25/07/2014 BBC Points West


25/07/2014

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Welcome to BBC Points West with Amanda Parr and David Garmston.

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Hundreds of people see their holiday plans ruined.

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A long`established travel company in Wiltshire, Hatts, goes bust.

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The company was not part of the Travel Trade Association.

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Tonight, we ask what those who have lost their holidays can do and how

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Five years after the death of the last survivor of the trenches, how

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Scooping up the medals, seven so far,

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And what a glorious feeling, we're happy again ` join us

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As many as a thousand people have had their

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travel plans thrown into chaos after a Wiltshire coach firm collapsed.

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Hatts Travel, who are based in Chippenham, have been trading

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But the family business ran out of money and today

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It has left nearly 90 people without their jobs and many

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Our Wiltshire reporter, Will Glennon, is in Chippenham now.

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It has been a devastating day for all the employees here at Hatts

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Travel. The signage here says it was established in 1928. That is also

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written on the company's cultures. But today business at this family

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run firm has ended. 1000 people who have already paid for holidays will

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not now get to go on those trips. They do not know if they will get

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their money back. The Hatts Travel's buses came back today,

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possibly for the last time. They have cold in the administrators

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because they have ran out of money. The problem is that the business has

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ran out of money. We have been working hard to find a solution, but

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unfortunately there was not. It is too late and we have no option other

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than to close the business. All 89 employees of Hatts Travel were told

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today that they will lose their jobs. You just have to get on with

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it, don't you? Hatts Travel runs bus services, park and ride, and school

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services. It also ran a great trip and holiday service. 1000 customers

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will now be left at home. This man has just required and he was looking

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forward to a holiday with his wife. It cost him ?350. He does not know

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what will happen to his money. I am disgusted and the rest I cannot say

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on camera. It is depressing and stressful. My wife is very upset. We

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needed this holiday. It is her birthday on Monday. It has been

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ruined. He is not the only person. We have always gone with Hatts

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Travel. We have always use them. It will affect us. They go to places

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that other coaches do not call. We really like the day trips. The

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holiday business has now stopped trading. The company is not

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associated with the travel Association, so customers are being

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told to contact their bank or credit card company. For Hatts Travel, it

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is the end of the road. Some parts of the business may continue. Some

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parts have been picked up by the council. But the employees here had

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been told they had been made redundant. The next party is to help

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holiday`makers who have been left out of pocket. The administrator

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told me that it could take as long as a year.

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Well, earlier I spoke to Sean Tipton from the Association of

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British Travel Agents and asked how likely it is those

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Actually, when a coach tour operator like this

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goes out of business, it will mean that holidays are cancelled.

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That is not good news for people who are intending to go

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off this weekend, the start of the great school summer getaway.

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Also, unfortunately many of them will lose

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their money as well, even though it is actually a legal requirement for

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companies selling package holidays to offer financial protection.

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For example, many will do that through membership of ABTA.

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What about if their clients are already overseas?

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The issue is that people are on holiday at the moment.

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The point of offering financial protection through organisations

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like my own, ABTA, is that if people are on holiday they will use the

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insurance, through the money they provide to us, to pay for people's

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hotels and to pay for them to come back to the UK.

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The problem here is that if they had absolutely no financial

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protection in place, as they seem not to, these people

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will be left by themselves and will have to make their own way home `

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The only slight good thing about this is that the people who paid by

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credit card or Visa debit card will be able to contact their bank or the

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If they paid by any other method, cheque, cash, any other debit card

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apart from a Visa, they will be unsecured creditors to

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the company and they are very unlikely to get their money back.

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A plane from Bristol to Barcelona, which had already been forced to

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make an emergency landing, was also struck by lightning earlier today.

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The easyJet aircraft had over 150 passengers on board.

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It had been diverted to another Spanish airport after being

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It was then hit by the lightning as it came in to land.

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The company says a full inspection of the aircraft is taking place.

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A minute's silence will be held before several cricket matches this

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weekend in memory of Ben Pocock from Keynsham.

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The 20`year`old died in last week's plane crash in Eastern Ukraine.

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He had just completed the second year of an

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International Business degree and played regularly for St Mary

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The club have called him a talented all`round sportsman and student.

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Hundreds of tonnes of waste have now been removed from the Averies

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Recycling site in Swindon, following a huge fire on Monday evening.

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A thousand tonnes went up in flames and firefighters are still

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The whole operation is expected to take several days to complete.

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The prolonged flooding in Somerset earlier this year is still causing

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problems ` this time for the county's precious tourism industry.

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Holiday companies say bookings were down by up to a third in some places

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and that some potential visitors are still asking if roads are flooded.

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It is worth all that the effort to get a view of Somerset

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And this is the kind of image that tempts holiday makers

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Unfortunately, some still have this picture `

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the worst floods for centuries ` even though the water is long gone.

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Visitors to the West Somerset Railway between January

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The problem was that people saw Somerset and decided to go somewhere

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else. If Somerset was on the title, forget it.

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It means a loss so far this year of ?40,000 for the steam attraction.

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Not crippling, but a worry nonetheless.

