13/10/2011 The One Show

Hello and welcome to the One Show. Matt Baker is still hanging from

some parallel bars somewhere in Japan, so it's a big pleasure to

welcome Joe Crowley. Thanks, Alex. Our guest this evening has a

sophisticated grand exterior. ideal for entertaining.

apparently got plans for a nursery extension. And tonight has a great

location, location, location, on the One Show sofa, that is. It's

We all know that you are the Queen of the property shows, can you give

us some good news? It is doom and gloom for homeowners and first-time

buyers. It is all regional, I'm afraid, so you have to look at what

is going on in your area. It is not national, it is regional. That is

the message of the moment. Look to see what is happening in your area.

So the term location... everything, yes, it is everything.

We will be talking with Kirstie about a new series, which is not

about property but sees a bake, make and mend a whole range of

staff to enter competitions around the country. And we're giving you

the chance to Shard your skills, too. We want to see your native

masterpieces, from scars is no man. Send them into the normal address.

Now, if you pack your weekly shopping in a disposable carrier-

bag in Colwyn Bay, you would be worse off than if you did it in

Cambridge. Several large UK chains already charge for plastic bags,

but now it has become law in Wales. Lucy Siegle has been getting closer

According to some, discarded carrier bags are a major blight on

the environment. Over the past 10 years, we have done well and

achieved a 40% reduction in plastic and paper bag waste. This year, we

have not done so well. We have used 6.4 billion bags, the disappointing

5% increase. At last, some serious action in Wales, because in an

effort to wean us off them, the Welsh government has introduced a

5p charge on bites. If the charge was to be rolled out around the

rest of the country, would we have to deal with some of the

exemptions? It is not as simple as every bag used. A box of tea, that

will be 5p to put it in a bag, because they're already in a sealed

container. A pound of sausages? No charge, because you need to keep

the food hygienic. Chips unwrapped? No worry, food must be covered.

Burkas, and the other hand, are already wrapped, so that his 5p.

Picking up a prescription, no problem, you can have a bag free of

charge. Why? Partly because of patient privacy, but if you buy a

pregnancy test kit, quite private, you have to pay for the bag.

Chemists are not the only retailers to pay for them, so why should they

be exempt? We want to spend as much time as we can with patients,

rather than having to explain about the bags. It is going to take some

of our resource. But what do you think? Is it confusing? A As far as

exemptions, I wasn't aware of that, that was a surprise. I did not

realise you could get them for free at all, I thought you always have

to pay. The Welsh government expects to slash back use and

generate �3 million for good causes, but why all the exemptions? We want

to tackle all the waste we have, and plastic bags litter our streets

and countryside. The reports we get from the public suggests it is

bedding in very well. People do understand when the charge applies,

when it doesn't, and people support the reasons for introducing it.

After the Republic of Ireland introduced a charge in 2002, bag

used plummeted by 90%. Across the UK it is a mixed picture. Certain

shops say there charge has worked well, but the bigger supermarkets

have not been able to make charges work. Sainsbury's trialled

restrictions and charges in the past few years but dropped them

after customers objected. Northern Ireland plans to cut charges into

action as soon, while in England and Scotland legislation has not

been ruled out in the near future. But is a charge the only way to

wean us off plastic? Now, backs a life are billed as the

environmentally friendly alternative, but only if they are

re-used again and again and again and again. And again! Because they

take more resources to manufacture, they have to be re-used several

times to make them less damaging to the environment. Four times for one

of these tough plastic ones, 130 re uses for a cop and bag according to

Environment Agency research. But eight out of 10 shoppers regularly

forget to bring their bag for life. Half of the time, I just leave them

in the boot of the car, forget them. Trying to remember to take them out,

I end up by more carrier bags. one community in Neath has its own

way of tackling plastic bag waste head-on. Lynda crochets throwaway

plastic bags into severe practical material. You have made your own

fabric, basically. Yes. This is going to be an outdoor garden

coffee, which could take up to about 1,000 backs to make, because

I make a cube of this terrifically strong staff, and then I will

inserts the filling, which is rolled up plastic bags. Isn't what

you're doing a little bit of a token? Your not going to make a

dent. It is my token, so in my area, with my own family and friends, I

am going to achieve what I want to, in my little world where plastic is

not king. The new legislation is going to take a bit of time to bed

in while everyone gets used to its complexities, but I think I have

found a simple solution. Just carry your own bag.

