Browse content similar to 04/08/2014. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Good evening, welcome to Spotlight from Plymouth Hoe as the South West | :00:00. | :00:08. | |
remembers the outbreak of the First World War. | :00:09. | :00:10. | |
Today, communities across the region have | :00:11. | :00:11. | |
been reflecting on the life changing events of a hundred years ago. | :00:12. | :00:21. | |
In Cornwall, a re`enactment of the moment the declaration of war was | :00:22. | :00:24. | |
Also tonight ` asbestos concerns are investigated. | :00:25. | :00:29. | |
Council residents in Crediton fear building work has | :00:30. | :00:31. | |
And looking back at South West success at a glorious | :00:32. | :00:39. | |
Plymouth Hoe and this war memorial have been | :00:40. | :00:55. | |
the scene of many important commemorations over the years | :00:56. | :00:57. | |
and once again tonight they will play host to an act of remembrance. | :00:58. | :01:03. | |
On the 4th of August 1914 Britain declared war on Germany. | :01:04. | :01:08. | |
From that moment, the lives of people in this city and across | :01:09. | :01:11. | |
The Foreign Secretary at the time remarked, | :01:12. | :01:18. | |
"the lamps are going out all over Europe tonight and they won't be lit | :01:19. | :01:21. | |
It was perhaps a more prophetic remark than he realised because it | :01:22. | :01:26. | |
signalled the start of one of this country's darkest periods. | :01:27. | :01:32. | |
Well, tonight from 10 o'clock people will be encouraged to turn | :01:33. | :01:35. | |
off their lights and leave just one lamp or candle lit to remember the | :01:36. | :01:38. | |
Here on the Hoe, a candlelit procession will end with | :01:39. | :01:44. | |
a gun salute to mark the precise moment war was declared. | :01:45. | :01:49. | |
Tonight, we'll be looking ahead to the events | :01:50. | :01:51. | |
Already today a number of commemorations have taken place | :01:52. | :01:56. | |
including the re`enactment of the moment | :01:57. | :01:57. | |
a Morse code message was sent from Poldhu in Cornwall to warn British | :01:58. | :02:00. | |
This is a historic moment recreated 100 years on. Just hours after Brett | :02:01. | :02:25. | |
declared war on Germany, this station sent the following message | :02:26. | :02:30. | |
by Morse code. To all British merchant vessels, war has broken out | :02:31. | :02:35. | |
between England and Germany. You must not go to German ports. Radio | :02:36. | :02:42. | |
enthusiasts working at Poldhu Theatre is important to remember | :02:43. | :02:46. | |
what happened. The telegram would have disappeared and this is one of | :02:47. | :02:53. | |
only ones we know that kept the message and proves it was sent from | :02:54. | :02:58. | |
here. We are running a special event with amateur radio to honour all | :02:59. | :03:06. | |
those wireless operators on both sides who died during the First | :03:07. | :03:12. | |
World War. It was from a radio mast like this one that the crucial | :03:13. | :03:17. | |
message was sent and throughout the war Poldhu continued to keep ships | :03:18. | :03:26. | |
informed. It was very important that shipping was aware of the dangers | :03:27. | :03:30. | |
and I suspect they were very conscious that events on the world | :03:31. | :03:33. | |
stage were very dangerous and therefore it was crucial that the | :03:34. | :03:39. | |
message got through to them to avoid German ports. This is all that now | :03:40. | :03:44. | |
remains of the original telegraph station but today's event insurers | :03:45. | :03:50. | |
the key part it played will not be forgotten. | :03:51. | :03:55. | |
Well, the outbreak of war 100 years ago went on to affect every | :03:56. | :03:58. | |
In some towns and villages virtually an entire generation was lost. | :03:59. | :04:02. | |
The families left behind had to struggle with their grief | :04:03. | :04:04. | |
A century on, many communities have come | :04:05. | :04:13. | |
