Browse content similar to 17/02/2017. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Welcome to South East Today. I'm Rob Smith. | :00:00. | :00:00. | |
And I'm Ellie Crisell. Tonight's top stories: | :00:00. | :00:09. | |
Two years of harrassment and bullying so bad, it made her ill - | :00:10. | :00:20. | |
a former ambulance worker's claims about her experience at SECAMB. | :00:21. | :00:22. | |
Months of appeals, threatened fines, endless paperwork and a bailiff - | :00:23. | :00:25. | |
all because of a face-down parking ticket. | :00:26. | :00:29. | |
So you push. You push and it was a good push. The baby born in a car | :00:30. | :00:47. | |
park, delivered by strangers, now meeting up for the first time since | :00:48. | :00:51. | |
the birth. Extraordinary love letters written in a time of war and | :00:52. | :00:57. | |
prejudice, rediscovered in Brighton. And we chat with the former Strictly | :00:58. | :01:10. | |
Star Pasha rehearsing his latest spectacular show in Kent. | :01:11. | :01:16. | |
A former worker at South East Coast Ambulance Service has told | :01:17. | :01:19. | |
this programme that she was so badly bullied there for two years | :01:20. | :01:22. | |
it made her ill, and she had to leave the job she loved. | :01:23. | :01:28. | |
Ambulance technician Jane Thomas says the bullying was widespread | :01:29. | :01:30. | |
The trust has been under intense pressure this week | :01:31. | :01:36. | |
after a leaked report revealed historic allegations | :01:37. | :01:37. | |
of "horrific, cowardly and devastating" acts of bullying | :01:38. | :01:39. | |
against staff at their call centre in Kent. | :01:40. | :01:41. | |
The trust has told us that they are working hard | :01:42. | :01:44. | |
Ian Palmer has our exclusive report. | :01:45. | :01:53. | |
I am so sorry for the people that are working at SECAMB that are still | :01:54. | :02:01. | |
being bullied. It just can't go on, it can't go on any longer. It has to | :02:02. | :02:13. | |
stop. I'm afraid we have had an issue with that report technically. | :02:14. | :02:18. | |
Our health correspondent Mark Norman joins us and Mark - | :02:19. | :02:21. | |
you have been speaking to senior members of the trust this week? | :02:22. | :02:24. | |
I have. They strongly recognise that they have had a problem for a number | :02:25. | :02:32. | |
of years although they are adamant that some of these cases are | :02:33. | :02:36. | |
historic dating back between 2-5 years and they say that the staff | :02:37. | :02:40. | |
involved in bullying have been sanctioned and have not been | :02:41. | :02:44. | |
promoted. They are running a diagnostic review, talking to staff | :02:45. | :02:48. | |
try to get to the bottom of what is going on and they are using examples | :02:49. | :02:51. | |
of how other trusts have dealt with it. They've had 14 cases of bullying | :02:52. | :02:56. | |
this year and they say that shows staff are confident they can report | :02:57. | :03:00. | |
bullying and harassment when they see it. I spoke to one ambulance | :03:01. | :03:05. | |
driver who said it mixed a tough job even Tupper. This trust needs real | :03:06. | :03:10. | |
leadership. It does not have a full-time chief executive, chairman, | :03:11. | :03:15. | |
head of HR, and Chief nurse, and they need that in place if they are | :03:16. | :03:18. | |
going to sort out some of these issues. We have now got that report | :03:19. | :03:24. | |
from Ian Palmer looking into the situation at the South | :03:25. | :03:26. | |
East coast Ambulance Service. Jane Thomas was a technician with the | :03:27. | :03:36. | |
SECAMB for 14 years. She left two years ago after suffering what she | :03:37. | :03:38. | |
describes as repeated bullying from a colleague. I was expecting a baby | :03:39. | :03:47. | |
in September, I miscarried in Christmas Day. And he made a comment | :03:48. | :03:58. | |
about my weight in the duty room in front of several other colleagues | :03:59. | :04:04. | |
when I was passing through. And they all laughed about it. Jane Thomas | :04:05. | :04:10. | |
joined what was Kent ambulance in the year 2000. She was happy and | :04:11. | :04:15. | |
enjoy the work. Based in Thanet, that changed in 2012, when she | :04:16. | :04:18. | |
questioned a co-worker's professionalism. The 50-year-old | :04:19. | :04:23. | |
