Riot.

The original painting above was created by Erith based professional artist Patrick Hearne. It was painted earlier this year, and shows the view looking Eastwards along Erith Station. It was displayed at the "Our Erith" local art exhibition arranged by the Friends of Christ Church Erith earlier this year. Patrick has an excellent website showing more of his work, which you can see here.

The area got some extremely unwelcome bad publicity at the beginning of the week; several national tabloid newspapers, including the Sun, as well as being featured on the BBC News website. On Monday evening a fight broke out between what is estimated to be around a hundred school pupils in Northumberland Heath. It is not my usual practice to report on stories that make the national press, as there is little point in going over ground that has already been covered by professional journalists. I make an exception in this case, as it is so worrying and affects local people. Whilst the precise details of the mini riot are still somewhat sketchy the best part of a week later, it would appear to have been organised via social media, and a number of those involved were armed with baseball bats or knives - the main clash happened near the Duchess of Kent Pub in Brook Street. Police and specialist officers with dogs descended on the area after reports of a “large fight between a group of youths” at around 5.40pm. The Met’s police helicopter flew overhead as officers tried to break up the violence. Seven people, aged between 15 and 21, were arrested. Various video clips are now circulating on social media, and these have been picked up by the press and online. On Wednesday Bexley Police were given authorisation to disperse and ban troublemakers from Bexleyheath town centre and Northumberland Heath over a following two day period. One thing does strike me - almost nobody in the UK plays baseball, so how come so many of these stories involve youths with baseball bats? Where are they coming from? Bearing in mind the impact to actual sport would be minimal, would not an immediate ban on the sale, resale or ownership of baseball bats be a good move on the part of the authorities? The official Police report on the riot read thus:- Officers are appealing for information following a large scale fight in Bexley involving more than 100 youths. Police were called to Northumberland Heath, Bexley, at approximately 17:40hrs on 19 September, to reports of the large fight between a group of youths. Officers from the borough and the Met's Territorial Support Group (TSG) were called to the scene attending within eight minutes. Two males aged 15 and 19 suffered non-life threatening injuries and were taken to a south London hospital by London Ambulance Service. Seven males, aged between 15 and 21 years, were arrested and taken to a south London police stations. They are currently in custody. Just before the fight in Northumberland Heath, there was a disturbance between a group of youths in Bexley Broadway at approximately 16:30hrs. Police dispersed the large group of people and they were believed to have been involved in the fight in later on. Officers are investigating the circumstances of what happened in the run up to the incident and appealing for anyone who was involved or witnesses to speak to them as soon as possible. Police will be in the area of the Northumberland Heath tonight, 20 September, to provide reassurance to the local community. They will also be working with local schools in the area over the next few weeks. Borough Commander of Bexley, Chief Superintendent Jeff Boothe, said: “This incident was a large scale fight in a public area and would have been shocking to anyone who witnessed it. "The safety of young people in our borough and the wider community is paramount.  We are actively investigating what happened and take matters like this extremely seriously. There will be extra patrols in the borough to provide reassurance in the community. I would appeal to anyone with information about what happened to contact us. They can speak to their schools liaison officer or hey can do this anonymously through Crimestoppers.” Speaking about the scale of the incident, Chief Superintendent Boothe said: “In total over  40  calls were made to police by members of the public and a number of incidents occurred across at least five different locations. Every available officer within Bexley was deployed to assist with the incident and support from the Met Territorial Support Group was provided. We were not able to attend and speak with every person who called police due to the large volume of calls and multiple incidents occurring. The calls had to be prioritised based on the risks and scale of disorder at each venue. Officers will be contacting those people over the next coming days as part of the investigation and to provide further reassurance." Anyone with information or witnesses can call Bexley police on 0208 284 9146, the police non-emergency line on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously 0800 555 111.

