23/01/2012 Inside Out South West

Hello, and welcome to Inside Out South West - stories from where you

live. Tonight, the devastating impact of glass attacks in pubs and

clubs. One Cornish victim's campaign to ban the bottle. People

go out to enjoy themselves, not to have their life changed in minutes.

Also tonight, why conservationists are in a spin over plans to produce

power from South West rivers. The salmon and sea trout have been

running this system for years, thousands of years. Why should we

take away their breeding grounds? Why?

And Adam Hart-Davis on how a chemist helped Smeaton find the

right formula for his tower. There was a real problem about how they

were going to stick it together but Cockworthy had a bright idea. Wow!

That is amazing. That's what, half a kilogram of rock?

I'm Sam Smith and this is Inside This week, the police in Newquay

are due to take strong action against this nightclub. They're

asking the council to review its licence because of a series of

attacks here where classes and glass bottles have been used as

weapons. As we discovered, they're not the only ones who say we should

now call time on glass on places like this.

A night on the town. It'll leave some with a banging headache others

banged up in the cells. But for the unlucky few, this kind of mayhem

changes life forever... Then it'll give a little bit, then you'll feel

the resistance, but don't move past the resistance. 22-year-old Jack

Nutting doesn't like these hospital sessions. The therapy on his

paralysed arm reminds him and his girlfriend Pippa of what he's lost.

You hear all the time about people getting attacked or bottled or

glassed in a pub, but you never see the outcome of it. Life changing.

It's horrible. The last test Jack took was to get into medical school.

Now he struggles to solve a simple puzzle. Brain damage has affected

his concentration, his memory and his eyesight. The left hand side of

his body is paralysed. The cause - a single blow from a glass bottle.

Soon Jack will face his attacker in court. I'm dreading it. It's

actually seeing him, that's the bit I'm dreading. I don't know why.

the meantime, Jack's on a mission. He's campaigning for a ban on glass

in pubs and clubs. Glasses and bottles, you might as well go to a

shop and give out knives cos they can do the same damage. People go

out to enjoy themselves, not to have their life changed in minutes.

Jack's life changed in September 2010. He was fit and sporty and

hoped to become a doctor. But it all went wrong in a London pub

where he worked. Basically it was my night off. I wasn't working so I

thought, I'll go to the pub for a couple of drinks and meet a few

friends up there. In early hours, a fight started between two girls.

Just an instant reaction, really. I decided to go in and try and split

them up. But the boyfriend of one of the girls saw red. It was a

couple of metres from where I was sitting, I stopped and just got

cracked around the back of my head. I remember being drenched and

having the taste of cider. I touched my head where I got him and

saw blood on my hand. The sheer force of the blow caused the brain

damage. The wound you see is from surgery to remove a huge blood clot

which is the shown as the white area on the left of this scan. Jack

was in intensive care for a month. There are thousands of glass

attacks every year. Jack believes the answer is simple - ban glass

from venues where there's a risk of trouble. He and Pippa are

campaigning online and in the street. He's got the backing of

police and a local MP. But many pubs and clubs still use glass and

Jack wants to find out why. Two years ago the government asked

designers to come up with a way to stop glassings and here it is... A

super-tough, or tempered, pint glass. We spoke to police officers,

paramedics, surgeons, pub and club owners. It seemed like the biggest

safety issue was when a glass was smashed and turned into a pointed,

jagged weapon. In this footage from Cornwall, the man on the right of

the frame appears to try and do just that. He bangs his glass hard

on the table in front of him then smashes it on the face of the man

in front. Toughened glass probably wouldn't have broken... It is very

strong. This is designed for the initial attacks that go on in bars.

So you don't want it to break straight away, you want it to be

tough. But when it does break you want it to break in a controlled

way. It gives the victims time to react. If it does break, you get

harmless, rounded fragments. But its strength worries Jack. How it

shatters is perfect. The only thing I dislike is the strength, how

strong you have to hit something for it to shatter. At the moment

it's a blunt object. Next stop Newquay, where there have been 44

glassings in the last two years. A big worry here is glass bottles.

