10/01/2012 BBC Points West

This is Points West. The headlines... A helicopter crash.

The luxury aircraft comes down after taking off from Bath. The

people inside escape allied it. Officers accused of racial abuse

after a disagreement with a doorman at a party. 1066 and all that. The

MP that wants children to study history until they are 16. The

Bristol team restoring this steamer which saw action in the evacuation

Good evening. A helicopter has crashed in Wiltshire shortly after

taking off from Bath. The pilot and passengers all survived the impact,

which wrecked the aircraft. It crashed near Salisbury on an

industrial estate. The pilot appeared to be making an emergency

The emergency call came just after 9:30am. People nearby watched the

helicopter in trouble. It looked like he was going to land in the

field at the back and all of a sudden, the tail end came up and it

went down and it counteracted and came back down had disappeared and

the engines cut out. Kidd flicked end over end and nosedived into the

ground. I did not understand how he managed to pull the nose up again.

It came back up, not horizontally. Then it crashed to the ground.

pilot and passengers had taken off from an airfield in Bath this

morning. Witnesses from the industrial estate clambered through

the woodland to help. There was one man on the tour. He was unconscious.

The Twitter to help each other out of the aircraft. -- the other two.

One had a gash to the head. People were shouting fire! I got a fire

extinguisher and I did my best to put it out from the engine. Two men

were airlifted to Southampton General Hospital and the third was

taken to Salisbury Hospital in an ambulance. The pilot has a head

injury and all of them had injuries to heads and backs. It is

remarkable nobody was killed. has been extensively damaged and we

are amazed anybody has escaped but we are delighted all three people

are alive and not seriously injured. I can still smell the fuel which

has saturated the ground. Investigators have been at the

scene all day but what we do not understand his way it was heading,

who was on board and what caused it The police are keen to trace a

convicted paedophile that has escaped from a secure hospital unit

near Taunton. David Marker has been detained since 1965 after being

convicted of indecently assaulting a seven-year-old girl. He is

thought to be in Weston-Super-Mare and anybody with any but

information is urged to call 999. - - any information. Jobs are under

threat because the company running TV licensing operations in Bristol,

Capita, wants to move to Lancashire to say the costs with just a small

number of jobs remaining in the West. The Communication Workers

Union will challenge today's announcement, which it said left

people stand. People came out of the announcement visibly shocked by

what had been said and the callous manner in which it was communicated.

People have now got a very grim future and it has not been the best

start to the year. A court has been told that two police officers and

racially abused a doorman in Bath, and they claimed that he thought he

was Polish. The officers were on a night out with colleagues last year

when it is alleged that they verbally insulted an Italian

Peter Lawson and Philip Upton arrived in court this morning to

hear the allegations against them are. In 20th December 10 they were

drinking at his bar in Bath with colleagues --. In December, 2010,

they were drinking had. The doorman was called in to insure they left

after some problems. He was repeatedly racially abused, the

court was told and told to go back to his own country and learn to

speak English. He has a thick accent. The group thought he was

Polish but he is in fact Italian. Hello bouncer Paul Owen testified

that they refused to lead and one threatened to knock him out. --

fellow bouncer. He maintains they were aggressive and threatening.

The defence is expected to start tomorrow. Both men deny what is

committed what is called a racially This is Points West. We have got

plenty more to come. Coming up, plans to transform Bristol's bear-

pit and breathe new life into this run-down subway. And all eyes on

Gary Johnson for his first game That is coming later. First,

welcome news for the struggling shopkeepers. After a terrible year,

2011 ended with a surprisingly strong Christmas. That is according

sales were up by 4% on last year. What did we buy and will it keep

the high streets going? Here is our correspondent at Cribbs Causeway.

What is the story? This is what the experts considered to be the

barometer for shopkeepers, M and S. The engine room is the food hall.

It is very up market and the strongest performing part of the

stock. And their figures were out today and they tell the story. 0.5

% great about the food doing much more strongly at a 3%. What else

did well? Are there up market food retailers, Waitrose, for example.

