01/07/2014 Look North (North East and Cumbria)

will keep an eye on that. That is all from us, I will

Residents move back in two years on from a devastating flood

which led to a multi`million pound repair bill.

Campaigners bid to build a research centre to combat childhood

The stroke patients being nursed back to health by computer.

Funding's secured for the first children's theatre outside London.

And in sport, we speak to Gateshead goal scoring legend Jon Shaw

And we meet Cumbria's star turn Nick Miller, who's going

It's two years since flash floods forced the dramatic evacuation of an

estate in Newcastle and, finally, the residents are moving back in.

Spencer Court in Newburn became infamous after scenes like this,

a collapsed culvert led to a huge section of the development being

Tonight, BBC Look North can reveal that Northumberland Estates,

which owned the culvert, is about to be sued for ?8 million.

Our Chief Reporter Chris Stewart has the story.

Derek bought this place nine years ago.

All he is waiting for now is his boiler to be reconnected.

This, he say,s is a wonderful place to live ` quiet, views over

But then again, it always was until the day that Derek and his

neighbours were told they had ten minutes to get out of their flats.

Two blocks of flats had to be sacrificed.

The culvert is now repaired, the ground is now restored, but what if

The day that brought devastating floods to Tyneside.

I'm very happy with what they've done.

I think it's one of the safest place going, now,

They say Northumberland Estates is to blame for what happened here

and they're off to court to get what they say they are owed.

I was in London yesterday meeting with the insurers and their lawyers.

The insurance company, to date, has spent just over ?4 million.

The estimates we provided yesterday for the remaining work to be carried

The draft letter of claim that was emerging from yesterday's

This has already cost Northumberland Estates ?12 million

and the Duke of Northumberland is selling off artworks

Nobody from the estate would be interviewed today.

A spokesman said everyone was delighted residents are

Newcastle's reputation as one of Europe's top centres

for childhood cancer research could be enhanced even further,

The money will be spent on a new research centre

at Newcastle University, which will bring together

They'll be researching ways of reducing some of the severe

Charlotte Lee has been a patient at at the Great North Children's

She survived a brain tumour as a child but still lives with

the severe side effects brought on by the treatment she underwent.

The side effects for me, personally, are worse than the treatment.

You don't expect to have ` well you expect to have a few `but I

think the best way I can explain it, though it is nowhere near the

same, but it's like having sight and totally losing it one day.

I have no idea how to cope with that and six years later I still haven't

Today has seen the launch of a new fundraising effort to

develop a centre for advanced childhood cancer research with

the emphasis on reducing the side`effects of survivors.

?5.5 million will bring the top specialists together under one roof

We need more specific drugs that really kill the cancer cells

Is that the problem at the moment, that the cancer is dealt with,

but because the treatment is so harsh, it has a lasting effect

One of the key problems is that when children are on treatment they

For Charlotte this new emphasis on post`cancer quality of life is

the most important development for children with cancer, eight

of ten of whom survive but face a lifetime of severe side`effects.

It will make a huge difference, especially on children because they

It's hoped that over the next 12 months around 70 to 80%

of the money will be raised through individual wealthy donors, through

charities and through health costs and that the rest of the money will

A man from Middlesbrough, arrested in connection with

the murder of 19`year`old Rachel Wilson, has tonight been

Rachel, who was a sex worker, was last seen alive in Middlesbrough

Anyone with information is asked to contact Crimestoppers or

The government has turned down a bid for York to have a say in the burial

York lost a legal challenge to have the King buried in the city after

his bones were discovered beneath a car park in Leicester in 2012.

York Central MP Hugh Bayley said he was promised a meeting on the issue,

but the Justice Minister Simon Hughes has turned him down.

Every year, more than 150,000 people in England have a stroke.

It's the largest cause of adult disability in the UK.

But now a new project on North Tyneside is aiming to involve

robots in helping stroke patients regain their movement.

How was your leg when you first had your stroke?

Like thousands of people have had a stroke Anne Hopwood is undergoing

She wants to regain the movement lost on the right side of the body

The repetitive exercises are designed to get the brain

and arm to communicate again after being damaged by the stroke.

Now robots like this one offer the chance of a revolution

In North Tyneside Hospital Tom Means is working with

Again, he's practising repetitive movements by trying to hit

the dots on the screen, but the robot can accurately gauge

how much movement he has and how strong his arm is becoming, helping

The more you can do for yourself the more independent you can become

I've got to admit that some days it's harder than others.