Police want them banned from certain venues and replaced with

plastic alternatives. But not all clubs are complying. This one faces

a licence review this week for that reason. Jack's come to meet the

officer cracking down on glass. We're doing a couple of things to

try and reduce glass attacks in Newquay. The first one is trying to

move over to tempered glass. I know you've brought some here today. The

other thing is trying to get rid of bottles, because bottles can't be

toughened. We're trying to introduce plastic bottles into the

pubs and clubs in Newquay. I'm told that popular ranges aren't

available in plastic. That's a big problem because the clubs are

saying to me, we don't want to reduce our biggest range and I'm

going to speak to my MP about this because I'd like regulation that if

you're going to sell alcohol in the UK, that you've got to have plastic

as an option. If you the pubs and clubs can then purchase the plastic

instead of the glass. We asked two big drinks firms why some of their

brands only came in glass. The makers of Sol, told us that its

biggest sellers came in plastic. But it said for smaller and

imported brands this was impossible to do. Jack was hit by one of these.

The makers said there had not been the demand for it to come in

plastic because it was a relatively new product. The bottom line is

cost. The ultra-strong pint glass costs 15% more than the

conventional alternative. Plastic bottles are up to 10p more. And

licensees say the problem isn't just packaging, but people.

Certainly, packaging is something that could be changed and looked up.

It's a small number of people who don't know how to behave themselves

in polite company. They have a low tolerance to alcohol, perhaps

there's something wrong with them that they feel the need to grab a

weapon and hit someone. Don't to do it. You potentially could kill

somebody. On the street, Jack and Pippa are worried will the public

agree that glass isn't really the issue? Or will they back the

campaign? Good luck, all the best. Thank you. I think it's a good idea.

I think it's safe for children and families who like to sit in a pub

and when these yobbos start chucking things around, they are

not going to be hurt with plastic. If it doesn't stop the violence it

stops the injuries, so why not? Cheers. You have got locals round

here saying it's ridiculous. At least I'm not the only one that

thinks that now. I'm chuffed. in London, justice is about to be

served on Jack's attacker. Peter Rowley, who's hiding his face, has

already pleaded guilty. This is his last taste of freedom for a long

time. Jack was in court to hear Rowley get seven years - and

apologise. He said he didn't mean to do what he did, he didn't intend

to cause the damage. Did that mean anything to you? Not really. I'm

just glad it's over now. Just move on. Is it like a line in the sand

for you? Yeah, carry on with my life now - I've got a new one.

number of cities have now piloted glass bans. They didn't turn back

the tide of drunken violence, but they did cut the number of serious

injuries. Jack might not become a doctor, but with his campaign, he

could yet save lives. Water has powered the South West

for centuries and now, the modern- day equivalent of this is causing

something of a stir in the region. I've been investigating.

There's a tussle going on in our rivers between those who want to

harness their power... We do need urgently to reduce our addiction to

fossil fuels and to carbon burning. And those who say they're sacred

ground for species like the salmon. Salmon and sea trout have been

running this system for thousands of years. Why should we take away

their breeding grounds? Why? battle is over schemes that turn

water into electricity. Chris Elliot's company installs them and

he's never been busier. This is just where we've opened up the leat.

It's brought a lot of extra leaves down. The reason for all this

activity? The government's drive to produce more energy from so-called

green sources like wind, sun and water. Schemes like this are being

encouraged with generous subsidies. And that's led to a big increase in

the number being applied for and installed. The nation's power

companies are oiling the wheels by paying a special high price, called

a feed-in tariff, for electricity generated this way. The cost is

passed on to their ordinary customers. But it means schemes

like this owned by the National Trust can potentially turn a profit

more quickly. The feed-in tariff has allowed a lot of people who

have had long-term ideas of doing this to actually look into it and

for that investment to make some sense. And it can make

environmental sense too, according to the agency charged with

protecting our rivers. We do need urgently to reduce our addiction to

fossil fuels and to carbon burning. It is important that hydro power

schemes, wherever possible, are permitted by the Environment Agency.

