20/07/2011 Midlands Today

Hello and welcome to Midlands Today with Michael Collie and Suzanne

Virdee. The headlines tonight: The Queen honours Midlands soldiers who

have served in Afghanistan. finer moment for a soldier, than to

have his medal given to him, by his sovereign. And Her Majesty

remembers the men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice. Relief

for the school where the threat of closure has finally been lifted.

And seconds out for the footballers facing a different kind of pre-

season training. Good evening and welcome to Wednesday's Midlands

Today from the BBC. Tonight, the Queen honours West Midlands

soldiers who fought on the front line in Afghanistan and remembers

those who paid the ultimate sacrifice. Her Majesty presented

medals to 15 soldiers at Lichfield Cathedral before visiting the

National Memorial Arboretum to commemorate the lives of 112

military personnel killed during 2010. Was corporate, our stature

reporter, joins us now. -- Liz Copper our Staffordshire reporter.

The Queen began the day at Lichfield Cathedral. As she arrived

at this ancient cathedral close, there was a Guard of Honour are to

greet the Queen. First she presented medals to members of the

Royal Murcia and Lancastrian Yeomanry, men who had left civilian

jobs for the front line in Afghanistan. Absolutely amazing. I

never thought I would ever make the Queen. It is absolutely fantastic.

It is a huge honour for her Majesty to present operational service

medals for Afghanistan. The Majesty is our Colonel-in-Chief and it has

a huge privilege that she has come along to see us. This was a service

of thanksgiving, after the regiment's five-month tour of duty.

It is a tremendous event for the regiment. You can feel a regimental

lift when her Majesty comes to visit us. It is one of those

moments in time when you walk -- which you will remember forever.

is a chance for the Queen to meet families, those who are relieved at

the return of the regiment. Today has also been about recognising the

sacrifices of servicemen and women who did not make it home. Within

the walls of the armed forces Memorial, an annual commemoration,

a service to pay tribute to the 112 members of British armed forces

killed on duty last year. Their names inscribed into the Portland

stone. Amongst them, Staff Sergeant Brett Lindley. This weekend was the

first anniversary of his death. think you are the only one until

you come to these events and then you realise that a lot of other

people have the same torment at that we have. There have never been

in quite so many in one year, so you know that everyone else is

suffering the same as you. You know that other parents have had to

suffer. This was a day dedicated to honouring those who have risked

their lives, or given their lives, in the line of duty. We are joined

by a representative of the Memorial arboretum. This means so much to so

many families who come to see their loved ones names dedicated. And in

the Queen seemed visibly moved during parts of the ceremony.

think we were all visibly moved and her Majesty was also moved. It is a

very special day and hopefully it will bring some of the families an

element of closure to have the name of their loved one on the wall, and

they can move on with their lives. What do the families tell you about

the importance of the Queen coming here for the ceremony? The Queen

shows national recognition of the importance of their loss, so having

her Majesty here, as the head of state, mean so much to them. And a

big day for the arboretum? Yes, we do not often have the sovereign

come here, and it is wonderful that she was able to grace us with her

presence. And it was clear what a moving ceremony it was, for

everybody. It is a lovely ceremony with an element of pomp, and an

element of real humility. And in the final part when people Olay

their brief, there is a great deal of sadness, but also happiness and

trying to move on, and fond memories as well. Thank you for

joining us on what has been a very poignant, memorable day in

Staffordshire. The Still ahead on Midlands Today: the lost musical

scores that lit up the golden era of silent films. A decision to

close four Shropshire schools was confirmed by councillors this

afternoon. But the threat of closure hanging over three other

schools was lifted. The situation arose because Shropshire currently

has nearly 3,000 fewer pupils than went to school six years ago. And

that means �10 million a year less from the Government. One of the

schools that will stay open is Lydbury North, but the future will

be very different as it forges closer links with another school.

Joanne Writtle reports. Lydbury North School in south Shropshire

has just 36 pupils. 11 miles away in Onibury, is Onny School, with 50

children. And today pupils from Onny came to Lydbury North for a

music workshop - and to celebrate becoming a so-called federation.

The two schools will share a governing body and other resources.

