13/08/2013 BBC Points West

Good evening and welcome to BBC Points West. Our headlines tonight.

Taken without consent. An inquest hears how the organs of a Somerset

man, who died abroad, were removed without his family's knowledge.

The telephone Giants who left a frail Wiltshire woman with no access

to an emergency help alarm. We meet the firefighter who

delivered his own baby, using tips from a reality show. You can see the

headers crooning. The baby is coming. That was that the IT moment.

-- reality moment. And catching up with the man

attempting to be the first to swim the length of Britain.

Good evening. The family of a Somerset man who died in Bermuda

have demanded answers about how he died and why his body was sent back

to the UK with most of his internal organs missing. Today, five years

on, a new inquest was opened into Norman Palmer's death. Our

correspondent Clinton Rogers was at the hearing in Wells and has sent

this report. Norman Palmer and his wife Kathleen

loved their life in Bermuda. But the family believe the medical care he

received there, or lack of it, killed him. What angers them more is

that when his body was flown back to England, most of his internal organs

were missing. And five years on, they've still not been told why they

were taken or where they are now. None of us have ever known what

happened to his organs and we still do not know what happened. Most of

them, with the exception of the kidney, all his organs are missing.

The Palmers moved from the West Counrty to Bermuda 30 years ago. Mr

Palmer ran an excavation business there. But when he fell ill in April

2008, his family say he was let down by the care he received at the King

Edward VII Memorial Hospital. Mr, went into hospital with breathing

difficulties. He thought he had asthma, at an x-ray revealed shotgun

pellets in his neck from a shooting accident when he was just 16. But

the hospital did not keep him in. They sent him home. A week later, he

was dead. An inquest in Bermuda determined that Mr Palmer died of

natural causes, aggravated by self-neglect. The hospital argued he

was offered a chance to see a consultant when he came in, but he

refused. Five years on, the East Somerset coroner has said the

self-neglect finding was unacceptable. He concluded Mr

Palmer's death was partly due to the original throat injury, which

developed into a blockage, and partly a long-standing asthma

condition. On the issue of the missing body parts, the coroner said

Bermuda was not bound by the same laws that existed in the UK, where

relatives have to be told that issues are taken. Sadly, he says,

cases like this are not uncommon. His widow says she'll never get over

the fact she buried a shell of the man she called her soul mate.

The family and school friends of a teenager who died suddenly while on

holiday have paid tribute to her. Sarah Port, who was 13 and went to

Bradley Stoke Community School, was taken ill during a family holiday to

Spain. It's believed she had streptococcal septicaemia. In a

statement today, her school said she was a lovely, kind and cheerful

student and their thoughts and prayers were with her family and

friends. Talks are continuing to try and

settle a dispute between the Fire Brigades Union and Wiltshire Fire

Service. The union wants more details from managers about plans to

create so-called "hub" stations, which would redeploy some full-time

firefighters to different stations. They're also concerned about changes

to shift times and the impact it could have on their lives. The Fire

Service claims the planned changes will increase public safety.

Two phone companies have apologised to a 79-year-old woman after failing

to install a phone line which she regards as a lifeline. Theresa

Prater from Swindon collapsed and was left lying on the floor for

hours after not being able to call for help via an alarm linked to the

home phone. Her family said they'd been asking for five months for it

to be installed. Scott Ellis reports.

For Theresa Prater, a phone is not a luxury, it is a lifeline. After

several strokes, she is prone to falls. But she cannot use a panic

alarm round her neck without a telephone line to her home. She has

been waiting five months for a phone company to install one, during which

she has had several falls, one serious. I lay there for four hours,

and the television was on, I was... I said, come on! Please, somebody,

come and help me! It is a worry for her husband, he was told by one

company that a line would be installed within two weeks I

engineers from BT open reach. But that was five months ago. I think

they are completely incompetent. I really do. If I ran my business like

that, I would not have a business. Both companies today apologised.

Talk talk says, we working with It is said those are lame excuses by

age UK. The telephone is no longer a novelty, it is a social and medical

lifeline. Never mind what the suppliers are doing in terms of

their subcontractors, their primary accountability is to the people they

are there to serve, and in this case, to guard their well-being.