mother of one raise the matter with senior managers but she says they | :04:24. | :04:28. | |
fail to act appropriately. When you haven't got the support, who do you | :04:29. | :04:35. | |
turn to? You have your line manager, that you think, you hope, you can | :04:36. | :04:41. | |
trust and they perhaps don't want to know so you go the next stage | :04:42. | :04:45. | |
further and they are not interested. Revelations about bullying at SECAMB | :04:46. | :04:52. | |
have centred around historical allegations at the emergency call | :04:53. | :04:59. | |
centre at Coxheath. A confidential report was leaked this week, | :05:00. | :05:03. | |
describing a culture of favouritism and nepotism with staff receiving | :05:04. | :05:05. | |
abusive and anonymous phone calls and female staff being called | :05:06. | :05:11. | |
obscene names. In response, the trust says... | :05:12. | :05:20. | |
The trust goes on to say... But that is not good enough for the MP for | :05:21. | :05:31. | |
Eastbourne, who spoke to the BBC earlier this week. I am suitably | :05:32. | :05:37. | |
appalled. Beyond disappointed. I am very angry, have these allegations | :05:38. | :05:41. | |
do come through then serious questions need to be asked. Jane | :05:42. | :05:47. | |
Thomas now lives in North Wales, but she says she constantly fears for | :05:48. | :05:50. | |
the welfare of the SECAMB staff that she left behind. In July 2014, I | :05:51. | :05:59. | |
said to myself I have got the go. There is no way out for me. And I | :06:00. | :06:05. | |
had to give up a job that I loved doing very much. And it still | :06:06. | :06:11. | |
affects me, to this day. And I am so sorry for the people that are | :06:12. | :06:14. | |
working for SECAMB that are still being bullied. It can't go on. It | :06:15. | :06:19. | |
can't go on any longer. It has to stop. | :06:20. | :06:30. | |
A dispute over a ?1 parking ticket led to a 14 month battle with East | :06:31. | :06:37. | |
Sussex County Council which saw Baylis try to repossess a woman's | :06:38. | :06:44. | |
car. The wind blew that it facedown onto the dashboard. After months of | :06:45. | :06:49. | |
disputes and independent parking tribunal has ruled in her favour. | :06:50. | :06:54. | |
The council says it is seeking clarification on the decision and | :06:55. | :06:59. | |
will check its rules. It was a ?1 for two hours to get that led to | :07:00. | :07:04. | |
this woman's 14 month legal battle. She regularly pays and displays in | :07:05. | :07:13. | |
this car park at Seaford and the problems began on a windy winters | :07:14. | :07:20. | |
day. I am a volunteer at the theatre three or four times a week. And I | :07:21. | :07:23. | |
was helping with the school pantomime. It was windy, December | :07:24. | :07:29. | |
2015, very cold, the children had arrived early with their teachers | :07:30. | :07:32. | |
and I was rushing to get them into the theatre. I bought a ticket as I | :07:33. | :07:37. | |
always do, put it in my car, and the wind must have flipped it over as I | :07:38. | :07:43. | |
closed the door. And the ?50 penalty charge was issued. She told East | :07:44. | :07:46. | |
Sussex County Council what had happened and sent in her ticket. | :07:47. | :07:50. | |
Season has further evidence that the ticket had flipped over but officers | :07:51. | :07:55. | |
refused to back down. More appeals and the County Court hearing | :07:56. | :07:58. | |
followed. And then Baylis, to take away her car. A tow truck and a | :07:59. | :08:07. | |
bailiff turned up with a lady threatening to drag away my ?11,000 | :08:08. | :08:12. | |
car for a ?1 parking ticket that I had bought. It was absolutely | :08:13. | :08:16. | |
incredible. You are not going to pay the fine? It got beyond ridiculous, | :08:17. | :08:23. | |
six appeals, bailiffs, and all for a ?1 ticket that I had bought. | :08:24. | :08:27. | |
Eventually a government independent tribunal sided with and the ?400 | :08:28. | :08:32. | |
that she had to pay the bailiffs has now been refunded. The fact that | :08:33. | :08:36. | |
then pursued its relentlessly, it seems me that someone has really had | :08:37. | :08:44. | |
quite a vicious streak in them and instead of exercising their | :08:45. | :08:47. | |
discretion that common sense would suggest, has pursued this | :08:48. | :08:51. | |