together again today to remember the lives lost, as Heidi Davey reports. | :04:14. | :04:23. | |
In the village of Woodbury, a special day of events has been held | :04:24. | :04:30. | |
to remember the outbreak of the First World War. This is our tribute | :04:31. | :04:39. | |
to the sacrifice, and this is what they have handed down to us. It was | :04:40. | :04:44. | |
the community of which they left and gave their lives for and we are | :04:45. | :04:47. | |
honouring them by bringing the community together again. A Second | :04:48. | :04:52. | |
World War air raid siren and marked the start of an outdoor exhibition | :04:53. | :04:57. | |
by the town's Royal British Legion and civic society. On Weymouth | :04:58. | :05:04. | |
seafront, 560 crosses were used to remember those from the town who did | :05:05. | :05:14. | |
not return from the great War. A lone piper played at a special | :05:15. | :05:20. | |
ceremony at the County Hall to mark the declaration of war and remember | :05:21. | :05:23. | |
those who lost their lives in the conflict. Exeter Cathedral is | :05:24. | :05:36. | |
preparing for more commemorations this evening following last night's | :05:37. | :05:41. | |
anniversary service. At 10pm tonight they join others in marking the time | :05:42. | :05:48. | |
the lights went out all over Europe. And like other services we | :05:49. | :05:53. | |
will work between ten and 11 to close down all the lights in the | :05:54. | :05:58. | |
cathedral so that we end up with just a single candle burning, which | :05:59. | :06:03. | |
is about remembering all those who suffered and also the flicker of | :06:04. | :06:10. | |
hope that we all carry with us. And many communities will take part in | :06:11. | :06:15. | |
the national lights out commemorations this even in | :06:16. | :06:17. | |
commemorating the enormous sacrifice made by so many a century ago. | :06:18. | :06:23. | |
Later in the programme we'll hear from | :06:24. | :06:25. | |
historian Dr Todd Gray about the impact the declaration of war had | :06:26. | :06:28. | |
on the South West, and I've been to the Heligan Gardens in Cornwall to | :06:29. | :06:31. | |
uncover the story of a gardener who went to war and then disappeared. | :06:32. | :06:34. | |
First, the rest of the news from Natalie. | :06:35. | :06:41. | |
Residents of flats in a Devon market town fear | :06:42. | :06:43. | |
their health has been put at risk by their local council's handling | :06:44. | :06:46. | |
The Health and Safety Executive is investigating. | :06:47. | :06:50. | |
Mid Devon Council has apologised and called in | :06:51. | :06:52. | |
a specialist asbestos contractor to survey the properties in Crediton. | :06:53. | :06:54. | |
68`year`old Pete told us he is concerned about the effects | :06:55. | :07:04. | |
of contaminated dust from asbestos insulation boards | :07:05. | :07:09. | |
He complained to the council but they closed his complaint | :07:10. | :07:14. | |
The vents have since been closed off but Pete says the damage is done. | :07:15. | :07:23. | |
Immediately behind the vent were two horizontal bars of asbestos. | :07:24. | :07:26. | |
They looked quite frankly dangerous, and the vent was blowing straight | :07:27. | :07:29. | |
over the work surface where I prepared all my meals. | :07:30. | :07:41. | |
That was the asbestos behind the top vent. | :07:42. | :07:45. | |
He's kept some of the materials and he says it's evidence | :07:46. | :07:47. | |
We asked him to take his collection for independent analysis. | :07:48. | :07:53. | |
Spotlight was not allowed to film inside the lab but we can confirm | :07:54. | :07:56. | |
all samples were subsequently found to contain amosite, one of the most | :07:57. | :07:59. | |
Following these tests there was growing suspicion building work | :08:00. | :08:07. | |
at nearby flats may have disturbed dangerous materials. | :08:08. | :08:23. | |
Mid Devon District Council declined our request for an interview but in | :08:24. | :08:26. | |
a statement said that both they and the contractors had believed it was | :08:27. | :08:33. | |
