Cathy Le Feuvre

Bouanne Libéthâtion!

Happy Liberation Day! 

That's the headline today ... in Jersey's native language ... Jèrriais!

In Jersey and Guernsey - the two largest Channel Islands, it’s Liberation Day today!

It was on this day - May 9th - in 1945 …. that the Channel Islands were liberated after five long years of Occupation by enemy forces! (*Sark residents celebrate May 10th & for residents of the Northern Isle - Alderney - all of whom were evacuated and had to leave their island in 1940, they returned later in 1945).

So, this year is the 78th anniversary of the day when British forces marched into St Helier after the surrender was signed outside the harbour on the HMS Beagle early that morning!

Today, celebrations included a re-enactment of that moment when the Union flag was raised again over the Pomme d’Or Hotel in St Helier, in what is now called ‘Liberation Square’! Parties and fun were had, and there are always moments of reflection as we honour those who lived through that dreadful period of our history and came through it, and those who did not survive.

It’s a fascinating period of history … all the more poignant for those of us who had family who lived through the Occupation!

Three years ago, to mark the 75th anniversary of Liberation, I spent a year working with Jersey Heritage to select 5O Objects from their Archives and Museum collections which told the story of the Occupation and Liberation era … 1940 to 1945.

It was an amazing project to work on and I’m so proud to have worked on it with the team at Heritage!

Object 47 featured the diaries of Ralph Mollett, who was the Secretary to the Bailiff during the war years, and he had an amazing view of history… standing next to and working with the head of our island during that time!

I reworked this episode for BBC Radio Jersey’s Breakfast Show on May 8th this year, but here’s the original audio which features on the Jersey Heritage 50 Objects Vimeo site.

If you have a few moments please do listen … it’s just fascinating!

Happy Liberation Day everyone!

Bouanne Libéthâtion!

50 Objects - No47 from Jersey Heritage Vimeo on Vimeo.

 

Never Forget!

Where were you on Tuesday September 11th 2001? 

It's a date that, of course, goes down in history as one of the saddest and most shocking of modern times.

And today it's 20 years since what has become known as '9/11', that infamous terrorist attack on the United States of America

Four commercial airlines were hijacked mid-flight by 19 al-Qaeda terrorists.  Two of the aircraft were deliberately crashed into the World Trade Centre,  the iconic Twin Towers in New York City, with the subsequent collapse of those towers. A third was crashed into the west side of the Pentagon in Washington DC, the headquarters of the American military. A fourth was also hijacked and was also destined for the USA capital, but the brave passengers on board attempted to gain back control of the aircraft, which subsequently crashed instead in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Of course, it's the image of the burning Twin Towers that remains in most of our memories and that's why many of us remember where we were on that day.

At the time I was Head of Broadcast of a small (somewhat experimental) TV station in Hertfordshire in England. It was called 'Home TV' and it broadcast just to the towns of Hertford and nearby Ware and surrounding areas ... the forerunner, one might say, of the small digital and cable stations that sprang up later. We ran locally generated news, sports and weather mostly, mixed in with other interesting 'bought in' programmes and national news from SKY TV.

Some members of my small team and I were in the operations room, the control room from which we controlled transmission. It's a room with lots of TV monitors which allow the directors and engineers to see what's coming in and what being transmitted to our viewers. The SKY TV news feed monitor was always on so we could see what they were running, even if we were not 'taking' the live feed at the time.

It was around 3 o'clock in the afternoon and we were having a meeting about the upcoming local news bulletin - scheduled for 6pm - when we looked up to see the SKY TV monitor flick to pictures of the World Trade Centre in New York, with one of the towers (the North Tower)  ablaze. We turned up the sound to hear those words 'News coming in of ....'

We all stood there, pretty shocked, I have to say. And then, a few moments later,  we saw it ... the second aircraft plough into the South Tower.

It was devastating! It was at at THAT point that I realised that this had to be a terrorist attack rather than an airline crash or accident.

But with my news head on I also realised that we needed to break into our regular programmes and show what was happening there across the Atlantic in New York City and, as it transpired, in Washington DC and other parts of the USA.

We had to have special permission to dip into SKY TV outside of our contracted hours, so I picked up the phone to their control desk.

All I said was 'Home TV in Hertford, we're taking your news feed now!' I guessed that no one there would be able to answer questions because of the seriousness of the events unfolding, and I figured that if we were in trouble for taking the feed, we'd deal with that later. We flicked live to the SKY TV feed and stayed with it all day. Somehow, news of what was happening in two small provisional towns in the UK seemed immaterial at the time, as did re-runs of cartoons and natural history programmes and sports compilations.

I really can't remember if we did a 6 o'clock bulletin. What with trying to get reaction from local people and working with the small team of largely young and inexperienced staff who were, understandably, rather traumatised by the day, September 11 2001 became a bit of a blur.

It was only when I went home late that night and sat down to watch the national BBC News that the enormity of the day began to settle on me. 

