27/01/2014 Inside Out South West


27/01/2014

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We investigate the tragedy in this Cornwall Street that left a woman

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dead and a family bereaved. I feel I have been robbed and it should not

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have happened. I am absolutely fuming. How Devon paper mill powered

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its waiter centuries of success. There is the factory and there is

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the river. Just the job. And will read tape proves the final straw for

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this Somerset thatch? Are you from the council? This is Inside Out

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Southwest. First night, the story of a fatal

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landslip that many here in the town where it happened say could have and

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should have been avoided. March the 21st last year, it had been raining

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for much of the day when 68`year`old Susan Norman returned to

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her flat in Looe. Mum was very much an old`fashioned person, proper rock

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bringing `` proper up bringing. Susan moved to Cornwall from Milton

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Keynes in the 1990s. The children followed her there shortly

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afterwards. The perfect place to retire. She just wanted a peaceful

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life. But that night Susan's life was cut short. Susan lived on the

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side of this steep valley, one of the main routes into Looe runs above

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the houses here. On the night of her death, heavy rain had been falling

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for two days. Her son was in the area and saw the conditions for

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himself. Driving down a river, basically. It was that bad. This

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footage was filmed by a local man that night. On the right`hand side,

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you can see the channel of water running along the road. Homes

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including Susan's are directly below. Matt says that drains were

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blocked. Two drains but not doing any good. Dwayne Bown who lived in

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the flat above Susan's was woken just after 5am. I heard a massive

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bang. First reaction, get out of bed. Went to go into the front room

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from the bedroom, went into the front room, as soon as I got in the

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comedy kitchen completely collapsed. `` as soon as I got in there, the

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kitchen completely collapsed. There was mud, soil. Somehow he scrambled

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out. The slope mind the property had collapsed. Tonnes of earth had

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swamped the building. All that was standing work to walls, to retaining

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walls, one either side and the actual bit in the middle where the

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doors. It looks like a shell. He thought Susan was away at relatives

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raised the alarm and the search began. This morning, a sniffer dog

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was sent into the building and fire crews used thermal imaging but no

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sign of life was found. As news of the landslip came through, both Matt

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and Helen rushed to the site. As soon as I saw it, I knew immediately

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that there was no chance. It was not recognisable. The back was

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completely gone. It was just earth and tonnes of earth and I thought,

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there is no hope at all. That was it. I just stood there in the rain

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waiting. I knew there would be no hope. It was not until late

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afternoon that the rescue team located Susan's Audie. Even now, it

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is still hard to believe it has happened `` Susan's body. Since that

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day, I have slept on the sofa. I look at the picture and I know that

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if I wake up... It is difficult. I just hope I wake up and do not see

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the picture on the wall and then I know it is just a nightmare. Dwayne

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was recovering at his parents' house when he was told Susan's body had

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been found. I felt really guilty. I felt I could have done something,

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maybe gone in to see if I could have helped, done anything. The police

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told me literally it was instant. It still does not take your mind off

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the guilt that you feel. As well as guilt, there was anger. According to

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some of Susan's neighbours, what happened here could have been

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prevented. It does make me angry because that is the point. I think

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it was avoidable, this whole tragedy. Tim owns the property two

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doors down from where Susan lived. After the landslide, his family

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moved out for their own safety. Very upsetting. This is obviously

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damaged. In the eight years before the landslip, Tim wrote to Cornwall

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Council numerous times to tell them that in his view the slope was not

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safe. He believed water was not draining away properly from the road

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above and he was worried kerbstones which should have protected the

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properties below were not adequate. Water he felt was saturating the

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slope, making it unstable. The first hint of any problems was about 2005

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when we had a series of floodings down the steps and a patios from the

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top road. That was every time it rained heavily. This happened about

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four or five times. I read to the council saying it was not good

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enough. They had left the kerbstones too short. In 2006, the council did

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flood alleviation work, extending the kerbstones. But Tim says the

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problems remained. Then four months before Susan's death, this part of

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the slope next to the houses collapsed. There was a great slip of

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land down here and onto the road. It covered the road. For quite a long

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time, we had no proper access. In December, 2012, Tim wrote to the

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council asking, whether we have to run the risk of loss of life before

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blasting safeguards are put in place. The council's contractors

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said numerous inspections of the site I experts had taken place and

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their recommendations had been carried out. Many of the residents

