:00:08. > :00:10.Welcome to BBC Points West with Alex Lovell and David Garmston.
:00:11. > :00:15.The number of young people from the west going for a degree
:00:16. > :00:24.A few have gone to college but most people have gone into jobs.
:00:25. > :00:31.But we'll be asking - are they really missing out?
:00:32. > :00:36.A clash of civilisations - critics say a modern tunnel under
:00:37. > :00:47.well enough to watch a game this weekend, after his heart surgery.
:00:48. > :00:50.And on it like a flash - dozens of yellow car owners invade
:00:51. > :00:59.the village where this hatchback was called an eyesore.
:01:00. > :01:05.I'll be live later with many shades of yellow proving that bright is
:01:06. > :01:10.actually pretty beautiful. The South West is bottom
:01:11. > :01:14.of the class when it comes to the number of students
:01:15. > :01:16.applying for university. Less than a third of
:01:17. > :01:18.18-year-olds here want to go into higher education -
:01:19. > :01:20.that's compared to Experts and successive governments
:01:21. > :01:25.have tried to boost the numbers - but the West's biggest city,
:01:26. > :01:28.Bristol still has some Here's our political
:01:29. > :01:34.editor Paul Barltrop. Bristol and the South
:01:35. > :01:36.West are prosperous - The south of the city is less
:01:37. > :01:41.well-off, and in educational terms Fewer than one in five children
:01:42. > :01:48.growing up around here apply The contrast with next door
:01:49. > :01:52.North Somerset is stark. in places like Long Ashton -
:01:53. > :01:56.just across the vale over there - are two and a half times more likely
:01:57. > :02:02.to aim for university. two secondary schools
:02:03. > :02:05.in the South Bristol constituency on to higher education,
:02:06. > :02:16.but most don't. It just seemed a bit too
:02:17. > :02:18.daunting and obviously, it is really expensive nowadays
:02:19. > :02:21.to go to university so I planned on doing my education
:02:22. > :02:23.here and moving on to employment. I don't feel like university
:02:24. > :02:26.was the best option for me at all because I didn't really enjoy
:02:27. > :02:28.school, didn't really I would really like to go
:02:29. > :02:32.to university but the line of work I would like to go
:02:33. > :02:34.in within the industry The south-west should be performing
:02:35. > :02:49.much better than that. In particular wards have apalling
:02:50. > :02:51.pull through not just to university, but into further education
:02:52. > :02:59.and higher skills education. Many head for what is on offer
:03:00. > :03:01.at this South Bristol I think the big unknown of uni
:03:02. > :03:13.was actually the fear of uni, how I could afford to pay,
:03:14. > :03:15.and how much debt I'd That pushed me towards
:03:16. > :03:19.an apprenticeship because I wouldn't experts and politicians,
:03:20. > :03:27.but sending more to university I think it's a really
:03:28. > :03:32.shocking statistic. I think it surprises people,
:03:33. > :03:34.I'm really pleased that We've got two universities
:03:35. > :03:37.in Bristol, Exeter down the road, Bath down the road
:03:38. > :03:39.and it's a shameful But with schools' funding
:03:40. > :03:42.under increasing pressure across the South West,
:03:43. > :03:44.getting pupils to aim He's the Associate Headteacher
:03:45. > :04:13.at the school we saw there - Did you go to university? I did
:04:14. > :04:17.eventually. I left and went straight into an apprenticeship and with my
:04:18. > :04:20.background there was no history of university and I was keen to just to
:04:21. > :04:28.make money. That was the route for me. A lot of people feel that way? I
:04:29. > :04:32.think so. That is one of the issues around this whole debate around
