22/03/2014 BBC Points West

Good evening. Young farmers from significant -- end of the season.

Good evening. Young farmers from across the country have been in

Somerset helping to rebuild farms and recover farmland devast`ted by

the floods. One couple, who've been farming in Moorland for 40 xears,

say they would have struggldd to recover without the support of the

local farming community. Here's Jules Hyam.

The floods have certainly ldft their mark here at Batten Farm. The water

level at its highest was around three and a half feet but jtst

because the water's now gond doesn't mean that everything is suddenly

back to normal. Instead of dnjoying their farmstead home, the Hhtchings

are living in a caravan. Thd view out across their farm is not what it

once was. All this has to bd cleared, all of the barn buhldings

pulled down. It has really been awful, worse than

awful. It took us a fortnight to realise the situation. It w`s such a

shock. Everything went. To see it coming up and you got no control,

you just can't describe it. It will take months for Batten Farm

to recover, weeks just to clear the land, but the Hutchings are getting

some help from younger farmdrs. They are just really struggling As

you can see, it is just uttdr devastation. So we want to do our

bed to help the community. And that's meant lifting, c`rrying

and clearing this farm and several others like it.

We came back here and wondered how on earth do we get started? This is

the third week and the helpdrs have been brilliant.

Weston`super`Mare's been told to clean up its sea water or rhsk

having its beaches closed to bathers. The Environment Agdncy says

it doesn't meet new European standards of cleanliness ovdr sewage

levels in the water. The resort town has until next year to meet the new

regulations. The National Museum of the Royal

Navy has paid ?5,000 to buy a bell that spent 70 years as a garden

ornament in Bristol. The First World War ship's bell originally belonged

to the German vessel SMS Grosser Kurfurs, which took part in the

bombardment of the east coast in 1914. It was sunk after the war but

raised for scrap in 1938. The rare bell is now heading to the luseum at

Portsmouth historic dockyard. Army veterans led the annual Back

Badge march through Gloucester this afternoon. The event saw thd reunion

of the former Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Reghment.

The regiment was awarded thd Back Badge in 1801 when it held off

repeated attacks by Napoleon's troops.

In football, it's been an afternoon of what might have been for our

teams. Yeovil and Bristol Chty both threw away two goal leads bdfore

being held to draws in their respective games against Bolton and

Colchester. Cheltenham also had a two goal lead at Wimbledon before

conceding three goals but fhghting back to secure a draw. Swindon won

at home, thanks to a second half penalty.

Well, it's back to league action for our rugby sides this weekend. In the

Premiership, Gloucester staxed in control to beat Newcastle bx 40`31.

Bath are on the road later, looking to keep hold of third place away at

London Irish. Kick off at 5:30pm. It's a sunny start for many of us.

Let's get the weather now whth Elizabeth Rizzini.

The showers are likely to rtmble on for a time for many areas this

evening. You will want to w`tch out for a few icy stretches into

tomorrow morning and perhaps just a touch of rural frost, particularly

in sheltered spots. A rather chilly night to come. By the time we get

into tomorrow morning, it is a much drier picture and there will be some

lovely spells of sunshine. Still some showers but mostly confined to

northern areas of Gloucestershire, down to parts of Wiltshire. Top

temperatures tomorrow just scraping into double figures. Still ` fairly

brisk north`westerly wind. There will be quite a sharp frost on

Sunday night into Monday underneath largely clear skies. Clouding over

on Monday morning and we will start to see some wet weather frol the

West. That's all from the Points West team

for tonight. We're back with bulletins tomorrow. Your BBC local

radio station and online can keep you up to date in the meanthme. For

now, from me, have a lovely evening. The Wind a lot showers around at the

moment, still hale and thunder too. As we turn the wind north-westerly,

these areas will bear the brunt of the showers overnight. A chilly

night, a touch of frost in rural areas. A few showers first thing.

Sunshine too. Cloud will bubble up and showers will develop in England

and Wales. The main focus in the afternoon is an eastern areas.

Across Wales and the south-west very few showers all day. The

north-westerly wind lines the showers up in the afternoon. East

Anglia and parts of Lincolnshire and Yorkshire could see quite a few

showers. Hit or miss. All or nothing. Showers easing down in the

afternoon for Northern Ireland. The south-west of Scotland should be

largely drive. More showers