Browse content similar to 14/11/2011. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Tonight we are just outside Taunton, reflecting on the night seven | :00:06. | :00:09. | |
people lost their lives on this motorway. | :00:09. | :00:13. | |
As the police investigation continues, we will be looking at | :00:13. | :00:17. | |
the events leading up to the crash and we will hear amazing new | :00:17. | :00:20. | |
testimony about the bravery of some of the people caught up in the | :00:20. | :00:25. | |
incident. When I stepped out of the car it was like stepping on to a | :00:25. | :00:30. | |
movie set. You just don't think it's real for a minute. | :00:30. | :00:35. | |
Also in the programme tonight: Never mind Greece, it turns out it | :00:35. | :00:40. | |
was the Cotswolds that inspired the modern Olympics. That's the | :00:40. | :00:46. | |
cruelest sport I think I have ever seen. I am Alastair Mackey and this | :00:46. | :00:55. | |
is Inside Out West. First tonight, the M5 crash. Seven | :00:55. | :01:00. | |
people dead and more than 50 injured. Ten days on, still no firm | :01:00. | :01:06. | |
conclusions about what may have caused the pile-up. Travelling on | :01:06. | :01:09. | |
the M5, getting up to speed and ahead of us we noticed a white wall | :01:09. | :01:14. | |
and I turned to Dan and said wow, that's the thickest fog I have ever | :01:14. | :01:23. | |
seen. The lorries hit cars in front of us. We could hear bang, bang, | :01:23. | :01:29. | |
bang from behind, as well. It was hell. Just the worst noise running | :01:29. | :01:33. | |
through your head, just these screams of people and not knowing | :01:33. | :01:42. | |
what to do first. The next thing was as if somebody had thrown a | :01:42. | :01:46. | |
black blanket over the windscreen. It was jet black. It was a night no | :01:46. | :01:52. | |
no one involved will ever forget. Now Inside Out can reveal no fog | :01:52. | :01:55. | |
warnings were displayed on electronic signs at the time of the | :01:55. | :02:00. | |
accident, despite forecasts and reports of poor visibility. The BBC | :02:00. | :02:05. | |
had warned of fog. With the added smoke from bonfires that will be a | :02:05. | :02:10. | |
perfect recipe for mist and fog... So had the Highways Agency, at | :02:10. | :02:14. | |
4.00pm its website was sent information from The Met Office | :02:14. | :02:19. | |
forecasting fog and mist. A forecast which proved accurate. | :02:19. | :02:22. | |
There were small patches of fog. There was water on the ground. It | :02:22. | :02:26. | |
wasn't raining heavily, there was a bit of drizzle coming down. Despite | :02:26. | :02:32. | |
this, no warnings were displayed on the M5 itself. We asked the | :02:32. | :02:37. | |
Highways Agency, which controls the electronic boards, why? It said it | :02:37. | :02:41. | |
had received no reports of adverse weather on any of its roads and it | :02:42. | :02:45. | |
said its control centre had been given advice by The Met Office that | :02:45. | :02:49. | |
did not highlight fog as a potential hazard at the time of the | :02:49. | :02:56. | |
crash. At around 8.15pm that evening a fireworks display at | :02:56. | :03:00. | |
Taunton Rugby Club ended, a police investigation is ongoing into | :03:00. | :03:05. | |
whether smoke from that played any part in the accident. Whatever the | :03:05. | :03:11. | |
cause, for Ciara and Roger there was no warning of what was to come | :03:11. | :03:20. | |
as they joined the motorway at junction 25. We pulled on to the M5 | :03:20. | :03:25. | |
and were getting up to speed behind the Iceland truck in the middle | :03:25. | :03:31. | |
middle lane when we rolled into a wall of very sudden, very, very | :03:31. | :03:35. | |
thick, what appeared to be fog. was like somebody had thrown a hood | :03:35. | :03:43. | |
over the windscreen of the car, you could not see a thing. Almost as | :03:43. | :03:47. | |
soon as that happened I could see the truck again but it was | :03:47. | :03:55. | |
stationary. Closing quite fast from about 80 metres, and having to | :03:55. | :04:00. | |
brake very sharply. I literally stood on the brakes. I am thinking | :04:00. | :04:08. | |
