15/12/2011 Look North (Yorkshire)


15/12/2011

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Welcome to Thursday's Look North. Tonight: Paying respects. Leeds

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remembers the award-winning soldier killed in Afghanistan, and buried

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in his home city. A positive career, a leader in the

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regiment, it is a real loss, more so for his family.

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Also tonight: Caught out. Councils blame the forecasters for not

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warning them enough about the overnight snow.

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The iconic Bronte relic to be preserved for future generations.

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Top Withins gets an overhaul. For the second night running, we

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have a warning for wide spread ice The funeral has taken place of a

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20-year-old soldier from Yorkshire who was killed in Afghanistan.

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Rifleman Sheldon Steel from Bramley in Leeds was described by the major

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of his battalion as a future leader in the making and a very sad loss.

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He was killed by an explosion in Helmand province while on foot

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patrol last month. Ian White reports.

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10am in Bramley. Traffic was brought to a standstill outside St

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Peter's Church. His family have described him as a big lad with a

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big heart. The 20 year old was a soldier with the Fifth Battalion

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The Rifles. He was killed on 27th November in an explosion by a

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roadside bomb. Today, one of his commanding officers spoke of his

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professionalism. Rifleman Sheldon Steel was above his peers in every

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description. A huge man at six feet four, he won the top dog

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competition. It is a sad loss for us, a real loss for the regimental

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family, but more so for his family. From his mother, a simple message

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on her wreath. I love you, miss you and will never forget you. Finn in

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church, his friends held back the tears. I know it is difficult to

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believe, but he would not want us to be sad today. He said in his

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letters that we should celebrate his life. He died doing what he

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always wanted to do since he was young. A soldier in the army. Not

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just a career, but a life that he loved. So the reason we are proud

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of him. Hundreds of Sheldon's family and friends packed the

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church. But outside, it was strangers who wanted to pay their

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respects. We have lived here 48 years. You feel for the family, it

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is only right that we pay our respects today. You have to pay

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your respects, because he was a brave lad. A terrible loss.

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Rifleman Sheldon Steel's body was taken for burial.

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The wintry conditions caused further disruption around Yorkshire

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today. Black ice and snow showers brought commuter traffic to a

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standstill around Bradford and Halifax. There were long delays in

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South Yorkshire too. Sheffield Council has admitted that it was

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caught out, and so have the weather forecasters. We'll be live at a

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gritting depot in Sheffield in a moment. First, Spencer Stokes

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reports on this morning's travel chaos.

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Snow and Sunrise combine to create a serene winter Wonderland scene

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above Bradford. On the roads, a different story, ice and slush made

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it a tricky commute. We live half an hour from work, it is a three

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hour drive this morning. Yes. That is how long it has taken. No sign

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of any gritter. We did see some the other week! Not this morning.

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Bradford -- Bradford council said they did take machines out last

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night. It's not just the lorries which can keep exposed roots clear.

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In rural areas, these have already been used, below half full. The

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councils say they will be replenishing these. Their big

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gritters are back on the roads tonight. In Sheffield, the council

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has said it was caught out. This bus failed to get started after

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calling out the stop. Others were prepared, like Postman with Sue

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spikes to make sure Christmas cards arrive on time. They do make a

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difference, I have worn them for a few years. You feel more sure

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footed walking about that if you didn't wear them. Around two inches

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fell last night, combined with a slippery conditions. One school in

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Bradford took the decision to open late. There was a sheet ice

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everywhere. We have to decide whether we would open, the best

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decision was to delay opening. 10am start was welcomed by parents

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and took some pressure away from the roads and gave children the

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chance to experience a sleigh ride to school. No rain gear here just

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yet, but the horses seem to be enjoying their wintery surroundings.

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-- no reindeeer. Why did the weather forecasters get it wrong?

