight from Monday 15th/ Tuesday 16th April. Damage was caused to the frame of a window to the rear of the property. Entry was not gained to the property. Further to this, there was a burglary in Harold Avenue in which a property that is currently being renovated was broken into. The owner of the property challenged those responsible who then ran from the location. If anyone has any information in relation to these incidents, please contact the team on 0208 721 2050 or via email at Belvedere.SNT@met.police.uk. Our next Community Contact Session/ Drop in surgery in due to take place on Friday 26th April from 10am at All Saints church hall in Nuxley Road". Bexleyheath ward:- "There has been one report of a burglary that had taken place on the Tuesday 16/04/2019 between the hours of 8.30am and 1530hrs which was along the Broadway. Scooter was taken from the porch. Between Saturday 06/04/2019 and Monday 08/04/2019 – A indicator light were stolen from a vehicle along Meadow Close Bexleyheath. Patrols have been and still will be conducted in and around the Premiere Inn car park and including the cinema car park to help tackle anti-social behaviour. The team have had reports of youths riding motorbikes at Bursted Woods, as a result the team shall be continuing to patrol this area. If you do wish to pass on information to Police then please contact Crime Stoppers on 0800 555111. Please do not hesitate to contact us via Twitter, Facebook, email and the ward phone. If you are after crime prevention advice, please look at the Met Police website which has lots of information that you may find useful. Remember in an emergency please dial 999 and 101 for non-urgent reporting". Crayford ward:- "Thankfully there have been no residential burglaries, please don't be complacent about home security though, especially with the lovely weather forecast for the days ahead. In this last week there have been mainly vehicle related crimes. On Monday 15th April, number plates were stolen from a vehicle whilst parked at Crayford BR Station, these should be on a Citroen DS3. A White Ford Transit with the registration plate YS12 ETX was stolen whilst parked in Shearwood Crescent, there is reason to believe this vehicle may now be on different plates. Between 1800 on Saturday 13th April and 20.00 on Tuesday 16th April there was an attempted theft of a vehicle whilst parked at Alcock Crescent, the lock was drilled, the ignition barrel damaged and the steering column pulled down. Two vehicles were damaged by youths in Heath Road on Sunday 14th April between 20.40 – 21.10, a blue Peugeot and a Black Mercedes, the youths were seen to run off towards an alleyway nearby. A grey Nissan XTrail parked on a driveway in Mayplace Road East was broken in to between 19.00 on Friday 12th April and 10.00 on Saturday 13th April, the glove compartment was opened and golf clubs and a sports holdall had been removed from the boot of the vehicle, it was believed the vehicle was locked. A blue Ford Transporter was stolen between 17.10 on Friday 12th April and 05.50 on the Saturday 13th April from Maiden Lane. Between 23.00 on the Thursday 11th April and 08.00 on Friday 12th April a significant amount of items were stolen from a green Honda Civic whilst parked in Stephen Road, items include bank cards which were used locally, Photographic equipment including tripods, microphones, headphones and a playstation were stolen, the vehicle was believed to be locked. Between 16.40 on Thursday 11th April and 09.15 on Friday 12th April a Blue Hyundai Tucson was entered whilst parked in Mayplace Road East, it doesn't appear that anything was stolen. An elderly lady had her bank cards stolen whilst she was shopping in Sainsburys between 14.30 – 16.00 on Wednesday 10th April, a significant amount of money was withdrawn from her account. Please be vigilant when making card transactions, ensure no one can see the pin number you are entering and take time to put cards away safely before leaving the till area. On Wednesday 10th April between 13.30 – 13.35 a rock was thrown at a rear door in Crayford Way, causing the glass to shatter, there were young children playing nearby and thankfully no one was hurt. Between 18.15 on 9th April and 08.50 on 10th April small change was stolen from a black Nissan Qashqui whilst parked in Stephen Road, it is unknown how the vehicle was entered. Our next community contact session will be at Crayford Library on Tuesday 23 April between 11.00-12.00, please come along and speak with us if you have any concerns, or we can be contacted on our ward phone or email".

