Browse content similar to 21/02/2014. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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A reminder of our main story. Thousands of protest to remain in | :00:00. | :00:00. | |
Welcome to BBC Points West, with David Garmston and Liz Beacon. Our | :00:00. | :00:10. | |
main story tonight: The moment of truth. | :00:11. | :00:12. | |
We find the man who ordered the dredging on the Somerset Levels to | :00:13. | :00:20. | |
stop. We stopped the dredging because it wasn't justified, the | :00:21. | :00:25. | |
expenditure, in so the benefits to the area when we had floods. | :00:26. | :00:29. | |
He maintains it was the right decision ` even as people continue | :00:30. | :00:32. | |
to struggle through the worst floods in memory. | :00:33. | :00:44. | |
Our other stories tonight: It's a long way from Africa ` an elephant | :00:45. | :00:48. | |
arrives at a west country zoo ` but is it the right place for a large | :00:49. | :00:50. | |
animal? A dramatic day at the High Court as | :00:51. | :00:54. | |
the South Africans give assurances in the Shrien Dewani murder case. | :00:55. | :00:57. | |
And the West Country bobsleigh team at the Winter Olympics ` British | :00:58. | :01:00. | |
hopes rest on the athletes from Bath. | :01:01. | :01:07. | |
Good evening: A water engineer has said today that HE took the decision | :01:08. | :01:12. | |
20 years ago to stop dredging on the Somerset Levels. | :01:13. | :01:17. | |
Ken Tatem ` who has now retired ` is standing by his judgement, and says | :01:18. | :01:20. | |
removing the silt from the rivers would not have prevented this year's | :01:21. | :01:23. | |
flooding. His intervention comes as the | :01:24. | :01:26. | |
Environment Agency is preparing to re`start dredging after some heavy | :01:27. | :01:30. | |
criticism. Let's cross live now to the Levels, and Scott Ellis is in | :01:31. | :01:42. | |
Burrowbridge. I have been taking a closer look at the silt that divides | :01:43. | :01:47. | |
opinion. I have dredged some myself from the River Parrett. Here it is, | :01:48. | :01:51. | |
a bucket full of silt. This is not soil, this is silt, which has been | :01:52. | :01:58. | |
brought in on the tide and settled on the bottom of the river. The | :01:59. | :02:02. | |
River Parrett, even though we're a long way from Bridgwater, is tidal. | :02:03. | :02:07. | |
The vast majority of people here are elated that dredging is about to get | :02:08. | :02:11. | |
underway, but some people think this process of the tide coming in and | :02:12. | :02:14. | |
bringing up silt is entirely natural, and there is point in | :02:15. | :02:17. | |
intervening. Ken Tatem was flood defence manager | :02:18. | :02:20. | |
in the 1990s, during which time he called a halt to dredging because | :02:21. | :02:24. | |
everyone agreed it wasn't worth the cost. And he's not changed his mind. | :02:25. | :02:30. | |
The important thing on the River Parrett is that it is a shallow | :02:31. | :02:33. | |
gradient. Therefore, when you dredge at the top end, you are just making | :02:34. | :02:40. | |
that gradient shallower. You are getting less and less flow. He says | :02:41. | :02:45. | |
the Government wants to dredge the River Parrett simply to win over | :02:46. | :02:48. | |
locals ` a sweetener before more difficult discussions are had about | :02:49. | :02:52. | |
which high`cost projects are funded. The area's MP knows Ken Tatem and | :02:53. | :02:56. | |
has respect for his views, but remains pro`dredging. There are a | :02:57. | :03:02. | |
lot of other people who say you have to get the water out of this. This | :03:03. | :03:07. | |
river ran pretty efficiently up until about 1995, when there was a | :03:08. | :03:14. | |
fundamental policy change. We have to go back to what it was. The | :03:15. | :03:19. | |
policy change was giving more room to wildlife. Dredging didn't fit in. | :03:20. | :03:23. | |
An environmental group says that dredging is not seen as a single | :03:24. | :03:31. | |