They will retain two headteachers and two sites. We have lots of

exciting plans and place, but joint visits, and I am seeking planning

from different teachers. Children from the two schools enjoyed

playtime together today. Their schools will maintain independence

and receive individual budgets. There are no plans for job cuts

Foster b have identified ways of saving money by sharing resources

more effectively, shearing purchasing arrangements and

practical ways of working together, making effective savings, bring

together, things that we had been doing separately. In February we

filmed campaigners from Onny School heading to Shropshire Council to

protest against closure plans. Today the children were celebrating

their reprieve. I am glad that our school is not closing, because I

have lived in the school for half of my life, and it would be a real

shame. It is a really good idea that we get to share our work and

we get to have the same kind of work, and I think it will be really

fun. It's hoped teachers will travel between the two schools to

share expertise in subjects. Onny and Lydbury North schools say one

of the ways they'll save money is by sharing coaches for school trips.

Shropshire Council has made tough decisions on school closures. But

it says it would like to see more federations. We believe that

federations, for our schools, is the best way we can deliver a

quality education. It's early days in this unusual arrangement. But

when children returned to Onny this afternoon, they continued to

celebrate - this time with a pirate theme. If you want to know the

details of the threatened schools, you can find those on the BBC

Shropshire website. A man's been arrested on suspicion of murder

after a 72 year old woman was found dead at her home in Birmingham.

Police were called to a house in the Harborne area of the city last

night. A 44 year-old man who was arrested at the scene is being

assessed in hospital. West Midlands Police say they're treating it as a

domestic incident. Staff from Severn Trent Water have been

holding a demonstration outside the company's AGM in Birmingham. They

were protesting against proposals to close the company's final salary

pension scheme. The union Unison says it's currently balloting

around 1,000 staff members, asking whether they're willing to take

industrial action over the change. This is a highly profitable company

with a turnover of �1.7 billion last year, and it is still seeking

to end final-salary pension schemes. We cannot accept that. This is

about protecting the long-term financial sustainability of the

business. We see increasing volatility in the pensions market,

people are living longer, so we have to do something about at that

to protect the company in future. The future of the NHS is the topic

of debate tonight as the public and decision-makers come face to face

in Worcester.The debate's been organised by BBC Hereford and

Worcester - and in the audience will be three brothers who are

concerned that care in the NHS is being eroded after the death of

their father. Sarah Falkland reports. The Kelly brothers were so

appalled at what they perceived to be a lack of care at the

Worcestershire Royal, they worked out a a shift system so they could

care for their Dad 24/7. Retired farmer Frank Kelly was admitted

with a stroke last November. It was very unfair to be good nurses that

we met, to be running the walk on their own for a whole shift, from

seven in the morning until 4 o'clock in the afternoon, on their

own, the only trained nurse on the ward. Very often. The stroke took

Mr Kelly's sight. His family say he was often dehydrated and couldn't

see his meals to eat. There was no urgency for my father at all and

that is why we stay 24 hours a day, between myself and my brothers, to

make sure that he did get what he needed at the time he needed it.

The hospital failed its Care Quality Commission test on dignity

and depression. The hospital said it takes patient care extremely

seriously and it was to reassure the public that all areas of the

laws that will are assessed on a daily basis for staff requirements.

It goes on to say that wants to make sure that staff have the time

to spend directly caring for patients, and, with that in mind,

it has reduced the amount of audits that they have to complete. The

hospital has passed its latest care quality inspection, but the Kelly

family say much more needs to be done. There are too many people in

suits, head people, instead of people out there with everyone, to

get a good job done, and to care for the people that need care.

Sarah is in Mr ahead of the debate tonight. There is concern about the

changes the Government wants to push through. That is probably an

understatement. Some critics say that what Andrew Lansley wants to

do is remodel the NHS based on greed rather than need. We can talk

to Richard Taylor, who is on the panel tonight. We had Matthew Kelly

saying in my package that there are too many men in suits in the NHS,

not enough doing the job. Would you agree? I would agree to earn a

certain extent. You need the right number of good managers, but nurses

and doctors are crucial. Even the Royal College of Nursing, in the

last few days, has been reported as forecasting there are going to be

100,000 less nurses in the next 10 years. That could be a disaster.

