10/12/2012 Inside Out West Midlands


10/12/2012

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Tonight to you find me overlooking the river at seven. Week will be

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mapping out a world war two mystery here. Also, how a to overcome

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crippling debt. The judge asked for money and I don't even had the

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tenpins. And a crime wave hitting farmers in

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a region. It is a crime that has more than

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doubled in the past 12 months. It is costing farmers �6 million a

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year. It is sheep rustling. And earlier

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this year a couple from Swadlincote, just starting out in farming,

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discovered how devastating this crime can be. I thought they had

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taken my sheep, they have ruined my life. Standing here in this field I

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could not leave me she had gone. -- believe the man she had gone.

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seeing any sheep following year his awful when you were standing here.

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Rick and Rachel lost 90 sheep in that single raid valued at around

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�18,000. Farmers all over the country are suffering similar and

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sometimes much larger losses. have had incidents where there have

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been over 300 lost. It is all well or old organisation that is

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stealing them, not one or two people. In 2011, 67,000 sheep were

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stolen across the UK. That has cost the industry around �6 million.

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So what is driving this crime? Quite simply, economics. Here at

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Melton Mowbray the sale price of sheep has never been higher.

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years ago we saw she prices between 50 per ounce and �65 and now it is

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�70 or at �80. Then we peaked at �100. In the last two years we have

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seen prices higher than we have seen them before. Today with

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everyone going out to work and no money about it is easy pickings.

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They do know what they're doing and they know where to go to do it.

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are an easy target. Every day Rick and Rachel nervously

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count their remaining sheep. They lost half their stock in that raid,

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and now some more appear to be missing. The Ivy, underneath there?

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-- weir ROV? If you lose them then you lose a lot because you work

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hard to get where you are and then an old Fleet -- no free lunches in

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farming. These sheep are very much part of

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the family, most have been given names. And there were some real

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favourites amongst those stolen. This one was a pure breed, she was

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beautiful. She would have alarmed next year. Then we had this one

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with a tail who used to go after the bridge for that day. And then

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another, this one, she was a survivor.

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Combat actually escaped from the rustlers. And here she is, the hero

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of today's flock. This is the one that escaped. We did not know until

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we rounded them up. Luckily, she jumped the fence and ran in the

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field in the bush somewhere. So where do these stolen sheep go?

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It is widely thought they are illegally slaughtered and sold on

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the black market. And that is worrying Trading Standards officers.

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The meat might be slaughtered in an on hygienic environment. There

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might be additional residues from medication administered from the

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former. Some farmers have gone to

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extraordinary lengths to deter the rustlers. On Dartmoor, one flock

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were dyed orange to make them stand out.

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Could better tagging of sheep defeat this crime? At the moment

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all sheep are tagged, but it's hardly a foolproof system. Attacks

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are plastic and with a peer of scissors you can take it off.

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This man may have the answer. It is a technique that has been trialled

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in Northern Ireland and is now about to be applied here in

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Derbyshire. No wonder these sheep are looking a little wary. Every

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sheep's eye is unique and this camera captures an image of the

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retina with a GPS location. gives the ability to give up

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isometric passport to follow the animal for life. -- bile metric. It

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is a smoking than to say that that is not years, it belongs to someone

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else. For individual farmers it can be a deterrent. An island we got

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the police involved and but signed up shake-up seen that these animals

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were protected. We saw the theft in the area at drop. -- we put a sign

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up. And we could also prove that they were not theirs.

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Convincing all farmers to get behind such a scheme might take

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some doing, but it may be one of the only ways of defeating this

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multi-million pound crime. Well, it has been a few months

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since we first started filming with Rick and Rachel. Immediately after

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their sheep were stolen things looked pretty bleak. I have come

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back to see how they are getting on. It affected everything that we

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worked for four years and they took it away in one night. That is why I

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am so determined. I want to continue what I am doing. We could

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not even walk up the field when it happened because it was so

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upsetting. Rachel has now got someone else to

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keep her busy - new arrival baby Harriet. And with an extra mouth to

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feed, she is determined to succeed. In the back of my mind I cannot

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believe it happened to was but you have to continue on and make life

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better. That is what we're continuing to do, it is not easy

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because it went at the beginning, financially it is not good either.

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But we have cracked on and hopefully it will be better. I am

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going to pursue beer and hopefully in a few years' time I might be

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able to be where I was last year. It will take a lot of hard work

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again. I just have to keep on going for it. I have to try and not let

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them win. You can tot was on Twitter right

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now. If you have a story from the West Midlands that you think should

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be covering then do drop me an e- mail.

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Still to come: we attempt to uncover the mystery of hecklers

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plan for a rich north. The fact that they chose what before them

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would be a very remote Elia led me to realise that they had very

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special ideas for this the rear. Two years ago, Inside Out met

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Sharon Fox. She had been diagnosed with breast cancer and we followed

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her through her mastectomy and reconstruction. It feels like a

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distant memory, so much has happened. I want to start living in

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making up but the last two years. So much has happened since Sharon

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was diagnosed, but one thing really caught her by surprise - the impact

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her illness had on the family finances. When I was diagnosed we

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were both working and you go from two in comes down to almost one

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full-time income and that has a dramatic effect not only on your

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weekly and monthly outgoings, but also on your lifestyle. We had a

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really good standard of living before cancer and had a nice car

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and home. We never had to worry too much about switching the heating on.