:04:33. > :04:35.south Bristol, large amounts of paid employment and you have families
:04:36. > :04:39.replicating what has gone before and you have youngsters whose
:04:40. > :04:45.aspirations are limited by their experiences. Who turned out all
:04:46. > :04:48.right? I certainly did. I was lucky enough to have gone away with a good
:04:49. > :04:52.set of all levels so when I made the choice to move from British Telecom
:04:53. > :04:56.and do my degree I was able to do so. But everyone is academic, not
:04:57. > :05:01.all work is academic. There is nothing wrong with that? I
:05:02. > :05:06.absolutely believe so. There is a real danger of putting so much
:05:07. > :05:09.emphasis on your only successful if you have a degree. Quickly earlier
:05:10. > :05:12.there are so many other rich nowadays into high-level implement
:05:13. > :05:19.and you can become professional and almost any sphere. Apart from
:05:20. > :05:24.medicine without a degree course. It is about ?27,000 to go to university
:05:25. > :05:30.plus your living expenses on top. There is a lot of debt at the end of
:05:31. > :05:36.it. The much of that as a deterrent? I think it is a great deterrent. We
:05:37. > :05:41.have young people and our sixth form doing extremely well and have offers
:05:42. > :05:45.for university places but I know of a number who are actively seeking to
:05:46. > :05:48.try and get apprenticeships with companies apparently it's the same
:05:49. > :05:54.qualifications but they get paid and trained on the job and you see that
:05:55. > :05:58.as a far better alternative. And a word or two, of someone is bright
:05:59. > :06:05.enough to go to university and academically inclined, should they
:06:06. > :06:08.say forget the money and gold? Efficacy are passionate about it
:06:09. > :06:11.then yes they should but it is not for someone else to make that
:06:12. > :06:13.decision for them. We open their ice to what is out there and then be
:06:14. > :06:28.help them. Thank you very much was we have a special programme
:06:29. > :06:30.on Sunday politics this weekend talking about student fees and for
:06:31. > :06:32.that you should go to university or not.
:06:33. > :06:34.The actor Jeremy Irons has spoken out against Gloucestershire's
:06:35. > :06:41.He was at the launch of a new legal challenge against the project.
:06:42. > :06:44.A community group has referred the contract to the Competition
:06:45. > :06:46.and Markets Authority - claiming it's anti-competitive,
:06:47. > :06:57.We are in a world of limited resources and you see all over
:06:58. > :07:06.And to build a mammoth incinerator in this beautiful
:07:07. > :07:08.part of the world is, I believe, a step back.
:07:09. > :07:13.It could be seen almost as antediluvian.
:07:14. > :07:15.Gloucestershire County Council says the new facility will save taxpayers
:07:16. > :07:18.over ?100 million and make enough clean electricity to
:07:19. > :07:30.The Liberal Democrats have launched their campaign for May's
:07:31. > :07:35.Former cabinet minister Vince Cable joined candidates who'll be standing
:07:36. > :07:40.The Lib Dems lost control of Somerset to the Conservatives
:07:41. > :07:45.in 2009, and two years ago lost their local MPs.
:07:46. > :07:55.But they believe they're now reviving.
:07:56. > :08:01.The Lib Dems are a very positive about his upcoming elections. We
:08:02. > :08:05.took a terrible hammering at the 2050 general election and a lot of
:08:06. > :08:08.councillors were hurt by it but it is now very positive mood.
:08:09. > :08:17.Among the party's candidates is Tessa Munt, the former MP for Wells.
:08:18. > :08:19.You're watching Friday's Points West with Alex and David
:08:20. > :08:33.Stay with us because we've lots more to come before 7.00 including.
