13/03/2014 Look North (North East and Cumbria)

News at Six. It's goodbye from me. News at Six. It's goodbye from me.

Hello, welcome to Look North. In the On BBC

Hello, welcome to Look North. In the programme tonight: We're so sorry.

Apologies from the Leeds chhldren's heart unit to parents of seriously

ill children ` including those who wanted them sent to Newcastle for

treatment. A new way to tackle flooding ` move the river that's the

cause of the problem. We're still here. The village that fears it s

off the map, and losing precious business, because of long`tdrm

roadworks. We're celebrating the 250th anniversary of the man at the

top of this landmark, but there were more shades to Earl Grey th`n you

might realise. And space calling Cockermouth ` the spectacul`r

pictures captured from the very edge of the atmosphere by pupils in

Cumbria. In sport, he feared the sack ` now Alan Pardew tells us how

he plans to cope with his football stadium ban. And fearing thd drop `

how defeat by the FA Cup semi`finalists has given struggling

Carlisle the blues. The children's heart surgerx unit in

Leeds has been criticised for treating some families poorly. In

fact, a year`long NHS investigation says it treated them with "` tragic

lack of communication, comp`ssion and, sometimes, basic kindndss"

Some of those families had wanted their children transferred to the

heart unit at Newcastle's Freeman Hospital. Both, of course, `re

involved in a review of children's heart units around the country ` and

Leeds had been targeted for closure. Well our health reporter Sh`ron

Babour joins me now in the studio. Sharon ` tell us about the report

today. Well the report affects the whole region. We have familhes in

North Yorkshire who use the Leeds unit and the Freeman take rdferrals

from across the country. A plan to close some centres has seen a battle

between Newcastle and Leeds hospitals last year we learned

charities had concerns about the Leeds heart unit. Later it was

closed and an investigation launched. Three things were

investigated, mortality ratds, referrals to other hospitals and

family complaints. We learndd two aspects, with mortality, we learned

the unit is safe, although there are recommendation. For families, we

learn some have been badly treated. Serious problems have been found

regarding the care of 16 falilies. The stories are very harrowhng. And

they experienced a lack of come passion, poor counselling and badly

handled complaints. What have the families said? The once I h`ve

spoken to say they're grateful for being listened to and what they say

is a sincere apology from the niechers and `` NHS and the

hospital. One of the parents spoke to us last year about her d`ughter

Jessica. She felt that Leeds Hospital had lft it to late to

transfer her daughter to Frdeman hospital. I was begging my

consultant to let Jessica go. She had a stroke ten days later after

arriving at the hospital, bdcause she was so sick and then nine days

later she received a new he`rt. Between 27 days my daughter was on

death's door and now I was being told by Leeds she could go `nother

year and it was devastating. We heard from professor Sir Roger

Boyle. Yes, he is the expert who said he would rather send Sdined his

daughter to `` send his daughter to Newcastle than Leeds and was soon

out of a job. He criticised political intervention and darlier

he said the behaviour of sole of the MPs was disgraceful. We need to

remember that families going through this kind of process are probably

among the most distressed pdople that we have in our country. I hope

that the MPs who were making such a fuss and competing to be thd MP

locally in West Yorkshire that saved the Leeds heart unit read this

report carefully. Some strong words there. What happens now? We are

waiting on the third aspect of the report on referrals, includhng

referring up to the Freeman Hospital and of course the whole revhew as to

which unit stays open. We know that is delayed, so we should find out

about this time next year. Thank you. More news now. Police trying to

find the missing deputy head teacher, Mark Bushnell, say they're

still searching ` although hopes of a positive outcome are fading. Mr

Bushnell ` a married father of three, who works at Durham School `

left home on Sunday morning. He drove to Blackhall Rocks ne`r

Peterlee. Police say they'vd spoken to a number of people who s`w him or

spoke to him there. Further searches are planned into the weekend,

although they will be on a smaller scale. The Government's announced

nearly ?29 million of funding for schools in the region. Schools in

Northumberland will get over ?1 million, while those in North

Yorkshire will receive more than ?7 million. Cumbria and County Durham

schools will also be given dxtra money. But there's no funding

increase for schools in Middlesbrough, where this wdek the

schools inspectorate, OFSTED, criticised standards. The ftneral

took place today of Megan Roberts, the York student whose body was

found in the River Ouse earlier this month. Megan, who was 20, w`s a

student at York St John University. Her family held a private ftneral in

Harrogate. Megan had been mhssing for six weeks before she was found.

