:00:07. > :00:09.Welcome to Thursday's Look North. Tonight: Paying respects. Leeds
:00:09. > :00:19.remembers the award-winning soldier killed in Afghanistan, and buried
:00:19. > :00:20.
:00:20. > :00:25.in his home city. A positive career, a leader in the
:00:25. > :00:27.regiment, it is a real loss, more so for his family.
:00:27. > :00:30.Also tonight: Caught out. Councils blame the forecasters for not
:00:31. > :00:33.warning them enough about the overnight snow.
:00:33. > :00:43.The iconic Bronte relic to be preserved for future generations.
:00:43. > :00:53.Top Withins gets an overhaul. For the second night running, we
:00:53. > :00:59.
:00:59. > :01:03.have a warning for wide spread ice The funeral has taken place of a
:01:03. > :01:06.20-year-old soldier from Yorkshire who was killed in Afghanistan.
:01:06. > :01:11.Rifleman Sheldon Steel from Bramley in Leeds was described by the major
:01:11. > :01:14.of his battalion as a future leader in the making and a very sad loss.
:01:14. > :01:24.He was killed by an explosion in Helmand province while on foot
:01:24. > :01:24.
:01:24. > :01:28.patrol last month. Ian White reports.
:01:28. > :01:34.10am in Bramley. Traffic was brought to a standstill outside St
:01:34. > :01:38.Peter's Church. His family have described him as a big lad with a
:01:38. > :01:42.big heart. The 20 year old was a soldier with the Fifth Battalion
:01:42. > :01:47.The Rifles. He was killed on 27th November in an explosion by a
:01:47. > :01:57.roadside bomb. Today, one of his commanding officers spoke of his
:01:57. > :01:58.
:01:58. > :02:03.professionalism. Rifleman Sheldon Steel was above his peers in every
:02:03. > :02:12.description. A huge man at six feet four, he won the top dog
:02:12. > :02:16.competition. It is a sad loss for us, a real loss for the regimental
:02:16. > :02:25.family, but more so for his family. From his mother, a simple message
:02:25. > :02:31.on her wreath. I love you, miss you and will never forget you. Finn in
:02:31. > :02:35.church, his friends held back the tears. I know it is difficult to
:02:35. > :02:38.believe, but he would not want us to be sad today. He said in his
:02:39. > :02:42.letters that we should celebrate his life. He died doing what he
:02:42. > :02:47.always wanted to do since he was young. A soldier in the army. Not
:02:47. > :02:53.just a career, but a life that he loved. So the reason we are proud
:02:53. > :02:56.of him. Hundreds of Sheldon's family and friends packed the
:02:56. > :03:04.church. But outside, it was strangers who wanted to pay their
:03:04. > :03:10.respects. We have lived here 48 years. You feel for the family, it
:03:10. > :03:18.is only right that we pay our respects today. You have to pay
:03:18. > :03:27.your respects, because he was a brave lad. A terrible loss.
:03:27. > :03:29.Rifleman Sheldon Steel's body was taken for burial.
:03:29. > :03:34.The wintry conditions caused further disruption around Yorkshire
:03:34. > :03:38.today. Black ice and snow showers brought commuter traffic to a
:03:38. > :03:41.standstill around Bradford and Halifax. There were long delays in
:03:41. > :03:46.South Yorkshire too. Sheffield Council has admitted that it was
:03:46. > :03:48.caught out, and so have the weather forecasters. We'll be live at a
:03:48. > :03:58.gritting depot in Sheffield in a moment. First, Spencer Stokes
:03:58. > :04:03.reports on this morning's travel chaos.
:04:03. > :04:08.Snow and Sunrise combine to create a serene winter Wonderland scene
:04:08. > :04:14.above Bradford. On the roads, a different story, ice and slush made
:04:14. > :04:21.it a tricky commute. We live half an hour from work, it is a three
:04:21. > :04:28.hour drive this morning. Yes. That is how long it has taken. No sign
:04:28. > :04:34.of any gritter. We did see some the other week! Not this morning.
:04:34. > :04:41.Bradford -- Bradford council said they did take machines out last
:04:41. > :04:51.night. It's not just the lorries which can keep exposed roots clear.