But small river schemes will only ever make a tiny contribution to

the nation's electricity needs. And elsewhere, not everyone agrees it's

the right course. This is the Walkham, an important breeding

ground for the iconic and endangered salmon. It's a place

artist Robin Armstrong's known for 30 years not only drawing the river,

but once policing it too as a water bailiff. The perfect excuse is to

be able to go down and to be able to be on the river and perhaps see

something I might want to sketch. Bob's your uncle, you can just take

out your sketch pad and away you go. Today Robin is as passionate about

the Walkham as ever. But he fears for its future, because a

hydroelectric scheme is planned here. A developer wants to divert

up to two thirds of the river flow into an old mill stream or leat,

The female digs a hollow and the gravel with her tail, where she

lays her eggs. There then fertilised by the Milky sperm of

the male. Spawning is believed to be triggered by fast-flowing water,

which also keeps Beggs free from silt. Robin fears reducing the

river flow could be disastrous for the salmon and other species on the

Eddystone Reef. Per to ensure abstraction of any

kind will affect the habitat. At that -- if it affects the habitat

it affects the creatures in it. Salmon and sea-trout have been

running this system for thousands of years. Why should we take away

their breeding grounds? Why? question for the Environment Agency.

It approved the scheme last week and said it would tolerate at 20 %

fall in salmon numbers. Angling campaigners are dismayed.

To roars, that is absolutely horrendous. For the agency supposed

to protect fisheries to be considering licensing a scheme with

a 20 % adverse effect, we don't think that is the right balance

between looking after the fish and the relatively small bit of

electricity that will be generated. -- small amount of electricity.

The agency says that salmon numbers historically very by 20 % anyway.

A anything more than that would indicate the hydropower scheme is

causing a problem for fish and we would intervene to make sure that

was stopped. The agency has insisted developers

build something like this, a fish ladder. Such measures would count

for little if such measures would - - if anything went disastrously

wrong. In September last year, Nick was greeted with an extraordinary

sight in Surrey. One morning driving across the

river, I thought it was exceptionally low Mac. I drove to

the other side and I thought there was actually no flow at all. --

exceptionally low. He must have thought, what has

happened? I thought, who on earth has nicked

the river? You could walk across in your best Sunday shoes, my

neighbour and her grandson were bound with me pondering where the

river had gone. The core upstream of neck is a hydropower scheme.

Local anglers believe a design fault means at times it effectively

damns up the river. The Environment Agency says it has found no direct

evidence of that, but it is investigating. There are thing is,

you think with all our great minds and the concern vote for the

Environment and the mode of thought that must have gone into it, you

feel disappointed we can't get this sort of thing right today, and it

bodes badly for other schemes. Back on the Walkham, the

Environment Agency says the schemes here will be closely monitored.

They point out that a report commissioned by the scheme's

applicant says fish will not be affected. However, the agency's own

local fisheries officers appear to have strong concerns. In a report

last year, they said reducing the floor had the potential to impede

the migration of salmon and trout. Those concerns were expressed

internally, but those officers are known -- now convinced this scheme

will ensure good protection for the environment and may improve the

passage of fish because of the improved Fisk pass. -- fish pass.

What of fish that end up in the drubbing? This, say campaigners, is

evidence not from the South West of the grisly fate that awaits.

Screens should keep the fish out, but campaigners say they do not

always work. It is a bit like a colander full of

potato peelings. It could over floor and the fish could going to

the leet, and the fail-safe, back- up screen it is proposed will have

a larger spacing, so fish could go through that and then through the

carbine. And that would be lethal?

Yes, the type of car buying that is proposed here is effectively a fish

masher. -- the type of probing. The Walkham scheme now needs

planning permission. All sides are hoping that water power turns out

to be a wise course rather than a Smeaton's Tower is one of the South

West's most iconic buildings, a marvel of technology and triumph of

design. But, for all Smeaton's est genius, his tower might never have

been built without the help of a local chemist, as Adam Hart-Davis

has been finding out. The Eddystone Reef that for

centuries these forbidding rocks have been responsible for wrecking

countless ships. But, by 1,700, an enterprising Essex merchant had

done the impossible and built a lighthouse here. Henry Winstanley's

tower had a stone based largely made of wood. He was so confident

it could largely to withstand the Rev -- that it could withstand the

weather he joined the lighthouse keepers for what turned out to be

the biggest storm ever to put Winstanley and his tower were gone.

