17/02/2014 Inside Out East Midlands

Hello from Loughborough University, where they train some of the best

athletes in the world. But what happens when our sporting heroes

retire? How do you go down the job centre and say, I am a retired

javelin thrower? Was your skills? Ie through javelins away. The first

time, I was very stiff, but I survived it. Also tonight. Preying

on pets, the thieves causing heartache. It is not easy, they can

just take them, there is nothing left, there is nothing I can get

back to. You have lost your whole lifetime 's work, your hobby. So the

breeders, they are their babies. And it is absolutely heartbreaking and

devastating. And what happened to your friendly

local? Not even bothered to replace it with anything, just completely

pulled it down. When thieves break in they're

usually after easy pickings, grabbing anything to hand that might

make some quick cash. But when a house at Blaby in Leicestershire was

burgled, it wasn't money, jewellery or even flat screen tellies they

were after. It was a particular type of pet. Jon Cuthill reports.

It is hobby, like I say, I have been breeding budgies since I was 14.

Even when I was in the forces, my mum used to look after them while I

was in the force in France. Then when I got married, I would still

keeping them, with the kids and everything. Grahams's kept birds as

pets for best part of 60 years and his collection was in excess of a

hundred with a variety of exotic species. That was until thieves

broke into back garden in Blaby, Leicestershire. In one night his

collection was decimated. I just came in, at night`time, and I got up

the next day and whatever, and everything is gone. They stole very

specific birds? Yes, they knew what they wanted. 34 then Belize and 12

canaries. They take so many, and it is heartbreak. Graham reported the

theft to Leicestershire Police. As of yet this bird crime remains

unsolved. And this isn't an isolated incident. There's been dozens of

other similar incidents during the last year and aviaries across the

country 0 0 last year and aviaries across the

country are being targeted. Leaving bird lovers struggling to cope with

the loss. It is not easy at all to just take 0

the loss. It is not easy at all to just take it. Just 0

the loss. It is not easy at all to just take it. Just kicked me to

death. Michael Freeborn had over 400 prize winning budgies stolen from

his home last summer. I just touch the door, it just came over. I

entered 0 0 the door, it just came over. I

entered and I looked inside that first block of cages where the 19

top birds were, there was nothing there. And that was it. Total shock.

The raid on Michael's aviary was one of the biggest private 0

The raid on Michael's aviary was one of the biggest private bird thefts.

His collection was reported to be worth upwards of ?60,000. However,

money was the last thing on his mind. The 0

money was the last thing on his mind. The anger is more because of

why? Why do it to someone like that? At the Budgie World Championships in

Doncaster, competitors have gathered to show off their exhibition birds

in the hope they'll win Best in Show. Decades of selective breeding

have gone into producing what's considered to be the best looking

birds in the business. So these are highly desirable budgerigars. You

might not think these little fellows are the prices of pets, but you

would be wrong. Just like pedigree pooches, the real top ones are worth

hundreds of pounds. That is why thieves across the East Midlands are

targeting them. And police are warning owners to beware. John

Hayward runs the National Theft Register for stolen and lost birds

across the UK. He's convinced there's got to be a link between

many of these crimes. These are professional thieves. I'm sure that

in relation to the budgerigar thefts that we've had, these birds are not

being taken to show purposes, they are top exhibition birds. There is a

tremendous demand for quality birds throughout the whole of Europe. Many

so called exhibition birds are microchipped or ringed to identify

them. John's convinced thieves wouldn't attempt to do away with

these as it's likely to injure or kill the bird in the process.