Police say it's likely she fell into the river after a night out with

friends. The search for solttions to flooding has become a priorhty

nationwide. But a new plan to protect houses in Newcastle is more

radical than most. The multh`million pound scheme would involve creating

an entirely new channel for the Ouseburn to keep it away from homes

in the Brunton Park area whhch was last flooded in 2012. Jonathan

Swingler can tell us more. The Ouseburn has been calm todax, but

when the rain comes, part of Newcastle have ended up likd this.

So the plan to divert it and build walls is going to have a big impact.

There is so much work going to be done I may have to move out of the

house. So I mean I have a son living in Gosforth, it means he wotld get

in touch. But it's a big ch`nge to have to move? Totally big change,

especially at my age. So ye`h, I'm not looking forward to it at all,

because they're going to ch`nge quite a bit in the garden and it's

not very pleasant. It's not going to be cheap. All of this is costing

?5.5 million. But at the end of the day they're changing the direction

of this river and they're m`king big changes to the golf course too.

Brian lives just yards from the water, but is also a keen golfer. I

think the first priority for me is to protect my own home and ly

family. But as a member of the golf club and having listened to the

plans that were outlined very recently, I think it's a win`win

situation for both parties. We're going to get a better golf course

out of it and the local reshdents are going to have their homds

protected. It's early days for all of this. We're going for pl`nning

permission around May this xear So hopefully with everything going to

plan and by July we should have planning permission and really start

the works in earnest then. We are looking at 12 months worth of work,

so into next year, similar time summer. And then around abott autumn

time next year, most of the scheme should be finished. With sole work

to follow on, maybe the sprhng the year after. The consultation is

under way. Supporters of thd scheme say the hefty price tag will keep

100 homes safe. We're still here! That's the message from villagers in

North Yorkshire, who feel ctt off by repairs to the main route into their

village. The work on the Richmond to Reeth road, in Swaledale will take

12 weeks. Reeth will be at the heart of the Tour de France when ht comes

to Yorkshire in July. North Yorkshire County Council has

apologised for the roadworks ` but says they're "essential." Phil

Chapman reports. When it coles to diversions there can't be m`ny as

picturesque as this one over Grinton Moor. Which is why frustrathng

business owners in and around Reeth want visitors to know they needn't

turn back at the stop sign. What we're finding now is people are

getting the impression throtgh the media, negative reports, th`t Reeth

is cut off and isolated frol the sort of the rest of the world. It's

not. There is a diversion in place. It takes you maybe 10 minutds

longer. But on a day like today you have got the advantage that when

you're coming into Reeth from the road down there, you have a

spectacular view of Reeth and Swaledale. The road that thd actual

diversion is going on is part of the route of the Tour de France. In

fact, it's less than four months before the Tour will speed directly

through the centre of Reeth after wending its way through the Dales,

with thousands of people expected to descend on the village. The

essential landslip works on the B6270 Richmond to Reeth road is

expected to take another 11 weeks. In a statement, North Yorkshire

County Council said: While the diversion is in place

businesses don't want trade diverted as well. Among them Carolind still

wants people to come for afternoon tea. It's gorgeous, it's absolutely

beautiful, come and visit us. Peter still wants people to visit for

ice`cream. The Dale is not closed for business, people can usd the two

higher roads and in weather like this it's fantastic to travdl over

those roads. The scenery is magnificent. So you would bd crazy

not to come really. And Stu`rt still wants people to get on their bikes

to get here and the diversion should even keep them extra fit. The road

up from Richmond is the low level ride, so get a lot of cyclists come

up from Richmond, Northallerton and round and about. But it's a bit

frustrating. It's a small dhversion, you've got a bit of a hill climb to

do to get back out of the D`le, but we're still open and the sun's

shining, so it's still worth a trip. Well for anyone who thinks Reeth is

isolated or cut off, they whll have to return in the summer when it

becomes the centre of the cxcling universe, but long before then the

business community here in this village and throughout the Dales

want everyone to know they're very much open for business. Comhng up

next: Some lesser known facts about one of our former Prime Minhsters.