The second lighthouse was built by a Londoner, and that lasted for 50

years. It was built like a ship, out of wood, but unfortunately

caught fire in the 17 50s and burnt down to the sea. That was the end

of that one, and the end of another lighthouse keeper. The one you can

see now was built by the Victorians in the 1880s. The one we are

interested in was built by John Smeaton, and the remains are still

standing there, known as Smeaton's stump. Back in 1756, no one thought

a stone tower built at sea could work. It might not have, without

the help of Plymouth chemist and quicker, William Cookworthy. --

Quaker. He is better known as the father of the china clay industry.

The pioneer of English porcelain. It was perhaps his pioneering

spirit that made him admire Young's Smeaton -- young Smeaton, the

Engineer who came to lodge with them. Smeaton's audacious plan was

to build his tower from interlocking stone blocks, each

course neatly dovetailed into the next. But, he needed a waterproof

mortar to join the blocks together, and one simply did not exist.

Fairly soon, cookware the was helping Smeaton with this gigantic

task to build a lighthouse on the Eddystone Reef rocks. There was a

real problem about how to stick it together, but Cookworthy had a

bright idea. Smeaton knew some mortars were better than others for

what work, but it was Cookworthy who held the key. I have come to

Plymouth City Museum to see an extraordinary book. And to find out

more. Experiments to ascertain the

complete composition for water cements with their results. This

whole chapter is about cement? That is right. If incredible detail.

It is very much what the narrative is about. It partly explains why

Smeaton is the father of Civil Engineering, the detailed planning

he put into every component of a project.

A N this whole enterprise, how important was Cookworthy?

I think he was very important indeed, experimenting with

different mixes to find a hydraulic line mortar that would go off in

the wet conditions. Of course, ordinary line the more trouble wash

away. The yes, it needed to go off in wet conditions.

That he was working with William Cookworthy, who get a mention.

Yes, if I can think of the paragraph...

I therefore replied to my friend, Mr Cookworthy, who I found at all

times ready to afford meet his assistance, he taught me to analyse

Langstone. That analysis allowed in three and

Smeaton to invent a mortar that would set underwater. -- Cookworthy

and Smeaton. I have got mortar expert Phil Brown to help out.

Not too wet. Right, so sticky like this?

Yes, this is a building more to her. Are you telling me that is good

enough to stick things together? Yes. Enough for stones.

So if I put a stone there, each and I'd put another stone on top, you

say this will not fall of? It should hold together.

For comparison, Phil is also making a traditional mortar. This upsets

initially by driving as the water evaporates, but that does not

happen in wet conditions. Cookworthy and Smeaton found that

adding a special type of clay it would cause the water to set even

underwater. We have ten minutes, so we could nip off and have a bacon

sandwich. Let's leave them to it. Let's check the traditional water

first. Even I can predict this one will not. They have come apart.

There is not even address -- a trace of the line left on it. --

mortar left on it. And you think this will set underwater?

Fairly confident. Wow!

That is amazing. Can I buy shoot on the concrete and see if it breaks?

Try it? Well, you can do it, but it really

sticks, and that is how Smeaton built his lighthouse.

The errors something up with the Eddystone Reef four-cornered, but

it does not stop us going in for a closer look. The thing that amazes

me about it is the quality of the pointing. Just look at that white

cement between the stones. He did that 250 years ago, and it looks

like it has been done yesterday, even though it has been exposed to

this terrible Atlantic weather. The only place it is wearing a way is

at the top, where they have done nothing at all to protect it.

Smeaton's Tower stood for 120 years before cracks appeared, not in the

tower but on the rocks below it. The tower had become a national

icon and was rebuilt on Plymouth Hoe, the entire cost paid by public

subscription. Time to meet the chap in charge of its recent restoration

fulls of the you build this thing, didn't you?

To I am not that old! Chris, you really know about this

building. What makes a good love this White House?

To sum it up, I would say it is a design prototype, it was the first

of its kind. There are very few buildings in the world you can

point to and say that was the first of its kind, and this is an example.

He stayed with his elderly local gent, William Cookworthy. Didn't

Cookworthy want to tell them to be more sensible?

No, I think on the contrary Cookworthy was intrigued and front

of -- fascinated by what he was proposing. It was an exciting

project. Cookworthy, although he was established in the local

community as a Quaker, was open to radical thinking, and I think very

I love this building. It seemed like an impossible project when

Smeaton took it on, and yet he did it. I hope within this film I have