Today, the line was finally installed, but it seems to have

taken pressure from the media to prompt two big telecom companies to

join up two wires for a 79-year-old whose life may one day belie on that

connection. -- one day realise. Now, many amateur astronomers across

the West probably woke up bleary-eyed this morning after one

of the clearest displays of shooting stars to have lit up the British

skies in years. The Perseid meteor shower happens every year, but last

night's was particularly spectacular. Joining us now is Will

Gater, who is an astronomer and science writer for magazines such as

Sky At Night. Will, where did you see it and what did you think?

not get a lot of sleep last night. It is like a party. I saw quite a

few meteors while I was out there and I took a few pictures, like this

one. This is fantastic. Is that a fireball? Really bright meteors,

there is no strict definition, but this was incredibly impressive, it

lit up the ground. There is a magic to a shooting star, but I do think

when you say, I saw a fireball, that sounds almost apocalyptic. But we

are only talking about specks. shooting stars are just the size of

a grain of sand. It is nothing very special that is creating these

beautiful phenomena. We have some other amazing shots. A lot of people

on Twitter last night, some people saw fireballs and meteors, others

were really frustrated, saying, I am seeing nothing. If the sky is clear

tonight, what tips can you give people? You can still look out for

Perseid, the shower will be dying down in activity, but there are

other things to look out for. The Milky Way is a beautiful thing to

look at, the spiral arms of our galaxy, you do not need any

equipment to see that. That is the best thing about it. And you cannot

underestimate how long it takes for your eyes to adjust. It does take a

long time, you think it will be just a couple of minutes. You cannot just

pop outside and suddenly see it, give your eyes maybe half an hour to

an hour to adjust. Tell me, I get overexcited about it, you are a

professional stargazer, do you still get excited? Absolutely. When I took

that picture of the fireball, here's your standing up on my neck. It is

incredible. -- the hairs were standing up. Hopefully we will see

more tonight. This is BBC Points West. Stay with

us, there is but a more still to bring you, including all stop

weather conditions across the West last night were largely perfect

watching the Perseid meteor shower. What will they be like tonight and

what does the rest of the week have in store? Join me later.

And we find out about this teacher from Cheltenham who is thought to be

the first man to have died in the First World War.

Thames Water, which has thousands of customers in Wiltshire, is defending

its plans to increase bills. The firm says it needs to charge an

extra �29 to cover what's described as "unexpected costs", including the

new Thames Tunnel in London. The company is asking Ofwat if it can be

spread out over a number of years, but if the regulator refuses, it

could mean a one-off payment. things we do plan for and we adapt

for but these are items that were singled out, like the fact that in

2011, we had to take on 24,000 miles of devious the private sewers, which

resulted in government legislation. A public inquiry has begun in Bath

into plans to build nearly 100 new homes in Saltford. The developer,

Crest Nicholson, is appealing against Bath and North East Somerset

Council's failure to consider its proposals within the eight-week time

limit. The scheme has been criticised because it's in the Green

Belt. The firm says it'll help meet local housing needs. A decision will

be announced later in the year. Bulldozers have started digging up

the road which runs past Stonehenge in preparation to grass it over. The

A344 shut in June as part of a project to set the stones in a more

natural-looking environment, along with the building of a new visitor

centre more than a mile away. The Highways Agency and English Heritage

say it's part of a long term plan to protect Stonehenge.

Now, a dad from Cheltenham who was forced by his wife to watch the

reality show One Born Every Minute ended up having to deliver his own

baby, using tips from the series. Forced by his wife! Adam Taleb,

who's a firefighter, copied what he'd seen on TV when his wife's

waters broke and little Georgia Lily made an appearance just a few

minutes later. Zoe Gough has been to It may be enough to send most men

scurrying from the room. But for Adam Taleb, watching the show, set

on maternity wards, proved more than worth the gory scenes when the speed

of his wife's labour meant they couldn't make it to hospital.

like, the head is crowning, the waters are everywhere, she is on the

floor, having contractions regularly. The baby is coming, that

was that reality moment of, it is going to be me doing this. Baby

Georgia Lily was born safely on the Cheltenham couple's dining room

floor. Big brother Jack slept through everything, but is taking

his duties very seriously now. While Adam's firefighter training allowed

him to remain calm, the same couldn't be said for nurse Lisa.

