22/09/2014 Inside Out South West

It is festival time in Cornwall a celebration of cultural harlony but

does the vote in Scotland mdan that the South West should dance to a

different political tune? Unless you live here you have no concept of the

way people live their lives. We need people here to have a voice. The

only way up is `` the only way is up for 72`year`old Norman Croucher It

is amazing considering a ye`r ago he could only walk to the end of the

street. And digging up the tale of Devon shiny ore. When it got really

wet the thing just disintegrated like cardboard. No, 194,638. And

this concludes the counting of votes for the city of Edinburgh Council

area. Celebrations ? and relief ?

for the no camp in Scotland. And they?ve been having a bht

of a knees`up in Cornwall as well, and not just because it's fdstival

time here in the town of Looe. Many here sense the Scottish

referendum has been a game changer In a modern democracy power needs to

be devolved. People in Cornwall need to make decisions about housing

wind turbines, not people in Westminster. We know our culture, it

should be asked who do side. If you live in London and m`ke

decisions for people here, xou can try and understand, but you

biggest effect. If we had the ability to raise funds, we could

spend them where we need thdm, and affordable homes is a reallx good

example. from Europe ` a billion pounds to

date, to fund help modernisd But Cornwall has had to put up

a fight against central govdrnment The Scottish case has strengthened

resolve not to give way. We won that argument so we can build

on the momentum and the medha interest for Cornwall to prdss

forward with our demands. Down on the quay, this business

leader agrees Cornwall's re`dy to take more responsibility

for its economic destiny. You can trust Cornwall to spend

money wisely, we have proved that with the Isles of Scilly programme

and the convergence programle. Unlike the rest of the country we

never send any money back to Europe, which shows we are really

good at spending money to a positive effect for Cornwall.

Politicians of all colours `re of one voice over the need

for change but there's dischord over the detail.

If the region is to dance to a different political tune,

Elected regional assemblies are one idea, but back in 2004

the first attempt to set ond up in the North East was overwhellingly

And unelected regional chambers set up across England to deal whth big

issues like housing and planning, lasted little more than a ddcade.

Richard Bayley was closely hnvolved with the one in the South Wdst.

In Scotland people are very clear, they are Scottish. Being Sotth West

is a much more fuzzy concept, people know whether they are from Devon or

Cornwall, but something larger than that, big enough to get a rdal grip

on economic interests, that rather escapes identity.

There's no doubt that the Scottish vote has galvanised hopes for some

In 1997 the Cornish marched on London to commemorate

the Rebellion of 1497, itself a protest against unfair taxation.

Now finally the concerns of the UK's impoverished outposts are top

One of the things that is particularly interesting is that the

Scots have got engaged with changing the constitutional status of the UK,

whether independence or mord powers. In Cornwall we have been

saying for a long time that Cornwall needs to be part of any discussion

on changing the constitutional status of the UK.

Even now MK are not calling for Cornish

independence but on the strdeets of Looe some still live in hope

It is a cheat, we have a principality, 1 shouldn't Cornwall

be recognised as its own cotntry? `` Y. We have a language and pdople

should learn the language in its own heritage.

Those who've seen devolution efforts close up sense new opportunhty

I believe it could have a profoundly beneficial effect if it is lanaged

well but I think there is a risk that it could break down into a lot

of bickering and it is really important to address that. `` to

avoid that. For now, South West devoluthonists

are in party mood, and hoping the morning`after reality

will still deliver their drdams When you have been seriouslx ill

with cancer, the road to recovery can be long and hard. Andrew Johnson

follows one man's journey to get back on his feet, and he dodsn't

take the easy route. At the age of 19 mountaineer

Norman Croucher lost his legs He went on to become one of the

country's best mountaineers. But two years ago fate tried

to trip him up again. On the 10th of the 1th 2012 ` 1 ,

11, 12, it?s easy to remembdr ` And I've since being diagnosed with

bowel cancer had one quite long well, five`hour operation, ` shorter

corrective operation, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and as far as I know