Erith ward:- "On Sunday we were at the Sikh temple in Belvedere handing out smart water kits. Saturday night we patrolled around the ward in all crime hot spot areas. Crimes from the week: Theft from motor vehicle on Wednesday 10/04/2019 Larner Road; Theft from motor vehicle on Friday 12/04/2019 Compton Place, and Shoplift >£199 on Saturday 13/04/2019 Wm Morrison Supermarkets Plc, James Watt Way". Northumberland Heath ward:- "Another short report this week. We are pleased to say that we have had no reported burglaries. One report of criminal damage to a motor vehicle in Shinglewell Road. The vehicle, a Fiat Punto was left locked and secured on Wednesday April 10th at 8.30pm. The following morning Thursday April 11th at 7am the owner of the vehicle discovered the passenger window and windscreen had been smashed. A brick was found by the car and it is believed that this was used to damage the vehicle. It is unconfirmed if any items were stolen. We are aware of some recent reports of motor cycle ASB, in and around Northumberland Heath Recreation Ground. We are working on this issue and hope to have some news to share with you on this topic soon in relation to long term prevention of this. We will continue to patrol the park on the lookout for this and anyone we identify riding on the field will be issued with a Section 59 Warning (Police Reform Act 2002) meaning if they are caught committing a similar offence again within 12 months, their vehicle will be immediately seized. We plan to issue one of these warnings to a motorcycle which was recently seen being ridden in the park over the weekend. There has been a burglary in Redleaf Close, Belvedere between Sunday 14/04/2019, 2300 hours to Monday 15/04/2019, 0420 hours. The suspect has gained entry by forcing open the rear patio door. Property stolen from the burglary includes gold jewellery and a car which had been parked on the driveway, a Green FIAT 500, registration LX16VCE. We are aware that several residents have seen a male walking the local streets approaching properties on the same night of the burglary. The investigating officer has been made aware of this. We continue to get reports of theft of number plates and also some theft of motor vehicles". Slade Green and Northend ward:- "The only crime of note was a van broken into in Frobisher Road at 0830 on Friday April 12. An iPad and other items were taken. Please do not leave any valuable items on display. PC Mark was walking towards Appold Street on Friday afternoon when he saw a moped being ridden by 3 males in balaclavas. The males jumped off the bike and ran off before Mark could get close to them. The bike was recovered and reunited with a very grateful owner. We assisted our colleagues from Belvedere SNT on Saturday with a plain clothes operation. No arrests made but a good operation. On Sunday 14/04/2019 a male was found in possession of cannabis near to Morrison's in Erith. He will be back for interview soon". Thamesmead East ward:- "PC Nana was invited to a women's conference to talk about youth violence and internet safety among young people by a church organisation which was well received. PC Pruden arrested a male who was wanted in the Barking & Dagenham area for a serious assault which was Domestic related. PC Nana arrested a female who assaulted her whilst on duty at a bus stop on The Broadway Bexleyheath whilst waiting for a bus back to Thamesmead. Investigation still ongoing. The team conducted joint door knocking exercise with Peabody Housing to speak to residents at Penton and Osney Houses to find out if they have any concerns especially around ASB-related issues. Crimes reported in the last week: Racially Aggravated Harassment after Road transport collusion outside Lakeside medical centre, Yarnton Way. Criminal damage in a dwelling Domestic related at Kinder Close, SE28. Theft from motor vehicle in the early hours of Saturday 13/04/2019 on Mangold Way. Window smashed and property taken. Theft from BP garage Harrow Manor way, Drive off. Criminal Damage to property. Landlord/Tenant dispute at Ormesby Close. Criminal Damage to Payphone on Yarnton Way". West Heath ward:- "Motor vehicle crime - Wednesday 10th April at around 7.30am a van was broken into and tools stolen on Brampton Road; Saturday 6th April at 2am a male was seen on CCTV trying a car door handle in Berkeley Ave; Wednesday 6th April overnight someone attempted to break into a vehicle by removing the window sill in Shakespeare Road; Sunday 14th April overnight a scooter was stolen from an address in Langley Road; Monday 15th April overnight in Woolwich Road the spare wheel cover of a car was taken. Burglary - We have had three attempted residential burglaries, one actual and a garage burglary. Saturday 13th April at 10pm in Canberra Rd someone attempted to gain entry through a rear kitchen window. Suspect made off when disturbed by the house alarm; Saturday 13th - Sunday 14th April overnight in Heath Avenue there was an attempted where garden items were moved and trellis broken, no entry gained; Sunday 14th April at 10am in Heath Avenue a male gained entry into a conservatory but was chased off whilst trying to break into inner door leaving the tool they were using stuck in the door. Entry was not gained and nothing was taken; Sunday 14th April around 2pm a male was seen on CCTV doorbell trying a porch door handle and peering into the property in Berkeley Ave. Male was wearing a green jacket with fur edged hood; Monday 15th April overnight in Osborne Road a garage was broken into by cutting off the padlock and tools taken. The team have carried out several plain clothes patrols around the The Pantiles this week resulting in several stop & Searches all with negative results. We have also conducted arrest enquiries for offenders. Our street briefing held in Brabourne Crescent on Saturday 13th April was well attended, main issues arising were parking and littering. Our next street briefing will be on Saturday 20th April in Exmouth Road at the junction with Seaton Rd at 7.30pm. The ward panel met on 10th April, the promises remain the same ASB / drugs, Burglary and Motor vehicle crime". 