Instead they'll breed from the stolen birds and then sell on their

untraceable yet highly desirable chicks. They are being taken to be

sold into, I would suspect, the European or even the International,

totally international illegal trade for breeding purposes. The recent

outbreak of raids on aviaries has ruffled some feathers and it's put

breeders on edge. Every knock or bang outside the front of my house,

a cat knocking something ever, I find myself jumping out of bed and

checking to see if there is a prowler or something trying to break

in. If people want to get in, it is the same of your house, if they want

to get in, they will get in. You have just got to make it as hard as

possible. We are considering getting a dog again, we are also considering

this sort of thing, canvas. Security wise. So how widespread problem is

it? We have had it in Northampton and Derby, and other towns. It is a

devastating effect. You have lost your whole lifetimes work, your

hobby, so the breeders, they are their babies. And it is absolutely

heartbreaking and ever taking. `` and devastating. Besides

Northamptonshire and Derbyshire, birds 0 0

Northamptonshire and Derbyshire, birds have also been stolen in

Lincolnshire and Leicestershire. It's taken some high profile thefts

but breeders are finally fighting back. Nigel Darley has spent

hundreds of pounds to secure his aviary. And if thieves return, this

time he's ready to catch them in the act. We have now got an eight camera

CCTV system, which covers all four corners of the garden, including all

the flat roofs and hedges. This was under police advice. This is the

area that they actually broke into the garden. They cut through the

hedge with the next`door neighbour's garden tools, then they

cut through the two layers of wire, then they had full access to the

garden. It is an instant numbness. It is like a dream that has gone

into slow motion. I know it sounds exaggerated but it is like a dream.

You realise something's gone. Exploring the recovery rate, it's

unlikely Nigel will see his stolen birds again. It's been 0

unlikely Nigel will see his stolen birds again. It's been suggested

criminals 0 birds again. It's been suggested

criminals use a chemical spray which temporarily stuns the birds and

keeps them quiet during a raid. So as well as CCTV and security lights,

alarms on aviaries are now advised. Nigel thinks the outlay is well

worth it. It sound manager genetic, but it does seem as though part of

the family has gone. `` it could sound melodramatic. You have got a

reason to get up in the morning, to feed your birds, look after your

birds. You would like to close your eyes, open them and find them still

there. Did breeders and owners need to realise what is going on and take

better security measures? Absolutely. We are incessantly

reminding bird keepers of all types, particularly these species which are

more honourable to being stolen, budgerigars in particular, that

crime prevention is the only answer. `` these species are more vulnerable

for being stolen. But this message comes too late for people like

Michael Freeborn. As of yet none of his 400 stolen birds have been

recovered. It's just months since the raid on his aviary, but he now

feels ready to start his hobby all over again. Michael's beginning by

revisiting the Budgie World Championships where's he's receiving

plenty of moral support from good friends and old rivals. When we saw

you, you had had the wind well and truly 0

you, you had had the wind well and truly knocked out of your sails.

Really distraught, utterly distraught. I decided to get some

more birds, then I can go onwards. You are a man with budgies in his

blood? Yes, right the way through. This 0 0

blood? Yes, right the way through. This is the ultimate aim, to win

this. And you can still do it? I can still do it now.

Michael, looking to the future. Still to come, we're off to the pub,

but it is it last orders for the local? Trying to recreate Derby

mile, back then, you did not walk the Derby mile, you drank it, pub by

pub. It's not easy getting to the top in

sport. But it can be even harder on the way down. After years of

training for one goal, elite athletes can find themselves lost

once the pressure's off and real life 0 0

once the pressure's off and real life begins. 0

once the pressure's off and real life begins. Former international

canoeist and now Nottingham mum Helen Barnes has been finding out

how some of the East Midlands' most famous sporting heroes have coped

with retirement. A life in sport. When you're trying

for the top, it can consume you. But what about life after sport? What

happens to our sporting heroes when they retire? I genuinely started out

in retirement with, what now? One thing I probably missed is the

amazing feeling of scoring an important goal, and winning a big

game. Great Britain has a new female sporting his `` heroine and her name

is Rebecca Adlington. You miss that feeling of being part of something

in having a purpose. I spent 20 years competing for Britain and

Ireland 0 0 years competing for Britain and

Ireland in 0 years competing for Britain and

Ireland in canoe slalom and hold two world records for the new rolling.

