02/04/2012 The One Show

It is early Monday evening, and at McWomble has just noticed the time.

It is nearly time for the Wombles' favourite TV show. But they are all

on Wimbledon Common. Only one thing for it - some rousing bagpipe music

to call them back in. So somebody make it stop! Don't Dilly dally.

How can we watch big fat Wombles Was an that magical?

Hello and welcome to The One Show with Alex Jones. And Matt Baker.

Tonight's guest is not just the voice of the Wombles or the face of

Jackanory. He is also the man behind this hit from 1962.

# Right, said Fred, both of us together, one weekend and steady as

we go. It is Bernard Cribbins! Isn't it

nice to hear it again? It is such a catchy song. Everyone in the office

has been humming it all day. By the end of the Day, everyone at home

will be doing the same. And the Wombles, I have not seen those

foragers. They haven't aged at all. None of us have. Right Said Fred

was produced by George Martin. it was the third number I did with

him. I had been doing a review in London, and George was working with

Parlophone as their M Armand. He came to the show, and I did a thing

called the folksong in the show. George liked it and we recorded it.

It sold a lot and EMI said, what is going on? And the lads then wrote a

thing called hole in the ground. And that was a success, so Fred

followed that. But Fred was very popular. Kids loved it.

introduced it to some younger fans. We will see what they thought later.

Went down a storm. You will love it. Just as well, otherwise I would get

'em. Now, despite the snow in the north

of Scotland today, the hosepipe ban is going ahead. That is for the

residents of these seven UK water authorities, and it might even last

until October. But there is a way of beating the ban.

Just like the fashions, it looks like the weather of the 1970s could

be returning to Britain. The Centre for Ecology and hydrology has

reported that in the past 12 months, the English Midlands and Anglian

regions have had their second driest years since 1921. So in an

attempt to save water, some householders are going one better

than sticking a brick in their system or sharing baths. There is

water in that their ground, and they are digging for it. Today,

Penny Allen is joining the increasing number of homes who are

having boreholes fitted. These are narrow pipes in the ground which

are like Wells, but with a pump at the bottom instead of a bucket at

the top. At around �3,000, they are only for the dedicated gardener.

decide we did not want our garden to die, and it seemed the only

option, because we could not water the garden with the watering can.

But some would say these are just a few plants. Yes, they are a few

plants, but they add up to a whole garden, which creates an

environment we like to live in. And we grow a lot of our vegetables and

try to be self-sufficient in the summer. We just couldn't do it. How

do you justify the expense, �3,000 plus? It is a lot of money to fork

out. Well, it will last forever, which is an important factor. Once

it is done, it is done, and we will have a green oasis in the middle of

the desert. A penny's bore hole, there are only drilling down to the

player below the soil, which is sandy and filled with water from

the rain fall. Fine for the garden, but not for drinking. Deeper down,

there is water in the aquifer, which is where mineral water is

drawn from. By doing this, Penny has avoided the hosepipe ban. But

bigging boreholes is not the shortage to the water problem for

all of us. If everybody drilled boreholes, there would be a problem,

because we need ground water to feed our rivers. It is important

for wildlife. We also need water from the rivers to provide for us

in our taps. Boreholes are part of the solution, but we need a blend

of solutions here. The most important thing is to look at how

much water we are using, try and cut back on water use and see it as

a precious resource. Seven of the 27 water companies are planning on

imposing a hosepipe ban this week across the Anglian region and the

south-east. But Clinton Putnam is not worrying about this or any sort

of water shortage. Here we go. where does this go? It goes 350 ft

down into the ground, with a pump on the end of this pipe. He has

taken the long-term view and, with the aid of a long pipe, has had a

borehole drilled all the way into the aquifer, where the water is

drinkable. He does not just use the water for his garden, he drinks,

cooks and babes with it as well. tested the water from somebody

else's borehole, and I was amazed at the difference in taste. We

thought, we are starting a family here, it would be most to do that.

So it is the water really different from the borehole? Yeah, we did a

test with two glasses. We tasted one from the supply, one from a

borehole, and it was leaks different. You would not drink this

applied stuff again once you had a taste of the real stuff. Clinton is

convinced, but will I be? Leads to a taste test. One of these is from

mains water, and one is from the borehole. I do not know if I will

be able to tell which is which. Well, it tastes quite watery. How

about this one? Let me try this one again. Now I am not sure. I think I

prefer this one. And the one that tasted better to me came from the

borehole. After three hours of drilling, Penny is ready to try out

her new water supply. Right, the moment of truth. Blain, can you

turn on the water, please? Here we go. It is very strong. Brilliant.