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Paul joins us now. What happened? There was local disruption. A

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warning was put out at 7pm last night saying there would be

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widespread ice but we did not forecast the snow showers. That's

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the way it goes sometimes, we can get the weather wrong. I found

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myself defending you. It is December. We didn't see the snow

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showers coming. Some people got stuck in bad traffic. We did have a

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warning out for ice. What is tomorrow are going to be like?

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Tonight his eyes with wintry showers. -- Tonight is ice. The

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roads may freeze quite quickly. have 15 minutes to double check!

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Sheffield City Council has admitted it wasn't prepared for the

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overnight falls of snow. Heidi Tomlinson is at Sheffield's

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gritting depot now. This no took Sheffield by surprise.

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We are at the depot. They are not low on stock, 800 tonnes -- 8,000

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tons of rock salt. What happened this morning to caused the chaos on

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the roads? The forecast across the region was for frost. There was

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salt for that but we needed much more for snow. That was the problem.

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The snow started falling at 4am, is that too late to get the gritters

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on the roads? We sent the vehicles out but we needed a more. We were

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quickly out on the network but as you can see the damage was already

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done. We had some instances like this. What condition when the roads

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have been in this morning? centimetres of snow. At all levels

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in the city. In the south of the city in particular as well as on

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higher ground. In the centre of the city it was clear? Very clear. We

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saw snow fall early on. It goes to show how reliant you are made

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weather forecast. We -- Stay with us as we meet the

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new Yorkshire cricket coach. The former Australian test bowler Dizzy

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Gillespie back at Headingley, and king of all he surveys. There's

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been more bad news for struggling shops today, as figures showed a

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fall in retail sales last month. How have Yorkshire's high streets

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been coping this year? Look North has asked all Yorkshire

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councils for the percentage of empty shops in the major towns and

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cities. The figures are for the autumn and they show: Bradford has

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the highest rate with 19% of shops not being used. Rotherham's figure

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is also 19%. Although only 15% of shops are empty in the main

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shopping area. At the other end of the scale, York and Harrogate are

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faring best. Just 7% of their shops are empty. Emma Glasbey has been to

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Bradford and Rotherham to find out how they are tackling the problem.

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It is a problem in almost every town and city, but when it comes to

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the major high streets in Yorkshire, Bradford is struggling more than

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any other to keep stores open. Almost one in five shops is empty.

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It is just a bit dead really. People just go to Leeds. There are

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a lot of empty shops. They could do a lot but they choose not to.

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are empty shops on almost every street in the city centre. It does

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make it extremely difficult for those businesses who are trying to

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draw in the shoppers. Rachel cannot afford her business rates. She

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applied for a hardship grant from the council that was rejected. She

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says her stall will close in June. The town centre is dying. There

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will not be a town centre soon. There is no incentive to come in.

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Bradford Council say they are working with shop owners to tackle

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the problem. Some of the figures that had been produced do not

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reflect Bradford city centre. your own figures show almost 19%

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empty shops. The figures show an improvement on the number of empty

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shops over the last couple of months. But that does not solve the

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problem. I accept that we have got to do a great deal more work.

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South Yorkshire, another high street facing a battle. In

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Rotherham, 19 the cent of shops are empty. But that is an improvement

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on recent years. This storm moved out seven years ago but has decided

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to come back. Some new businesses are helped with their rent.

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vacant shops are going down, more people are visiting the town. Since

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2010 we have had 50 new businesses in the town centre. We are seeing

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signs of improvement. There is still a way to go. We're on the way

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up. But this town and Bradford have tough competition from neighbouring

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cities and out of town shopping centres. They will be looking for a

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busy Christmas to help them face the New Year. Rotherham is trying

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hard but it is grim in certain cities and towns? It is so sad. I

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travelled all over, and coming back to Yorkshire which is where I take

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my family out at the weekend. The atmosphere is very flat. We need to

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do something to take measures to bring vibrancy back. We can only do

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that when the understand how town centres can operate, against the

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internet. You mentioned the internet, we did a straw poll, more

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than half, about 70%, say they have done half their shopping this

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Christmas online. I am afraid so, the internet can offer value,

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because they don't have the same overheads. What we have to think

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about his what do we have which is unique? That is the interaction,

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service. At Christmas, there is a big thing about nostalgia marketing,

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where brands are brought back from our past. It works very

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successfully. If you could have that silver brass band, a hot

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chocolate in your hand, that would make you go back and interact.

