Browse content similar to 07/03/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Welcome to Midlands Today. The headlines: Olympic and dancer, the | :00:14. | :00:22. | |
2012 games are expected to generate millions for Coventry. We will get | :00:22. | :00:27. | |
360,000 people coming to watch the football. | :00:27. | :00:31. | |
Teachers walked out, accusing their headmaster of poor discipline and | :00:31. | :00:35. | |
failing pupils. It is ridiculous that they are striking over trying | :00:35. | :00:42. | |
to sort the children Act. It is not helping them by closing the school. | :00:42. | :00:47. | |
The village that club together to save their pub. To think that a | :00:47. | :00:52. | |
quintessential English pub has been saved by the community is fantastic. | :00:52. | :01:02. | |
:01:02. | :01:15. | ||
And they are not being paid. Crisis Good evening. The Olympic effect | :01:15. | :01:19. | |
and where business will benefit most. Coventry is playing host to | :01:19. | :01:24. | |
Olympic football, starting with a qualifying game next month. It is | :01:24. | :01:29. | |
also the city in this region which is seen into embrace the Olympic | :01:29. | :01:33. | |
spirit. �8 million has been spent redesigning parts of the city | :01:33. | :01:37. | |
centre but it is estimated events will generate more than �18 million | :01:37. | :01:42. | |
for the local economy, the most for NECD outside London. The region as | :01:42. | :01:47. | |
a whole has landed Olympic related contracts worth more than �500 | :01:47. | :01:53. | |
million. D details. 12 football matches and the Ricoh | :01:53. | :01:57. | |
Arena in the summer are the tip of the Olympic dream for Coventry and | :01:57. | :02:02. | |
Warwickshire. It is estimated that 2012 will generate almost �80 | :02:02. | :02:05. | |
million for businesses in the city and the surrounding area. From | :02:05. | :02:10. | |
massive building projects to creating 8,000 torches. This | :02:10. | :02:15. | |
preserves existing jobs, even with the economic downturn. Some of the | :02:15. | :02:21. | |
jobs are actually taking workers on. The Godiva Awakes project, part of | :02:21. | :02:24. | |
the Cultural Olympiad, will not only entertain thousands but has | :02:24. | :02:29. | |
also created more than 50 jobs for local artists to tasked with | :02:29. | :02:34. | |
dressing the six-metre high animatronic puppet. It would have | :02:34. | :02:37. | |
been tougher not having this project and because it has been | :02:37. | :02:42. | |
over a period of time it has been nice to have those injections of | :02:42. | :02:48. | |
cash from my client. It has been good for me in these hard times. | :02:48. | :02:52. | |
For Julia O'Connell, creating a dress for Godiva is more than a job. | :02:52. | :02:56. | |
It is the opportunity of a lifetime. These are difficult times for | :02:56. | :03:01. | |
everybody. The recession is biting hard but particularly here in the | :03:01. | :03:06. | |
Midlands. If we have various events and various activities that will | :03:07. | :03:11. | |
get us back on the map... 2000 people have already downloaded a | :03:11. | :03:18. | |
free mobile information programme, an app for smartphones to. It is | :03:18. | :03:22. | |
designed to keep locals and tourists are in touch with | :03:22. | :03:26. | |
everything Olympic. We have five gunging �20 million worth of | :03:26. | :03:31. | |
investments coming into the West Midlands and about �80 million into | :03:31. | :03:34. | |
Coventry, that would not have come if it were not for the Olympics and | :03:34. | :03:38. | |
Paralympics. That is money coming into our region because of the | :03:38. | :03:43. | |
quality that we offer. Images of the Harbour Bridge epitomised the | :03:43. | :03:48. | |
Sydney Olympics. Now it is hoped that sites like these arches will | :03:48. | :03:55. | |
become as famous for Coventry. Let's talk to our business | :03:55. | :04:00. | |
correspondent. He is in our Coventry studio. How exactly have | :04:00. | :04:04. | |
officials worked out that it is worth �80 million to the city of | :04:04. | :04:08. | |