My Facebook page says Alan Barnes, international canoeist. I have not

changed it although a more accurate description would be primary school

teacher, occasional sports resent and mother of two. `` sports

presenter. Max was born in 2011. Although IM keen to stay in shape, I

know my competitive days are over. I know first hand just how hard it can

be to leave your sport behind. Which made me interested in finding out

how some of the region's biggest sporting 0

how some of the region's biggest sporting heroes have coped. I off to

Salford to meet one of the biggest. I'm excited to meet Gary Lineker. It

has been 30 years since I met him last. Your challenge starts now. I

was a mystery guest on that show and he was 18 captain. I would like him

to solve some histories for me. You seem very cost of all sitting here

now. Can your member your first time being the host? I am comfortable

because we are not on air. I'm pretty relaxed now. The first time I

did it, I was petrified. Tell you what, football is back. Any good?

Have I got the job. I was not very good, but not so bad

they could not immediately get that of me.

We will start with Sunderland who visited Chelsea.

On the radio, you can talk to people and then talk to people at home. On

TV, you have the cameras 0 and then talk to people at home. On

TV, you have the cameras and guests to deal with. You have people

talking in your ear, so it is very different. It was very intimidating

and difficult at the start. Unlike a lot of sportspeople, Gary was lucky.

He'd always known what he wanted to do when he retired. Both Manchester

United and Leeds United began the season with a draw and a win.

I always enjoyed journalism. When I was a kid, I used to write match

reports all the time when I used to go to games ` it was almost like a

hobby. And I always thought, if I didn't make it, that was the route I

would have tried to take which, ultimately, is where I am, I

suppose. Oh, and Lineker's won it back superbly. So what's his advice?

Start thinking about it early, find out what you want to do. It's

almost, in a way, like when you're at school. Not many kids really know

what they want to do and where they're going to go, but it's almost

more difficult trying to start again in life in your 30s than it is when

you're 19, 20, 21, coming out of school or university. Could we get

two medals here? It looks like Adlington's going to be the gold

medallist! Oh, my goodness, it is! There 0

medallist! Oh, my goodness, it is! There can be a lot of life after

sport. My next sporting hero retired last year at the ripe old age of 24.

That was a masterful swim. I cannot believe it. Four Olympic medals put

Becky Adlington, from Mansfield, into 0

Becky Adlington, from Mansfield, into the history books. Today,

you'll still find Becky by the pool but you won't find her in a costume.

Just try and keep them nice and straight and kick from your hips,

OK? This time, we're going to put our face 0

OK? This time, we're going to put our face into the water. She's

started her own business, Becky's Swim Stars, training swimming

teachers across the country. Pointy toes, kicking your legs. So what's

it been like leaving all that intense training behind? I'm

obviously still very much involved in swimming. It's nice, not waking

up at 5:15am. That's definitely the nice part of it, but it's not been a

complete drop`off. A lot of people retire and then it's like boom!

Nothing. Whereas at least I've had kind of a nice ease into it rather

than just like this huge drop`off. So I've been pretty lucky. I thought

I lost my identity a little bit. Like, I always saw myself as Helen

The Canoeist and now I'm just like Helen The Mum and it sort of seems a

bit different. Can you relate to that? Yeah. Completely. Everyone

always... Like, if someone sees me in the street, they go, "Are you

that swimmer girl?" And I'm like, "Yeah, hiya." And it's like everyone

just knows me as "The Swimmer Girl", which is a little bit why I wanted

to go in the jungle and go on I'm A Celeb, so that people get to know

the normal Becky. And people did see the real Becky during I'm a

Celebrity, including Becky in tears talking with her jungle mates about

the pressure to be skinny and glamorous. That's the one thing out

of everything I've had to deal with that I found really hard. I kind of

got a little bit of fame and then everyone slagged me off for the way

I looked and I was like, "What's that got to do with my swimming?"

And it's just one of those things that I'm already insecure about. To

then have people, day in, 0 that I'm already insecure about. To

then have people, day in, day out, constantly coming in on it, makes

your insecurities even worse. Perhaps the key thing to enjoying

retirement is finding something you're passionate about. Becky seems

to have found that in her network of swim schools. My vision is to try

and get every single child in the UK to leave primary school being able

to swim a full 25m. Swimming's one of the few sports that is such a

life skill. And it's so much bigger than any Olympic medal you could

ever 0 than any Olympic medal you could

ever win. A determined look now, though, on the face of Steve

Backley. I haven't seen him as pumped up as this for a long time.

