Browse content similar to 06/12/2011. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Hello. Welcome to the programme. The headlines. 200 jobs to go at | :00:09. | :00:15. | |
Cadbury, but American owners Kraft Foods say they and investing �50 | :00:15. | :00:20. | |
million in the business. We will try to reduce the implications for | :00:20. | :00:22. | |
the work force and make sure they are treated with fairness and | :00:22. | :00:27. | |
dignity to stop chaos on the railways, as over headlines come | :00:27. | :00:33. | |
down leaving commuters to walk along the tracks. There was a huge | :00:33. | :00:38. | |
flash, forward by this sound that was the cable hitting the roof of | :00:38. | :00:44. | |
the train. And the Prince of Wales surprises troops with a surprise | :00:44. | :00:49. | |
visit to their hospital in Birmingham. And an appeal to save | :00:49. | :00:53. | |
Coventry's ice hockey team, as sponsorship cash tills to | :00:53. | :01:03. | |
:01:03. | :01:03. | ||
materialise. -- fails. Good evening, welcome to Tuesday's Midlands Today | :01:03. | :01:08. | |
from the BBC. Tonight: Job losses at Cadbury. American owners Kraft | :01:08. | :01:14. | |
say hundreds of jobs are to go at three factories. So let's look at | :01:14. | :01:17. | |
those plans. Around 200 jobs will be lost at the chocolate maker's | :01:17. | :01:19. | |
headquarters in Bournville in Birmingham, Marlbrook in | :01:19. | :01:23. | |
Herefordshire and Chirk near Oswestry. Kraft say the cuts are | :01:23. | :01:26. | |
essential as part of a �50 million investment plan to expand | :01:26. | :01:29. | |
production in the UK. But tonight unions warned they would not accept | :01:29. | :01:34. | |
compulsory redundancies. Here's Bob Hockenhull. The run-up to Christmas | :01:35. | :01:37. | |
- a busy time for Cadbury- but today the company's owners Kraft | :01:38. | :01:40. | |
Foods revealed they'll be making chocolate with a smaller workforce | :01:40. | :01:43. | |
in future. 200 jobs are to go across three factories in | :01:43. | :01:45. | |
Bournville in Birmingham, Herefordshire and Chirk near | :01:45. | :01:55. | |
:01:55. | :01:56. | ||
Oswestry. It is a shock, and where to King it in. The trade union is | :01:56. | :02:01. | |
totally opposed to compulsory redundancies, and if there are any, | :02:01. | :02:04. | |
we want to make sure there will -- that these will be on a voluntary | :02:05. | :02:12. | |
basis. The jobs will go as part of a �50 million investment programme. | :02:12. | :02:14. | |
Kraft Foods says new production lines using the latest technology | :02:14. | :02:17. | |
will be created at its sites to increase productivity. But the | :02:17. | :02:22. | |
restructuring will need fewer staff. When Kraft Foods a quiet Cadbury in | :02:22. | :02:27. | |
2010 it gave a two-year commitment that no jobs would be cut. Since | :02:27. | :02:32. | |
none of these 200 posts will be lost before March 2012, the company | :02:32. | :02:40. | |
insists that it is sticking to its work. -- word. Despite the job | :02:40. | :02:43. | |
losses, Kraft Foods is keen to put a positive spin on today's | :02:43. | :02:47. | |
announcement. This is not about jobs reduction, this is about | :02:47. | :02:52. | |
investment. And this is the key point. It is great that we are | :02:52. | :02:57. | |
investing in the factory and in this site, here. The changes come | :02:57. | :03:02. | |
as Kraft Foods -with an estimated �30 billion turnover- splits in two. | :03:02. | :03:04. | |
American boss Irene Rosenfeld - who wouldn't face MPs over questions | :03:04. | :03:07. | |
about job concerns, remains in charge of confectionery - so has | :03:07. | :03:13. | |
the ultimate say on Cadbury. Our business correspondent Peter | :03:13. | :03:23. | |
Plisner is at Cadbury's Bournville HQ now. Peter, Kraft say the job | :03:23. | :03:26. | |