relentlessly and at the expense of taxpayers. East Sussex County | :08:52. | :08:56. | |
Council says it issued a penalty charge notice because it had | :08:57. | :09:01. | |
happened to Paul before, back in March 2015, when she was given a | :09:02. | :09:07. | |
warning. The matter is now closed for Paula but the council is seeking | :09:08. | :09:11. | |
clarification from the tribunal over its decision. | :09:12. | :09:14. | |
In a moment, delays on the Delay Repay scheme - Southern Rail | :09:15. | :09:17. | |
customers are still waiting for their long-promised compensation. | :09:18. | :09:25. | |
A lorry driver accused of bringing down a bridge on the M20 in Kent | :09:26. | :09:29. | |
by driving dangerously has appeared in court. | :09:30. | :09:32. | |
Alan Austen from Darlington is also charged with criminal damage. | :09:33. | :09:34. | |
The incident happened last August, when a lorry hit a footbridge | :09:35. | :09:37. | |
crossing the M20, bringing it down onto another HGV | :09:38. | :09:39. | |
Simon Jones reports from Maidstone Crown Court. | :09:40. | :09:52. | |
A first court appearance for Alan Austen. | :09:53. | :09:54. | |
Magistrates heard he was driving a lorry. | :09:55. | :09:56. | |
The trailer was loaded with a dumper truck and an excavator when he hit | :09:57. | :09:59. | |
the pedestrian bridge, causing it to come down | :10:00. | :10:01. | |
It caused ?1.5 million worth of damage to the bridge | :10:02. | :10:05. | |
and more than ?150,000 to the equipment. | :10:06. | :10:06. | |
It caused travel chaos over the August bank holiday weekend. | :10:07. | :10:10. | |
Mr Austen did not enter a plea to charges of dangerous driving, | :10:11. | :10:14. | |
causing serious injury and criminal damage. | :10:15. | :10:19. | |
This was a brief court appearance lasting just a few minutes. | :10:20. | :10:22. | |
Magistrates decided, because of the seriousness | :10:23. | :10:24. | |
of the charges, the case should be sent to the Crown Court. | :10:25. | :10:27. | |
And that hearing will take place on 17th of March. | :10:28. | :10:30. | |
A motorcyclist who suffered three broken ribs in the aftermath | :10:31. | :10:33. | |
of the bridge collapse spoke about what had happened | :10:34. | :10:36. | |
The bridge was coming down, almost like in slow motion to start | :10:37. | :10:45. | |
with, because it was eating its way through the lorry as it was coming | :10:46. | :10:49. | |
down but then it tore away from the other side. | :10:50. | :10:53. | |
As it came down it came through the back of the floor. | :10:54. | :10:56. | |
The motorway was shut for more than 24 hours. | :10:57. | :10:58. | |
What remained of the bridge has been demolished. | :10:59. | :11:06. | |
Simon is live now at the M20. Will that bridge actually end up being | :11:07. | :11:17. | |
replaced? The bridge used to be on the stretch of motorway. It is now | :11:18. | :11:21. | |
completely gone. Highways England have said there would be a new | :11:22. | :11:25. | |
bridge but they could not give as a timescale. They said it might arrive | :11:26. | :11:27. | |
when there is work to convert part of the motorway into a smart | :11:28. | :11:33. | |
motorway. When it was removed it was a huge operation. The motorway have | :11:34. | :11:38. | |
to be closed for almost three days, 100 people involved, so putting up a | :11:39. | :11:42. | |
new bridge is going to be a tall order. And this is the main route | :11:43. | :11:45. | |
into the port of Dover, and Eurotunnel. | :11:46. | :11:48. | |
New problems have emerged with refunds for passengers | :11:49. | :11:50. | |
who were delayed on their journeys on Southern Rail. | :11:51. | :11:52. | |
The company promised they would be compensated for the chaos | :11:53. | :11:55. | |
on the service since industrial action began last year. | :11:56. | :11:57. | |
They told passengers it would be in touch | :11:58. | :11:59. | |
with them in the New Year - but thousands haven't heard a word, | :12:00. | :12:02. | |
and today the company admitted that technical problems mean | :12:03. | :12:04. | |
the scheme is itself now facing big delays. | :12:05. | :12:06. | |
For ten months they have put up with delays on the trains. | :12:07. | :12:17. | |
Now they are having to put up with delays on getting | :12:18. | :12:20. | |
One commuter from Haywards Heath is owed ?350. | :12:21. | :12:23. | |