Coventry, the Olympics? They have been looking at a variety | :04:08. | :04:14. | |
of things. 12 football matches, each attracting 36,000 people. It | :04:14. | :04:20. | |
is estimated each will spend about �100 in the city. Firms have won | :04:20. | :04:24. | |
contracts worth �10 million. One firm has won that are still just | :04:24. | :04:30. | |
contract to make the 8,000 Olympic torches. -- that prestigious | :04:30. | :04:35. | |
contract. Also the torch relay, which will be another boost for the | :04:35. | :04:40. | |
city, and a big PR boost because there will be pictures of the city | :04:40. | :04:43. | |
seen all over the world. It is publicity that cannot be bought and | :04:43. | :04:47. | |
you cannot calculate the value. Let's try to look at the bigger | :04:47. | :04:52. | |
picture. What will other regions get out of the Olympics? Be sneezes | :04:52. | :04:57. | |
across the region have won contracts worth �500 million. This | :04:57. | :05:01. | |
region has won more contracts the then any other region outside | :05:01. | :05:07. | |
London. There are a variety of events called the Cultural Olympiad, | :05:07. | :05:11. | |
specially commissioned plays and dance events. There will be a big | :05:11. | :05:15. | |
boost to tourism as people come as a whistle are coming to the game's | :05:15. | :05:20. | |
and many people will want to come as London is busy. | :05:20. | :05:26. | |
You can find out more about what is happening in your area on your | :05:26. | :05:30. | |
local BBC website. There is a catch down. | :05:30. | :05:33. | |
Still ahead this evening, the remarkable story of a virtually | :05:33. | :05:37. | |
forgotten Branagh and why he was barred from competing for his | :05:37. | :05:41. | |
country. -- a winner. | :05:41. | :05:46. | |
A man and woman have been arrested on suspicion of murder of a four | :05:46. | :05:51. | |
year-old boy in calmer. Our reporter is there. What more can | :05:51. | :05:57. | |
you tell us? -- in Coventry. I can confirm that a 26-year-old woman, | :05:57. | :06:01. | |
thought to be the mother, and has 32-year-old partner, were arrested | :06:01. | :06:06. | |
on Monday night on suspicion of murder. A four year-old boy was | :06:06. | :06:11. | |
found unconscious at his home in the Holbrooks area of Coventry in | :06:11. | :06:15. | |
the early hours of Saturday morning. He died in hospital from a head | :06:15. | :06:20. | |
wound. At this stage to the police are not releasing the child's name. | :06:20. | :06:27. | |
By the police working with anyone else? Yes, they are working closely | :06:27. | :06:32. | |
with the local authority and I can confirm that the child was known to | :06:32. | :06:36. | |
Coventry social services. There are other children in the family. I am | :06:36. | :06:40. | |
assured they are safe and unhurt. Speaking to local people in the | :06:40. | :06:45. | |
area, they say that if -- they say that the family was polished and | :06:45. | :06:54. | |
they describe them as very private. -- Poles. | :06:54. | :06:58. | |
Teachers at a school in Birmingham have beyond on strike today at poor | :06:58. | :07:05. | |
discipline. They say changes to introduce by the head have had a | :07:05. | :07:08. | |
detrimental impact on the pupils' behaviour. The head says he is | :07:08. | :07:13. | |
disappointed that the action has gone ahead despite several meetings. | :07:13. | :07:18. | |
Out on strike, these teachers should be taking lessons at Castle | :07:18. | :07:23. | |
Vale Performing Arts College, but instead they are on the picket line. | :07:23. | :07:27. | |
It is not that we want a day off. We would rather be teaching the | :07:27. | :07:31. | |
kids. We are here because we would rather be teaching the kids and at | :07:31. | :07:37. | |
the moment we feel we cannot. Teachers say pupils are misbehaving | :07:37. | :07:41. | |
and management is not listening. Out of 75 secondary schools in | :07:41. | :07:46. | |
Birmingham, last year, Castle Vale had one of the lowest GCSE results. | :07:46. | :07:51. | |