And the self`confessed couch potato who cleaned up her act so mtch,

she's just been crowned "Brhtain's Strongest Woman". The strength of

the high pressure is declinhng and it will be cloudier and bredzy, but

generally dry. Join me later for the full forecast. He's one of our

region's most famous political figures, and today marks thd 25 th

anniversary of the birth of Charles Earl Grey. The statue of thd Earl `

whose family seat was Howick Hall in Northumberland ` dominates the

Newcastle skyline, of coursd. But do we really remember his achidvements?

Peter Harris is live at Grex's Monument now, Peter. It took three

years to build this monument, but when it was unveiled, Earl Grey

didn't bother to turn up. So it begs the question why. Could it be he was

getting old, or could it be that the country boy wasn't really all

that... Either way it was a remarkable life. Prime Minister

reformer, but who was the m`n standing sentry over Newcastle?

There's one legacy we all know ` a brew created for the Earl bx a

Chinese Mandarin. Well isn't he creator of Earl Grey tea, isn't that

right? The tea, yeah. That's about it. His house was at Howick past

Alnwick. Something to do with tea. Yet his real achievement was one 300

miles away. The Great Reforl Act of 1832. Fighting off the Housd of

Lords, a change that back then seemed significant. Immortalised

with a monument. He engineered the first major overhaul of the system

of voting and representation in British history and changing a

system that had been around since the medieval period. The more

negative view would be he w`sn't a radical, he wasn't a democr`t, he

was an aristocrat, he was committed to maintaining the property

franchise and only people whth property could have the right to

vote. The abolition of slavdry in the Commonwealth was his as well.

Privately though this was a country boy and it might be the long periods

away in London saw him seek solace in women. His wife, Mary, h`s 1

children, so inevitably she spent much her life being pregnant and

while Grey was away in London and other places, he was chasing the

women. Including the Duchess of Devonshire, to whom he had ` child.

The child ending up being brought up by the Greys. The Duchess's story

retold in a film with Keira Knightley. But back at the family

seat, Howick Hall, such aff`irs wouldn't have been seen as tnusual

for great men of the time. Not only did he have an affair with the

Duchess of Devonshire, but there was also the Russian ambassador's wife,

he had an affair with. That's reasonably well documented. And

perhaps there were others. But you've to have a bit of historical

imagination about this and say, well, that's what life was like in

London then. And is it so dhfferent today? I'm not sure! He inshsted his

children were educated at home in Northumberland and he sent them on a

midnight walk to cure a fear of darkness. Telling them to phck a

rare flower to prove they'd done it. And when he was buried here in 845,

could he have known that for all the politics, the Prime Minister would

be remembered for his tea? How terribly British! Although the tea

takes his name, Earl Grey ndver took out a patent on it and that means

the family never received a penny. Probably not his best decishon that!

Back to you. Doesn't lund vrd sound like it. `` doesn't sound lhke it.

Our region is well know for its strong women. But one formidable

lady is celebrating after bding named the strongest in the country.

Donna Moore, from Catterick in North Yorkshire, was a self`confessed

couch potato when the doctor warned her to change her lifestyle. So she

hit the gym ` and this month was crowned "Britain's Strongest Woman",

after lifting the equivalent of two grown men above her head. H`nnah

Bayman dropped in on a training session. Donna Moore at her gym in

Topcliffe. The tyre she's flipping weighs as much as three adult women.

It's great fun and empowering and nice to be with other peopld and to

train and it is different from the regular exercise classes at the gym.

To win the title of Britain's Strongest Woman, Donna liftdd this

22 stone bar over her head repeatedly for 75 seconds. Faster. A

lot of the events are multirepetitions for a time frame.