That day 2,977 people were killed and more than 6,000 others were injured. The immediate deaths included 265 on the four planes (including the terrorists), 2,606 in the World Trade Centre and in the surrounding area, and 125 at the Pentagon.  Most of those who died were civilians but we know that 344 firefighters and 71 law enforcement officers died in the World Trade Centre and on the ground in New York City. Another law enforcement officer died when United Airlines Flight 93 crashed into that  field near Shanksville and 55 military personnel perished in the attack on the Pentagon.

Of the 2,977 people who died, 2,605 were U.S. citizens and 372 non-U.S. citizens - all were loved, had families, some were dads and mums and grandparents. Each person is a hole in the life of someone else. 

9/11 is the deadliest terrorist attack on the USA and, in fact, in world history. Over the past two decades we've seen the experiences of that day played out on TV over and over and over. I think that must just be awful for those who lost someone that day, especially in the Towers, as they are being constantly reminded of their precious loved ones final moments of life.

Of course, we know that the 9/11 attacks led to an invasion of Afghanistan, where the al-Qaeda terrorists were allowed sanctuary, the eventual killing of the mastermind behind it - Osama bin Laden - and 20 years of Allied troops on the ground, with the loss of many more thousands of lives. American and British and other military personnel who were killed or injured in the subsequent years of battle and not forgetting the many many thousands of  innocent Afghanis who got caught in the cross fire. It's only last month - August 2021 - that the allies have moved out, leaving the country once again in disarray and once again under the control of the Taliban ... itself a radical Islamic group. But that's another story.

In the intervening years I was privileged to hear some of the personal stories of those who were directly affected by the events of 9/11. People who were on holiday in New York city and saw the events unfold in front of them. People who served at 'Ground Zero' (the place where the towers fell) for many months afterward, including chaplains and others from The Salvation Army in New York City and the wider north eastern provinces. People back here in the UK who were also affected and traumatised.

So today, as I have done every year  since that infamous day in 2001, I take time out to remember all those precious souls lost on that dreadful day.

I pray for their family, friends, loved ones, colleagues. I pray for the children who never knew their fathers, all those lives unfulfilled and the doors closed too soon.

And I remember them.

It's twenty years since that terrible day and we should NEVER forget them!

*This post also appears on my One Day at a Time blog, which is a daily blog for every day of 2021.

But I thought it was worth sharing here as well!

Never Forget!

I'm Not A Celebrity - Get Me Out of Here!

Remember back in the early days of the Coronavirus Pandemic when millions of us took a couple of minutes out at 8pm every Thursday to 'Clap for Carers'?

Well, that's what happened across the UK anyway, including here in the lovely island of Jersey in the Channel Islands!

We were clapping, whistling, playing musical instruments, banging saucepans and generally making a big noise to say 'thank you' to all the people who looking after us. All those 'caring' for us at the height of the pandemic when people were getting sick with Covid19, being hospitalised, even dying from this illness that struck the world so quickly at the start of 2020.

We were showing our gratitude to those who were keeping our world going, supporting us to allow most of us to stay home and stay safe. All the health professionals who were (and still are actually) at the front line, by the bedside, wrapped in PPE, on the wards and in the emergency services. All the public servants keeping our streets and roads clean and safe, our rubbish collected, our streets safely policed and our homes safe from fire and other dangers. All the volunteers manning the food banks which were desperately needed by those who were unable to work to support their families. All those driving our buses, keeping our stores stocked and those serving us in so many ways.

When we clapped on those Thursdays for more than two months, we understood that all these people were putting their own safety on the line to keep our worlds going, to ensure WE could stay safe. These were moving, magical moments!

We truly understood the value of people who, let's face it, in the past have just been in the background, rather unappreciated for what they bring to our communities.

For a while, we began to understand that THEY were and are the Heroes of our society without whom we could not survive.

For a few months, the obsession with Celebrity we have developed over the years faded somewhat into the background. Although so-called, often self-identified 'celebrities' pounded us with images, videos and comments on social media, attempting to keep their profile high (it is, after all, how they make a living, promoting themselves and it was perhaps difficult being a TV or sporting celebrity when there were no live sports and no new celebrity TV shows being made) it seemed as if, for a while at least, the world wasn't paying that much attention.

Despite their attempts at pushing their self-proclaimed importance, even when the world was in dire straits, for a bit lots of us seemed to realise just how unimportant these 'celebrities' are to the real world.

There were even suggestions and dreams that, going forward, maybe the world and the media in particular, would move away from the constant pandering to 'celebrities', the never ending celebrity-led TV shows, the shoving-in-our-faces of people who, generally, are rather overpaid for what they do and are, and often appear to have lost sight of the 'real world' where people can't afford posh holidays, designer clothes and footwear, plastic surgery and huge homes and shockingly expensive vehicles. Some of us hoped that we would begin to see a reduction in the promotion of the celebrity culture!

Some of us hoped that, as we came out of the pandemic, we would still remember the 'real heroes', stop obsessing about what we don't have in comparison to the celebrities who are promoted through our media and through their own social media platforms, and begin to just appreciate what we do have and those who really make our world a better place. Some of us hoped that the so-called 'celebrity culture' where we're all apparently encouraged to emulate the lives of people who invariably do little to enhance our world, would start to be seen for what it is - all silly nonsense! 