Much better than a tab. Interesting solutions. Let me try yours. I

definitely prefer mine. Is that vodka? Bernard, you are quite

worried about this drought, from a fishing perspective? Well, a lot of

rivers in the south of England, the chalk streams are fed from aquifers,

which the guy was talking about. And they depend almost entirely on

rainfall, which then filters through the chalk hills and is

stored in the aquifers in this great big sponge down there, and

then reintroduce itself through springs which then feed the rivers.

If there is nothing in the aquifers, I am not sure that bore holes will

help. They might solve his problem for a while, but they will not help

in the long run. Fishing is a big part of your life? But the thing is,

about the river's going down and disappearing into the ground, it is

not just the fish that suffer. The bird life suffers. Water voles, all

the stuff that lives around the river bank and all the underwater

life, which is part of The Water Babies, which I have just read, it

is all part of it. All the insects the fish feed on dry up and die.

You know so much about this. It was your chosen subject. Cast your mind

back to Celebrity Mastermind 2004. Don't start. Your specialist

subject was the art of angling. came second? Me. You still have a

bone to pick with the BBC. Let's look at the clip. If you see a

trapped directly across from you in that water, what modified version

of the overhead cast that puts an upstream belly in the line could

you use? A wiggle cast. No, it is rich cast. Ooh. You were not happy

with John. He is quite right, and so I am I. There are various casts

you can use to get over a bitter fast water between you and the fish.

There is a rich cast, a widow cast and another one called a puddle

cast and another one. As it so happens, we have got Nick Watkins

here, who is the director of the profession are anglers Association,

to clarify. Is he going to show us? Is dancer a wiggle cast or a breach

cast? They are both right. They are both right! The problem with doing

mastermind is, it goes at such a lick. I loved doing it and did not

mind coming second - yes I did! Well, we have had it clarified.

you are not allowed to question the question. Anyway. Let's talk about

The Water Babies. Yes, I have done an audiobook, an abridged version

of The Water Babies. Have you read it? I watched it as a child, the

adaptation. I was in that film as well which Lionel Jeffries did. It

is a lovely book for children, and it tells you a lot about the

industrial north and the kids up the chimneys. And then he takes you

underwater, and you have this wonderful, magical and. He must

have known a lot about it, Charles Kingsley, because his descriptions

of dragonfly larvae are so accurate. He must have been a bit of a

naturalist. And he talks about salmon and otters and everything

else. It is a smashing book for kids, and I have done an hour-long

abridged version of it for children. I had my head stuck up a chimney

all weekend. But that is another matter. The Water Babies is out now.

On this day 30 years ago, Argentina invaded Port Stanley on the

Falkland Islands. Letters that British soldiers sent back to their

families tell the story of their fears of the unknown and their

worries of whether they would ever return.

If you get this letter, I have slipped beneath the waves and an

utterly at peace. Give me strength and pray for all of us. I hope I

could not let the things end... Please do not grieve for too long.