cuts are needed as part of multi- million pound investment plan, but | :03:26. | :03:28. | |
usually investment means creating jobs, not shedding them. In this | :03:28. | :03:34. | |
case, investment in new technology means investment in automation and | :03:34. | :03:38. | |
greater productivity which means fewer jobs. Canberra will not say | :03:38. | :03:43. | |
which of the West Midlands sites these jobs are going at yet. It | :03:43. | :03:47. | |
hopes to make the job cuts through voluntary redundancies. The unions | :03:47. | :03:53. | |
are concerned that business leaders are welcoming the investment in | :03:53. | :03:59. | |
this and other plans. I am joined by Ceri Blackett from the Chamber | :03:59. | :04:03. | |
of Commerce. Good news about the investment, bad news about their | :04:03. | :04:07. | |
jobs. The says about the future of this wonderful business, globally, | :04:07. | :04:12. | |
and it is about building a sustainable number of jobs. We want | :04:12. | :04:17. | |
jobs for the long-term and that is what this announcement is saying. | :04:17. | :04:24. | |
Kraft Foods have said no job losses were two years, and right on the | :04:24. | :04:29. | |
bed lying, have announced job cuts. It would be foolish do expect long- | :04:29. | :04:34. | |
term job guarantees in a competitive business like this. | :04:34. | :04:38. | |
This is Rav Boots and Cadbury saying they are investing in this | :04:38. | :04:43. | |
area. There is a lot of good news. It is sad to see some jobs go, but | :04:43. | :04:49. | |
this is about long-term, sustainable jobs. When Cadbury was | :04:49. | :04:53. | |
taken over by Kraft Foods it was feared that some more factories | :04:54. | :05:02. | |
could go. Tonight, that looks less likely with this and this month. -- | :05:02. | :05:10. | |
this investment. Meanwhile, 220 jobs are under threat at a | :05:10. | :05:16. | |
Birmingham manufacturing company. Tucker Fasteners has been based in | :05:16. | :05:19. | |
Perry Barr for more than 100 years. But its parent company, Stanley | :05:19. | :05:22. | |
Black and Decker, wants to stop production with the work moving to | :05:22. | :05:24. | |
Germany. The company says the plant has made consistent losses since | :05:24. | :05:27. | |
1999. And later in tonight's programme forging new business | :05:27. | :05:29. | |
links with the growing economies of the Far East. Birmingham | :05:29. | :05:32. | |
International Airport and Chinese- owned MG cars link up to push for | :05:32. | :05:36. | |
direct flights to China. There's been chaos today on the region's | :05:36. | :05:46. | |
busiest rail line. An overhead power cable came down at Penkridge | :05:46. | :05:48. | |
in Staffordshire at around 8:30am this morning, causing the closure | :05:48. | :05:51. | |
of the entire line between Stafford and Wolverhampton and affecting | :05:51. | :05:53. | |
services to Birmingham. These passengers were evacuated from one | :05:53. | :05:56. | |
of the affected trains after the damaged power line hit the top of | :05:56. | :05:59. | |
the carriages. They waited two hours before someone came to escort | :05:59. | :06:04. | |
them off the train and lead them to safety down the tracks. He had just | :06:04. | :06:11. | |
come through Penkridge, and then there was a huge pink flash, and | :06:11. | :06:15. | |
then some clattering sounds which was the Cable's hitting the roof of | :06:15. | :06:19. | |
the train, and one of the cables damaged the window opposite me. It | :06:20. | :06:27. | |
was a bit startling. correspondent David Gregory is at | :06:27. | :06:30. | |
Penkridge station for us now - so what's happening there, David? And | :06:30. | :06:40. | |
:06:40. | :06:55. | ||
what do they think went wrong? There you go, that is the first | :06:55. | :06:59. | |