29 % of students gained five good GCSEs. That compares to a | :07:51. | :07:56. | |
Birmingham average of 58 %. teachers are willing to teach. | :07:56. | :08:00. | |
Personally, I think they are. But there are other teachers that are | :08:00. | :08:08. | |
not bothered. The most naughty boys swear and disrupt lessons. The head | :08:08. | :08:13. | |
teacher was in school today but not available for interview. In a | :08:13. | :08:16. | |
statement, this Court's head, Clive Owen's, said he was disappointed | :08:16. | :08:23. | |
and disturbed by this action, which he said would damage pupils. | :08:23. | :08:26. | |
Teachers going on strike is always controversial but what do parents | :08:26. | :08:31. | |
think? It is ridiculous. They are striking over trying to sort the | :08:31. | :08:35. | |
kids out and trying to help them. They are not helping them by | :08:35. | :08:39. | |
closing the school. If the industry are action has to take place | :08:39. | :08:43. | |
because teachers do not seem to be gaining that respect within the | :08:43. | :08:48. | |
classroom, then so be it. This is turning into a bitter dispute and | :08:48. | :08:51. | |
unless both sides reached an agreement, there will be two more | :08:51. | :08:58. | |
strike days later this month. Since we mentioned it in our lunch | :08:58. | :09:03. | |
time news, you have been in touch. Here are a couple of Commons. Jude | :09:03. | :09:06. | |
Drummond says parents should be aware that decisions like this are | :09:06. | :09:10. | |
not taken lightly. Parents complained that striking damages | :09:10. | :09:15. | |
their children's education. Wrong. Disruptive children do this. | :09:15. | :09:19. | |
Teachers want to get on with the important task of educating. | :09:19. | :09:24. | |
Stewart from Lichfield e-mailed. He says the teachers are being judged | :09:24. | :09:29. | |
harshly, particularly over exam results, where other Birmingham | :09:29. | :09:34. | |
schools perform poorly as well. Dring has now is Liam Nolan, a so- | :09:34. | :09:39. | |
called super head teacher, who made the Perry Beeches School in | :09:39. | :09:43. | |
Birmingham the most improved school in the country. What do you make of | :09:43. | :09:48. | |
the walkout by teachers at Castle Vale Performing Arts College? | :09:48. | :09:52. | |
opinion, teachers do not enter this profession in order to strike. That | :09:52. | :09:56. | |
is not what they are about. They are great teachers down at Castle | :09:56. | :10:01. | |
Vale. They must have reached the end of their tether. This is where | :10:01. | :10:04. | |
discussions have broken down and meetings with unions have obviously | :10:04. | :10:10. | |
not worked. It is a great shame. The losers are the children and | :10:10. | :10:13. | |
their education. I understand you were approached to give advice to | :10:14. | :10:20. | |
the school. Did that happen? Lots of people were approached. About | :10:20. | :10:26. | |
supporting staff in Castle Vale. It did happen and it was not deemed | :10:26. | :10:31. | |
appropriate that Perry Beeches be the school to support. So you were | :10:31. | :10:37. | |
not given the chance to go into this goal to help out? Lots of | :10:37. | :10:42. | |
people were in discussions. Perry Beeches five years ago had 21 % of | :10:42. | :10:50. | |
students getting good GCSEs. It was far lower than Castle Vale is. | :10:50. | :10:54. | |
Perry Beeches could have been a school to hold back? Possibly but | :10:54. | :10:58. | |
that was not deemed appropriate. Going back to the Commons by | :10:58. | :11:02. | |
parents and teachers. They are concerned about lack of discipline. | :11:02. | :11:07. | |
How important is that to educational achievement? It is | :11:07. | :11:11. | |
really important. It is the whole package. It is about creating young | :11:11. | :11:15. | |
people who want to learn in a team, in a school where they can be | :11:15. | :11:21. | |
successful. It is getting staff and students working together. Perry | :11:21. | :11:26. | |
Beeches has something we work on enormously and that works for us. | :11:26. | :11:30. | |