Times are tough and we are tightening belts but we would not

let that spoil the Christmas party. It was tighter at Christmas but we

spent on the children what we normally spend and less on

ourselves. Simon and Penny said it all. Money is tight but the

children must have Christmas. give them all money and that is it!

We let them sort themselves out up. Did you give them less this year?

We did not. Rising prices and falling wages have taken their toll.

This company went bust and half of the stores will close. The computer

games business is not fun either. Sales at Game fell by 12.9 %. But

Bristol's we tell flagship is weathering the store -- storm. --

retailing. Footwear has done surprisingly well. Jewellery and

fashion have done very well and we are pleased. Part of the social

element of coming out and doing something, it is getting the family

together and enjoyment of that. We have got good offers and people

come here for a day out and this is part of that. But prosperity is not

just on the high street. The internet has been a roaring away in

2011 with online purchasing up by 18 %. Smart events have done even

better. Shopping on the mobile phone has gone from nothing to

being worth �1.6 billion. A good December has not masked a miserable

year but it is a matter of survival and you have got to adapt. We are

always being told we are strapped for cash but the best performers

have been the expensive but almost. His company sells chocolates at �30

per box and sold out. People will spend up to �20 on chocolates and

even more on food and you can make up the numbers. It is wonderful.

Everybody loves food at Christmas. It is also happening in fashion

areas. The high end and named products are genuinely doing better

than at the other products. It is Easter already in Marks and

Spencers. They are doing cranberry and orange hot cross buns. Even in

austerity, we like a little bit of something special and that goes

across the board. Internet sales are doing well and chocolate is

doing well. The best business might be a fancy, chocolate online shop.

I met a lady doing just that until -- and until the crash, she was a

What are you like on dates? One MP has been leading a debate in

Westminster, where their history should be compulsory for all

schoolchildren up to the age of 16. Kingswood's Conservative MP Chris

Skidmore is a historian concerned the subject is dying out. We will

catch up with him in Westminster but first we have been finding out

what students have to say about the subject. GCSE history is a chance

to take a journey through time and stopping at significant moments on

the way. We have got traditional topics like the world wars but we

have also got things like the American Civil War and a history of

medicine. But what is the point for most of us? It encourages people to

learn about democracy and political participation and positive roles in

society as well as fitting into a diverse and changing Britain. It

helps their part in that. I think they can learn from that. Currently

less than one-third of students study history beyond the age of 14

and in Bristol, just 14 % achieved a grade C or above at GCSE and A-

level last year. But this academy in Bristol seems to know its staff.

Especially when it comes to King Henry VII. The third died. The

second what bare-headed. The last one survived. -- was executed.

can learn from the past and what you have come from in your origins

and that is brilliant. A New York journalist said that a page in

history is what a book of mathematics and I think that is

really true. A debate in Westminster has called for history

to be compulsory for all schoolchildren up to the age of 16.

A chance perhaps to learn instead Chris Skidmore is the MP had part-

time lecturer in history that is keen for be subject to go put -- to

become compulsory up to GCSE. We have heard these young people and

they are very enthusiastic but a lot of people think it is a bit old

hat. A lot of people, less than one-third of pupils are taking

history in Bristol. Just 14 % up passing jet. We are the only

country apart from Albania that is doing that and we must change.

it more important than geography, computer studies or French?

have got to have mathematics, science, English and languages but

history makes us what we are today and create a national identity.

can understand if you are the great leader of a nation. You might want

to learn about the foreign policy of the first Queen Elizabeth. But

how does that impact on ordinary life today? A broad sweep of

history should be from them or to the modern age. That helps people

to understand about democratic institutions and the freedoms that

men and women have a won. Learning about slavery and that is an

important topic. History helps us to learn these important lessons.

Campaigners have taken their fight against plans for wind turbines in

the Berkeley Vale to a public inquiry today. The company that

wants to put them up is arguing their visual impact on the

landscape is not enough of a reason to turn the plans down. Chris James

reports. Wind turbines. A blot on the

landscape or a green and efficient way to generate electricity?

