21/07/2011 Look North (North East and Cumbria)

Welcome to Look North. Coming up: 30 or 20? After another child's

death, the campaign for lower speed limits in residential areas grows.

When I have talked to people about the petition and why, I have had

mothers cry on me, I have had lollipop ladies cry on me.

The pub facing ruin because its customers can't reach it.

The crowds turn out for Prince Edward as he opens a new arts

attraction. The school prom phenomenon that's

burning a hole in parents' pockets. In sport: Crocked in Kansas,

another of our Premier League stars finds his pre-season tour cut short.

Why this football legend is pulling on a Middlesbrough shirt again at

The campaign for more 20 mile an hour speed limits in built-up areas

is growing. We featured Karen Hylton last night who lost her son

when he was knocked down in a 30 mile an hour zone. She is backing

BRAKE's call for more 20 mile an hour zones. Now a whole community

is getting together with the same mission. Nine-year-old Brandon

Maggs died last week while crossing a road on his scooter.

For nine-year-old Brandon's family, the days since the accident have

been unbearable. It's been horrible. Every day gets more real and it

becomes more of a nightmare. After the first day, you think he is

going to walk through the door and he will be coming back and he will

settle down for his tea. He's not coming back. Amid the outpouring of

grief, a 1,000 hch name petition has been gathered -- 1,000-name

petition has been gathered. When I have talked to people about the

petition and why, I have had mothers cry on me, I have had

lollipop ladies cry on me. People are just so devastated. When I had

heard what had happened it was like my heart had stopped. It is just

painful. It is extremely painful. Everybody is feeling this loss.

This area where Brandon died is a 30 zone, now the accident is still

being investigated so we don't know whether speed was a factor. But

this issue of reducing speed limits to 20 is becoming very topical.

Yesterday, BRAKE urged drivers to reduce their speed to 20 in built-

up areas. It is an idea that is taking root. Nearby Middlesbrough

plans many more 20 zones in the years ahead. By reducing the speed

limit, there is less fatalities and less injuries. In Oxford they have

looked to introduce a 20 mile an hour limit without the speed humps

which are so unpopular and they have found the speed has come down

without putting in the humps and bumps. Brandon Maggs' family say

their lives will never be the same. Stockton Council says it must await

the end of the accident investigation before considering

Nissan has announced up to 200 new jobs for its Sunderland plant. The

roles will be mainly for engineers and maintenance technicians and

will concentrate on developing the forthcoming electric Leaf car and

the new Qashqai model. A bridge which collapsed in a

Cumbrian village will have to be completely rebuilt. Stoneybeck

Bridge was destroyed on Sunday. The County Council says a temporary

road bridge will be built just as soon as possible.

And talking of bridges, a bridge repair that's now threatening the

future of one of our country pubs. It is the Dyke Neuk Inn at Meldon,

a village not far from Morpeth in Northumberland. Chris Stewart is

there. I can see that you are not outside the pub at all.

No, I'm not. I can't get the car there. Nor can anybody else. The

bridge which would take us there is currently under repair and those

repairs are going on four times longer than the County Council said

they would. The locals here are going round the bend. They say yes,

there is a diversion, but that it is far too fiddly so rather than go

out for a drink and something to eat, they simply rarely bother any

more. As for visitors, they say they are getting lost and going

home again. This is the pub, this is the

customer and this is the problem. So this is the route she now has to

follow to get there. What used to take less than a minute now

involves a round trip of 17 miles. And really annoying, say the locals,

is that they were told the bridge would re-open in February. But it

didn't. So they were given a second date. It didn't open then either.

Then came a third date. It didn't open then either. Now, they have

been told it won't be fully re- opened until October. Back to the

customer and finally she arrives. She's got lots of empty tables and

places at the bar to choose from and that's something she isn't used

to. We have come up here and the place has been buzzing, there's

been loads of people. A nice sunny day, people eating outside, people

eating in. You don't see that now. Obviously because they can't get

over the bridge from the south side, they go to other pubs. Some still

do come but the pub is �20,000 down, behind with the mortgage payments

and only the financial help of friends and family is keeping the

landlord from closure. He says he understands perfectly why people

are staying away. Though they live close, where they would come three

or four times a week for their tea, or a drink, they come once a week,

or once a fortnight. They are regulars that would be here three

times a week, I have never seen in nine months. Really? I have never

seen them. He won't see them again until October unless of course

there are further problems. Now, in fairness to Northumberland

County Council these repairs were necessary and they say they hit the

rotten weather of last December as well as a number of unexpected

structural problems. They say they would have liked to have got this

work finished on time. There is one bit of good news - the County

Council says with a bit of luck, the bridge will be partially re-

opened by the end of August under traffic light control.