trio of the day, through Penkridge station. Repair crews will be | :06:59. | :07:03. | |
closing this line again and going back to repair the overhead | :07:03. | :07:07. | |
electrical cables at a cost these problems and it is hoped that all | :07:07. | :07:14. | |
trains will be back to normal tomorrow morning. What do they | :07:14. | :07:19. | |
Think went wrong? There was a problem with the overhead cable | :07:19. | :07:22. | |
yesterday which was repaired overnight and when the first train | :07:22. | :07:28. | |
went through, the cable became wrapped around the component on the | :07:28. | :07:32. | |
top of the train that draws power from the cable. That was pulled | :07:32. | :07:36. | |
down, and that is what that passenger was describing to oz | :07:36. | :07:42. | |
earlier. When crews get back to repair this component, hopefully, | :07:42. | :07:51. | |
the chaos that we have seen today will not be repeated tomorrow. | :07:51. | :07:54. | |
families of wounded servicemen and women will be able to stay close to | :07:54. | :07:57. | |
their loved ones after a donation from the News of the World | :07:57. | :08:00. | |
newspaper. After it shut in the phone hacking scandal, the | :08:00. | :08:02. | |
newspaper gave �1 million which will go towards accommodation at | :08:02. | :08:05. | |
the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine in Birmingham. Today, the | :08:05. | :08:08. | |
Prince of Wales visited the centre at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital to | :08:08. | :08:12. | |
talk to troops wounded in Afghanistan. Andy Newman reports. | :08:12. | :08:15. | |
He's becoming something of a familiar figure at the QE. Prince | :08:15. | :08:18. | |
Charles been averaging three visits a year and always aims to come once | :08:18. | :08:26. | |
in the run up to Christmas. Despite there being no pre-publicity a | :08:26. | :08:29. | |
spontaneous crowd greeted him with real warms and affection each | :08:29. | :08:32. | |
hoping to be rewarded with a royal handshake or hello. Then it was | :08:33. | :08:36. | |
upstairs to the business of the day - first to meet the medical staff | :08:36. | :08:38. | |
treating servicemen at the royal centre for defence medicine before | :08:39. | :08:44. | |
disappearing for the private part of his visit. The Prince is meeting | :08:44. | :08:47. | |
15 servicemen being treated and the special military what, and we have | :08:47. | :08:50. | |
not been allowed to film that because some of them are still | :08:50. | :08:55. | |
traumatised, having only recently been removed from the battlefield. | :08:55. | :09:00. | |
It is a morale booster for everybody. He takes a real interest | :09:00. | :09:03. | |
in the patients and the staff, which introduced a better patient | :09:03. | :09:13. | |
:09:13. | :09:15. | ||
care. Elsewhere at the hospital it was business as unusual as fund | :09:15. | :09:17. | |
raisers confirmed that they're on track to build a residential centre | :09:17. | :09:20. | |
for service personnel and their families, a project kick started by | :09:20. | :09:24. | |
a donation of nearly �1 million from the News of the World when it | :09:24. | :09:26. | |
closed. After spending nearly two hours with the injured servicemen | :09:26. | :09:29. | |
The Prince meanwhile was ready to leave, but he'll be back again soon, | :09:29. | :09:33. | |
you can bank on it. It is going to be a centre where military patients | :09:33. | :09:35. | |
can spend some time with their families and friends and their | :09:35. | :09:37. | |
friends from the regiment in an non-clinical environment. It is | :09:37. | :09:39. | |
also going to provide overnight accommodation for the families of | :09:39. | :09:42. | |
those military patients. The Prince, meanwhile, was ready to lead. But | :09:42. | :09:52. | |
:09:52. | :09:53. | ||