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Shops are closing down, it is easy to go out of town, we are not going

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into them. If to get into town is expensive. It can be ridiculous.

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am afraid so. In Bradford, I got Had done which has just been voted

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the best High Street in the country. They pride themselves with having a

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unique shops, not one multiple. Is that the way forward? Absolutely.

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Derby share as well. It is independence, but it is customer

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service. That is what we're trying to do. If we can't interact with

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people and be knowledgeable about things and how people, we can't

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make a difference as a store any more. Thank you for talking to us.

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The boom in online sales has had an impact on the UK's mail-order

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companies as well. Bradford has been the home of some of the

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biggest names in home shopping including Empire stores put over a

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century. Over the last decade, thousands of jobs have been lost in

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the industry. But they are fighting back. The former catalogue

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companies are developing their own online businesses. As these

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pictures from the 1960s show, Grattan was once the dominant

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player in the UK's growing mail- order business. Very cosy indeed.

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It is called mail order. company spent �40 million building

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this automated warehouse in Bradford in the 1990s. At the

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height of the mail order boom here in Bradford, plants like this would

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employ up to 1000 because. The big attraction of mail order was the

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ability to spread payments over months or even years. At the time,

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the statement regularly used it was delivery within 28 days. Imagine, a

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month to deliver in the current online age. But who better to

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transform part of the businesses into online trading than the men

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will do the companies themselves? The company was acquired by the

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German mail-order giant hand in recent years, over 1000 jobs had

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been lost in Bradford due to its restructuring. Three years ago, the

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otter group appointed this man as the head of their Asia operations

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to come to the UK and tried to turn the business around.

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opportunity is unlimited. We know the growth of internet sales is

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phenomenal. But as far outstripping the pop-up -- possible decline that

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we currently have all catalogue sales -- or catalogue says. However,

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the competition is also much bigger. Every retailer wants to be online

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or already is online, and even some of the big retailers who resist get

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have gone online as well, particularly in the last 12 months.

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Grattan was founded in 1912 and next year it plans centenary

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celebrations. Whether it will be around and another 100 years

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depends on its move into the online trading market.

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Tributes are still arriving at the house in which a family of four

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died in Pudsey. Friends and classmates have built a small

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shrine at their now boarded up home. It's believed Richard Smith killed

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his wife Claire, children Aaron and Ben and then himself.

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The former Labour MP for Barnsley Central, Eric Illsley, has been

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ordered to repay more than �23,000 following his conviction for

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fiddling his expenses. The bill is for legal aid and prosecution costs.

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Illsley was sent to prison in February for fraudulently claiming

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more than �14,000 for his second home.

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Still to come. A literary I'm excited about this. I know you

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well. When I saw that the Yorkshire club was up, I thought I would put

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my name in the hat for that. It would be my dream job. I'm

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fortunate enough to have been accepted. You come into a club that

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has just been relegated. The think you have to make major changes or

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:19:31.:19:37.

not? -- the think? Certainly not major changes. It has got to be in

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said, while there are some disappointments, there are some

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positive as well. I think some good cricket was played last year but

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there were some poor sessions that probably cost the club the spot in

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the first division. Preparation helps you mentally prepare for that

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you can walk out on the ground knowing you have done everything

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you can to be successful. I'm really going to hop that. To all

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our players. I certainly don't reinvent the wheel of by coaching

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but I do a couple of different things that I believe help

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cricketers prepare. What type of cricket will they play quarterback

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we are looking to win at all times. I know Andrew Gale is very big on

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that. Her think that will bring out the best of the Yorkshire players.

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No doubt the target is promotion in this first season? Absolutely.