non`licensable asbestos but in the light that the materials may have | :08:34. | :08:40. | |
been of a more hazardous type, the council contacted the Health | :08:41. | :08:44. | |
and Safety Executive to say the removal may not have been | :08:45. | :08:48. | |
The Health and Safety Executive has confirmed | :08:49. | :08:55. | |
an official enquiry is underway and will decide in due course whether | :08:56. | :08:58. | |
A Devonport based survey ship has arrived in Malta after picking up | :08:59. | :09:09. | |
more than 100 British people who were fleeing violence in Libya. | :09:10. | :09:14. | |
HMS Enterprise left Plymouth in June for an 18 month survey deployment | :09:15. | :09:17. | |
and had been on operation in the Mediterranean. | :09:18. | :09:22. | |
She was despatched to Tripoli, when UK citizens were urged to leave. | :09:23. | :09:27. | |
British Transport Police are warning people to keep off | :09:28. | :09:38. | |
They say there've been hundreds of trespasses recorded on lines | :09:39. | :09:44. | |
in Devon and Cornwall over the past three years. | :09:45. | :09:47. | |
From April to June this year, there were 20 incidents in Cornwall alone. | :09:48. | :09:50. | |
Officers say people wandering onto the tracks are taking | :09:51. | :09:52. | |
You cannot hear the train coming and they can take a quarter of a mile to | :09:53. | :10:05. | |
stop at full speed. The number of fatalities we have had shows the | :10:06. | :10:08. | |
inherent dangers of the railway network. | :10:09. | :10:12. | |
To sport now and the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow are over with | :10:13. | :10:14. | |
The South West pocketed four golds, six silver and six bronze. | :10:15. | :10:18. | |
Spotlight's Dave Gibbins reflects on a successful Games for the region. | :10:19. | :10:22. | |
The biggest achievement of the Commonwealth games came | :10:23. | :10:24. | |
On his debut in Glasgow, the student from the University | :10:25. | :10:28. | |
of Saint Mark St John collected two gold medals in the 50 metre | :10:29. | :10:32. | |
butterfly and 50 metre freestyle, proving he's one to watch in this | :10:33. | :10:35. | |
Tom Daley cruised to gold in the 10m platform putting him | :10:36. | :10:44. | |
in the right frame of mind for the Rio Olympics in 2016. | :10:45. | :10:50. | |
For me, in the next ten years, with the legacy of London 2012 | :10:51. | :10:53. | |
and Glasgow 2014, we're going to see some young stars emerging. | :10:54. | :10:58. | |
Another games debutant, Sophie Tolchard, | :10:59. | :10:59. | |
capped her consistency throughout the lawn bowls competitions with | :11:00. | :11:01. | |
The 22`year`old headed the medal haul from the Kings club in Torquay. | :11:02. | :11:09. | |
The quartet is made up by doubles silver medallist | :11:10. | :11:12. | |
Natalie Melmore, Jamie Chestney, who also won silver, and Sam Tolchard, | :11:13. | :11:14. | |
Although Kingsbridge hockey player Giselle Ansley won | :11:15. | :11:21. | |
the silver playing for England in the final against Australia, | :11:22. | :11:25. | |
They were denied gold as the favourites equalised with only 11 | :11:26. | :11:29. | |
seconds remaining and went on to win the resultant penalty shoot out. | :11:30. | :11:36. | |
And what a performance from the 40`year`old mother of two | :11:37. | :11:38. | |
Jo Pavey, seen here at the 5000 metres finals going into the final | :11:39. | :11:42. | |
lap, but she found an untapped reservoir of strength and power to | :11:43. | :11:45. | |
It was very much a team effort and my children keep me happy and that | :11:46. | :12:05. | |
keeps me motivated. Eight happy personal life helps you feel | :12:06. | :12:10. | |
motivated and I would encourage mothers to get out and get fit! | :12:11. | :12:14. | |
Well, that's the latest news this evening. | :12:15. | :12:16. | |
Back now to our World War one commemorations. | :12:17. | :12:18. | |
This is one of the centrepieces of the regional commemorations for the | :12:19. | :12:38. | |
