03/01/2017 Points West

Welcome to BBC Points West with Alex Lovell and David Garmston.

My first chance to wish you a Happy New Year.

A new craze in the Cheddar Gorge - but as a million people watch

online, the police warn of the dangers.

They are putting themselves at risk. I mean, you have sheer rock faces

there that if they hit at that speed, they are going to cause

themselves in serious injuries, but also putting other road users at

risk as well. Anger on the railways

as commuters claim the service they get doesn't justify

the increase in fares. And the campaign to honour a former

Dam Buster after his name was left And football's transfer window is

now open, so who will our clubs be buying and selling?

Look at this as a way of getting down the Cheddar Gorge -

on a three-wheeled cycle, sliding through the

A million people have watched these pictures online -

including shots of the little tricycles narrowly missing cars

It may be a speed kick for those involved but local people say "drift

triking" is dangerous and now the police are involved.

Our Somerset Correspondent Clinton Rogers reports.

When they put up this sign, they probably

A new craze born - in New Zealand - sweeping the UK and now arriving

at a gorge near you, much to the annoyance of locals.

The parish council absolutely deplores it and we really can't

understand why these people should take such terrible risks with their

own lives and also endanger the lives of ordinary law-abiding

motorists coming up the other way. This video was filmed

in the Gorge and posted Already a million

people have seen it. The Gorge has always been a Mecca

for extreme sports - So called "boy racers" bring

their cars here on a regular basis. And now this - and whether it's

sport or antisocial behaviour I spoke to someone from the trike

drifting community who helped to organise the event here. He didn't

want to be interviewed on television but he did tell me they had warning

signs out on the day and they had spotters at either end of the gorge

looking out for traffic. All sports, he went on, have inherent dangers.

It is shocking because there you have got an incident where one of

the trikes have swerved in front of a car and the car has to take

evasive action. But the police who have now seen

the footage say - potentially - Certainly based on what I am viewing

here, we will act on this information and we will start an

investigation in relation to what's actually happened and been recorded.

So there could be prosecutions? Potentially, yes.

As for stopping it happening, ideas range from speed humps

to cattle grids to anti-skid road surfacing.

And it's a subject that's got many of you talking

Some people think it looks like fun, but others disagree.

Carol Atkins said she saw it happening and thought

Paul Jeffrey said he nearly ran a trike over as it came shooting

around a bend on the wrong side of the road.

Go to our Facebook page if you'd like to join in that discussion.

Police are still questioning two men, arrested on suspicion of murder

after a man was found stabbed to death on Christmas Eve.

Mohammed Abdurezak's body was discovered in Siston

Detectives investigating his death are searching two

A third man arrested has been released on bail.

Unions claim West Country rail travellers aren't getting

They're warning that the latest new year fare increase -

set by the Government at 2.3% - outstrips any growth in wages.

Ministers say the fare increase helps to pay for the biggest

round of improvements to rail services in a century.

Scott Ellis is at Temple Meads for us now.

Yes, good evening. ?40 billion is being invested in the rail network

at the moment, the Government tried to shift the burden of that cost a

wave of general taxpayers and onto rail passengers themselves, so there

will be more increases but to .3% was seen as being a bit sharp by

some people, it is linked to the price index rise, a spike after the

vote to leave the EU but people are saying it is a rise too high and it

means tickets are going up much faster than wages.

The latest price hike affects 40% of all rail ticket sales.

Those controlled by the Government rather than the train operators.

Most passengers we spoke to regard trains as over priced.

I think the service is shocking. I don't use it too often just for that

reason. I think I'm lucky that particular line Iron Man hasn't been

as badly hit as some others. It is disgusting. Can you afford it? No.

Is the rise justified? No. I buy sensibly so I am not too angry.

There is nothing I can do, the option is take the bus and commute

for an extra hour. The rise means

the cost for a return ticket That 150-mile round trip in a car -

costed at 40p a mile - The train operators would say buying

in advantage is cheaper. One passenger watchdog says that

highlights just what a bad deal The trains are 40 years old, the

service is unreliable, one in four trains through the great Western

central area is running late at the moment and it is the most

overcrowded root in the country to Paddington, so people haven't had a

fair deal, they have been asked to pay for the future without the

future having arrived. Electrification

here in the west has But Network rail says

signalling's been improved. New hybrid trains will be

pulling into west country And there'll be two

new services to London - Improvements the train companies

admit are desperately needed. The growth in the number of people

using the railway has been enormous. It certainly what was and -- not

what was anticipated a decade ago which means every single time

something goes wrong with the infrastructure, far less than it

used to, means big impact on customers which is why we need to

improve the reliability even more, improve the signal system, so we can

deliver more on-time services and more of them with more capacity.