As mentioned earlier, the Angerstein Wharf branch line pedestrian crossing in Charlton is not actually the only pedestrian rail crossing in Greater London, as had previously been assumed. The short video below shows the other crossings and gives some background information about them. Do feel free to leave a comment below, or alternatively Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

The builders are in.

The photo above shows the state of work on the building site that will become the new campus for Bexley College. As you can see, much of the site has now been cleared of trees and bushes – a not inconsiderable effort, as the whole area was absolutely overrun with undergrowth and full grown trees. I do wonder what has happened to the large colony of rats that were occupying the site – I walk past on a daily basis, on my way to Erith Station, and I have regularly seen giant rats scurrying around, usually after discarded fast food wrappers and the like. No doubt they will have moved on to the bushes around the entrance to the station; I will be keeping my eyes peeled for rat – related activity. Aside from site clearing, it would appear that the main activity going on in the site on Walnut Tree Road is the preparation for the building foundations and ground works. It looks to me that the site engineers will first need to dig up and remove the concrete base and foundations from the old Erith Tram Shed, which was located on the site. From the reactions of the engineers I saw on Thursday afternoon, they were not expecting the concrete slab to be as big or as solid as it appears to be; it looks like quite a big job to break it up and haul it away. I get the feeling that Erith Town Centre will be seeing quite a few spoil lorries coming and going over the next few weeks. Still, it is a small price to pay to get the campus constructed. As I have said before, I think that the campus will be a great benefit not only to the students, but to the whole of Erith. There is more construction work going on at the other end of Erith High Street; The Cross Keys is being refurbished and converted into offices for the international management consultancy The Aleff Group. I have seen BT engineers attending, and there is light and activity under way, but with the heavy metal anti vandalism shutters still covering the lower doors and windows, it is very difficult to see exactly what is going on. I have been invited for a guided tour once the work is completed, but by the look of things, this might be some time away.

Bad news for Erith residents with legal issues. The long struggling Cross Street Law Centre is having its’ funding slashed almost in half due to government cut backs. The long established drop in legal clinics will cease in April because of the loss of its’ legal aid grant. Quite what impoverished locals will do for help following this, I really could not say.

This years’ Bexley Beer Festival has a new venue. After seven years of being held at Sidcup Sports Club, the festival will be hosted at the Old Dartfordians Club in Old Bexley - the details are on the flyer below - click on the image for a larger view.