100th anniversary. We will talk more later but what is planned but I am | :12:39. | :12:42. | |
joined by Todd Gray to reflect on the events of 100 years ago. Across | :12:43. | :12:49. | |
the world millions of lives were lost but is it possible to narrow it | :12:50. | :12:54. | |
down and ask how many lives were lost from here? The roll of honour | :12:55. | :13:05. | |
gives almost 12,000 for Devon, mostly men. And just for one county | :13:06. | :13:14. | |
that is a colossal figure. What sort of proportion is that? It is about | :13:15. | :13:20. | |
important is that the numbers were important is that the numbers were | :13:21. | :13:24. | |
so high that everybody knew someone, and it came home to you. You | :13:25. | :13:31. | |
mentioned one end, not a straightforward with the men going | :13:32. | :13:37. | |
out because they were women on the front line? Lots of men and | :13:38. | :13:43. | |
hospitals were seen with wounds, so the war came back to Devon. You had | :13:44. | :13:55. | |
women going on the front line, one Belgian aristocrat, who was an | :13:56. | :13:59. | |
Exeter girdle, remarries and becomes a great headline on the Western | :14:00. | :14:14. | |
front. `` heroine. It was such a horrific war and was described and | :14:15. | :14:21. | |
hoped to be the war to end all wars, but what changed if anything? There | :14:22. | :14:26. | |
was a different sensibility and an idea about war that permeated the | :14:27. | :14:36. | |
1940s. The first thing that happens is the economy collapses with high | :14:37. | :14:42. | |
inflation and low employment. Loads of women without husbands. Widows | :14:43. | :14:48. | |
and women who never married because they feel unsafes died. Going into | :14:49. | :14:56. | |
the Second World War, people remembered what happened. | :14:57. | :15:03. | |
The two world war is really need to be studied together. I know you are | :15:04. | :15:11. | |
involved in the leading tonight, with the famous phrase about the | :15:12. | :15:14. | |
lamps going out all over Europe, but thank you for joining us. All this | :15:15. | :15:22. | |
we'll be marking this 100th Anniversary in our series | :15:23. | :15:25. | |
World War 1 At Home, in partnership with Imperial War Museums. | :15:26. | :15:28. | |
Tonight we hear the story of the gardener of Heligan, | :15:29. | :15:30. | |
and how his disappearance eventually played a part in | :15:31. | :15:32. | |
I've been to meet historian Peter Lavis who's rediscovering | :15:33. | :15:36. | |
the stories of the families who worked there at the time. | :15:37. | :16:10. | |
100 years ago, the peace and tranquillity of life in the gardens | :16:11. | :16:16. | |
of Heligan was shattered by the outbreak of war. This was one of 23 | :16:17. | :16:23. | |
gardeners who worked on the land and left to join the Navy. Many were | :16:24. | :16:28. | |
called up even before the declaration. There was a prearranged | :16:29. | :16:35. | |
signal with the town crier marching on to the peer and ringing the bell. | :16:36. | :16:41. | |
That was the signal for the men to put on their uniforms. By 1917, the | :16:42. | :16:49. | |
gardeners at Heligan numbered just eight. It is not often there's a | :16:50. | :16:56. | |
poignancy about a toilet but here, the gardeners who went off to war | :16:57. | :17:00. | |
wrote their names on the wall of this outside toilet, and as far as | :17:01. | :17:06. | |
we know this is the only toilet that is designated as a living memorial | :17:07. | :17:10. | |
to those who served in the First World War, by the Imperial War | :17:11. | :17:18. | |
Museum. 48 left town that day and channels was among them. He actually | :17:19. | :17:24. | |
went to work on a trawler in the First World War. Something like 500 | :17:25. | :17:30. | |
trawlers from around the coast of the United Kingdom used to | :17:31. | :17:36. | |
supplement ships. Many were fitted with small guns and about half of | :17:37. | :17:42. | |
