01/01/2017 Midlands Today

Good evening. with us on BBC One -

Coventry has been praised as an example of Britain

at its best by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

In his New Year message, recorded in Coventry,

the Most Reverend Justin Welby said the city's response to its

devastation in the Second World War set an example of reconciliation.

Surrendering to the demands of television lighting,

the Archbishop of Canterbury prepares to deliver his New Year's

Justin Welby returned to Coventry, the city where he started out

as a clergyman, a city whose wartime suffering and forgiveness, he says,

The story of this city says so much that is true

about Britain at its best, about our courage, our standing up

to tyranny, how we stand alongside the suffering and defeated,

how we stand for human dignity and hope.

The Archbishop visited a drop-in centre for refugees,

people he called "a blessing to our way of life".

And he drew his message to a close by focusing on an issue that has

divided so many parts of the country.

The EU referendum was a tough campaign and it has left divisions.

But I know that if we look at our roots, our history,

and our culture in the Christian tradition, if we reach back

into what is best in this country, we will find a path

towards reconciling the differences that have divided us.

From Coventry to Canterbury, the Archbishop believes that looking

back can only help us prepare for the future.

75 years ago today 57 miners were killed in the Sneyd Pit

The men and their families have today been remembered at a special

At Holy Trinity Church in Burslem, the names of the lost

57 men and boys were killed in the Sneyd pit.

The youngest was just 15 years of age.

The explosion happened at eight o'clock

on the morning of January 1st, 1942, in pit number four.

Almost all the miners there were killed immediately.

He was the 39th miner they got out and he had

an electric light on, which I suppose was

but some of them hadn't even got that.

What makes this such a tragedy is these men would never have

normally worked on New Year's Day, but they'd been called

in on this particular occasion to support the war effort.

I did work and made friends with some of the survivors,

and the stories they gave me were just incredible.

Those brave men that went in, the rescue teams that

This afternoon, the hymns and prayers here were dedicated

to the victims of the disaster and their families.

People from my own congregation said they just whispered the name

of somebody who was close to them because it was a very major

industry in the Potteries for many, many decades.

The Sneyd pit, a workhorse of the Staffordshire coalfields,

But today, the scars and scale of human suffering in a small

Now, two rugby results from the Premiership from today.

Gloucester went down 13-12 to Northampton,

but there was a great win for Worcester, who beat

Let's take a look at the weather now, with Alex Hamilton.

Well, happy New Year to you, and the good news is we have got

some bright weather on the way, thanks to this area of high pressure

Now, the rain that we saw earlier on is clearing away to the south,

But dropping very cool, particularly in rural spots,

Then, as we head towards tomorrow morning, we are expecting

Not quite wall-to-wall sunshine, but plenty of sunny

spells throughout the day and amounts of variable cloud.

Cold again, though - highs of only four Celsius.

More bright weather on the way for the next couple of days.

That's it for now. We're back tomorrow at 1:15pm.

From the late team, good night and happy New Year.

We will be back tomorrow. Happy New Year.

For many, New Year's Day was a shocker with all of that rain

around. Tomorrow will be sunny, but it is getting colder. This is rain

clearing from the south-east. These specks of white as snow mixed in

with showers across parts of northern England, particularly

across Scotland, low levels here. I say that they hazard in northern and

eastern areas. I would not rule out slippery areas almost anywhere by

the morning, by which time temperatures will be close to or

below freezing in many places. A bright and sunny start, but still

wintry showers, sliding down the North Sea coast. Some snow down at

quite low levels to the north of Scotland. Here, the snow will turn

to rain. Something milder creeping in off the Atlantic as it clouds

over. Further south, despite that sunshine, it will feel cold. 3-5 is

the best I can offer you, briefly, through the afternoon. Then

temperatures fall away like a