And the key word there is respect? Yes, our Respect Agenda is well | :11:30. | :11:36. | |
known. Later in the programme, how one | :11:36. | :11:40. | |
failing school in Staffordshire is being turned around, and the | :11:40. | :11:42. | |
lessons for other schools that need to improve. | :11:42. | :11:46. | |
Other news. Remploy, which provides work for disabled people, is | :11:46. | :11:50. | |
planning to close its Stoke-on- Trent factory with the loss of 100 | :11:50. | :11:55. | |
jobs. Remploy factories in Coventry and Birmingham will not be affected. | :11:55. | :11:59. | |
But 35 others were shut by the end of the year. The Government says | :11:59. | :12:03. | |
they are not financially viable but Labour has attacked the closures. | :12:04. | :12:08. | |
These are factors being closed with a number of people for chasing over | :12:08. | :12:13. | |
the job being over twice the national average. They are up some | :12:13. | :12:15. | |
of the toughest places in the country to get back into work so we | :12:16. | :12:21. | |
are saying these is the wrong plan. The funeral of PC David Rathband | :12:21. | :12:24. | |
will be held in his home town of Stafford later this month. The | :12:24. | :12:27. | |
police officer shot and blinded by Raoul Moat was found dead at his | :12:27. | :12:32. | |
house in Northumberland last week. His funeral will take us on March | :12:32. | :12:36. | |
17th. PC Rathband will be buried in his uniform. | :12:36. | :12:43. | |
Still ahead, they may have lost but errors pride in Cup defeat for | :12:43. | :12:46. | |
Blues as they now it look to build on their promotion push. | :12:46. | :12:51. | |
What A difference a week makes. Last weekend felt like winter. This | :12:51. | :13:01. | |
:13:01. | :13:03. | ||
one could feel like spring. On average, 16 pubs shut every week | :13:03. | :13:07. | |
as licensees struggled to make ends meet. Losing the local is perhaps | :13:07. | :13:11. | |
most devastating in villages, where a pub is not just a place to drink | :13:11. | :13:15. | |
but a place to meet people. That in mind, villages near Stafford | :13:15. | :13:19. | |
decided they could not let theirs shut without a fight, and they have | :13:19. | :13:24. | |
now bought it. Reclaiming their local, a symbolic | :13:24. | :13:30. | |
moment as the villagers remove the name board are a short lived Indian | :13:30. | :13:34. | |
restaurant to reveal the building's original identity, a pub that | :13:34. | :13:39. | |
locals wanted back so much they bought it. If you went back to the | :13:39. | :13:44. | |
millennium, you could not get in this pub. It was Scholes to | :13:44. | :13:50. | |
shoulder in here. That kind of tells you what a community we had. | :13:51. | :13:55. | |
A community they apparently still have. Faced with having no pub in | :13:55. | :14:01. | |
the village, a group of 26 locals got together to buy the pub at | :14:01. | :14:07. | |
auction for �199,000. Their aim was to re-open the Holly Bush and run | :14:07. | :14:11. | |
it as a sort of co-operative. think that a quintessential English | :14:11. | :14:15. | |
pub has been saved by the community is fantastic. According to the | :14:15. | :14:19. | |
British beer and pub Association, 16 pubs are closing in the UK every | :14:19. | :14:27. | |
week. Back in 2009, the figure was 52. Maybe what is happening in this | :14:27. | :14:30. | |
village is a sign that there is a will out there to reverse that | :14:30. | :14:34. | |
trend. It is a small village with few facilities, not even a shop. | :14:34. | :14:41. | |
The closure and now rebirth of its Burney Cup is recognised as a | :14:41. | :14:46. | |
significant moment. -- it's only pub. Too many facilities have been | :14:46. | :14:50. | |
lost state to be able to have the pub again is great. Is there any | :14:50. | :14:53. | |
kind of lesson for other villages? Is this small community have been | :14:53. | :14:58. | |
brave enough to do it, why shouldn't others follow? It is | :14:58. | :15:02. | |
hoped to the pub could open relay Tep -- could re-open later this | :15:02. | :15:10. | |