he will be back again soon, you can bank on it. -- ready to leave. Five | :09:53. | :09:56. | |
members from a regiment recently returned from Afghanistan have been | :09:56. | :09:58. | |
presented with bravery awards by the Queen at Buckingham Palace. The | :09:58. | :10:01. | |
men are from the 1st Battalion Royal Irish Regiment. For several | :10:01. | :10:04. | |
years they've been based at Tern Hill in Shropshire, which has | :10:04. | :10:11. | |
become the regiment's adopted home. Joan Cummins reports. In their | :10:11. | :10:14. | |
third tour of Afghanistan, The Royal Irish lost three men. All | :10:14. | :10:23. | |
remembered in today's presentations at Buckingham Palace. In the | :10:23. | :10:26. | |
regiments own photographic records, the impact of the shropshire based | :10:26. | :10:28. | |
team in Afghanistan is clear. Today, Leuitenant Paul McFarland was | :10:28. | :10:31. | |
awarded the Military Cross for using his own body as a human | :10:31. | :10:34. | |
shield to protect a collegue in a grenade attack. The boys do things | :10:35. | :10:39. | |
like that across Afghanistan almost every day. It is a credit to | :10:39. | :10:49. | |
:10:49. | :10:54. | ||
everyone. Just a bunch of guys, looking after each other. Sgt Peter | :10:54. | :10:57. | |
Keogh's mother cried when he told her he was to get the Military | :10:57. | :11:01. | |
Cross. He'd shown "exceptional courage" by making himself a target | :11:01. | :11:04. | |
for the Taliban enabling a stretcher party to reach a | :11:04. | :11:09. | |
helicopter. He sees the medal as a thank you to all his regiment. | :11:09. | :11:15. | |
is a great honour. I work with pride, but just for myself but for | :11:15. | :11:23. | |
the guys in the battalion who were her. So it was a great honour. -- | :11:23. | :11:30. | |
who were hurt. And an MBE has been awarded to Major Jamie Humphries | :11:30. | :11:32. | |
for his work in defeating insurgents,but he remains modest | :11:32. | :11:36. | |
about his involvement. I was just lucky, or unlucky, enough that the | :11:36. | :11:41. | |
every I was was was well for was particularly busy. There is no way | :11:41. | :11:47. | |
that what I did was any different to what anyone else had done. | :11:47. | :11:50. | |
the men told me that despite the circumstances they were touched by | :11:50. | :12:00. | |
the hospitality of the Afghan people.. Still to come: We told you | :12:00. | :12:04. | |
it was cold, didn't we? This morning, drivers in the north of | :12:04. | :12:07. | |
the region woke up to their first significant snow of the winter. | :12:07. | :12:14. | |
More to come, Shefali? It looks like that could be, near the end of | :12:14. | :12:18. | |
the week, the result of an Arctic blast. And the indications are that | :12:18. | :12:22. | |
it could be more than just a dusting of snow. All the details | :12:22. | :12:32. | |
:12:32. | :12:36. | ||
later. Chinese-owned MG Motor company has teamed up with | :12:36. | :12:39. | |
Birmingham Airport with aim of getting a direct flight to Shanghai | :12:39. | :12:42. | |
in China. It would be a big boost for businesses here, opening up new | :12:42. | :12:48. | |
potential markets as our political editor Patrick Burns reports. As | :12:48. | :12:52. | |
branding exercises go, this one was clear enough and so was the message | :12:52. | :12:55. | |
behind it. You can fly from Birmingham to the Far East, but not | :12:55. | :12:58. | |
without stopping somewhere along the way. These MGs have come from | :12:58. | :13:01. | |
no further afield than Longbridge, where 400 people now work at the | :13:01. | :13:04. | |
new model car plant. But lengthening this runway would | :13:04. | :13:07. | |
enable direct flights to the home of their parent company, Shanghai | :13:07. | :13:13. | |
Automotive. What we're trying to do is work together with the local | :13:14. | :13:22. | |
