07/10/2013 Inside Out Yorkshire and Lincolnshire

are in Marsden, in the heart of the Pennines. Tonight we meet the rugby

league players tackling the hidden problem of depression. How the world

of sport is helping more than men to open up. Terry was very good at

hiding his problems and you spoke to him you would think

nothing was wrong. Also tonight, a hidden gem. Why this

sometimes forgotten corner of the South Pennines should be celebrated.

And the original super club. Why huge stars wanted to play at

Sheffield's Fiesta club. It was the nearest thing to playing Las Vegas.

This weekend has seen the climax of rugby's Super League but away from

the glamour of the grand final, this tough sport has taken on a tough

task, tackling high suicide rates in northern men. We sent George Riley

on a journey to find out if sportspeople can help others to

tackle bit hidden problem of depression.

It got bad. It got to the point where I decided I did not want to be

here. Daniel had made so many plans. It is the darker side of sport. And

of life in the North. For so long it was hidden away, unspoken of.

Suicide is by far the biggest killer of young men. It has become a

talking point in rugby league, but even more so in our towns and

cities. I am going across the North to try to find out why we are being

league can show the way in offending suicide. —— weather rugby league can

show the way. Leeds, Wigan, Bradford, Great

Britain. Terry Newton was a massive name in rugby. What happened to him

three years ago shook the sporting world. I got a phone call off Brian

Carney, also good mates with Terri, and he said, I do not know for

definite but I think there has been a terrible incident. I think Terry

has hung himself. Terry Newton have been banned from rugby after taking

a growth hormone. But still not even his best friends had any idea. He

was very good at hiding his problems and feelings. If you spoke to him

you would think nothing was wrong. We were all devastated. Rugby had to

change and tackle mental health Rob 's head—on. —— problems head on.

Bishop Burton College, wasteful Hull FC's Academy. This could be the most

important piece of training they get. A talk from the charity State

of Mind. The focus for us is if you can get people to be mentally fit,

deal with the ups and downs of life, you may not feel overwhelmed

in those situations where you feel there is no other way out. Phil is

an NHS practitioner. Jimmy Gittins is a former recessional player, who

was initially paralysed after breaking his neck. His physical

injury led to a psychological battle. What I had been given as a

prospect of life I did not want. I don't suppose anyone would. I asked

my brother to put a pillow over my face. Clearly, my situation was

quite horrendous. I would not wish it on my worst enemy. But at the end

of the day it is the card I have been dealt and I have to get on with

it. But even without an horrific injury, professional sport brings

huge stress. Many suffer depression. There were times I felt low and I

did not realise it was the stress of the job and the depression I got

into. We live in a match, tough game and it is almost to be to feel

weakness, physically and emotionally. When we first began, we

noticed that the suicide rate in all rugby league areas was higher than

the national average. Do we have a bigger problem with suicides than we

do in other areas of the UK? If you draw a line across the country below

Sheffield you do find a higher rate above that line. It is 20% higher

than in London. There is a number of reasons. What are the factors? I

have come to the North East, where there is a higher rate in suicide

among men than in other parts of the UK. I am meeting a mother who

overnight became an expert. Daniel was 20, he was very popular. We went

shopping one day and left Daniel at home. We returned home that day and

found him and he had taken his own life. He was just an ordinary, happy

young man. Sometimes he would be down in the dumps, but nothing that

you would think that he was suicidal. I think that day will stay

with us forever. There are some days it is easier to manage than others,

but fundamentally, it destroys who you are and your outlook on life.

Daniel never spoke about his feelings so his family set up a

charity to break Peter blew off talking about suicide. If U Care

Share Foundation. The charity has three aims, the prevention of

suicide through the training workshops, the prevention of

suicide, and helping people touched by suicide. Unfortunately, the

numbers that we are supporting increase and although we are only a

small organisation we will hit the 200 mark this week of people touched

by suicide. Why do you think there is such a high number in this area?