solution. It's like having a plughole that you are clearing to | :03:32. | :03:34. | |
try to stop the bath filling up with water. In the long term, it would be | :03:35. | :03:39. | |
more efficient to also look at how much water is coming into the | :03:40. | :03:42. | |
system, and also the bits of grit and silt that are blocking the | :03:43. | :03:45. | |
plughole in the first place. Wetlands like these, imagine those | :03:46. | :03:48. | |
soaking up the water, storing it, releasing it slowly, filtering out | :03:49. | :03:52. | |
that silt and grit. Everyone agrees the dredging is just part of the | :03:53. | :03:57. | |
answer. Reducing the speed at which water drains on to the Levels is | :03:58. | :04:04. | |
also important. There is more water coming down from the catchment area. | :04:05. | :04:07. | |
That water needs to go somewhere else other than just in my front | :04:08. | :04:13. | |
room. I want to go home. I want to live a normal life. I don't ask to | :04:14. | :04:18. | |
be flooded. I don't ask for water to be sitting in my living room when I | :04:19. | :04:21. | |
could be sitting there quite happily. Ken Tatem has another | :04:22. | :04:24. | |
solution ` greater use of the King's Sedgemoor Drain during flood periods | :04:25. | :04:28. | |
to take water north away from the Moors. It's a large area of storage | :04:29. | :04:33. | |
with no property, no communications at risk. Obviously, the difficulty | :04:34. | :04:37. | |
is you are asking a set of farmers who don't get funding at the moment | :04:38. | :04:43. | |
to accept flooding. That's a difficult negotiation, but I think | :04:44. | :04:47. | |
in the long run, if you are going to help this area of the Moors at all, | :04:48. | :04:52. | |
that ought to be done. The debate will continue until March seven | :04:53. | :04:55. | |
when Somerset takes its 20`year action plan to the secretary of | :04:56. | :05:07. | |
state. There are many other defence schemes | :05:08. | :05:10. | |
for the government to look at, including those along the Thames. | :05:11. | :05:15. | |
The accurate Burrowbridge, where we have seen military activity, | :05:16. | :05:19. | |
including helicopters. This is part of a project to get a Floodline up | :05:20. | :05:24. | |
to that pumping station just to make sure it can stay online. One other | :05:25. | :05:32. | |
note is that the Environment Agency says the sluice gate will be opened | :05:33. | :05:35. | |
on Sunday. That is a part of the plan to pump out the River Parrett | :05:36. | :05:40. | |
to get the water levels down. Back to you. Thank you very much. | :05:41. | :05:46. | |
Many are now looking to the future after the flooding ` putting plans | :05:47. | :05:49. | |
for defences in place. But for scores of people living on the | :05:50. | :05:52. | |
levels, there has been no change. Water is still lapping around homes, | :05:53. | :05:56. | |
and in some places, is even still creeping up. It means things like | :05:57. | :05:59. | |
water taxis have become a way of life. Andrew Plant reports. | :06:00. | :06:03. | |
There are permanent points used by many as measuring sticks, and the | :06:04. | :06:06. | |
signs are that this water is still heading in the wrong direction. | :06:07. | :06:12. | |
House that just last week seemed safe are now heavily defended. Boats | :06:13. | :06:19. | |
afloat where once was front garden. Even today ` this water is creeping | :06:20. | :06:29. | |
higher. This temporary water taxi is beginning to feel like a permanent | :06:30. | :06:35. | |
fixture. Hello? Funded by the County Council, Trevor | :06:36. | :06:38. | |
and Jason operate on call, ferrying those cut off by this thigh`high | :06:39. | :06:48. | |
water. I need to meet my daughter on the other side of the floods. We're | :06:49. | :06:56. | |
going to try on her wedding dress. The depth of water has gone down a | :06:57. | :07:02. | |