Some of us hoped that even if the 'celebrity' stuff came back onto our screens maybe people wouldn't watch it anymore, and wouldn't be sucked in to the old pre-pandemic world. 

Six months on from the start of the pandemic and I've just seen an advert on the TV. It's promoting something called 'Celebrity Karaoke Club', The strapline goes something like  'Who wouldn't want to see a bunch of celebrities twerking?' 

WELL - ME FOR ONE!!!

I can't actually think of anything worse that watching seven ... yes seven ... so-called 'celebrities', most of whom from the line up appear to be just famous for thinking they are famous, doing a sing-off and then criticising and making fun of the others. For six weeks! For me this is not 'entertainment'.  Neither are all the shows which are popping up again now featuring would be celebs - including dating and game shows and ridiculous staged managed reality 'real lives' programmes. 

Have we learned nothing from the pandemic? Have the media companies learned nothing? That actually we're not all 'buzzing for the latest fix of TOWIE!' and some of us would rather watch paint dry than watch rich, pampered individuals trying to outdo other celebrities, often not with any sort of kindness. 

It remains to be seen if these shows will be as popular. My fear is that because we're not generally offered much of an alternative, they may well get lots of viewers, even if most of us now realise how shallow it all is. Time will tell. 

I'm not a celebrity and I guess about 99.9% of the world's population are not celebrities so we're out of here.

We're back in the background. Many of us just living and trying to get by, and many millions still being complete heroes, not worrying about how their hair looks under their Personal Protective Equipment, and realising that when you're caring for a dying patient, or a family struggling to put food on the table because, after the 'furlough' schemes which have kept them paid during the worst of the pandemic is cancelled and their jobs are gone, after all ... it really doesn't matter if you are wearing a designer outfit, or have spent hours with a makeup artist ensuring your lashes are thick and long and your lips are plumped having being injected with something nasty to ensure you look like the celebrity next to you with similarly ridiculous pouty lips.

If we've learnt nothing from 2020, I for one hope it is that what matters is that we care for each, that we all go the extra mile to make our society and our world, a better and kinder place.  What matters is not what we look like, or how much money we have in the bank or the glamourous house we live in, or the number of social media followers. 

What matters is that we love! Not just ourselves, but others!

 

 

Life in the Time of Covid19*

It's been more than a month now since Jersey in the Channel Islands - it's a small British island which lies just off the coast of Normandy in France - went into 'Lockdown'.

It was Monday March 30th and after witnessing the spread of the coronavirus from the end of 2019 and watching what was going on in the UK which introduced social distancing and other rules on social gatherings on March 23rd, our government announced similar restrictions to prevent the spread of the disease.

Since the end of March many islanders have been 'self isolating' in our homes, especially if they are over 65 (which, if you're reading this in 2020... I'm not .. yet!) I'm working from home because, although I am not in any particular danger, I look after my Mum who turned 90 a couple of weeks ago. We have been allowed outdoors for 2 hours a day for shopping, trips for healthcare or exercise. But we've pretty much stayed indoors.

Lots of people have called this a 'strange' time!

It is! 

As a writer I kept saying to myself 'you really should be documenting all this!' Writing a diary? At least blogging? But somehow, in all the weird lethargy of the times, I haven't quite got around to it. I did start writing something on April 1st but didn't post it because … what I wrote felt like an APRIL FOOL! You could make it up!

And then, I asked myself a second question 'what actually have you got to say?' That's because I feel like my life at the moment is incredibly BORING! I look at social media posts and everyone is being so creative - making stuff, home schooling, using their 2 hours for spectacular excursions, whether they should be doing so or not - and in comparison … I'm doing nothing. Or that's what it feels like!

Now, however, as the pandemic continues to sweep across the globe and more and more people are infected, affected and die, I feel I need to write! I realise as time goes on that being intimidated by what others are saying they are doing on social media, is worthless. Whether we know it or not, even the smallest day to day elements of life during such a strange time are worth documenting. Aren't they?

SO here goes … 

I AM working from home.  I work for the BBC local radio station (BBC Radio Jersey) and they sent me home and set me up with a computer with all the links to programmes and editing facilities, on March 31st. And it's busy.

Here in Jersey we are working our way up to the 75th anniversary of the Liberation of our island on Saturday May 9th. If you're not aware, the Channel Islands were the only place in the British Isles that were invaded and occupied by the German Nazi regime during the Second World War. We celebrate the Liberation from our Occupation every year, but  Liberation75 was meant to be a fantastic public commemoration, with masses of events planned. That's all been cancelled due to this wretched virus, although much is now happening online.

At BBC Radio Jersey, we're still planning lots to mark the day, which follows the celebration of the 75th anniversary of VE Day in the UK on May 8th. And as Communities Journalist in Jersey I'm helping to gather stories, and I've been involved in some long running projects in the run up to May 9th. So I've had loads of editing to do!