One of the North's best-known racehorse trainers could be

stripped of his licence after 25 years. Howard Johnson faces doping

and welfare charges including running a horse in eight races

after nerves in its legs were cut so it could run through the pain

barrier. The horse had to be destroyed after it pulled up with

an injury. Mr Johnson said he didn't know he was breaking racing

regulations. This is the horse, Striking Article, owned by Sage

Software multi-millionaire Graham Wylie. Howard Johnson raced it

eight times after the nerves were severed which meant it couldn't

feel pain. This is Howard Johnson attending the inquiry into the de-

nerving and facing charges of given banned anabolic steroids to a

further three of Mr Wylie's horses. The BHA could impose a lengthy ban

if they find him guilty. He doesn't deny the nerves were cut, just that

he didn't know it was against racing rules. When you run it, when

you ride it, anything that happens which normally would be painful

such as a nail going into the foot, it won't feel a thing. Horse racing

has an image problem with concerns about excessive use of the whip. It

needs to be seen to be cleaning up its act. They are making a priority

of this. Top trainers have been involved. Howard Johnson has been

training for 25 years. So he is one of the top trainers in the country,

some of the best horses in the country. They are being frank and

fearless. That gives reassurance to the public. Howard Johnson hit the

headlines last year when raiders tied him and his wife up and stole

�100,000 from his safe. He seemed relaxed about the hearing in London.

Straightforward. We will get it out of the way. The hearing finishes

today but Mr Johnson may not learn his fate until later.

It looks as if Cumbria's smallest school could close, possibly by the

end of the year. Welton Primary near Carlisle will have nine pupils

at the start of the next school year making it financially unviable.

Parents say education there is good but falling roles have become a

real problem. Our child came here from France, he had no teaching at

all in English. We couldn't have asked for a better teacher. The

children in the school love it. It is a shame that it is closing.

Newbiggin's new visitor attraction the maritime centre has been

welcoming its first guest today. The last offshore lifeboat stob

stationed at Newbiggin by the Sea is proudly -- to be stationed at

Newbiggin by the Sea is proudly the new centrepiece.

Prince Edward, The Earl of Wessex, visited two historic landmarks -

Hexham Abbey and the Roman Army Museum on Hadrian's Wall near

Haltwhistle. A brief glimpse of the Prince's

helicopter overhead sparked almost as much excitement as the Royal

visitor himself, a first for Allendale. They weren't

disappointed as Prince Edward set off on an impromptu royal walkabout.

He was very nice. What did he say to you? I said the sunshines on the

righteous. He had been invited to open Allendale's brand-new Forge

Arts Studio. Standing on the site of the original 18th Century

blacksmiths forge, the Forge project has grown out of the

success of a smaller arts cafe nearby. It provides 11 low-rent

studio workshops with a cafe and Exhibition Centre and a sound

recording studio. Two units have been set aside to help young

entrepreneurs starting out on their first year in business. This

business nearly failed when the banking industry went into meltdown.

It was told to me very clearly this is a massive risk and about two

days before our deadline, when we would have lost all of the funding,

Charity Bank came forward. They read the business plan and agreed.

After another impromptu performance for the crowd, Prince Edward

declared the Forge open for business.

Coming up: Our Look North Report on the eye watering cost of the end of

term. We are live from Teesside and the haunt of one of our most

spectacular birds of prey. Join me on a farm in Northumberland as I

visit the home of one of the pioneers of weather forecasting.

Now, the school holidays are just about upon us but for some parents

the end of term has become rather expensive. Why? Well, blame America

because the school prom has been exported from there and it's

proving to be a very costly business indeed.