A lot of people say it is because the employment rate and men's roles

are changing but persistently the reason why we have a problem is it

is still one of those real men do not cry or show their emotions. It

is seen as a weakness to talk about your emotions. There is this culture

of men together doing very physical jobs and I think we are still seeing

the repercussion of that. Because in areas like this, the rugby league

town of Gateshead, those jobs have gone. None has had depression for

more than 50 years. —— Ronnie has had depression. My head was in such

a state I just wanted to stop it. I took an overdose. I understand that

you have discovered the best way to deal with it is by speaking about

it. I am not shy to tell anyone I have tried to commit suicide. I

believe you need to get it out of your system. How honest are you with

your nearest Audie Rees? If you want to be on your own for a day, do you

tell them the truth or make up an excuse? —— how honest you with your

nearest and dearest? excuse. He was so open to talk to me

but when it came to opening up to his family you found himself making

excuses. It is August, Game 25 of the Super League season. State of

Mind is targeting a number of high—profile games to attack high

suicide rates in the North. His campaign has been recognised by all

sorts of famous people, on Twitter. It breaks so many boundaries now. My

father used to sit at the side of my bed and say, "Penny for 'em". He

knew what I was thinking. He just needed to get it out. One of the

particular games at that weekend, a person came up to us and talk about

their political killer —— their political —— their particular

circumstance. They said, I was contemplating taking my own life

tonight and I do not think I will do that. —— they were talking about

their particular circumstance. If you have any comment on that story

all know and love the story you would like is to cover, get in

touch. —— another story. Coming up, the top

venue for the stars of the 1960s. We reminisced about the huge names that

once played at Sheffield's Fiesta club.

We all know how great this Pennine landscape is but isn't it about time

the rest of the country did, too? Be South Pennines, which straddle

Yorkshire and Lancashire, have never been designated a national park or

an area of outstanding national beauty. —— natural beauty. We sent

our reporter to find out why. We rightly celebrate our national

parks as areas of beauty and splendour. They are the places that

really do make Britain great. But the South Pennines, which inspired

the Brontes and Ted Hughes, seems to have been forgotten. So I am going

to take a journey across the rugged landscape to see why many people are

saying we need to look at this part of the North with a fresh pair of

eyes. The South Pennines stretches from Skipton in the north to Oldham

in the south and takes in the wild moors of East Lancashire and deep

valleys around Huddersfield. It is certainly a huge and diverse part of

the country and it is one that people are really passionate about.

Eagle feel that as soon as they get on a pony and riding out, and you

are in this wonderful landscape, you forget everything else. All your

worries disappear. For her —— from her farm high above Rossendale,

Chris runs a pony trekking business, using betrayals that were once the

lifeblood of the land. It is a beautiful landscape but it also has

a sense of ruggedness and hardship. It cannot be easy working here. It

is a hard landscape to work in but the fact that it is a real

landscape, a working landscape, is part of the attraction. You do not

feel you were going somewhere that is reserved. You feel it is actually

still a work in progress. Today we take our national parks for granted

but it is not that long ago that the idea of setting up the areas for the

masses to enjoy it was new. In the 1930s this film was shown in cinemas

to make the case that the countryside is for everyone, not

just the landed gentry. It when the walls, live in Britain was changing

fast and people needed a break from their hectic lives. How different

are the fresh, clean air coming across the hills and Dales and the

lakes offering their havens of peace. But this was heady, even

dangerous stuff. The very thought of letting people like me lose in the

countryside. In the late 1940s when the new national parks were being

considered, the South, all industrial Pennines as it was known

then, was on the short list. But back then this will still the engine

room of the Empire and the factories were belching monsters. What didn't

come from here came from Manchester and Bernie and Liverpool. The air

here was black with soot and sulphur. The rivers ran different

colours according to the die from dyestuffs that were being turned out

of the local mills. Looking back on it, it was pretty disgusting. The

South Pennines struggled to shake off its industrial past and was

never selected to be a national park. But the area is much cleaner

now. Moves are now taking place to acknowledge the area as a park with

its industrial heritage at the forefront. Hello. I am poor. Nice to

meet you. I am looking forward to this. I am taking to the railways to

check out how the industrial revolution shake the landscape.