This treatment along with ordinary physiotherapy

Increasingly, the NHS is using robots to deliver food,

dispense drugs and even to carry out operations, but every year in

the UK 110,000 people have a stroke and 85% of them will be left with

This could mean they have problems dressing themselves, washing,

Robot assisted training means that all of the movements that stroke

patients make will be reported by computer and this offers

the advantage over traditional physiotherapy and occupational

therapy in that the clinicians and scientists can see what is going

on and with that improved information make better decisions.

The Arts Council has announced which projects it will be funding

Amongst the big winners were Sunderland's National Glass Centre,

A joint venture with the town's council has secured funding of more

than ?2 million for a purpose`built children's theatre, the first

Theatre in Darlington is already thriving, with the town's Civic

Theatre this week staging five nights of Gilbert and Sullivan.

Today, though, plans were unveiled for a new theatre in the town,

one that will stage production's specifically for children.

It will be one of only three in the country and the only

It's one of our jewels in the crown as far as Darlington is concerned.

But it very much caters to older audiences.

By having Theatre Hullabaloo in the children's theatre next door,

we will be able to usher in a new generation of people passionate

about theatre in Darlington and across the north`east.

The new theatre will be built alongside Darlington Civic Theatre

Work will start here at the beginning of next year with the

theatre hopefully staging its first performances for children in 2016.

Today's announcement comes despite cuts by the Arts Council

of 36% and for those behind the project in Darlington it marks the

It constantly surprises me that some people don't go to the theatre

They are missing huge opportunities to share fantastic opportunities

We hope that Hullabaloo will provide those opportunities for children.

By 2016 Darlington could be inspiring a new generation

of theatregoers with tailor`made productions attracting young people

The photographer who's shunned the digital world and embraced

The Cumbrian home from the US to compete in the Commonwealth Games.

Digital cameras have revolutionized photography,

These days it's so easy to reproduce and manipulate images.

But a photographer from Tyneside is shunning all that.

He's using a Victorian camera and methods dating back 160 years

and, as you'll see, the results are quite remarkable.

Jack Lowe's now planning to take a picture of all 236 lifeboat

Andrew Hartley has tonight's Look North report.

A professional photographer who has found a new focus in life.

I wanted to tear myself away from computers and actually make

When visitors come to a beautiful spot like this they usually want to

capture what they see on a mobile device like this one.

But Jack Lowe believes there is another way and, for him,

that means releasing himself from the digital world.

Jack is taking a long look at himself.

After working for years at the cutting edge of digital

photography and supplying high`end images around the globe, his future

This is a sensitised plate that has been soaking for a few minutes

It's making photographs as the Victorians used to do.

Making photographs on glass and on metal.

And from sensitisation through to exposure and development needs to be

completed within a 10 or 15 minute window.

Once exposed the image has to be developed.

Jack has the ideal place for that ` a converted NHS ambulance.

Beyond that initial striking beauty of a really beautiful place, the

thing that really draws me into this is this feeling of a time capsule, a

slice of time as if I have somehow trapped that moment ` literally

trapped that moment ` in that piece of glass. Jack's plan

is to get a shot from every lifeboat station in the UK, including this

When I look at the map of all those stations it's quite a daunting task,

but I can't think of a nicer way to work than to be by the sea recording

the view that the lifeboatmen see when they go out on a shout.

It will be a labour of love creating unique, delicate,

It's just 22 days until the start of the 2014 Commonwealth Games,

but in Cumbria the action's already started.

Hundreds of youngsters have been taking part

There were traditional sports as well as unusual ones.

The Cumbria School Games aims to inspire youngsters

of all abilities to get involved in competitive sport at school.

Stephanie Cleasby reports from Carlisle.

If there was a gold medal for effort and enthusiasm these

In glorious sunshine, around 1,000 youngsters

from all over Cumbria were competing in nine different events

including traditional athletics and the more unusual sports like

There was something for all interests and abilities.

What School Games is all about is getting

as many young people to take part in competition right across England.

You don't have to be the best at your sport.

It is about having a go, competing and doing the best you can.

And I found some real competitors in the Tri`Golf today.

I have enjoyed that we are all taking part and everything.