On a completely different tack, I was reminded of something strange I witnessed some years ago. Back in the spring of 1996 I had not yet moved into Pewty Acres, and experienced the joys of Erith life. I was walking down Picardy Road, in Upper Belvedere on my way to Belvedere railway station. It was a clear, bright spring morning, just before Easter. There were a few small clouds in the sky, but visibility was excellent. I was hurrying to the station on my way to work when I saw an object in the sky, which I initially thought was a hot air balloon. I first thought it was relatively small and low in altitude, but then I saw it pass through some clouds, which were at approximately 8,000 feet. I then realised the object was huge and very high up – it was also travelling quite slowly northwards, against the direction of the wind. As I studied the object I came to the conclusion it was not a balloon at all – it was dark grey and triangular, very large and like nothing I had seen before. It stayed in view for around ten minutes as I completed my journey to the station. I pointed the object out to several fellow commuters, all of whom were mystified by the object. The last I saw it had travelled over the Thames into East London. I had seen the infamous Black Triangle. I contacted LUFOS (the London UFO Study group) who in turn confirmed that a large number of people had independently seen the same giant flying triangle that I had seen, at roughly the same time. They also contacted London City Airport, who confirmed that they had monitored by radar a large unknown flying object in their controlled airspace at the same time as the object was visible over South East London. I never heard any more about the matter, and I have absolutely no idea as to what the object actually was. All I know is it was huge, silent and definitely not a conventional aircraft.  I am not saying what I saw was a craft from another star system / dimension or whatever – what I am saying is I saw something in the sky for several minutes that did not resemble any kind of flying vehicle I could recognise (and my aircraft recognition skills are pretty good) and it seemed to be under intelligent control. The mystery was never solved, and I am still perplexed by the experience to this day. Do let me know if you have ever seen something inexplicable in the sky.

With all the hoo – ha in the popular press about last Sunday’s Oscars, and the debate as to who deserved what award, the almost complete absence of awards for the latest Bond film “Skyfall” seems to have been the elephant in the corner. OK, Adele got to sing the title song from “Skyfall”, and the appearance of Dame Shirley Bassey singing “Goldfinger”, but the movie itself was award – free. Bearing in mind the huge critical and financial success of the film – by most counts now the most successful Bond film of the entire series, you would have thought all the fans would be delighted, but not a bit of it. Back in 2005 when Daniel Craig was announced as the next actor to take on the iconic role of the secret agent, a small group of extremely vociferous people banded together to set up the protest site Danielcraigisnotbond.com. Fair enough, people are entitled to their opinions; I thought that prior to Casino Royale being released, that maybe they knew something the general public did not, and the first Craig film would turn out to be a turkey. Of course is wasn’t – most critics regard the re-boot of the Bond franchise as an excellent film, and liking the fact that Craig brought a grittier, more realistic interpretation to the role. I thought that the nay – sayers would gradually be won over, but when researching the subject for this weeks’ entry, I found that the Danielcraigisnotbond.com site is still up and running. Many critics (and fans) agree that Skyfall is in the top three Bond movies of all time, with a clever plot, intelligent script, great acting and some cracking explosions (and what would a Bond film be without explosions?) Yet just like the members of the Flat Earth Society, the Danielcraigisnotbond.com members have continued in their protests about the choice of actor have continued despite all of the evidence to the contrary that he was an inspired choice for the role. They are either so pig headed that they will never change their entrenched views, or they are completely divorced from reality. I bet they are secretly seething after the news that Skyfall is not only the most successful Bond movie ever, but it is now also the most successful British film of all time. 

Recently I described the shocking state of Bexleyheath Broadway, which has nearly a third of all shops empty and unused; I mentioned that even the venerable company Kimberley Hifi, which has been in the Broadway for as long as I can recall is now no more. It would appear that not all nearby towns have been so affected. It has been pointed out to me that places such as Woolwich have thus far been almost totally immune to the closures that have blighted Bexleyheath and Welling, for example. The theory that has been expounded for this is that in relatively prosperous places such as Bexleyheath, local shoppers have money, but limited time and inclination to traipse around the shops. Shop rents and other overheads are high, meaning profit margins are very slim. Locals are likely to compare retail prices and then purchase goods online. In more deprived towns like Woolwich, many locals have all day to wander around the shops, and tend not to buy online, but to purchase in a traditional manner. Because such towns are less attractive to prosperous shoppers, rents and overheads are lower, offsetting the lower average spend by the shopper. This is just a theory, but it does seem to be held out by local events. In any case Woolwich has experienced fewer shop closures, though the shops it does have do tend to be of the Pound Land and discount store variety. I don’t personally feel that high street retail is dying completely – but it is definitely changing.

