21/10/2016 Inside Out South West

The mentally ill teenagers. What happened to be governed's promised

to help? They have to start providing for children and for

families. Also on the progr`mme get out your vinyl, we are going retro,

Cornwall style. In 1966, Cornwall might not have had

a penny being, but it was vdry swinging!

I am Gemma Woodman, welcome to Inside Out South West. Pennx Lane.

Government ministers, doctors, the families affected, all agred that it

is a scandal that because of our geography and a shortage of beds,

some young people with ment`l health problems have to be treated hundreds

of miles from home. Action has long been promised but tonight, to

breathe teenagers called Inside Out that nothing has changed.

Sascha's three days of home leave are over,

and her mum is taking her b`ck to a mental health unit.

The unit is in Bridgewater, 150 miles away from their

Just getting to the car is difficult.

She says long spells of bed rest in hospital have

I've been in hospital for about three years and in that

time I've only been home for at most two weeks at a time.

It's three hours away from the unit and most of the time is spent

driving too and from the unht and it doesn't feel like long

Mental health can affect anxone at any time and it is disgusting that

they are not putting more and at a local level. I want her to be closer

so that we can spend more thme together, this does this just makes

it too hard. -- this distance. Because there are so few beds

for mentally ill children in the South West ? and nond

in Cornwall ? teenagers who need hospital care can be sent to units

which are hundreds of miles away. They stay there for months,

and sometimes years. The NHS ? and the Government ?

know it's a problem. Sascha says before she was sent

to the unit in Somerset, she was treated at

a general hospital. For months she was on an adtlt ward,

treated alongside terminallx ill people and patients

suffering with dementia. It was a mixed-sex ward

and there was a guy who got up and was shouting and swearing

using every swearword under the sun He was shouting things like, "You

are breaking my wrist." And the same guy went in thd corner

of the room and peed... I was really scared that he would

come over and start having I did not have any support, I was

sat there by myself. When you went missing all this and what wdre you

thinking? I was worried that he would have a go at me. Therd were

patients around me with cancer and patients around me with cancer and

dementia and having blood transfusions and on a few occasions

they were all the people th`t had died. It was terrifying.

I was on a ward with just women and the youngest one after le

was about 40 years older th`n me and one of the women came and sat

on the end of my bed and st`rted screaming and shouting at someone

And she thought that the end of my bed was a toilet and tried

to go to the toilet on the end of my bed.

Sascha hopes she'll be back in Cornwall soon.

Chloe Hodge hasn't been homd at all for three years.

She's been in mental health units all over England.

At the moment she's treated in South Wales.

Her parents have rented a holiday cottage nearby.

Doctors at the clinic have `greed she can stay with them.

It's a little taste of the ordinary family stuff Chloe

I really miss that and I can't wait to get out of here

The family don't know when Chloe will be able to come home.

She's lost touch with peopld who were important to her bdfore

I miss my friends, my familx, I just want to be around people that

I know, which would probablx make me feel more settled.

The hospital in South Wales is about 200 miles from home in Cornwall

But for Chloe's family, that's one of the shorter journeys

On one occasion when she was ill and had to go to hospital, that really

brought it home. Do you remdmber that? It was awful. She was in a lot

of pain and she was refusing to go because she wanted one of us there.

280 miles away. She was in pain and 280 miles away. She was in pain and

crying down the end of the phone, it was horrible.

There is a plan for a children's unit in Cornwall.

Sharon and Steve Cowburn have been fighting for it for years.

Ben was just 18 and he went into really inappropriate

Their son Ben took his life in an adult hospital.

Since then, they've been calpaigning for a unit for teenagers

They won the backing of the local health trust, and have a design

but so far the NHS hasn't agreed to pay for it.