we are not going to stop. But we do, we stop, from my memory, with about | :04:08. | :04:16. | |
maybe ten feet to spare. The lorries hit cars in front of us and | :04:16. | :04:25. | |
we could hear bang, bang, bang from behind, as well. It was rhythmical | :04:25. | :04:31. | |
almost, thump, thump, like a beat. I said we're going to get hit. | :04:31. | :04:34. | |
Based on post-crash pictures, we have tried to indicate what | :04:34. | :04:38. | |
happened in the aftermath of the accident. The vehicles represented | :04:38. | :04:46. | |
may not be exactly where they ended up, the Nenos were in the first | :04:46. | :04:52. | |
phase of the collision and Ciara was one of the first to dial 999. | :04:52. | :04:56. | |
said this isn't just a small crash, there's many, many crashes and I | :04:56. | :05:01. | |
can see fire. Then came the second phase of the crash, a lorry jack- | :05:01. | :05:08. | |
knifed behind them, protecting the couple from impact. After probably | :05:08. | :05:11. | |
90 seconds, I said I am not sitting here any longer, I have to go out | :05:12. | :05:15. | |
and see what I can do. In fact, that's when I stepped out of the | :05:15. | :05:20. | |
car, it was like stepping on to a movie set. You just don't think | :05:20. | :05:29. | |
it's real for a minute. Just mangled bits of metal everywhere. I | :05:29. | :05:34. | |
can hear the music from the rugby club and I just keep thinking God, | :05:34. | :05:38. | |
they've no idea what's going on up here. Roger saw two men trapped in | :05:38. | :05:42. | |
the car directly in front of him. He borrowed a tyre lever from a | :05:42. | :05:49. | |
truck driver. I ran back, told the guy in the seat to turn away and | :05:49. | :05:54. | |
smashed the window and it smashed first time. He reached out and I | :05:54. | :06:04. | |
:06:04. | :06:04. | ||
pulled him out. The chap on the other side was very dazed. He was | :06:04. | :06:09. | |
in a slightly worse way. We said move over, come on, we will get you | :06:09. | :06:13. | |
out. We couldn't open his door, he was against the barrier. And he | :06:13. | :06:19. | |
said why, I am OK, kind of thing. I said your engine's gone, your car's | :06:19. | :06:23. | |
smoking, you might go up in flames. You need to get out. He shifted | :06:23. | :06:29. | |
over and we pulled him out. Hamill, his girlfriend Catherine | :06:29. | :06:33. | |
and his dad, had pulled up behind the jack-knifed lorry. They too | :06:33. | :06:39. | |
were remarkably lucky not to be hit. I remember sat there and Thomas was | :06:39. | :06:43. | |
like we're going to get hit, brace yourselves and we just waited and | :06:43. | :06:50. | |
heard and saw to the left cars just crashing in. And someone shouted | :06:50. | :06:55. | |
please take my baby, take my baby. My husband's trapped in the car. I | :06:55. | :06:59. | |
need to try and get him out. I did 999 standing at the central | :06:59. | :07:04. | |
reservation as more cars were crashing into the back of us and I | :07:04. | :07:11. | |
remember the 999 nine call call going how many cars? In this third | :07:11. | :07:18. | |
third phase of the crash, Matt and Michelle and their son and three | :07:18. | :07:21. | |
dogs ended up wedged on the hard shoulder between a lorry and crash | :07:21. | :07:25. | |
barrier. We got out of the van and straightaway I could see flames in | :07:25. | :07:29. | |
front, not coming from us and I don't think the car in front, but | :07:29. | :07:33. | |
seemed about, I don't know, ten feet away, big flames. Fire, | :07:33. | :07:37. | |
essentially there was fire. I can remember before I actually | :07:37. | :07:42. | |
descended the embankment looking to my left the lorry was well alight. | :07:42. | :07:46. | |
Looking to the right and the road surface was on fire, there had | :07:46. | :07:51. | |
obviously been a fuel spill. last image of looking at the van I | :07:51. | :07:55. | |
think was actually from the bottom of the embankment and looking up. | :07:55. | :08:01. | |
The cab of the van, it had flames in it. On the other side of the the | :08:01. | :08:05. | |
blazing lorry Roger Neno followed a young woman's cries for help. | :08:05. | :08:11. | |