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But after six months, we started to shuffle things around and put

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things on to a credit card, and then it would come to the end of

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the month and actually we could not find that �100 for the credit card.

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It is easy to get into despair over finances, definitely.

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The money problems were a surprise, but as we found out last time we

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met her, Sharon is not one to give up easily. She helped herself, and

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also set up a cancer support centre to help others. There is one lady

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in this room this evening who is not very happy with her here at the

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moment. We're going to give her and make over.

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The centre started out giving advice, counselling and therapies.

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But Sharon has also introduced a service offering support on money

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I'm really not good at asking for help, which is why I wanted to set

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up the support centre which has the relaxed atmosphere, and people can

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walk in, feel like they are walking into their own lounge. I wanted to

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put our experiences under one roof in an informal and non medical way

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so people didn't face the hurdles I was going through. Hello, only me!

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I work as a parrot legal doing debt recovery, and you realise the other

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side of it when you work in that area, how people are suffering from

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debt and I wanted to flip the coin and do something for charity.

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Giving Sharon a hand with financial advice at the centre is her "money

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angel" Carole Moore. I meet people who are suffering from dead. They

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come in off the street, really upset, and I just want to explain

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to them in layman's terms what they can do. I help them sort out things

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like the Blue badge for parking, housing benefit, council tax

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benefit, disability living allowance, carer's allowance, the

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benefits they can have. What I don't know, I research on the

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internet and point them in the right direction. Sharon is helping

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others tackle the hidden costs of cancer at her support centre. It

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seems there are plenty of people out there needing help. Last year

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cancer charity Macmillan said it paid out more than �2.5 million,

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just so people could pay their heating bills. Would you like to

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come through this way? Just take a seat. That would be great.

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Bedworth, Warwickshire, Macmillan has teamed up with the Citizen's

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Advice Bureau. Among those who've turned to this service is Jane,

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who's asked not to be identified. She felt there was so much stigma

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attached to having money problems she simply couldn't talk to anyone

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else. I don't want to say I'm struggling financially because it

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is like a downward spiral. I don't want to be a failure, I want to be

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there with the kids found the family. Things like when they say,

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I have to trot out to the bank to get even more money so I don't let

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the kids down and that pressure is going on me. It is difficult to

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talk to anybody else about it without them wanting to actually

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give you money, which is not what you want to do. When I came to

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Macmillan, it was a load off my mind. Jane's been using the service

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for around six months now and believes her financial difficulties

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could be coming to an end. I feel like we are almost threw it now and

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we are going to come out on top. We are a family, and... You know, that

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is just what matters. Whatever else, you know, we can get through

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anything. Thanks to Macmillan and the CAB, Jane and her family are

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finally back on track. But, as we know, there are lots of others out

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there needing help. So, is there anything people can do themselves

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to avoid getting into problems? think that cancer and debt problems

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unfortunately tend to go hand in hand. A lot of physical and mental

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illnesses can lead to debt because you are not feeling your best or

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concentrating on financial circumstances, which is fair enough

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but it is important to take the stigma out of this. The ways of

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dealing with debt is the same whether you have cancer or

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suffering from depression, there was a lot you can do about this. I

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would say start by drawing a proper budget and trying to reduce your

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outgoings. This is crucial because it will help to identify any

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problems spending areas you need to get rid of, as well as anything you

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can do to cut back. Secondly, check your benefits entitlement. There

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are specific benefits available for people with health problems like

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cancer so they can be useful in times when you find yourself in

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financial hardship. To check this, you would use an online benefits

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calculator. They tell you what kind of help you could be entitled to do.

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I also say on this, talk to your lender. This is a really good way

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to make sure you have good communication which is open because

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if they don't know what is going on they will not be able to help.

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is all you need to do, just concentrate on paying for it really.

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So, there are ways of tackling the hidden costs of cancer, as well as

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services that can help people get back on their feet. As for Sharon?

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Well, she's now set up her own business a fancy dress and wedding

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hire shop. After two years of struggling, she hopes her money

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problems are finally behind her. is quite nice to invest in my own

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business, and to make that kind of big step in to being self-employed

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and having my own company, which, because cities across the way from

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the Cancer Support Unit, I can be over there are fine needed as well

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so it is the best of both worlds and quite a fun job to be in.

