Browse content similar to 27/02/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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The campaign to save the Palace. I am asked Hammersmith and this is | :00:58. | :01:08. | |
:01:08. | :01:20. | ||
It is reassuring that there are places that look after unwanted, | :01:20. | :01:24. | |
abandoned and injured animals. These are tough times for Animal | :01:24. | :01:33. | |
shelters across the south-west. North Devon in October last year. | :01:33. | :01:38. | |
It is the end of a dream. These horses are being moved from an | :01:38. | :01:42. | |
animal sanctuary after its owners were evicted for falling behind | :01:42. | :01:47. | |
with their mortgage. The worst times are going to bed and getting | :01:47. | :01:50. | |
up in the morning because it is the last thing and the first thing I | :01:50. | :01:56. | |
think half. I get very emotional about it. It got to the point where | :01:56. | :02:03. | |
it was mortgage, vet Bill, mortgage, pay bill, it was the mortgage that | :02:03. | :02:08. | |
suffered. They are 374 animals here but paying for them is becoming | :02:08. | :02:15. | |
difficult. The century had been in financial trouble since the | :02:15. | :02:22. | |
beginning. As Debbie admitted. have been living hand-to-mouth for | :02:22. | :02:28. | |
five years. Animal charities are bottom of the pile. Even at that | :02:28. | :02:35. | |
stage, Debbie thought her refuge had a future. A year on on a cold | :02:35. | :02:40. | |
October morning, it is all over. She has been locked out of the | :02:40. | :02:46. | |
sanctuary where some animals still remain. The whole thing is | :02:46. | :02:52. | |
diabolical. I turned up here this morning and the company have told | :02:52. | :02:57. | |
me that my other animals have been removed. I have no idea where they | :02:57. | :03:03. | |
have gone. I am not allowed on the property to load up my horses. | :03:03. | :03:06. | |
Debbie is deficit -- desperate to see her beloved animals safely off | :03:06. | :03:16. | |
:03:16. | :03:16. | ||
the side. They are my animals. any more. I am going to find out | :03:17. | :03:26. | |
:03:27. | :03:28. | ||
where they are. I will sue the pants off you lot. Why are you so | :03:28. | :03:34. | |
in compassionate. I have been going through hell. Can you move your car | :03:34. | :03:43. | |
out of the way? Debbie has to leave not knowing the animal's fate. | :03:43. | :03:50. | |
You'd better make sure not a single hair is harmed on their head. | :03:50. | :04:00. | |
:04:00. | :04:01. | ||
all of the horses were found a home. Five months on and they're the only | :04:01. | :04:06. | |
has her dogs for company. She has learnt some tough lessons. Try not | :04:06. | :04:12. | |
to have negative thoughts and trying not to feel better and not | :04:12. | :04:22. | |
:04:22. | :04:24. | ||
to feel resentful. In all honesty, a bit naive. There are a lot of | :04:24. | :04:28. | |
people who are compassionate and want to do it but they are probably | :04:28. | :04:34. | |
the wrong people to run an animal charity. Debbie's aunt ran an | :04:34. | :04:39. | |
animal shelter in her native Jersey. When space got too tight, she sold | :04:39. | :04:49. | |
:04:49. | :04:51. | ||
up and joined Debbie at the Devon century. So many people say they | :04:51. | :04:55. | |
want to open an animal sanctuary. It is hard and heartbreaking when | :04:55. | :05:01. | |
it goes wrong. Today, the Devon sanctuary stands empty. Up for | :05:01. | :05:07. | |
auction. The proceeds are unlikely to cover the debts. It was big | :05:07. | :05:15. | |
plans. It was a cafe, open to the public, everything I wanted. I | :05:15. | :05:22. | |
bought fencing to go around, fences, slides for children and a chalet to | :05:23. | :05:32. | |
:05:33. | :05:35. | ||
have a cafe. My money went. I managed to spend �100,000 in a year. | :05:35. | :05:40. | |
Rose also snared -- spent much of her pension on food and bedding for | :05:40. | :05:45. | |