:04:51. > :04:56.In rural areas, these have already been used, below half full. The
:04:56. > :05:00.councils say they will be replenishing these. Their big
:05:00. > :05:07.gritters are back on the roads tonight. In Sheffield, the council
:05:08. > :05:13.has said it was caught out. This bus failed to get started after
:05:13. > :05:17.calling out the stop. Others were prepared, like Postman with Sue
:05:18. > :05:22.spikes to make sure Christmas cards arrive on time. They do make a
:05:23. > :05:29.difference, I have worn them for a few years. You feel more sure
:05:29. > :05:34.footed walking about that if you didn't wear them. Around two inches
:05:34. > :05:40.fell last night, combined with a slippery conditions. One school in
:05:40. > :05:46.Bradford took the decision to open late. There was a sheet ice
:05:46. > :05:51.everywhere. We have to decide whether we would open, the best
:05:51. > :05:56.decision was to delay opening. 10am start was welcomed by parents
:05:56. > :06:00.and took some pressure away from the roads and gave children the
:06:00. > :06:09.chance to experience a sleigh ride to school. No rain gear here just
:06:09. > :06:15.yet, but the horses seem to be enjoying their wintery surroundings.
:06:15. > :06:24.-- no reindeeer. Why did the weather forecasters get it wrong?
:06:24. > :06:28.Paul joins us now. What happened? There was local disruption. A
:06:28. > :06:32.warning was put out at 7pm last night saying there would be
:06:32. > :06:39.widespread ice but we did not forecast the snow showers. That's
:06:39. > :06:47.the way it goes sometimes, we can get the weather wrong. I found
:06:47. > :06:53.myself defending you. It is December. We didn't see the snow
:06:53. > :06:58.showers coming. Some people got stuck in bad traffic. We did have a
:06:58. > :07:08.warning out for ice. What is tomorrow are going to be like?
:07:08. > :07:09.
:07:09. > :07:17.Tonight his eyes with wintry showers. -- Tonight is ice. The
:07:17. > :07:20.roads may freeze quite quickly. have 15 minutes to double check!
:07:20. > :07:22.Sheffield City Council has admitted it wasn't prepared for the
:07:22. > :07:29.overnight falls of snow. Heidi Tomlinson is at Sheffield's
:07:29. > :07:37.gritting depot now. This no took Sheffield by surprise.
:07:37. > :07:42.We are at the depot. They are not low on stock, 800 tonnes -- 8,000
:07:42. > :07:51.tons of rock salt. What happened this morning to caused the chaos on
:07:51. > :07:57.the roads? The forecast across the region was for frost. There was
:07:57. > :08:02.salt for that but we needed much more for snow. That was the problem.
:08:02. > :08:08.The snow started falling at 4am, is that too late to get the gritters
:08:08. > :08:11.on the roads? We sent the vehicles out but we needed a more. We were
:08:11. > :08:18.quickly out on the network but as you can see the damage was already
:08:18. > :08:24.done. We had some instances like this. What condition when the roads
:08:24. > :08:32.have been in this morning? centimetres of snow. At all levels
:08:32. > :08:40.in the city. In the south of the city in particular as well as on
:08:40. > :08:47.higher ground. In the centre of the city it was clear? Very clear. We
:08:47. > :08:57.saw snow fall early on. It goes to show how reliant you are made
:08:57. > :09:03.
:09:03. > :09:09.weather forecast. We -- Stay with us as we meet the
:09:09. > :09:12.new Yorkshire cricket coach. The former Australian test bowler Dizzy
:09:12. > :09:15.Gillespie back at Headingley, and king of all he surveys. There's
:09:15. > :09:18.been more bad news for struggling shops today, as figures showed a
:09:18. > :09:21.fall in retail sales last month. How have Yorkshire's high streets
:09:21. > :09:24.been coping this year? Look North has asked all Yorkshire
:09:25. > :09:32.councils for the percentage of empty shops in the major towns and
:09:32. > :09:35.cities. The figures are for the autumn and they show: Bradford has
:09:35. > :09:39.the highest rate with 19% of shops not being used. Rotherham's figure
:09:39. > :09:43.is also 19%. Although only 15% of shops are empty in the main
:09:43. > :09:47.shopping area. At the other end of the scale, York and Harrogate are
:09:47. > :09:57.faring best. Just 7% of their shops are empty. Emma Glasbey has been to
:09:57. > :10:00.
:10:00. > :10:04.Bradford and Rotherham to find out how they are tackling the problem.
:10:04. > :10:07.It is a problem in almost every town and city, but when it comes to
:10:07. > :10:11.the major high streets in Yorkshire, Bradford is struggling more than
:10:11. > :10:17.any other to keep stores open. Almost one in five shops is empty.
:10:17. > :10:24.It is just a bit dead really. People just go to Leeds. There are
:10:24. > :10:30.a lot of empty shops. They could do a lot but they choose not to.