Whatever your thoughts, they are increasing in numbers. This one in

Gloucestershire for example. The owner of the company wants to push

up more but local residents do not see his point of view. The North

Sea has just about run out of the oil and gas. It is a really big

deal how our children are going to keep the lights on. Wind energy is

ours and we should be using it. This is the Vale of Berkeley.

Original E the company wanted to put eight wind turbines here but

they submitted a planning application for just four. So the

bail would have looked something like this. But those plans were

rejected by the council so the company called for a public inquiry

and that began today. More than 40 protesters packed the council

Chamber in Stroud to give evidence. They say they will fight to protect

the countryside. John Barclay own spark the castle and is concerned

that tourists will stay away because the terrorists will blight

the landscape. I'm horrified -- the tourists. It is the wrong place to

put these large turbines. There will stand out like a sore thumb. I

feel very strongly about it, spawning a lovely part of England.

I do hope we win this fight. public inquiry only began today and

will hear evidence from both sides in the next week. A decision, which

will be final, it is now expected in the spring.

The aircraft company Airbus has refuted claims that its A380 fleet

is not safe after reports of cracks on the wings of civil aircraft. The

models are assembled in France with part spilled across Europe

including Felten. The company is concerned that minor cracks were

found on some Phnom critical wing attachments and repairs will be

carried out as part of maintenance checks. In the meantime Airbus said

the safety and the fleet is not affected.

Wiltshire is to get a mobile chemotherapy unit. It's being

funded by the charity Hope for Tomorrow, which has already set up

mobile units in Somerset and Gloucestershire. It'll bring

specialist cancer care to rural areas of the county, meaning

patients will no longer need to travel long distances to get

treatment. It will treat up to 60 patients a week.

It's known as the bear pit - a run down, concrete underpass in the

middle of Bristol's busiest roundabout. For years it's been a

place you'd only walk through if you had to. But now it's getting a

one million pound make-over that could see it turned into a

continental style plaza. Here's Jules Hyam.

1977. Welcome to Bristol. This was the lot -- the memorable view that

greeted visitors to the historic city in the Queen's jubilee year.

This part of the city now has no offices and housing, a new bus

station and a whole new shopping centre. But this, they bear pit

inside the Roundabout, it has stayed exactly the same. It is

unloved, and welcoming, unused urban space but campaigners who

have set up a company want to turn it into an urban oasis. They point

to festivals which show that it can be a welcoming venue. Now the

council is backing their proposals to the tune of �1 million was DUP

it is an area of the city in which a lot of people like to avoid.

has had problems in the past with graffiti. We want to improve it and

make it a lot more friendly for pedestrians and make it an access

to the city centre we're proud of. There are dozens of ideas in this

document all based around changing this from a place that people walk

through to a space that people would come to. Key to all that is

putting in pedestrian crossings at street level, freeing up the

subways for kiosks and market stalls and could even create a

space for performances and events. As well as those street level

crossings, at street level walkway could be built. Creating a kind of

continental-style plasma. Albeit one insider Roundabout. If the

council gets a good response when it puts forward its plans, then it

could become more of a well-dressed arena within 18 months.

People thought it was sold modern when it opened!

In football, Gary Johnson will tonight take charge of Yeovil Town

for the first time since he returned to the club as manager.

His appointment was announced yesterday and his first task will

be to get Yeovil out of the relegation zone at the bottom of

league one. Today the team has been training in Sheffield ahead of

tonight's game against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane. Alistair

Durden has been with them. How quickly can Gary Johnson work

his magic again? Including tonight against Sheffield United, he has 22

games to get Yeovil Town out of the relegation zone and into a more

comfortable position. The squad travelled up yesterday, staying in

a nearby hotel. They had their pre- match meal at around 4:30pm this

afternoon and a team meeting after that. Garry Thompson has picked the

team tonight but after just one day, only one training session, I asked

him how much of an impact he has been able to make?