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The programme tonight is coming from Bridgnorth, where Ritchie has

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been unravelling the Second World War mystery. Did Hitler really want

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to set up a base in the town? Bridgnorth a pretty market town

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nestling on the banks of the River Severn. It's a haven for day

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trippers from all across the West Midlands, many drawn to the town by

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the famous Severn Valley Railway. We're more than 800 miles from

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Berlin, but I'm told that during World War II Bridgnorth could have

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become a base for Adolf Hitler. It's an intriguing tale that starts

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with a gobsmacked auctioneer, who was asked to sell some rather

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special documents. There was one map which detailed the whole of the

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area centred on Bridgnorth with all of the various villages around,

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trailing down towards Ludlow here. Coming from Shropshire, that was a

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great shock. A British soldier found the papers

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at a deserted Nazi post in Belgium in 1945, and took them home as a

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war souvenir. 60 years on, and the maps worked their way to the

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auction room, turning the spotlight on Bridgnorth as a potential UK

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base for The Fuhrer. They could have chosen anywhere. The fact they

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chose what seemed to be a very remote area right in the middle of

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the English Midlands here, that led me to realise that in fact they

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have very special ideas for this area. And you have seen other maps

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of Britain, no other town or villages were planned out like

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that? If no, not at all. There were detailed town plans for the major

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metropolitan areas like Manchester, Birmingham and Bristol, but in

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terms of a rural arrangement of towns and villages, this was the

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only one. To think that something so significant to Bridgnorth's

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history would pop up at an auction of military memorabilia just 20

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miles away in Ludlow is amazing. have a lot of items related to the

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Second World War, to the punch up, items from stage and screen,

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sporting memorabilia, so the documents come in a whole range.

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just goes to show what you can find when lots go under the hammer.

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Perhaps I'll find something just as stunning when I try my hand at

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driving up the bids. Our first item is a bit of football memorabilia.

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We have a 1954 FA Cup programme. 40 pounds anywhere? 40, 50? Thank you.

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�60, we have got 70. 75? Lovely. We have got 80. Anywhere else? Going

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once, going twice. �80 to the feller in the corner. That was

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great fun, but I think I'll leave the art of auctioneering to David

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Dickinson. I've got some Hitler detective work to concentrate on.

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We do know that Hitler enjoyed being in the countryside. We know

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he loved his home high in the Bavarian Alps, but could the

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rolling hills of south Shropshire really have become his base?

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Opinion seems divided among the good people of Bridgnorth. Have you

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heard that Adolf Hitler back in the war was thinking of coming to

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Bridgnorth to set up a base? If I have heard that actually, yes. What

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were your thoughts on art? The to is a beautiful town, a good

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location, and you have the castle walk down there so you can see

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everything coming around so I'm not surprised. Why this area? Probably

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the rivers and the access. No, I wouldn't think they would come here.

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Even though they have found maps? Have they? That may be different

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then. But the maps are very detailed.

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Hitler's men clearly spent plenty of time highlighting roads,

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railways, electrical hubs and power stations. It still seems odd to me

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though. You could understand him wanting to come to one of our major

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cities, but Bridgnorth? Well maybe my old mate and historian Nick

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Barratt can help me find out if the story sticks. Looking at this

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Shropshire countryside is beautiful. It is hard to imagine what might

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have been. It is a typical English countryside scene. Rolling hills,

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beautiful forest, but you almost get the sense this could be part of

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Germany, the Black Forest area perhaps, so it is not too much of

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the stretch of the imagination. It is perfect in many ways with good

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rail connections, good road networks, canals and an air base

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nearby so in many ways it makes a lot of sense. In your opinion, do

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you think this story is true? is nothing to say it is not true,

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but we need more information to make a final decision perhaps.

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We've managed to track down the original maps and I can't wait to

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take a closer look. We can see this clearly labelled as Bridgnorth.

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Here you have a map of Great Britain, telecommunications and

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various different areas, really important, and yet you have a box

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there clearly labelled Bridgnorth so they were looking at this area.

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You can understand how it would have worked. Birmingham is a key

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area, London, Newcastle, that his howl England works. We are looking

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slightly out of that region so if you are looking for a base, and

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operational headquarters, and we know Hitler wanted to take Glenarm

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-- Blenheim Palace, so you don't want to be too near a built-up area

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where there is likely to be resistance and fighting, suddenly

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Bridgnorth makes sense because it is close enough to the industrial

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heartlands, but it is far enough out to be strategically saved.

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what you have seen here, do you think there is more truth in this

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story that Hitler had targeted Bridgnorth and Shropshire for his

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face? If Bridgnorth seems to be significant. This is from the

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invasion of 1940, a communications map which is crucial if you want to

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invade the country. Bridgnorth is singled out for special attention

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so this could easily be were Hitler wanted to base himself. You could

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also argue that being a communications network, this is

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where the Germans thought we had our centre of communications. We

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don't know what they were planning because this comes from a wider

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collection, but Bridgnorth has got prime significance. I am much more

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convinced that they were going to come, because for all of the maps

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we have seen, Bridgnorth is the only town, and let's face it it is

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the only one that has been highlighted. It shows the

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communication network as well so I am pretty convinced now, and having

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spoken to you, that he was coming to shop Show. There is a good bit

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of fishing on the river so maybe he thought it was a good place to go,

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as I did as a kid! What we do know of course is that Hitler wanted to

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invade Britain, and there seems compelling evidence that Bridgnorth

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was very much on his radar. But thanks to the bravery of thousands

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of men and women, this will always be a story of ambition that was

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That is it for tonight, but you can find more information about any of

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these stories on our Facebook page. Good night. Coming up next week -

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