car was pinned under the jack- knifed lorry. I am thinking that | :08:11. | :08:14. | |
fire is going to spread underneath this lorry and it won't take very | :08:14. | :08:22. | |
long the way it's burning. I jumped over the front - the front door was | :08:22. | :08:27. | |
slightly ajar at the top. I put the lever in and tried to open it, tpwu | :08:27. | :08:31. | |
wouldn't move. I told her to move back and swung the iron at the | :08:31. | :08:36. | |
window and I think on the fourth attempt it broke. So I went around | :08:36. | :08:42. | |
the side, took most of the glass out, shy lean -- she leaned out and | :08:42. | :08:47. | |
I pulled her out. I am trying to keep her calm, not panic, so not to | :08:47. | :08:51. | |
panic her. But I am thinking, I am looking down at my coat and it's | :08:51. | :08:56. | |
just raining and I am thinking oh, drizzle is all we need. But there's | :08:56. | :08:59. | |
this really strong smell of fuel and there's fuel all over the floor. | :08:59. | :09:09. | |
:09:09. | :09:10. | ||
As I was doing this I saw the lady that was... The lady that was | :09:10. | :09:17. | |
pinned by her legs under the back wheel of that car underneath the | :09:17. | :09:23. | |
lorry. She was screaming "help me, get me out", obviously fearful she | :09:23. | :09:27. | |
was going to lie there and burn, as well. With no chance of releasing | :09:27. | :09:32. | |
her, Roger ran for help, returning with an offduty doctor and one of | :09:32. | :09:37. | |
the firecrews. Coy see Roger -- -. I could see Roger going towards the | :09:37. | :09:43. | |
car and there's a huge fireball behind. It just exploded and I just | :09:43. | :09:46. | |
screamed at him, get out, get out. Because I thought everything was | :09:47. | :09:51. | |
going to go up. Despite the fireball, the woman was saved. | :09:51. | :09:57. | |
Roger and Ciara spent hours at the scene before heading home. The time | :09:57. | :10:02. | |
between the Nenos stopping and the first emergency services arriving | :10:02. | :10:07. | |
took about the time it's taken you to watch this film. 51 people were | :10:07. | :10:13. | |
injured in the crash, seven died. The The sights and sounds of that | :10:13. | :10:16. | |
night will live with the people involved for the rest of their | :10:16. | :10:20. | |
lives. I am sitting here talking about | :10:20. | :10:24. | |
that and those people who have lost family members, there's people who | :10:24. | :10:32. | |
have been permanently injured and their lives are changed forever. | :10:32. | :10:35. | |
You know, I don't even have a scratch. It just doesn't make any | :10:35. | :10:45. | |
:10:45. | :10:58. | ||
sense. The police investigation into the | :10:58. | :11:00. | |
crash is continuing. But one major line of inquiry is looking at | :11:01. | :11:03. | |
whether smoke from a firework display held right here may have | :11:03. | :11:05. | |
been a contributing factor. Scott Ellis has been looking at whether | :11:05. | :11:07. | |
tighter regulation is needed to help prevent smoke from firework | :11:07. | :11:10. | |
displays drifting into roads. It was billed as a dazzling night | :11:10. | :11:12. | |
of family fun but within 48 hours this event was at the centre of a | :11:12. | :11:17. | |
police criminal investigation. do believe that whilst there was | :11:17. | :11:21. | |
fog and it was difficult conditions in the area, that actually from | :11:21. | :11:26. | |
witness evidence that there was very significant smoke across the | :11:26. | :11:30. | |
carriageway, that in effect, caused a bank, similar to a fog bank which | :11:30. | :11:34. | |
was very distracting and difficult to drive through. Ten days on, the | :11:34. | :11:39. | |
question remains unanswered. Did a fireworks display at Taunton Rugby | :11:39. | :11:44. | |
Club cause or contribute to Britain's worst motorway crash for | :11:44. | :11:48. | |
20 years? We wanted to talk to experts from the fireworks industry | :11:48. | :11:52. | |
and those caught up in the tragedy. We found conflicting eyewitness | :11:52. | :11:56. | |
accounts. I can't believe you can have a | :11:56. | :12:03. | |