His first throw in the final. Attacks it as well. And it's big,

it's 0 Attacks it as well. And it's big,

it's long. Oh, a good start. My final sporting star trained for

years at Loughborough, competed in four Olympics and won medals in

three of them. But, when 0 four Olympics and won medals in

three of them. But, when he retired, Steve Backley hadn't decided what he

wanted to do. What am I going to do? Go down the job centre and say,

"Retired javelin thrower?" "Well, what are your skills?" "Well, I

throw the javelin a long way." Where does that fit in the office, you

know? Where do I sign up? Steve still competes but down at his local

golf course. He says carving a life after sport is all about redefining

your goals. In javelin`throwing terms, I was, at two points in my

life, the best in the world. And whatever I do, whether it be golf or

business, am I going to be the best in the world? Probably not. Do I

aspire to be? Maybe not either. So success is... It's a challenge,

almost, to have the humility to say, "Being OK is success." Now Steve has

found a use for the skills that took him to the top. He tours the world

as a motivational speaker for business. It genuinely fascinates me

why somebody, at any given time, is a better golfer than somebody else,

is a better javelin thrower than somebody else, is a better leader or

chief 0 somebody else, is a better leader or

chief executive 0 somebody else, is a better leader or

chief executive of an organisation. Why is it that some people just are

better than others? Depsite the fact that they maybe have the same

talent. It's been a real privilege to talk to these sporting heroes.

It's hard to leave a world that's so immersive. Sport makes you very

single`minded and losing that focus when you retire is tough. But people

who excel in sport can use that same drive and determination to succeed

in all sorts of areas. It's just up to you how you define success.

Finally tonight, according to the Campaign for Real Ale, two pubs a

week are closing and being converted into shops. It's all part of a much

bigger trend. Across the country on average every week no fewer than 18

pubs call last orders for the last time. But there is some good news

for those concerned about the future, like Nottingham writer Al

Needham. A pub crawl across the East

midlands? More like a death march. Thousands of 0

midlands? More like a death march. Thousands of pubs have shut down in

the last decade but it is not like we have stopped drinking. Some

people even tell you they are glad to see the back of them. People

always see pubs as problems but I think people are starting to realise

that places with no pubs, you are probably creating as many problems

as you had before. A lot of pubs have gone and some of them have left

a big gap in the community. Not even bother to replace it with anything.