community, the local companies, to make us get better off from the | :13:22. | :13:28. | |
recession. Without improving links to the biggest emerging economy it | :13:28. | :13:31. | |
would be hard to sustain the region's claims to be a serious | :13:31. | :13:34. | |
player in global markets. You can look at Russia and Indonesia and | :13:34. | :13:41. | |
Brazil, who also want to connect with the UK, we still have a brick | :13:41. | :13:49. | |
economy. It is still a very strong economy. MG hope their �50 million | :13:49. | :13:52. | |
investment in the Midlands is just the start. The Chinese car market | :13:52. | :13:56. | |
is already more than ten times the size of the UK's. It's all about | :13:56. | :14:02. | |
leverage. MG have leverage with their parent company Shanghai | :14:02. | :14:04. | |
Automotive. They have leverage with the Chinese Government. They | :14:04. | :14:07. | |
certainly have leverage with the airlines. So the airport plan to | :14:07. | :14:11. | |
pull all these levers for the benefit of the W Midlands economy. | :14:11. | :14:21. | |
:14:21. | :14:24. | ||
-- West Midlands. Time for the sports news now. There's another | :14:24. | :14:28. | |
sports team in Coventry with money troubles. Who is it this time? The | :14:28. | :14:31. | |
Coventry Blaze ice hockey team say they have just a month to survive | :14:31. | :14:34. | |
after unpaid sponsorship and a big drop in attendances left them | :14:34. | :14:36. | |
strapped for cash. They have now launched a fundraising push | :14:36. | :14:39. | |
starting with Saturday's home game against the Sheffield Sharks. Ice | :14:39. | :14:42. | |
hockey's a tough sport - and for the Coventry Blaze it just got | :14:42. | :14:46. | |
tougher. They were working hard on the ice today - but their problems | :14:46. | :14:49. | |
are off it. They've got money troubles and they've got just a | :14:49. | :14:56. | |
month before it runs out. Right that, it is a pretty serious | :14:56. | :15:01. | |
situation. If we don't come out and announce that we need the support | :15:01. | :15:06. | |
and help from fans and sponsors, unless there was a real need, and | :15:06. | :15:10. | |
we find ourselves in a bit of difficulty and we need help to get | :15:10. | :15:14. | |
through December. The main problem stems from the club sponsor | :15:14. | :15:20. | |
Coventry-based CPP Manufacturing. Their major shareholder, Lithuanian | :15:20. | :15:22. | |
businessman Vladimir Antonov, has been arrested on suspicion of fraud | :15:22. | :15:25. | |
and his assets have been frozen. And that means no money flowing | :15:25. | :15:28. | |
into the Blaze. But attendances are also down this season, so ticket | :15:28. | :15:31. | |
revenue has fallen by 20%. Head coach Paul Thompson is drumming up | :15:31. | :15:38. | |
support and trying to keep the players focused. You are | :15:38. | :15:42. | |
professional player. The clubbers in financial trouble. Christmas is | :15:42. | :15:49. | |
coming. Nobody is looking to leave. I cannot ask any more from these | :15:49. | :15:55. | |
guys. The fans are coming together. We are a special club. We have had | :15:55. | :15:59. | |
special times together. We are appealing to local people to come | :15:59. | :16:05. | |
out and support us. We have been here for 12 years, we want to be | :16:05. | :16:11. | |
here for the next 30 years. Thompson just like general manager | :16:11. | :16:14. | |
James Pease has been with the club for 12 years in Coventry - so they | :16:14. | :16:18. | |
are hurting more than most at the moment. They hope the city will | :16:18. | :16:21. | |
back the club - starting with Saturday's home game against | :16:21. | :16:23. | |
Sheffield Steelers. The Blaze have been a success story. The 2010 | :16:23. | :16:29. | |
elite league title was their fourth in the last seven years. But if the | :16:29. | :16:32. | |