I am free of the cancer now. When we went to the hospital

and heard what it was, Well,

I was thinking "it isn't gohng to be anything serious", so when they said

it was colon cancer I'm afr`id I was The day he was diagnosed Norman

started planning a charity Having an objective, a targdt,

I think it has helped me psychologically a lot, becatse I

have had stages to aim for. I've got to go through this stage

to get to that one and to eventually to get on top

of...probably a quite small mountain,

but it will be a proper mountain. The peaks that Norman has sdt

his sights on are in Chamonhx, And they're not

for the faint`hearted. But two artificial legs

and now a colostomy bag aren't going It's 21 months

since I was diagnosed with cancer and it's two years since I climbed

anything, so I am looking forward. Today is a minor peak,

it's only a bit under 7000 feet Norman's travelled to Francd with

his wife Jude and friend Wes Down. It's hard and it's hard for me as

first climb Norman's in trotble It's hard and it's hard for me as

well. He can't get his foot on. An hour in and the team grounds to a

halt. We reached a point whdre it's getting a lot wetter and stdeper, so

he's start ing to carry on with the walkie`talkies to see how steep it

gets before we carry on up the climb. Norman and Jude wait for news

from Wes. We might have to go back down slowly. Whatever happens we've

had a good bit of exercise `t reasonable altitude anyway. Hello.

Just to let you know what's happening. I've just climbed another

50 metres above you over sole fairly steep stone and wet mud. Underfoot

it's very slippery, quite a steep gradient from what we have climbed

up already. I'm probably about 50 metres below the peak, which I'm

looking at now. And I think it's probably too tricky for us `ll to

get up here. Yes, I think wd can call it a day and come back when

it's dry. I think it would be wise. Norman's 74 and besides being a

double leg am tee, he's still recovering from major cancer

surgery, so he's doing really well just to be here. I'm quite pleased,

because I've done an hour`and`a`half's quite difficult

movement up and down and I had to be very careful coming down and it s

shown that I can still do qtite strenuous exercise over a rdasonably

long period. Norman may not have got very far today, but there's a bigger

test for him tomorrow. We are going up Le Brevent, which is

in the French Alps and it's not huge. After my diagnosis I've been

aiming for this physically `nd psychologically and today's the day.

Today's a better day for hil underfoot. It's good. We have been

scrambling up over flattish and steep sections and probably a

quarter of the way up Le Brdvent, which is good. He seems to be doing

well. His fitness is holding out and all going well at the moment, so

it's great news. I'm amazed how well he's dohng,

considering a year ago he could hardly walk to the bottom of our

street. And look at him now. Now he's really doing extremely well.

Not that I doubted it! I'm Slocombe paired with what I was pre`cancer,

but that's to be expected after chemotherapy and radiotherapy and

one serious operation and another one that wasn't too good, so I've

got to get used to pacing mxself. As the team climbs on, Norman's add

eventure is `` adventure is catching the eye of others on the motntain,

including another climber on crutches. We've pumped into a

gentleman whose knees were damaged in an avalanche Getting olddr is not

getting better. A few years ago I think he wouldn't have seen or

certainly not two of us on crutches in a place like this. Furthdr up the

mountain, Norman is greeted by yet more wellwishers. Exeter hospice

care. Thank you very much. Lost of it is care in the homes, so you are

where? We are in Australia. I've looked after so many people who have

had all of Norm's issues and cancer and all of that and it's trtly

humbling. I felt goosebumps. We were talking about that, just medting him

and seeing what he's doing. It's amazing. It is. We are gratdful to

have bumped into him. Truly inspiring for other people who have

to endure what he's been through. It's truly inspiring. We spoke to a

palliative care nurse at 7,000 feet and I've just been overtaken by a

bloke on crutches, so it's been an interesting day.

This is the highlight of quhte a long adventure really, starting 21

months ago. This is the highlight. This is what we are aiming for.

Let's go. There was a seriots doubt when we started climbing th`t

Norman's fitness, although he would say he's doing fine and well, but

there was a doubt on the first climb about his fitness. Today, it was a

really big day for him and we are pretty much near the top now. We

have been climbing for thred hours and probably got another 30 minutes

to go, 20 minutes or so, to the top and he's going to make it and he's

doing really well. It feels as any other ascent that

I've done really. Really, rdally happy and content for myself, but

mainly for Norm, because obviously this is something he thought of

practically since the day hd learnt he had cancer. We're there.

Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful Next year, Britain's first new metal

mine in 40 years here at hel den `` Hemerdon in Devon will be producing

metal. Hemerdon, on the south`western slopes of Dartmoor.

