03/02/2014 Inside Out South

Hallow from the new Forest and welcome to Inside Out with more of

your stories from where we live. `` hello. The record`breaking rain

bringing more ground water flooding to the south. Have you ever seen

anything like this before? Yes. You have. Yesterday. The hunt for the

fight window ``. White widow. By this woman became one of the most

wanted people in the world. And an extraordinary tiny world growing on

some wonderful sites. It is a complete miniature garden and the

closer you get, the better it looks. Good evening. Welcome to Inside Out.

First denied it has been another weekend of rain and weather warning

from the Environment Agency. This time specifically to do with ground

water flooding. Dorset was put on alert and the people of Hambledon in

Hampshire have been fighting a battle with ground water flooding

for more than one week. They have had their homes flooded and raw

sewage pouring down the street and they said they had had enough.

Hambledon, in Hampshire. A village nestled at the bottom of a chalk

valley. But maybe now feeling a bit too nestled. In January the water

table rose 20 metres in five days turning the main street into a

tributary of the River Meon. With the surrounding hills completely

saturated, water is running straight into the village and into people's

homes. With drains overflowing an emergency

sewage pump was installed. We have asked for no cars to go down here at

all. Then the ramp over the temporary

sewage pipe got stuck under a lorry trying to deliver even more liquid

to the village. . You either driver. What you have done is you have

broken the supplied to the village. Of course, Hambledon's just one of

many places battling against ground water flooding in the South, but

here it's becoming a bit of a habit. In 1994 the village flooded for 40

days and 40 nights, it flooded again in 2000 then again a year later.

This time villagers are praying something will be done to stop it

ever happening again. There is a river having all the way through.

Houses are pumping out water. Businesses are pumping out water.

Trucks are here to deliver sandbags and also try and keep the sewage

levels under control. Hambledon has had a history of flooding over

hundreds of years. We are at the bottom of a dry River Valley. We are

at the bottom of the chalk basin. It is like a sponge. If you spill up a

sponge the water will come out. `` if you fill up a sponge.

With the emergency sewage pipe reconnected and the beer safely

delivered to the pub it was time to get the kids to nursery. What we are

going to do now is get the young children to school. But none of the

cars can get here so we are getting the children walking. They are very

determined. They did not realise it is dilutive sewage which is pretty

horrible. It is now steeper dogs and pets and everyone.

Have you ever seen anything like this before? You have. Yesterday.

Did you walk through it yesterday as well? Did you splash in it? . Yes.

Do you like it? Every day for 49 years Neil Mason's

family has been measuring rainfall in Hambledon and sending the results

to the Met Office. December was the wettest December since 1973. Over

seven inches of rain. And now we have the next month and there is a

pretentious. It is unbelievable. As if the flooding isn't enough

there's been a series of power cuts ` exactly what you don't need when

relying on electric pumps to bail water out of your house. We were

within just a few inches of disaster most of the time, that is even with

the pumps on. It you lose electricity the pumps will go off

and properties of blood. Element that one is going. `` properties

will flood. Mike Leonard's one of the villagers

checking pumps through the day and night. It. She was an inch away from

having her downstairs flooded. The Aussie lucky one.

Diana Sims hasn't been so lucky and it's not the first time. I am going

to have to move out. It will be several months. They will have to

come in and try the place out. The plaster will have to come off the

wall. It is contaminated. Diana has been flooded three times. She has

this beer every year. In the 21st century, why should you love like

this? `` why should you live. We pay a lot of money to Southern Water.

They do nothing to support us. Southern Water says it's not to

blame and a long term environmental solution is needed so their drains

don't become overloaded. We have a sewer system to run. We must make

sure that this is working so people can live. And then we must work with

other agencies to upgrade the drainage system or have a flood

defence system or something that can stop this water running off and

getting into the sewage system and making it the Lubbock water. There

does not assigned to carry that. Hambledon used to be home to a

brewery which used the village's spring water. This photo of

Hartridge's from over 100 years ago might hold the answer to how to deal

with ground water today. My great`grandfather stood exactly here

in 1884 or something. You can see the steps down. That was probably

have a meter and the water could slow down here of this road.

And in other parts of the village there were culverts or covered

drainage ditches which are no longer there. The water had a natural way

to flow. It's thought the ditches were filled

in to make the roads wide enough to accommodate tanks. 1944 villages

across the South were used as assembly points ahead of the

Normandy landings. In order to land on D`day a large number of tanks and

people had to be taken. They were all stored here.

There was a ditch that they built along the side of the road.