The Health Secretary is trying to cut bureaucracy and hand more power

to GPS, and making hospital super competitive. Is that the right

thing to do? I have no objection in principle to giving GPs more power

which could be done within existing primary care trust structures, but

I object to the stress and competition because health care is

not a commodity that response to competition. Certainly, there are

some aspects where the private sector could do things perhaps a

little better, but if they cherry- pick and take away the cheaper

things from a hospital service, then the hospital service could

fall down. I am very concerned that to be written Bill does not make it

clear that the Secretary of State has a duty to provide a

comprehensive health service across the entire country. Do you fear for

its future? I fear very much for the future of the NHS unless Andrew

Lansley's plans are changed dramatically. We're off to that

meeting now with the cameras. We will have a report on that that

beat in our late bulletin, starting at pains 20 5:00pm. And there will

be highlights on Friday at 6 o'clock. -- at 10:25pm. Midlands

companies are looking to cash in on links with Jamaica as the country's

track and field team heads to Birmingham ahead of the London 2012

Olympics. Britain already does �46 million of export trade with the

Caribbean Island. But are other opportunities on the horizon? In

the the second of our reports on Jamaican Connections, our Arts and

culture reporter Satnam Rana looks at how local businesses are gearing

up for 2012. Take Birmingham, invite the world's fastest runner

Usain Bolt and the rest of the Olympic Jamaican track and field

team to trains here and - they're the perfect ingredients for

boositing business. Wade Lyn started a Jamaican pattie company

in 1988. Today his firm turns over �2.2 million. He's even developing

a new Jamaican crust in time for London 2012. For our business, it

is the ideal time to promote what we call our Jamaican heritage, to

increase what I call the profile of our food, culture and music.

what opportunities does he see for business in the year ahead?

monetary value is quite significant. We will probably grow by 10% in the

next 12 months, with the Jamaican team being here, but, also, trying

to promote Jamaican food to the wider British public. Over 300

companies in the Midlands have won contracts for the Olympic Games,

but with Birmingham hosting the Jamaican track and field team,

could this be the moment to capitalise on international trade?

One firm hoping to cash in is Firmin's of Birmingham. It has been

serving those who serve since 1655, making military uniforms. They're

hoping to build upon trade they do with the Jamaican Minstry of

Justice. Already worth tens of thousands of pounds. If you think

of Jamaica providing room for the Royal Navy, we have been providing

badges for them since before the days of Lord Nelson. There are long

conditions -- long and traditional connections between Jamaica and the

United Kingdom. And for others like Wade Lyn, 2012 is the perfect year

to build upon his passion to bring a taste of Jamaica to British

society. Somebody missed their lunch. You could almost smell them!

We can stay with the idea of food and drink. Still ahead : we are off

to the orchards, where apple crops have fallen, but cider sales are

rising. And it is mid-July, but I'm not sure you would believe that,

looking out of the window. I will have details of when we expect the

sun to come out of hiding later in It was the thought of all that sun

and cider. Long lost musical scores dating back to the golden era of

silent films have been unearthed by staff at Birmingham's Central

Library. The unexpected treasures were found in a basement by staff

preparing for the move to a new purpose-built library in 2013. As

Bob Hockenhull reports, the collection includes music used as a

theme tune for the legendary Charlie Chaplin. In the depths of

Birmingham's library, cinematic delights have been uncovered.

Scattered along the forgotten shelves, around 500 silent movie

scores, believed to be Britain's largest collection. With the advent

of talking cinema, this music was so much waste paper, and much of it

is being thrown away. The fact that we have 500 sets of parts of this

music, it is partly the sheer quantity that is of interest.

the collection -an example of music being composed specifically for a

star rather than the action, in this case - the legendary Charlie

Chaplin. The collection reveals that musical directors could choose

from a range of scores, reflecting moods and action to stop for

example, we have titles such as Help, help, desperation, and

Supreme Pearl, presumably suitable music for an action film or horror

movie. Guest pianist Ben Dawson opened this week's City of

Birmingham Symphony Orchestra's Film Music Festival with the newly

discovered. Those things we regard as cliche now started off back in

the 1910s and 1920s, with music written for silent film. British

music publishers were sending out reams and reams Of Music, to be

played by the orchestras that cinema has could afford. As the

preparations continue for the move to Birmingham's new Library in 2013,

who knows what other gems will be uncovered? Very clever. I think

they might do that at the Black Country Museum. Now, what happens

when twenty footballers go head to head with a former British boxing

champion? The answer is they're taught a serious lesson in extreme

fitness. That's what happened when Burton Albion's squad were shown

how to punch above their weight in a work out with Birmingham boxer

Wayne Elcock. This is a boxercise session on a different scale.