fans don't return in numbers, they might not have a club by the New | :16:32. | :16:42. | |
Year. So just how bad are their probems? Extremely serious, but it | :16:42. | :16:48. | |
is a cashflow problem and they the people to come to the matches, fast. | :16:48. | :16:52. | |
Just 1600 people at the game when Saturday. They the people to come | :16:52. | :17:02. | |
:17:02. | :17:03. | ||
out, through December, so that they can start turning the clock round. | :17:03. | :17:08. | |
Coventry rugby club got relegated to the third tour of rugby. The | :17:08. | :17:12. | |
Football Club is faking fires as well. The Coventry blaze has been a | :17:12. | :17:17. | |
success story, but it is just another thing to be depressed about | :17:17. | :17:22. | |
in the City of Coventry, on the sporting front. Let us hope that | :17:22. | :17:26. | |
they can turn that Brad. Why do I know that been, and Vladimir Anton | :17:26. | :17:34. | |
of? He is the chairman of Portsmouth Football Club, so he has | :17:34. | :17:44. | |
:17:44. | :17:47. | ||
been in the headlines because of that, as well. -- Vladimir Antonov. | :17:47. | :17:50. | |
12 months ago, we followed Bert Williams to Buckingham Palace to | :17:50. | :17:53. | |
receive his MBE from the Queen. Now, there's another honour for the | :17:53. | :17:56. | |
former Wolves and England goalkeeper. Bert, who will be 92 | :17:56. | :17:59. | |
next month, has just opened the new leisure centre in his home town of | :17:59. | :18:02. | |
Bilston, near Wolverhampton. And it's been named in his honour, as | :18:02. | :18:12. | |
:18:12. | :18:14. | ||
Ian Winter reports. Old friends reunited. Whenever Bert Williams | :18:14. | :18:17. | |
comes back home to Bilston he is always treated like royalty. And | :18:17. | :18:20. | |
he's always so humbled by the genuine warmth of the Black Country | :18:20. | :18:24. | |
welcome. But this was extra special. Because Bert was the VIP guest to | :18:24. | :18:27. | |
open Bilston's new leisure centre, named in his honour. This is for | :18:27. | :18:36. | |
all of you. Thank you very much were coming. A proud moment indeed | :18:36. | :18:39. | |
for Bert, who was born in nearby Bradley back in 1920. On this very | :18:39. | :18:42. | |
spot where the new centre now stands. He spent countless hours | :18:42. | :18:45. | |
playing football. He went on to become a goalkeeping legend with | :18:45. | :18:50. | |
Wolverhampton Wanderers and England. Billy Wright and Norman Plummer | :18:50. | :18:54. | |
head the all West Midlands teams onto the turf, for football's game | :18:54. | :19:04. | |
:19:04. | :19:07. | ||
of the year. In 1949, Bert helped Wolves win the FA Cup at Wembley in | :19:07. | :19:11. | |
front of the future Queen, and went on to play more than 400 games for | :19:11. | :19:14. | |
his favourite club, plus 24 caps for England. So who better than | :19:14. | :19:17. | |
Bert himself to give me a guided tour, to see for ourselves the | :19:17. | :19:20. | |
state of the art facilities, costing almost �19 million. I have | :19:20. | :19:22. | |
never in my wildest dreams, would I believe that this could happen. It | :19:22. | :19:26. | |
is the finest sports centre I have seen a man live. Everywhere we went, | :19:27. | :19:30. | |
his eyes were as wide as saucers. Growing up in Bilston, young Bert | :19:30. | :19:34. | |
never dreamt of anything like this. It is a place to be proud of, isn't | :19:34. | :19:44. | |
:19:44. | :19:44. | ||
it, really? He used to go swimming in the filthy canal, like all the | :19:44. | :19:48. | |
kids did. Now there's a 25 metre pool, warm and inviting. It makes | :19:48. | :19:54. | |
you feel like jumping in and joining them. And as for the new | :19:54. | :20:01. | |
fitness room, its in a league of its own. 100 workstations year. | :20:01. | :20:08. | |