Later on they had the early horse—drawn railways which were all

developed around taking minerals to the new development works. By the

time steam arrived things have moved on, leaving us with industrial

relics. 150 years ago, this rail line through up huge challenges to

the engineers charged with crossing the deep valleys between the Pennine

hills. The line races over 100 feet in not many miles. It was a marvel

of the Victorian age, leaving us with the Penistone Viaduct and its

many arches. It is beautiful. We see it as beautiful now. I do not know

whether they would have seen it as beautiful then but people came from

miles. Even today this is great. 150 years old. But the railways and

their spectacular viaducts aren't the only defining legacy of the

industrial age. There are others which many feel are equal in their

grandeur. I have never been in a canal tunnel before. This is the

Standedge Tunnel at Marsden. It's more than three miles long, runs

right under the Pennines and is the longest and highest canal tunnel in

the UK. There is a great story about how they built this. The dog from

each side and they missed each other by 30 odd feet, which is not very

far in over three miles, can you imagine? It may be more than 200

years old, but it has plenty of modern—day devotees like tour guide

Michaela Morton. I felt really uplifted. It is a bit like going to

a cathedral or an iconic feature in the world. Visually I find it very

appealing. I love the smell. To think of all the people who worked

here, not just building the tunnel, but also the people who worked on

last tunnel, in order for it to function. Because it is hidden

underground and it is a bit of a hidden gem, that makes it more

special. You feel quite honoured to be part of it. Of course there is

one thing that defines the Pennines, and has shaped the very landscape

itself, and that's water. There's no denying that when it rains you feel

every drop. The rain is getting more significant. I'm ending my journey

at Stoodley Pike near Todmorden with someone who believes the South

Pennines offer something rather unique. There are over 1000 listed

buildings. They are down in the valleys, it gives you an indication

of how people have lived here and earned their living. That

settlement, you have the buildings that characterise this area.

Chapels, a textile mill. Those windows upstairs were built those

workshops. Just as we come valley, we are beginning to see the

characteristic building types that make this place, landscape. Even in

the rain, it makes me happy to be here. It has some power. So, what

now for the South Pennines? And is it possible to unite Lancashire and

Yorkshire under one banner? What we want to do is be recognised as a

landscape that is as important as the Cotswolds or any other part of

the country, and the people in the Cotswolds do not feel they have lost

an identity, because that is a part of the world people instinctively

know. Neither will people lose identity. If we were to rally around

that idea of a regional Park in the south Pennines. You might argue,

what's in a title? Does it matter what we call a place as long as we

celebrate it? Well, I for one think the South Pennines, with whatever

tag we eventually give it, should be shouted about from every hilltop.

If you want to see the world's top acts on stage it could set you back

hundreds of pounds for a ticket these days. And you'd have to cram

into a soulless arena or a soggy field with thousands of others. But

back in the late Sixties you could see them close up as Las Vegas came

to the North of England. It was the back end of the swinging

Sixties. Michael Jackson, the Beach Boys, Stevie Wonder and Roy Orbison

were just a few of the stellar names who flocked to play here in

Sheffield and here in Stockton—on—Tees. It was the nearest

thing to playing Vegas. This man turned down Frank Sinatra because he

wanted too much money. I want to know how he opened the Fiesta and

turned it into the biggest nightclub in Europe. Back in his prime, Keith

Lipthorpe and his late brother Jim toured with their band, and their

experiences on the road inspired them to want more for audiences and

artists alike. I'm on my way to where it all started, Stockton.

Robert Mundy used to play in Roy Orbison's band. The superstar

recorded a live album at the Stockton Fiesta club and would play

there for weeks at a time. We were going there with Roy, a world star.

He mostly stayed at the hotel. We did not go out much. We went down to

the beach and took him along they are, which was truly unusual, he had

never been to a northern beach. I think when people saw him they

thought, it was not truly Roy Orbison, it was an impersonator. ——

not really Roy Club Fiesta today. It's now a

church. Once the North East's music fans came here to worship the stars.