What is really sickening is that the compensation | :12:24. | :12:25. | |
that we were promised for months, there is such a mess | :12:26. | :12:28. | |
Two things, it seems, have gone wrong. | :12:29. | :12:34. | |
First, Southern have failed to get in touch by e-mail | :12:35. | :12:36. | |
with many of the 40,000 passengers they have details for. | :12:37. | :12:38. | |
They promised them they would be contacted in early January. | :12:39. | :12:41. | |
Today, they couldn't tell us how many they had contacted so far. | :12:42. | :12:44. | |
Second, a special web portal has failed | :12:45. | :12:46. | |
This was meant to be used by the 44,000 or so passengers | :12:47. | :12:55. | |
who Southern don't have details for themselves. | :12:56. | :12:56. | |
Possibly because they bought their tickets through another | :12:57. | :12:58. | |
organisation, their Oyster card, for example. | :12:59. | :13:03. | |
The only good news for passengers is that Southern have now | :13:04. | :13:05. | |
abandoned their deadline of March 31st for people to contact them. | :13:06. | :13:09. | |
My own personal experience, I phoned up Southern Rail | :13:10. | :13:12. | |
and they said I'm not in the system even though I have an electronic | :13:13. | :13:18. | |
account, I'm not on the system, which is truly unbelievable, | :13:19. | :13:20. | |
because my e-mail is too similar to someone else's, apparently. | :13:21. | :13:25. | |
Pretty much the same as every other aspect of Southern Rail. | :13:26. | :13:28. | |
We have to go through so much pain to get what we're actually | :13:29. | :13:31. | |
One passenger pointing out on Twitter... | :13:32. | :13:38. | |
Southern would not be interviewed about this today but they hope | :13:39. | :13:52. | |
that their web portal will be working next week. | :13:53. | :13:55. | |
It is yet another frustration for passengers at the end of | :13:56. | :13:58. | |
John is at Shoreham by sea station. What is the latest advice the | :13:59. | :14:12. | |
passengers? The week ahead, let's start with a glimmer of hope. Aslef, | :14:13. | :14:16. | |
the union that cause a shock when it relied it had not reached agreement | :14:17. | :14:22. | |
with sullen, said it was to get back around the table early next week. | :14:23. | :14:26. | |
They have said that they do not want ACAS, the arbitration service on | :14:27. | :14:29. | |
board. But then what to read into that but it looks like talks could | :14:30. | :14:33. | |
be back on the table. The other piece of news, a strike from the RMT | :14:34. | :14:37. | |
union going ahead on Wednesday but it does not have the Aslef drivers | :14:38. | :14:41. | |
involved. That led a bullish Southern to say, last time RMT is | :14:42. | :14:47. | |
were on strike the ran three quarters of services and this time | :14:48. | :14:49. | |
we think we can do better than that. This is our top story tonight: Two | :14:50. | :14:51. | |
years of harrassment and bullying so bad, | :14:52. | :14:53. | |
it made her ill - a former ambulance worker tells us | :14:54. | :14:57. | |
about her experience at SECAMB after this week's leaked | :14:58. | :15:00. | |
report into historic allegations of bullying | :15:01. | :15:02. | |
against call centre staff. The Ambulance Service says | :15:03. | :15:04. | |
they are addressing the issue. I am Pasha, join me later to find | :15:05. | :15:27. | |
out more about my new shoe. And join me later for the latest weather | :15:28. | :15:28. | |
details. -- my new show. In the 1970's, as a child actor, | :15:29. | :15:35. | |
things were looking very rosy for Donald Waugh - | :15:36. | :15:38. | |
a regular on TV in Grange Hill, a role in the hit film Bugsy Malone, | :15:39. | :15:41. | |
and on stage in the musical Cats. But things shifted as he grew | :15:42. | :15:44. | |
up - and he went into Sadly that didn't go so well - | :15:45. | :15:47. | |
his venture failed, and he ended up homeless and for a while, | :15:48. | :15:51. | |
living on the streets. Now he's putting his own, | :15:52. | :15:55. | |
sometimes very tough, experiences to good use - | :15:56. | :15:57. | |
he's started a self help arts charity, working with people | :15:58. | :15:59. | |
marginalised by society. For tonight's special report, | :16:00. | :16:01. | |
Robin Gibson met him at the group's Colourful, striking and intriguing, | :16:02. | :16:20. | |