Trains here are more popular than ever.

Suggesting many are dependent on trains -

and have no alternative other than to absorb price hikes.

It's our first full programme of 2017 and it's lovely

I hope you have avoided the Christmas cold, do excuse my croaky

voice. But stay with us, there is lot more to come.

The campaign to get the last Dam Buster knighted.

And New Year celebrations may be over but ours have only just begun,

as the programme is 60 this year. And later, we will take you behind

the scenes, access all areas as we delve into the Points West archives.

One thing that's changed for the worst over the last 60 years

is the number of people suffering from Type 2 Diabetes,

which is linked to eating too many sweet things and not

Now as we weigh in after the excesses of Christmas -

everybody living in Bristol is being challenged to radically cut

Dave Harvey's been to meet a woman who took Type 2

When he actually said the words, "You know have diabetes,

"you have gone over that line, you have got type 2

diabetes," I thought, right, this is it, I've

I decided to give up a sugar completely.

I decided to give up sugar completely.

It turned out to be a lot harder than she thought.

Sugar is in all kinds of surprising places.

I really like my coleslaw, but that's got sugar in it.

The big culprit for me initially was the fizzy drinks.

This one is a lot healthier, because it's a lot more natural,

but it still got just as much sugar in as Coke, so that

And quitting sugar was just the half of it.

When I first started running, it was literally one-minute run,

one minute walk and now I can run for an hour or more.

I've done a half marathon, I've done a 10K.

After three months of this, Becky went back to her GP.

So you were in the range where your blood sugar would have

been in the diabetic range and that it gone back

been in the diabetic range and now it's gone back completely to normal,

Yes, Becky had reversed to diabetes completely.

It's remarkable, but not unique and doctors would love more people

Approximately 10% of people within our city are at risk

of diabetes, those are the ones that we really want to get through.

They can do something now to prevent themselves getting

diabetes in the future years and that is obviously hugely

beneficial to themselves, to their families,

to the Health Service and to the overall health of this city.

But most of us don't and sweet treats are a daily temptation.

So how will sugar smart change all that?

This is supposed to be an energy drink, a health drink, rather,

but it got 20 grams of sugar in each can.

They're starting with students, investigating surprise sugars.

It's making sure that water is affordable,

We will be doing a lot of promotions around free fruit or free bottled

And here's another big signing, Ashton Gate.

We would like to make Sugar Smart is to have one member of each

of the Bristol sports squads adopting sugar Smart,

so a rugby player, of footballer, a basketball player,

women's footballer, badminton players...

Signing up the sports stars, Jamie Oliver's director

They estimate there could be another 5 million people who are either

at risk or have it and don't know, so it is wonderful to bring

Becky's New Year challenge- to run a marathon. Now that would be sweet.

And we will let you know how that campaign goes. Of course, you try to

be good and eat healthy things and you find that they have got sugar in

them, soup and saw. We were talking, my mother and I, it

is really tricky. We might well be doing more on that.

The last surviving British Dam Buster has been thrust

95-year-old George "Johnny" Johnson, who lives in Bristol,

had been nominated for an award, but wasn't included in the list,

Andy Howard has been to meet the man himself.

is the night which defines Johnny Johnson's life.

He was one of 133 men who flew over Germany to bomb dams.

More than a third of them never came home.

The highest loss of any squadron for one night's operation. And people

say to me, where you frightened? How say anyone who has thought that for

the first time must be at least a bit apprehensive. If not, they are

devoid of emotion or strangers to the truth. The shot that we had

heard and felt had gone through the starboard undercarriage, burst a

tire en route and then passed through the wing and landed in the

roof, just above the navigator's head. How lucky can you get? But it

had achieved something. Something which became historical. Johnnie

Johnson has seen a lot of things in his long life, but never himself on

the front page of a tabloid newspaper. Until today. Campaigners

say he should have been in a new years Honours list for his bravery.