Some good news for a change, especially if (unlike me, possibly the most un-sporty person in town) you are a football fan. Local club Bexley Invicta have just come runners up in the Bristol Challenge Cup, a competition for amateur teams. Bexley Invicta lost in the final to home team Bristol Panthers. Bearing in mind that this was Bexley Invicta’s first season in existence, I think it is a very creditable showing indeed. The club Chairman is Brian Silk, a Maggot Sandwich reader and occasional contributor (he wrote the review on The Ark cafe and Christian bookshop recently). Bexley Invicta are the first mixed gay / straight football team in Kent; they are off to Lyon in March to take part in their first ever international competition. It looks like it won’t be long before Brian will be ready for the Chairmanship of Charlton.

The news that Bexley Council have now signed a deal with Tesco which will allow the supermarket giant to demolish the current Council offices in Bexleyheath (see the photo above - click for a larger view) to create a superstore on the site; at the same time the Council will move into the old Woolwich Equitable offices around the corner in Watling Street, which will be refurbished. Council Leader Teresa O’Neill is quoted as saying that "The fact that we are re-using the Woolwich building is further justification for our position as London’s number one borough for recycling.”. I could not have put it more cheesily. The move does make sense – the Woolwich building is relatively modern, and certainly looks distinctive enough, with its’ unique Chinese Pagoda styling. I understand that a number of houses are also going to be built (though who will be able to afford them in this credit crunch? Answers on a postcard please..) Tesco say that the deal will mean that they will be creating 400 local jobs, which is always good news. I must admit that I must strike a note of caution; firstly, whenever I see anything to do with Tesco, I am always suspicious. I have a deep and abiding dislike for the company – and yes, before you point it out, they would not be the massive retail behemoth that they are if they were no good at what they do; it just seems to me (and many others) that they want to take over the world. One suburb at a time. It also concerns me that Tesco are one of the worst companies in the UK for “Land Banking” – that is, buying up land when it is cheap, then sitting on it for years without doing anything with it (and preventing any other development by a potential rival) until the market picks up and they either sell it at a profit, or then build a supermarket on the site. Tesco have been guilty of this in Dartford; the site on Lowfield Street has been the property of Tesco for the last ten years, but they have held off building for this entire period, which has caused planning blight – the area has become run down, which has put off shoppers to the other businesses in the road, which has led to further dilapidation. It has got so bad that several shopkeepers in Lowfield Street call the area “liked bombed out Beirut”. Local opinion seems to be that Tesco bought the site to prevent a rival supermarket chain from getting it, rather than because they actually wanted to build a store on the site. Dartford Council have issued a “get building, or get out” order to Tesco, but I think they would be hard pressed to enforce it, as possession is nine tenths of the law – and Tesco can afford the very best lawyers. I just hope that history does not repeat itself in Bexleyheath.

Malcolm Knight of the Bexley is Bonkers blog has discovered something of interest – I don’t cover his ins and outs with Bexley Council, as he does such an admirable job himself, but one thing he has recently uncovered during a visit he made to the Lower Belvedere B and Q (blogger does not like ampersands, as they are used as a database control character, and it throws a bit of a tizzy if you use them). Next to the B and Q part of the structure is being converted into an Asda. Malcolm saw warning signs posted in the car park, stating that the maximum stay in the car park was three hours, and any over – stayers would have their vehicles clamped. As Malcolm correctly points out, clamping on private land was made illegal in the UK since the 1st of October 2012. As Malcolm says, it will be instructive to follow what happens when someone is clamped. Anyone with a clue as to the law could have an absolute field day; unfortunately most people will not realise that the law has been changed , and will probably pay the fine. Personally I would call the Police if I found a vehicle I owned that had been clamped whilst on private land. After all, a criminal act would have been carried out.