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It should be the busiest weekend of the year for this campsite

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near Muchelney, another area which suffered months of flooding.

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Somebody from Ponton phone this week to ask weather we were still

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flooded. `` Taunton. We have got our social area going and we have done

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more advertising. I won't be able to afford to go on holiday this year.

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It may be numbers pick up during the summer and all that has

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happened is people didn't make their usual bookings early in the year

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Some larger attractions, such as Wookey Hole, have told us they

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Still, Somerset's tourist officials say they need all

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I think I need to put an invitation to the Prime Minister to invite him.

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I think that would be a great idea. Just to put the spotlight on the

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county. Tourism employs 30,000 people in

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Somerset, so any loss is a worry. Some estimate flooding to just 2%

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of the county may mean a loss to If you're here on holiday you are

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very welcome and the weather is always like this here.

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The sentences given to three men who mistreated a resident

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at a care home in North Somerset will not be increased.

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The abuse was captured on a hidden camera installed

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by the family of Gladys Wright at the Granary Care Home in Wraxall.

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Another was given a suspended sentence

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The charity Action on Elder Abuse had written to the attorney

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general's office calling on him to review their sentences.

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Athletes from the West have already won a clutch of medals at

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They have managed four silvers and three bronzes so far.

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Most of them came in the pool last night,

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as swimmers based at the University of Bath showed their quality.

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Not just one, but two silver medals for Siobhan`Marie O'Connor `

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the first at a major competition for the 18`year`old from Bitton.

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She got off to a flying start in the 200 metre freestyle

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and fought her Australian rival all the way before being edged out.

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Just 90 minutes later, and with another race in between,

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she led off the 4x100 relay team to more success.

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It was very important to me. I knew it was going to be a busy day and I

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am glad I got off to a good start. There were very contrasting

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emotions to coming second from He was clear favourite to win

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in his home pool, but was convincingly beaten by his younger

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less experienced Scottish team mate ` with his training partner,

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Andrew Willis, taking the bronze. Yes he has been great form all

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season. He deserved to wind. It was a great crowd. I am on the podium

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and that is a step in the right direction.

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There was also a bronze medal and a British record for Millfield's James

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Away from the pool it was a mixed night for our rhythmic gymnasts.

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Errors from Bath's Lynn Hutchinson proved costly for Team England,

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as she and Swindon's Steph Sherlock just missed out on a medal.

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But Steph's club team mate, Laura Halford,

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picked up a team silver with Wales and is one of the favourites

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Well, there are three more medal chances in the pool this evening

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First up, James Guy, from Millfield School, who goes

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Then there is the Bath swimmer, Chris Walker`Hebborn.

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He is competing in the 100 metre backstroke.

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And finally, there is Siobhan`Marie O'Connor, who could add to her two

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And away from the pool, we also have two Bath`based judokers

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Megan Fletcher was in the wars in her semi`final earlier and goes

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We will let you know all those results in the 10PM news.

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Stay with us now, though, as there is lots more to come before 7PM

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The debate about the Cheltenham Banksy goes on and now even the

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The World War I soldier who became an ambassador for a lost generation

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was remembered in Wells today, five years after his death.

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Harry Patch lived to the remarkable age of 111

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and became the last survivor of the First World War trenches.

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He was something of an international hero, reminding

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us all of the terrible losses on both sides of the conflict.

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The last post rang out once more in Wells today for Harry Patch

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There is a memorial for him here, carved from the same stone

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as the Cathedral, intended as an eternal reminder not only of

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Harry Patch was a private in the Great War.

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He fought in the trenches and was wounded.

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But he didn't speak of his experiences

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until he was 100 years old and most of his comrades were dead.

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I came across a Cornish man. He was ripped from his shoulder to his

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waist. As we got to him, he said shoot me. Before we could shoot

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him, he died. Movingly he went back to Belgium,

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to the Menin Gate, where the names Let us remember our brethren who

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fell on both sides. At first tourists weren't sure who

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he was, but as word spread there was spontaneous applause

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and people reached out ` by touching him they were somehow

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closer to those names on the wall. Now, a fund set up in Harry's name

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pays for children to come here. And youngsters, like these girls at

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today's ceremony, belong to a club called Bookworms which encourages

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learning about Harry's war. A memorial is now standing for him.

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We should remember those days in the trenches.

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It will be ready in a few weeks when the country marks 100 years

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Harry Patch, the last face from the Great War, would, I think, approve.

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A woman who lives in Bristol has spoken out about her

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shocking childhood and her experience of being a child bride.

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Gabriella Gillespie's father killed her mother,

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then took her and her sisters to Yemen where they were married.

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Years later, she returned to the UK and has now written her memoirs.

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Earlier I spoke to her and asked how she has found the strength to talk

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I think my family are the ones that keep me strong.

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I think the strength has come now because I hear more and more about

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what is happening to young girls around the world and in the UK.

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I think people need to be aware of what is happening.

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Yours is a long and complicated story, but basically

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you were taken to Yemen at the age of 13 and there you felt obliged to

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When I watched what happened to my sisters,

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I knew there was a possibility I would be given to an older man.