There has been a rumour circulating over the last week or so, and I have been able to get to the bottom of it. As many people know, Erith Morrison's supermarket is currently undergoing a much needed refurbishment. This includes the petrol station adjacent to the supermarket main building. Word has been going round that when the petrol station is refitted, it will be selling alcohol in the shop. Several concerned local residents have contacted me, as have a couple of Morrison's staff who are worried about an increase in crime if alcohol is served from the petrol station. I am happy to report that I have received word from official sources that whilst Morrison's applied for a drinks licence for the petrol station, it was not granted, and the station shop will remain alcohol free. The correct outcome all round, I feel. If you have strong feelings about this, or any other issues, please leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

I have had several readers comment on my story last week on The News Shopper, and how for the last year or so they have had no base in South East London / North Kent, as they have closed their Pett’s Wood office and moved to Sutton in Surrey. The readers had not been aware of this situation – understandably, as the News Shopper did report the move at the time, but they kept it rather low key, and the story slipped under many peoples radar. When one reads the paper with this information in mind, it does become rather obvious that the emphasis is now on stories in South West, rather than South East London and North Kent; for example, they have been running a promotion on behalf of Young’s Brewery, to celebrate the 185th birthday of the pub company and brewer. The problem is that the edition that is available both online and in print for the local area features Young’s pubs taking part in the promotion that are located in Wimbledon, Richmond, Putney, Sutton, Croydon and Kingston.  Not exactly reflecting local stories and issues then. It must be very hard for what were former local newspapers that are forced into becoming regional newspapers as the only way to survive in what is a cutthroat and competitive market. One of the main motivations of the Maggot sandwich was to become a "parish magazine” for the Erith / Slade Green area and slightly beyond, as no local paper was covering the area in any detail. It has come to pass that the blog has become far wider ranging than originally intended – in many ways it has become somewhat of a victim of its’ own success – not that I am complaining! There has been a void in local news provision, which the Maggot Sandwich endeavours to fill.

You may recall that a couple of weeks ago I ran a story about a number of green spaces that Bexley Council wants to sell off to raise some cash. Once again the law of unintended consequences has come into play. Rather than quietly do away with the various small packets of green land around the (mostly Northern) parts of the borough, Bexley Council have done a sterling job in fostering community spirit and local cohesion. For example, a chap called Mark has been on contact with me - he requested that I publicise a FaceBook site that has been set up to fight the sale of the parcel of green land that exists on the corner of Napier Road and Wellington Road in Belvedere. I am more than happy to do so - whatever the outcome of the fight, it has brought local residents together against a common foe. I would suggest that one of the best ways of ensuring the continuing free space would be for the neighbours to form a charitable trust and to club together to jointly buy the land. That way they could guarantee their continued peaceful enjoyment of the open space. They would need to consult a solicitor with specific experience in such undertakings though. You can join the No To Napier Road Green Space Sell Off page by clicking here.

Riverdale Road based local musician Wayne Jacobs has been making the headlines again. The amateur singer / songwriter has won yet another award. He’s won the UK Country Radio listeners club award for the fifth time in a row. The singer is known for his three hits that reached number one in Nashville Tennessee, including My Tennessee Girl, I Want My Daddy and Rockin’ in the USA. Mr Jacobs first started writing his own country music after watching Walk the Line, the well-known film chronicling the life of music legend Johnny Cash. You can read more about Wayne Jacobs and his latest win by clicking here. I must admit that I am rather conflicted about this award. Whilst I am really pleased to see an Erith resident excel in an artistic field; I just wish it was playing something other than Country and Western music. I can (just about) see why certain people in the Southern states of the USA would like it - after all it talks to experiences they, or at least their grandparents may have had. Why someone from outside the USA would feel it appropriate mystifies me. Country music is mostly still synonymous with southern, white, cowboy culture. We can talk about parts of the genre that have moved past cowboy boots and pick-up trucks but if you look at the chart toppers, concert attendance, and country music media in general you'll still notice these things: 1) Very traditional gender roles. 2) Some measure of conservative, patriotic (or jingoistic depending on your perspective), religious undertones. 3) Traditional and maudlin, self indulgent, romantic themes. 4) Explicit, direct, emotional expression - a very un - British concept. On top of this, Country and Western music lacks any concept of irony or self - awareness. Why anyone British would want to pretend to be American completely escapes me. If you have some insight into this phenomenon, I would love to hear from you. Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