year. There are also plans for a Back to schools now, and nearly a | :15:10. | :15:13. | |
third offer a poor education and must improve immediately, according | :15:13. | :15:16. | |
to a report today from Ofsted, the schools watchdog. | :15:16. | :15:18. | |
Among them is Churchfields Primary in Newcastle-under-Lyme which was | :15:18. | :15:28. | |
put into special measures. But under a new headteacher with new | :15:28. | :15:30. | |
ideas, things are starting to turn around. Here's Ben Godfrey. | :15:30. | :15:34. | |
These 10-year-olds have got SATS exams this year. They're being | :15:34. | :15:36. | |
taught maths at a secondary school in Newcastle-under-Lyme because | :15:36. | :15:45. | |
their primary school is failing. They do high standards of work, | :15:45. | :15:50. | |
we're going to learn more about maths and English. We don't have to | :15:50. | :15:53. | |
keep going through things for those who don't know what to do, or most | :15:53. | :15:56. | |
of us know what to do here. Inadequate teaching, poor pupil | :15:56. | :15:58. | |
progress - when Ofsted put Churchfields Primary School into | :15:58. | :16:06. | |
special measures, it couldn't get much worse. This school has been | :16:06. | :16:09. | |
serving this community since 1903, but because the standards of | :16:09. | :16:13. | |
teaching and learning were so poor, there was a real risk that in | :16:13. | :16:19. | |
nothing was done, the school could close for good. We have been | :16:19. | :16:24. | |
working with teachers... Lynn Jackson is head of Chesterton | :16:24. | :16:31. | |
Community Sports College. If she can manage a second school and turn | :16:31. | :16:35. | |
it around, schools that fail in the future could follow a similar model | :16:35. | :16:37. | |
for success. We have got the specialist input in the run-up to | :16:37. | :16:40. | |
the exams, so we are really prepared, as well as the fact that | :16:40. | :16:43. | |
eventually all the children will come to Chester to next September, | :16:43. | :16:47. | |
so that transition is so much easier for them. Churchfields has | :16:48. | :16:52. | |
avoided academy status, favoured by the Government for a failing school. | :16:52. | :16:56. | |
That would only have happened if the Department of Education had not | :16:56. | :16:58. | |
been happy with the solution we come up with to improve the quality | :16:59. | :17:04. | |
of the teaching here. They are happy with our solution, so this is | :17:04. | :17:07. | |
the right one for this school. Parents are relieved progress is | :17:07. | :17:13. | |
being made. The children are more enthusiastic about coming to school, | :17:13. | :17:16. | |
there is more information given to parents about what is going on. | :17:16. | :17:19. | |
have a little boy in year six who is actually looking forward to | :17:19. | :17:23. | |
going up to the Higher School. the time these nursery children are | :17:23. | :17:26. | |
ready to leave, they'll have taken their GCSEs, it's the first so- | :17:26. | :17:34. | |
called "through-school" in Staffordshire. | :17:34. | :17:41. | |
Here's Ian with the sport. Loads to tell you about. "There's no shame | :17:41. | :17:47. | |
in losing to a quality team like Chelsea." That's how Chris Hughton | :17:47. | :17:51. | |
summed up the Blues' FA Cup defeat at St Andrew's. And he was spot on. | :17:51. | :17:54. | |
It was Birmingham City's 48th game of the season. But it's the final | :17:54. | :18:00. | |
13 that will make or break their promotion ambitions. | :18:00. | :18:03. | |
Surely amongst this tangled spaghetti, one of those cables must | :18:03. | :18:09. | |
be labelled FA Cup shock. That's what the Blues fans were hoping, as | :18:09. | :18:11. | |
they queued for their pre-match chips, knowing Chelsea were in | :18:11. | :18:13. | |
turmoil. Some were feeling confident, others weren't quite so | :18:14. | :18:16. | |
sure. And a few had come to celebrate a rather special 18th | :18:17. | :18:23. | |
birthday. How good a player will he be in the future? We are keeping it | :18:23. | :18:27. | |