It's very surreal though. My 'office' is my Mum's dining room. No outdoor window but a couple of lovely paintings on the wall of Jersey scenes, and surrounded by family photos on the piano and mantlepiece.

Although I try not to, I find myself sitting for hours at my computer, only getting up occasionally to enjoy a cuppa, have a 'comfort break',  receive socially distanced post which has been pushed through the letterbox by the safe postman, chatting to Mum and my brother, who is also socially isolated at home (he's a Personal Trainer and he can't work right now because gyms are shut) and very occasionally, walking around the garden to get a bit of fresh air.

I've realised that at work we normally do break up our day. We chat with colleagues, we go make some tea or coffee, occasionally I have to walk three floors downstairs to open the door to visitors when our receptionist is on a break, we have meetings. And I'm missing all that … even the annoying doorbells!

I've discovered that it's very easy to become disconnected with the work programme. I have found myself becoming a little paranoid from time to time that OTHERS think I'm doing nothing here at home and I'm just sitting here waiting for their instructions. At other times I've found myself thinking 'Well they can't be doing much there in the office because it feels like I'm doing everything!' 

Both emotions are, of course, ridiculous in the extreme. But it's one of the results of isolation and if it's affecting me, someone who is usually pretty upbeat, then it must be having really detrimental affects on others who are not so fortunate of myself. 

I can go for walks. I have been for a few over the past month and they've been glorious! They've been mostly on the beach near to my home, the stretch of sand from West Park in St Helier to First Tower in St Aubin's Bay, which is fabulous! I should go for more exercise but by the end of the day in front of the computer I'm exhausted! And the weekends seem to go so fast, with an early morning Saturday shopping trip which has got earlier and earlier to avoid the social distancing long queues and cooking and cleaning and washing, and, truth be told,  just sitting in front of the TV.

By the way I have 'social mediared' some walks which I realise means that I'm part of that online weirdness that makes others feel incomplete. It's a complex world we live in.

I have a garden. Must get round to clearing some weeds soon as the weather warms up a bit.

Less traffic in the roads outside the house means I can hear the birds more clearly. I'm sure they've always been there but often we've not been able to hear them often over the general hum and hubbub of modern life. 

Meanwhile, in our beautiful island, as of TODAY we have 292 cases of COVID19 confirmed, 199 people have recovered and sadly 24 people have died with links to coronavirus.

I'm a journalist, so you might also expect me to report today on the world statistics ...  as of right now, in the UK 186,599 people have been confirmed with the virus, up 4,339 in the past 24 hours. Deaths stand at 28,446, up 315 on yesterday. Yes that daily figure seems to be falling at the moment, and 1,918 people have recovered. Across the globe there have been 3,462,682 deaths linked to coronavirus, up more than 76,000 in the last 24 hours. People who have recovered is 1,110,719 and the numbers who have died stands at 244,911 (up nearly 5,500 on yesterday).

I say 'statistics', but of course each person represents a life, a family, relationships. Every life lost is a tragedy. And, of course, people aren't just dying of COVID19. I've lost a couple of friends and acquaintances during these past weeks, of different long term conditions, and one of the awful things is that because of the restrictions on gatherings, we can't give them the send off they deserve.

But, one of the great things about this time in our lives is that it seems it's given us a new appreciation of people who make our world work. The health professionals and care workers, shop workers, postmen and women, the people who empty our bins. SO many people who until we entered this strange time, were invisible, undervalued, underpaid. Every Thursday evening at 8pm here in Jersey and across the wider British Isles, we stand in our streets and Clap for the Carers, showing our appreciation of all those people who nurse us when we're ill care for us, keep food on the shelves, help us stay in touch with each other and generally keep our world ticking over.  

We don't clap for the overpaid sports personalities and reality TV stars, the celebrities who (still) populate our TV screens, making money out of this situation by being paid to give us endless insights into how they're coping with lockdown in their posh homes and mansions! We clap for those who live in tiny homes, struggling to pay their bills.

We don't clap for the people who take home six figure salaries in the finance industry. We clap for the people who barely scrape a living in life.

We clap for what we have termed in the past  'the little people'. They are not little anymore. They are saving lives, putting their own lives at risk just so we can be safe and stay safe. 

And I pray that when this is all over we will continue to value those for whom we clap on a Thursday. That they will be able to negotiate better pay and better conditions. And that our 21st century British obsession with nonsense like celebrities who are famous for simply being famous and which currently dominates much of our culture, will disappear

And so we come to this weekend. Yesterday (May 2) some of the restrictions on movement were slightly raised here in Jersey. Now we are allowed to go out for four hours a day. We're allowed to meet others (just two) outside our own households. And our 'time out' can be for any purpose, not just exercise and shopping. Our Health Minister has warned that the change could lead to more deaths, but the government are already talking about relaxing some of the rules on the way restaurants can operate, and more. 

Yesterday and today I ventured out (shopping anda  short walk) and I've already noticed many more people out and about. People gathering in larger groups, especially young people. Although the government still advises 'social distancing' (staying more than 2metres apart) I saw many people not doing so. I read social media posts from people delighted that 'the Lockdown is over!'