bit. On the edge of the village of Oathe, this idyllic farmhouse, a | :07:03. | :07:04. | |
makeshift seashore lapping on all sides. To begin with, you think it | :07:05. | :07:12. | |
is exciting. Then you think it is quite scary, and then you think you | :07:13. | :07:15. | |
just wanted to enter. A good adventure, but let's see the end of | :07:16. | :07:23. | |
it. This vehicle means Bob Smith needs no longer be marooned in his | :07:24. | :07:32. | |
home. It is proving vital for many. An emergency measure funded by the | :07:33. | :07:36. | |
council until the water recedes and the words he returned. Despite the | :07:37. | :07:40. | |
pumps, the emergency help and the improving weather, there is stall `` | :07:41. | :07:48. | |
still an onshore ocean here that is resolutely refusing to budge. | :07:49. | :07:55. | |
In other news, a man's appeared in court charged with murdering the | :07:56. | :07:57. | |
Gloucester hairdresser Hollie Gazzard. 20`year`old Hollie was | :07:58. | :08:00. | |
attacked at the salon where she worked on Tuesday evening. Today, | :08:01. | :08:03. | |
Asher Thomas Aslin, who is 22, appeared at Cheltenham Magistrates' | :08:04. | :08:06. | |
Court. He'll appear again at Bristol Crown Court next Tuesday. A pilot | :08:07. | :08:17. | |
has had a lucky escape after a small plane crashed into a field in | :08:18. | :08:21. | |
Gloucestershire. The Fire Services said the person walked away | :08:22. | :08:23. | |
uninjured after making an emergency landing in a field. | :08:24. | :08:28. | |
Welcome to BBC Points West on this Friday evening. Jemma will be with | :08:29. | :08:32. | |
us a little later to tell us what the weather has in store for us | :08:33. | :08:36. | |
And there's plenty more still to come, including: Is there life on | :08:37. | :08:39. | |
Mars? We'll be meeting the students who have got a little closer to | :08:40. | :08:49. | |
finding out. A zoo in North Somerset has taken | :08:50. | :08:52. | |
delivery of its first elephant ` an African adult called Buta. Noah s | :08:53. | :08:58. | |
Ark Zoo Farm in Wraxall has opened a 20`acre park to house up to ten | :08:59. | :09:02. | |
animals. It's Europe's biggest elephant | :09:03. | :09:04. | |
enclosure, but some experts are questioning whether elephants should | :09:05. | :09:10. | |
be held in captivity at all. Fiona Lamdin reports. | :09:11. | :09:14. | |
29`year`old Buta is pretty used to travelling. Born in the wild in | :09:15. | :09:18. | |
Zimbabwe, she then grew up in safari parks across the UK at Windsor and | :09:19. | :09:25. | |
Knowsley. She's quite a personality. She is quite a character. Very | :09:26. | :09:30. | |
confident. And just a few hours into her new life at Noah's Ark, she | :09:31. | :09:34. | |
seems to be making herself quite at home. She played a lot in the sand. | :09:35. | :09:39. | |
She had a couple of Christmas trees there as well. She was throwing them | :09:40. | :09:42. | |
about, and letting them land on her back. She's very comfortable | :09:43. | :09:46. | |
already. It's been amazing. The team here at Somerset have been planning | :09:47. | :09:49. | |
Europe's biggest elephant enclosure for eight years now, and when you | :09:50. | :09:52. | |
come outside you really get the sense of just how big it is. It is | :09:53. | :09:58. | |
unbelievable. This is a new world standard. The elephants have 20 | :09:59. | :10:05. | |
acres. 20 acres! All to themselves. Within those 20 acres, they have a | :10:06. | :10:08. | |
field, they have woods, they have wallows, they have a pool. There | :10:09. | :10:13. | |
isn't anything that these elephants haven't got. But some who've have | :10:14. | :10:18. | |
spent time with elephants in the wild disagree. Elephants are such | :10:19. | :10:21. | |
huge intelligent animals that are used to walking six or seven miles a | :10:22. | :10:27. | |
day in strongly bonded family units. Zoo life just isn't working for | :10:28. | :10:30. | |
them, because it's taking away all of the components of their natural | :10:31. | :10:34. | |