:10:30. > :10:33.are empty shops on almost every street in the city centre. It does
:10:33. > :10:39.make it extremely difficult for those businesses who are trying to
:10:39. > :10:43.draw in the shoppers. Rachel cannot afford her business rates. She
:10:43. > :10:48.applied for a hardship grant from the council that was rejected. She
:10:48. > :10:56.says her stall will close in June. The town centre is dying. There
:10:56. > :10:59.will not be a town centre soon. There is no incentive to come in.
:11:00. > :11:08.Bradford Council say they are working with shop owners to tackle
:11:08. > :11:13.the problem. Some of the figures that had been produced do not
:11:13. > :11:16.reflect Bradford city centre. your own figures show almost 19%
:11:16. > :11:20.empty shops. The figures show an improvement on the number of empty
:11:20. > :11:28.shops over the last couple of months. But that does not solve the
:11:28. > :11:33.problem. I accept that we have got to do a great deal more work.
:11:33. > :11:40.South Yorkshire, another high street facing a battle. In
:11:40. > :11:50.Rotherham, 19 the cent of shops are empty. But that is an improvement
:11:50. > :11:53.
:11:53. > :11:58.on recent years. This storm moved out seven years ago but has decided
:11:58. > :12:03.to come back. Some new businesses are helped with their rent.
:12:03. > :12:08.vacant shops are going down, more people are visiting the town. Since
:12:08. > :12:13.2010 we have had 50 new businesses in the town centre. We are seeing
:12:13. > :12:18.signs of improvement. There is still a way to go. We're on the way
:12:18. > :12:22.up. But this town and Bradford have tough competition from neighbouring
:12:22. > :12:32.cities and out of town shopping centres. They will be looking for a
:12:32. > :12:36.
:12:36. > :12:42.busy Christmas to help them face the New Year. Rotherham is trying
:12:42. > :12:46.hard but it is grim in certain cities and towns? It is so sad. I
:12:46. > :12:52.travelled all over, and coming back to Yorkshire which is where I take
:12:52. > :12:58.my family out at the weekend. The atmosphere is very flat. We need to
:12:58. > :13:02.do something to take measures to bring vibrancy back. We can only do
:13:02. > :13:08.that when the understand how town centres can operate, against the
:13:08. > :13:14.internet. You mentioned the internet, we did a straw poll, more
:13:14. > :13:22.than half, about 70%, say they have done half their shopping this
:13:22. > :13:27.Christmas online. I am afraid so, the internet can offer value,
:13:27. > :13:32.because they don't have the same overheads. What we have to think
:13:32. > :13:39.about his what do we have which is unique? That is the interaction,
:13:39. > :13:43.service. At Christmas, there is a big thing about nostalgia marketing,
:13:44. > :13:50.where brands are brought back from our past. It works very
:13:50. > :13:54.successfully. If you could have that silver brass band, a hot
:13:54. > :13:59.chocolate in your hand, that would make you go back and interact.
:13:59. > :14:06.Shops are closing down, it is easy to go out of town, we are not going
:14:06. > :14:16.into them. If to get into town is expensive. It can be ridiculous.
:14:16. > :14:23.
:14:23. > :14:30.am afraid so. In Bradford, I got Had done which has just been voted
:14:30. > :14:40.the best High Street in the country. They pride themselves with having a
:14:40. > :14:46.unique shops, not one multiple. Is that the way forward? Absolutely.
:14:46. > :14:50.Derby share as well. It is independence, but it is customer
:14:50. > :14:54.service. That is what we're trying to do. If we can't interact with
:14:54. > :15:04.people and be knowledgeable about things and how people, we can't
:15:04. > :15:10.
:15:10. > :15:15.make a difference as a store any more. Thank you for talking to us.
:15:15. > :15:21.The boom in online sales has had an impact on the UK's mail-order
:15:21. > :15:26.companies as well. Bradford has been the home of some of the
:15:26. > :15:30.biggest names in home shopping including Empire stores put over a
:15:30. > :15:35.century. Over the last decade, thousands of jobs have been lost in
:15:35. > :15:40.the industry. But they are fighting back. The former catalogue
:15:40. > :15:45.companies are developing their own online businesses. As these
:15:45. > :15:52.pictures from the 1960s show, Grattan was once the dominant
:15:52. > :16:00.player in the UK's growing mail- order business. Very cosy indeed.