I have been asked in the past questions about a relatively new pastime - the collecting of old computers. Like anything produced for a relatively limited period of time, old computers can become worth serious money - and others are essentially worthless. Already a lively market already exists on websites like Ebay, but it is easy, as with anything collectible and potentially valuable, there are plenty of pitfalls. Like in the more traditional field of antique collection, certain rules apply. Originality is paramount - all of the correct leads, connectors and the power supply need to be present and correct, and the original box in good condition should also be there.  Condition needs to be good to excellent in order to attract a premium price, and any history of the machine in question is a bonus. One of the question I was asked was “If price was no object, what three classic computers would you most like to own, and why?” After a bit of mulling, my response was:- 1) Xerox Alto – the most revolutionary computer since Colossus. More on it in a moment. 2) Xerox Star – the development of the Alto, and the first commercially available computer to use a graphical user interface. 3) NeXT Cube Colour – the great granddaddy of all modern Unix based Apple Macs, and the platform used by Sir Tim Berners – Lee to create the World Wide Web. So why did I pick the Xerox Alto as my most desired classic computer? Well, bear in mind that the Alto was never actually available for commercial purchase, and only between fifteen hundred and two thousand Alto units were hand constructed by Xerox, mainly for internal use, though a handful made it into academia for study purposes, and one made it into the White House. The Alto was the first computer anywhere that had a GUI – a Graphical User Interface, that used the still common desktop paradigm. It had a mouse, used icons, it was able to talk to other Alto computers over an early form of Ethernet data networking. It had a "what you see is what you get" word processing program, it could send and receive Emails with attachments, it could output page set documents to a laser printer and had the world’s first high resolution bitmapped screen. All of this was available in 1973! You can see a short TV commercial for it here. It was at least fifteen years ahead of anything else in the world, but Xerox did not think there would be a market for such a computer, and eventually wound the project down. This business decision made Decca turning down the Beatles look small change in comparison. Later, the GUI computer project was restarted, and in the very early 1980’s Xerox released the Star – a high end workstation based on the earlier Alto concepts. Bexley Council had a couple of Star units in their typing pool for several years in the early 1980's, but they were never really used for anything other than word processing – with their distinctive portrait oriented display screens. Their powerful networking and graphical features were pretty much overlooked. A few years ago, before Bexley Council moved out of their old offices in Bexleyheath Broadway as they were due to be demolished, I tried to find out if any of the Xerox Star units were still being stored on site. I had heard vague rumours that at least one unit was stored in the basement nuclear fallout shelter. I had hoped to persuade the council to donate it to The National Museum of Computing at Bletchley Park. Unfortunately my investigation drew a blank – nobody I contacted at the council knew anything about the computers, and they were actually not very interested. Many phone messages and Emails to them went without response, to the point where I got fed up and gave in. Anyone with a Xerox Star, or even more enticingly an Alto stuck in the corner of their basement (it would not have gone in the loft – it was so heavy it would have come through the ceiling) is sitting on not only a very important piece of computer history, but a small fortune. Collectors will pay substantial sums of money for rare and important computers – as was recently seen when an immaculate and completely original Apple 1 was purchased at auction for $905,0000. Personally I think this was a tad over-valued. The Apple 1 was not the first home computer by some way, it was not revolutionary and it was merely one of a number of kit type computers then available. The later fame of the brand has put quite an image boost over the machine that started it all for the Apple brand, and I will not be at all surprised if the next Apple 1 to go on auction breaks the million dollar mark.