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were not satisfied. In February, 14 of them sent Cornwall Council a

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dossier of their concerns. It included these pictures date marked

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January, 2013, which allegedly showed water damage to a retaining

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wall behind Susan's flat. In March, work was carried out at the

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property. We understand contractors employed by the owner were building

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a new wall in front of the retaining wall. In the early hours of March

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the slope collapsed. The reasons why are now being investigated by the

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police and the Health and Safety Executive. We ask all will council

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to respond to the concerns about the sequence of events here, but they

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declined to comment, saying, it would be inappropriate while an

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investigation was ongoing. But Matt feels the evidence that warnings to

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the council were not heeded is overwhelming. I just cannot believe

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the arrogance of the people to have that kind of information given to

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them and not acting on it, until it is too late, it is like they had

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letters saying, is it going to take the death to do something?

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Obviously, that is what they were waiting for. It is mid November,

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eight months after the landslip, work on clearing the site has just

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started. Matt has come to find out when he will get his mother's

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belongings back. He is angry. It is annoying to know that all of my

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mum's possessions are buried there and wasting away. That would really

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upset my mum, to know all of her prize possessions are not only on

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view to the public but they have not been recovered. They have now got

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back some of her belongings, but the family is critical of Cornwall

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Council, one of the authorities involved, it in enabling the site

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clearance. We have not had any response from them. I have never had

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a call from anyone senior at the council. Never had an offer of

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support, a phone call, a letter, absolutely nothing. I think the way

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they have dealt with it is very insensitive. Dwayne says he has had

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to rely on friends and family for support. I have not heard from the

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police since it has happened. I have not heard from any of the Cornwall

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Council. I have not heard from anyone. It is like I am not even on

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the radar, if you know what I mean. The council told us it had worked

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hard to keep the community informed and added that it was a very tragic

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incident and they offer condolences to the family and friends of Susan

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Norman. But now there is a new upset, a letter from the council to

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several Sandplace Road residents. It says structures are potentially

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dangerous and it includes an estimate of making them safe in one

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case of ?50,000. Whether all of the residents are expected to meet these

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costs is unclear. The council declined to respond when we asked

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for clarification. But Tim says he is appalled. Very angry. Very

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angry. As well as concerned. That has been the story of the last six,

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seven years. Whatever the outcome of the police investigation into

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Susan's death, her family are determined to keep fighting for

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answers. I will not let anyone brush this under the carpet. I feel I have

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been robbed and my children have been robbed of ever knowing her and

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knowing what a wonderful person she was. Kind and caring. It should not

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have happened. I am absolutely fuming. Fishing and mining, the raw

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product in distress which have put the south`west on the economic map.

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But we have been pretty good over the years at making some fine stuff

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too. A new year and a new diary but this

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year, unlucky enough to `` lucky enough to have a very special one.

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42 quids worth. It is the paper in it made here right in Devon. It is a

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fine looking factory making top`quality paper for discerning

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buyers. This is Stowford paper mill in

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Devon. They have been churning out paper here since 1787. Not any more

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though. In November last year we sent in our cameras to get a final

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glimpse of papermaking here. These machines were producing 10,000

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tonnes of paper every yearbut this was the very last roll to come off

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the production line. In his 27 years at Stowford, Clive

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Wilson has been involved in all aspects of the mill. I have worked

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my whole career hair. It is very sad for those people who have not been

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able to complete their working time at the mill. Trevor Chandler is one

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of many who are moving on. He followed his father into a job at

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Stowford and stayed for 23 years. The bunch that are here, we're the

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last, which is a shame because people before us carried the baton

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for us and the baton stops if we put the baton down now we'all go

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elsewhere so that's a shame. It wasn't always this way though.

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For 226 years the mill was a thriving part of life in Ivybridge.

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Like most mills that sprung up in the late 18th centurypaper making at

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Stowford was done by hand in the early days. It was a laborious task.

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Old rags were beaten to a pulp, flattened into shape and then dried.

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Being so close to Plymouth, the mill was in prime position to collect

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discarded rags and cloths. The old dockyard, they have many materials

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here. The naval dockyard, in fact there were records of sales of sails

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specifically for paper making. Over the years Stowford developed into a

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modern mill we see today but this loft where the rags were sorted for

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production still remains pretty much intact.