Underneath here is one of the largest deposits in the world of

tungsten. Wolf Minerals are developing a state`of`the`art mine

with the promise of more th`n 2 0 jobs. It will be a far cry from the

last time metal was mined hdre. It was a much more primitive mhning

that was done in my daT moor, on the east, right up until 1969. Nearly

all traces of that industry are long gone. Except near Lustleigh. The

surface workings of one old mine have been restored by a dedhcated

group of volunteers. They found the derelict remains of Kelly Mhne 0

years ago. And they've been restoring it ever since. Kelly was

one of eight little mines in the area, all looking for the s`me

stuff. It's called micatious orand it's called shiny oraround here

Kelly Mine first appeared in local records in 1795, but shiny ore was

produced around here before then. We know, because of ancient cotrt

records kept here at Ashburton Town Hall. It's something other than the

words on the page that provd its existence. And what it was tsed for.

They're very, very difficult to see, but if you look closely at this

page, dated 1776, you can sde the shiny sparkle of shiny or eshing,

which might have come from Kelly Mine. Suzanne Haines is a

calligrapher and she is going to explain how shiny ore ended up on

the court records. When you finish the writing, while it was still wet,

they would sprinkle the shiny ore on to the ink and leave it there until

the ink dried and that could really take any amount of time, depending

on the weather conditions. What would they do with it then? Because

it was so valuable they would want to re`use it, so when it was dried

they would pick up the paper and tip the excess into a tray. Right. May

I? Do. So, shiny ore was usdd to dry ink, much like blotting papdr. Let's

hope I don't make a mess of Suzanne's lovely handwriting. Look

at that. Isn't that lovely? In the early days, the powder was `lso used

in black lead, to smarten up fire places and to outsparkle `` add to

sparkle to bricks and pottery. The mines had a tremendous boost in the

19th century, when it was dhscovered that when added to paint it became

rust proof. It was used extdnsively by Great Western on the railway

bridges, like the eye onic Brunell Bridge here and it became v`luable

stuff. Two tins like this would set you back 100 quid. Sadly, p`int

manufacturers go elsewhere for their shiny ore these days. It became

uneconomic to mine in Devon, but it's still down there and today we

are hoping to find some. Me and my brother, Derek, worked in

the last of the shiny ore mhnes here at Great Rock. We are joined by two

other ex`miners, one of whol worked here as a student. I've been

involved in mining for over 50 years and I've never seen anything like

it. My total mining experience at this point was limited. I h`d a

point working down in the f`r west in a tin mine, which was by

comparison sort of modern and membering sized, if you likd. Here,

it was more like stepping b`ck into what I would suspect would be the

late 19th century. Great Rock obviously made a big impression on

Tony, even though he was here for only two weeks. My brother was here

for two years. It was dangerous and I think today health and safety

would have had a heyday herd. Absolutely. There were ladddr routes

and there were no doors and nothing. You had a cardboard hat. It was

compressed cardboard and whdn they get really wet the thing wotld

disintergrate. We had showers when we were here? No, you took off your

overalways or your leggips `nd you went `` overalls and your ldggins

and you went home shiny likd a shilling. We are trying to find some

of the shiny stuff left on the walls when Great Rock closed. It's not

long before Derek spots what we re long before Derek spots what we re

looking for. Just here. Just here, is a very fine example. If xou pass

me a shovel you'll find this stuff is very frail. It's soft. Oh, look

at that! Three soggy hours later, we got our

shiny ore. What I really like to do is turn it into powder, likd the

stuff Suzanne was using. We can t do that at Great Rock, because all the

surface workings are long gone. I'm going back to Kelly Mine, three

miles across the hills. I'vd got a bucket of ore for you. Can we do

something with it. We'll have a go. Kelly hasn't produced commercially

for more than 60 years, but volunteer John Turner's confident

they can turn the contents of my bucket into the finished product.

This is exactly how they wotld have done it here back in the dax. Nick,

he's Great Rock, except our mine was a

bit more heavily mechanised. It s mostly manual work, where the boys

would constantly moving the material around to make sure it's in

suspension. It's quite an alazing product, that it's so much heavier

than sand, yet it will stay afloat as long as you keep it agit`ted

Yeah. It's a simple process. After a few minutes' washing some of the ore

is nearly pure and will go straight into the settling tanks in the

processing shed. The more solid lumps need to be broken up. First by

hand. And It has overestimated its profits

by a quarter of a billion pounds. A new focus

for Thai police lookinc into They plan to test the @NA of every

man on the island whera David Miller It is thought they wera attacked

by two Asian men. Arranging a sham gay wadding po

get someone UK citizenship. A BBC investigapion has found gangs

will organise ip for ?10,000. It is thought up to 30!

of same-sex marriages are fake. The Royal Mint is encouraging peo0le

to invest in gold or silver by launching

a website to trade them onlina.