life. They aren't living at all as they would in the wild, and this is | :10:35. | :10:37. | |
a huge psychological and physical problem for these elephants. But | :10:38. | :10:43. | |
here at Noah's Ark, they insist they're putting the elephants, not | :10:44. | :10:47. | |
the visitors, first. I think that's how you educate people, and that's | :10:48. | :10:51. | |
how you make them care about them, and then with that, you have the | :10:52. | :10:55. | |
conservation. People who care about elephants will also want to sustain | :10:56. | :11:01. | |
them in the wild. Unbelievable to see one that close in this country. | :11:02. | :11:06. | |
It's not very often you see them like that. Absolutely amazing. I'm | :11:07. | :11:13. | |
speechless. It's lovely. Buta soon won't be the only elephant in this | :11:14. | :11:18. | |
room. The plan is others will join her as they grow this herd. Fiona | :11:19. | :11:22. | |
Lamdin, BBC Points West at Noah s Ark Zoo in Wraxall. | :11:23. | :11:29. | |
We have an update tonight on the case of Shrien Dewani, the Bristol | :11:30. | :11:32. | |
man who's accused of organising the murder of his wife Annie on their | :11:33. | :11:37. | |
honeymoon. The UK Court has been told about the conditions in which | :11:38. | :11:41. | |
Mr Dewani would be kept if he was forced to go to South Africa to face | :11:42. | :11:45. | |
trial. That could've been the end of this long`running legal argument, | :11:46. | :11:47. | |
but tonight we've heard that his legal team have tried to take the | :11:48. | :11:51. | |
case to the Supreme Court. How did we get here? | :11:52. | :11:53. | |
It's November 2010, and Anni Dewani is on honeymoon when she's killed. | :11:54. | :11:57. | |
The next month, her husband, Shrien, is arrested on conspiracy of her | :11:58. | :11:59. | |
murder. The South African authorities say they want to | :12:00. | :12:02. | |
extradite him to stand trial. In 2011, Shrien is taken to hospital in | :12:03. | :12:07. | |
Bristol with post`traumatic stress. His lawyers say he's too ill to | :12:08. | :12:12. | |
attend court hearings. But the Home Secretary Theresa May signs an order | :12:13. | :12:15. | |
for his extradition. March 2012 sees Shrien's extradition temporarily | :12:16. | :12:18. | |
halted on mental health grounds ` two judges calling it "unjust and | :12:19. | :12:28. | |
oppressive". Fast forward to the following July, and another court | :12:29. | :12:32. | |
appearance. This time, a judge says Shrien CAN go to South Africa and | :12:33. | :12:37. | |
continue his recovery there. His legal team appeals. And just last | :12:38. | :12:41. | |
month, judges rule he can be extradited, as long as the South | :12:42. | :12:44. | |
African government makes a pledge over how long he would be kept in | :12:45. | :12:51. | |
the country without trial. Now, while all this has been continuing, | :12:52. | :12:54. | |
there have been convictions in relation to Anni Dewani's death as | :12:55. | :12:56. | |
the BBC's South African correspondent reports. | :12:57. | :13:02. | |
Remember, there are three men already serving long sentences here | :13:03. | :13:05. | |
in South Africa for the murder of Anni Dewani. Mziwamadoda Qwabe, and | :13:06. | :13:11. | |
there is the man who pulled the trigger, Xolile Mngeni. Of course, | :13:12. | :13:18. | |
Zola Tongo, the initial taxi driver, who picked the couple up from the | :13:19. | :13:27. | |
airport. We will bring you updates on that story as we get them. | :13:28. | :13:33. | |
Bristol is to stage a homecoming parade for Winter Olympic bronze | :13:34. | :13:35. | |
medallist Jenny Jones. The 33`year`old made history after | :13:36. | :13:37. | |
winning Britain's first Olympic medal on snow in the slopestyle | :13:38. | :13:41. | |
event in Sochi. Her parade is being planned for March the 3rd ` that's a | :13:42. | :13:45. | |
week on Monday. Bath and North East Somerset Council will reveal its | :13:46. | :13:48. | |