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These wonderful archive pictures record the process of rag sorting in

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the early 1960s, a process that would have hardly changed from when

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the mill first opened. It was never a pleasant job. Making

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paper by hand slowly died out as machines took over. But you can

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still get a fascininating glimpse of how it was once done. This is the

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only commercial mill left in the country where they still make paper

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in much the same way as Stowford's early employees. If you take the

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water away from that it is a sheet of paper it is a pulp. . It all

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started in China nearly 2000 years ago and here at the Two Rivers Paper

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Mill on Exmoorthey're still drawing on many of the same techniques. It's

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likely it came from people who were weaving clothes from fibres of

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plants and someone probably realised that the fibres that come off when

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you're washing clothes and draining them would attach to each other and

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someone probably went that bit further and hammered the hell out of

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it. If you wash the fibres that come off and put them onto the surface of

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a sieve you will get a sheet of paper. Back at Stowford, this is

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what powered the tools that pounded the rags here. In the days before

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steam power one of the primary requirements for a paper mill or

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indeed most other forms of industrial enterprise was a fast

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flowing reliable source of water to power the thing. There's the

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factory, there's the River Erme, just the job. As Stowford grew so

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did the number of its competitors and by 1820 there were 40 other

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paper mills operating in Devon. The reason this survived was that it

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moved from making volume papers to making smaller volume speciality

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papers. It found a niche to make watermarked papers for special end

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use. Quality paper has been key to Stowford's success. Over the years

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they've made everything from the finest writing paper to government

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security papers. The people that worked here had to be highly

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skilled. They gained knowledge from their peak `` predecessors and it

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was essential to have that level of skill to know how to make these

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complex papers. But it wasn't just their superior product that put

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Stowford ahead, a timely arrival from London in the mid`19th Century

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helped the Mill's fortunes flourish. In 1848 Brunel brought the South

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Devon railway to Ivybridge. Its arrival gave Stowford direct access

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to wider markets ,giving the Mill an economic boost that would last well

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into the 20th Century. Railway was right next to the paper mill. It

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enabled raw materials and paper to be transported to markets and export

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using the railway. Paper was sent off around the world and by the 20th

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century Stowford was thriving as other small mills slowly disappeared

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In fact that's one of our claims to fame that we produced the paper for

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marriage birth and death certificates for many years.

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We have many of the old documents. This goes back to 1916. It gives an

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idea of the range of products. We produced the paper used for marriage

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and death certificates. There is a high chance that your birth

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certificate, the paper that it was printed on, was made here. This is

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where your birth certificate was born. Over the last century Stowford

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embraced the frequent advances in modern technology investing in

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state`of`the`art machines and high`tech computers to run them. And

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as the Mill grew so did Ivybridge, transforming from a village into a

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small town by the 1970s. There were up to 300 people working in the mill

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when there were only 2000 people living in Ivybridge so most of the

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other people would have been families and suppliers to the site.

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For many of those now leaving, the workforce was one big family. It is

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where we have come to work and where we have spent a lot of time. Over

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the years we've pretty much shared every emotion going. I suspect we've

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had major rows, fall outs, people have met and got married. You had

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the full spectrum of emotion I should imagine. In recent years,

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demand for paper has fallen and the mill's owners are transferring the

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work that Stowford did to Scotland. Most of the 100 employees who lost

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their jobs have found new employment locally. And for Clive, after a

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whole career in the paper industry, early retirement now beckons.

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It's very sad to see. It is sad to see it close and the equipment

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removed. It's not really the way I would have liked to end my career.

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The site has now been sold for development but the old buildings

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are listed so whatever happens they'll remain and the history of

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Stowford Mill will live on. We tend to think of patching as a

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traditional south`west craft but as we have been finding out, one family

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firm in Somerset has been encountering some very contemporary

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problems. It is an ancient craft thought to go

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back to the Bronze Age. Thatchers have passed their skills from

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generation to generation. The method is changing little over the

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centuries. This family are no exception, tracing their heritage

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back to the 18th century. Richard Wright is still working after 44

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years in the trade. This will be a big help to the owner. It is a

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family run business. They can trace our family back to 1781 as

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Thatchers. I had a brother younger than me and both of us learnt from

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my father. I went on my own at 22 and started my own business. Adrian

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has been with me for 31 years. My son, Andrew Com he is 38 and my

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grandson is 21. They are a tight`knit team and business is

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booming. It is the start of the summer and they are booked on

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back`to`back jobs for their busiest season. The latest job is a

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conversion, removing a corrugated roof to replace it with thatch and

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they get straight to work removing the old timbers. This is the ideal

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job and you have one week's work of getting the old roof off and getting

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the timbers on and the rafters. It breaks it up a bit. It is

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interesting from start to scratch. This cottage is a listed building

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and work cannot continue without the approval of structural engineers.