What do you think about being at the school games?

It is really fun and good to be here.

They have got a sense of achievement.

They are meeting other children from other areas and other schools.

I think, overall, a lot from the school event.

The sports minister, Helen Grant, who was brought up in Carlisle,

shared her passion for sport with the young athletes.

Sporting success at school, at county level and at national

The school games are all about increasing participation,

encouraging young people to stay active and love sport,

not just for today, but for the rest of their lives.

There'll be plenty of Cumbrian interest this month

in the Commonwealth Games athletics programme.

Carlisle's Lee Doran, Tom Farrell, and Nick Miller all won British

titles at the weekend in the javelin, 5,000 metres,

Here's Farrell, who we featured on Look North last

week, winning the 5,000 with a gritty performance in Birmingham.

Like Farrell, Miller has honed his talents

at college in Oklahoma, and he's brought the accent home with him.

Ahead of last month's first senior appearance in a GB vest

and his British title win at the weekend, hammer thrower

Nick Miller hadn't been back home in Cumbria for nearly a year.

That's a long time in Oklahoma away from the family.

Plenty of time to pick up that accent.

Yes, I didn't think it was too bad. Everybody over there thinks I'm

English. It is to come back everyone thinks I'm American. He was given

the option of doing a four or five year course. If you did it over five

years he had more time to train. He's completed three years and has

two to go. From a sports`mad family, Nick,

who went to school in Brampton, switched from the javelin to

hammer`throwing after breaking Still only 21, his long`term goal

may be Rio in 2016 but Glasgow is I can't put it into words. It's

everything I have been training for. It'll be nice to have a big

supporting me. He is not only number one in Britain but also in the

common wealth. Athletics it's a difficult game and it is all on that

day. Fingers crossed, Commonwealth Day will be his day.

It's the start of pre`season training for most

And it's been a busy time for Gateshead boss Gary Mills,

who's in the process of rebuilding his squad after just

failing to make a historic return to the football league.

Just 44 days ago Gateshead endured the heartbreak of defeat

in the Conference play`off final at Wembley.

But with the sun shining and his new look squad back

in training, the manager has already put the pain behind him.

It's only a few weeks ago. But that is a positive for me. There will be

no hangovers from what happened last season. I think we have proved we

can go and achieve. We shall start the season different to any other

football club. Mills has concentrated on experience

up front in the six new players he's brought in including

Michael Rankine, who he managed at York, and former Newcastle

and Carlisle striker Lewis Guy. But with 56 goals in 96 games

for the club it's the return of Gateshead hero Jon Shaw that

will please fans most. I know how good it went back here. I

will always have fond memories. I'm going to work as hard as I can. I

would love to go out there and score as many as I could.

Except, perhaps, Gary Mills who's expecting more new

I keep smiling at the chairman. It's about getting a squad of players I

feel that can not only complete but can win the division. It's important

I bring in a couple more to help us do that. Noticed the beautiful blue

skies in those reports. Tomorrow, most of us will have fine

and dry weather. The breeze will start to increase later on to.

Most places will stay dry through the night. Not a lot of cloud

around. Temperatures dipping into single figures. Maybe seven or eight

Celsius tonight. Tomorrow then, I fine dry start. Those misty patches

will clear way berries `` very early. A thin veil of cloud will

come down from the north`west. It will take the edge of the sunshine

in the afternoon but not before the temperatures climb back into the

20s. Near that coast temperatures will

struggle a little. What you may notice later in the day is the

south`westerly wind beginning to increase. The reason for that wind

and cloud is the weather front sinking down from the North West

tomorrow night and into Thursday. Won't be an awful lot of rain but

there will be a few spots. If you are out and about at the end

of the week, Thursday sees a fair amount of dry weather. Temperatures

still make it into the low 20s. Friday is a different story. Still

reasonable temperatures but a lot more cloud and outbreak of rain.

Let's have a look at the start of the Tour de France. It looks like a

dry start to the day. Harrowgate may see a broad view shadows. `` a fuse

showers. Temperatures will still be in the 20s. If you are out and about

and you want the latest forecast you can get it any time day or night on

the free BBC weather app will we will start our coverage in the

build`up to the two difference tomorrow. That is all for now. Enjoy

the evening. We don't have to prove

who used a knife any more. He's only gone and stabbed someone,

hasn't he?