Lizzie, you look fabulous, darling! Hill are you wearing? Well, this

piece was designed by a designer for a major supermarket, I will not

say which one, but the colour may give it away. It is a campaign

about re-using plastic bags. At the jewellery? This is by a fabulous

designer who uses discarded plastic and a bit of metal. I think this is

so pretty, I love it. What do you reckon, Kirstie? I am so impressed.

I'm not very good at crochet, and this is really skilled. We were

thinking, how did she get the bags into yarn? We have been playing

with this, and she must have had to stretch it. How many would it take?

They said it took 1,000. We think it might be more. A lot! 1 bag

stretched out, how do you Getty on from that? This is how the brain

works! I'm going to take it away from fashion and come back to

plastic bags. Wales is leading the way. Are there plans for this in

the rest of the UK? Interestingly, David Cameron said that the

Conservative Party conference that he appreciated that bag used went

down, but as it is going up again, he wants retailers to take control

of that situation, and he will be watching to see what they do.

Presumably if they don't and diffuse continues to spiral out of

control, they will look at legislation. Northern Ireland and

Scotland, the idea of a levy, as in Wales, has gone to consultation.

Northern Ireland said, do not expect anything before 2013, so it

is still being debated. When did we start using them? Well, the actual

plastic was developed and really used in the Second World War, and

after that we had a Swedish engineer who refined it and made it

very lightweight in the 1960s, and that is when it came to mass

application and consumers seems to get addicted to it. It is a big

issue with letter, I know that is one of your bugbears. I am an

ambassador for keep Britain tidy, and there's just no need for litter.

You do not need... If you buy something, you do not rented, you

are responsible for it from beginning to end, and that covers

disposal of it. Absolutely. Thank you for coming in, you look

wonderful. Honestly, you really do. I feel a bit silly, but never mind!

Why would you feel silly, and Orange Mermaid! If you fancy

popping into the kitchen to make a cuppa, wait until the end of the

show, because he will have a couple of minutes before the drama starts

in Albert Square. Have you ever wondered what happens when millions

of a switch on the kettle in unison after a programme as popular as

The drama is over for another night, and all over the country people

head for the kitchen to make a nice cuppa, but as we flick the switch

in our millions, stress increases for others. All those people run

the National Grid are faced with a huge surge in demand for power. You

need a virtually instantaneous boost in electricity supply.

Conventional power stations take hours to come on stream, so what

did you? The answer lies in Snowdonia, home to misty mountains,

lovely valleys and some very clever people who make sure that the

Cattles will always boil without the lights going out. With about 10

seconds to go from zero megawatts up to 800 megawatts, which is

probably around the sort of demand of Wales for most of the time being.

What is the secret? This is one of the most remarkable engineering

projects this country has ever seen. Locally, it is known as Electric

Mountain. Its proper name is done no work, a massive Hydro-Electric

power station which can cope with sudden surges in demand. It is in

inside a mountain within Europe's largest man-made cave. With a

couple of plastic pop bottles and some tubing, I will show you how

one of the industrial wonders of the world generates all that power

in a matter of seconds. Abides the water reservoir -- at the top of

the mountain is a lake that provides the water reservoir, the

water runs down to this valve, and when you open the valve, the water

begins to turn my mighty turbine here. As that spins, look, I am

making electricity! The problem is that eventually ran out of water in

your reservoir. At that point, used electricity from the mains to pump

the water back-up to the top so that you can do it all over again.

The real process starts at the reservoir at the top of the

mountain. Underground, in that enormous cave, are the gubbins

which officially are the world's fastest response turbine generators,

and they are just about to come on stream. This is the main inlet

valve, which is opening right now, and it is allowing 60 cubic metres

of water per second, you can hear it, flowing from the top reservoir

The water then spins an enormous turbine in here, which looks a bit

like that one over there, which in turn makes this huge drive shaft

spin at 500 revolutions per minute. And that makes an electrical

generator on the floor above us generate electricity. It takes just

10 seconds for massive amounts of power to surge into the grid, and

it can run for six hours before the water runs out. But why put it in

Snowdonia, one of the most beautiful parts of the UK? Geraint

Jones runs the place. Why build a power station inside a mountain?

They are not many places you can choose from in the UK where you

have two lakes close together with good vertical separation, and of

course we have got the challenge, when we do find a place that fits

the bill, that we are inside a national park, so it had to be

built inside the mountain. Now it all makes sense, and every time I

switch a kettle on, I will now picture this place. But let's see

the last bit of the industrial jigsaw at the foot of the mountain.