:16:00. > :16:03.It is called mail order. company spent �40 million building
:16:04. > :16:07.this automated warehouse in Bradford in the 1990s. At the
:16:07. > :16:12.height of the mail order boom here in Bradford, plants like this would
:16:12. > :16:17.employ up to 1000 because. The big attraction of mail order was the
:16:17. > :16:23.ability to spread payments over months or even years. At the time,
:16:23. > :16:28.the statement regularly used it was delivery within 28 days. Imagine, a
:16:28. > :16:33.month to deliver in the current online age. But who better to
:16:33. > :16:36.transform part of the businesses into online trading than the men
:16:36. > :16:42.will do the companies themselves? The company was acquired by the
:16:42. > :16:50.German mail-order giant hand in recent years, over 1000 jobs had
:16:50. > :16:54.been lost in Bradford due to its restructuring. Three years ago, the
:16:55. > :17:00.otter group appointed this man as the head of their Asia operations
:17:00. > :17:04.to come to the UK and tried to turn the business around.
:17:04. > :17:08.opportunity is unlimited. We know the growth of internet sales is
:17:08. > :17:18.phenomenal. But as far outstripping the pop-up -- possible decline that
:17:18. > :17:18.
:17:18. > :17:24.we currently have all catalogue sales -- or catalogue says. However,
:17:24. > :17:29.the competition is also much bigger. Every retailer wants to be online
:17:29. > :17:37.or already is online, and even some of the big retailers who resist get
:17:37. > :17:41.have gone online as well, particularly in the last 12 months.
:17:41. > :17:45.Grattan was founded in 1912 and next year it plans centenary
:17:45. > :17:55.celebrations. Whether it will be around and another 100 years
:17:55. > :17:55.
:17:55. > :17:58.depends on its move into the online trading market.
:17:58. > :18:02.Tributes are still arriving at the house in which a family of four
:18:02. > :18:05.died in Pudsey. Friends and classmates have built a small
:18:05. > :18:09.shrine at their now boarded up home. It's believed Richard Smith killed
:18:09. > :18:12.his wife Claire, children Aaron and Ben and then himself.
:18:12. > :18:15.The former Labour MP for Barnsley Central, Eric Illsley, has been
:18:15. > :18:19.ordered to repay more than �23,000 following his conviction for
:18:19. > :18:22.fiddling his expenses. The bill is for legal aid and prosecution costs.
:18:22. > :18:32.Illsley was sent to prison in February for fraudulently claiming
:18:32. > :18:32.
:18:32. > :18:42.more than �14,000 for his second home.
:18:42. > :18:49.
:18:49. > :18:59.Still to come. A literary I'm excited about this. I know you
:18:59. > :19:09.
:19:09. > :19:13.well. When I saw that the Yorkshire club was up, I thought I would put
:19:13. > :19:18.my name in the hat for that. It would be my dream job. I'm
:19:18. > :19:21.fortunate enough to have been accepted. You come into a club that
:19:21. > :19:31.has just been relegated. The think you have to make major changes or
:19:31. > :19:37.
:19:37. > :19:40.not? -- the think? Certainly not major changes. It has got to be in
:19:40. > :19:47.said, while there are some disappointments, there are some
:19:47. > :19:51.positive as well. I think some good cricket was played last year but
:19:51. > :19:59.there were some poor sessions that probably cost the club the spot in
:19:59. > :20:02.the first division. Preparation helps you mentally prepare for that
:20:02. > :20:07.you can walk out on the ground knowing you have done everything
:20:07. > :20:14.you can to be successful. I'm really going to hop that. To all
:20:14. > :20:19.our players. I certainly don't reinvent the wheel of by coaching
:20:19. > :20:26.but I do a couple of different things that I believe help
:20:26. > :20:36.cricketers prepare. What type of cricket will they play quarterback
:20:36. > :20:39.
:20:39. > :20:49.we are looking to win at all times. I know Andrew Gale is very big on
:20:49. > :20:50.
:20:50. > :20:57.that. Her think that will bring out the best of the Yorkshire players.
:20:57. > :21:01.No doubt the target is promotion in this first season? Absolutely.
:21:01. > :21:07.While we can't guarantee that, what we can guarantee is that these guys
:21:07. > :21:17.will be as well prepared as they can hand they will go out there to
:21:17. > :21:18.
:21:18. > :21:28.have some success for Yorkshire. That was a great shot, it looked
:21:28. > :21:33.like a nomination for the Turner Art Prize. Lee Westwood shot the
:21:33. > :21:43.best round of his career. He leads the Thailand Open golf by five
:21:43. > :21:48.shots after his first round. It has been a mixed their fortunes for
:21:48. > :21:58.Bronte fans, will hear about a positive way to restore an old
:21:58. > :22:10.