That is where she excels. She has that endurance where she can keep

pushing. She is strong for ` good period of time. Then there was the

farmers sprint. The barrel walk and the excruciating Crucifix hold,

among other ordeals. Keep breathing. Good stuff. Donna did this `mazing

feat, lifting 195 kilos which is a good achievement, because the bar is

the size of a soda can and the weight she lifted is the eqtivalent

of four washing machines. So she did an amazing thing. My childrdn think

it is awesome that their mul is strong. What will Donna lift next?

She hopes it'll be the Strongest Woman in Europe title in July. Fancy

that? Not really. I wouldn't like to lift you. You might struggld with

Paul Mooney. Time for sport now and Newcastle Manager Alan Parddw's been

talking publicly ` for the first time ` since his seven match ban

from the FA for headbutting Hull City's David Meyler Dawn? Yds, It

was his press conference ahdad of Saturday's Fulham game but `ll the

questions were about his st`dium and touchline ban. He said he's written

a letter of apology to Stevd Bruce and said sorry again to Davhd Meyler

and the Newcastle fans for his behaviour. He was fined ?100,00 by

the club on the day but was clearly worried he might have lost his job.

Well of course it is a relidf, because you know when you h`ve made

a mistake and men make mist`kes My mistake was in front of millions of

people. But you have to pay a price and there was a hefty price to pay.

Mike acted swiftly and I accepted that. In this interim period, since

the incident, the backing I have had from the club in particular has been

really a big help to me. Because obviously it's been difficult. At

the time I didn't think it was as bad as it appeared on TV and I must

have watched it 2,000 times. The situation was I should never have

walked forward and got involved in that situation when he pushdd me.

Well we know Pardew has been involved in several incidents in the

past ` do you think he's le`rned anything this time? Well he's

considering taking some kind of anger management course ` and his

seven matches away from the cut and thrust might end up being

beneficial. That will give le a period to get my head around it in

terms of how I take the teal forward. Because one thing xou will

never take out of me is my desire and hunger to win. And Newc`stle

fans knows that is what drives me and drives the keep. `` That I will

have to keep and channel it the right way. What I have to do is out

of this situation become a better manager. I have had something like

678 games, I've only had ond touch line ban before this one. Btt that

doesn't mean to say what I did has any justification, so I spoke to the

owner about make some managdment consultant issues I could look at

that might help. Club On Saturday he'll be in the team hotel `nd will

give the pre match teamtalk ` and as for communicating with his staff

during the game ` it seems to be a bit of a grey area and he's probably

just going to leave John Carver to get on with it. Actually whdn you're

on the side of the pitch and you can see a bigger picture, I'm going to

have the trust John's gut fdeling on how that game is evolving and he has

worked with me long enough to know what I expect. At this time where

I'm sitting here now I have more faith in John perhaps carryhng the

flag for three games. I can deliver the game plan before they gdt on the

bus before the Fulham game, which sometimes do in the changing room.

The Sunderland head coach Gts Poyet has called on his first teal squad

to produce one final push in the battle to preserve the club's

Premier League status. He thinks five more wins from the last 12

games will be enough. Poyet also says he's looking forward to working

with the Wearsiders' new sporting director ` former Hamburg tdchnical

director, Lee Congerton. I think the relationship between the sport

director and the manager nedds to be spot on, if there is any

misunderstanding or friction then the one that pays the price is the

club and the fans. So I think it's important that he knows me the best

that he can so he can bring me the best players I need to be a better

football club. Carlisle rem`in in a precarious position, just one point

and two places above the Le`gue One relegation zone after losing 1` to

Sheffield United last night. The FA Cup semi finalists dominated for

long spells and after half `n hour former Everton midfielder Jose

Baxter drilled in a low shot. But The Blues keeper Jordan Pickford on

loan from Sunderland was in good form ` he had to be as he w`s kept

busy from the start forced hnto action from the first minutd of the

game. Carlisle kept the pressure on in the last twenty minutes `nd David

Amoo almost grabbed an equalizer but his header was cleared off the line.

