07/10/2013 Inside Out South West


07/10/2013

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Hello, and welcome to Inside Out Southwest, stories and

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investigations from where you live. Come on. Tonight, from red squirrel

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to flying squirrel. A special delivery to help save this

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threatened creature. Look at that. Also, inside the care homes whose

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owners didn't care. We put our faith in people who run these homes and we

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put our parents into these homes, thinking they will be safe, and

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looked after. And the painters who captured a way of life. What amazing

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pictures. But it is easy to forget that life at sea in those days was

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cold, hard work and intensely dangerous. I'm Sam Smith, and this

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is Inside Out Southwest. The red squirrel is one of our most

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treasured native creatures, but they're also one of our most

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endangered. Now, a new project is hoping to boost numbers by providing

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them with a brand new home in the south west, one that many of us

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would be envious of. Mike Dilger reports.

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Tresco — an island paradise. With a resident population of just 175 and

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a garden that boasts some of the world's most exotic species. Now

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there is to be a new arrival. The red squirrel is coming to stay. A

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lot of people who are in the know have said this is the ideal place

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for them. They can thrive. Our own trees from California have codes on

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them and are plentiful in supply. Red squirrels have been driven to

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the brink of extinction in England by their grey cousins, which carry

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the squirrelpox virus. It's harmless to greys, but deadly to the reds.

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But there are no grey squirrels anywhere on Scilly. We'll have to

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see how it goes, but we've got plenty of space and food. We hope

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they will naturalise quite quickly. David Hamilton is the Abbey's

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vegetable gardener. He'll be in day—to—day charge of the squirrel

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project. I'm really excited. This is when the real project pics of

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properly, and hopefully it will be a success story for the red scroll. ——

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the red squirrel. The squirrels will be coming from Surrey in VIP style.

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We have been in touch with the RAF, and as part of each reading

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exercise, it will bring us over from Cornwall, so we are driving up that

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morning from Surrey, we'll be into the helicopter within 25 minutes and

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landing on Tresco and putting them in a more serene environment. This

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has been the squirrels' home until now — the British Wildlife Centre,

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which runs the UK's biggest red squirrel breeding programme. David

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Mills is the owner. You have to be very careful because they're very

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prone to stress. The actual boxing of them will be done by my head

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keeper, who works with them all the time. They do get stressed. They can

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die of heart failure. We don't want that to happen.

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You're just going to sit there on my hand. What are you going to do? It

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is the day of the collection. Mike and Dave have arrived with 20 boxes

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to fill. They've got their whole team helping us. They have filled

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them with bedding, they have put food in and they will be covered

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with a blanket as we drive so they will struggle down for the night,

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and hopefully tomorrow will be in Tresco. It is a careful process with

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the scrolls' welfare of the number one priority. We're going to

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transfer her into this box now. That's easier said than done. The

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squirrels are being allowed to take their time.

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Take two. Definitely got it. It takes four hours, but they're

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finally all ready to go. We'll take good care of them. I hope so. Mike,

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Dave and 20 red squirrels start the 350—mile journey to Cornwall. But

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there's a setback. Bad weather's set in, delaying the flight, leaving the

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squirrels stuck in their boxes. I was very concerned. We have been

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keeping in touch with the wildlife centre. The animals that get

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stressed easily. But 24 hours later, the weather's cleared. And at the

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RAF base, it is all hands on deck to get the scrolls to Tresco, pronto.

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—— the squirrels. And there are some encouraging signs. They are

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scurrying in their boxes, so the yard where something is going on. ——

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they are aware. It's all systems go. Even the pilot lends a hand.

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30 minutes later, and the helicopter with its precious cargo touches down

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on Tresco. Once the helicopter is gone,

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Tresco's usual peace and tranquillity is restored. Just

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putting the finishing touch to ask rural cage, actual squirrels. With

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shelter and food put in place, it is then a waiting game. Ooh... Maybe?

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Maybe not! Say hello to your new home. That is a result, isn't it? It

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has made it all worthwhile, all those problems, they are actually

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here and running around the enclosure. In two days, it will be

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free on Tresco, so quite a special moment. After their long journey,

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they're left to settle down, locked in the enclosure for two days. With

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the first one out, Mike and Dave just have to hope the others follow

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suit. It's the day of the release, and the

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culmination of all Mike and Dave's hard work. Goodness, look at that.