plans for skeleton Gold medallist Lizzie Yarnold on Tuesday. We caught | :13:49. | :13:51. | |
up with Jenny on her first day back in Bristol. You can see what | :13:52. | :13:56. | |
reaction she got on Monday. People in Lizzy Yarnold's hometown | :13:57. | :13:59. | |
seem to have given up waiting for a postbox to be painted in her honour. | :14:00. | :14:03. | |
This one, in West Kingsdown, Kent, has been given a rather crude make | :14:04. | :14:07. | |
over. Royal Mail said it has no plans to honour the Olympic gold | :14:08. | :14:10. | |
medallist, who trained in Bath. Locals in Kent aren't too impressed. | :14:11. | :14:16. | |
Somebody has had to come and do that because a girl has got a gold medal, | :14:17. | :14:20. | |
and I think they should come down here and hang their heads in shame. | :14:21. | :14:24. | |
Wouldn't want to be a real gold box, or it would disappear, wouldn't it? | :14:25. | :14:32. | |
SOCHI Four West`based athletes are hoping to pick up Team GB's final | :14:33. | :14:35. | |
medal of the Winter Olympics this weekend. | :14:36. | :14:39. | |
As things stand now, Team GB has equalled its best ever medal haul | :14:40. | :14:41. | |
from a Winter Games. By Sunday, half the medals won in | :14:42. | :14:45. | |
Sochi could have come from our region. Here's Jules Hyam. | :14:46. | :14:51. | |
Good things are meant to come in threes. West Country Olympic medal | :14:52. | :14:59. | |
number one. Called the number two. But is there one more on its way? | :15:00. | :15:05. | |
Because Winter Olympic fans can keep their majestic mountains, they can | :15:06. | :15:11. | |
keep their snowfall. What you need to bring home the medals is a bit of | :15:12. | :15:15. | |
West Country spirit. These guys have plenty of that. The Team GB four`man | :15:16. | :15:22. | |
bob sled. We have enough to stand on the podium. The Olympics is one of | :15:23. | :15:29. | |
those beings that people fall to pieces in. You go to the top of the | :15:30. | :15:35. | |
hill, we would push as hard as we can, work 100% for each other, and | :15:36. | :15:40. | |
one of the results will be will be. We won't get it easily. The team | :15:41. | :15:48. | |
will run tomorrow. Their times of being right up alongside the best so | :15:49. | :15:52. | |
far. They do have a real chance of snatching a top three place. It will | :15:53. | :15:59. | |
add to and record breaking hall And a hat`trick for West Country Olympic | :16:00. | :16:03. | |
medals. There's Friday night football at the | :16:04. | :16:06. | |
Memorial Stadium tonight. Bristol Rovers are at home to Burton, and | :16:07. | :16:10. | |
the home side will be hoping to ease any fears of relegation. | :16:11. | :16:12. | |
Alistair Durden is there for us Ali, why is the game tonight? It | :16:13. | :16:19. | |
wasn't to avoid the rain, because that has come on cue. It is one of | :16:20. | :16:25. | |
three matches the club will move to Friday this season after a | :16:26. | :16:28. | |
successful experiment with one fixture last year. Supporters like | :16:29. | :16:33. | |
it. It gives those a chance who can't come at the weekend to come | :16:34. | :16:36. | |
and watch Bristol Rovers on a Friday night, and the players and manager | :16:37. | :16:39. | |
will tell you you get a better atmosphere under the floodlights. | :16:40. | :16:44. | |
Those coming tonight will certainly be hoping to see a fume or bits of | :16:45. | :16:51. | |
magic from John Joe O'Toole. 13 goals from him this season. And it | :16:52. | :16:55. | |
seems he's keen to be a bit of an entertainer on and off the field | :16:56. | :17:01. | |
too. STRUMS CHORDS. # Perhaps he's the | :17:02. | :17:06. | |
one they should avoid. #. A midfield maestro with a taste for | :17:07. | :17:10. | |
rock music. The guitar goes with John`Joe O'Toole to every away game, | :17:11. | :17:13. | |
but a roomful of his team`mates is the toughest crowd he has faced | :17:14. | :17:18. | |
