24/02/2014 Look North (Yorkshire)

so it's goodbye from me, and on BBC One, we now join the BBC's news

teams Good evening and welcome to a very

special edition of Look North. Tonight, we're live in Scarborough

as we begin our coverage to mark the centenary of the First World War.

We'll be telling you the story of the German naval attack on

Scarborough in December 1914. 18 people were killed and scores of

buildings were damaged. And how did the town coped with the attack and

hear from the relatives of a woman who wasn't going to let it spoil her

wedding day. We'll be asking a historian if more could have been

done to prevent the attack. All that's coming up shortly. Amy's in

the studio with the other main headlines.

Thanks, Harry. Also tonight: International concert pianist John

Briggs DENIES the indecent assault of five young boys. He tells a jury

in Bradford he did have gay tendencies but that they NEVER

involved children. We'll also be live at Hillsborough

ahead of Sheffield Wednesday's FA Cup game. A win tonight puts them

head to head with Sheffield United in the quarter finals.

And retiring on a high. A British title win for ex`Blades midfielder

Curtis Woodhouse. He's here to tell us what it means to him.

It has been a lovely afternoon in Scarborough. Temperatures in double

figures but the week ahead looks very changeable.

Good evening and welcome to Scarborough. Tonight, we're

beginning our coverage to mark the centenary of the First World War.

We're concentrating on how it affected people right here in

Yorkshire and on December 16th, 1914, the War arrived on our

doorstep. A bombardment by the German navy killed 18 people in

Scarborough and seven people in Whitby. Shells rained down from

gunships about a mile out to sea. Dozens of buildings were damaged:

The Grand Hotel, Scarborough Castle. And look at this footage from 100

years ago, just after the lighthouse had been hit. The top part was

rebuilt in 1931. It was a shocking attack on a defenceless seaside

town. It left Scarborough and the whole country stunned. Deaths on

British soil meant the course of the War was changed for good.

Soldiers in York prepared to go to the front line. In December, 1914,

Britain had been at war for four months. On the night of the 16th,

the German navy headed for the Yorkshire coast. Their targets

included Scarborough. A few days before Christmas, this is it. The

German Navy sent three battle cruisers up the coast. They sent to

the Scarborough. The last time Scarborough was they did was by

bombardment started banging on ATM. `` bang on 8am. 500 shells rained

down on the town. Landmark buildings, including the grand hotel

and Scarborough Lighthouse were damaged, the brutal reality of the

conflict had been brought to British soil. The indiscriminate nature of

the bombing spared nobody, not even schoolchildren. The school took a

direct hit. The clock stopped at 8:25am at December the 16th, said

the shell came through the horn and caused chaos. Only two children in

the school were at that point. Thank heavens for a quick thinking

caretaker. There was the dash for cover. Kathy's great granddaughter

picks up the story. When they got here, the Web the only pupils of the

school. The bomb went off. It must've been terrifying she was only

young, but for us, it's kind of like this amazing part of our family

history. Both children survived, and Lucy, this was our first ever visit

to the seller. Our evidence comes from the headmistress and her

account in the school logbook. When she looked at all, first of all, she

found a shell had gone through the glass roof and classroom number four

had been damaged and the clock had stopped at a 20 5am. She made a

comment in the school logbook to say had it had been later, the score

would have been assembled underneath that glass ceiling for prayers. The

bombardment lasted half an hour but the Kaiser's fleet still hadn't

finished. Whitney then came under fire. Attacks on this `` undefended

seaside resorts shocked the country. There is a conspiracy theory. The

Royal Navy were waiting for the Germans 70 miles off the coast. They

were supposed to ambush them. That raises the question, did they know

that there would be an attack on Scarborough and could they have

prevented the loss of 18 lives? Well, joining me now is Dr Robb

Robinson from Hull University. I walked 15 yards from here. People

say the attack should not have happened and the government knew

about it. In part, they knew because they had intelligence and attack

would take place but they didn't know exactly where and when. But

they were engaged in a deadly game of cat and mouse with the German

fleets. What about Scarborough as a choice of this attack? It was an

unusual place to choose, but in actual fact, if you were coming

across the North Sea, this was ideal to hit. Most of the battle fleet was

up in Scarborough. Some people tell me there was a signal station here

that could have been a target for the German Navy. The Germans did

tried to justify the attack that there were military installations

there, but it really was a remarkable thing. It was a watershed

in the great War. Why didn't the Royal Navy managed to capture the

German battle cruisers as they left? The weather was bad, they lost

contact with them, they got away. It was remarkable but did lead to a

readjustment of where the fleets and vessels were kept afterwards. Give

me a perspective of what this attack meant for the war effort in this

country. It was an enormously watershed event. You didn't expect

this to happen. This had never happened before. This gave the moral

high ground to quit `` to Britain and meant many people thought the

British cause was justified and right. Many families, if they look

back in their history, they will notice a lot of people joined up

after this event because it is so inflamed the public. Try and tell us

the kind of conditions that were here on December 16, 1914. The

weather conditions were crucial. A lot of missed and Stratus over the

North Sea. That helped to camouflage the war boats. The first thing the

residents knew were shells exploding across the town. As we have just

heard, the weather conditions deteriorated further, helping the

German warships getaway. An accurate forecast from Poole, 100 years on!