The photo above shows a very young me, well, the back of my head at least - taken in September 1988 whilst I was working on my very first ever job in radio. Every so often I get asked by readers as to where the name of my blog originated; I usually tell them that if they read it for long enough, they will find out. Well. now is the time, in case you missed it last time I retold the tale, which was now quite a while ago. Over the last few years I have occasionally mentioned radio stations – both legitimate and otherwise that I have worked for in one manner or another. I have always had a deep interest in radio – even when I was at primary school, I would find old radios from charity shops and jumble sales and pull them apart to try and work out what made them tick; at one stage I managed to convert an old Bush valve receiver into an amplifier / speaker for my bedside transistor radio – even if it was only to listen to Ed Stewart on “Junior Choice” on BBC Radio 1. When in secondary school I started to listen the land based pirates which you could find all across both the Medium Wave and (what was then termed VHF) FM bands. The early 80’s were a formative time for unlicensed broadcasting – at that point little government thought had been given to widening commercial licences, and things such as community stations and special event licences just did not exist – with the notable exception of Radio Thamesmead, which at that time was available via Rediffusion cable only to residents physically located in Thamesmead. All sorts of pirate stations broadcast from whatever high points they could find – usually the roof of a tower block – radio signals on the VHF band travel in straight lines, so the higher up the transmitter / antenna are, the further the signal can theoretically travel – though other factors also come into play. My own favourite stations at the time were Alice’s Restaurant, and later Rock FM, which broadcast out of the Epping / Hainault area of Essex. Another station – which only came on during Monday nights was called Imagine – it played melodic rock and electronic music from bands like Tangerine Dream. When I was in the 6th form at school, I worked Saturdays at independent computer store Silica Shop in Hatherley Road, Sidcup, and so was not at home to listen to the various other pirate stations that broadcast on Saturdays. A friend handed me a cassette he had recorded of a pirate station that he said sounded like nothing he had heard before. I listened to the tape and was doubly astounded; firstly the station sounded very slick and professional – they had jingles and sound effects, and even had hourly news bulletins. Secondly, I recognised several of the voices as being people I knew, including one who was a school teacher of mine! I said nothing and carried on with the Saturday job. Sometime later when I had left school, I bumped into several of the people whose voices I had heard on the tape – typically we met in a pub – the Fox in Upper Belvedere (which back then was excellent, unlike now). One thing led to another and I was invited up to the studio. The station was called Radio Lumberjack, and it was run from a large semi-detached house in Bexleyheath. Most of the upper floor of the house had been converted into a main studio and a newsroom / production facility. Unusually for such a setup, the transmitter was located in the studio itself. Normally land based pirates would have a small, low powered UHF link transmitter which sent a hard to track signal to a much more powerful VHF FM transmitter located on the roof of a nearby tower block; the thinking behind this was that the authorities could easily track and confiscate the main FM transmitter, but the low power UHF link signal was far harder to detect – thus meaning it was less likely for the studio to also be raided – though this still was a danger. I later found out that the reason the chap behind Radio Lumberjack was unconcerned about the possibility of being raided was that his day job was as a member of the Department of Trade and Industry Radio Investigation Service – the pirate radio hunters of the time! He knew well in advance of any possible raids, and any documents pertaining to Radio Lumberjack promptly got “lost”, so the station got no official investigation at all, and operated with complete impunity for several years. Having such a “mole” right at the heart of the opposition proved invaluable later, when a number of Radio Lumberjack staff became involved with Radio Caroline – but that is a story for another day. Radio Lumberjack broadcast an eclectic range of music, interspersed with comedy sketches and novelty jingles. I soon became a regular presenter, hosting the evening album music show between 9pm and midnight – allowing pretty much all the other DJ’s to disappear up the pub. The humour on Radio Lumberjack was pretty surreal – much of the comedy material was written by the station staff. There were many spoof adverts, with commercials for fictional companies such as “Bethlehem Motors – car faith healers – save money and save your soul! With one simple low cost prayer, we can have your vehicle back on the road”. “Tacky’s Nightclub, with your host, Bland Groover”. Also, “Gaskets motor spares – suppliers of neo Georgian suspension, arc brake lights and stained glass windows”. Best of all, a commercial for the Thamesmead Tourist Board, with a cod salsa song “it’s the place for fun, it’s the place for sun, come to Thamesmead – go on day trips to all the popular holiday destinations like the Belvedere Rift Valley – home of the world famous earwig farm; enquire at the Thamesmead Tourist Board office – the little green hut behind the bike sheds in Thamesmead High Street!” It was all very slick and professional; the chap that ran the station was a big fan of Kenny Everett, but had his own unique style. Each presenter had their own introductory jingle – mine started with an incredulous voice – “oh my God.... It’s Arthur Pewty!” followed by the sound of Stuka dive bombers, explosions and collapsing buildings, accompanied by a massed band of Daleks screaming “Arthur Pewty, Arthur Pewty!” It was all very over the top and wacky. My pseudonym came from the meek and mild insurance salesman Arthur Pewty from the famous Monty Python sketch about the marriage guidance counsellor. When I first started my evening show, I racked my brains to think of a suitably surreal and silly name for it. I had already got my nickname, and recently I had read a history of 1960’s offshore station Radio London, where John Peel got his big break into radio. John Peel had a show called “The Perfumed Garden” where he played a lot of hippy music and recited poetry sent in by listeners (some of it was toe curlingly bad, but I digress). I thought that my show needed a really surreal title, so, as a play on “John Peel’s Perfumed Garden”, “Arthur Pewty’s Maggot Sandwich” was born. I was part of Radio Lumberjack for a couple of very happy and memorable years, and made friends that I still have to this day. The station naturally ran its course, and in time some of the more dedicated members – the station owner included became involved in Radio Caroline. That is a story for another time. So now you know.