As far as the technical side of things are concerned you cannot

make much of an impact but you can make an impact on the mental side

of things. The lads looked quite bright yesterday. I was pleased the

way they understood how the management team was going to pan

out. If we could get that bit of spark than I think the players will

look even better. We need to get a couple of wins on the trot. The

game tonight, it is not one you would choose to have as your first

game, but if we win then it will be down to me. If we lose it is down

to Terry! Quite an unforgiving first game for the new management

team. Sheffield United are 4th in the table. But Yeovil have been

hard to beat at home and the arrival of Gary Johnson will give

them just that little bit extra as they look for the 5th win of the

season. Also tonight, Bristol Rovers travel

to Hereford. Caretaker manager Shaun North continues in charge as

the club try to appoint a new manager after last week's sacking

of Paul Buckle. And Swindon Town, fresh from their FA Cup success in

knocking out premier league side Wigan, play Barnet in the first leg

of their southern area final in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy.

A historic ship that made her name during the Dunkirk evacuations of

World War Two is being restored in a Bristol dockyard. The Medway

Queen is a paddle steamer that rescued more than seven thousand

troops and brought them back to Britain. Now, after two years of

work, she's beginning to look more like her old self, as Will Glennon

found out. It's taken a lot of hard work and

skill and the Medway Queen is steadily heading towards completion.

Built in 1924, she was a paddle steamer, a pleasure boat, then

World War II saw her pressed into action. Her finest moment came when

she made seven crossings to the beaches of Dunkirk, helping rescue

thousands of soldiers. Men like Kit Reed. He says he wouldn't be here

was it not for this ship. She saved thousands of lives. We

were being bombed all the time. I love her. It is marvellous to be

here. And to have a small part in the rebuild. It sort of belongs to

you, this ship. I'm glad she's being rebuilt. It is marvellous.

In later years she fell into disrepair, meaning a full

reconstruction was needed. The hull has been made by riveting plates

together instead of welding. It's the way they would originally have

done it. Each piece of the Medway Queen has been rebuilt or

refashioned using the traditional techniques. This is her original

engine. That will be put back in. And this is one of the paddle

wheels. The green part in the centre is original, the rest is

being hand-built to match. Take a look at this - the size of that

bolt and there are dozens of them in this part of the wheel. Each one

custom-made in Bristol. This project is even more special

because there is that side of it and then the human side to it. All

the people that this ship touched in such dramatic circumstances. It

just makes it special, really special.

The whole project's been funded thanks to a lottery grant of almost

two million pounds. When she's finished, The Medway Queen will be

going on show in Kent. A lot of hard work there. Let's

A lot of hard work there. Let's take a look at the weather.

Well it is going to be cold it later on in the week. Not as cold

as it was this day back in 1982. Thanks for these marvellous archive

pictures. It was a similar story in other parts of Gloucestershire and

more widely. We have the all-time record of minus 27.2. Temperatures

will fall away below average at the end of the week. But for the time

being it is mild and dry and tomorrow will bring more in the way

of brighter spells. As we get to tomorrow, it is a dry story for all

of us. But later on the cold front just makes an appearance and starts

to influence the weather with colder air. For the rest of this

evening, we have lost those earlier showers. Some mist in a few spots.

Some cloud around as well and just a moderate breeze. By tomorrow

morning temperatures will have dropped to around four or five

degrees in parts of the countryside around dawn. Tomorrow starts on a

quiet night. Some cloud around but that starts to break up and as the

day develops, 0 in the wake of the sunny spells. -- more in the wake

of. Little chance of seeing any rain whatsoever it through the

course of the day. Temperatures around nine, 10 or 11 degrees. Into

the tail end of the week, that cold front approaching. Some frost

overnight into Friday. Friday is a crisp winter's day. Sunday will be

a tricky one because by Saturday, we are still into chilly and clear

conditions. But Sunday is still uncertain, it could be fine and dry,

it could be something different, it could be something different,

possibly some snow. The gardens across the West think