The internationally renowned concert pianist John Briggs has today denied

accusations of indecent assaults on five boys going back to the 1960s.

He told his trial in Bradford that although he was happily married, he

had gay tendencies but they'd never involved children.

John Briggs, who denies sexually assaulting five boys, admitted to a

jewellery he had kept legal gay pornographic material in his home.

He said it had been just to look occasionally. He told Bradford Crown

Court he has been happily married to his wife for the past 25 years but

in the past ten years, he discovered homosexual tendencies and acquired

the DVDs. The international concert pianist denies he indecently

assaulted two boys who gave private lessons to and three members of the

Sea cadets. Giving evidence in his defence today:

In cross`examination, John Briggs was asked if he could think of any

reason why the boys would have said things that weren't true. He claimed

the allegations were made up in a vicious conspiracy against him and

there was not a scrap of truth in them. The trial of John Briggs

continues tomorrow. A new report claims that many of

Jimmy Savile's victims were ignored or laughed at when they first

revealed they'd been abused by the star. 26 victims were interviewed by

the NSPCC as part of the research to find out why they felt unable to

report the abuse at the time. The report also found that some have

suffered mental illness or turned to drink and drugs as a result of what

happened. A prisoner has been re`arrested by

police after absconding while on day release from jail. Paul Maxwell

escaped during a visit to Rochdale town centre on Friday but was found

late last night in Salford. He's serving life for the murder of

85`year`old Joe Smailes, seen here on the left, in Wakefield in 1996.

A vote takes place tonight over Calderdale Council's budget after

Conservative and Liberal Democrat councillors joined together to put

forward alternative ways of saving money to those proposed by Labour.

The council must save ?12 million next year. The Labour party want to

freeze council tax and save money on contracts but the new coalition's

alternative plan suggests changes including employing more street

sweepers, cutting sick pay and reversing car parking costs.

And shoppers at Meadowhall got something of a surprise when a line

of Brownies started dancing through the centre today. More than 200

Brownies from across South Yorkshire, led by the 11th Rotherham

Brownie Pack, did the Conga as part of a series of challenges the

movement is doing to celebrate its centenary.

Now for the sport, here's Tanya. Let's start with football and all

eyes are on Sheffield Wednesday tonight as they take on Charlton in

the fifth round of the FA Cup. A win will put them head to head with

their city rivals, Sheffield United, and guarantee one of them a trip to

Wembley. Spencer Stokes is at Hillsborough for us now. A big night

for Sheffield Wednesday and a big night for Sheffield because if

Wednesday beat Charlton, they meet in the quarterfinals, guaranteeing

one of the Sheffield clubs will go through to the semifinals. Wednesday

are quietly confident following their victory. It lifts them up the

table and that's the kind of performance Stuart Bray would like

to see tonight. He is focusing on being shot in game rather than

thinking too far ahead to a possible tie. We spoke to the manager. Since

the draw came out, while everybody talked about was a Sheffield derby.

But Charlton have had a great result today. Most important thing, we have

got to get the crowd right behind us. But then there's the price to

get through that one. It would be great for the city and both football

clubs, but Charlton have got some way to go. Kick`off here is at

7:45pm. I will be back here live at 10:25pm when we should know for

certain whether or not Sheffield Wednesday are meeting Sheffield

United in the quarterfinals. So Sheffield Wednesday enjoyed a

derby win over Huddersfield but what about the rest of the weekend's

football? Well, our League One sides were in fine form and there was

finally a win for Barnsley. A searching pass from Martin Crane

found Jim O'Brien's run. That was enough for a 1`0 win. On the pitch,

the story for Leeds United was an impressive debut for Jack but lived.

He kept his side in it when the match finished 0`0. The football

league is expected to decide soon whether he is expected to decide

soon whether he's a fit and proper person to only Leeds United. In

league one, slapstick defending from Carlisle allowed Wes Thomas to put

Rotherham in front. In injury time, the winner was scored. Comedy

goalkeeping of the day goes to MK dons. Fair play to James Hansen for

putting him under pressure and scoring the only goal. Sheffield

United continued their improvement. John Brayford put the Blades ahead.

Next up, Ryan Flynn with a considered right foot finish. You

can see highlights from all of our teams on the football league show.

In rugby league, it is a little early in the season, but

nonetheless, Castleford Tigers are the leaders of Superleague. A hat

trick of tries from winger Justin Carney helped see off Catalan

Dragons 32`6. On the back of last week's win at Bradford, Castleford

are top of the table on points difference.

And you can see all the weekend's highlights on tonight's Super League

Show, where my guests include Jamie Peacock. That's on BBC One at

11:50pm. In boxing, it was a great night for

a couple of our fighters on Saturday night with two winning British

titles. Gavin McDonnell, twin brother of former world champion

Jamie, stopped Leigh Wood in what was a dramatic sixth round.