this is definitely art. At the distance there is a delicate beauty, | :16:21. | :16:24. | |
but close-up there is a huge amount that disturbs. The list eyes will | :16:25. | :16:28. | |
say that it is rubbish, and in a way, they are right. Donald comes in | :16:29. | :16:33. | |
and explains who he is and what he does and what he is intending to do | :16:34. | :16:37. | |
and he says I would like you to give me a bag of your rubbish. And I | :16:38. | :16:42. | |
said, well, it is rubbish. He said you will be surprised what I can | :16:43. | :16:46. | |
create with it. Black bin line to make the garment, crushed bits of | :16:47. | :16:51. | |
oil... It is chucked out stuffed grape on mannequins and photographs. | :16:52. | :16:56. | |
It has been created by groups of people, street workers, disabled | :16:57. | :16:59. | |
people or those with addictions, this is the man who has brought them | :17:00. | :17:03. | |
together. Donald Waugh was a child actor. He was on Grange Hill and in | :17:04. | :17:13. | |
the iconic movie, Bugsy Malone. His life seemed charmed but he ended up | :17:14. | :17:17. | |
destitute and on the street when his career as a property developer went | :17:18. | :17:22. | |
wrong. I lost everything. I started to drink and became an alcoholic and | :17:23. | :17:26. | |
ended up on the streets. When you lose things and your life becomes a | :17:27. | :17:29. | |
mess, if you rebuild your life again you are never the same. One of the | :17:30. | :17:34. | |
key things that keeps me going everyday is gratitude. He still in | :17:35. | :17:38. | |
temporary housing but he formed pavement to catwalk, part arts | :17:39. | :17:42. | |
organisation, part self-help group, which uses the talents of | :17:43. | :17:47. | |
marginalised people to make art that sells to make money to help continue | :17:48. | :17:54. | |
the work. The mouth was stitched on this. One good side and one bad | :17:55. | :18:01. | |
side, stitched, were people still to keep their mouths quite. This is a | :18:02. | :18:07. | |
first public outing. Things used by throwing away people to people to | :18:08. | :18:09. | |
try to bring about change. Could there be any experience more | :18:10. | :18:21. | |
stressful than going into labour and not making it to the hospital in | :18:22. | :18:24. | |
time? That's exactly what happened on | :18:25. | :18:28. | |
Monday - when Jadine Arnold ended up giving | :18:29. | :18:35. | |
birth in the car park at Tunbridge Wells | :18:36. | :18:37. | |
Hospital. Fortunately two good | :18:38. | :18:39. | |
samaritan's were there to help out and thanks to having been an avid | :18:40. | :18:41. | |
fan of the TV show Call The Midwife, Today they got the chance to meet | :18:42. | :18:44. | |
baby Bohdi, and his proud and grateful | :18:45. | :18:48. | |
parents in somewhat less stressful circumstances - and our reporter | :18:49. | :18:50. | |
Chrissy Reidy was there, too. Mother and baby reunited with the | :18:51. | :19:03. | |
date the woman who helped deliver her son and the back of the car and | :19:04. | :19:07. | |
a hospital car park. Becky and Sue had pulled into the space. I | :19:08. | :19:11. | |
screeched up in front of their car and ran round to the window and | :19:12. | :19:14. | |
asked if we could dig into their space. I reversed in. She then said | :19:15. | :19:21. | |
that the baby was coming. I didn't believe her. I went round to see and | :19:22. | :19:25. | |
clearly it was coming so I ran into the hospital. I got there, to the | :19:26. | :19:33. | |
back of the car, and suddenly the baby 's head was there. Maarten had | :19:34. | :19:40. | |
gone for help leaving Sue with his wife and baby Bohdi decided that it | :19:41. | :19:44. | |
was now or never. I said, you have got to push, and you push and it was | :19:45. | :19:49. | |
a good push, and a little shoulder appeared. And suddenly, he came out. | :19:50. | :19:57. | |
And I caught him in the towel. I could have been just on my own that | :19:58. | :20:00. | |
happening and perhaps if someone else was not there they might not | :20:01. | :20:04. | |
have guided him out as out as well as Sue did. So, yes, just so | :20:05. | :20:09. | |
incredibly lucky. Sue was holding the baby wrapped up in a towel, | :20:10. | :20:14. | |