them went out hunting submarines. Some went out minesweeping. Was that | :17:43. | :17:48. | |
how he spent the rest of the war? We also know he was either windowed or | :17:49. | :17:54. | |
endurance and he went back to hospital, and one morning, he got up | :17:55. | :17:59. | |
as usual and got ready and walked out of the main gates and | :18:00. | :18:02. | |
disappeared and was never seen around here again. The Navy had no | :18:03. | :18:11. | |
idea of what happened to him and he was notified as a disaster and his | :18:12. | :18:18. | |
wife was accordingly contacted. `` deserter. His wife and three | :18:19. | :18:23. | |
children were stuck here with no income and the family reputation was | :18:24. | :18:32. | |
ruined. The family were vilified. And the stigma of that legacy is | :18:33. | :18:40. | |
still felt by his granddaughter. She always felt there was shame. I do | :18:41. | :18:48. | |
not think she ever got over it and stayed like that for all of her | :18:49. | :18:53. | |
life. She loved him so much and could not say anything about him. I | :18:54. | :19:00. | |
think it broke her heart. She could never speak about him without | :19:01. | :19:05. | |
crying. She could never speak about her husband. From the day he | :19:06. | :19:15. | |
disappeared until the day she died, she wore a black and she and the | :19:16. | :19:20. | |
three children lived with their shame until this gold ring restored | :19:21. | :19:26. | |
the reputation. The ring engraved with his initials helped identify | :19:27. | :19:30. | |
his remains, discovered in woods near the hospital. His body was | :19:31. | :19:37. | |
brought home for burial. They took him off the deserter's West and gave | :19:38. | :19:45. | |
her a pension, but more importantly she got the family reputation back. | :19:46. | :19:50. | |
He was no longer listed as a deserter. Even more poignantly, she | :19:51. | :19:58. | |
was home in Cornwall again. The family all knew what this meant. | :19:59. | :20:05. | |
When they did find him, it gives closure of some sort. At least she | :20:06. | :20:09. | |
had a grave to visit and knew where it was. How does it feel talking | :20:10. | :20:21. | |
about him now? I could cry actually. The losses of the great war were too | :20:22. | :20:27. | |
great for many to be and as well as changing the lives of this family | :20:28. | :20:32. | |
fodder, it signalled a big change at Heligan as well. They all said he | :20:33. | :20:38. | |
could not live with the ghost of the place because so many of the team | :20:39. | :20:44. | |
perished. We can't race to that moment in time the beginning of the | :20:45. | :20:51. | |
decline of Heligan. So the one gardener was eventually found and if | :20:52. | :20:54. | |
he was to return today he would see the garden is looking much as the | :20:55. | :20:58. | |
dead 100 years ago, but the loss of so many lead to the gardens | :20:59. | :21:03. | |
themselves eventually being lost. Tonight in communities | :21:04. | :21:12. | |
across the region, people will be playing their part commemorating | :21:13. | :21:14. | |
the outbreak of the First World War, by dimming their lights, | :21:15. | :21:16. | |
leaving just one candle burning. There will be church services taking | :21:17. | :21:20. | |
place all over the South West, including at Exeter and | :21:21. | :21:23. | |
Truro Cathedrals. In Camelford there will be an open | :21:24. | :21:25. | |
air vigil, with community singing. In North Devon | :21:26. | :21:28. | |
a special walk is being held to Service personnel from St Mawgen | :21:29. | :21:33. | |
will be joining the community of St Columb Major in an act | :21:34. | :21:38. | |
of commemoration. Our reporter Philippa Mina | :21:39. | :21:40. | |
has been to find out more. Later tonight, service personnel | :21:41. | :21:53. | |
from here at RAF Saint Morgan will join and Navy service people as well | :21:54. | :22:02. | |
as members of the public. They will carry 57 candles, one for each | :22:03. | :22:06. | |
serviceman who lost his life in the conflict. I am joined by the station | :22:07. | :22:14. | |
