BBC Film To Focus On 4×4 Problems In Peak Park

A BBC fly-on-the-wall documentary to be screened at the end of this month focuses on the challenge of managing opposing views about 4×4 and trail bike use on green lanes in the Peak District National Park.

Film-maker Richard Macer spent a year following the Peak Park Authority’s rights of way team and was given behind the scenes access  to help the public understand the challenges of managing a complex legal issue that arouses strong passions about the balance required to conserve and enhance the environment, while allowing people legal access to the countryside.

The documentary is part of a series caled Tales From The National Parks and will be screened at 9pm on Sunday 30 October on BBC4.

Solomons Temple is top spot

Solomon's Temple has been tipped as a top spot for day-trippers in the North West.

Buxton’s hill-top tower, standing above Grinlow Wood, featured on the BBC’s Inside Out programme, after viewers nominated destinations for their ‘perfect day’ out in the area.

Screened a week last Friday, the presenters were seen setting out at 5am to climb the Temple and watch the sun rise over Buxton.

BBC1’s Inside Out is featuring a series of off-beat spots for UK tourists to discover in their own back yard. Other attractions included seal watching on the Isle of Man, Cartmel Sticky Toffee Pudding Shop in Cumbria and the Cotebrooke Shire Horse Centre, Lancashire.

for more information on Solomon's Temple visit www.peakdistrictview.com

Chris Sabian, Peak District View - 2007-03-31 03:28:18

Pimp my ride grannies

A group of grandmothers from Leek, Staffordshire, have been travelling to their bingo matches in an old rust-covered bus with a broken wheelchair lift. But thanks to MTV their bus has had a Comic Relief style makeover.

Pimp My Ride UK presenter Tim Westwood and his team come to the rescue when they revamp the bus for a special red nose edition.

"It ain't right for gran to go to bingo in a battered and busted old bucket," Westwood said.

The results were shown on BBC1 last night, with the whole edition to follow on MTV on April 8.

Clickety Click

Chris Sabian, Peak District View - 2007-03-17 09:16:52

I hate red nose day

Having just argued with a Sainsburys' check out beast about why I wouldn't be purchasing an over priced red nose I now realise that Comic Relief will be on the television all night. Unfunny, embarrassing, self-worshipping ego monstrosity that it is.

It’s back. Worse than ever. And it’s everywhere!

The fact is it has become some kind of annual psychotherapy camp for delebrities (D-list celebrities) asking for your hard earned cash again!

But in between the hilarity, of course, there are those oh-so-serious bits about "what your money is doing". What our money is doing, of course, is paying the licence fee to show this pathetic blackmailing, has-been-revitalising drivel.

For most of us, however much we might hate the delivery, a combination of guilt and sheer ongoing hype will make us grudgingly put our hands in our pockets eventually, as we always have done, back to Live Aid and way before.

And that brings up another issue. When I look around and even do some research on the Internet, I still see lots of the kind of things we have been paying to put a stop to for about the last 20 years now. And not only that, I have never seen one thing to suggest that the money is really being spent in the way we are told.

So where are all these kids that we have allegedly helped? In Africa? Although it is conveniently very far away I don't think for one minute that tiny bore hole in the ground costs 10 million a year to maintain! I see all this money being collected but have no idea where it is actually being spent, because it certainly isn't anywhere near me. If I could just see a bit more evidence of the good being done then perhaps I would not be so suspicious.

Now there's another thing that makes me feel a bit uneasy about this situation. The television and radio companies (BBC radio is the worst) charge you £1 if you send a text to them, with 70p of this money going to Comic Relief. Err… excuse me, so where is the other 30p going to?

Why should we be asked to give generously when there are companies out there using these events to make a hefty profit? Surely they can do it at a reduced rate for Comic Relief? Why can't a larger portion or even better all of the money go to the people who REALLY need it? Oh no, of course not because it's not the big companies that stick their hands in their pockets; that's a job for us - the "paying" public.

It was even suggested that some celebrities got paid to appear.

If the show was a turn off beforehand the news that star billing was going to a lying, cheating, war mongering, smug b*stard with a plastic smile was the final straw. As if he’s not in enough “bovver”, Prime Minister Tony Blair tangled with Catherine Tate’s comedy chav teenager Lauren in a sketch for Comic Relief.

Typical of Blair to distract the well meaning public from his current troubles and provide him with a little comic relief. It is not the first time he has used this tactic.

Sorry its not for me and I reserve the right to donate to whom I please and not have it rammed down my throat by a bunch of over paid hypocrites.

Chris Sabian, Peak District View - 2007-03-17 02:39:32

No to Trident

Almost two thirds of Labour backbenchers oppose the Government's decision to replace Britain's Trident nuclear deterrent, according to a poll.

As MPs prepared for this week's crucial Commons vote, of the 101 Labour backbenchers who responded to a survey by BBC Radio 4's The World This Weekend, 64 said they were against Trident renewal.

Only 22 backed the Government's plan to acquire a new generation of nuclear missile submarines and to update the Trident D5 missiles, while 15 said they were still undecided.
Eighty MPs did not respond to the survey while another 27 could not be contacted.

The findings underline ministers' fears of a substantial backbench revolt in the Commons on Wednesday.
Rebels have warned that the Government could be forced to rely on the support of the Tories to carry its motion backing Trident renewal.

On Saturday Labour leadership contender Michael Meacher promised to reopen the decision to replace Trident if he wins his bid to succeed Tony Blair as Prime Minister.

The former environment minister accused the Government of trying to "bounce" MPs into accepting a replacement. He said if he was in No 10, he would order a fresh vote on the issue after a "full and proper" public consultation of at least six months.

"The consultation on Trident has been a sham. By fixing the vote in the Commons next Wednesday, No 10 is bouncing Parliament into a momentous decision years before expert opinion says that is necessary," he said.

"As leader, I would reopen this decision. I would arrange a full and proper consultation lasting at least six months and embracing all the relevant options and then have at least a two-day debate in Parliament ending with a fresh and much more authoritative vote."

Well he is making the right noises but will Blair's bully boys get him before he becomes a serious contender to Brown.

Chris Sabian, Peak District View - 2007-03-11 03:19:42