This is Clint Terrace, where the water finally ends up after it has

been through the turbines. -- Llanberis. In dead of night, and

this is the clever bit, they pump the water from here back up to the

top lake using spare electricity from the grid so that they are

ready to start again the next day. They use cheaper night-time power

to produce valuable peak-time electricity. Very ingenious and a

true industrial marble. -- Mark Waugh.

Getting creative with some plastic tubing there forced art that is

very impressive, isn't it? Very good effort. That can go in the

book! You are a property expert, that is what you are best known for,

but that is not what the new series is about. This is the third craft

series I have made, and we are going to work on a Christmas series

as well, and that will be the third one. Half of my year his property,

half of my year is crafts, and this time round it is competition crafts,

so it is me learning to do something or make something or bake

something, and then I go into competition, so we went to the

Great Yorkshire Show, the Royal Welsh Show, the role Cornwall, the

Devon Show, admitted they are, all over the country. I had to enter my

stuffed into competition, and they It was competitive? We were the

most competitive! I would not and do not have anything untoward to

the WI, I am a member muff, but they are competitive and the ladies

in Wales were amazing and the standard of the stuff was stagger.

I went to Wales and without giving away too much, I fell flat on my...

No ask!? Yeah. I did not survive well. It was not a high enough

standard. We have a clip. It does sound very

stressful. Let's have a look. This is the first time I've ever

marzipaned and iced a cake. Getting it on to the cake is not easy!

Oops! Look! Oh, no, look! How did that happen? Look, that's a

disaster! Go APPLAUSE Oh, my goodness. I would have been

so stressed. What it doesn't say there is that

it was at 1.00am. I was filming at Location, Location, Location, came

down from Nottingham, had to do scones, then eclairs and then

marzipan the cake. It seemed a disaster there, but

surely you win the rosette in the end? Sometimes, but sometimes not.

We are so used to the magic of TV, there is always one prepared

earlier. With the competitions you have to do it all yourself, no-one

can help you at all! That was the thing.

That competition is on Wednesday? Yes, Wednesday night on Channel 4.

As well as the series, of course, there is a new book, Kirstie

Allsopp's Crafts, lots of brilliant stuff in there. It teaches you how

to make cakes, furniture and even bath bombs.

Yes, times are hard, so we have packed it it. There are 50 crafts

in the book. The thing I love about crafts, there is no craft you can't

find for yourself. Joe, there is a craft for you.

I doubt that! I swear. There are crafts for boys, girls, teenagers,

everybody. What would you suggest for Joe?

That has put you on the spot... Thatching! Thatching! I definitely

can't knit, but I would have a go at thatching.

Proper thatching. Lots of masks, stakes and going um high buildings.

Well, I'm so glad you came in, this is going to make a great Christmas

present for my desk. Now, I am not very good when it

comes to insects, but when I heard that these were living wild in

people's gardens, I was surprised. Now, George is going to explain how

very well camouflaged critters travel 10,000 miles to get a bit of

Devon sun. Come on, George, let's have a go.

It is not often you look out of your kitchen window and see

something completely unexpected, but sometimes our garden hide

undiscovered aliens! Here they are... Well, I know what you're

thinking, but honestly this hedge is full of them. The reason you

can't see them is they are masters of camouflage. They are stick

insects, but what is an animal normally found in foreign forests,

doing in the Devonshire garden of One Show viewer, Linda Kingston?

When you realised that you had the alien creatures in your hedge, what

did you do? It was about 2009 it was in February. I was walking out

of the kitchen door, up past the hedge to the dustbin. I looked on

the hedge and thought, "Hang on, that's a stick insect." Were you

alarmed? No, I was amazed. Excited and leased to have them.

These are prick insects for obvious reasons, they are originally from

New Zealand. How do you think that they got into your hedge? That I

don't know. I got the hedge a few years ago. I did not find stick

insects for about five years. So I don't know how they suddenly

appeared on the hedge. How did they get here? You may think that they

are just escaped pets, but there is more to it than that. Turning the

clock back to 1890. Enter prizing men from Devon and Cornwall were

venturing forth into unknown ter toys. On reaching New Zealand they

began to bring back wonderful plants. Popular were the tree ferns,

but hidden on the plants were tiny stick insect eggs. Once hatched,

the stick insects had to deploy an Arsenal of tricks in order to

survive in the UK. Firstly, they were able to eat several kinds of

plants, even tough ever green bushes. Secondly, they have amazing

camouflage. Their prickly skin helped them to blend in with the --

in with the branches. If you thought that these were well hidden,

the babies are even harder to spot. I can see one.