fireworks display so close to a motorway. It was extremely foggy. | :12:03. | :12:08. | |
So, you couldn't have - wouldn't be able to tell if there was smoke. | :12:08. | :12:12. | |
The firework displace was somewhere over there and I was over there and | :12:12. | :12:18. | |
the accident happened just almost parallel - almost behind where the | :12:18. | :12:24. | |
rugby post is. Bev Davies heard the fireworks go off, it took her and | :12:24. | :12:34. | |
:12:34. | :12:35. | ||
her horses by surprise so she went I can't believe it and ran down to | :12:35. | :12:40. | |
the entrance to the Rugby Club as fast as they could, to ask them to | :12:40. | :12:45. | |
stop the display to get my horses While she was there, she asked | :12:45. | :12:50. | |
about the question of safety. I said you can't believe they were | :12:50. | :12:53. | |
having a firework display so near to a motorway. It was obviously so | :12:54. | :12:57. | |
bright and glaring I couldn't see how it could not be anything other | :12:57. | :13:00. | |
than a distraction to those driving past. | :13:01. | :13:04. | |
Fireworks causing a distraction and worries about the smoke. They are | :13:04. | :13:07. | |
all issues that have worried the public since the crash and they are | :13:07. | :13:13. | |
the ones that the police are examining. Tom Smith takes an | :13:13. | :13:17. | |
active interest. He is a pyrotech necks consex ant. | :13:17. | :13:21. | |
This is the Rugby Club. This is where the fireworks came from. This | :13:21. | :13:26. | |
is the motorway and this is where the accident site was. | :13:26. | :13:30. | |
Tom estimates that the fireworks were 200m from the carriageway. | :13:30. | :13:35. | |
Here are the lower level fireworks, then higher up in the picture, the | :13:35. | :13:40. | |
shells bursting over the top. Are they producing to you, what | :13:40. | :13:45. | |
looks like a lot of smoke? It is the amount of smoke that I pect to | :13:45. | :13:50. | |
see from a display of that size. There is obviously smoke, but it is | :13:51. | :13:55. | |
not excessive. We will see it drift down wind, but we didn't know where | :13:55. | :13:59. | |
that was. By 8.00pm, the local records | :13:59. | :14:02. | |
suggested that the wind was light and variable. | :14:02. | :14:06. | |
If it is south-westerly, the smoke produced from this area would | :14:06. | :14:08. | |
travel in this direction, that is parallel to the motorway, rather | :14:08. | :14:13. | |
than heading to the motorway. Regardless of direction, what would | :14:13. | :14:18. | |
happen to the smoke once it is travelling 200m? It is only a | :14:18. | :14:22. | |
finite amount of smoke. You can't have it both thick and then very | :14:22. | :14:28. | |
deep if it is over an extensive portion of the motorway, by | :14:28. | :14:33. | |
necessity it must have been dilute and relatively thin. | :14:33. | :14:38. | |
We decided to take a much closer look at the smoke again rated by | :14:38. | :14:43. | |
the fireworks. Alan Christie is helping us. He | :14:43. | :14:47. | |
detonates 16 tonnes of fireworks every year. He is the man who puts | :14:47. | :14:50. | |
the bang noose the Bristol Balloon Fiesta. | :14:50. | :14:54. | |
I have brought along a small selection of the typical things you | :14:54. | :15:00. | |
would find on a professional firework display a conical fountain, | :15:01. | :15:07. | |
a Roman candle battery. 56 shots. One views by 36 seconds. | :15:07. | :15:12. | |
Close up, this firework smoke appeared to be fine. It is almost | :15:12. | :15:16. | |
like an aerosol spray. The Met Office told us that smoke can cause | :15:16. | :15:22. | |
mist or fog to form in damp air. It can also thicken them up, but | :15:22. | :15:28. | |
that's not what Alan's found from his experience with fireworks. | :15:28. | :15:32. | |
Well the smoke generate fog or mist? No, not a chance, really. A | :15:32. | :15:38. | |
fog or mist is a natural element. You know, the weather conditions, | :15:38. | :15:42. | |
low pressure can help to hold the smoke on the floor, but it normally, | :15:42. | :15:47. | |
if the wind is not blowing far, you see it dissipate over four or five | :15:47. | :15:50. | |