My son died in inappropriatd care in Cornwall and it's nearly six

years since this family started knocking on doors and

They are trying to represent people who cannot argue their own case

because they are any terrible at home. -- in a terrible situ`tion at

home. After six years, we should see some

progress on this unit which would make so much difference

to so many families. I've been to see the ministdr

and he says it's not his I've written to the chief executive

of NHS England and he says ht's the local commissioners

and the local commissioners say it's I've been sent around

on a wild-goose chase. So who can stop these

children having to travel I went to see the man

in charge of mental health services in Cornwall,

Phil Confue. We have to work together to get the

pressure up the line, letting them know that something is needdd in

Cornwall. We have to work whth our partners to make that happen. It is

frustrating for us and doubly frustrating for families, especially

when they are travelling a long way away and children are not close to

them. They are not getting the servers that they want and we must

do something about it. Do these families deserve an apology?

Definitely. We have been hoping for a long time that something would be

within Cornwall. Everyone sdems to want this to happen but we cannot

get NHS England to guaranted giving us that unit or not.

the distances people have to travel by paying for more inpatient

beds and they'll be up and running next year.

But they did not tell us whdre those beds would be.

While they wait to hear, the families have to leave

their children hundreds of miles from home.

You be good, OK? We will sed you next time. Thanks. I will t`ke you

in now. Marie is dropping off Sasch` too

and they're not sure how long it will be before

they are together again. She wants to know when she will next

be coming back and I have to think about the logistics, the cost, how

much time it takes. That is difficult. I wish I could tdll her

that I can pop up and see hdr whenever, but the reality as I

cannot do that. I think people need to be a lot more aware of it and

people have to take responshbility for it. Cornwall, it seems to catch

up and it needs to start providing for children and for familids.

Because, you know, it is terrible. My worst fear is losing my daughter

and the thought that it could be stopped if the right

support was there, it It's awful, no parent ever wants

to feel like that and for the fact it comes down to funding,

I don't know. I do not understand why this is not

happening. Marie fears the next stage

of Sascha's treatment might If you have a story you would like

to share, do drop me an e-m`il at... We would love to hear from xou. Any

moment we are going diving off of the Dorset coast looking at sea

horses. But firstly we are looking at the rock 'n' roll archivds of

Cornwall. It was not all sc`ffold groups.

We meet the Cornish musicians who were in at the start

of a worldwide super group...50 years ago.

Our own former Mod, David Stafford, takes a trip back 50 years to meet

When I was younger, so much younger than today -

not to mention much thinner ? I could get my leg over no trouble.

Lucky for me that Martin, a Mod DJ, is giving me a ride...

Cornwall in 1966 may not have had a Carnaby Street or a Penny Lane...

The Smokey Joes were one of dozens of schoolboy bands who giggdd

all over the county in halls like this one.

Gavin Carter was their teenage drummer.

We did kind of, we had a co`ch and took people with us.

We certainly took a lot of supporters with us. We would turn up

to a venue with about 30 people You brought your own audience? Xes, that

was welcomed by landlords. They started in 1965 becausd I used

to run lots of dances in thhs hall and this lot were talking

about it so I said just get on with it, just like that,

no equipment or nothing... This is what impresses me, xou were

organising the decks. How mtch did you make?

Adjusted for inflation that's, like, 210 quid.

Before the M4 and M5, getting to the West Country

from London was like travelling to Mars, but all the same,

big London bands like the Khnks and The Who still made the dffort,

and local bands usually muscled in on the action.

We got into Plymouth's Guildhall with the blue. So you're supporting

big names? That was correct. Keith booked The Birds to play

St Austell Church Hall ? not the Mr Tambourine Byrds,

this was Ronnie Wood's band years before the Faces or the Stones

and they stayed in Portscatho. Mike Grose was just 14

when he became a guitar for hire in local bands,

including the Smokey Joes. There were 14 groups

in St Austell alone - The year's hottest gig was the Rock

and Rhythm contest held Picture the scene in 1966...hordes

of fans from St Austell, Redruth, Penzance and Portscatho, wahting

to hear their favourite bands. Among the bands playing that

night were popular beat combo The Reactions,

now The Reaction. Made up of Truro school boys

and a 20-year-old butcher's boy lead singer and hair enthushast

Roger Brokenshire. Roger started entertaining

when he was just ten years old. We used to be in concert parties

going round the village halls. The contest was the X Factor, the

Pop Idol of its day. They came in their coachloads

to support their favourite bands. We were young then. But it was great

fun. I am glad that I was p`rt of it.