Really? I'm pleased you have seen one on my hedge.

As well as looking green and stick like, they wobble, imitating leaves,

blowing in the wind. It must work well as so far no birds in the UK

seem to eat them. So they have all of these tricks, they can freeze,

sway, but the really interesting thing is... What's that? You asked

me if thiss with a male or female. I said immediately, it is a female.

That is because they are all females, there are no mails.

These insects have real girl power, able to lay eggs without the need

to mate. Every egg hatches out into a tiny clone of her mother.

That is actually a good trick if you are to invade anywhere, you

don't want to have the hassle of having males as well! So, with no

need for males, the first stick insect egg that hatched in the UK

had everything that she needed for a takeover. Each female lays over

300 eggs, over the space of a summer they can grow from enormous

invisible thread to a whopper like this.

So, how good -- if they are so good as surviving, how come we are not

knee deed in stick insects? They are nearly almost always in the

west, they like the warmth. The other reason that there are not

more, they can't fly and they don't like walking.

When the insect wants to find a new home, the option is to hitch a lift

on a plant. Here we are. We have one each.

You don't strike me as somebody scared of creepy crawlies,

cirscirs? No. No. Rats. I don't like rats -- you are not scared of

creepy crawlies, Kirstie? No. My one has his tail fully curled up,

does that mean you are scary? I think that the males are

superfluous in the making. There are lots of animals that don't need

males to produce young on their own, there are scorpions, a few birds,

reptiles and even sharks, so they don't need males.

Could you do without your TV husband, Phil? No! Poor Phil! He is

not really superfluous! Also, he can iron! He can iron beautifully.

We have other unusual visitors that we don't normally see? We have. We

have got this big thing, a death's head hawk moth. That was the one in

the Silence of the Lambs. And there have been some rare

things on the coast. This is pretty rare. This is because of the east

winds blowing across. It has been very warm. Very mild. The first

frost, they will be gone. We have had terrible flies. So many

of them. That is good. That is good. I shall come down and advise you on

the bugs! Thank you, George. Now today the Royal Mail have issued a

landmark series of stamps. One of the images is not as familiar as

the rest. We sent Alex Riley to Southend it find out more. If I

were designing a set of stamps to mark British iconic landmarks, I

can see why they chose the Angel of the North, the Blackpool Tunnel,

the Prime Minister's home, Downing Street, but what is the Kerzel?

What is that? That is down there... That's down there.

I think I have found it. The local historian is my guide to

the Kursaal. It opened as the Kursaal, it is a

German word for music hall. It then became a theme park in the First

World War. What were the attractions?

biggest rides in the country. The cyclone, the water shoot, the walls

of death with its famous tornado Sniff on the motorbike.

The freak shows, the heaviest man in the world.

All in the best possible taste! Absolutely.

This was the original domed roof of the hall? Yes, the original feature.

They had in the 60s, pop concerts here.

It is an interesting story, but what do the people on the streets

of Southend think about it? Would you choose the Kur saa -- Kursaal

over these other areas, places such as Kew Gardens? It is pretty, but

the Kursaal is nicer. Andrew Hammond helps to choose the

icons for the stamps. Andrew, can you explain the thinking of the UK

A to Z of heritage? The UK is steeped in heritage. Places that

people remember from their holidays, so, the Kursaal was one of them.

Are you sure you did not run out of ideas when you came to K? Not at

all. Many people from the East End of

London Willem pathise with our choice.

Part two of the collection, covering the letters M to Z will be

released in April 2012. It will be interesting to see if there are any

other uncovered gems, such as the Kursaal.

Here is Jack with a song he has written about some more historic

places. # Roll up

# We have a place for you toy sta # Never mind the weather

# Just come along and enjoy the dome. # So, the last in the current

series of Location, Location, Location went out last night, so

any more plans to work with your telly husband, Phil? We start

filming in January, another new series comes out in January. We are

basically six months of the year we are together and six months of the

year we work apart. Do you always get on? Occasionally

we disagree, but we get on staggeringly well. We are very,

very fond of each other and discuss everything. He's amazing. A really

fantastic person. A new knitting partner, perhaps?

I'm not so good on the knitting. You have to be mathematical and

have good kens tradition for knitting, neither of which I have.

-- You have to have good concentration for the knitting.

Well, we have some pictures of things people have knitted.

I have this lovely elephant. This is lovely, knitted for Harvey by

his mum in Huddersfield. And this has been knitted by

Bridget for the local hospice. And Natalie Wells from London and