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Seems like there's hundreds of them in there. It is difficult to count

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them, but I coded them about six times and came with the same figure,

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17. Lucy Dorienne Smith, who leases the island from the Duchy, has the

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honour of opening the cage. And the very first, and bravest squirrel,

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ventures out. It's taken a wife, —— a while, and

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the really big arrest, but not as keen as I thought. They are still

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mostly in there, but it has been a great journey and we're looking

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forward to seeing how they breed and get on. Look at that, isn't that

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great? Whizzing down the park. Sadly, two of the scrolls died in

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transit, but with the delay, having 18 survive was better than anyone

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expected. Only time will tell if they like it here enough to breed.

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The hope is Tresco will offer them a valuable sanctuary in their fight

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for survival. Tales of badly run care homes are

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unfortunately nothing new, but imagine a situation where owners

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abandon their business, staff and their elderly residents. We have

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been investigating here in Plymouth. Caroline Jude believed her mother

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Jean was going to be properly cared for when she made the difficult

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decision to place her in a care home. But within months of Jean

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entering this home, South View, Caroline grew alarmed by her weight

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loss. One time, she would spend a whole day in bed, another time she

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spent two days in bed. I don't think meals were being taken into her and

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she wasn't getting up for them, so it seemed she wasn't eating. When

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she got to the home where she is now, she had lost weight to the

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extent where she was just over six stone, and then all of a sudden, she

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just seemed to lose that spark. That is when it became really

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frightening, that's when I knew that she had to leave South View because

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I truly believe if I hadn't moved her, she would not be here now. In

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March, Caroline took her mother out of South View, one of two care homes

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run by a husband and wife team in the city. But Caroline wasn't the

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only one who was worried. Two workers at the homes, Launa

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Llewellyn Jones and Rose Parker, had already been to the city council

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with their concerns. My eyes were opened as soon as I walked in. It

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was awful and upsetting. The was never any heating in the winter. We

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would get told to put a blanket over them. Staff used to say to me that

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they had no bread or a washing—up liquid will stop support the

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elderly! Blowing the whistle cost them their jobs. In August, they

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staged a sit in at Park View, the sister home to South View. That is

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how residents sleep on their beds. Nick Chapman charges them. Within

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weeks of starting there as a kitchen helper, Rose had been made deputy

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manager of South View, but would work in both homes. She says

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relatives often complained to her. They would ask why their mother had

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not been showered. The Bath never worked. The Bath never worked. They

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had cold water, but we never had hot water. Launa, too, was promoted to

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senior carer within a month, and says she struggled with her work

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load. People had to wait even to get out of bed because you couldn't do

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medication and get somebody up, but some needed their medication, so

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what did you do? The council launched an investigation into the

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running of the homes, owned by Nick Chapman and his wife Anna. She is

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also a director of their company Ashley Residential Care and was the

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registered manager of South View. Mr Chapman had an impressive background

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in care of the elderly — he was, until February 2010, an assistant

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director of social care provision for older people at Devon County

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Council. Whatever his qualifications, we've evidence the

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Chapmans weren't the right people to be looking after the elderly.

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Plymouth council — whose job it is to ensure Plymouth's care homes are

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safe — had to send teams of people in to the two homes time and time

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again to try and improve standards, but without lasting success. We've

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also looked through the inspection reports of the government's care

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watchdog, the Care Quality Commission. They reveal evidence of

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multiple failures over at least two years, including failing to meet

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residents' "nutritional needs", failing to safeguard them from

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"abuse" and most recently, failing to administer "medicines" properly.

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At the last inspection in February, South View failed nine out of 11

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essential standards. In here, this is the freezer were the frozen food

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would be kept. This is jacket potatoes. You would get them to feed

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the residence. I would cook two trays of these and some baked beans.