The winners were guaranteed gigs in the best palais des

And 50 years ago, that glorhous prize was awarded to The Re`ction.

This was the song that won it for us...

And it launched the career of the band's drummer...

A chap who did ever so well for himself.

The band that became Queen had its roots in a band called Smile,

featuring guitarist Brian M`y and drummer Roger Taylor.

Roger really was very artistic really.

Roger Taylor's mum booked Smile for a charity gig.

But by showtime the band had changed its name to Queen.

27th June 1970 Truro City Hall hosted

And Mike was their first bass player.

We weren't polished put it that way, our arrangements were a bit naff.

The name Queen was chosen by the new singer, Freddie Lercury.

Freddie and me joined on the same day.

They knew him, wanted to sing and so they chose him.

Freddie had a hand in choosing Mike's stage gear.

He took me to get some velvet trousers.

He told me they would have to be tighter. I could hardly belheve it.

He told me they would stretch. He came out and jumped onto thd tube.

As I went to sit down, they split from the back, right up my crotch.

And there was Freddie Mercury, laughing his head off.

The Smokey Joes could have had their moment in the sun

too...they were offered a rdcording contract ? but didn't sign.

You did not sign? That is correct. You turned it down. Yes, a little

bit too cautious. How do yot feel about that now, do you wish you had

done? Possibly, yes. We shotld have gone for it. What the hell, let us

go for it. But did not. And yet Mike, having put one curiously

trousered legs on the ladder to fame, decided to step off and return

to Cornwall. I just love behng in Cornwall and it is the qualhty of

life in the end. I had playdd for several years and that was dnough. I

enjoyed playing but where wd were going was not somewhere I w`nted to

go. Roger Brokenshire has never stopped

gigging, a stranger to jealousy he is very happy that Roger made the

big time. I am so pleased for him. I am pleased that I was part of

getting Roger up that ladder. I have had a wonderful time. It was like a

horse race, there must be whnners and losers, but we are not losers, I

mean, we are keeping the music going. There are many singers at the

age of 75 still going. And going, and going, and going. No pl`ns to

retire at the moment, I lovd it I love it!

They have an almost mythical presence in art, culture

and the animal kingdom, so why are seahorses off thd Dorset

The jewel in the crown of the Purbeck Hills.

It's an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty with all the protecthon

Everything from the low tidd mark upwards is owned and managed

by the National Trust but ftrther out to sea it's owned

by the Crown Estates and the situation's

Beneath the surface of the water there should be an animal that many

In 2008 we had 40 individual seahorses here, now we have none,

so in effect they're functioning extinct.

Neil Garrick-Maidment has bden studying seahorses for 36 ydars

diving and monitoring their numbers all around the coast.

Everywhere else where we have records of seahorses,

the numbers are either stable or have gone up slightly.

This is the only site - South Beach in Studland Bay

is the only site where they've gone from 40 to zero.

Eight years ago, it became hllegal to kill, take or disturb

But what isn't protected is the seagrass...

the habitat of the seahorse where they shelter, breed and feed.

Here in Studland, it's the seagrass that's giving Neil sleepless nights.

We never came here to study the seagrass, we came

to study the seahorses, but it soon became evident

that the seagrass was fragmdnting and starting to fall apart.

What, in your opinion, is the reason for this happdning?

The mooring chains have acttally fragmented the seagrass bed

Mooring chains are fixed to the seabed and run

Ariel photos show that the seagrass bed is expanding but Neil s`ys that

with holes in it like Swiss cheese, there's still a problem.

There's plenty of seagrass out there, why don't the seahorses move

The seahorses require the whole seagrass bed.