The end video this week was taken recently - it shows Royal Navy Albion class amphibious assault ship HMS Bulwark heading down river after a visit to London. The footage was shot from Erith Pier, and shows the large vessel as it passes Erith on a journey towards the Thames Estuary.  Please feel free to leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

The Belvedere Splash Park.

The photo above was taken early on Saturday afternoon in the Christian Grey Hall in Albert Road, Upper Belvedere. It shows local residents setting out chairs in preparation for a somewhat heated public meeting that was called at very short notice; nearly ninety people turned up to make their opposition to the forced closure of the Belvedere Splash Park known to representatives of Bexley Council. More on this subject later in the update.

Following the victory against the kid illegally riding an unlicensed and uninsured motor bike that I detailed last week, I was of the opinion that we would have a period of peace and quiet in respect of scrotes riding dodgy bikes. Normally when one of the local low – lives gets nicked for an offence, the word quickly gets around their mates, and they keep their heads down for a couple of months. Not this time I am afraid to say. On Saturday evening I was waiting at a local bus stop. I had planned for a quick trip up to the Prince of Wales in Woolwich Road; word had got out that they were selling Red House Bitter from the Bexley Brewery, and I was keen to sample a pint. I waited for the 99 bus, minding my own business, when I saw a bike rocketing along the road at far in excess of the speed limit. This in itself was nothing unusual, but what got my attention was that neither the rider or the pillion passenger appeared to be wearing a helmet. As the bike rapidly approached, I noted that it was not some clunky low geared trail bike as the previous miscreant had been riding; this was a full – on sports bike along the lines of a Suzuki GSX-R 1000, although it was moving too quickly for me to be certain of the precise model. There were two youngsters on the bike – at a guess they were 14 or 15 years old, though both were wearing hooded tops and had bandannas over the lower halves of their faces. They shot past me so quickly that I was only able to get part of the registration plate details – I suspect that the bike was stolen; I have passed what information I did glean onto the Police. For obvious reasons I cannot describe much more of the encounter at present, but no doubt there will come a time when I can go into full detail. As if this was not enough, last Sunday, not long after I had published the last Maggot Sandwich update, I was talking to a friend on the footpath adjacent to Morrison’s car park in James Watt Way. A lad of maybe twelve or thirteen years old was riding an unlicensed “monkey bike” around the supermarket car park, and on occasion nearly colliding with moving vehicles. He too wore a hooded top and had his lower face obscured by a bandanna. It would seem that the recent arrest and charging of the youth who was caught on film when illegally riding a trail bike on the pavement in Manor Road may not have altered the behaviour of the local scumbags in the way we anticipated. Instead of the other illegal bike riders going to ground, they have started wearing disguises to try and beat the forces of law and order. I get the feeling that the couple riding the high powered sports bike will be getting some very close attention; such a very powerful and fast bike is a challenge for even a fully trained and experienced rider to control, let alone a couple of spotty nerks with more bravado than brain power. Unless they are stopped, it is quite likely that the two will end up losing control of the bike at high speed, and end up causing an accident that could prove fatal for themselves, and possibly innocent members of the public as well. As I have written before, if you see illegal activity of the type I have described, please don't put yourself into any danger, but if you can get a photo of the perpetrators and any vehicle that they are using, this would be extremely helpful in combatting local illegality. The photo should be sent either to the North End Safer Neighbourhood Police team, or to Erith Watch. Either way you would be helping the fight against crime.