the animals. A situation she now realises couldn't last for ever. | :05:45. | :05:51. | |
had to be kicked. The bank had to come in, they had to do that to | :05:51. | :05:59. | |
talk me into realising that it was all heart and no money. It was the | :05:59. | :06:03. | |
best thing that could have happened for the animals. Thankfully, some | :06:04. | :06:11. | |
Sanctuary's are surviving. Davey -- Debbie and Rose's horses ended up | :06:11. | :06:21. | |
350 miles away in Norfolk. Wendy Valentine stepped in to help. | :06:21. | :06:28. | |
are some of the horses and ponies that came from Devon. They arrived | :06:28. | :06:37. | |
at by 1 o'clock on a Sunday morning. They are doing really well and stay | :06:37. | :06:45. | |
together as an established her as. Who knows where they may have been. | :06:46. | :06:53. | |
It is home to 2000 animals. Wendy employees 90 staff and it is one of | :06:53. | :06:57. | |
the biggest Sanctuary's in the country. You have to make people | :06:57. | :07:01. | |
believe in what you are doing and have a good administration. Without | :07:01. | :07:08. | |
that, you haven't got the rest of it because you think people are | :07:08. | :07:15. | |
going to fund you and it rarely happens. Wendy employees 13 people | :07:15. | :07:23. | |
in admin and believes Sanctuary's can only survive by being run like | :07:23. | :07:26. | |
businesses. It is only because we have the administration that we | :07:26. | :07:33. | |
have been able to survive. There is so many well-meaning people that | :07:33. | :07:37. | |
want to set up a sanctuary because it is a nice idea but you have to | :07:37. | :07:43. | |
have that knowledge and the mind set to carry the whole thing | :07:43. | :07:51. | |
through. Back in North Devon, Rose is happy looking after her cats. | :07:51. | :07:58. | |
She now fundraisers for other Sanctuary's. It is hard times and | :07:58. | :08:05. | |
people are finding it very hard to keep that animals. Animal | :08:05. | :08:10. | |
Sanctuary's are needed. I would like to say that they are not, but | :08:10. | :08:17. | |
they are. They do need help. Treat any animal sanctuary like a | :08:17. | :08:22. | |
business. Still have the element of compassion as well. It is very | :08:22. | :08:32. | |
:08:32. | :08:33. | ||
difficult. In the south-west, we are happy to live next to some | :08:33. | :08:37. | |
great places for wildlife. This winter, Nick visited one that is | :08:38. | :08:42. | |
not only a beauty spot, it is a vital food resource for some of our | :08:42. | :08:52. | |
:08:52. | :08:59. | ||
most endangered animals. It is on the doorstep of our biggest city. | :08:59. | :09:04. | |
The beauty over a tranquil, flowing river. This gem is not what it | :09:04. | :09:13. | |
seemed. The river isn't that tranquil at all. It is full of | :09:13. | :09:18. | |
birdlife. This is an illustration of the amazing tolerance of nature. | :09:18. | :09:23. | |
It has to be the noisiest place I have ever birdwatcher to stop the | :09:23. | :09:27. | |
traffic noise doesn't bother them. The critical thing is there is a | :09:27. | :09:32. | |
habitat for them to go about their business in. This place is doing | :09:32. | :09:39. | |
reasonably well for birds. Goal -- girls a paddle away for worms. | :09:39. | :09:49. | |
:09:49. | :09:51. | ||
These turn stones are sifting through seaweed. These are using | :09:51. | :09:57. | |
their long bills to get -- to get down into the mud. They can pull | :09:57. | :10:01. | |
out juicier worms. Key to everything is the stuff that lines | :10:01. | :10:08. | |
estuaries like this and I am talking about mud. It is everywhere | :10:08. | :10:13. | |
here and it is a habitat to countless different species of worm, | :10:13. | :10:17. | |
crustacean and molluscs. They are fed upon by thousands of different | :10:17. | :10:25. | |
species of wild file. -- the wild fowl. | :10:25. | :10:29. | |