:22:10. > :22:12.building in a moment or two. It's been a mixed day of fortunes for
:22:12. > :22:15.Bronte fans here in Yorkshire. Restoration work on the building
:22:15. > :22:18.linked with Wuthering Heights has been completed. We'll have more on
:22:18. > :22:21.that in a moment. But first, the Bronte Society has been outbid in
:22:21. > :22:24.its attempts to return an important Charlotte Bronte manuscript to the
:22:24. > :22:26.Bronte Parsonage Museum. The manuscript went under the hammer at
:22:26. > :22:30.Sotheby's in London today. It was expected to fetch between �200,000
:22:30. > :22:33.and �300,000, though in the end it sold for �580,000 which was more
:22:33. > :22:34.than the society could afford. But there's some good news among the
:22:34. > :22:36.disappointment. There is a sentimental disappointment that it
:22:37. > :22:41.belongs here. This is Charlotte's Hearn. It was written here. There
:22:41. > :22:45.is a disappointment for the lack of enhancement of our scholarly place.
:22:45. > :22:48.But there is at least some good A ruined farmhouse thought to have
:22:48. > :22:51.been the inspiration for Wuthering Heights has had some restoration
:22:51. > :22:54.work done that should preserve it for the next ten years. Thousands
:22:54. > :23:00.of tourists make the Moorland Pilgrimage to see the house but the
:23:00. > :23:10.savage weather up there was threatening its survival. Cathy
:23:10. > :23:17.
:23:17. > :23:23.Killick reports on the project to It is about as bleak as it gets.
:23:23. > :23:33.They wonder so many associate this farmhouse with it Wuthering Heights.
:23:33. > :23:39.It is a stiff walk across the more from where the Brontes lived.
:23:39. > :23:42.Wuthering Heights is the name of Mr Heathcliff's dwelling. It is
:23:42. > :23:52.descriptive of the atmospheric tumult to which it station is
:23:52. > :23:59.exposed to a stormy weather. Pure bracing ventilation their -- they
:23:59. > :24:04.must have at all times. It is a very evocative ruin. You wouldn't
:24:05. > :24:08.want a change that. We didn't want to put cave roof back on it. We
:24:08. > :24:14.wanted to keep it in its current state as this ruin in a beautiful
:24:14. > :24:17.landscape. For some people it is a bit bleak but I think it sums up
:24:17. > :24:23.what the Brontes Road about come with the very evocative landscape.
:24:23. > :24:28.One a day like today we can really get a feel for it. The restoration
:24:28. > :24:33.project also has an artistic side. This woman has been photographing -
:24:33. > :24:37.- this man has been photographing this spot for decades. He had to
:24:37. > :24:41.bring people here to take voters for an exhibition. I have been
:24:41. > :24:45.coming here since the big 1970s. It looked quite different to how it
:24:45. > :24:55.looks now. It is very an interesting to see the gradual
:24:55. > :24:57.
:24:57. > :25:02.decay and the repeated attempts to stem the decay in the run itself.
:25:02. > :25:06.It is only 2.5 miles to the teashops, but we could be in
:25:06. > :25:10.another world for the job it is this world aspect to the Bronte
:25:10. > :25:16.story that the project wants people to see. It is not for the faint-
:25:16. > :25:23.hearted but because they are well worth it. Maybe that for the summer.
:25:23. > :25:33.-- but if it is well worth it. is the kind of weather to enjoy it,
:25:33. > :25:43.the snow on the ground. This it is a nice picture, the sheep around
:25:43. > :25:43.
:25:43. > :25:53.during that one. And this one was Newmill, with a light sprinkling of
:25:53. > :25:55.
:25:55. > :26:04.snow. Keep the pictures are coming in. There arose a warning of ice
:26:05. > :26:09.that could be widespread on untreated surfaces. It looks like
:26:09. > :26:14.Friday into the weekend will be culled. Frost at night and they
:26:14. > :26:22.will be further scattered wintry showers. There is the area of low
:26:22. > :26:32.pressure. An area of showers which will be watching some of the salt
:26:32. > :26:34.
:26:34. > :26:44.off the roads. North, skies were clear and tensions will drop. --
:26:44. > :26:53.
:26:53. > :27:03.skies will clear and temperatures It looks quite cold and blustery
:27:03. > :27:07.
:27:07. > :27:10.tomorrow. Any patchy sleeked will move away. They could be local
:27:10. > :27:20.accumulations over the tops as that band of showers pressures and from
:27:20. > :27:26.
:27:26. > :27:31.the North. Top temperatures still struggling. Four for five degrees.
:27:31. > :27:37.The cold weekend. Frosty at night with a scattering of sleet and snow