I got passed the flyer you can see in the photo above – click on it for a larger view. These are currently being put through the letter boxes in roads around Erith and Belvedere. You may possibly have already received one yourself. What initially struck me was that the flyer breaks just about every rule that the Advertising Standards Authority have ever come up with. It makes wild and unsubstantiated claims, and presents superstition as supposed fact. I am reminded of the now retired stage magician and celebrated psychic debunker James Randi (who famously still offers one million US dollars to anyone who can successfully demonstrate genuine supernatural powers under laboratory conditions – a bounty that has gone unclaimed in over thirty years). The Mr. Jalloh of the leaflet states he can cure love and relationship problems, fertility, job and money issues and “to have good luck”. I am amazed he does not also say he can cure baldness, unblock drains, raise the dead and remove annoying driveway grease stains. The tragedy is that there are a lot of vulnerable and gullible people who will fall for this schtick. As soon as I see the words “psychic” and “black magic” the alarm bells start ringing. These people are all without exception either knowing frauds or suffering from serious psychological delusions. Mr Jalloh also makes the supreme error of using the term “Occult sciences” – an oxymoron of epic proportions. One definition of science is that it works whether you believe in it or not. Normally I don't comment on a person’s beliefs, as my personal libertarian philosophy of “if it works for you” takes precedence, but in this case local residents are in danger of being taken in by someone who is nothing other than a cynical con merchant out to deprive them of their hard earned cash. I could rant on about this, but I think you already get my point. Please feel free to comment below, or drop me a line to hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Bexley Brewery has been doing very well; I have been trying to sample the draught versions of their two beers - Red House Bitter and BOB Pale Ale. The trouble has been that every pub I visit to sample the ales has sold out when I have got there, as I mentioned a little earlier. My frustration will soon pass though, as next Saturday, the Bexley Brewery is opening to the public - one will be able to go along and buy their ales from their retail shop. Both current brews will be available both in bottled form, and soon also in draught. I am fortunate that Pewty Acres is only a short walk to the brewery (I have briefly discussed with Head Brewer Cliff if we could fit an extra long garden hose between the brewery and my kitchen, and have a "pay by pint" beer meter installed - somehow I don't think this is going to happen unfortunately). Bexley Brewery will be open between 11am and 2pm on Saturday 8th November. The address of the brewery is:- 

Bexley Brewery Limited
18 Manford Industrial Estate

Manor Road

Erith 

DA8 2AJ

Following my analysis of the current situation in respect of the proposals for the redevelopment of the Erith Quarry site, I have been passed a very detailed document that a concerned local resident has submitted to the Anderson’s the property developer. The person asks a series of very well considered and detailed questions which cover concerns relating to drainage, planning permission, building standards, traffic levels, the possible return of the dreaded Japanese Knotweed, and also addresses specific concerns relating to Bexley Council and their duties of oversight. I quote the following from their letter; the writer begins with “I have a number of concerns to register, but would first wish to commend those members of your Project Team that manned the exhibition for their openness in trying to address the concerns that visitors to the exhibition raised with them”. They then go on to ask:- “I was told that your planning process would involve you making two separate although related applications to the Council. The area of the site comprising the school, apartments and, main access onto Fraser Road will be a detailed application, whereas the remainder (and larger part of the development) will be more of an outline application seeking general approval to the main development, but allowing the detail of future development to be dealt with under the Reserved Matters process. Will you confirm that this is actually the case? My main concern over the latter process is that it will leave the door open for alterations, particularly under the Planning Officers delegated powers - unless, of course, that the Councils’ Reserved Matters tied you into doing exactly as initially promised. Unfortunately, I doubt whether anyone will have any confidence that the Council will carry out their responsibilities in a manner that we (the public) should expect from their Local Authority. I say this given the Council’s tacit support for the development and its abysmal record when dealing with other developments in the north of the borough – referred to in my earlier note.  However, by way of a further example of my concern over the Council’s operations - what Planning Department, aware of the pre-existing traffic congestion issues at Northumberland Heath, would allow Tesco to open a shop without placing a planning condition on the development that there should be no deliveries to the store between the hours of 7am to 7pm? It beggars belief! Is it really just incompetence or, is it something else? While you may consider this has little to do with your development of the Quarry site, it is another example why the public have so little confidence in the Council carrying out is statutory duties to ensure that those in the immediate vicinity of the quarry do not suffer adversary as a result of its development. Indeed, if anything, the Council should ensure that the development of the Quarry will result in some planning gains for both the Council and the local residents”. It seems to me that the underlying insecurity is not so much in the form of antipathy to the developer, but concerns about the competence (or lack thereof) of Bexley Council in their duty to conduct proper oversight of the development  – a theme that crops up repeatedly in respect of any matter involving local bureaucracy, and you will also see in respect of Belvedere Splash Park, as you read on.