If I am honoured now, it won't be the me, it will be further squadron

and I shall make it quite clear. But if it comes off, I shall ask with

due humility, Her Majesty, if I can dedicate it to the 55,573 Bomber

Command aircrews that gave their lives for their country during the

war and in particular, the 53 of my comrades on 617 squadron on the dams

raid. I think she would agree. But whether Johnny is on the Queens list

next time remains to be seen. -- the Queen's.

What a remarkable man. Well, Paul Walmsley has

written to the Queen Paul's own father was in the RAF,

and he told us he feels the Dam Busters need

to be remembered properly. It would be an honour

for the squadron, because the Dam Busters

are world known. They were the legendary

squadron of World War II. And what did you think

when you saw the list of honours Well, I was totally shocked

that he has been omitted and I felt He is a war hero, he has done 30

years of charity work, mainly for the British Legion

and the Royal Air Force benevolent fund and he is a well-respected

member of the community. Those are the two things that

you are asked about. And I guess you're

going to fight on? All right, thank you very much

indeed coming on the programme. The January sales have begun

for our football clubs now that the transfer

window is open. It's a chance to buy,

sell and loan players Our sports editor Alistair Durden

is here to look at what our clubs What are they doing?

It is a frantic time for managers, that is visual, their last chance to

do any business, they have to do it all this month and then that is it

until the summer, so the pressure is on to strengthen those squads.

And for Bristol City, there's a clear need for reinforcements.

They're just three points off the Championship relegation zone

after yesterday's loss to Reading - a game they led 2-0 at one stage.

But it's now nine defeats out of the last ten,

and supporters are clear where they want the team

Obviously, a striker. If Tammy got injured, I don't know what we will

do because we have nothing firing up front apart from him. He will have

do look abroad because anyone banging them in in the championship

will be extortionate. They need a goalkeeper, an attacking midfielder

and they need a 20 goal striker, that's what they need.

City are close to getting a striker - Bosnia international Milan Duric

And tonight, they have also been linked with Preston defender Bailey

right. As for Bristol Rovers,

keeping star striker Matty Taylor Manager Darrell Clarke

insists he won't sell him, Despite losing yesterday,

Rovers are just four points Italian goalkeeper Gianluca Curci is

joining them on a week-long trial. Swindon Town's Chairman Lee

Power says he expects They're just three points

above the relegation zone - Influential midfielder

Michael Doughty has been recalled by his parent club Queens Park

Rangers. Well, one former player and now

pundit expects the Robins I think there's been a lot of talk

about experience being missing in the group, so I would expect some

players with league one, maybe League two experience, but also Tim

and Lee have been to a lot of the Premier League two games, watching

the second string outfits and they comprise some players away, maybe

from Aston Villa, Tim's former club, on loan, young players, that would

be something they would look at. Yeovil have already signed

Birmingham forward Jack Storer, while Cheltenham have brought

in a couple including Bristol City's He played in yesterday's

defeat at Colchester. Manager Gary Johnson is working

on bringing experienced goalkeeper Scott Brown back to the club

after three years away. All fat and a couple of days, we

have four weeks left. Never mind the rest of 2017! Bristol

Rugby got a nice Christmas present, didn't they?

You wait all season for a Premiership victory and then

They won that bottom of the table game with Worcester,

and then followed it up with this win over Sale -

showing real fight too - coming back from 15 points to nil

That's dragged Sale back into the relegation equation.

Bristol are still bottom of the table but now only

So much, much closer. Before you go, you grew up in Somerset, didn't you?

Somerset through and through. Did you watch points west growing up?

I was born with a Points West dummy in my mouth. Susan Osman, you were

watching? Yes, as we sat around a table to eat

our tea every night, there they were.

The BBC is celebrating 60 years of local television-news this year.

The first broadcasts went live in 1957 from this very building.

We're going to be partying throughout 2017 to mark this

I've been down in the film vaults to give you a taster of what's to come.

# Well, bless my soul, what's wrong with me?

# I'm itching like a man on a fuzzy tree...

Elvis Presley was All Shook Up and on the box, we saw some great telly.

Panorama with Richard Dimbleby, David's dad.

Well, whatever the pros and cons of television in schools,

at least perhaps it will do one thing and that stop any child

wanting to go on looking at television for eight hours a day.

For our first news summary, we have film of events in Dorset

and Hampshire and news of a parent strike in Cornwall.