It is NOT! 

It's just now we have our medical ducks in a row and will be able to cope with the upsurge in cases of COVID 19. We've seen a temporary 'Nightingale Hospital' go up in record time on a field near St Helier, our main town. It will house sick people in isolated wards. Cost? £14m! But I fear that the cost in lives will be even more devastating as people relax, mingle more and spread the dreaded coronavirus.

So how am I feeling today - Sunday May 3rd? Well, a little fearful for our island and it's people, many of whom right now are living with false hope.

And as for me and mine? We will remain locked in, socially isolated, wearing masks and gloves to go out, practising social distancing for a long while yet. Even if we slowly go slightly mad with the isolation. I'm a person of Christian faith, so that sustains me and gives me the optimism I need. I believe in prayer so I pray. And I practice some deep breathing and positive praying/thinking when it all becomes too much and I start to get a little panic attack.

But most of all, I remind myself that this time WILL pass.

It won't last forever.

Will it?

*The title of this blog post nods in the direction of a brilliant book called 'Love in the Time of Cholera' which is a novel by the Colombian Nobel prize winning author Gabriel García Márquz  (Spanish: El amor en los tiempos del cólera) … if you haven't read it … please do!

Missing the Man on the Moon

July 20 1969 !

50 years ago today -  Man Walked on the Moon!

What an amazing, astonishing feat of science, technology, human bravery and determination.

Man actually walked on the surface of another celestial body!

Two men - Neil Armstrong and then Buzz Aldrin - placed their feet on the powdery, barren lunar surface. A third astronaut  - their Apollo 11 command module pilot Michael Collins - shared their historic journey, watched by millions upon millions of people across the globe via TV.

And today, millions of people are remembering where they were when they sat mesmerised by those grainy black and white images from the moon, and heard Armstrong's immortal words ...

'It's one small step for (a) man. One giant Leap for Mankind'

But not me.

You see - while everyone who is anyone has a memory of that day - even those really too young to remember ... I admit ... I missed it.

I Missed the First Man on the Moon!

Sorry, but it's true.

I AM old enough to have memories of July 20 1969. But at the time when Armstrong placed his foot on the dusty surface of the moon, I was tucked up in bed in a boarding school dormitory in Kenya, in East Africa. Probably dreaming of the soon-to-come school holidays when I'd be back home on a farm in the African bush, and later on the beach in Mombasa with my family. Even at 10 I was good at dreaming.

My brother Steve did enjoy listening to a recording of the moon landing the next day thanks to a brilliant teacher, but I have no memory of even being told about it.

Later, of course, I would learn all about that momentous day, and what it meant for mankind, for science, for our understanding of what being 'human' is about.

But on the day itself ... nothing. Nothing to report. Didn't see the TV pictures, don't recall it making an impact on my life at all.

As a budding writer, you'd maybe expect me to have a diary note ... 'Today Man walked on the Moon. The World is Forever Changed!' But ... unfortunately not.

Don't get me wrong, this lack of Moon Landing Experience hasn't stopped me from being a little obsessed with All Things Space.

On several occasions, I've visited Cape Canaveral - the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida where Apollo 11 launched on July 16 1969. I'm intrigued by space, love all the space movies, and am in awe of those men and women who have ventured into the atmosphere and beyond. I loved seeing the mock up of the Houston control room ... etc etc

But while others today flood social media and tell the world what they were up to on that day in 1969 ... this is all I have to offer.

Yet even this lack of experience reminds me of something profound.

Life isn't, I think, about the Big Stuff that happens. Not really.

Rather, life is about the small events - the day to day waking up, going to school or work, looking after the kids, coping with illness, shopping, cooking the dinner, having an argument and making up, reading a book under a tree in the garden, going for a walk, sleeping and loving and laughing and crying.

Yes, occasionally a Huge Occurrence breaks into the routine of life. And sometimes we DO remember where we were when it happened. And sometimes we don't.

So - if like me - you don't have a memory of that day when Man Walked on the Moon ... don't worry. Life is not all about what has become known as 'Selfie Moments'. We don't have to remember absolutely everything that happens in the world, although if we do have a memory or two tucked away that relates to the Big Stuff, that's ok.

Sometimes it's just about living our lives ... regardless of what's happening around us.

 

Lockerbie Memories - 25 years on

Today we mark a very sad moment in our world's history. Twenty five years ago 270 people lost their lives when a 747 aeroplane en route from London to the USA exploded over the little town of Lockerbie on the Scottish borders.

Memorials are planned here in the UK and in the USA, where so many people lost loved ones. No matter the passage of the years the pain will still be as raw as they think back on those they lost that day, and the human potential which came so abruptly to an end that evening. So many of the travellers that Christmas were young people returning home to the US, or visiting friends across the pond.

I always remember this day - but for a different reason.