In times of conflict, it has become a military custom for servicemen

and women to write a farewell letter. These deeply personal and

poignant letters are a chance to give their final thoughts to loved

ones, should they die in battle. In 1982, during the Falklands conflict,

Lieutenant Colonel Herbert Jones, known as H, was commanding officer

of two Battalion the Parachute Regiment. He wrote regularly to his

wife and their two sons. He was much better at writing letters than

I was. I pretended I wrote as often, but I probably wrote to one or two

to his three. Getting letters is such a wonderful link. You would

wait for the postman eagerly every day. Sian Price has spent three

years collecting farewell letters. Her research suggests that there

was a change of mood as the realities of the Falklands crisis

unfolded. As time ticked on and they got closer, the realisation

that this was a real war and there was real danger ahead compelled

many men to sit down and contemplate that they might not

make it home and write a farewell letter. On 18th May, just before H

and two soldiers embarked on to the islands, he wrote to Sarah. I don't

suppose there is any chance of anything happening to me, but just

in case, I want to tell you how much I love you. You have made me

very happy. I would not want to change anything. Thanks to you, I

can look back on a life which has been pretty good so far. Let's hope

my luck holds. All my love, darling, H. On 28th May, Lieutenant Colonel

H Jones was killed in action while attacking enemy positions at Goose

Green. Sarah had received his letter just a few days before. What

was it like when you got the news that he had died? Looking back, it

was very unreal. It took me quite a few months to actually say to

Another serviceman who wrote a farewell letter was Commander John

Prime Minister commanding on HMS Fearless. It was to be given to his

wife on the event of his death., "All I ask is that I tell you about

the pure joy. Goodbye and God bless you, darling, you're ever loving

husband, John." The first time I read the letter from Johns ewas

deeply emotional. He touched on everything that one would want to

talk about in a final letter it touched me deeply.

But the story has a happy ending. John came home. Why did you write

the letter? I think what I was trying to do, was if you like to

have a form of in modern parlance, closure, but to make it clear to

her that although we had been married ten years, which for some

was a long time, but then was short, she still had a life to live, that

she should get on it with. -- get on with it.

When John returned he re-read his words.

Yes, it was an emotional experience. Lieutenant Colonel Herbert Jones

was the most senior officer killed in the conflict. He received a post

humans BC for his bravery, but for Sarah, the letters that H sent her

are treasured possessions. Do I look at it regularly? No, I

don't. I like to reflect on the happy times. If you you read a

letter like this it makes you sad, but it is a tangible recognition of

the feeling for his family. And a candle was lit today at the

national arboretum of the memory of the 25 British servicemen who like

Lieutenant Colonel Herbert Jones did not return, unfortunately.

Bernard, you were in the same regiment? Yes, I was, in the

Parachute Regiment. In my National Service.

47 to 49. I volunteered for the Paras and

served in Palestine and Germany. Yes, well done, sir.

After the military past you became the face of Jackanory.

You must have read the story of goldy locks and the Three Bear as

few times. Well, tonight we have a story to rival that one.

Once upon a time there were three bears, but unlike the fairytale,

Suzie, Karmen and managie are homeless. Thanks to the fundraising

efforts of this zoo, the Five Sisters Zoo it seems that the

animals here, the bears will get they're happy ending.

The bears are in a holding centre in Belgium. If they had not been

rescued at this point they could have been put to sleep. Before

relaxing at their plush new Scottish home, they have to make a

last 700-mile journey. The bears are used to travelling.

Obviously they are from the circus it is the first time yes had to

transport the bears for 18 hours. So it will be the largest animals

on board for a while. Karmen, Suzie and Peggy spent 20 years in a

travelling sirbgyurbgs performing in Holland, and also France.

During the years they were kept in circus wagons with a berth of about

10 by 10. They would live in there about 22 hours a day, every day,

moving from town to town. They are living in a small area, the only

stimulation they are getting is feeding time and when they are

performing in the circus. When they are suffering from stress they pace

in very small circles. Hopefully, this will be the last

journey that they have to make of any distance.

It year we have been dreaming of this day. We thought it would never

come. It is almost here. Once the bears are in the enclosure,

that will be the ultimate for us. It's been a long journey, but for

now, it is bedtime. The three old girls have to wait until the

morning time to explore their home in the great Scottish outdoors.

So, tell us, Brian, this is quite a set up. How much space do you have

for the bears? There is an excess of two acres. We tried to create it

at natural as possible with the running water and the still water.

Although, I think that these bears will thrive with all of the

attention that they are going to get.

It is quite emotional seeing the bears. They are just in there now.

They are waking up in Scotland for the first time with a sense of

freedom. What do you expect the reaction to

be when they get together? There is a two-acre patch there...? We don't

know, they have never had a huge expanse ever in their life. They

have never had a tree to climb, ever. Never had a pool to swim in,

never had woodland to dig in. It will be amazing for them.

We hope that they could be here five or six years, but who knows it

could be longer. We hope so. They could be the happiest bears on

the planet? We hope so. And good news, the bears are ready

for visitors, they are at the Five Sisters Zoo in West Lothian. So

something to do over theeers holidays! If you go down to the

woods today... On that note, we have been getting people to hum

along to Right Said Fred. So it is time for another blast of Bernard's

classic. This time with the music reviewers of the future.

# Right said Fred # Both of us together... # I think

it is about... Helping? Fred and Charlie being friends.

It makes me laugh. It is a really funny song.

# Right, said Fred # Up comes Charlie from the floor

below... # 5 billion and 25 years old! Way older! From the 60s.