:08:34. > :08:46.Find out how the volunteers are getting on coming Ryan's house into
:08:47. > :08:47.a home. We have a separation and the forecast between a showery Saturday
:08:48. > :08:52.and a dry Sunday. A huge tunnel and dual carriageway
:08:53. > :08:55.close to Stonehenge will destroy the ancient landscape,
:08:56. > :08:58.according to the farmer Highways England says
:08:59. > :09:07.the ?1.4 billion scheme But speaking publicly for the first
:09:08. > :09:11.time, Rachel Hosier told Sabet Choudhury that ancient burial
:09:12. > :09:22.mounds will be threatened. Stonehenge is one of our top
:09:23. > :09:23.tourist attractions. It is the jewel in the Crown
:09:24. > :09:26.of the UNESCO world But our experience of
:09:27. > :09:31.it is somewhat hampered. That noise is the A303, the main
:09:32. > :09:34.route from Cornwall to London. It often grinds to a standstill,
:09:35. > :09:38.unable to cope with demand. Now a ?1.4 billion scheme to be
:09:39. > :09:42.reroute the road through a tunnel and make it into a dual carriageway
:09:43. > :09:46.has been given the go-ahead. But Rachel Hosier is not happy
:09:47. > :09:49.because it will pass through her land which is littered
:09:50. > :09:53.with ancient burial mounds including It is named because it has the bush
:09:54. > :10:08.on it so that they left Bush Barrow man in there and then they took
:10:09. > :10:12.all the what's and all of the gold Within 500 metres of where
:10:13. > :10:15.we are standing through the western end the back entrance or portal
:10:16. > :10:19.to the tunnel will go. All these barrows are on the ridges
:10:20. > :10:26.looking down into that valley. So what does the man in charge
:10:27. > :10:44.of the channel have to say I have met Mrs Hosier, we are
:10:45. > :10:49.listening to what she is saying, we are listening to all the other
:10:50. > :10:52.9,000 bits of correspondence we have Would you change your plans
:10:53. > :10:57.if it doesn't work out? We are still in consultation
:10:58. > :11:00.and analysing all those consultations in taking a view
:11:01. > :11:04.on the best way forward. Earlier this month more
:11:05. > :11:06.than 20 archaeologists registered their objections
:11:07. > :11:08.to the scheme. They are concerned that the tunnel
:11:09. > :11:11.entrance to Bush Barrow will destroy the views of the winter sunset
:11:12. > :11:14.which is now thought to be fundamental to
:11:15. > :11:19.the stones' positioning. The final plan for the proposed
:11:20. > :11:22.tunnel as expected in the autumn. Building work is scheduled
:11:23. > :11:30.to start in 2020. And you can see what happens
:11:31. > :11:34.when Seb visits another secret archaeological site that experts say
:11:35. > :11:37.is also under threat, on tonight's A convoy of 100 yellow cars
:11:38. > :11:47.will roar into the Cotswold It's in support of a pensioner whose
:11:48. > :11:54.own vehicle was vandalised. Peter Maddox lives in one
:11:55. > :11:57.of the most photographed areas in the country -
:11:58. > :11:59.but some tourists didn't like his yellow car being parked
:12:00. > :12:01.there and claimed it It was later badly damaged -
:12:02. > :12:08.with the word "move" Well, now people from
:12:09. > :12:26.across the country want Welcome to Bibury, it is looking
:12:27. > :12:35.absolutely fantastic and what a way to arrive. This is a quantum extreme
:12:36. > :12:40.that has been built by Daniel and behind this is the road and Peter
:12:41. > :12:43.had his car. It was damaged sadly and the vandalism but there is a
:12:44. > :12:47.happy ending to this story because as you can hopefully see very
:12:48. > :12:51.shortly there as a group of cars here, but I going to be and this
:12:52. > :12:55.convoy tomorrow that came from all over the country to support Peter
:12:56. > :12:58.and absolutely fantastic effort and I caught up with Peter Elliott to
:12:59. > :13:00.find out what he would thought about it all.
:13:01. > :13:04.Peter, what has that support from the public meant to you?
:13:05. > :13:15.What is nice is that you are going to become a
:13:16. > :13:18.colour because Vauxhall are going to name the yellow after you.
:13:19. > :13:34.Let's find out who's jobless was to organise. This crazy idea has
:13:35. > :13:37.exploded hasn't it? It has grown a very large and the last couple of
:13:38. > :13:41.weeks since the media attention. The support we have received has been
:13:42. > :13:47.absolutely fantastic, the public has been behind us. Sadly the irony is
:13:48. > :13:52.that your yellow car didn't make it. Yes, my yellow car is in the
:13:53. > :13:57.doghouse at the moment, the fuel cap wouldn't open so have had to turn up
:13:58. > :14:03.enabling car. Where have you guys come from? East Yorkshire. You are
:14:04. > :14:08.Peter's daughter-in-law, we had from her Mary, what does this mean to you
:14:09. > :14:11.and your family. The family are just overwhelmed and it is the most
:14:12. > :14:16.fantastic thing and Peter is really looking forward to tomorrow. You
:14:17. > :14:26.have 100 people, but many more wanted to take part. A lot more.