quiet, we want to make sure he stays with us. Nathan Redmond is | :18:27. | :18:30. | |
blessed with blistering pace. He's already on the radar of several top | :18:30. | :18:34. | |
clubs. But Chelsea were in no mood to gift him a goal, birthday or no | :18:34. | :18:39. | |
birthday. This was the closest that Blues came to scoring in a pretty | :18:39. | :18:42. | |
even first half. But after the break, Chelsea stepped up a gear | :18:42. | :18:45. | |
and delivered two killer blows inside five fatal minutes - first | :18:45. | :18:53. | |
Mata, then Meireles. And Birmingham knew their Cup dream was over. | :18:53. | :18:55. | |
Goalkeeper Colin Doyle had the personal satisfaction of saving | :18:55. | :18:58. | |
another penalty, and Jordon Mutch almost made a name for himself near | :18:58. | :19:02. | |
the end. But the Blues' road to Wembley ran out of tarmac in their | :19:02. | :19:11. | |
48th game of the season. How would our league position be if | :19:11. | :19:15. | |
we hadn't been in the Cup? Arguably, we would be in a better position. | :19:15. | :19:20. | |
But if you asked me by would rather have been in it and done without, I | :19:20. | :19:24. | |
would say no. I thought we did ourselves proud, it was a good cup | :19:24. | :19:29. | |
tie. They could have had a few more chances, but they should have put | :19:29. | :19:34. | |
one to bed. But now it's time to forget the Cup, and focus for the | :19:34. | :19:40. | |
next 13 games on getting the Blues back into the Premier League. | :19:41. | :19:45. | |
And they play Coventry next? there is so much to play for for | :19:45. | :19:50. | |
both teams, of course. Last night, Coventry left it late before | :19:50. | :19:53. | |
MacDonald scored day equaliser against Crystal Palace. It finished | :19:53. | :19:59. | |
1-1, but they are still in the bottom three of the championship. | :19:59. | :20:05. | |
Better news for Walsall? Yes indeed. Three vital points for them, and a | :20:05. | :20:11. | |
five-goal thriller, all of them coming in the second half. This was | :20:11. | :20:16. | |
a tremendous strike, followed by another from a John Makin. That | :20:16. | :20:20. | |
lead didn't last long, and it needed a late header from Annette | :20:20. | :20:26. | |
Nicholls to clinch a 3-2 victory over Shep of United. -- Alex | :20:26. | :20:30. | |
Nicholls. A lot about Port Vale? They did well considering their | :20:30. | :20:36. | |
circumstances. They have been in the news so much this week, the | :20:36. | :20:40. | |
players are still battling hard on the pitch. Richards got their first | :20:40. | :20:46. | |
against Burton Albion. But then two late strikes sealed a 3-0 home win. | :20:46. | :20:51. | |
Site last, some good news to lift the gloom that has been gathering | :20:51. | :20:55. | |
around them this week. You cannot forget at Shrewsbury Town. They | :20:55. | :21:01. | |
were dead and buried. It would be rude to leave -- leave them out! | :21:01. | :21:07. | |
They fought back from 2-0 back this was a good goal, but it wasn't as | :21:07. | :21:12. | |
good as the second goal, four minutes into stoppage time. Matt | :21:12. | :21:19. | |
Richards hit a screamer to earn a 2-2 draw and keep them in 4th spot. | :21:20. | :21:24. | |
You can see all the goals on our website. Thank you. | :21:24. | :21:28. | |
John Tarrant was a world record holder. A runner who was faster | :21:28. | :21:31. | |
than many Olympians yet his career took place in almost complete | :21:31. | :21:37. | |
obscurity. He'd accepted a small amount in | :21:37. | :21:40. | |
expenses in another amateur sport as a teenager, and rules barring | :21:40. | :21:42. | |
ANY payment meant he couldn't compete in international | :21:42. | :21:45. | |
competitions. Now, as Bob Hockenhull reports, a | :21:45. | :21:47. | |
campaign for a permanent memorial to the so-called "ghost runner" is | :21:48. | :21:50. | |
gathering momentum. John Tarrant - an extraordinary | :21:50. | :21:53. | |
athlete who became known as the "ghost runner" for turning up at | :21:53. | :21:57. | |
races from which he was barred and often winning them. Tragically, the | :21:57. | :21:58. | |