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While we can't guarantee that, what we can guarantee is that these guys

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will be as well prepared as they can hand they will go out there to

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:21:17.:21:18.

have some success for Yorkshire. That was a great shot, it looked

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like a nomination for the Turner Art Prize. Lee Westwood shot the

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best round of his career. He leads the Thailand Open golf by five

:21:33.:21:43.

shots after his first round. It has been a mixed their fortunes for

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Bronte fans, will hear about a positive way to restore an old

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:21:58.:22:10.

building in a moment or two. It's been a mixed day of fortunes for

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Bronte fans here in Yorkshire. Restoration work on the building

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linked with Wuthering Heights has been completed. We'll have more on

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that in a moment. But first, the Bronte Society has been outbid in

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its attempts to return an important Charlotte Bronte manuscript to the

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Bronte Parsonage Museum. The manuscript went under the hammer at

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Sotheby's in London today. It was expected to fetch between �200,000

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and �300,000, though in the end it sold for �580,000 which was more

:22:30.:22:33.

than the society could afford. But there's some good news among the

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disappointment. There is a sentimental disappointment that it

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belongs here. This is Charlotte's Hearn. It was written here. There

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is a disappointment for the lack of enhancement of our scholarly place.

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But there is at least some good A ruined farmhouse thought to have

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been the inspiration for Wuthering Heights has had some restoration

:22:48.:22:51.

work done that should preserve it for the next ten years. Thousands

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of tourists make the Moorland Pilgrimage to see the house but the

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savage weather up there was threatening its survival. Cathy

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Killick reports on the project to It is about as bleak as it gets.

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They wonder so many associate this farmhouse with it Wuthering Heights.

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It is a stiff walk across the more from where the Brontes lived.

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Wuthering Heights is the name of Mr Heathcliff's dwelling. It is

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descriptive of the atmospheric tumult to which it station is

:23:42.:23:52.

exposed to a stormy weather. Pure bracing ventilation their -- they

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must have at all times. It is a very evocative ruin. You wouldn't

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want a change that. We didn't want to put cave roof back on it. We

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wanted to keep it in its current state as this ruin in a beautiful

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landscape. For some people it is a bit bleak but I think it sums up

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what the Brontes Road about come with the very evocative landscape.

:24:17.:24:23.

One a day like today we can really get a feel for it. The restoration

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project also has an artistic side. This woman has been photographing -

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- this man has been photographing this spot for decades. He had to

:24:33.:24:37.

bring people here to take voters for an exhibition. I have been

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coming here since the big 1970s. It looked quite different to how it

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looks now. It is very an interesting to see the gradual

:24:45.:24:55.
:24:55.:24:57.

decay and the repeated attempts to stem the decay in the run itself.

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It is only 2.5 miles to the teashops, but we could be in

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another world for the job it is this world aspect to the Bronte

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story that the project wants people to see. It is not for the faint-

:25:10.:25:16.

hearted but because they are well worth it. Maybe that for the summer.

:25:16.:25:23.

-- but if it is well worth it. is the kind of weather to enjoy it,

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the snow on the ground. This it is a nice picture, the sheep around

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during that one. And this one was Newmill, with a light sprinkling of

:25:43.:25:53.
:25:53.:25:55.

snow. Keep the pictures are coming in. There arose a warning of ice

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that could be widespread on untreated surfaces. It looks like

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Friday into the weekend will be culled. Frost at night and they

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will be further scattered wintry showers. There is the area of low

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pressure. An area of showers which will be watching some of the salt

:26:22.:26:32.
:26:32.:26:34.

off the roads. North, skies were clear and tensions will drop. --

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skies will clear and temperatures It looks quite cold and blustery

:26:53.:27:03.
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tomorrow. Any patchy sleeked will move away. They could be local

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accumulations over the tops as that band of showers pressures and from

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:27:20.:27:26.

the North. Top temperatures still struggling. Four for five degrees.

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The cold weekend. Frosty at night with a scattering of sleet and snow

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