Just pulled it down. Other have gone through a conversion to Macca. It

might look like a standard drive through that at one point it was the

start of the Derby 0 through that at one point it was the

start of the Derby Mile. 0 through that at one point it was the

start of the Derby Mile. At one stage, there were 12 pubs. So it was

a volume drinking exercise. Lovely. Les, who happens to be Britain and

Derby's only Beer King, will take me along the Derby Mile soon. But let

us go to my hometown. I am at a place called the Bentinck Inn. It

was opposite the train station, a bit rough but with one or two people

in, it was a nice place to have a drink, I would say. Cheers! It is

not all doom and gloom. Castle Rock is Nottingham's biggest rotary and

have 19 pubs on the books. They are handing out beer and breakfast to

remember Richard Beckinsale. It is a place that knows how to keep the

punters happy. Some places have priced themselves out and I think

people are looking for a specific place to go that has everything for

them. You cannot just open a door and expected the walking. You want

choice. You don't necessarily get it. This is just a typical... A man

with a parrot. I grew up in Top Valley in the

1970s, when pubs were a place to meet, to 0 0

1970s, when pubs were a place to meet, to talk, to grow up and where

to put your father for a viewer hours. This was my dad's favourite,

the Charlie too. You can see where it was built, that was where the

landlord left. This was where he was. He spent a lot of time in this

pub and a lot of his mates obviously spent a lot of time in this pub so I

find it really sad that it is not a pub any more. Next stop, the

Harvesters. It has been like this for a while. I am sitting outside

the Royal Hunt or what used to be it. This was my dad's second

favourite pub. More importantly, this was the venue of my 21st

birthday party and it was where I get to hold up the European cup. ``

where I got to hold up the cup. Looking through these photos reminds

me that pubs were not just there to get you drunk, they were hubs we

could celebrate and commiserate and where the milestones of your life

were commemorated. It was a microcosm of 0

were commemorated. It was a microcosm of the people 0

were commemorated. It was a microcosm of the people who lived

there. I suppose... Their clientele are the microcosm of the community

but they are popping in and going out in a few minutes rather than

sitting there and 0 out in a few minutes rather than

sitting there and talking to each other. There were six pubs in Top

Valley. Now there is only one, the Duke of St Albans. I have asked the

landlord why is pub has survived but also I am grasping! Number one is

good management, number two is good beer. Then you treat your customer

with respect and they treat you with respect. Jefferson knows what he's

on about. He started running pubs at the same time I was trying to get in

them! What is the difference between running a pub in 2014 and running a

pub in the mid`1980s? Have you noticed a change? Yes, the price.

The price and the supermarket. You can go in the supermarket, you can

get a four pack for less than three quid. I am trying to recreate the

Derby Mile with the Beer King. Back then, you did not walk the Derby

Mile, you drank it. So out of four pubs so far, only one

is open. That is not a good strike rate. Here is a novelty, a pub that

is open! Don't get me wrong, there are still pubs like this one. It is

lovely. Droves, they would come in, drink, and go out the back door and

move into the city. That does not happen any more. Like a lot of pubs,

you have to work to get people in and keep them in. You need a good

cross`section of people, young and old. At its peak, there were a dozen

pubs along the Mile. Now there are only four. Does that mean we are

more sober? Don't be soppy? `` Debbie Tubby! We probably drink more

than our Paris did. We go straight into town. The pubs that are left,

such as the Greyhound, which as reinvented itself as a gastric pub

with craft beers, I try to capture hearts and minds. A good pub must

have good beer. Friendly staff and just a nice ambience, and nice

atmosphere that people feel constable in. I was 0

atmosphere that people feel constable in. I was upset that Les

did not come out in his royal deer. Here years, tapping a beer keg. He

brought me a poem about the Derby mile. The brave start with points,

and later opted onto the end of the mile. Sleep and reconstruct the

stories of it all. The night we survived the 0

stories of it all. The night we survived the Derby 0

stories of it all. The night we survived the Derby Mile. Some pub

traditions have died but others live on. If you have ever had a drink in

Nottingham, you will know this man, Dave Bartram, AKA the fish man. He

has been selling cockles since the 1960s. That is why I carry on, just

to get out at night, to try and keep the business going. There are a lot

of people in Nottingham who don't want my business to die. Let us end

this on a positive note. There is a pub at the end of my street that I

would love to show you. We create an environment that people love to come

into and have a chat and a drink. This is a micro`pub, no phones, no

televisions, no bandits, 0 This is a micro`pub, no phones, no

televisions, no bandits, just beer and talk. We make a reasonable

profit and the problem with pubs nowadays is that they are usually

with chains, the landlord finds it very difficult to make a living. The

beauty of this place is that the people we buy the beer from are the

people who make it so they deliver it and we have a relationship with

them. So the local is dead, long live the local. Maybe if pubs want

to have a future, they need to start acting like the Doctor's Orders, the

Greyhound and beguile macro, and all of the other pubs who are trying to

make a go of it in 2014. Pubs need to remember what they used to be,

the fulcrum of the communities they were based in and places that were

far more than a business ever could be. You cannot have your engagement

do in a corner shop and you cannot have a weight in the car park. ``

your grandmother's wake in the car park. And for connoisseurs of a good

pint like Al Needham, you can see the Beer King in action in at the

National Winter Beer Festival in Derby later this week. From

Loughborough University, goodbye. Next week, the war hero who became a

reluctant celebrity. The life and death of Albert Ball. He was

frightened of the adoration, he did not think he deserved it. He was

doing what he thought was right. Hello, I'm Sam Naz with your 90

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MP. We've got tablets, smartphones and