16/02/2012 Look North (North East and Cumbria)

Hello and welcome to Thursday's Look North. Tonight - a sign of the

times at St. James's Park. But it's a moment in the club's history

that's gone down badly with the fans. It's like changing the name

of the Queen or Buckingham Palace to Pizza Hut. Ridiculous. The Duke

of York comes north to open a �53 million college of education.

Remembering a County Durham pit disaster which claimed the lives of

74 men and boys. And - get ready to rock and rap. The line-up for one

of the north's big summer music festivals is unveiled. In sport,

one of Boro's top stars is on his way this summer. Will Arsenal's

mauling in Milan help the Black Cats reach a cup quarter-final?

Will Wells bow out in style at his fourth and final Olympics? They

said they would do it and they have. Newcastle United today began

removing the signs outside St. James's Park to make way for the

stadium's new name - the Sports Direct Arena. And, unsurprisngly,

it hasn't gone down well with the fans. The move was widely condemned

when it was announced back in November. But today came the moment

many had been dreading. Let's join our Chief Reporter, Chris Stewart,

who's outside the stadium now for us now. St James' Park since 1892,

but tonight it no longer carries the name. You say it hasn't gone

down well with the stans. I think that's an understatement. -- with

the fans. I think that's an understatement. Lunch time today.

Our cameraman spotted this. He wasn't the only one. What's going

on there? Disgrace. You think it's wrong? Of course I do. I think

everybody does, don't they? It's just like changing the name of the

Queen or changing Buckingham Palace's name to Pizza Hut. It's

that ridiculous. What about the men doing the work? They were having to

deal with a number of lively comments, let's say. Time to try to

talk to them. 120 years of history gone and the chaps, who have been

doing this work, now they've seen us, they've decided to go as well.

Not surprising really. They've come under all kinds of abuse from taxi

drivers. It isn't their fault. It wasn't their decision, but they've

borne the brunt of it. Those observing their handiwork weren't

so reticent. Not going to change it despite the name on there. It's in

here that matters. I don't think it will catch on. It won't catch on

with the fans. As for official comment, the club had this to say -

nothing. Chris, you are going to get stick for calling it that on

company look km north, aren't you? -- Look North? I suppose that is

inevitable and other parts of the media are campaigning to keep the

name, but we are BBC News and we can't do that. Chris, the poor guys,

I feel sorry for them because they are the ones taking the sign down

and they might be fans themselves? Yeah, you have to feel sorry for

them. While we were standing here, they were getting all kinds of

abuse from taxi drivers and others, but as we say, it isn't their fault.

One of them said to me actually that if this job was going to have

to be done, he would rather it had been done at night. Chris, thank

you. The Duke of York was in Hartlepool today to officially open

the town's new �53 million College of Education. Hartlepool

specialises in the training of engineers for the automotive and

aerospace industries. Part of the new complex includes a full-size

aircraft hanger thought to be the only one of its kind in educational

use in the country. The Duke of York inspects the fuselage of a

helicopter. He once flew Sea Kings while serving in the Royal Navy.

Here at Hartlepool College they're in the business of training

engineers.There are 8,000 students, 700 of them with jobs in local

industry. At the minute we and Kieron are taking off the tale

ready for service and checking all the logs first. It's all

interesting. I just love working with cars. Me and my grandad

started and I wanted to do a qualification. The Duke will

remember these as the basic trainer with the RAF in the 70s and 80s.

Today in this extraordinary hanger, they're being used to inspire the

engineers of the future. According to local employers, job prospects

nor those with the right skills are steadily improving. We are seeing

great prospects for expansion. As a business, we have expanded by over

20% in the last two years and employed another 150 people into

the plant in Stockton-on-Tees. Duke had these words of

encouragement. The challenge that we face is to reduce as best we can,

the number of young unemployed in this country. It's really hardening

to see a college like this committed to -- heartening, to see

a college like this doing that. are making sure that people are

coming out with the rightical quaitions, background, to actually

take -- qualifications, background to actually take people on to

further qualifications. A 40-year- old man, whose body was found in a

burning flat in Northumberland, has been named by police. Father-of-two,

Jason Lockwood, was discovered in his flat in Nordale House, in Blyth,

on Tuesday morning. Police say he'd been brutally murdered. Two men,

aged 23 and 28, have been arrested on suspicion of murder. Detectives

say they've received several anonymous calls providing crucial

information and they need those callers to get back in touch. There

are a number of people who have provided crucial information, but

have chosen to do it anonymously. I would appeal to those people,

please contact us again. Please let us know who you are, we'll send

detectives out to speak to you in confidence, but you have got, I'm

confident, the information out there within the community which

could have a massive impact on the conclusion of this case Petitions

containing thousands of signatures against plans to close care homes

in West Cumbria have been handed to the County Council today..