Two-times a day washing more nutrients for those worms and | :10:29. | :10:34. | |
molluscs to feed on. There is something like 40 | :10:34. | :10:40. | |
different bird species that come here every winter. They can take | :10:40. | :10:46. | |
out different animals from the various layers of the mud. These | :10:46. | :10:56. | |
shelduck are doing a characteristic sweeping movement. It is a classic | :10:56. | :11:01. | |
winter site. There are abundant shellfish on the rocks and in the | :11:01. | :11:05. | |
water and these crows are being clever. They are dropping their | :11:05. | :11:10. | |
shellfish onto the rocks to smash them open. Then, it is time to tuck | :11:10. | :11:16. | |
in. This estuary is one great takeaway for all birds. The hand of | :11:16. | :11:22. | |
man has had a huge impact here and not all of it is good. | :11:22. | :11:26. | |
Unfortunately estuaries are not just of interests for wildlife. | :11:26. | :11:32. | |
Humans like them as well. With this large source of water and flat land | :11:32. | :11:37. | |
surrounding them, they are ripe for industrialisation and development | :11:37. | :11:45. | |
and that is the biggest threat. It has been heavily developed. It has | :11:45. | :11:50. | |
road and rail and a supermarket and dual-carriageway on the old marshes | :11:50. | :11:56. | |
to the north. This is Blagdon Meadows, a relatively dry, grassy | :11:56. | :12:00. | |
Nature Reserve today. What I am working on -- walking on his | :12:00. | :12:08. | |
reclaimed. Thousands of tons of the river channel were dumped here. We | :12:08. | :12:14. | |
have gained a great meadow but lost a much rarer estuarine habitat. Mud | :12:14. | :12:20. | |
that is essential for these birds in winter to feed on and to gain | :12:20. | :12:29. | |
strength so they can go on to their breeding sites. The mud is a | :12:29. | :12:35. | |
valuable commercial resource. These bait diggers are taking up lugworms | :12:36. | :12:44. | |
for fishing. The worms are valuable. They told estate would get �16 for | :12:44. | :12:52. | |
a pound of the worms. It is difficult to be sure what impact | :12:52. | :12:56. | |
these activities are happening on the birds of our local estuaries. | :12:56. | :13:03. | |
Habitat loss and the loss of food is certain to be a factor. Barbara | :13:03. | :13:09. | |
and Roger Swain Fen hadn't bird counts here. They found it declines | :13:09. | :13:13. | |
in a wintering migrant birds and that tends to be the same across | :13:14. | :13:17. | |
most of our Severn estuaries. has been a massive decline over | :13:17. | :13:26. | |
that time. It is difficult to pin down a reason that has been a major | :13:26. | :13:34. | |
decline of many species. It has been exacerbated here by the | :13:34. | :13:42. | |
encroachment of development and extra activity and disturbance of | :13:42. | :13:51. | |
the area. It adds extra pressure on this area. The Plimmer was a home | :13:51. | :13:57. | |
to redshank and now there is 150. Much of the decline is due to | :13:57. | :14:07. | |
:14:07. | :14:08. | ||
climatic factors. As the water comes in, the worms come up and it | :14:08. | :14:18. | |
:14:18. | :14:23. | ||
is then that they are eaten by the It is not all bad news. There has | :14:23. | :14:26. | |
been some effort made to undo the damage we have done too many of | :14:26. | :14:34. | |
these habitats. All we are trying to do is move the EC back to the | :14:34. | :14:39. | |
outside. This sea wall was built in the 19th century to keep the water | :14:39. | :14:49. | |
:14:49. | :14:51. | ||
out and create dry fields. At one stage, this was a cricket pitch. | :14:51. | :14:55. | |
With the marsh dry, it turned to grass. 50 years ago the National | :14:55. | :14:59. | |
Trust put these gates into the sea wall here. At high tide, it will | :14:59. | :15:02. | |
allow the saltwater to pass through into this area on the other side of | :15:02. | :15:05. | |