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We would share that between 19 residents. Plymouth councillor Sue

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Macdonald had been hearing concerns about the lack of everyday

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necessities at the homes. She was appalled by the CQC report. I

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thought I thought it would lead to closure. I wondered what they had to

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do to be closed. You can see whether mice have been. How disgusting is

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that? The CQC says these homes were "on its radar" — but closing them

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wasn't that simple. We can close a home in a day but there are

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consequences... There has to be a balance of risks to people but it

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would be better to move them rather than putting extra resources and to

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keep them safe. In hindsight do you feel CQC should have stepped in

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before this crisis, and this couple abandoned that home and these

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people. I feel that we have done all that we could do. The council

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stopped placing residents in the homes from April. But they were

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still open. By June, things reached crisis point. Once again a

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publicly—funded help squad was sent in to run Park View. Without warning

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— and with 30 residents still in the homes — Nick and Anna Chapman had

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upped sticks — and disappeared. We provided the food, we got a plumber

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to fix the toilets that were blocked. The Chapmans had abandoned

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those homes. They were not contactable. How would you

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characterise their actions? Irresponsible. Unethical. The

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council decided to move the residents out — effectively closing

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the care homes down. So the council finally pulled the plug on homes

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they'd tried, and failed, to get up to scratch. But no one told the

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relatives they'd been under investigation by the council for the

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previous five months. Janine Roberts had had concerns about Park View

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after her mother's clothes went missing and her wheelchair was

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broken. The first she knew the authorities shared her worries was

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when her mother, Valerie, was moved out in June. One Christmas, the

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manager at the time said to me, we have had to all chip together

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because they had not had any extras from the Chapmans to do a Christmas

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dinner. They bought the turkey. The staff bought the turkey? Yes, they

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did. We put our faith in people who run these homes and we put our

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parents into these homes, thinking that they will be safe and looked

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after. You should not be able to do that with old people. It is their

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lives at the end of the day and that is the worrying thing and it is

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upsetting. The CQC told Inside Out that by June it HAD decided to close

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the homes — but the council acted first. Then Mr Chapman took himself

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off the CQC register. Does that mean he could run a care home again? He

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could apply to run a care home. We do have a memory here and we are

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aware of his record. He is not automatically disqualified? Note. In

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the aftermath of the hurried closures, Rose and Launa are worried

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that confidential files about residents have been left behind. Oh

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my God! We went inside. This is appalling. All the care plans are

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there. All those folders are all the residents, private and confidential.

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Rose and Launa are still waiting for the £40,000 compensation that

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between them they were awarded from the Chapmans' company for unfair

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dismissal. On top of that, they now owe Mr Chapman over £800 in legal

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costs after he had them evicted from Park View. Rose reported all this to

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the police. The building has since been secured. Since been secured.

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And what of the Chapmans? Well, they haven't responded to our letters and

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phone calls. According to the CQC, their company was "struggling

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financially", and staff, food suppliers, tradesmen, the gas

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company, and Launa and Rose, are all owed money. One reason, perhaps, why

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they seem to have left their empty care homes behind — leaving others

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to pick up the pieces. Point, press and there you go. A picture in an

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instant. 130 years ago, speech was of the essence for a group of

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artists who painted passing boats. Our history man Mark Horton has been

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to Washington to find out more. Imagine you're a 19th century

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captain and you want a portrait of your ship. Photographers were rare

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then of course, so if you wanted a picture of your pride and joy you'd

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seek out a Pierhead Painter and one of the best lived here. A welcome

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sight indeed coming into the port at Watchet for sailors on these tricky

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waters of the Bristol Channel. They would have been looking forward to a

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day or two in port, but the skippers might also have been hoping to get a

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picture of their vessel from the famous pierhead painter, Thomas

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Chidgey. Born in Watchet in 1855, the young Thomas Chidgey went to sea

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— and started painting — in his mid teens. By the early 1880's he was a

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captain and well known as a maritime artist. Pierhead Painters, like

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Thomas, had to work incredibly quickly. For if they were to sell a

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painting to the Captain it would have to be finished in the time it

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took to unload the cargo and load the next. Hello, Jim. Hello Mark. So

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this is wonderful Watchet. Port of a thousand years. Jim Nicholas is the

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curator of Watchet's Market House Museum. So what kind of vessels came

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here? They were all small everyday working boats, ketches, schooners,

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smacks. So no Cutty Sark's then. The ships that docked in Watchet were

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the white vans of their day, the sort you wouldn't look twice at.