Campaigners are fighting proposals to shut Richmond Park Care Home in

Workington Park Lodge in Aspatria and Woodlands in Distington. A

final decision's expected next month. A Workington road will

remain closed until tomorrow, at least, following a gas leak. Murray

Road was shut on Tuesday, and while most shops have re-opened, two

remain closed because of residual traces of gas. Northern Gas

Networks says it's waiting to confirm there's no second leak

before restoring the road. Today marked the 130th anniversary of the

Trimdon Grange Colliery disaster in which 74 men and boys lost their

lives. It was an explosion underground that caused the tragedy

on February 16th 1882. This afternoon a memorial service was

held in the County Durham pit village, in the cemetery where 44

of the victims were buried. Peter Brown, 50. James Buoyed McDonald,

13. It was a gas explosion underground that caused the

disaster. Among the dead were a rescue party entering the mine from

the neighbouring pit. 74 men and boys died in the disaster at the

colliery. The youngest were just 12 years old. Among the stories that

emerged, the mother who lost all three of her sons and the young

woman who was due to be married on the Saturday. But instead attended

a funeral. People had to go down the mine to work, because that was

the only jobs. Eventually you got miners saying, I don't want my son

to go down the mine. It's the remembrance of the great things

done for us in the past. constituency agent, John Burton was

a familiar figure during Tony Blair's years as the MP. This was

the memorial service in 1989. Tony Blair's successor laid the wreath

today. He grew up in Trimdon. remember the colliery being opened.

My father was a miner for 40 years, so I really feel I have a close

bond with the community around here. It's important to continue to

remember what has gone before, because this whole area has been

built on coal. A folk song to commemorate the explosion was

written the night of the disaster. It's a haunting reminder of that

dreadful day. # Let's think of Mrs Burnett, once

her sons, but now has none # By the Trimdo Grange explosion,

Joseph George and James are gone... # Memories of a terrible tragedy.

It could mean tens of thousands of jobs for the north and now the

Government's being urged to spend the money to make it a reality.

Northern Hub is a plan to massively upgrade the railways to allow more

trains with faster journey times. And today councils across northern

England joined forces in support, claiming it would provide a vital

boost to our economy. Peter Harris reports. The train, we love them.

When you think about the system, it's terrible. We travel in Europe

and it's a breeze and clean and affordable. Britain is the worst.

think the biggest problem is the amount of people using the trains.

Particularly at peak times, the trains seem to be congested, and

standing room only. There's so many people using them now, that I have

got no other means of travel, I have to use them. It might get

better in nerl gets its way. -- Network Rail gets its way. It says

if we can better and faster trains it could be worth �4 billion to the

north's economy. And by 2020 it wants to see 700 extra trains

running across the north every day. There are those who say it needs to

happen. If you invest in one area, the benefits ripple out from town

and city and obviously we need access into Manchester and through

Manchester to different places too. There's going to be real benefits

for businesses up here, but investment in the likes of

Newcastle as well. It sends a message to investors that we are

open for business and we have the connections that are needed.

Network Rail claims more of us want to travel by train, so unless we

get more of them fares and overcrowding will keep rising.

Today, Newcastle joined other northern councils in asking the

Government for the cash. Some claim a journey from Newcastle to

Manchester could end up half an hour shorter. Most of the work,

though, is for the big north-west cities. If the Government does

provide the money, Network Rail says work could start in two years'

time. Is the road ready -- is the north ready for the electric car?

Our reporter has been driving an electric car and relying on public

charging stations to keep him on the road. He's just given it back,

so is he missing it already? Or glad to see the back of it? A car

that you plug into the mains instead of filling up with petrol

is science fiction made real. No exhaust fumes, silent running and

cheap power, but if it was that good, surely weighed all do it? --

we would all do it? The Nissan Leaf claims 100 miles in range, but

that's only if you don't put the heating on. Even the biggest

proponents acknowledge that electric vehicles aren't for

everyone. Initially most of the car companies are look ing to get 10%

of the market, so it's infrequent users and city users. They are the

main market. People who do 300 miles a week, it's not for them.