:14:27. > :14:32.Peter is a bit of a celibate? He has always been a bit of a celebrity but
:14:33. > :14:38.know it is a wider celebrity. Where have you guys come from? North
:14:39. > :14:42.Yorkshire. People have come from all over the country tomorrow she wants
:14:43. > :14:51.to be here at about 10:30am tomorrow morning. Enjoy it. I love that
:14:52. > :14:55.story. I hope the big yellow sun is shining for you. I don't think it
:14:56. > :15:01.will be but that is not the point. I think it is believed. I love Bibury.
:15:02. > :15:05.Now here in the West - we've got a bit of a history when it
:15:06. > :15:16.That's Her Majesty the Queen in Bristol in 1958 -
:15:17. > :15:22.when she made the first long distance call without an operator..
:15:23. > :16:53.Well, now our phones are making headlines here again.
:16:54. > :17:01.I was trying to remember for the codeword for Bristol. I think it
:17:02. > :17:04.Builders, carpenters and bricklayers - along with the DIYSOS team -
:17:05. > :17:08.have been working flat out all week to transform the home
:17:09. > :17:13.You may remember we told you how Ryan Pollard has had to stay
:17:14. > :17:15.in specialist accommodation in Gloucester since he collapsed
:17:16. > :17:22.Well his family want him back - and DIYSOS have a matter of days
:17:23. > :17:35.Lee Madan is there - how's it going?
:17:36. > :17:41.it is very much a work in progress but I am told we are ahead of
:17:42. > :17:44.schedule and that is thanks to the amount of volunteers who had given
:17:45. > :17:49.up their time to come and work here for free. Just today there are 130
:17:50. > :17:53.tradesmen and said this three-bedroom house including these
:17:54. > :17:58.guys. James, you are one of them, why did you come to work here for
:17:59. > :18:01.free? It is an amazing opportunity to come and help change someone's
:18:02. > :18:08.life for the better. I did that and Ireland. What has the mood be like
:18:09. > :18:11.inside the site? Absolutely amazing, a buzzing atmosphere of you
:18:12. > :18:17.wondering to get the job done and work together to create his
:18:18. > :18:24.beautiful home. It is Christopher to a normal building site? How is that
:18:25. > :18:29.working, Coric we all tend to McCann and work together, you just get it
:18:30. > :18:38.done. There was one little mishap earlier. I did screw through a water
:18:39. > :18:43.pipe earlier and it came straight down, sorted the problem out and
:18:44. > :18:49.everyone was happy. I am told the mood and said there was just a.
:18:50. > :18:52.These guys have to get everything by Thursday, that his friend Ryan
:18:53. > :18:55.finally comes home after spending five years and that care form and it
:18:56. > :19:06.is all thanks to goodwill of these volunteers. We salute you.
:19:07. > :19:08.Just a fortnight after major heart surgery, Cheltenham Town's manager
:19:09. > :19:10.Gary Johnson could be back at the club tomorrow,
:19:11. > :19:14.Our sports editor Alistair Durden has been to see him.
:19:15. > :19:19.I knew he was feeling ok as he was cracking jokes as soon
:19:20. > :19:25.Gary has had heart surgery before, but nothing on this scale,
:19:26. > :19:33.But he says he's feeling better day by day, and he's touched
:19:34. > :19:39.by the level of support and kindness he's received.