Upsound boxing and punching Former british middleweight champion Wayne

Elcock is getting Burton Albion's footballers into shape. It's not

long before his intense work out is almost causing burn out. Someone

who is taking to the punches though is big defender Darren Moore. He's

got heavyweight potential. When I stop the football, I can start with

the boxing gloves. I take my hat off to all the boxers. The manager

says that this is also about group dynamics. There is the camaraderie,

with the lads egging each other on, that is an important part of the

season, making sure that you players come in and integrate to

the group. Them using his operas, from Gillingham, and Cleveland

poorer, who says he is happy to be back after a long spell -- loan

spell two seasons ago. I feel really settled and I am looking

forward to the season ahead. Everyone has been really well

coming and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. Hopefully, we will have

a successful season. Birmingham born boxer Elcock has been at the

top of his sport. But after setting up his new Box Clever business last

year - he says the reward from that has given him a new lease of life.

I cool that I have found my mission for after I have finished boxing.

He hasn't retired yet but for the time being - putting professionals

through their paces is certainly something he'll go the distance for.

Just watching that makes me feel tired! Cider Sales are soaring -

which is good news for our cider makers and orchard owners. In

Herefordshire, Westerns cider alone is looking to plant an extra 1000

acres of trees. And that's also good news for wildlife as our

Environment Correspondent David Gregory has been finding out. And

he joins us now from the sharp end of the cider industry. It's not all

good news for the industry this year, is it David? The cold weather

at the beginning of the Year has harmed the apple crop, but it turns

out that all jobs are very good for wildlife here in the Midlands. As I

found out at a special event today. This is a traditional Herefordshire

orchard complete with heritage of cattle. Ancient trees, never

sprayed with chemicals, so organic. And teeming with wildlife. A couple

of years ago, the map provided 75 different species of moths, when

tested. These apples are destined for Western's cider, and the boss

of the company popped down the road to the UK's first meeting of Cider

makers and wildlife experts. It is all part of hear that culture's

year of the orchard. -- Herefordshire's Year of the orchard.

This is an illustrated guide to all the apples and pears of the county,

by Thomas Knight. And it is absolutely gorgeous. It is unlikely

that Thomas night envisaged the modern boom in cider production.

Can the orchards here be wildly friendly? There is more space for

wildlife but in the commercial bridge or jobs, they might

appertain in grass margins, and a mix of seeds, to encourage wildlife

into the orchard. It has taken some time, but orchards are finally

gaining their reputation at they dessert, as he wins for wildlife.

Now, the Elan Frost did for the apple crop, but all of this rain is

leading to a bumper crop later in the year, so things are evening out.

Good news if you enjoy a pint of cider. Cider makers would like a

bit more sunshine so that they can make more of the staff, -- and

because people drink more of the stuff, when it is a bit sunnier.

Don't forget, we have the British weather Show, at 7:30pm, on BBC One.

Time now for the weather forecast. I can promise you some sun. But it

Her I am calling it an autumnal summer's day today! We're expecting

to see skies clearing a little this evening a. Some exciting things

happening in the sky - we saw that funnel cloud at Leamington Spa. And

we would love to get more of your pictures, too. There have been a

few showers around. We expect those two Clear, with temperatures not

dipping all that low, down to around 12 Celsius, just a touch

milder than last night. Tomorrow, we expect to see some brightness

and some scattered showers. Probably the heaviest of this

showers in the north, in the south, a little more sunshine. That will

affect temperatures, warmer in the south than in the know. Going into

Thursday night, and on Friday, we have some high-pressure beginning

to build. Low temperatures tomorrow night, a round then. It looks like

high pressure is going to win over the weekend. That is good news,

because it means that even through Sunday, it might be dry and bright.

And that bears out the temperatures, with highs of 21 Celsius. We have

not seen anything like that for a few days. There is a special

programme tonight celebrating the 50th anniversary of regional

television programmes, including a Pebble Mill, which had become a

global success story. Here is a question - do you know who was the

first ever presenter of Top Gear? This is a pretty good programme,

let's have it on the network, suddenly the programme I was asked

to do in the region again, an idea that came from a regional producer,

made by original production team, was catapulted onto the network.

And just look what happened to Top Gear, now! The answer to the

question if you have not guessed, it is BBC news presenter, Angela

Rippon. Everyone thinks the first presenter of Top Gear was Jeremy

Clarkson, but it was me! Before we leave you, we can look at the