The Arabfly Dangleway fiasco flounders on; we now find out that Boris has been forced to go cap in hand to the European Union for a hand out of £8 million in order to keep the Emirates cable car running. So few people are using it – Transport for London’s own figures show that only sixteen people use it for a regular daily commute, despite Boris selling the scheme as a vital part of London’s public transport infrastructure. It is painfully obvious he knows little of South East / East London, as any resident could have told him you can cross the river via the Jubilee line from North Greenwich to Canning Town in around two minutes for half the cost of the cable car. Speed, convenience and reliability (not to mention cost) are far more important to the commuter than a pretty view (and even that I would question – who wants to look at old warehouses, a scrap yard and a lorry park?) The DLR offers another way of getting across the River that is pretty reliable, and you can use your Oyster card or travel card without paying an additional fare. The fact is, that over and above the sponsorship money shelled out by Emirates Airline, London’s council tax payers have been paying for the service, which is bleeding cash to the tune of £50,000 a week, which is why Boris has had to go with his begging bowl to the EU. What happens if they decline is anyone’s guess.

You may recall that last June I featured a story about poet Luke Wright who had written a 1,700 word poem called the Ballad of Larner Road, about the community that live on the notorious Larner Road housing estate that is soon to be demolished and replaced with modern low level apartments and some shared ownership housing. The poem has now been made into a short film that has been uploaded to YouTube. You can see it below. I was pretty cynical, thinking that it would be a propaganda piece for the housing association, but it is actually not bad at all. Let me know what you think of it.

Banned by the Chinese!

News reaches me from a Maggot Sandwich reader in China, that the Chinese authorities have taken such a dislike to my online meanderings that they have banned my Blog, and blocked access to the site. Quite why they have done this eludes me; how they even came across it is also a mystery to me. I don’t recall ever writing anything that could be construed as subversive or critical of the Chinese regime – as far as I can recall I have not even posted a negative review of a local Chinese restaurant! To be honest, I am treating it as a left handed compliment; that some faceless civil servant in the Ministry of censorship (or whatever the department responsible is called) can consider the rambling thoughts of a bloke in a small and not very well known South East London suburb could affect the stability of the totalitarian Chinese regime is patently ridiculous; I get the feeling that China’s web censors have got rather too much time on their hands. I wonder if I would get arrested if I ever went to China? This is highly unlikely as I don’t own a passport, and in any case I detest travel. Please leave a comment below, as always.

The infamous Arabfly Dangleway (the Emirate Airline cable car) is doing absolutely terrible business; on one day recently, it only got a total of 301 passengers – admittedly part of the reason for this was local high winds, causing the service to be stopped for several hours. The cable car is very vulnerable to poor weather. London Mayor Boris Johnson was keen that the cable car would become a major commuter route across the Thames. This has not proved to be the case. An average of 78 people use the cable car between the hours of 7am and 10am on a work day, with most of the gondolas empty for hours at a time. Things improve in the afternoons and weekends, but analysis of the traveller data suggests that it is then being used by tourists, rather than commuting Londoners. Multi trip ticket sales (likely to appeal to commuters) have failed to reach double digits; on three days, only one pass was sold, whilst on two other days, no multi passes were sold at all. As had been pointed out when the service launched, the inability of people to use conventional travel cards or Oyster tickets has severely affected the take up of the cable car as a method of travel – on top of this, it does go from nowhere to nowhere. A much better idea would have been to build it in central London, for example, close to the London Eye, and treat it as an out and out tourist trap – which I am sure it would be. Although the cable car is sponsored by Emirates, it is subsidised by the London tax payer to the tune of £24 million. I wonder how long it will be before the general public start asking whether it represents value for money?

Erith featured in the national press this week; unfortunately it was for all of the wrong reasons. The killer of three year old Erith toddler Rhys Lawrie was sentenced at the Old Bailey to a total of five years in jail for Manslaughter and Actual Bodily Harm. Cameron Rose pumped the air in delight when he was then told by the judge that he would only spend half of the sentence in youth custody; he would be released after two and a half years. Readers of the story in the press have been outspoken in their condemnation of the pitifully short sentence. The talk back on the News Shopper website is typical of the public opinion regarding what is seen to be a soft punishment. You can read more about it here.