the sea wall, creating one of the rarest habitats in Britain today | :15:05. | :15:13. | |
which is Saltmarsh. At low tide, I went with Dr David Dixon to check | :15:13. | :15:19. | |
on progress. This is a good example of a salt marsh plant. This is the | :15:19. | :15:22. | |
glass wart and if you burn this, with sand, you can make a high- | :15:22. | :15:32. | |
:15:32. | :15:35. | ||
quality glass. This is another plant we are seeing here. Sea beet. | :15:35. | :15:38. | |
This is the ancestor of beetroot, Chard, sugarbeet, a whole range of | :15:38. | :15:47. | |
commercial species. We have two good indicators of salt marsh. | :15:47. | :15:53. | |
is a salt marsh but the cracks show you that it is not flooding enough. | :15:53. | :15:59. | |
It is only flooding at extreme high water, spring tides. To fully | :15:59. | :16:06. | |
fulfil its potential, it needs to be more wet. Close, but no cigar. | :16:06. | :16:11. | |
Absolutely. Sadly even this precious place isn't free from dogs. | :16:11. | :16:16. | |
Halfway through talking, one ran right across the marsh. Walkers now | :16:16. | :16:22. | |
seem to be running the dogs along the lagoon edge. Despite all these | :16:22. | :16:27. | |
problems, it is developing as a bird roost. As the tide comes in, | :16:27. | :16:32. | |
curlews fly into rest. These little ponds of freshwater are the perfect | :16:32. | :16:35. | |
place wash the salt from your feathers body before the tides roll | :16:35. | :16:45. | |
:16:45. | :16:47. | ||
in. When the water is in, you know I am staying well away from the | :16:48. | :16:52. | |
roost but it is a privilege to be able to get this close to the local | :16:52. | :16:57. | |
birdlife on the river. You can look out over the lagoon edge and pick | :16:57. | :17:01. | |
up the locally rarer green shank. Only a few of these compare to the | :17:01. | :17:08. | |
redshank. This is a real rarity, a spotted sandpiper. You have to be | :17:08. | :17:12. | |
an expert to tell it from a common sandpiper. This is probably an | :17:12. | :17:18. | |
American vagrant blown off course. It doesn't matter if you don't know | :17:18. | :17:23. | |
your birds, you can't put a name to the actual bird, just enjoy them. | :17:23. | :17:29. | |
They are doing cool things right now. The big issue is places like | :17:29. | :17:34. | |
this remain and I respect it for that. Without this, the birds would | :17:34. | :17:38. | |
have nowhere else to go. A lot of these birds are amber listed so | :17:38. | :17:44. | |
there are some conservation concerns. It is a case of long let | :17:44. | :17:50. | |
this place remain. Long let the Plym remain, haven for some of our | :17:50. | :18:00. | |
:18:00. | :18:03. | ||
most threatened and beautiful Our town and city halls come in all | :18:03. | :18:08. | |
shapes, sizes and state of repair. Many councils face the dilemma over | :18:08. | :18:11. | |
what to do with important but crumbling civic buildings that are | :18:11. | :18:17. | |
too costly to repair. David Stafford has been to South Devon to | :18:17. | :18:27. | |
:18:27. | :18:28. | ||
Oldway Mansion in Paignton. It is a little bit of Versailles by this | :18:28. | :18:33. | |
seaside. It is a remarkable building with a romantic past, | :18:33. | :18:35. | |
building local historian, Paul Hawthorne, has been campaigning to | :18:35. | :18:45. | |
preserve. My first memory is being taken in the gardens aged five on a | :18:45. | :18:55. | |
:18:55. | :18:59. | ||
school outing. Ever since, I have Crowning the Empress Josephine. | :18:59. | :19:09. | |
:19:09. | :19:17. | ||
original. The centrepiece of his Soon the council workers will be | :19:17. | :19:21. | |
gone, the plan is to turn it into a luxury hotel. Paying guests will | :19:21. | :19:24. | |
admire the mansion that was built by American travelling actor and | :19:25. | :19:34. | |
:19:35. | :19:35. | ||
prolific inventor, Isaac Singer. Acting was his main love so we went | :19:35. | :19:38. | |