:19:40. > :19:42.There have been plenty of well-wishers and from right
:19:43. > :19:50.It is only two weeks since Gary's surgery but the 61-year-old
:19:51. > :19:56.You don't want something like this but when something like this
:19:57. > :20:00.happens, that sort of makes you appreciate the work that
:20:01. > :20:04.you are in, the industry that you are in, it's a pretty close-knit
:20:05. > :20:07.family and it is not just the effort of getting the cards,
:20:08. > :20:12.it is the effort of the words that people could in the cards that
:20:13. > :20:15.are overwhelming and soon I will get round everybody
:20:16. > :20:21.Gary's operation was performed by Doctor Alan Brian who's son Joe
:20:22. > :20:31.And of course where Gary's son Lee is the head coach.
:20:32. > :20:34.We had moments where I could talk with Dr Brian about football,
:20:35. > :20:36.but he was very concentrated on my heart as opposed
:20:37. > :20:39.to my managerial career or Joe's football career.
:20:40. > :20:42.I stopped short of saying if I don't come through this
:20:43. > :20:45.then Joe will never play for Bristol City again.
:20:46. > :20:50.As soon as I came round from the operation, the doctor
:20:51. > :20:53.shook me up and said, Mr Johnson, you have to wake up no,
:20:54. > :21:08.Gary's current club Cheltenham haven't won a game
:21:09. > :21:12.Although truthfully he has already started working again from home.
:21:13. > :21:15.A couple of days ago I needed to speak to the strikers
:21:16. > :21:18.because I felt that wasn't quite performing and I could go
:21:19. > :21:20.there so I still have enough respect that can bring them here.
:21:21. > :21:24.They all came here and we had a chat and I should videos
:21:25. > :21:26.and things they can improve on and I was pleased that
:21:27. > :21:31.We are in a delicate situation at the moment I know it is just
:21:32. > :21:35.when my wife Florence Nightingale decides that I can get back
:21:36. > :21:40.to the football then as soon as I feel ready I will go back
:21:41. > :21:48.Great to see him looking so well again.
:21:49. > :21:51.So tomorrow he's hoping to take his seat in the crowd
:21:52. > :21:53.with his wife Caron for the game against Morecambe.
:21:54. > :21:55.Cheltenham just six points above the relegation
:21:56. > :22:03.Rugby's European Challenge Cup has reached the quarterfinal stage.
:22:04. > :22:07.For Bath it's a home tie against French club Brive.
:22:08. > :22:12.It's nine years since Bath last won a trophy.
:22:13. > :22:16.They won the competition in 2015 but got knocked out
:22:17. > :22:25.Bath's Olympic Silver medallist Heather Fell
:22:26. > :22:28.is taking on a gruelling new challenge this weekend.
:22:29. > :22:30.After retiring from Modern Pentathlon, she's currently
:22:31. > :22:32.in South Africa putting in some final training before tackling
:22:33. > :22:37.If you haven't heard of this, it's a two and a half
:22:38. > :22:40.mile open water swim, followed by a 112 mile cycle ride,
:22:41. > :22:54.and then to finish, you run a marathon.
:22:55. > :22:59.I haven't actually swam in the seats they had been here and most friends
:23:00. > :23:02.said there is a lot of sharks around but I didn't think I will be
:23:03. > :23:06.worrying about that on race day because they will be plenty of
:23:07. > :23:07.people for them to nibble at. It is another factor could take into
:23:08. > :23:08.account in South Africa. The Ironman is on Sunday,
:23:09. > :23:26.and Heather is hoping to complete I'm not sure about the shucks. It is
:23:27. > :23:33.this Sunday but it is not televised. I might go in for that. It's not too
:23:34. > :23:35.late. Sit watching it eating cake like me.
:23:36. > :23:38.The story of a Second World War land girl whose life became an enduring
:23:39. > :23:40.tale of love has been turned into a stage play.
:23:41. > :23:44.It's been created by a Somerset man who's no stranger to writing -
:23:45. > :23:46.he scripted 600 episodes of BBC Radio 4's The Archers.
:23:47. > :23:51.Now 92, Elizabeth Henderson still lives on the Cotswold
:23:52. > :23:58.fell in love with farming and her husband-to-be.