trying not to cry, because this was my first son that I have always | :20:15. | :20:20. | |
wanted, he was there. Sue had been at the hospital with it before | :20:21. | :20:23. | |
because her husband had passed away and it was nice to bring another new | :20:24. | :20:27. | |
life into the board after losing another one. Which was lovely. It | :20:28. | :20:30. | |
was a special moment, but rather surreal. The families were only able | :20:31. | :20:35. | |
to meet today after Sue's daughter made an online appeal to find them. | :20:36. | :20:41. | |
I did not imagine her being a midwife. And delivering a baby boy. | :20:42. | :20:50. | |
It was totally weird. Luckily, I watch Call The Midwife so it was in | :20:51. | :21:01. | |
my head! Baby Bohdi ways 9lbs and is doing well, and he has brought more | :21:02. | :21:07. | |
happiness into the Albany realises. -- enter the world than he realises. | :21:08. | :21:12. | |
Pasha Kovalev is a professional dancer who found fame | :21:13. | :21:14. | |
on Strictly Come Dancing - his highlight winning | :21:15. | :21:16. | |
the contest outright in 2014 with Caroline Flack. | :21:17. | :21:18. | |
These days he spends his time out on the road, touring his spectacular | :21:19. | :21:21. | |
In a few weeks it will be coming to Folkestone - | :21:22. | :21:25. | |
and today he was in the town, rehearsing with local dancers | :21:26. | :21:28. | |
who will be getting the chance to perform on stage along side him. | :21:29. | :21:31. | |
This must make it a very special day for those dancers. Yes, very special | :21:32. | :21:46. | |
day. They were also excited. Pasha came to watch them rehearse and was | :21:47. | :21:51. | |
giving them advice and it is greater then Timmy meet an icon who has | :21:52. | :21:54. | |
turned a passion into a career. It is something that they are all | :21:55. | :21:56. | |
excited about when the show comes here in April. | :21:57. | :22:07. | |
Pasha Kovalev wowed audiences when he lifted the glitter ball trophy in | :22:08. | :22:19. | |
2014 with Caroline Flack. Ten. Ten. Now he's bringing his showbiz | :22:20. | :22:25. | |
sparkle to Folkestone with his own show. It is close to my heart | :22:26. | :22:30. | |
because it is kind of my life story. It is me growing up as a dancer, | :22:31. | :22:36. | |
struggling along in the world, moving from Russia to the United | :22:37. | :22:40. | |
States and the one Broadway, on TV, touring the world, and coming back | :22:41. | :22:44. | |
here to the UK forced Strictly Come Dancing. | :22:45. | :22:55. | |
The first performance and he has enlisted the help of a local dance | :22:56. | :23:06. | |
group. I am so excited. It is going to be so good. I never thought I | :23:07. | :23:10. | |
would have an opportunity like that but being a big fan of Strictly Come | :23:11. | :23:15. | |
Dancing, it is absolutely amazing. He is so professional. He is so | :23:16. | :23:19. | |
inspiring. You see him on TV all the time. And it is just really | :23:20. | :23:26. | |
exciting. It is going to be like hard-core, let's do this. Not just | :23:27. | :23:32. | |
the dance groups are excited. Everything is there, beautiful | :23:33. | :23:35. | |
costumes, all of the styles that you have seen on to become Banting, the | :23:36. | :23:40. | |
walls, the foxtrot, passionate tangos, it is a show for the entire | :23:41. | :23:44. | |
family and we're all going to have fun. He might not any longer have | :23:45. | :23:50. | |
the strictly judges to impress but he is still hoping to get top marks. | :23:51. | :23:55. | |
If you want to come and watch it will be here on April five. -- April | :23:56. | :23:59. | |
the 5th. An extraordinary collection of love | :24:00. | :24:02. | |
letters written during the Second World War have been | :24:03. | :24:04. | |
discovered in a trunk in Brighton, detailing the hopes and dreams | :24:05. | :24:07. | |
and fears of a young couple All the letters were sent | :24:08. | :24:10. | |
between the pair to army camps around the country. | :24:11. | :24:15. | |
Both signed the letters with the same initial - G - | :24:16. | :24:16. | |
and never their full names - because, for both of them, | :24:17. | :24:19. | |
revealing their love publicly could have had | :24:20. | :24:21. | |
the direst of consequences. They do not know that it is love. He | :24:22. | :24:49. | |