Now that I no longer have to use buses as much as I did in my days of Dad visiting, my encounters with eccentric, bolshie or simply outright loony members of the travelling public have much reduced; whilst this has done much for my peace of mind, it has not made much for interesting blog updates. I need not have worried. On Saturday morning I was standing at a bus stop, waiting for the 99 bus to take me up to Mum’s for lunch. I was looking down the road for possible signs of an approaching double decker, when I saw a figure in the periphery of my vision. The woman was in her fifties, and rather eccentrically dressed. She had a multicoloured sequinned beret and a rainbow coloured knitted poncho on – she looked like her vertical hold had gone – it certainly got my eyes rolling. I studiously ignored her, until she did the unforgivable and not only invaded my personal space, but put her hand on my shoulder! I dislike physical contact, triply so when it is someone I don’t know. I shrugged her off and turned around “Did you feel the wind on Wednesday?” she said. Not knowing where this was heading, I said “no” as I stepped away from her. She then went on “oh, it coincided with a lot of UFO sightings in the West Country – you know that UFO’s control the weather?” At this point I was positive she had beamed down a few too many times. I backed away from her, wondering if she was mad, on drugs, or both. Fortunately at this juncture the 99 bus turned up, and I noted with some relief that she did not follow me on board. I do seem to attract the eccentric; for some reason I seem to be a “nutter magnet” I wish I could work out why. Is it something in my demeanour that attracts the local space cadets? I really don’t know the answer to it.

I mentioned a few Maggot Sandwich issues ago that Erith severely lacks in proper “sit down” restaurants. This unfortunately is not likely to change in the near future; as a bit of a compromise, I am now considering restaurants that are within a short bus journey from Erith Riverside Shopping Centre. The first place I have visited is Nuxley Road, Upper Belvedere (no “Nuxley Village – there is no such place, despite the protestations of a couple of commenters on last weeks update). On Friday evening I paid a visit to the Spice Master Indian Restaurant. I have visited the place on a few occasions in the past, but it was my first time in a couple of years. The restaurant is huge – at a guess, something like 120 covers, though it may actually be more than this. Years ago the building housed an Italian bistro called Le Dolomiti,  though that was closed down after a disastrous visit by the health inspectors (and several nasty cases of food poisoning, if I recall correctly).

Anyway, Spice Master, as it is, is by far the biggest eaterie in Upper Belvedere, or possibly even the whole borough. The dining area is open plan, and even has a small dance floor in the centre - see the photo above. Several times a month the restaurant has a singer performing – quite often a tribute act such as an Elvis or Michael Jackson impersonator. I am not too keen on this kind of thing personally – you cannot hear to talk when the singer is performing, and for me talking is part of the whole dining out to eat experience. Food – wise, the restaurant is pretty standard high street curry house, that is, Anglicised Bangladeshi dishes. The food is good, though not spectacular, portions are decent and service is excellent – the waiting staff to visitor ratio seems higher than in most curry houses in the area. My visit was on a Friday night, and I suspect that they may well have deployed a few extra pairs of hands to cope with the increased number of guests that the weekend brings. I must admit that my own menu choices were pretty pedestrian – Chicken Korai (a dish that gets overlooked by some people, yet when they see, hear and most importantly smell the wonderful aroma of the chicken and peppers sizzling on the cast iron skillet that the dish is served from, they then wish that they had ordered it too).  Along with this I ordered mushroom pilau rice and a garlic naan – anything with mushrooms and garlic is always a favourite with me. Spice Master is never going to set the world alight from a culinary standpoint, but that is not what it is about – it knows its’ role – a large, bustling curry house with regular entertainment that a lot of people will like. An avant garde fine dining restaurant would just not work in Upper Belvedere, and it would be pointless trying. The owners of the Spice Master know what works and stick to it, which seems eminently sensible in my opinion.  If you have visited the place, please feel free to leave a comment on your thoughts about the restaurant.

Sky Arts HD continues to impress me with the scope and depth of their content; only the other night I was watching a behind the scenes documentary about the history of Jean Michel Jarre’s giant live concerts, from his first open air gig in the Place De La Concorde in Paris, through his ground breaking 1981 concerts in China, up until his contemporary appearances, in a series of concerts featuring period synthesisers (including the huge, telephone exchange-like Moog Modular). All this antique analogue  electronic kit made each concert a bit of a gamble, as in almost every concert, some but of equipment would fail or go out of tune. It certainly added a level of unpredictability you don’t get with modern digital musical instruments! More of this later.