They left the tanks through and build the ditches in and concreted

them. They are gone. The other problem seems to be that

what drains there are have got much smaller. To confirm this we asked

the oldest resident in the village. I am 102 and I have lived here all

my life. Ena remembers the old drains well as

they were her favourite hiding place. The drains did get smaller

because I once hidden them. I hidden them from my father! They were big

and I could get in there. Dad never used to think of looking in the

drains for me! That would appear to be the main

pipe. How wide is that? So everything you have seen us to come

through here. I think we need a bigger pipe.

One of the options is to put a pipe down the centre of the road to help

channel the water in a controlled way, rather than take it overland.

This problem will not go away. It must be dealt with and faced up to.

We have around 50 people who are working on a daily basis to try and

keep the village afloat. It is cheaper and more efficient to put

some proper pipework underground to sort this out.

And has this winter that anything else in store? We will wait and

see. Do not forget you can contact us by e`mail. Next, the

international search for Samantha Lewthwaite continues. The so`called

White widow is accused of plotting terror attacks in the name of Islam.

It's thought she is hiding in Africa thousands of miles from

Buckinghamshire where she grew up. From smiling schoolgirl to

Interpol's most wanted list, Samantha Lewthwaite continues to

make headlines. She was married to a London bomber.

Is she now a terrorist herself? I've come to Aylesbury, where Samantha

Lewthwaite grew up. The family moved to Buckinghamshire when she was a

child, because like many here, her father was in the armed forces. And

typically, it was as a teenager that Samantha Lewthwaite started to

develop her own identity. This is where Samantha Lewthwaite went to

school, and it was a particularly important time in her life because

it was when she became a Muslim. In those years she changed how she

dressed. She changed who she hung around with. In those first few

months of being a Muslim, she was guided by a local Pakistani family

and about the same time, she met Germaine Lindsay on the internet. He

was a carpet fitter in Aylesbury. ??He also became Samantha

Lewthwaite's husband.? ???And he was one of the London 7/7 bombers.??

Former mayor of Aylesbury, Raj Khan, ?knew Samantha Lewthwaite from an

early age. ??In 2005, he bumped into her in town with Germaine Lindsay.

?A young couple who'd just become parents, they were looking for a

family house. I probably saw here a month or two before what happened,

seven /7. Germaine, her husband, came to see me in this town centre

while I was doing some activities. Because I knew Samantha, she came up

and exchanged pleasantries. She asked me if I could help them. That

is where she introduced her husband to me. How did they come across? As

a couple in love? They were a normal average couple. I have to feel on

reflection that Samantha didn't come across as in control. It was

Germaine. They both were very pleasant. Samantha came across as

the same person I knew. She was a follower, not a leader. She wasn't

strong headed. At the time of the bombings, Samantha Lewthwaite and

Lindsay were renting a house ?in Northern Road. ??It's not clear

whether or not it was here that plans were made?for the attacks on

London which took the lives of 56 people and left hundreds more

?injured. ??Lindsay and the three other suicide bombers were caught on

CCTV. I remember reporting here in 2005 after it came out that Germaine

Lindsay from Aylesbury was one of the suspects in the London bombings.

When I got there, the road was closed off and this whole area was

completely packed out with media from all over. I could see the

police forensics going in and out of the house he shared with Samantha

Lewthwaite, who was his wife. A few days later Samantha Lewthwaite was

in the papers herself, and she came across as this grieving wife,

heartbroken parent and she completely condemned what her

husband had done. But since then, Samantha Lewthwaite has become an

increasingly elusive figure.? Rumour has it there's a Twitter account she

uses, but it's unconfirmed if postings are actually hers.

uses, but it's unconfirmed if She's been seen in Aylesbury, but

more recently it's ?thought she's set up home 6000 miles away in South

Africa. In 2011 there were sightings reported of her in Kenya where a

police raid on another suspected terrorist unearthed a fake passport

using Samantha Lewthwaite's picture, but with the name Natalie Faye Webb.

By 2012 she was even being linked in the media with Al Qaeda. Professor

Roger Griffin is an expert in the psychology of terrorists. I see all

the signs of someone who was searching for higher purpose. Who

was given a sense of religion from Christianity but it was not

satisfying and there was something in the who wanted to go forward.

That urge has a dark side and it can take you into the realm of

fanaticism and I do not think she was predestined to it but there was

something in her personality that could not be satisfied with shopping

and text then and watching television. There are different

degrees of obsessiveness. A terrorist is someone who takes those

feelings and turns themselves into an activist at the cost of their

lives. The Samantha Lewthwaite story has become even more problematic.?