I'm in Year 1 1 and I have been here since I was 11. I want to stay

on because I want to become a teacher. It is the final year of

school for some of Ashley's friends. Life choices, important exams

adding to the load. There is another pressure and the vision for

it to be perfect. Some say it is like a mini wedding but it's also

unavoidably competitive. Buying designer, girls avoid wearing the

same dress, with expectations high parents buffer the costs. There is

a lot of talk about the prom. been about dresses, colour,

everyone wants to stand out and be different. Everyone is trying to

get a different colour. How they are having the hair, nails, make-up.

It is a dream. I want to have a fairytale evening. It is expensive.

You want them to have everything that they want. And that is the bit,

where the expense comes in. But you just try and cut corners and you

try and get them what they want because it's a big night. It is an

expensive business, those in the know say it costs �450 for that

average teenage girl's prom, in parts of the North East that figure

goes up to �600, the third highest in the country. There's girls who

are spending �600 on a dress and like �400 to get hair extensions.

�150 for the whole thing with the limo and the suit. It is a one-off

thing. It is just a nice way to end the year sort of thing. You are not

going to see them when they go off to college. It is your day. You

want to make your day special. You That's beautiful. It looks lovely.

I think this is the one. Are you sure? I really like it. The average

is �220, �250. We only sell one style to each prom. Girls like to

get the first choice. The bill of �325 settled by mum, her costs now

well over �600. So just a few more They have been together since

three-year-old when they started nursery. They have gone right

through school so tonight's really the last time that they will all be

I hope they enjoy the night. Now, can you keep a secret? Here at Look

North we have been doing just that ever since we learnt that one of

Britain's most spectacular birds was nesting in the region. Not as

you might expect out in the wild, but in the centre of a huge and

noisy chemical works. To find out more, let's join Mary Askew on

Teesside. I'm at Port Clarence and behind me

are the Sabac Works. It's become home to a pair of peregrine falcons.

They are the fastest creature on earth. When they hunt, they dive at

For the last three years, staff here have enjoyed one of the best

spectacles nature has to offer. But because peregrines can be a target

for egg thieves, the location of this pair has been a closely

guarded secret, until now. It is good fun to watch them. You should

see them when they are chasing the seagulls. There's bits of bones and

rings off the pigeons. Back in February, staff reported watching

the birds start to nest. A nest 90 metres up one of the site's main

chimneys. Ornithologist Chris Brown is one of the very few people with

a licence to get close to peregrines in the wild. For him,

the location was no surprise. are the same as cliffs to them, a

big structure like that is perfectly safe. No-one is going to

approach them apart from us when we ring the chicks, hopefully. There

is plenty of pigeons around here. Chris was keen to check the nest.

Fortunately, he and site technician Eric West have a head for heights.

Chris and Eric have taken one of these up with them, a wildlife

camera trap that will record a short film of the nest every hour

in the coming weeks. Hopefully, it will mean that we will get some

good pictures of the birds, their eggs and maybe their chicks without

disturbing them at this crucial time. And still they climbed.

Finally, ten gruelling minutes later, their reward - a nest with a

view. It was a tiring climb. I didn't realise how tiring it is

going up a straight ladder. When you got to the top, it was

exhilarating. One of the best experiences I have ever had. They

have a vista of Teesside, the whole of Cleveland, really. It was

brilliant. I will go up there again tomorrow! By the time Chris and

Eric were back on the ground, both of the birds were back on the nest.

And wonderfully, our camera trap got its first shot.

Well, that was back in March. So what happened next? Did our

peregrines successfully raise some chicks? Did we manage to film them?

All will be revealed in tomorrow's Look North.

Some good news for peregrines. Not such good news for a certain

Magpie? That's right. Particularly a player who has only recovered

from a broken leg. Hatem Ben Arfa will miss the remainder of

Newcastle United's US Tour. That is after the player was taken to

hospital during the goalless draw against Sporting Kansas. He was

stretchered off and is flying home to have an ankle injury assessed.

Now, some have hailed it the greatest Premier League game ever -

Liverpool's 4-3 of Newcastle at Anfield in 1996. Now, there is a

chance to see the tables turned. Remember this? If you are a

Newcastle fan, you will never forget it and neither will this man.