was terrified! I trust Adam completely. Everything was perfect,

absolutely perfect, and she was fine and he did amazingly well. Would you

let him do it again? I am not doing it again! Lisa admits she made her

husband watch the show, but Adam is now glad he gave in. You see them

doing stuff to get the circulation going and that first cry type of

thing, I had this little thing, held her close and moved her arms and

legs, I was so relieved when she started whimpering and then had a

big cry. I thought, we could chill out a bit more. It did come in

useful. With his TV and real life training, Adam may have the ideal

skills for the job. But he says it was a one-off and doesn't plan to

swap firefighting for midwifery anytime soon. He was forced to watch

that! A teacher from Cheltenham is thought

to have been the very first man to have died in the First World War,

according to a new book about what happened when the enemies met face

to face. The teacher, Henry Hadley, was working in Germany when war was

declared, and was shot by a German officer while on a train trying to

get back to England. This is just one of the many human stories in

Meeting The Enemy: The Face of the Great War, and its author, Richard

Van Emden, joins us now. So Richard, what motivated you to collect these

very personal accounts of war? How much detective work did it take?

lot. I went through files and files of records at the National archives

in London. Of course, I did not know this story, I was looking for

interesting stories to feature in the book and this one jumped out. A

man who dies three hours into the great War, that had to be a

historical event and newsworthy story. What do we know about Henry

Hadley? He was a 51-year-old Hingis teacher living in Berlin and he knew

the war was about to break out. France had gone to war with Germany

and he thought, I have got to get home. He got on a train in Berlin

with his housekeeper, headed towards Paris. But when he was on the way,

he got into entitlement with some Prussian officers and one of them

shot him, almost out of hand. really sad ending to his life.

was a lad from Cheltenham, he had been to Sandhurst, he was a military

officer, he ends up being thrown into a wagon, taken to a hospital,

buys three hours into the war. He has just put into a pauper's grave.

This is someone who is trying to keep his head down to get out of the

country and it was justified that caused this shooting. Exactly. He

was the architect, in a sense, of his own downfall, he should have

kept his head down. He goes to the restaurant car for some gets into an

argument with the waiter, the waiter speaks to these officers, they are

already very excited because they are going to war. You do not want to

confront people in that scenario. I'd like you also talk about the

Christmas truce, there are also many others? Many do not realise is there

were a lot of truces. They traded newspapers across no man's land,

bottles of wine, sticking signs up to have conversations. So, all sorts

of different types of truces going on. I bet some of them blew you

away. That is probably not a good phrase! But when you hear these

stories, it lies belief. There are a lot of extraordinary ones. I love

into resting, off the wall stories. -- interesting. But there are sad

stories as well. 500 British prisoners who were taken to the

Russian front by the Germans as a reprisal, to die in the snow near

the Russian trenches. This brutality, does it still surprise

you? It makes me sick, it is horrible, war at the point of all

being it is brutal and sickening. I feel so sorry for all men who have

to take part in war, no matter what side they are on.

A West Country adventurer has reached the 300-mile mark in his bid

to be the first person ever to swim the entire length of Great Britain.

Sean Conway from Cheltenham started his swim in Cornwall at the end of

June and regularly front-crawls his way through blooms of jellyfish on

his journey. Andrew Plant has more. Swimming for seven hours every

single day, 20 miles at a time, for three full months. The salt is

playing havoc on my tongue. My tongue is swelling. When you get it

right, it is beautiful, when you get some waves and it is calm, it is

amazing. But I have not found any of those days yet! Sean Conway set off

from Land's End on the 30th of June, taking on a 1000-mile swim. He's

done around 290 and is now somewhere in the Irish Sea with 700 still to

go and is some days behind schedule. He's supported by a team of three,

one person alongside in a Kayak. This boat, the bed, kitchen,

bathroom and office for the entire journey. Jellyfish have been just

one obstacle. Tides, waves and tiredness are others. Sean says they

are constant companions. I have lost pretty much all the body fat I can

lose. They are just -- it is just cutting right into me and it is

getting even colder. He aims to swim a distance equivalent to the English

Channel each day. Sometimes even eating in the water to save time.

am going through about five or six skews in a packet. Half a tub of

butter for energy. And then, some recovery shakes. I have one of these

with every meal. Hopefully, that makes up about 5000 or 6000

calories. If he succeeds, he'll be the first person to swim the

1000-mile journey. He's a third of the way there, but he says the

him. Bristol Rugby today unveiled a

special playing strip to mark the 125th anniversary of the formation

of the club. -- in all. And as Damian Derrick reports, they chose a

famous location in the city to reveal their new colours for this

season. Bristol Rugby in 2013, their kit

covered in the number 125 to commemorate this special year.