:23:59. > :24:01.That her life has become a stage play is, she says,
:24:02. > :24:04.You know, it's an excuse to have a party.
:24:05. > :24:12.On the whole, it's a plus rather than a minus.
:24:13. > :24:14.Only it's me that gets checked up on, not the boys.
:24:15. > :24:16.No Finer Life played to a packed house on
:24:17. > :24:21.It's set towards the end of the Second
:24:22. > :24:23.World War, when an 18-year-old Somerset girl wrote to a rather
:24:24. > :24:28.famous Oxfordshire farmer asking for a job.
:24:29. > :24:31.He was an author and quite a famous one.
:24:32. > :24:35.And simply everyone was reading his book.
:24:36. > :24:37.You see, George Henderson wasn't just a farmer,
:24:38. > :24:42.he was an author and his book on how to work the land became iconic.
:24:43. > :24:47.It was after reading that book that Exmoor farmer and one-time producer
:24:48. > :24:53.of Radio 4's The Archers decided to take Elizabeth's life to the stage.
:24:54. > :24:58.It's a brilliant story because she left school, all she wanted to
:24:59. > :25:02.do was be a farmer and that's why she joined the Land Army.
:25:03. > :25:05.And it was that period at the end of the war,
:25:06. > :25:08.and the year or two after the war, when there was a great sense of
:25:09. > :25:12.idealism and we were going to make Britain better and the countryside
:25:13. > :25:18.And Elizabeth's story will play to theatres
:25:19. > :25:29.across the west until the end of April.
:25:30. > :25:40.Ian has the weather. As I mentioned earlier, there is something of a
:25:41. > :25:47.split between Saturday and Sunday, Saturday as a classic April shower
:25:48. > :25:50.day with sunny spells whereas by contrast on Sunday image of high
:25:51. > :25:57.pressure it will be dry and I suspect it will actually be under a
:25:58. > :26:01.fair amount of sunshine. And uploaded a front will run across us
:26:02. > :26:04.tonight with low pressure dominating the pattern into tomorrow and the
:26:05. > :26:07.showers and they will fade away by tomorrow evening as high pressure
:26:08. > :26:14.starts to come in from the west to settle things down into Sunday. For
:26:15. > :26:17.the rest of this evening we have sharia outbreaks of rain across
:26:18. > :26:21.Cornwall, Devon and western parts of Somerset and all of that creeping
:26:22. > :26:27.its way farther eastwards as tonight wears on the storm of us will see
:26:28. > :26:31.some phase of showering before the natives through and temperatures
:26:32. > :26:35.around seven to nine Celsius by daybreak many of you will wake up to
:26:36. > :26:39.a dry starts tomorrow, others will not and that really sets the tone
:26:40. > :26:42.for the rest of the day because it will automatically starts to settle
:26:43. > :26:47.into a character of sunny spells and showers, some of the showers turning
:26:48. > :26:53.quite heavy with perhaps some thunder and conversely if you are
:26:54. > :26:55.free of those then it should be a reasonable enough afternoon with
:26:56. > :27:01.some sunshine around and temperatures ultimately about 13 to
:27:02. > :27:03.15 Celsius, a bestowing on the last couple of days but with the strength
:27:04. > :27:07.of the sunshine it shouldn't be too bad. Insurers will feed through
:27:08. > :27:12.tomorrow evening as high pressure starts to return and it will become
:27:13. > :27:17.quite a chilly night to lead a slew into Sunday Sunday getting up to
:27:18. > :27:21.similar temperatures with rule to mid-teens and varying amounts of
:27:22. > :27:26.cloud and sunshine it should be a pretty pleasant stay. ASBO Monday as
:27:27. > :27:31.we head to next week it is looking like a lot of dry weather generally
:27:32. > :27:37.with some weeks and southbound and whatever you're doing a great
:27:38. > :27:39.weekend. Thank you for that. I'll see you on Sunday politics this
:27:40. > :27:47.weekend. Have a lovely time, night.