Obviously when you are travelling away, you get to the hotel and it's | :17:19. | :17:22. | |
a bit boring, so you just bring your guitar along and have a strum for a | :17:23. | :17:26. | |
couple of hours. I'm not a crowd`pleaser. I need a bit more | :17:27. | :17:30. | |
practice, I think. As you can see, I'm no Eric Clapton. I give him | :17:31. | :17:34. | |
10/10 for his efforts, but his dreadful singing... I don't think he | :17:35. | :17:38. | |
should sing. But I like the kid so he's got a 10/10 from me. John`Joe's | :17:39. | :17:41. | |
greatest hits have definitely been on the football pitch. He's having | :17:42. | :17:45. | |
his best season for goals. His career began in the Championship at | :17:46. | :17:49. | |
Watford, but now he is playing in League Two, a level many believe he | :17:50. | :17:55. | |
is far too good for. You are so naive when you are young. So naive. | :17:56. | :17:59. | |
You think it will all be all right and stuff. Coming here, I've had the | :18:00. | :18:04. | |
best games I've had in who knows how long. To play at that level one day | :18:05. | :18:09. | |
again, that would be good. Hopefully it happens one day. We have a | :18:10. | :18:14. | |
love/hate relationship, I think I love him and he doesn't particularly | :18:15. | :18:18. | |
like me sometimes, but he does what he is asked to do. I'm joking there, | :18:19. | :18:22. | |
really. He works very hard for the team, and when he's on that pitch, | :18:23. | :18:25. | |
you ask any of my players, they ll want him on their team. After | :18:26. | :18:30. | |
fighting so hard to sign him in the summer, the Rovers may have a battle | :18:31. | :18:34. | |
to keep him. But O'Toole is focused on just keeping Rovers up. When you | :18:35. | :18:38. | |
get beaten by teams where they're probably lesser, it is frustrating, | :18:39. | :18:41. | |
which has probably happened too many times this season. I'm not too | :18:42. | :18:43. | |
worried about getting relegated because if we get relegated, we | :18:44. | :18:47. | |
should hang up our boots. It should not happen. # O'Toole scores goals, | :18:48. | :18:53. | |
my Lord. # While they may not want an encore of this performance, on | :18:54. | :18:56. | |
the pitch, Rovers need more of the same from their lead man. # Score | :18:57. | :19:08. | |
some goals! #. CHEERING. He is a brave man. I have the Rovers' | :19:09. | :19:16. | |
director of finance with me. Will you keep in next year? We have him | :19:17. | :19:21. | |
on a three`year contract. We expect to keep him during that period. Fine | :19:22. | :19:25. | |
and eight football, is as a financial decision? `` Friday night | :19:26. | :19:32. | |
football. We do get a different clientele on a Friday night. All the | :19:33. | :19:36. | |
lads to play football on Saturday, they get a chance to watch is on | :19:37. | :19:40. | |
Friday night. The atmosphere of the ground, with the darkness coming | :19:41. | :19:44. | |
down, we feel the atmosphere it generates is special. In the future, | :19:45. | :19:50. | |
will you want to play more than three games? Is determined by how | :19:51. | :19:54. | |
many clubs we can persuade to join us here on a Friday night. They will | :19:55. | :19:59. | |
look at how their fans travelled to the game. The further away they are, | :20:00. | :20:05. | |
the less likely they will want to. How difficult is that process? We | :20:06. | :20:09. | |
wrote to all of the clubs before the fixtures came out saying we would | :20:10. | :20:16. | |
like to do it. It is traditional for some to play on a Friday night. One | :20:17. | :20:19. | |
or two clubs and are starting to think about it more, so hopefully | :20:20. | :20:24. | |
we'll get empty more next year. Would hope for tonight? If we could | :20:25. | :20:29. | |
get to six and a half thousand, I would be pleased with that crowd. | :20:30. | :20:34. | |
The weather is hardly the best, but six and a half thousand would be | :20:35. | :20:37. | |
nice. Hope you get three points Rovers playing tonight against | :20:38. | :20:42. | |