Wednesday December 21st 1988 was my 30th birthday and I awoke feeling rather traumatised. Other 'big' birthdays have come and gone since but the Big 30 seemed like a very large milestone at the time. I knew it was irrational but I could not shake myself out of self pity. I had told no one that it was my birthday and for the first time ever I had chosen not to take the day off work.

At the time I worked as a reporter/producer/newsreader for BBC Jersey - a local radio station in the Channel Islands (Great Britain) - and I was on the 'late shift'. I started at lunchtime and would work through the afternoon, and then when everyone else left around 6pm I would be on my own.

For someone who was already feeling a little down, being alone on birthday night was not a great decision. But it was a busy shift -  while BBC Jersey broadcast the evening 'shared' show transmitted from our sister stations on the British mainland, my tasks would include completing the production for the local early show for the following morning, a Thursday. This might involve some recorded local interviews, telephone conversations and writing up of stories, as well as monitoring the national feeds and ensuring that stories for the next day which came through on the BBC nationwide 'circuit' system were recorded and available for my colleagues.

My final job of the day would be to compile and read the news headlines (national/international/regional/local) and local weather forecast at 10pm.

In the days before internet, we received all national and wider regional news through a large telex machine which constantly spewed out reams of paper. Although we had no locally-initiated news bulletins between 6 and 10pm other stations around the country would have, and so the news stories kept coming, as well as cues for stories and features which could be picked up via the aforementioned BBC 'circuit' recording system. The television was on in the corner of the toom, tuned to BBC 1, just for company. 

Mid-evening, probably around 7.30pm the telex machine suddenly sprang into action. I recall walking to the machine and reading a headline 'Air Crash over Scottish borders'. If I remember rightly, at first it was thought that two fighter planes may have collided mid-air. However, over the next few hours the sheer horror of what had occurred became clear. The telex machine told the story as my BBC colleagues in Newsgathering in London, Scotland and across the world put together the bones of what had happened. Within an hour or so BBC and ITV national networks were running newsflashes. Remember this was in the day before digital TV ... there were just a few terrestrial channels available.

The information was sparse - the time that PanAm flight 103 left London Heathrow (18:25) en route for New York JFK ; the time that the aircraft disappeared from radar over the Scottish borders (just a few minutes after 19:00); reports of a huge explosion in the small rural town of Lockerbie. Then there were the growing numbers of feared victims - more than 250 on board the flight itself, and lives lost on the ground. The news story developed as the evening progressed and the enormity of the tragedy that was unfolding all those miles away in Scotland became clear to me.

I turned to the BBC 9 O'clock television news and the story was, of course, headlining, although the details which we would learn over the ensuing days were yet not there. We didn't know yet that it was a bomb on board the aircraft, in an unaccompanied suitcase, which has exploded mid-air. We were yet to learn the names of the individuals - young, old, families, business people and dignitaries, those headed home for the holidays - whose lives were ripped from them that night, including 11 residents of Lockerbie who were killed when parts of an aircraft dropped from the sky onto their quiet little hamlet.

At 10pm I had the sombre duty of reading the news to the world that was Jersey. I can't remember what local headlines were in that bulletin, or indeed if there was any other national or regional news other than brief headlines. As the duty producer it was down to me to decide how much time was given over to the PanAm 103 story and I guess most of that short bulletin would have been taken up by that news. 

I do remember the immense sense of responsibility that overwhelmed me as the BBC Jersey news jingle played and I pressed the 'live mic' button. 

As I've said, this was in the unsophisticated media days, before internet and mobile technology, before digital television platforms and 'rolling news' channels. This was in the day when many people still got their news from their daily papers, some would have watched the TV news but many more would still have relied on their 'wirelesses' for their evening headlines. On a personal level, I had several aunts who didn't even own a TV and I knew always listened to the BBC Jersey 10 0'clock news before they retired to bed.

I was aware that for them, the first they would hear of the Lockerbie Air Disaster would come from me - their local newsreader. I was aware that I was delivering news that would shock and appall. And how I delivered that news was important.

We are trained to read news without too much emotion. I don't know whether I achieved that on that particular evening. I remember my heart beat very fast through the length of that bulletin. As I read out the telephone number for people to contact, in case they believed they had relatives on board the ill-fated flight, and repeated that number ... I became acutely aware that for many people the night would be highly personal and would change their world forever.

Of course, we now know that Lockerbie changed all our lives. We lived in a world where hijackings of aeroplanes was common. We were living through turbulent times where terrorism was an everyday fact of life. But this vile act was something different. Apart from anything else it fundamentally changed the way we travelled - no more unaccompanied luggage, much greater security at airports, more anxiety for travellers. It truly was a turning point and the next would be post 9-11 when once again we would scrutinise and improve air safety.  But of course, for the relatives and friends of those who had lost their lives, that night was so much more significant.

After the 10pm bulletin, I ensured the 'handover' for my colleagues was in order, knowing that what I had left in the 'Morning Show' tray would probably not be used. News from Lockerbie, from London and from New York would continue to develop overnight and the next day's bulletins and radio shows would be dominated by the PanAm 103 story.