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Luckily for maritime historians, Thomas Chidgey did. This is a yawl

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and would probably have been sailed with just maybe one, two men. And

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then this is the Astra I can see. She's a topsail schooner. So what

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would be carried on a ship like that? The ship itself, the vessel,

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is painted with the most extraordinary attention to detail.

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The artists were the photographers of the day. They have left this

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extraordinary social record. The reason for all this nautical

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accuracy was due to the intended recipient of the painting: most

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often the Captain. Margaret Norman married into a Watchet seafaring

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family. This is the ketch Charlotte, skippered by my father—in—law,

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Captain Frank Norman. And the painting would have been done as a

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commission by Thomas Chidgey. But he loved the work and of course knew

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every little piece of rigging. And they used to say he knew every

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detail. It's particularly important to the skippers because they knew

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where it all went and they would very quickly pick up if the rigging

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was attached to the outside of an attachment rather than the inside.

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And obviously it was a special treasure for them to have a painting

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of the ship they had skippered. Every piece of string may have been

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in the right place but just how true to life were his ship portraits?

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Blake Museum in Bridgwater has a few exhibits that should give us a

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fuller picture... This painting is of the ketch Irene. She was made

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specifically for the local brick and tile industry and she often brought

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back loads of coal from South Wales. Captain Chidgey apparently owed some

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money to a man called Attwell who was the foreman of the dockyard that

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made here and in order to clear the debt but it's not necessarily an

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accurate account of what it was like when she was working. It is an

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accurate account of what the ship was like. We've got a number of

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historic photographs pictures of her both when she was sailing and we've

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got pictures of her in Bridgwater Docks being laden with goods and you

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can see all the paint is scruffy and the woodwork is manky. She would

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have been going into all sorts of small harbours and, as she came in,

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she'd have been bashed and battered against the walls. She was basically

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cheap and cheerful sailing coaster. So even a scruffy old cargo ship

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looks her best in a Thomas Chidgey painting. For knowing how much a

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skipper loved his ship, Captain Tom exercised a fair amount of artistic

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license, a sort of airbrushing for the 19th century! Thomas Chidgey

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never made much money from his paintings. In fact he was often

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prepared to do it for free if the skippers provided him with a canvas.

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For many years his paintings lay half—forgotten in attics in places

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like Watchet but nowadays they're highly collectable. To look at one

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of his paintings they are totally unmistakeable and I can recognise

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them at a hundred yards because each vessel has its personality and

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character and that is what he was trying to convey. Marine historian

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John Gilman married into the Chidgey family. To ask a value of a picture

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is very interesting. "Antiques Roadshow" would put between three to

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five thousand on a Chidgey. Their real value lies in them being a

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remnant of an artistic heritage. The sailors' made paintings were unique.

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They knew what they were painting; they were painting a way of life,

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and that's what Chidgey was all about. The Chidgey family is still

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prominent in this corner of Somerset and I've come to meet a direct

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descendent of the man himself, deep sea surveyor John Chidgey. I have

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come to meet a direct descendant of the man himself. So John, these are

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the paintings still in the family. Yep. Oh gosh aren't they wonderful,

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what do they show? Here is the Louise and that's the Louisa. So

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they were both owned by the family? They were both owned by the family.

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So he was actually a ship owner himself and a skipper? Owner, driver

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as it would be today I would imagine. I mean do we actually know

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what he looked like? Well, we've got a self—portrait of him as an older

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man. I'll go and fetch that one. I'll look after your precious

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paintings! Right, there he is. The man himself. Thomas Chidgey, he's a

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sort of dour Edwardian gentleman, isn't he? But the family resemblance

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is incredible! My father told me that he can remember as a child him

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seeing him paint this from a mirror image. I mean he's not a bad artist!

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Wasn't bad looking was he?! What's lovely is to see the man behind the

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paintings. We've seen his boats. Now we can see the man behind the easel.

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What amazing pictures! But it's easy to forget that life in those days

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were cold, hard work and intensely dangerous. But for me what those

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pictures convey is the intense pride that those sailors and their

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skippers had in their ships and in their way of life. That is all from

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this week's Inside Out South West. We will be back next Monday. See you

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then.

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