The iconic image of Keegan slumped over the hording summed up that

game. Maybe now it is time for some payback. Keegan is on board for a

re-match with more players signing up all the time. We have John

Beresford, he was very popular, does a lot of work in the North

East. Rob Lee, Kevin persuaded that Newcastle was closer to London than

Middlesbrough. He said he would walk over broken glass to play in

this game. Lee Clark. Keegan's team will be known as The Entertainers.

They will be up against Ian Rush, Jason McAteer and Mark Wright. Joe

Allen says the rematch honours the legacy left by Kevin Keegan. Me and

Paul Gascoigne were cleaning the boots at St James' Park and he just

transformed the whole North East and such a legend and such an icon.

There has been a little bit of a cloud with his relationship with

the hierarchy at the moment. Kevin Keegan will be a legend always at

Newcastle. Proceeds will go to charity.

Tickets went on sale today. Talking of golden oldies, Juninho will pull

on a Boro shirt next Friday. Voted Boro's finest post-war player, the

38-year-old will feature in the pre-season friendly against PSV

Eindhoven. Cricket: On day one of their County

Championship match against Somerset, Durham won the toss and chose to

field first. A big "CENORITA" Churchry from Marcus Trescothick

has put the home side in control. - - a big century from Marcus

Trescothick has put the home side in control.

That is your sport. It is weather time now and, Paul,

before you do the forecast, you have been tracing the footsteps of

another famous weather forecaster. I have been out and about. I have

been to a Northumberland farm to investigate the local roots of a

man who was way ahead of his time and he changed the face of weather

forecasting for good. There is an obvious connection

between farming and the weather. Here there is a direct link to one

of the pioneers of weather forecasting. This place was once

home to Lewis Fry Richardson, one of the fathers of modern

meteorology. Lewis Richardson went on to develop numerical weather

forecasting techniques. These days the farm is home to a fine head of

cattle, a lovely ice-cream parlour and still run by the Richardson

family. Lewis Richardson was my great uncle. He was one of five

brothers and he was a brilliant mathematician. I met him here about

a year before he died. He came to visit my father. No, he was a

remarkable man, I think. He had an original mind. He was busy with

this numerical process. He took with him some of the figures from a

day that he's obtained. It took him most of the war to work out what

the weather was going to be the next day. He proved himself right.

Richardson was way ahead of his time which brought its own problems.

He worked out his weather theories around the time of the First World

War when all the calculations had to be done by hand. He estimated he

needed 64,000 people with slide rules to produce a one-day forecast.

It wasn't until long after his death in 1953 that his theories

came into practice and are still the basis of the forecast we

deliver today. The world of science can be

grateful that Richardson didn't satisfy himself with the more

tradition at methods of forecasting the weather - cows all facing the

the weather - cows all facing the same way? Looks like rain.

A remarkable man. Yesterday, we had some foul weather. A dismal picture

there from Rachel. Today was a whole lot better. A good HAR E-Day

- see what I did there?! There are one or two showers around but they

are fairly few and far between. Most places will stay dry through

the night. With clear spells, it will be a bit cooler than it has

been recently. So tomorrow, most places start the day dry. I

wouldn't rule out the odd shower. Most places will stay dry through

the day and most places will see some sunshine, some good sunny

spells developing for the afternoon. Still the odd shower cloud here and

there. When the sun comes out, temperatures will peak around 19

Celsius. It will feel warm in the sunshine. Where it won't feel

particularly warm, once again is along that North East coast.

Over the next few days, we have the northerly wind tomorrow. That

northerly pattern stays with us. This weather system looks as if it

will stay to the Rhys of us as we head through the weekend so it does

-- stay to the east of us as we head through the weekend so it does

look as if we will stay dry. Tomorrow, it is a mostly try

picture. Similar temperatures again on Saturday. The best of any

brightness in western areas. Eastern areas seeing a fair amount

of cloud. It does look as if the rain from that system stays out to

the west - out to the east rather through Sunday. Most places dry and

bright again. The best of the sunshine in the west. It looks as

if most of us hang on to some dry weather with temperatures in the

mid to high teens as we head into Monday. Keep your July weather