Graham Kavanagh's side now have to prepare for a six pointer against

fellow strugglers Stevenage at Brunton Park on Saturday ` who're

just a point behind them. Now ` to a young woman who is quite literally a

real high`flier. We featured Caitlin Harm on Look North back in 2006 in

our Sportskids series when she was having lessons at Northumbrha

Gliding Club as a 12 year`old. Now 20, she's become one of the youngest

female commercial pilots in the UK. Caitlin recently got back from

training in Arizona where she got her Commercial Pilots Licence. She's

now just fifty hours flight training away from realising her dre`m of

becoming an airline pilot. Very close now. I'm a commercial pilot.

If you wanted me to fly down from Newcastle to bgs ford where I am now

and pay me to do that, I cotld technically do that. I would have

loved to fly concord, but that has been grounded. Ideally strahght out

of training I would love to fly a 737. People may think that hs not

exciting, but I prefer to fly short haul. Well done. We know how to pick

them. Now, some people are prepared to pay a fortune for a journey into

space. Well tonight ` for nothing ` we can take you on an amazing trip,

35,000 metres above our reghon, on a beautiful day. In last night's

programme we told you about the Cockermouth school pupils sdnding a

camera into the stratospherd, attached to a weather balloon. And

this evening we have their pictures, all the way from the edge of space,

` as Mark McAlindon reports. More than 100 miles from home thd camera

was found in a North Yorkshhre field. It begun its journey hours

earlier from this Cockermouth school. What it captured was

stunning. We were gobsmacked and we were so lucky with the weather.

There was no cloud cover and you can see the coastline and the mountains.

It is beautiful. The camera enjoyed one of the most privileged sight

seeing trips in the north. Ht reached 35 thousand metres before

bursting under the pressure and for a moment causing some anxiety. When

it burst, I started falling at 3 meeters a second and all of my group

were saying everyone is going to kill us, it is not slowing down We

were watching and slowly as the atmosphere thickened it started to

slow down and so much relief and it lapped at the right `` land at the

right speed and we thought everything would be intact `nd it

worked. So after two years of being part of space race, can thex go one

better next year zm? Last ydar was fantastic. Now they have eqtalled

that and I don't know how you go one better. It is a fantastic rdsult.

Fantastic. Well done to everyone involved. A lovely day for ht as

well. Britain's strongest wdatherman by the way. I will see you later. A

nice day, I have heard people mention the signs of spring they

have mentioned. Some mentioned the local ice`cream van and herd is an

ice`cream boat in York. Just the thing for a day like today. It

wasn't hot and sunny every where. And in Cumbria, mist and fog

persisted and staechlt struggled. Just `` temperatures struggled. Just

six degrees. Now high presstre will sink to the south`west and we have

north`westerly winds. Always on the the breezy and cloudy side. But

still generally dry. It shotld be mostly dry tonight. There whll be

mist and fog affecting parts of the region again. Some coastal fog in

the west. One or two patches of fog inland further east as well. And

they could be on the dense side as they have been. I don't think we

will see as much frost. Most places no colder than about four Cdlsius.

Tomorrow, that south`westerly breeze starts to pick up and the fog

patches should lift. But thdy will be replaced by cloud and a

stiffening south`west to westerly breeze. So more cloud and thick

enough for some rain in the west. Eastern areas hang on to thd

brighter skies. Some sunny spells in the afternoon. We should sed some

decent temperatures, up to 04 Celsius in the east. But it may not

feel as warm, because there will be more cloud and that breeze will pick

up strongly in the arve. O'`` afternoon. Through the weekdnd a lot

of cloud in the west. Day thme temperatures in double figures. So

reasonably mild. If on the breezy side and we should stay frost`free

in Cumbria. The north`east will stay frost`free as well. The clotd

thinner to east of the Pennhnes It will be breezy. The best ch`nce of

sunshine looks as if it will be on Sunday. Now if you're out and about

we would love to see your M`rch weather pictures. Send them to the

usual address. Thanks Paul. Now let's have a last look at tonight's

headlines. A former News of the World journalist has claimed in

court it was Princess Diana who leaked a confidential Royal phone

book. And the Leeds children's heart surgery unit has apologised to

parents of seriously ill chhldren, including those who wanted them sent

to Newcastle for treatment. That is it for now. We will see you later.

Bye`bye.