I would usually have discarded all the paper from the evening, but on that day I left the piles of telex alerts for my colleagues who would pick up the story the following morning. It was a sort of testament to the evening's events and I didn't want to just consign it to the bin. However, BBC Jersey was off air and would not be back in action until around 7am the following morning. There was no more I could do. 

I locked the office, turned on the security systems and walked the short distance home. I was very sad, but in a strange way, no longer depressed at being one year older. I thanked God that I was alive. And I went to bed thinking of all those who had been lost that evening, and their families and friends who would soon be receiving the worst news of their lives.

Today - 25 years on - I think and pray again for those on both sides of the Atlantic for whom December 21st is annually a reminder of their loss, a day when sadness is relived but life is celebrated.

Poor Role Models in our Sad British Culture

So, BBC television's latest series of The Apprentice UK has finally ground to it's conclusion.

The entrepreneur and businessman Lord Alan Sugar has chosen his newest 'partner' who will get a QUARTER OF A MILLION POUNDS (that's £250,000) to set up a new business.

For those of us interested in the cause of women, and the promotion of intelligent, enterprising individuals of the 'fairer sex', there was good news because both finalists were female....Luisa Zissman and Leah Totton.

But that, I'm afraid, is where the rejoicing ended.

Both the 'L's' reckoned their proposed business ventures were keying into current 'trends' in society...which when you read their business ideas, says something rather sad about our British culture.

Luisa, an already successful businesswoman, proposed a new baking/cupcake franchise. A little obvious and cliched but, I would argue, fairly harmless. 

Leah, or to give her real title, DOCTOR Leah, was advocating something substantially more sinister and suspect - a chain of non-surgical cosmetic clinics and associated skin care products.

I have to admit I watched the semi finals and was convinced that Luisa would take the Apprentice Crown. Not because I particularly thought that the world needed another cupcake business, but because I really did not think that the usually rather sensible Alan Sugar would go anywhere near the cosmetic surgery business.

I WAS WRONG!

'Doctor Leah' won!

First I was incredulous. Then a little angry. And now I'm just sad.

It's an real testament to our shallow, appearance-obsessed British culture and society that Lord Sugar is willing to invest such a large sum of money into an 'industry' (Dr Leah's own words) which perpetuates the myth that 'beauty' can be bought and, more importantly, that to make it in the world, one really needs to be 'beautiful'. Her clinics will also allegedly provide 'anti-ageing' treatments such as botox injections. SO not only do you have to be beautiful, but it's also better to be young or at least pretend to be/look young.

Now,  I understand that not everyone in the plastic/cosmetic surgery industry is just in it for the money...I have met and know people who have benefited from essential cosmetic surgery following accidents and disfigurement, illness and disability. But I fear that it will not be these people who Dr Leah will be targeting.

Hers will be the sort of clinics where people (probably women, more probably young women) will walk in to request things to be filled,  lifted and smoothed over simply in order to 'look good' and because they can afford it. Or maybe not.  While I'm sure a few may well need some treatments for conditions like severe acne and other skin conditions, which can be destructive for self confidence, most likely Dr Leah's 'clients' will be those simply requiring to 'look more beautiful'.

My main problem with Sir Alan's choice is what this says about our sad British culture.

You'll have more a chance in life if you are 'beautiful'? If you're not 'beautiful' perhaps you should just  forget being successful and happy?  That beauty comes before brains, or that brains ideally should be accompanied by beauty? During The Apprentice, Dr Leah herself admitted on several occasions that her own appearance is very important to her, even though as a qualified doctor, she obviously has intelligence. Luisa and Leah both played on their 'sexiness' and 'beauty' to promote themselves throughout the series. Unfortunately, it appears to have worked.

While I'm all for people making the best of themselves, presenting their smartest face to the world, even making improvements in their appearance (that, after all, is why we visit the hairdressers, wear makeup, like nice clothes etc) Dr Leah's 'success' in The Apprentice sends out all the wrong messages.

If I had a chance to speak to Leah myself I would say something very simple. Please remember that 'beauty' is in the eye of the beholder. We don't all have to be plumped lipped, false boobed, voluminously haired, perfectly whitened teethed, nipped and tucked, skinny would-be clones of some weird Footballer Wife, staggering treacherously through our shallow little lives on eight inch heels, to be part of the human race. Older people make huge contributions to society every moment of the day and growing old should not be a disgraceful prospect.

Leah, of course, witters on, insisting that HER clinics will be driven by ethical and moralistic conduct, and regulation on use of drugs/procedures will be strictly adherred to. She insists that she'll magnanimosly turn down potential clients if she (or her staff) think they really don't need or won't benefit from a 'treatment'.

I'm sorry. I just don't buy it.

Dr Leah's clinics will be profit making businesses and when it comes to the bottom line, cash will be king. If someone is willing to hand over thousands of pounds for a procedure, are you REALLY telling me that Dr Leah will not be tempted to take it to pay for what is likely to be her ever increasingly glamourous and costly lifestyle?

But Dr Leah's 'success' in The Apprentice is even more worrying for a couple of other reasons.