Burton. It looks like an important weekend in the championship. Six of | :20:43. | :20:46. | |
the bottom eight teams play each other, including Yeovil Town at home | :20:47. | :20:50. | |
to Doncaster Rovers. Swindon and Bristol City are both away from home | :20:51. | :20:54. | |
in League One. As are Cheltenham, at Newport in League Two. In rugby | :20:55. | :20:58. | |
Bath play Wasps, while Gloucester host Harlequins. Mike Tindall | :20:59. | :21:02. | |
captains the side on his 200th Premiership appearance. On Sunday, | :21:03. | :21:07. | |
Bristol face Plymouth. A win will take them to the top of the | :21:08. | :21:12. | |
Championship. There's a strong West Country | :21:13. | :21:15. | |
influence in England's match day squad for their Six Nations game | :21:16. | :21:19. | |
against Ireland. Among the six from Gloucester and Bath is fly`half | :21:20. | :21:23. | |
George Ford, who has been in fine form since arriving at the Rec from | :21:24. | :21:29. | |
rivals Leicester Tigers. He's had to wait patiently for his chance in the | :21:30. | :21:33. | |
competition, and could make his senior international debut if he | :21:34. | :21:37. | |
comes off the bench. Feel ready, yeah. Definitely. | :21:38. | :21:41. | |
Obviously playing rugby since a young age, it gets ingrained in you, | :21:42. | :21:46. | |
and that's all you know. Playing professionally for the last three or | :21:47. | :21:50. | |
four years has been brilliant, and I couldn't wish for a better career, | :21:51. | :21:54. | |
really. Going to Bath this year has helped me to play a run of games | :21:55. | :21:57. | |
consistently, and that's helped me massively. | :21:58. | :22:07. | |
The club tell me no problem as far as the page is concerned tonight, | :22:08. | :22:12. | |
despite the rain. If we had a massive downpour, John Joe O'Toole | :22:13. | :22:15. | |
would have to come out with his guitar and entertain us all. Nobody | :22:16. | :22:19. | |
wants that, do they? Thank you very much. | :22:20. | :22:21. | |
They've braved inhospitable landscapes and been deprived of food | :22:22. | :22:25. | |
and water, all to find out if man can survive on Mars. | :22:26. | :22:29. | |
We're talking about three research students from the University of | :22:30. | :22:32. | |
Bristol, who've become the first UK crew to spend time in the Mars | :22:33. | :22:37. | |
Desert Research Station in America. Will Glennon took one giant leap to | :22:38. | :22:44. | |
meet them. Mars ` the nearest planet to earth | :22:45. | :22:46. | |
that man could potentially inhabit. But what a challenge it would be to | :22:47. | :23:02. | |
tame a landscape where there's no air to breathe, no water, and huge | :23:03. | :23:06. | |
extremes of hot and freezing cold ` a barren landscape where everything | :23:07. | :23:10. | |
you need to stay alive would have to be brought with you. And although | :23:11. | :23:14. | |
this looks like Mars, it's actually the Utah desert. The space suits are | :23:15. | :23:21. | |
semi`real too, as researchers here try to live just as they would if on | :23:22. | :23:33. | |
a mission to Mars. Each time we left the facility, we had to wear | :23:34. | :23:39. | |
spacesuits to go outside on our extracurricular activities. We had | :23:40. | :23:41. | |
to eat food like astronauts would eat. We had a limited supply of | :23:42. | :23:46. | |
water and electricity. I think he ever good notion of what would be | :23:47. | :23:49. | |
like for real astronauts in space and on Mars. Michaela's one of three | :23:50. | :23:52. | |
scientists from Bristol taking part here in a UK first. She was in | :23:53. | :23:55. | |
charge of the greenhouse and growing plants for food. There were other | :23:56. | :23:58. | |
experiments too, like turning rocks into rocket fuel. But the hardest | :23:59. | :24:03. | |
part was just living together in confined spaces with restricted | :24:04. | :24:12. | |