Armine Sandford presented the first television news for the west.

One of the first television reports was about a post office,

but Miss Squires, the postmistress, didn't like newfangled TV

and bizarrely would only allow her bottom to be filmed.

She is shy and didn't want to face the cameras.

The new service brought TV reporters closer than ever to the audience,

The terrible winter of 1963 saw local news in the front line.

People collecting their own coal, deliveries in Bristol two or three

weeks behind schedule because of the frozen state

This bloke didn't even bother with a sack.

By today's standards, this is totally embarrassing.

Here at Weston-Super-Mare, they call her Modern Venus.

All she has to do is to don a bathing costume, enter her name

in a book and adopt that famous cheesecake smile.

And this keep-fit session wasn't much better.

But by 1992, patronising women, thank goodness, was not on.

At last, the first women priests were ordained at Bristol Cathedral.

Is it therefore your will that they should

Other social change includes the celebration

of same-sex relationships, which were a crime in 1957.

In 1973, Points West cameras were in Somerset, when the last

We've been thankful for an industry that has been

Police are descending on the West Indian community

in Bristol tonight to try and quell what is probably the worst street

In 1980, Points West reporters were on the national news as tensions

The crowd threw stones at the police returned to restore order.

Tension in the area has remain high throughout the evening.

They came in and grabbed me up, right?

If we get any more news from Bristol, we'll bring

it you before the end of this programme.

Labour's new mayor of Bristol took his oath of office today...

Last May, Bristol elected its first black mayor.

This is BBC One in the west, time now Points West.

This is BBC One in the west, time now for Points West.

Bristol's always been my home, and regardless of where my

professional career takes me, will continue to be my home.

And so much of it on record down in the bowels of the building.

Well, looking back at these old films is an absolute joy.

This one was made in 1958, the same year as me and it in quite

Well, I've come to the conclusion from the archives that we are

wealthier and healthier than we were back then.

We'd like to know what you think and all this year, will be looking

back at the stories that have shaped us and forward to what the next 60

Now to help us celebrate our anniversary, we've asked some

well-known people with connections to the West to be guest

Anne Diamond, Kate Adie, Deborah Meaden and John Craven

To start us off tomorrow, the Bristol-born actor Joe Sims,

who starred in the drama Broadchurch, will be

joining us in the studio to tell us about his film

We're also posting archive pictures on our Facebook page showcasing just

some of the stories we've covered over the years.

We'd love to hear from you if you were involved

You can contact us via email or on social media.

Now, Ian has the weather on the roof.

Thanks very much, David. Good evening, everybody. Let's take it or

the forecast for tomorrow. It is going to be a day which will prove

less cold compared to the current one and it will involve a fair

amount of cloud drifting down from the North during the first part of

the day, which will give sprinklings of light showery rain. Once we are

clear of that through the afternoon and by the evening, the skies were

clear again and we get another surge of Caldaire heading southwards. Here

is how things shape up on a wider scene. If you watch to the north

into tomorrow, the cold front moving its way southwards. A fairly weak

feature for that cloud first Harvard tomorrow and some light showery rain

but notice behind that the cold air tucking back in, you will see the

blues reappearing on the map and another cold frost Thursday morning.

For the rest of this evening, still a fair amount of clear skies around.

There will be a trend to have much more cloud around tonight compared

the last one and that and other factors means the risk of seeing the

widespread frost that looked picturesque this morning will be

reduced. Temperatures but many will hold just above freezing, plus one

up to plus four but not everywhere will escape frost by any means

tomorrow morning but I expect the majority will. Through the course of

the morning, the cloud increases from the north, in comes the week

front as well as some light showery outbreaks of rain and it the

afternoon, the skies are starting to clear, so a change of wind direction

by then but prior to that stage, it won't have been as cold as today,

temperatures up to seven or eight Celsius. So a widespread frost again

overnight and into Thursday morning courtesy of those clear skies. Look

out towards the east, parts of Greece and Turkey, that is where the

genuinely cold and snowy air will be, no signs of that for us for the

time being. How far can he see from his house?

Where does he live? That is it the now. The late bulletin is on in the

Ten O'Clock News. Take care, goodbye.

Magical new drama... The Worst Witch.

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Someone who can keep an audience on the edge of their seat.

Something like this could change my life.