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Also the all`important council representative. Let us have a chat

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about this. The concern was to keep the original timber but we were not

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able to get up here. The idea was once work was started, we could

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agree. It is only day one of the job and an issue has come up already.

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The man from the council is concerned some of the original beams

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have been removed. This should have been left in there. Working with

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listed builders is never straightforward and the officials

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have the final say. They are taking it away to store it in the mean team

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`` meantime. The timbers are coming back in. Modern`day fetching isn't

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all that straightforward. `` thatching.

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The essentials have remained unchanged for centuries and in

:24:43.:24:46.

gathering the raw materials, the process is still headache free. For

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many years, John has been supplying the rights to straw using a method

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to prevent the harvest. I have been doing this for 30 years now. We have

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just about got the hang of the job. We put eight sheets together so they

:25:08.:25:11.

can dry out. The wind can get through them and it sheds the rain.

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They stray `` they stay dry like that. The only way we have

:25:19.:25:26.

mechanised it is when we get it in. This job, you have to use the

:25:27.:25:31.

traditional machinery because it when `` when it gets through a

:25:32.:25:37.

modern combine harvester, it gets mashed up. Will any of this harvest

:25:38.:25:42.

get through to the cottage conversion? I am happy with the

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approach that retains the modern timbers. On inspection of the roof,

:25:48.:25:55.

another problem has been thrown up. The old woodwork may have to stay

:25:56.:26:00.

but it's poor conditions means a steel frame must be made to support

:26:01.:26:08.

it. You will probably not want to be here for another month. Richard's

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summer schedule will be thrown into chaos. It looks like filming might

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be off for the day! I might say something. This is the first time we

:26:24.:26:33.

have come up against anything like this. Once he hasn't had time to

:26:34.:26:41.

cool off, Richard is more philosophical. We have to make up

:26:42.:26:46.

some steelwork to support the frame. It is fair enough that they are

:26:47.:26:52.

going to hold us up which we don't like.

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You can see the joints now with a new oak beam put in. To the side we

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have the C section steel with some type bars in it. After the setbacks

:27:09.:27:14.

and nearly three months delay, the roof has been repaired and it is

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ready for thatching. It should be structurally sound for hundreds of

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years. It will not go anywhere now. They have started thatching this

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week. They are getting it on as quick as we can as we have been here

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for a long time doing all the timber work. We had to leave the job for a

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bit and go on to another job. It wasn't really a hold up to us, it

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was something that had to be done. It seems Richard is happy to be

:27:52.:27:55.

getting on with the job but will future generations of the family be

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as happy to keep thatching? I am hoping it will carry on. Andrew and

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Sean will keep it going. Sean is only young and iffy has two or three

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sons... It has been a long summer but the house is at last beautifully

:28:22.:28:27.

finished and their thatching dynasty looks set to continue for the next

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300 years. That is all for this week. Join us

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next Monday for new stories from the south`west. See you then.

:28:42.:29:11.

Jude Law has given evidence at the phone hacking trial. The court heard

:29:12.:29:16.

a family member had sold stories about him. A former reporter said he

:29:17.:29:22.

discussed intercepting phone calls between two newspapers. Anger over

:29:23.:29:26.

flooding, a government minister has been heckled by residents in

:29:27.:29:30.

Somerset. He promised an action plan.

:29:31.:29:35.

Dave Lee Travis has told the court he is not a sexual predator. He said

:29:36.:29:41.

he has a cuddly nature towards women and denies indecent assault charges.

:29:42.:29:48.

Bill Roach has been cleared of one offence.

:29:49.:29:53.

His defence should start tomorrow. At the Grammy towards last night,

:29:54.:29:57.

Daft It seems Richard is happy to be

:29:58.:30:03.

Around 1000 women treated by future Ar

:30:04.:30:04.

Around 1000 women treated by disgraced gynaecologist at the Royal

:30:05.:30:06.

Cornwall Hospital movie

:30:07.:30:07.

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