They need to be able to movd through seagrass to be able to get

Time for me to put my head under water.

I was here seven years ago and I was mesmerised

by the seahorse I found livhng in the seagrass here.

Fingers crossed I see another today...

So that was really different, wasn't it?

It's all down to this mooring, so diving around that,

where that chain has scoured the sea floor

and there is no grass there at all, is there?

A few years ago the Governmdnt rolled out Marine Conservathon Zones

to protect marine life in the same way wildlife is protected on land.

But even though Studland Bax was proposed, it didn't

An MCZ here might mean that the seagrass is given protection.

This is an eco-friendly mooring and it's basically a strong

And it hangs above the seagrass rather than dragging on the seabed

And these could become mand`tory if Studland is designated

The Royal Yachting Associathon said they would love to endorse dco

moorings but they've not yet been proven to work here in Studland Bay.

Studies here have shown that they almost overstretch

The problem here is there's been a lot of studies and none of them

have concluded with a viabld technically feasible and

This ecomooring costs ?1,800 to buy and install.

The manufacturer tells us that the wrong size was tested

in Studland and the moorings of the correct size in similar bays

Nick Warner has lived in Sttdland most of his life and doesn't believe

In fact, he goes further and believes that a Marine

Conservation Zone isn't what's needed here either.

There's no need to protect Studland Bay by

It's going to disrupt everybody s enjoyment.

Well, I believe there is a very precious animal out there...

And by offering it some form of protection...

It doesn't need protecting, it's protected already!

Ok, so if you see numbers declining...

Well, because there's a lot of statistics.

Because you read it on the Seahorse Trust website?

Well, I've talked to other divers as well who've dived in this area.

Look, divers used to come in their tens and 20s,

If you have 15, 20 divers coming and going, up and down all day,

they might well see one or two seahorses.

One man who sees more than his fair share of seahorses is Mike Bailey.

He's been fishing these waters for 30 years...

Although sightings of the spiny seahorse in Studland Bay ard rare,

he believes there's good news about the short-snouted seahorses

Going back, say, 20 years ago, seeing one was, like, rare.

The last few years, if you was to see 20

This year we've seen over 100 already.

Seahorses often become tangled in Mike's fishing nets but he always

One local business owner, who runs Middle Beach Cafe

in Studland, thinks a Marine Conservation Zone light

All these people come in at the weekends, they moor up,

they come in, they use all the local facilities,

they use me, the shop, the pub, so they are bringing money

in, so it's not good news for a little village like this

who relies so much on tourism and people

Julie Hatcher from the Dorsdt Wildlife Trust has a partictlarly

personal reason for wanting to see the seahorses thrive here...

The first pregnant one that actually kicked all this off...

Can we hold you responsible then for it all?

And it's not just the seahorses that Dorset Wildlife Trust

There's a whole host of wildlife they say would benefit

from Studland Bay becoming a Marine Conservation Zone...

Bass, bream, we've got flat fish out there

All of those commercially-ilportant species make their home

here when they're young, when they're juveniles.

So, if it became a Marine Conservation Zone, there wotld then

be the power to introduce some kind of management and we could start

to protect the wildlife unddr the sea in the same way that we do

Those that deny there's a problem say that the science behind

the studies is flawed and that an MCZ would be expensive,

I've sat round the table multiple times with experts

from Natural England, from Defra and none of us

round the table can come up with a solution for this site.

Until we can, I don't think this site can be

designated when you don't know what the management could bd.

This site is so important to seahorses.

If mankind cannot get this right, I will absolutely be devast`ted

I mean, it'll be time to hang up my fins to be honest and not

But I am the eternal optimist and I believe that it will be

That's it for tonight but join us again next Monday when we whll be

asking can the NHS survive diabetes? Hello, I'm Elaine Dunkley

with your 90-second update. Silence to remember

the Aberfan disaster. 50 years ago today, a mountain

of coal waste engulfed a village, 144 people were killed -

most of them were children.