I have never been much of a computer gamer, as I lack the reflexes, co-ordination and patience to play arcade style games. The one type of game I do like is one that died out almost completely at the beginning of the 1990’s – the text only adventure game. If you are unfamiliar with this genre, let me explain: Text adventure games were just that – no graphics, just a prose description of your characters surroundings and any objects that might be present. Controls of the game were usually verb, noun – as in “take sword” or “go East”. The games usually presented a series of puzzles, quite often set in a fantasy or science fiction environment, which had to be solved in order to finish the game. Two companies dominated the text adventure market – Britain’s Level 9 and the American giant Infocom. Both companies reflected their home countries pretty accurately; Infocom were the “Rolls Royce” of text adventures – in a time of 8-bit computers, their language parser was amazing, instead of just verb, noun instructions, you could verb, noun, condition – as in “pick up lamp if troll away” and similar. At the time, it was pretty amazing stuff You can read about how the language parser and virtual machine worked by clicking here. The down side to this cleverness was that all Infocom adventures came on floppy disc only, and they were renowned for their packaging. All of their games came in elaborate boxes with all sorts of background information – faux newspapers, scratch and sniff cards and suchlike. This was actually very cunning. Infocom were aware that their games were extensively pirated, and that the anti piracy technology of the time often made genuine copies unplayable. Instead Infocom did not use any kind of copy protection at all. The trick was that the accessories that came in the game box included a number of clues you needed to complete the game – no accessories, no way to finish the puzzle. Infocom games were also very expensive – usually around £35 in 1984, which was pretty eye watering when you could pick up a conventional title for a Commodore 64 or Sinclair Spectrum for £7.99 on cassette. You can read more about Infocom, and play all of their games on a web based emulator here. If you get horribly stuck (and believe me, you will!) You can find step by step walk through solutions for every game if you click here. Level 9 were Britain’s answer to Infocom – the difference being that all Level 9 text adventures were cassette only from the outset – reflecting the far more austere home computer market in the UK at the time. Level 9 was set up and run by three brothers initially from their family home (a very common occurrence at the time). They advertised in specialist magazines such as Computer and Video Games, and Personal Computer World and quickly got a reputation for huge, complex adventures that seems far too vast to possibly run from a cassette. The secret to this was their development of a special highly compressed database in each game, which stored far more locations and items than a conventional system. I played several Level 9 games and found them both gripping and frustrating at the same time. One absolute must for any person playing a text adventure is a pad of A4 squared paper on which to map the location of the adventure as you explore. Without mapping,  one invariably gets lost, and either gives up in frustration, or gets the character killed by a wandering monster. Text adventures also stretch the players imagination and ingenuity; the puzzles within both Infocom and Level 9 games often needed a high degree of lateral thinking. They were the diametric opposite of the usual reflex testing arcade shoot – em – ups that were so popular at the time, probably why I enjoyed them so much. You can read more about Level 9 here.

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, my main Apple iMac died and is not economically repairable. I have been making do with my old Intel Atom processor based Asus netbook running Mint Linux. Using the netbook as my main computer has really thrown its' deficiencies into sharp relief. Even though Linux has a lower hardware requirement than Windows, the little computer is really struggling. It only has 1Gb of RAM and a very slow processor. It will just about play standard definition video on the external 1920 x 1080 monitor, but if an Email arrives during playback, it loses the plot completely - and before you say it, I know I am most definitely asking a lot for it to output anything at all at the resolution it is using. Anyway, whilst the new range of desktop iMacs have just been announced, I don't realistically think I have any chance of getting one before the new year; instead I am contemplating purchasing a replacement for the netbook. A tablet is not much use to me, as I need a full travel keyboard, and the only tablets with functional keyboards are the lovely Asus Transformer Infinity range, but as a second machine, it would be difficult to justify the over £600 price tag. Instead, I am contemplating a Chromebook - such as the Samsung Series 5 550, which is only around 2/3 of the price.

The video clip this week is of Jean Michel Jarre, playing "Rendezvous IV" to a live audience. Who says I don't plan these things?