from place to place, trying to invent things, sell the ideas on | :19:38. | :19:41. | |
and use that money to form his acting company and survive as an | :19:41. | :19:46. | |
actor. He used his skills to develop a new machine and patented | :19:46. | :19:54. | |
that. It was his most successful invention. The company is the | :19:54. | :19:57. | |
world's first true multinational company and by the time he comes to | :19:57. | :20:00. | |
Paignton here in 1872, he is already one of the richest men | :20:00. | :20:10. | |
:20:10. | :20:13. | ||
There is a Singer sewing machine in every home in the world. They were | :20:13. | :20:18. | |
the personal computers of their day. Isaac told his architect to build | :20:18. | :20:24. | |
me a wigwam and make it a big wigwam at that. He had his lawyer | :20:24. | :20:27. | |
knock on every door in the neighbourhood and bought out some | :20:27. | :20:29. | |
15 people, buying their back gardens, orchards and having all | :20:29. | :20:36. | |
these plots put together. There are a couple of ladies that lived here | :20:36. | :20:40. | |
for a long time and refused to sell so the great entrance to the state | :20:40. | :20:50. | |
:20:50. | :20:50. | ||
that he wanted to build never The house Isaac built looked very | :20:50. | :20:52. | |
different to today's, with its huge conservatory, stables and grand | :20:52. | :21:02. | |
:21:02. | :21:03. | ||
carriage entrance. What he wanted was the inhabitants of Paignton to | :21:03. | :21:06. | |
be able to look up and see their benevolent friend on the hill | :21:06. | :21:11. | |
looking down on them. Even his horses had a luxury exercise yard | :21:11. | :21:21. | |
:21:21. | :21:21. | ||
and stables called the Rotunda. Blimey! That is extraordinary. | :21:21. | :21:24. | |
was built as part of his original wigwam and it was a horse riding | :21:24. | :21:28. | |
and exercise pavilion by day. The children would be able to come in | :21:29. | :21:32. | |
here and exercise the horses and then by night, there was a polished | :21:32. | :21:35. | |
wooden floor that could be laid and this was used for dancing and | :21:35. | :21:42. | |
entertaining by the family. great showman and benefactor barely | :21:42. | :21:49. | |
lived long enough to enjoy his house. Dying in 1875. Isaac left | :21:49. | :21:56. | |
behind a $13 million fortune and 24 children. Sorting that lot out took | :21:56. | :21:59. | |
time and it wasn't until 20 years later that Paris, son number three, | :21:59. | :22:08. | |
Paris Singer gives the house a complete makeover inside and out | :22:08. | :22:11. | |
and brings in the foremost designers of the day and the garden | :22:11. | :22:21. | |
:22:21. | :22:22. | ||
designers to landscape the house As if to prove that money can't buy | :22:22. | :22:25. | |
you love, even this magnificent estate was not enough to persuade | :22:25. | :22:35. | |
:22:35. | :22:37. | ||
the passion of Paris's life to be his wife. I am in love. In love? | :22:37. | :22:42. | |
With a sewing machine? No, the man who makes them, Paris Singer. The | :22:42. | :22:50. | |
He had an affair with Isadora Duncan, the avant-garde American | :22:50. | :22:55. | |
dancer. She came to Oldway but despite Paris's devotion, she | :22:55. | :23:02. | |
wouldn't stay. Paris brought her here to his version of Versailles | :23:02. | :23:12. | |
in order to woo her into being the charms of Devon and Paignton were | :23:12. | :23:16. | |
not for her. The problem Isadora found was that Paris was older than | :23:16. | :23:19. | |
her, his lifestyle was that of an Edwardian millionaire spent long in | :23:19. | :23:29. | |
:23:29. | :23:34. | ||
interminable meals, days in the He tried very hard, he tried | :23:34. | :23:37. | |
everything he could to woo her but she decided she didn't want to | :23:37. | :23:47. | |
:23:47. | :23:49. | ||
marry him. They parted after that. After the Second World War, the | :23:49. | :23:51. | |
Rotunda briefly became a film studio where John Mann's lifelong | :23:52. | :23:59. | |