minutes. Well, the fireworks are set up | :15:50. | :15:54. | |
there now, what we are going to do is to have a look at one large | :15:54. | :15:58. | |
firework going off, producing the smoke and heading across the road | :15:58. | :16:04. | |
that we are about to drive down to see how thick the smoke can be. | :16:04. | :16:08. | |
As you can see, we have the firework going off there. The smoke | :16:08. | :16:14. | |
is being blown across the road here. It is thick smoke and certainly it | :16:14. | :16:20. | |
doesn't help to have the head lamps on it, it is hard to see ahead. | :16:20. | :16:27. | |
This experiment on a farmer's track is far from scientific, in way does | :16:27. | :16:31. | |
it replicate the display of November the 4th. Firework smoke | :16:31. | :16:35. | |
can reduce visibility, but is that what happened on the night? Those | :16:35. | :16:38. | |
at the display offer differing upon -- opinions. | :16:38. | :16:43. | |
The display was big, supposedly the biggest in Somerset. There was a | :16:43. | :16:47. | |
lot of smoke created. The display ran for 15 minute, after, the smoke | :16:47. | :16:51. | |
stayed around for a long time. You could not see some parts of the | :16:51. | :16:55. | |
grass on the pitch. There was no smoke. Literally I walked over | :16:55. | :16:59. | |
after the fireworks, there was no smoke it was just fog. Thick fog. | :16:59. | :17:04. | |
It was not drifting at all. It was holding fast, from what I | :17:04. | :17:09. | |
understand. So I don't think it cleared quickly at all. The wind | :17:09. | :17:13. | |
was blowing towards me, so effectively from where I was stood, | :17:13. | :17:17. | |
by the Grandstand, that is away from the motorway. | :17:17. | :17:22. | |
Two opposing accounts, the police no doubt have many more point of | :17:22. | :17:25. | |
views. Alan doubts smoke was an issue, but | :17:25. | :17:31. | |
thinks that the display itself had the potential to distract drivers. | :17:31. | :17:38. | |
Would you have done it 2 or 300 to the M5? That is perhaps a little | :17:38. | :17:44. | |
too close. 6 or 600 metres away, that is not a problem, but not | :17:44. | :17:48. | |
within 100m. So, the chances are you may not | :17:48. | :17:53. | |
have run a show there? Yes. It is a bold admission, he would | :17:53. | :17:56. | |
not have run a display at the Taunton Rugby Club. | :17:56. | :18:00. | |
The report suggested that the fireworks finished ten minutes | :18:00. | :18:06. | |
before the crash muchment -- the police will have the final word. | :18:06. | :18:12. | |
The police have had00 words of line up for the inquiry. A camera may | :18:12. | :18:16. | |
hold vital clues. Smoke and fireworks are a significant part of | :18:16. | :18:19. | |
the investigation, the fawn Taunton is working closely with the Avon & | :18:19. | :18:23. | |
Somerset Police. I was going to an event in | :18:23. | :18:29. | |
Taunton... We joined the MP of the area Tessa Munt on the bridge where | :18:29. | :18:35. | |
many have come to mourn. She tue is an eyewitness, driving -- she too | :18:35. | :18:40. | |
is an eyewitness, driving south. The heat was so intense. Its with | :18:40. | :18:43. | |
burning hot. We were all those lanes away. | :18:43. | :18:49. | |
She was not aware of smoke or fireworks. On reflection feels | :18:49. | :18:53. | |
sympathy for the event organisers. If I were a part of the Taunton | :18:53. | :18:57. | |
Rugby Club I would feel awful. It must be so stressful for the people | :18:57. | :19:02. | |
involved in organising this. So often they are for charity. They | :19:02. | :19:07. | |
are events to raise money for good causes. I guess that must just feel | :19:07. | :19:11. | |
terrible. It will take many weeks for the | :19:11. | :19:16. | |
police to reach their conclusions but already the issue of fireworks | :19:16. | :19:20. | |
safety is under scrutiny once again. Obviously if the investigation | :19:20. | :19:25. | |
shows that smoke from the firework display was an issue, it is | :19:25. | :19:29. | |
something to look at very seriously and the BPA would incorporate | :19:29. | :19:33. | |
information about that in their training courses. | :19:33. | :19:37. | |