commander. How do you feel about tonight's Memorial and why are you | :22:15. | :22:19. | |
taking part? We are honoured to be a part of it. It is about remembering | :22:20. | :22:28. | |
the beginning of a war and once we have about a hundred people going up | :22:29. | :22:37. | |
with 57 lives lost, and it is about remembering those brothers, | :22:38. | :22:43. | |
husbands, sons who gave the ultimate sacrifice. And you are currently | :22:44. | :22:51. | |
serving, what similarities can you identify with those men 100 years | :22:52. | :22:57. | |
ago? I would not like to make similarities because I imagine 100 | :22:58. | :23:01. | |
years ago the conditions they faced were atrocious. War is nowadays are | :23:02. | :23:11. | |
still atrocious but we have better equipment and communications, | :23:12. | :23:15. | |
accommodation, and it is never a good thing to be in a conflict zone | :23:16. | :23:19. | |
but I would not have liked to have been in the trenches. We will be | :23:20. | :23:30. | |
live tonight from 10:30 p.m.. And we would like to see how you are | :23:31. | :23:34. | |
commemorating events tonight, you can contact us by Facebook. The | :23:35. | :23:40. | |
weather is set to be fear for all the commemorations across the region | :23:41. | :23:43. | |
but what were conditions like 100 years ago? Was more on that and the | :23:44. | :23:48. | |
forecast, here is David. I have a copy of the charts that was | :23:49. | :24:04. | |
drawn up at the start of the war. You can make out the United Kingdom, | :24:05. | :24:12. | |
down here. The black lines illustrate low`pressure taking | :24:13. | :24:18. | |
charge and July would have been quite a good month, with August | :24:19. | :24:22. | |
starting off with low`pressure and some unsettled weather. Let's get | :24:23. | :24:30. | |
more up`to`date, and they did not have satellite pictures in 1914. | :24:31. | :24:35. | |
This cloud may well bring some more showers later this evening and this | :24:36. | :24:44. | |
bunch of showers coming and, and the high pressure is weakening and | :24:45. | :24:48. | |
low`pressure taking charge by the end of the week. The showers we have | :24:49. | :24:59. | |
seen so far today are fading away but more showers gathering to the | :25:00. | :25:03. | |
west of Cornwall and the Wellcome end overnight, some creeping in two | :25:04. | :25:13. | |
parts of Devon. Lowest where the skies are clear so around Dorset. | :25:14. | :25:20. | |
For many of us, quite a cool night and for many of us, show the | :25:21. | :25:24. | |
outbreaks of rain to start the day tomorrow. Sunny spells only good | :25:25. | :25:30. | |
part of the day and late in the day, thicker cloud approaching from | :25:31. | :25:35. | |
the West and coming off the Atlantic, brighter colours and more | :25:36. | :25:45. | |
persistent rain. Temperatures not too bad, around 21 Celsius. Wind | :25:46. | :25:49. | |
coming from the South West with showers possible but largely dry | :25:50. | :25:56. | |
with thicker cloud and more persistent rain later on in the day. | :25:57. | :26:09. | |
The north Coast will be choppy, bigger waves than we have seen | :26:10. | :26:16. | |
today. They list the coastal waters forecast, banking southerly into the | :26:17. | :26:26. | |
evening. It will be an overnight feature sole weapon state is not a | :26:27. | :26:32. | |
bad day, quite warm as well. Sunny spells and the small chance of a few | :26:33. | :26:38. | |
showers, mainly dry on Thursday, and the big change comes on Friday | :26:39. | :26:41. | |
moving into the weekend with more babies developing, but also timing | :26:42. | :26:52. | |
substantially more unsettled. `` breezes. Thank you. | :26:53. | :26:58. | |
with live coverage of events here on The Hoe and across the South West. | :26:59. | :27:03. | |
But tonight is not just about remembering the start of the war. | :27:04. | :27:06. | |
It's also a chance to reflect on the next four years and how | :27:07. | :27:10. |