love of film and cinemas began as a schoolboy with a holiday job. | :23:59. | :24:04. | |
was put up by the film studios. We put up the sound reflecting panels | :24:04. | :24:13. | |
on the ceiling. We took the balcony down. I made myself a nuisance and | :24:13. | :24:21. | |
was allowed to be the clapper loader. I used to wash the vehicles. | :24:21. | :24:28. | |
Generally dogsbody, would make dozens of cups of tea. Did any of | :24:28. | :24:36. | |
the big stars of the day come? one and he later became Doctor Who. | :24:36. | :24:42. | |
William Hartnell? Also the sergeant in Carry on sergeant film. William | :24:42. | :24:45. | |
Hartnell, the first doctor who made his first film here. The only | :24:45. | :24:52. | |
As the Great War menaced Europe, the affair between Paris and | :24:52. | :24:58. | |
Isadora was doomed. Paris turned their house into a hospital for | :24:58. | :25:01. | |
casualties from the trenches. The grand rooms were converted into | :25:01. | :25:07. | |
wards and 5000 men were treated here. Paris never came back to | :25:07. | :25:12. | |
Oldway. Poor health, high taxes and the end of his affair with Isadora | :25:12. | :25:19. | |
drove him away. The sadness that the relationship broke up and saw | :25:19. | :25:26. | |
him move on to other projects in Nowadays, it is bowling which | :25:26. | :25:31. | |
arouses passions at Oldway. It is where local clubs have their greens. | :25:31. | :25:33. | |
The building's future has aroused feelings also after years of | :25:33. | :25:36. | |
discussions, Torbay Council has decided its best chance of survival | :25:36. | :25:46. | |
:25:46. | :25:48. | ||
This is why. Repairing the outbuildings and patching the old | :25:48. | :25:58. | |
:25:58. | :25:59. | ||
house will cost millions. We are on solid floors here so it is safe. | :25:59. | :26:02. | |
With �11 million of cuts to its budget coming up, the council says | :26:02. | :26:12. | |
:26:12. | :26:13. | ||
leasing Oldway to a private partner We have major services like | :26:13. | :26:16. | |
children's services, adult social care, both of those items alone | :26:16. | :26:25. | |
represent in excess of 60 % of our budget. We have 40 million left to | :26:25. | :26:31. | |
do everything else. A hotel for Oldway was not our first choice. We | :26:31. | :26:35. | |
looked at many schemes, we spoke to the National Trust to see if they | :26:35. | :26:43. | |
would be interested. Unfortunately, they weren't interested. Probably | :26:43. | :26:49. | |
because of the costs involved. everyone is happy about the hotel | :26:49. | :26:53. | |
plan or about the homes being built in the grounds to fund the work. | :26:53. | :26:56. | |
Developer, Akron, has cut the number of houses and flats and says | :26:56. | :27:06. | |
:27:06. | :27:09. | ||
In a way, the history of Oldways is coming full circle. Once upon a | :27:09. | :27:12. | |
time, Paris Singer wanted to turn his Versailles by the sea into a | :27:12. | :27:19. | |
hotel. Paul Hawthorne says its rescue can't come too soon. We are | :27:19. | :27:23. | |
getting to a critical point where investment must come in if we are | :27:23. | :27:27. | |
to preserve the house and grounds for the future. Hoteliers would | :27:27. | :27:29. | |
start to see that the building reintegrating with the town, | :27:29. | :27:32. | |
becoming a beacon again and becoming a great provider of | :27:32. | :27:42. | |
:27:42. | :27:44. | ||
At the end of the day, this house is a fusion of American dreams, | :27:44. | :27:50. | |
aspirations and money and English warmth and hospitality. The finest | :27:50. | :28:00. | |
:28:00. | :28:01. | ||
example of what can be done in that It's seen plenty of life. Crucial | :28:01. | :28:03. | |
public affairs, steamy private affairs, theatrical performances, | :28:03. | :28:10. | |
ministrations and celebrations. Now the curtain is set to rise on the | :28:10. | :28:20. | |
:28:20. | :28:30. |