With over 340 charging stations and seven fast chargers to top you up

in 30 minutes, the north-east is the best-connected region in the

country. We also have a huge amount of investment and research tied up

in the future of electric vehicles. I'll miss the Leaf, I really will.

I'll miss the whole experience of driving an electric vehicle around

the north-east. But what I won't miss is the sense of anxiety that I

often felt about whether I had enough charge to get to where I

wanted to go and I won't miss having to make a choice between

getting to my destination or having the heating on in the car. Now I'll

have a full report for you on the network and the car in the next few

weeks, but for the moment, I'll say goodbye to the Nissan Leaf. We look

forward to the report. Still to come this Thursday evening -

unveiled - the line-up for one of the north's top, summer music

festivals. In the forecast, it looks like spring in the moment,

but winter's on its way back for the weekend. Now, many of us have

collected autographs of the rich and famous at some time in our

lives, but for one man in Scarborough, it's been something of

a life's work. Paul Bradley now has an astonishing collection of

signatures and pictures and some of them have been published in a new

book. Danny Carpenter reports. We all have photo albums, but none

like these. Paul Bradley is in nearly every shot and so are some

of the most famous people on the planet. Living or dead. Sadly, we

lost Amy Winehouse, who I had the pleasure of meeting. I have met

McFly and managed to get my picture with JLS and Alexandra Burke and

working my way through the pop stars, from Paul Anchor and Frank

Sinatra, one of the big names. Bradley has managed to get pictures

and autographs with people that most people would never dream of

meeting. Here we have Russell Crowe. I met him on his film set in

Piccadilly Circus. Paul has asspergeers syndrome, a form of

autism, his condition has driven the collection. There are more than

6,000 pictures and he remembers every single one. The bodyguard

said you don't approach Mr Spielberg like that. When he came

out of the hotel I gave him a full explanation and apologised for my

hissityness and he just patted me on the shoulder and said, "Don't

worry." He puts you totally at your ease and he chatted to me and let

me have the photograph and an autograph. It was one of most

memorable things I've ever done in my entire autograph career. Part of

this remarkable collection has now been collected itself. It's into a

book. Who knows, if it succeeds maybe Paul will get a taste of fame

and fortune himself. The line-up has been announced for the

Evolution festival. It's on 3rd and 4th June. That is going to be busy.

Stephanie Lloyds reports. Evolution's returning to the north-

east, bringing some of the most exciting names in music to the area.

This year's main acts are local lads Maximo Park,Ariesle Kicks,

noia and the whale andariesy rascal, plus many more. Thanks to the Queen,

there is an extra Bank Holiday the day after, so it promises to be a

real party weekend in Newcastle and Gateshead. The festival attracts

nearly 30,000 people per day, with a stellar line-up of contemporary

acts and DJs. Evolution by the nature and the ethos of the

festival is about keeping the music going. We are just always putting

on a lot of acts that we are discovering that we have great

confidence are going to be big and we've done a lot of successful

things like that in past, so it's a little more of that alongside

bigger names. It's living up to its reputation for highlighting some of

the best emerging artists in the north-east. Performers like Lulu

James. It's great I'm on a local stage and it's massive. It's known

all over the country. I'm dead excited. It's always popular. Do

you think you'll be going? Probably not me. Maybe my daughter. The

Queen's probably more my age. her in 1977. We have a little

football. He was one of the more successful signings, but Barry

Robson is leaving Middlesbrough in the summer. Robson, who is 33 and

with 18 goals to his name, has signed a pre-contract agreement to

join Vancouver White Caps. In just 48 hours, Sunderland will bid to

reach their first FA Cup quarter final since 2004. Their opponents

are Arsenal, who snatched an injury-time winner last weekend by

Thierry Henry. He set up their best chance in a 4-0 defeat last night.