Amateur Athletic Association stopped John from competing | :21:59. | :22:01. | |
officially because he'd accepted payment as a teenage boxer - and | :22:01. | :22:09. | |
that was against the rules. John spent most of his life living in | :22:09. | :22:12. | |
Hereford - his brother Vic still trains athletes in the city and is | :22:12. | :22:15. | |
one of those behind a growing campaign to get a statue erected to | :22:15. | :22:25. | |
:22:25. | :22:25. | ||
the runner who achieved two world records in 40 and 100 mile races. | :22:25. | :22:29. | |
It would be ideal, and a good memento, because there are not many | :22:29. | :22:34. | |
people who set world records like John did. He was very fond of | :22:34. | :22:38. | |
Hereford, as well. He always thought how kind everybody was | :22:38. | :22:44. | |
towards him. So really, the statue won't just be for John, it will be | :22:44. | :22:47. | |
for everybody into Derriford. remarkable footage shows John on | :22:47. | :22:51. | |
the way to one of his victories in the Exeter to Plymouth road race in | :22:51. | :22:56. | |
the mid 1960s. By then, the ban on him competing in the UK had been | :22:57. | :22:59. | |
lifted. But John still wasn't allowed to represent his country - | :22:59. | :23:04. | |
even though he was faster than many Olympians. Anyone from a hard | :23:05. | :23:09. | |
upbringing, they never give up, they keep trying, and you are | :23:09. | :23:13. | |
likely to succeed, which he did, everyone else's eyes. Unfortunately, | :23:13. | :23:18. | |
in those days, the officials were so strict, and rules and | :23:18. | :23:24. | |
regulations were not like they are now. There is one memorial to John, | :23:24. | :23:28. | |
this cul-de-sac was named after him in the late 1970s. But many | :23:28. | :23:33. | |
Hereford people, including local athletes, don't know it is here. | :23:33. | :23:40. | |
John's story has recently been documented in a story -- a book. | :23:40. | :23:45. | |
Sadly, the great athlete died of stomach cancer in 1975, aged 42. In | :23:45. | :23:51. | |
her living room in Hereford, his widow keeps the trophies on display, | :23:51. | :23:54. | |
pleased that the renewed interest in his career. I think that was | :23:54. | :23:59. | |
always at the back of his mind, he wanted to be recognised. Because | :23:59. | :24:04. | |
although he was doing very well in all the races, breaking world | :24:04. | :24:09. | |
records, he was never accepted, he was never going to run in the | :24:09. | :24:15. | |
Olympics. Herefordshire Council says it will consider the demands | :24:15. | :24:19. | |
for a memorial to John, who would have just celebrated his 80th | :24:19. | :24:27. | |
birthday if he had lived. What an intriguing story. Let's | :24:27. | :24:37. | |
:24:37. | :24:37. | ||
Sunshine in the end, always a welcome sight, today's reign was | :24:37. | :24:42. | |
the last proper rain we will see for some time. That was the area we | :24:42. | :24:46. | |
saw today, so I say goodbye to that. High pressure, dominating for a | :24:46. | :24:53. | |
lengthy period. Unfortunately, any incoming France will be | :24:53. | :24:58. | |
significantly weakened, and it is looking largely dry. -- incoming | :24:58. | :25:03. | |
fronts. Temperatures are on the rise this weekend. A dress- | :25:03. | :25:07. | |
rehearsal for spring. It really should feel quite pleasant. | :25:07. | :25:15. | |
Currently, we are in a post a cold front of phrase. We are looking at | :25:15. | :25:21. | |
large the clear skies tonight, colder than last bite. -- largely | :25:21. | :25:26. | |
clear skies tonight, colder than last night. We are looking at some | :25:26. | :25:31. | |
localised air frost, a chilly start the day tomorrow. But it will be a | :25:31. | :25:38. | |
Sunni one. A better cloud flitting about, but a mainly sunny picture, | :25:38. | :25:45. | |
and a dry day. Slightly Kallur than today, because we are in that cool | :25:45. | :25:53. | |
air Mass. Into Friday and the weekend, we will start to see cloud | :25:53. | :26:01. |