Linking terrorism and Islam plays into the hands of racism and gives

rise to prejudice against Muslims. ? I was invited to this prayer group

in Oxford. Many of the women here are British`born and have recently

converted to Islam.?? When there are stories about extremism, what impact

does it have on your lives? I think it meant she feel you have to

justify the activities of those people and what they have done even

though that is not what you stand for and it is not who you are. It

does not represent Islam fairly. Still you find yourself having to

justify their actions are cos they are Muslim by name. It can make such

a difference and bad stories come out and it can affect middle

millions of Muslims. Thinking back to Lee Rigby, I remember walking

into college and seeing everyone look at me as I walked into the

library and I felt like I had to justify myself and they were showing

me pictures and I didn't know what to say or where to go. I felt

ashamed that this is what Islam has been shown to be and it's not the

truth. It was really kind of, it was quite emotionally difficult that

day. In Aylesbury, I find even stronger opinions about the few who

use terror in the name of Islam. It never says in is land that you

should kill, even in Islam it says, even if you are going to fight with

somebody, make sure you do not kill children or women, and these people

are telling everybody else and I don't know, I don't call the

Muslims. They are spreading the wrong word of Muslims and they

should be ashamed of themselves calling themselves Muslims. Pretty

much everyone I've spoken to resents that there's this link between

Aylesbury and terrorism. Because Samantha Lewthwaite is still out

there, the stories keep coming every time she sends a tweet or there is a

possible sighting, and that means Pillsbury is in the paper as well.

`` Aylesbury. In 2010, tensions were heightened when the English Defence

League marched through Aylesbury protesting against Islam. They were

chanting EDL. A few local people who we knew were there, they just said

it was done for fun. People you have seen in Aylesbury? Yeah, people from

the local area or at the March, so local people were there. We can

front of them and they said two was it was for fun. How is this for

fun? Have you seen them since? Yeah, I play football with them. For every

story like this, you'll find many more about?the Muslim faith

transforming lives for the better. Islam is the fastest`growing

religion in the UK. Around 5,000 people converted last year. Assia

Kaci was brought up as a Roman Catholic in Poland. She now lives in

Oxfordshire, as a Muslim. Is it quite different now, what you eat

compared to before? Yes, first time I try lamb in England here. What you

eat is such an important part of being a Muslim. Yes, it has to be

halal meat. What about not having alcohol any more? It was very hard.

Everyday I could have one or two bottles. It's nonalcoholic, I can

drink it now. When you think back now, what do you think? I am shy

even talking about that. I didn't respect my mother much. When she

spoke to me I was laughing at her, completely not respect, I was not a

girl, drinking, smoking cigarettes, even I tried smoking marijuana.

Assia was introduced to Islam by a friend, who gave her a copy of the

Koran. I started to read from the first page, and after four hours, I

was still reading and I still wanted to read. It was so fantastic for me,

completely different, and I said I want this for myself. I really want

this for myself. And is lamb, I found it peace, quiet, be patient, I

have to share what I have and give what I have, and that is what is

completely different, what I learnt. If I could have this is lamb

20 years ago I probably would have been more happy. Like Assia,

Samantha Lewthwaite is a white woman?who was brought up as a

Christian before embracing Islam. But at some point, her path and that

of terrorists have crossed. ??Or so we've been led to believe.

Speculation that she orchestrated the siege in a Nairobi shopping

centre last year, in which 67 people died, has certainly never been

proven. There has been a lot of allegations. At one stage they were

talking about White Widow, white female being shot in the Ruby. The

Foreign Minister saying that was a white lady but all of that has been

rubbished. I think unless there is ever `` there is any evidence we

have to be careful what we say. If she is involved she has to be

brought to justice like anybody else. There is no sympathy and no

justification for acts of violence or terrorism. If you could get a

message to her now, what would you say? I would say to Samantha, if I

was in your position today, give yourself in. But there's no sign of

that happening. For now, the whereabouts of Samantha Lewthwaite,

the White Widow, remain a mystery. Now, who says that here on

Jeremy Stern on reporting there. Don't forget you can find us on

Twitter. Finally, tonight you can never accuse us of ignoring the.

Four. `` ignoring the little stuff. In our next film, our long`haired

reporter Richard Reeves has taken himself off to two of the South's

most iconic locations, where he's completely ignored the big,

in`your`face stuff and got up close to the absolutely beautiful and

magical world of lichens. Many people come to the New Forest

to see the magnificent trees, but miss what's growing on them. What

I'm talking about is lichens, and this one is covered top to toe.