His lone spell end -- loan spell ended today. Will Arsenal's

confidence be shattered or will they be even more dangerous? It

will be a blast from the past for Gary Gold. He used to be in charge

at London Irish and although his new team are at the bottom of the

Premiership, he is encouraging a bold approach and telling the

players to give away fewer penalties which cost them victory

against Bath. They are a class outfit. Premiership finalists a

couple of years ago. European contenders. Well coached. I know

them well. They'll come here with a lot to play for. They are fighting

for European honours and to climb the table. There isn't going to be

a game left in the rest of the Premiership that will be easy.

many of our athletes just making it to London 2012 will be an

achievement in its sls, but for Hexham's Matt Wells this will be

more poignant and he will be retiring after this. He's been a

mainstay in the rowing team for nearly 13 years. A bronze medal

winner in Beijing, Hexham's Matt Wells is preparing for his fourth

Olympic Games. London 2012 is even more significant for Wells as it's

set to be his last outing in a GB shirt. I think my time's done. This

will be my fourth. It's a long time to stay in this sport with training

up to seven hours a day every day. We'll have a day off one day in

three weeks. It's quite an intense, gruelling training regime and a lot

of the time you are just walking around really, really tired. To

keep that going is something that is very difficult and I think if I

looked at myself and said could I do another four years I physically

could. Mentally, I don't know. dream is to retire in 2012 with a

gold medal around his neck and then return to where it all started in

Hexham on the River Tyne when he was just 13. He comes into school

when he's up and he's been into school and talked to the kids and

obviously the ones in the rowing club know of him and know what he's

done. He is an inspiration to them that it is achievable from a boy

from the north. There are some big plans to celebrate Matt's career

ones the Games are over. That's what Matthew was really keen to do,

to come full circle and the way we are hoping to do that is by having

a special regatta, to have some exciting sprint racing and to bring

eight Olympic rowers here to row against each other and bring a

taste, a tiny taste, of what has been going on in the Olympics to

people in Hexham. People there put a lot of time into me and if I

hadn't - if it hadn't have been for them I wouldn't have had the

opportunities so I feel it's really important for me to go back and

I would like to bring some sort of Olympic spirit up to Hexham and in

doing that give everyone the opportunity to meet some Olympic

medallists and guys who are competing and see what we do. It

will be really emotional to finish the same place I started on the

little bit of the river. There will be plenty of people back home

hoping he can finish his career hoping he can finish his career

with a flourish. You do a bit? know. Indoors on a machine. Nothing

like that. I could get outside and try it one day. It's mild at the

moment, but I won't try it yet. would hold your horses, because

things will change weather-wise as we head to the weekend. It will get

cooler and also going to bring rain our way, so I thought before we

head into the wet weather we'll recap on some of the brightest

spells just recently. Bob Turner was here. Calm reflections there. A

bit of blue sky and by the time Mark was out looking over, the

clouds were gathering. We'll have rain over the next couple of days.

It's going to be wet at first as we head to the weekend and then it's

going to turn a lot colder. Let's see how it all fits together. This

is the scene today. Through the whole week we have been in the mild

air. Today's high 11 once again. As we head into the weekend through

Friday, that front starts to move across and eventually as we come

into Saturday, this cold front will plunge down across us, bringing

some rain and then in the wake of that rain, as it clears, the plunge

of cold air coming down across us, so much cooler. Brighter, but

chilly. By the time sunned comes, highs of just 4. A frosty night

ahead on Saturday too. Not such problems tonight. Frost free around

the region. Mostly dry. Just one or two little outbreaks of rain around

southern and western Cumbria. Clear spells overhead, but enough cloud

to keep the temperatures above zero. It's not going to be a chilly start.

Through Friday, we'll squeeze in one or two little bright spelds,

but I think it won't be long -- spells, but I think it won't be

long before the rain moves into Cumbria and it will start to push

up and over the Pennines and head east. It will be more light and

patchy on the east of the hills. The breeze tomorrow, that will help

that rain up and over the hills. Coming from the south-west, so it

continues to feed in the mild air and temperatures looking resilient.

Between eight on the coast and maybe nine or ten, still in double

figures in February, on the north- eastern side. It's all looking good

as far as the end of the week. It's into the weekend we start to get

the change. You can see how temperatures fall towards Saturday

and sunned. Saturday is an interesting one for Cumbria. They

could turn a little sleety and snowy on the tops of the hills on

Saturday night. A frosty night. For the north-east, a similar pattern

of decline and a chilly night to watch out for on Saturday. Thank

you very much. A last look at the headlines - the Prime Minister says

he would consider devolving more power to Scotland so long as there

is a no vote in a future independence referendum. It's the

day 120 years of history ended as the name St James's park was