is unbelievable. Everything here is on a grand scale. He is a legend | :20:08. | :20:12. | |
around here, and he has come back home, forever, in the name of this | :20:12. | :20:20. | |
building. Dennis Turner, now Lord Bilston, is one of Bert's lifelong | :20:20. | :20:24. | |
friends. They've never lost touch with their Black Country roots. And | :20:24. | :20:30. | |
when Bert turns 92 next month, he could not wish for a better gift | :20:30. | :20:40. | |
:20:40. | :20:46. | ||
than the leisure centre that bears his name. Staying with sport, now. | :20:46. | :20:49. | |
Bill Sayer from Shrewsbury has a passion and it's rowing. Half a | :20:49. | :20:52. | |
century ago as a student he rowed for Cambridge University. Later, he | :20:52. | :20:56. | |
became a coach and now you can find him most days at the Pengwern Boat | :20:56. | :20:59. | |
Club on the River Severn, helping local youngsters develop their | :20:59. | :21:02. | |
talent. Nadine Towell has been to meet the last of our five finalists | :21:02. | :21:04. | |
in this year's BBC Midlands Sports Unsung Hero competition. Pengwern | :21:04. | :21:11. | |
Boat Club in Shrewsbury is like a second home for Bill Sayer. At | :21:11. | :21:14. | |
least five days every week, he and his wife Margaret are here, | :21:14. | :21:18. | |
dedicating hour after hour to the club's junior members. It does not | :21:18. | :21:22. | |
matter what level, if they are enjoying themselves and you'll do | :21:22. | :21:27. | |
it is rewarding for them, then it is rewarding for me. -- and | :21:27. | :21:33. | |
fuelling that it is rewarding. Robbie Massey was an undiscovered | :21:33. | :21:36. | |
talent until Bill spotted his potential. Seen here rowing | :21:36. | :21:38. | |
competitively in the Pengwern colours, recent results mean | :21:38. | :21:41. | |
Robbie's now one of the best young rowers in the country. His father | :21:41. | :21:45. | |
nominated Bill for our Unsung Hero award. Robbie is straining with the | :21:45. | :21:51. | |
Welsh squad in Cardiff. He has learned so much from Bill, who has | :21:51. | :22:01. | |
coached and encouraged him and transformed his life. During the | :22:01. | :22:03. | |
winter months weekday training is restricted to improving rowers' | :22:03. | :22:06. | |
technique on the indoor machines. But at the weekends they take to | :22:06. | :22:09. | |
the river. This Sunday, Bill and Margaret weren't here - they were | :22:09. | :22:12. | |
on their way home from a well- deserved holiday. But despite their | :22:12. | :22:16. | |
absence, their influence was still being felt. He is a very skilled | :22:16. | :22:21. | |
coach, as we can see, from how far will be has gone. He is so positive | :22:21. | :22:29. | |
in everything you do, and he cares about us as individuals. He goes to | :22:29. | :22:37. | |
all the races. He does not get paid or anything. He just does it for us. | :22:37. | :22:45. | |
Bill's knowledge of the sport is widely respected. And whether it's | :22:45. | :22:48. | |
top-class rowers or absolute beginners there's no doubting his | :22:48. | :22:51. | |
motivation and dedication, not to mention his modesty. I am very | :22:51. | :22:54. | |
conscious that there are lots of other volunteer sports coaches who | :22:54. | :23:00. | |
do a great deal, and I have a great deal of respect for them, I just do | :23:00. | :23:06. | |
it because I like it, and I did not expect this at all. There's a | :23:06. | :23:09. | |
waiting list for junior members at this club. According to the people | :23:09. | :23:18. | |
here that's largely thanks to the unsung efforts of Bill Sayer. Have | :23:18. | :23:26. | |
you ever done any rowing? Only a tiny bit on the river on Stratford. | :23:26. | :23:33. | |
That is what made me the rugged figure I am today! And, tomorrow | :23:33. | :23:36. | |