exchanged hundreds of letters with his sweetheart and always signed | :24:50. | :24:53. | |
with the initial, G. More than 70 years later it has been discovered | :24:54. | :24:58. | |
that G stood for Gordon, and Gilbert had been in love with a man. It | :24:59. | :25:02. | |
stunned us to start with because we had seen that all of the letters | :25:03. | :25:06. | |
were from a girlfriend because of what they talked about then it was | :25:07. | :25:10. | |
the realisation that we had uncovered a gold mine of | :25:11. | :25:12. | |
correspondence between the two men. The letters are from infantrymen | :25:13. | :25:18. | |
Gordon from Devon, but no picture of him has yet been found. They were | :25:19. | :25:22. | |
uncovered nine years ago in Brighton, NI house clearance, but | :25:23. | :25:26. | |
very nearly could have been lost. Do one thing for me in deadly | :25:27. | :25:30. | |
seriousness. I want all of my letters destroyed. Please, darling, | :25:31. | :25:34. | |
do this for me. Till then and for ever I worship you. The letters will | :25:35. | :25:39. | |
be read this weekend at the history Festival in Shropshire organised by | :25:40. | :25:43. | |
a couple among the first to have a civil partnership 11 years ago. Here | :25:44. | :25:47. | |
we are looking at something so personal, so loving and so caring | :25:48. | :25:51. | |
between two guys in the Second World War. Even back in the late 70s it | :25:52. | :25:57. | |
was a very different world. Still very restricted. It was hard to find | :25:58. | :26:04. | |
a partner for life. The illicit letters were written at a time when | :26:05. | :26:08. | |
Dearlove would have been illegal, but the words are filled with | :26:09. | :26:11. | |
happiness and hope for a more progressive time. Wouldn't it be | :26:12. | :26:14. | |
wonderful if our letters to be published in future in a more | :26:15. | :26:17. | |
enlightened time, and all the world could see how in love we are? And | :26:18. | :26:22. | |
the world has a glimpse of that forbidden love, decades on. | :26:23. | :26:27. | |
Time now for the weather with Rachel. | :26:28. | :26:29. | |
It is going to get even warmer, fantastic! Lots of sun sign around | :26:30. | :26:38. | |
this afternoon. The cloud that we saw first thing broke up during the | :26:39. | :26:44. | |
afternoon. Towards the weekend it is going to be staying mild. Today we | :26:45. | :26:49. | |
had highs of 13 Celsius. Heading through the weekend, particularly | :26:50. | :26:54. | |
Sunday, we will see highs of 13, 14, maybe even 17 by Monday. There will | :26:55. | :27:01. | |
be some rain around, first thing on Sunday but for most of us in the | :27:02. | :27:06. | |
South East corner it should be dry. Clear skies mean that there will be | :27:07. | :27:09. | |
some mist and fog of an act but again very mild. Temperatures | :27:10. | :27:15. | |
dropping to around five Celsius. Any early mist and fog burns back. We | :27:16. | :27:19. | |
still have this area of high pressure. Once again it is going to | :27:20. | :27:23. | |
be brightening up by the afternoon, still with that south-westerly | :27:24. | :27:27. | |
airflow. Top temperatures reaching highs of 11 or 12 degrees. Going | :27:28. | :27:34. | |
from Saturday into Sunday, we will see this weakening weather front, | :27:35. | :27:38. | |
not bringing much in terms of rain, but it will mean more cloud cover. | :27:39. | :27:44. | |
The winds pick up a little bit. Mild, overnight temperatures around | :27:45. | :27:48. | |
five Celsius, and a damp start Sunday but that front players and | :27:49. | :27:54. | |
again it brightens up with highs of around 13 Celsius. Heading into the | :27:55. | :27:57. | |
new week, for Monday, potentially some breaks in the cloud cover and | :27:58. | :28:02. | |
we could see some highs of 17 Celsius. The average for the time of | :28:03. | :28:06. | |
year is around eight. There will also be a good deal of cloud. Even | :28:07. | :28:12. | |
so you cannot argue with 17 Celsius. Monday into juicy, some rain for a | :28:13. | :28:17. | |
time, towards the weekend, bright for the most part, dry and mild. -- | :28:18. | :28:20. | |
Monday into Tuesday. We're back with a late news at PM. I | :28:21. | :28:30. | |
will see you next week. Have a great weekend. Goodbye. -- the late news | :28:31. | :28:34. | |
at 10:30pm. | :28:35. | :28:36. |