Work finally seems to be speeding up on the Crossrail terminus at Abbey Wood station. The temporary station building has now opened – it will be in use until around 2017, when all construction work on the new multi-level terminus building should be completed. You notice that I qualify the timing? Well that is because at present the development is lagging behind schedule. I have heard from a couple of sources that elements such as the new passenger foot bridges which were prefabricated off – site simply did not fit when they arrived. Because such work can only be carried out during the weekend rail closure periods, the remedial works have been much delayed.  The temporary ticket office also boasts passenger lifts to enable step – free access to both platforms for wheelchair and baby buggy users. We are starting to see a pattern here- high profile infrastructure projects like Crossrail, and places like Bexleyheath station (which had absolutely no need for a passenger lift – even local MP David Evennett agreed no lift was required) get passenger lifts, but then very popular and well used stations like Erith still have no lift, and no current likelihood of getting one. I raised the matter with the developers of Erith Quarry at the recent second public consultation day at Trinity School; I explained that it was in everybody’s interest to get step – free access at Erith station, as it would add value to their development (the main part of Erith Quarry will be targeted at second or third time house buyers, many of which may well have young families and the need for pushchair use; in addition, as the population continues to age, a greater number of wheelchair and mobility scooter users will live in the local area and will need to get around). It would seem that a station lift would be a win / win for the community as a whole. The chap (who was very senior, and I had better not mention his name at this point) agreed that the estimated cost of installing a simple lift system at the station would be something that subject to further investigation might well be something that they would look into. This might not count as a very big step forward, but when you take into account the flat refusal of Network Rail to carry out any accessibility modifications at Erith, it is a start in the right direction.  Local MP Teresa Pearce, who started the campaign for a lift at Erith Station is aware of the situation with the Quarry development; hopefully it can be brought to a mutual advantage.

The photo above shows Upper Belvedere paddling pool back shortly after it opened (though I cannot be absolutely specific as to the precise date the shot was taken - although it has to be between 1908 and 1914). This was the precursor to the current splash park, which certain elements of Bexley Council are keen to do away with. In another "then and now" photo comparison, you can see what the place looks like in the photo below. Click on either shot for a larger view. 