We don't want to react too quickly to what we don't really know about | :19:37. | :19:40. | |
yet. All of these investigations, like | :19:40. | :19:46. | |
yours, will no doubt add to the picture. | :19:46. | :19:49. | |
Scot Ellis on the events of November the 4th, a night that | :19:49. | :19:59. | |
:19:59. | :20:00. | ||
changed the lives of so many. Next year, Gloucester holds | :20:00. | :20:03. | |
Paralympic Games, yes, really, the market town of Chipping Campden | :20:03. | :20:08. | |
holds the Games every year and claims to the birthplace of the | :20:08. | :20:18. | |
:20:18. | :20:21. | ||
modern Olympic movement. Here is our history man. | :20:21. | :20:28. | |
It may sound a preposterous claim, that the modern Olympic movement | :20:28. | :20:33. | |
began here in Chipping Campden, but it is actually true! If you don't | :20:33. | :20:39. | |
believe me, then perhaps you will be convinced by this... When London | :20:39. | :20:46. | |
made its successful bid, the 2012 Games, they were only too keen to | :20:46. | :20:54. | |
acknowledge that Chipping Campden connection. | :20:54. | :20:58. | |
While most people in the West Country have never heard of them, | :20:58. | :21:02. | |
the Cotswold Olympicks have drawn television crews from around the | :21:02. | :21:08. | |
world to see the bizarre sports. Some of them, little changed, from | :21:08. | :21:13. | |
those that entertained crowds in Shakespeare's time. | :21:13. | :21:18. | |
I just had to have a go, it was time to get prepared. | :21:18. | :21:22. | |
I gather that state-of-the-art equipment is necessary for the | :21:22. | :21:26. | |
Modern Olympics athlete. Well, this is state-of-the-art from the | :21:26. | :21:36. | |
:21:36. | :21:36. | ||
Cotswold Olympicks. Well, I may not have all of the | :21:36. | :21:42. | |
attributes for London 2012, but for Chipping Campden, 2011, I think I'm | :21:42. | :21:48. | |
fairly well equipped. It was on this hillside just north | :21:48. | :21:53. | |
of the town that organised sporting games were first held nearly 400 | :21:53. | :22:00. | |
years ago. It was a Cambridge-educated lawyer, | :22:00. | :22:05. | |
Robert Dover whose vision it was to bring sporting ideals from the | :22:05. | :22:10. | |
original Greek application to the natural amphitheatre in rural | :22:10. | :22:15. | |
Gloucester. I declare my Games for 2011, open! | :22:15. | :22:21. | |
APPLAUSE The current organiser of the | :22:21. | :22:26. | |
Cotswold Olympicks is local stonemason Graham Greenall. So, who | :22:26. | :22:31. | |
was this mysterious Robert Dover who founded the Games? It is | :22:31. | :22:35. | |
difficult to know exactly who he was, but he was certain a lawyer. | :22:35. | :22:41. | |
He turned up in the area about 1611. He had relatives here. Somehow he | :22:41. | :22:44. | |
managed to take over the existing festival, which had been going on | :22:44. | :22:50. | |
for centuries and to turn it into this first Modern Olympics. | :22:50. | :22:55. | |
Contemporary reports say that Robert Dover was a jovial, kindly | :22:55. | :22:59. | |
character. His version of the Olympics didn't concentrate too | :22:59. | :23:05. | |
much on leet sporting achievement. His idea was to adapt the Olympics | :23:05. | :23:11. | |
ideal. Prizes were awarded to the winners, but the main focus | :23:11. | :23:17. | |
provided entertainment for the public. | :23:17. | :23:23. | |
This was favoured by the puritanists -- this was not | :23:23. | :23:28. | |
favourored by the purists of the day. | :23:28. | :23:34. | |
Today, it is still good cleanish, sporting fun! Where did they get | :23:34. | :23:39. | |
the buckets? That is cheating!? That is not cheating, that is | :23:39. | :23:45. | |
tactics. The rules are almost non- existent. I don't think we have | :23:45. | :23:50. | |
disqualified anybody! The fun and games went on more or lesstownously | :23:50. | :23:56. | |
for 200 years. By the mid-1800s they were drawing massive crowds | :23:56. | :23:59. | |
from across the Midlands, but to the Victorians everyone enjoying | :23:59. | :24:09. | |
:24:09. | :24:10. | ||
themselves was too much! Concerns about the loose morals of the | :24:10. | :24:15. | |