access to everything. Living with seven people were you don't have | :24:13. | :24:18. | |
personal space for extended periods of time is interesting. It was quite | :24:19. | :24:21. | |
difficult in that no one could really escape anyone. You are always | :24:22. | :24:25. | |
in the face of the other person Even the smallest being all smiles | :24:26. | :24:29. | |
problems were amplified. Everything this crew learnt in their weeks in | :24:30. | :24:33. | |
the desert will feed into a wider study. There is a real plan to staff | :24:34. | :24:37. | |
a mission to Mars within 20 years, maybe even ten. If man does ever set | :24:38. | :24:41. | |
foot on the red planet, it could be the small steps taken here that help | :24:42. | :24:51. | |
get us there. I'm pretty sure that we'll could | :24:52. | :24:57. | |
survive on Mars. He eats a bout of chocolate. That's been our way up to | :24:58. | :25:04. | |
the roof. I thought it would be lovely this morning, but it seems to | :25:05. | :25:05. | |
have gone pear shaped. We should be grateful. Cast your | :25:06. | :25:14. | |
mind back a week ago when we were having the worst storm we've had so | :25:15. | :25:17. | |
far this winter. That is saying something. Winds up to 80 mph. It | :25:18. | :25:24. | |
has a big spring today, that it is quite settled compared to what we | :25:25. | :25:27. | |
have had. The weekend is not too bad. Let's take a look at the | :25:28. | :25:32. | |
forecast. We're looking at Saturday as the better day. Drier and | :25:33. | :25:37. | |
brighter. Sunday, looking at my winter weather. It is courtesy of | :25:38. | :25:39. | |
this low`pressure system which produces in through Saturday | :25:40. | :25:44. | |
morning, bringing a lot of rain with that. We had showers today. Some | :25:45. | :25:50. | |
were sharp and wintry. We had hail mixed in there. Equally, we had nice | :25:51. | :25:54. | |
good spells of sunshine. That will push through to the rest of this | :25:55. | :26:00. | |
evening. She was dying away. The cloud breaking very nicely indeed. | :26:01. | :26:06. | |
That makes race at night. A bit of a breeze here and there, but | :26:07. | :26:10. | |
generally, clear skies and a much drier story. With clearing skies, | :26:11. | :26:15. | |
though, lower temperatures. We're looking at a patchy bit of grass | :26:16. | :26:20. | |
frost in some of the rural areas. Temperatures above freezing, but | :26:21. | :26:23. | |
only just. It is a cold start tomorrow morning. But a bright one. | :26:24. | :26:28. | |
We're looking at plenty of sunshine. It will take as through | :26:29. | :26:33. | |
Saturday. Winter sunshine. The odd shower through Saturday, all | :26:34. | :26:37. | |
amounting to a great day. A little bit of a south`westerly breeze, but | :26:38. | :26:41. | |
in sheltered areas away from that breeze, that winter sunshine could | :26:42. | :26:45. | |
scrape ten or 11 Celsius. Things begin to change overnight tomorrow. | :26:46. | :26:50. | |
We see showers coming in courtesy of the low pressure. The wind speeds | :26:51. | :26:55. | |
pick up. Gusts up to six miles per hour. A little less inland, but it | :26:56. | :27:00. | |
is an unsubtle picture, and the show was merging into the early hours of | :27:01. | :27:03. | |
Sunday morning to form longer spells of rain. They hurled a wet and windy | :27:04. | :27:08. | |
Sunday. Overcast, great, we lose the winter sunshine, and with the cloud, | :27:09. | :27:14. | |
the rain, and the wind chill, you will feel about eight or nine | :27:15. | :27:19. | |
Celsius. The legacy of the next week, blustery, unsettled wintry | :27:20. | :27:22. | |
showers, and the winds pick up the strength again by Tuesday. | :27:23. | :27:28. | |
At least the weather starts off OK to start the weekend. Absolutely. | :27:29. | :27:33. | |
I'm back with an update at ten o'clock, where I shall be delighted | :27:34. | :27:38. | |
to bring you news of a victory for Bristol Rovers. Have a lovely | :27:39. | :27:39. | |
weekend. Goodbye. | :27:40. | :27:46. |