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My sister was married to a 60`year`old man, she was 17.

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She committed suicide on her wedding night.

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I knew that was a possibility for me, so I tried to choose

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Your father was the dark force behind all of this?

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And the second marriage, it was not a happy one?

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Bringing five children into the world, as well?

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Yes, very quickly bringing five children into the world.

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And having to assimilate to a very different way of life from

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The shock of leaving here, having been brought up as a Welsh

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Not knowing anything about Yemeni culture, not even the language,

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Then arriving to the cultural change was a huge shock for all of us.

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Then what happened to us was a terrifying experience.

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One that you had to get out of eventually.

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I didn't know that we could have gone to

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I didn't even know what a British Embassy was until the time that my

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sister said to me that she had met a girl from England and apparently she

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was married to a Yemeni man, she chose a husband, but she said there

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is a British Embassy and if you go to them they can help you

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They brought me back to England, yes.

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And in Bristol where you are living now, you have been writing

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I wrote about them a long time ago, but I was never going to publish

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my book because my father was still alive.

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Now that he is dead, I want to speak about my experiences.

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I want to speak to encourage other young girls to speak out.

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I think people need to speak out for this to end.

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For a child marriage to end, young girls need to speak out.

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So, I am hoping it will encourage other young girls to speak out.

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It is doing very well already, so we wish you the best of luck with it.

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Gabriella's book is called A Father's Betrayal.

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The Prime Minister has waded into the debate about the ownership

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Yesterday, we reported on claims that the Spy Booth mural may belong

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to the Government, due to questions over who owns the wall it is on.

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But a Government spokesman said today the land next to it is, in

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Today, the Prime Minister told BBC Radio Gloucestershire that he is

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I am the Minister for the intelligence services and I take

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intelligence services very seriously. That said, I do love this

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Banksy. It is clever and sunny. A couple from near Bath will be

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the first to get married right in Duncan Pidgeon and his fiancee Sarah

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Withers, from Peasedown St John, So when they heard they could

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legally wed in the bandstand of the Royal Victoria Park they

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jumped at the chance. Sarah and Duncan are more than happy

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for their ceremony to be watched In all this summer heat, the Bristol

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Hippodrome is staging a show with a refreshing twist ` especially if you

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are sitting in the front few rows! Singing in the Rain,

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the stage version, has just begun It uses the very latest stage

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technology to recreate that famous Gene Kelly lamp post scene `

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as I have been finding out! Singing in the Rain,

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one of the greatest musicals of all It has got charm, romance, comedy,

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Tinseltown glamour, singing, # I'm singing in the rain,

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just singing in the rain. 12,000 litres of rain

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for every performance, thoughtfully warmed up a bit before it is

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squirted from above and flooded Everyone in the audience thinks that

:22:52.:22:54.

is it ` that is the end of the rain. The iconic scene in the rain, the

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lamp post song, is all done with. However, at the end of

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the show we like to do a reprieve. But rather than having James

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by himself, we added in ensemble as well, so there are 27 people on

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stage all kicking water out front. We do like to have a bit

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of a game with the audience. You know the story of Hollywood's

:23:16.:23:18.

first musical. The advent of the talkies

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and the end of silent movies. Some of its old stars,

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including the lovely Lina Lamont. She was incredibly successful

:23:24.:23:28.

at silent movies, but then she had a voice like this ` so when the

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talkies came along everyone went, oh You've got the best line of all `

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I am playing a hotshot from Hollywood, actually a studio boss

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But it is the perfect combination to be at the Hippodrome,

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in the West Country, with a really fun part in a crackerjack show.

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You experience career highs and lows in this job and this is

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The cast seemed to love being in it, the critics, by and large,

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have enjoyed watching it, and it has been nothing but delight

:24:16.:24:19.

Let's just hope there is not a hosepipe ban

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There is some rain, I am afraid. Tomorrow, there may be some dry

:24:25.:25:03.

conditions on Saturday and across the weekend. But having said that,

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there may be a few showers around. Temperatures will drop down to the

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low 20s on Sunday. Showers and thunderstorms are moving across and

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they have tended to ease away as they have moved down. This evening

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they will move across the south`west. This should result in a

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dry night. Tomorrow, it will be dry mostly. Showers and rain in the

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North West. I don't think that any rain will be heavy. Once the showers

:25:59.:26:08.

are out of the way, the evening will clear and it will be another dry

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night. Temperatures tonight, 14`17 Celsius. The sunshine will be a

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little hazy at times tomorrow. A chance of showers in Somerset. But a

:26:30.:26:38.

good deal of dry weather across the board, also into the evening.

:26:39.:26:49.

Tomorrow, temperatures 25`26?C. Then the temperatures will drop across

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Sunday. Many areas will remain dry, although there may be some showers.

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Similar temperatures into next week. As I celebrate 50 years

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on the airwaves, join me I will be looking back

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at the music and some of my favourite memories from

:27:33.:27:38.

my first 50 years of broadcasting. The Tony Blackburn show,

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this evening at 7PM

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