crowds flocking to the games were voiced by the local vicar, a | :24:15. | :24:20. | |
certain Canon Borne. The church took over the land and the Games | :24:20. | :24:24. | |
were banned. So, this is it? Yes, this is the | :24:24. | :24:32. | |
grave of George Drinkwater Borne, he was the Rector here. | :24:32. | :24:39. | |
He was the villain of the games to close them down? Yes, but by all | :24:39. | :24:43. | |
accounts, the games had become lawless with a lot of people, maybe | :24:43. | :24:47. | |
30,000 people coming. It is referred to by a later writer as | :24:47. | :24:52. | |
the scum of the Earth, people coming from all points between | :24:52. | :24:56. | |
Birmingham and Oxford to spend the whole week here. | :24:56. | :25:00. | |
It must have been chaos, terrorising the neighbourhood? | :25:00. | :25:04. | |
think so. People did not feel safe in their houses. There was no | :25:04. | :25:08. | |
police of course, you have to think of the Notting Hill Carnival but | :25:08. | :25:12. | |
without the Police Force. So maybe he was a touch of a | :25:12. | :25:18. | |
villain at all? I don't think so. He was a young man, trying to do | :25:18. | :25:21. | |
his best on getting the best from all sides. | :25:21. | :25:26. | |
It is not like that now? Do you go yourself? I have not been so far. | :25:27. | :25:34. | |
I have never ventured out. If I want shin-kicking I go to a sin yod. | :25:34. | :25:39. | |
Bizarre as it may seem, shin kicking does appeal to some people. | :25:39. | :25:44. | |
It is certainly the high light of the Olympics of Chipping Campden. | :25:45. | :25:50. | |
This is one of the original games from Robert Dover's time. I am | :25:50. | :25:55. | |
worried, health and safety does not seem to have changed much since | :25:55. | :26:00. | |
Dover's day. Does it hurt a lot? A lot, yeah. | :26:00. | :26:03. | |
Especially when they miss. When they hit the sides by accident. | :26:03. | :26:11. | |
That can kill. Really?! Ready? Kick! This really | :26:11. | :26:17. | |
is not for the faint-hearted, is it? Kicking only, boys. | :26:17. | :26:23. | |
I think that I will whimp out! They are tiring, I think, look at them! | :26:23. | :26:33. | |
:26:33. | :26:36. | ||
They are exhausted. That's the crudest sport I think I | :26:36. | :26:41. | |
have ever seen. Can I have a look at your wounds? | :26:41. | :26:46. | |
He doesn't draw blood, did he? Now for the final. Here the rules do | :26:46. | :26:49. | |
matter. Remember, kicking below the knee. | :26:49. | :26:55. | |
The judges are sticklers, the old English expression forum pyres | :26:55. | :27:05. | |
:27:05. | :27:10. | ||
scrutinising fair play. Take your shoes off! That's a win. | :27:10. | :27:17. | |
Well, if anyone deserves Olympic gold, it is these guys. I have no | :27:17. | :27:22. | |
idea how they are still standing. What is it lick to be the world | :27:22. | :27:25. | |
champion? Really good! But, also really painful. | :27:25. | :27:29. | |
You are a natural! Don't say that, I'm not doing it again. | :27:29. | :27:37. | |
So, with the spirit of Robert Dover presiding, 2012 will see the 400th | :27:37. | :27:41. | |
anniversary of his Cotswold Olympicks. And perhaps London 2012 | :27:41. | :27:47. | |
could take tips on how to stage a closing ceremony. Here everyone | :27:47. | :27:57. | |
:27:57. | :28:01. | ||
gets to carry the Olympics flame and it is quite a spectacle. | :28:01. | :28:06. | |
This is England at its very best. If 2012 can repeat the experience | :28:06. | :28:16. | |
:28:16. | :28:16. | ||
of tonight then it's going to be a roaring success! Well, | :28:16. | :28:20. | |
unfortunately, we have reached our closing ceremony. You can keep in | :28:20. | :28:27. | |
touch with what we are up to on both Facebook and Twitter. | :28:27. | :28:32. | |
Next week we are back on the Olympics trail. Meeting a beach | :28:32. | :28:36. | |
volley ball team based in a city without a beach. Also, asking why | :28:36. | :28:41. | |
the Government is cutting subsidies for solar power. We are | :28:41. | :28:45. | |
investigating a Somerset businessman, who promised his | :28:45. | :28:49. |