McDonnell, from Hatfield near Doncaster, won the British

super`bantamweight belt but some experts had him behind on the

judge's scorecards before that stoppage.

But the story of the night was a British title win for former

Sheffield United midfielder Curtis Woodhouse. He went in to his fight

against British champion Darren Hamilton saying he would retire, win

or lose. To put even more pressure on himself, he'd promised his

father, on his death bed, that he'd win that belt title and he did just

that. Has it started to sink in yet? Unbelievable. I still have to

keep checking the belt. I sat and watched it. You are so much the

underdog. How did you get yourself through that fight? He was 6`1 on

favourites to win but I whispered if I could get him in a fight, I would

win. Do you think he was in expecting you to fight the way you

for? He was mocking me for having no game plan. I always said the best

game plan you have is you have no game plan. You couldn't pick a

winner. It could have gone either way. Was that moment, when they

announced your name? The best feeling I have ever had in my life.

I bet you are thinking about your father when they said that. It gave

me motivation to make that promise to my dad a reality. I took it to

his grave on Sunday morning and it was one of the proudest moments of

my life. Is that when it started to sink in? Definitely. It has always

been in the back of my mind. To do it, I felt pressure had come off my

shoulders. People keep saying to me it's like a Rocky movie, but the

Rocky movies aren't real. This is. You've done football and boxing. Are

you going to retire? I wanted to go out on a high and that is what I aim

to do. But it would be so difficult. I don't want to stop. But

I know now is the right time to bow out.

Thanks, Tanya, and that is about it from us here in the studio. I'll be

back with our late bulletin at 10:25 with that all`important Sheffield

Wednesday result. For now, though, it's time to go back to Harry in

Scarborough. Welcome back to Scarborough. Now,

the attack on the town in December 1914 came as a shock to the whole

country. It was a seaside town and totally undefended. Many people

decided to leave Scarborough but others stayed and were determined

that life would go on. That meant rebuilding the tourism industry and,

for one couple, going ahead with their special day just hours after

the attack. On the day of the bombardment, my

mother came here for holy Communion at 8am. During the Communion

service, the bombardment started and the church was one of the first to

be hit. The shelling left a large role in the roof and as hundreds of

visitors and residents fled the seaside town, one winner and decided

to stay as she had an important engagement to keep. My parents were

to be married in the church later on and after the bombardment, she went

round and picked up a piece of shrapnel, which we still have, had a

discussion with the vicar and they decided the wedding would go ahead.

This attitude that life must go one prevailed in Scarborough. Now people

weren't coming to the seaside town for fresh air and fun. They were

coming to survey the damage. It's difficult to imagine. We had one of

the major postcard producers in Scarborough. There were also ceramic

souvenirs. There's a lovely one we have which is the lighthouse with a

hole blown through it and I have not seen many examples of that. There

were pieces of shell that were not just circulated but so does well and

mounted on blocks of wood and metal. There's one legacy of the

bombardment in Scarborough which is still attracting attention. This

street was badly hit. This house may have a macabre history, but people

are still interested in its past. I have had quite a few people on a

regular basis. Every year, everyone enquires about whether I knew about

the house and whether I understood the pictures. A lot of them even

bring books and pictures with them to show me what went on. It took

years for the town to recover. Compensation for the damage was slow

in coming so residents had to rally round and do the best they could

with a little money they could. But slowly and surely, Scarborough made

a comeback. What is this in your hand? This is a

foghorn, hit by a shell in the bombardment. It's from the

signalling station. It's amazing how many of these things have emerged.

This is a spoon. That spoon was in Caitlin 's tea room, underneath the

grand hotel. That spoon with the casualty! This is the one that might

reflect, because it's behind a glass case, this is a Charles Dickens book

with a piece of shrapnel embedded in it. There was a library which was

hit by ten shelves. The post man and made were hit. Several books still

exist with pieces of shell in it. It has been fascinating to look at

these items. It could have been a lot worse here

in Scarborough. It could have been snowing and gale force winds but is

it actually been very mild. It looks like we should get double`figure

temperatures tomorrow. It's a familiar pressure chart. A number of

isobars and a weather front just about to push in from the West,

meaning more rain to come, although by the time that weather front gets

it, not much left on it at all. This evening, fine here in Scarborough,

but cloud will increase overnight. Rain will spread north eastwards. I

don't think there will be a great deal here in Scarborough. Another

mild one as well. Frost free. Five or six Celsius in the West. A windy

night to come. A cloudy, damp start in some places. We will all see

sunshine developing. Showers pushing into western areas through the

afternoon. One or two could be heavy. I suspect on the coast, it

will stay dry. We will see temperatures around 10 Celsius.

Wednesday is looking promising. We will be in between weather systems.

Again, along the coast, a nice day. More rain to come Wednesday night.

We will leave you tonight with our tribute to the 18 people who lost

their lives 100 years ago.