# Right said Fred # Have to talk the wall down

# That there weal is going to have to go

# Took the wall down # Even with it all down

# We was gotting know where so we had a cup of tea. # Lovely! Whats

with that, 5 billion anding is? big thanks to the kids from the

Wendell Park Primary School but one girl got it right, the early 60s,

she said. Excellent. I love that one, it is about being friends and

helping. Excellent. Right, a special

presentation for Mrs Jones, a huge honour for any Welsh woman, but

before, that Christine Walkden has been to see the daffodils in all of

that I glory. It was the Cumbrian poet, William Wordsworth who wrote

Golden daffodils, Floating and swaying in the breeze.

More than half of Britain's daffodils are grown here. If you

think that they come like this, you would be sadly mistaken. The royal

historical society has a list of 27,000 different varieties of

daffodils. The national collection here, preserves 2,500 different

types of daffodils. Lovingly looked after by Ron Scamp. One of the

world's daffodils breeders. Ron, this is stupidous. Look at

that I am glad you love it. This is

great. Tell me about this one? This is the

English wild daffodil, the Length Livy. That is the one that

Wordsworth extolled in his poem. This is the place to see the

historic ones. There is the Welsh daffodil. The Welsh Tenby daffodil.

Found originally in the ruins of the monastery at Tenby. I believe

it's been introduced to other parts of Wales and grown on a large scale

now. It was 100 years ago that the

daffodil became the Welsh National flower, but nobody is sure why.

Leeks had been worn for centuries on St David's Day, on the 1st of

March, but in the Victorian period, the daffodils made an appearance as

well. Some say it was a mistake as the leaves look like a daffodil,

but the Welsh translation for daffodil is Peter's Leek.

Of course, the daffodil's botanical name is narsisus. Derived from an

ancient Greek word, meaning numbness.

It was due to the development of the rail Ray network in the mid19th

century that boosted Cornwall's daffodil industry.

Train meant that the London flower markets were 12 hours away, a jurn

that I previously would have taken a couple of days.

-- journey. Today's daffodils are farmed the way that they would have

been hundreds of years ago. Hand- picked with no fancy equipment.

Why still hand picking? What you are trying to do is to look after

the plants. You don't want to break the leaves, you want to keep the

crop in good condition. The leaves are the key to next year's

production and flowering. I'm not saying it will be ever mekanised

but it is difficult to see the challenge to be able to build a

machine. So to get to the flower stem and

not take the leaves? Exactly. All of this for a humble flower

that you can often buy for a couple of pounds a bunch. Not all

daffodils are cheap. Prize-winning vierts are known to sell for �50 a

bulb. In Truro, there are hundreds on show.

-- varieties. To produce a new daffodil is

through hybridisation. That is from pelening one flaur and to put it on

to another flower. Then you sew the seed and that can produce the bulb,

that can take up to five years. The judges are looking for straight

stems, clarity of colour and heads with poise and cemetery, but when

it comes to the daffodil it is all a matter of taste. Now, do you have

a favourite? I have lots of favourites, but I have a great love

for some of the oldies. You get the old fashioned ones like this Butter

and Egg, and there is another one, Elegance and here I am breeding the

latest beauties like this and these. I love them all, they are all my

babies, really. And Ron is here now. Ron you have

brought something incredibly special for Alex here, haven't you?

What have you brought? I brought some flowers. These are a new

variety. It's been my pleasure to be able to name it for Alex it is

Alex Jones. I can't believe it. I'm so honoured.

They are perfect. They are so lovely.

We are pleased that you like them. You've been working on these for 14

years, haven't you? Yes. 14 years in propagation.

This is official, this is a real honour.

It is official. Here is the Royal Historical Association sert fiction.

Now, you have been preparing for this? I have.

This is going to be a massive surprise.

Now, people can... These are very rare. How many are around? About

1,000. But if anybody would like them...

They will go like hot cake. -- hot cakes.

They are so fitting. I can feel your emotion.

I am genuinely really honoured. Thank you.

Yes, if you would like to have Alex Jones in your garden, you can get

it at the RHS which starts on the 20th of April. Thank you very much

for all of your hard work. We need your help for tomorrow's show, Sir

Trevor McDonald is here, he is a poetry buff. He is indeed. We want

your limericks about Sir Trevor McDonald. I can hear everybody's