Local TV star backs the campaign to Save Belvedere Splash Park! Young actress Isabelle Doherty from the recent Sainsbury's Halloween TV advertisement (on the left of the photo, looking very despondent) is backing the campaign to preserve the vital local amenity for young residents and their parents. It helps that her Dad Ian is the driving force behind the whole "Save the Splash Park" enterprise. Since I last mentioned the Splash Park and the campaign to keep it open, I have come into quite a lot of new information, much of which makes me slightly more optimistic that the park can indeed be saved. Suffice to say much of what I have been told is currently in confidence, so I cannot divulge specific details. What I am able to say is that there are engineering details why the park has been shut – it was not just a ploy by the council to save a few pounds. The splash park uses water that is recycled and filtered before being stored in a large underground tank, which is located underneath the centre of the park  for re – use through the various jets and sprays around the facility. The tank has developed a series of faults which mean it needs to be dug up and removed for repair by a specialist contractor. The refurbishment work is estimated to cost in the region of £350 - £500K. Thus far Bexley Council have only approached one supplier for a quotation. The council don't want to pay this – and I have had off the record confirmation that certain key council members don’t want to spend a penny on the North of the borough, instead concentrating their efforts on the wealthier South, where the people are more likely to vote for the incumbents. All is not lost however, as a couple of alternative funding options may have become open. It also became apparent at yesterday's public meeting that the council had not taken out a warranty  or service contract on the splash park when it was originally commissioned. This, along with only getting one quotation for the repair work is contrary to all guidelines in respect of due diligence and proper oversight that I have ever encountered. That’s about as far as I can say for now; it seems that there is a huge amount of negotiation and horse trading going on behind closed doors, and the splash park may not be the dead duck that some thought. There is going to be a huge fight, and certain council members may be surprised at the resistance to the proposed closure - a Facebook campaign group has already been set up, and currently it is gaining new members at approximately a thousand people a day. Hopefully I will be able to report more next week.

During the week I got asked a question that really made me think. The question was “If price was no object, what three classic computers would you most like to own, and why?” After a bit of mulling, my response was:- 1) Xerox Alto – the most revolutionary computer since Colossus. More on it in a moment. 2) Xerox Star – the development of the Alto, and the first commercially available computer to use a graphical user interface. 3) NeXT Cube Colour – the great granddaddy of all modern Apple Macs, and the platform used by Sir Tim Berners – Lee to create the World Wide Web. So why did I pick the Xerox Alto as my most desired classic computer? Well, bear in mind that the Alto was never actually available for commercial purchase, and only around fifteen hundred Alto units were hand constructed by Xerox, mainly for internal use, though a handful made it into academia for study purposes, and one made it into the White House. The Alto was the first computer anywhere that had a GUI – a Graphical User Interface, that used the still common desktop paradigm. It had a mouse, used icons, it was able to talk to other Alto computers over an early form of Ethernet data networking. It had a "what you see is what you get" word processing program, it could send and receive Emails with attachments, it could output page set documents to a laser printer and had the world’s first high resolution bitmapped screen. All of this was available in 1973! It was at least fifteen years ahead of anything else in the world, but Xerox did not think there would be a market for such a computer, and eventually wound the project down. This business decision made Decca turning down the Beatles look small change in comparison. Later, the GUI computer project was restarted, and in the very early 1980’s Xerox released the Star – a high end workstation based on the earlier Alto concepts. Bexley Council had a couple of Star units in their typing pool for several years, but they were never really used for anything other than word processing – with their distinctive portrait oriented display screens. Their powerful networking and graphical features were pretty much not used. A couple of years ago, before Bexley Council moved out of their old offices in Bexleyheath Broadway, I tried to find out if any of the Xerox Star units were still being stored on site. I had heard rumours that at least one was stored in the basement nuclear fallout shelter. I had hoped to persuade the council to donate it to The National Museum of Computing at Bletchley Park. Unfortunately my investigation drew a blank – nobody I contacted at the council knew anything about the computers, and they were actually not very interested. Many phone messages and Emails to them went without response, to the point where I got fed up and gave in. Anyone with a Xerox Star, or even more enticingly an Alto stuck in the corner of their basement (it would not have gone in the loft – it was so heavy it would have come through the ceiling) is sitting on not only a very important piece of computer history, but a small fortune. Collectors will pay substantial sums of money for rare and important computers – as was recently seen when an immaculate and completely original Apple 1 was purchased at auction for $905,0000. Personally I think this was a tad over-valued. The Apple 1 was not the first home computer by some way, it was not revolutionary and it was merely one of a number of kit type computers then available. The later fame of the brand has put quite an image boost over the machine that started it all for the Apple brand, and I will not be at all surprised if the next Apple 1 to go on auction breaks the million dollar mark. The ending video this week is  a short commercial for the Xerox Alto - though why they made a commercial for a product that never actually went on sale escapes me. Please feel free to leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.