night, one of the five people we've featured who give up their time to | :23:36. | :23:45. | |
help others will be named our Unsung Sporting Hero for 2011. This | :23:45. | :23:49. | |
time last year, the mercury had plunged and we were in the midst of | :23:49. | :23:52. | |
icy blasts and snowstorms. It turned out to be the coldest winter | :23:52. | :23:55. | |
for 30 years. Although it's been milder so far, families in the | :23:55. | :23:58. | |
north of the region woke up to the first significant snow of the | :23:58. | :24:02. | |
winter. Here's our Staffordshire reporter, Liz Copper. On the Leek | :24:02. | :24:05. | |
to Buxton road the craggy rocks of the Roaches are blanketted. And | :24:05. | :24:11. | |
there are drifts along the country lanes and dry stone walls. These | :24:11. | :24:16. | |
peak District roads are some of the highest in England. After such a | :24:16. | :24:21. | |
mild autumn, this is the first snowfall of winter. And this couple, | :24:21. | :24:27. | |
near the village of Flash, were enjoying the picture-perfect scenes. | :24:27. | :24:32. | |
My girlfriend has come over from Thailand. Andrew main ambition, | :24:33. | :24:38. | |
apart from to be with me, was to cease no, so we came up when we | :24:38. | :24:42. | |
have the snow forecast on the local radio. It is the first time she has | :24:42. | :24:50. | |
seen the snow. It is beautiful. Very happy! This time last year | :24:50. | :24:53. | |
these were the scenes in the Moorlands. They were the heaviest | :24:53. | :24:56. | |
snowfalls for many years. This year, it's much less severe, but | :24:56. | :24:58. | |
nevertheless snowploughs are already out - and gritters will be | :24:58. | :25:05. | |
on the roads tonight. This is the second year that we have had to | :25:05. | :25:09. | |
have 2,000 tonnes of grit. Before, we only used to keep 15,000. Two | :25:09. | :25:15. | |
years ago we all got caught short, as a nation, and we did not intend | :25:15. | :25:20. | |
to again. We have the cold this winter in 100 years last year. We | :25:20. | :25:25. | |
have got 700 tonnes of grit coming in today, so we are replacing it, | :25:25. | :25:30. | |
as we use it, so we have always got reserve stock. This may be the | :25:30. | :25:34. | |
first coating of snow this year - but here in the Peak District, | :25:34. | :25:42. | |
they're braced for more icy weather to come. That broke his epic, from | :25:42. | :25:52. | |
:25:52. | :25:57. | ||
leaked to Buxton, I tell you. -- that road is epic. Here's Shefali. | :25:57. | :25:59. | |
Last night's snow over Staffordshire isn't the only snow | :25:59. | :26:06. | |
of the week. We're looking at further snow, Thursday night into | :26:06. | :26:13. | |
Friday. So far as tonight those, we're not going to see too much | :26:13. | :26:21. | |
snow, but we have blustery showers to the north. Showers rattling in | :26:21. | :26:25. | |
from the West. That is where the majority of the concentration of | :26:25. | :26:31. | |
showers has been. Just a few of them could turn to snow, over the | :26:31. | :26:39. | |
Staffordshire merlons. We're looking at dusts of 50 mph, and | :26:39. | :26:44. | |
respect of that, temperatures could fall as low as Deal Celsius. That | :26:44. | :26:50. | |
will bring a Prost. You could be scraping the eyes of your | :26:50. | :26:54. | |
windscreens by tomorrow. We have a lovely sunny start tomorrow, | :26:54. | :27:00. | |
although it will be a windy day. Temperatures, coupler degrees | :27:00. | :27:08. | |
higher than today at around five- seven Celsius. Tomorrow night, a | :27:08. | :27:12. | |
warm front coming through. It is going to be milder, but we and | :27:12. | :27:22. | |
:27:22. | :27:24. | ||
windy. A look at tonight's main headlines: There's been | :27:24. | :27:26. | |
unprecedented violence in Afghanistan - bomb attacks across | :27:26. | :27:31. |