And the man who started it all has made a nostalgic trip back to tell

me all about it. I decided I wanted to run a business of my own. I

thought about second—hand cars or possibly a nightclub, so I tossed a

coin and it came down on the nightclub said, luckily. Ireland is

that quite a lot of the places I went to, there was no atmosphere ——

I realised. The Fiesta experience wouldn't have been complete without

the fawns, the glamorous hostesses who served the punters their food

and drink. Sandy Whyte was a fawn and she never knew just what a night

at work would bring. There were some weird and wonderful things went on

in those days. There was a lion and a leopard. I took the lead bird on

the stage. It ripped the dressing room carpet —— the Leopard. That was

my life. Even the biggest stars did not always match up to their

billing. Morecambe and Wise wanted £7,500 for two nights. They were

wonderful on television, I would not say they died a death. The best act

was Roy Orbison. At least 80 evenings. He has called and still

did a wonderful show. The Lipthorpes planned to expand their empire

beyond Stockton. Five years later, the Sheffield Fiesta opened. It was

lavish, costing £500,000. There was to be a casino, a staff of 50, a

resident band, and even an in—house newspaper. No more cabaret.

Nowadays, here all the stars are all on screen. In Sheffield, this is

what's left of the Fiesta club. Sat here, it's difficult to imagine that

Michael Jackson once strutted his stuff just yards away while people

ate chicken in a basket. But this is what it looked like in here all

those years ago. At its height, the club's ambitions knew no bounds.

They wanted the biggest stars in the world. And they didn't come any

bigger than the King himself. Todd Slaughter's been the president of

the Elvis Fan Club of Great Britain since 1967. This footage shows him

meeting his hero just before his final concert in the early '70s.

Todd tried to persuade Presley to play at the Sheffield Fiesta. Not

only did the Fiesta want others to come to Britain, the record company

millions of copies, but they knew if he touched our soil that would

become 30 million. We know then there would have been a fabulous

campaign to get the show 's televised and filmed or whatever. It

was great for the Fiesta because that would have reinforced their

brand around the world. Todd met Elvis's manager and father to

discuss the Fiesta's offer. But it was never to be. Presley died weeks

after this film was shot, having never set foot on British soil. For

a young aspiring local singer, playing at the Fiesta was the

pinnacle of his ambitions. I used to drive by the Fiesta and I used to

see these big lights and I used to think, one day. I hope that I can

play there. I thought that was it. Like the Palladium for me. Every

week there was a world—famous act on their, from Tommy Cooper to the

Beach Boys to the four tops. Ella Fitzgerald. Tony Christie as well.

He recorded a live album there. He said, we should record this because

it is part of your history. This earned me enough money to buy my

first house. This is what I carried round the club for five years. Pat

Bennett was a Fiesta fawn in Sheffield. 20 drinks on here. I

worked six nights a week. I went in on the seventh as a customer. I

lived and believed it until it closed down. Many couples got

together with their husbands and wives at the Fiesta club, not to

mention other people's. Pat Bennett met Patrick Wainwright while he was

a doorman there, but it wasn't until 35 years later they actually got

together. We had a mutual attraction that we could not get off the ground

at the time. Wrong place, wrong time. It was something I never

forgot. By the time we got back in touch, we had both been single for

six years, so we seem to find each other at the right time. But in

Sheffield, all was not well. After six glorious years, the financial

backers had their say. If that wasn't bad enough, the staff went on

strike too. I said, I cannot let the owners down, it is sold out. I

crossed the picket line and did my concert. Of course, all empires

crumble and the Fiesta was no different. Gambling laws, financial

demands of the stars and the economic climate meant the club was

no longer viable. After 11 years, the sums didn't add up and Keith

parted company with the Club Fiesta. He went back to accountancy. Partly

because the cabaret cost were so high. In the 11 years I was in the

business, we all may had about two dozen nights when we were

chock—a—block. We had losses of £87,000 at one point. For a while

the Stockton Fiesta staged the world darts tournament. The clubs limped

on for a few more years but cabaret had had its day. It must have been

great while it lasted. That is all for tonight. Join us

next week. A food writer investigates whether the food we buy

is what it says on the tin. We look at whether best before dates are

causing waste. And we travel to the liquor capital of England. ——

liquorice.