Lichens are in credible life forms because they are actually two

species working in conjunction to the mutual benefit of one another.

There is a fungus and an algae, usually an algae, sometimes a

bacteria, but the fungi provides a home for the algae and the algae

provides the food by way of the visitors. The fungi may also whether

the surface it is going on and provide nutrients, so there is this

two`way partnership. It is amazing humans don't get on so well. You can

see there is a variety of colours and these bits between which look

like Bach are and other species of lichen. It forms a little map under

all sorts of bodies, so these bodies tend to give their nicknames, so for

instance fruit pastels, jammed parts, pepper pot. There is another

called beer, but it is because they only have last names they get these

regional nicknames. One here tends to be nicknamed the barnacle lichen,

and it does resemble a tiny barnacle. It is a perfect

representation. There is one down in the gap year which looks like

handwriting. Hours of interest there. I am an enthusiastic amateur

at this game, but what I don't know, Neal Saint`Saens does. He agreed to

join me in the New Forest to give me a private tour of their miniature

world. We have this ranch community, and appear we have this

committee. He can make an currently dead tree team with life again. We

have these leafy species everywhere. Becoming more dominant

as well. A magnificent little sick up there. `` little pixie couple

there. What got you into lichens? There are just so many varieties and

shapes, and when you get into their scale there are super. There was

also the science side, complex ecologies and they reflect deep

history, so you can read a lot about the environment, and also this year

excitement of finding species. You can still find new species to

Britain quite easily, new species to Hampshire. Much more exciting than

plants where everyone found everything in the 19th century.

Let's continue onward. Never go for a walk with the lichenologist. What

do you have now? How many species would you say is on this tree? If

you add the whole thing together you could get up to 100. There is about

250 of this would, so that a good percentage of what is in the wood.

`` in this wood. But of course, it isn't just trees that lichens take

two. They love stones. Gravestones are a favourite. Really important

stones to. They need so few nutrients they can live were

practically nothing else can. 77 different species have been

identified on stone hedge, making it a nationally important site apart

from its heritage. The stones have been here for millennia. The lichens

have recolonised ever since they were erected. They are as much part

of the historic landscape as the stones themselves. Through the

lichens you can even tell something about which of these stones were in

their original place and which were stood up by the Victorians. The more

lichen there is, the longer they have been standing. What is this

wish you stuff? That is one of the special features of Stonehenge. That

is C ivory, which is a very coastal species. That suggests it is not in

its standard habitat. It is a standard coastal cliffs PCs, very

salt dependent, `` cliffs PCs. Otherwise it is completely unknown

inland. Lichens can be pretty good at recording some of our modern

history. You have the graffiti here. Apparently this was from around 60

years ago, when someone sprayed "Radio Caroline" across them.

Various solutions were tried to remove the graffiti, and whatever

was used to remove the D and I from radio, this particular variety of

lichen seems to thrive on it! It took off the existing lichens and

they were replaced by these orange lichens. They like a bird droppings,

and we have seen the top of the bluestones, so when they cleaned the

graffiti off, it imitated bird droppings. Didn't quite work, did

it? It has made it more spectacular than it was before. I wonder if it

was only in black, now it's yellow. I did just that pink colour there.

That is a parasite. Most lichen parasites are very species specific.

This one just eat lichens. The pink lichens are the active edge, so

after a while maybe the parasite will eat off the orange. It is

ripping through where the contamination is, so it may have

made the lichen tastier. If we have whetted your appetite and you would

like to find out more about this world, get in touch with the British

lichen Society. Who knows, you could be the person to discover a whole

new species. Richard Reeves proving it is the

little things that count. That is it for this week. Don't forget the

e`mail. I will see you next week. Next time, how are taste for fast

food is fuelling a rise in the theft of used cooking oil. Around 400

litres up to 1000 a day get stolen. And the care home crisis. Our local

authorities now paying too little to ensure good quality care for the

elderly? A longer day, more exams and tougher

discipline. That is what the government wants for pupils in

England's state schools. Ministers believe it would bring standards

closer to those in private schools. There is a warning over a social

network raise after it was linked to guess in Ireland. It involves

drinking and filming a stun. The body of the young man was found in

the River. Tributes have poured in for the actor Philip Seymour

Hoffman. It is thought he died from a heroin overdose.

More of us are undergoing plastic surgery. The number of operations

jumped 17% last year. Most were for breast implants, but the biggest

rise was for liposuction. Imagine parking your car outside

your house and waking up to this dash a