Somewhat different from the First XV of 1888, who originally played at

the County Ground. They didn't move to the Memorial Ground until 1921

and this season will be the last time they play there. That first

decade was a very successful era for Bristol. The ground was dedicated to

the 300 plus rugby players of the city of Bristol. They died in the

First World War. Many happy memories associated with the ground. It will

be a sad days. As were the late '50s and early '60s, where a dashing

style of rugby was born, called Bristol Fashion. Then came a

resurgence in the '70s and '80s, culminating in their John Player Cup

win against Leicester in 1983. was fantastic. I was fortunate to be

captain of a side when quite frankly, we could take that team

anywhere in the world and have a game with anybody. Just think of a

squad. Players who could step into any team and do well.

significance of this season is not lost on the current crop of players.

We want to do it for the club. We realise how special this year is, it

is a great opportunity for the players. If we can finish off this

year of the club moving into the membership at Ashton, that would be

magnificent. And a chance to be remembered as fondly as the other

Bristol teams that have gone before them.

Five new wild flower meadows have been planted in Bristol as part of a

project to increase bee populations. This is Ridgeway Playing Fields in

fish ponds. It's part of a �1.3 million, three-year scheme, led by

the University of Bristol. It's looking at which types of wild

flowers and which locations and habitats help increase the number of

pollinating insects, like bees, butterflies and wasps.

You may have heard us talking about our plans to make a rooftop garden.

We are hoping eventually it will be full of colour and wildlife. But not

quite like that! What can we hope to attract to a second-floor roof

terrace and how can you bring more visitors to your own green space?

Mike popped in to give us his top tips. First, I applaud the BBC for

going for a wildlife garden. It looks incredibly barren, there are

paving stones, it is about to floors up, what wildlife can come here? It

is amazing how you can attract wildlife with a few easy steps.

Think about the plans, because the plants will attract wildlife. In my

garden, I've flowers in April to October and I make sure I have a

whole range of flowers for the whole period. I go for plants that are

animal friendly and insect friendly. Lots of nectar and lots of pollen.

If you get the invertebrates, it is all about the invertebrates. They

will attract the birds, who will attract the mammals. There are few

challenges with trying to create a wildlife garden here. The wildlife

you accountable in has to have wings. But you would be amazed at a

wildlife who can fly and find a place. They say build it and they

will come but I am a believer in plant it and they get and they will

come. At the flower beds in. The other thing I would do is put in a

pond. It does not have to be huge. It can be quite small. I have one by

-- I have one about three metres by two metres. If user than a small

garden, you can get a washing-up all, sync it into the garden, you

get frogs and insect is, the most amazing variety of wildlife will

find this place. If you need more tips, go to the BBC website. Those

are my tips, go and find your own. You love gardening!

Very close to what will be our garden is Jemma, who's up on the

It will soon look very different up here. I might try that with the

washing-up bowl! Weather-wise today, it has been a mixture. There might

of cloud, which has at times but some rain and patchy drizzle. But

the cloud will break enough tonight to see the Perseid meteor shower,

not quite as brilliantly as last night. But overall, not too bad. We

will see is decent clear spells for the first part of the night, the

crowd pushing in doing the latter part and into tomorrow. -- the

cloud. Tomorrow, a good chance. The rest of the week, a mixed picture. A

fair amount of colour tomorrow. On Thursday, a rather humid feel. Some

light rain over the next few days but it will feel rather sticky. That

is courtesy of a couple of weather systems pushing him from the

south-west. First increasing amounts of cloud with those systems, and

also increasing amounts of rain tomorrow and Thursday. With the mild

air coming in, we are looking at rather muddy field -- muddy -- humid

feel. Cloud pushing in during the latter part of the night but clear

skies for a time. Particularly the further east you go, the better the

chance of seeing the meteor shower. Temperatures in 11 to 13 Celsius.

Tomorrow, a change from the word go. Cloud beginning to thicken, ringing

patchy light rain and drizzle. Maybe some mist and hill fog. Despite the

lack of sunshine, temperatures 18 to 20. A rather sticky feel. Any

sunshine will bump up the temperatures further. Tomorrow

night, a cloudy and damp picture. But rather humid to things tomorrow.

Leading into another humid day on Thursday. Showers on Friday but wet