The girl is only 24 yet she's already setting herself up as an 'expert' in the cosmetic surgery/health field.

She apparently only qualified as a doctor in summer 2012.  That's just ONE YEAR AGO!

She's working in the National Health Service but according to news reports has still found time to privately also train in cosmetic surgery for two years. Today, leading doctors in the plastic surgery business have condemned Dr Leah's plans, explaining that most professionals train for at least eight or nine years before opening private clinics.

Would YOU take advice from a doctor who's got such limited experience, but who wants to fill your face with botox? Or, more importantly, wants to get her senior nurse practictioner to fill your face with botox? At one point in the selection procedure Leah admitted that although she, the doctor, would be in charge of the enterprise, her clinics would be manned by nurses, not doctors. She insists she'll still be off continuing with her 'research', so presumably when you enter a 'Dr Leah Clinic' for a quick lunchtime treatment, Dr Leah won't be wielding the big syringe!

But give the girl credit, she is, at least, a qualified doctor. And this is my second problem with her success on The Apprentice. She herself boasted that she's spent 7 years being trained, training which presumably has been paid for by the National Health Service and therefore, by us...the British taxpayers. Yet now, no sooner than she's taken advantage of us for years of costly training,  she's off into 'private practice' presumably to make loads of money!

Finally, and sadly, Leah could have become such a role model.  She impressed the judges, including Lord Sugar, with her intelligence and businesslike approach to life and as a doctor she could have become such a great example, especially for other young women. Who knows, she might have aspired to be a groundbreaking brain or heart surgeon, a 'real' doctor, a saver of lives in our cash-starved National Health Service.  Now though, she's chosen, in my opinion, to squander any real potential for lifelong good with a 'career' which ultimately relies on the insecurity of women and peddles the lie that if you've got enough money you can make yourself 'beautiful', ergo successful and important.

This morning I listened to BBC Woman's Hour and heard a really fabulous interview about a new 'popstar' - one Catherine Bennett aka 'live artist' Bryony Kimmings. Catherine is the creation of Bryony's 9-year-old niece, Taylor, who is now her 'manager'. She's the result of Taylor's wish to have a role model who isn't just a clone of someone else's view of what is beautiful and talented, and her songs not just a perpetuation of the sexualised and commercialised music targeted at and influencing the 'tweens' of which Taylor is one.

Catherine is a part time singer. In real life she works  in a museum and is a paleontologist - she investigates dinosaurs! She's backed by leading music producers and the Arts Council, and is 'likeable superstar' who wears glasses and 'normal' clothes and sings a sort of euro pop which avoids references to sex, money and love. In her debut song 'Apathy' now posted on YouTube, she encourages young people to get involved in social issues.

Young Taylor has fortunately already recognised the lie that is the world into which Dr Leah has already been sucked and would wish to suck others. A false world where, it seems, appearance and 'beauty' rules above integrity, intelligence and common sense. Taylor said she wants to be a midwife when she 'grows up', to help bring new life into the world. That's amazing!

I don't wish Leah ill but I truly hope that the public, especially those already vulnerable about their appearance, won't be taken in by her hype.  But she's already got a PR Agent and undoubtedly she'll put herself on the celebrity circuit, sell lots of stories to the media, be seen at all the celebrity events, where she will rub shoulders with all the insecure individuals who will just love to become one of her victims and pay her handsomely for the right to be plucked, lifted and enhanced to within an inch of their lives.

That is - provided she gets a licence to operate. She's pledged to be driven by regulation so presumably will be expecting to be operating legitimately and within strict guidelines. Given some of the adverse comments coming out of the plastic surgery industry today I just wonder if she will be considered experienced enough to have a licence to open. 

But that, dear reader, is another story.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just About Sales?

You might think this is a trivial issue -  but something is bothering me!

If I'm perfectly honest, it's been lurking in the back of my head for a little while, but only in recent weeks have I started to articulate my thoughts.

SO why haven't I come out and spoken about it before? Well for one thing, I don't want to appear thick. Is this, I ask myself, something about which I should KNOW, instinctively?

Secondly, I don't want to seem ungrateful at what is being provided for me. And I certainly don't want people to think I don't want to look after myself, because - of course - I do!

What is it occupying my time and thoughts?

Well.... it's the HUGE range of TOOTHPASTE which is on the market!

Just watching the TV I've become aware of this phenomenon. There's...

• Toothpaste for Sensitive Teeth
• Toothpaste which Whitens your Teeth
• Toothpaste which is designed to ensure the gaps in between your teeth are clean, as well as the parts of the teeth which can be seen by the world
• Toothpaste to combat tooth DECAY!
• Toothpaste which stops GUM DISEASE!
• Toothpaste which ensures the enamel on our teeth doesn't disappear
• Toothpaste which gets rid of that scourge of us all - PLAQUE!
• Toothpaste which irradicates that other source of terrible shame - TARTAR!

That's just for starters. I'm sure you can add more.

Just strolling down the aisle of my local supermarket today, I was once again reminded of all the different types of toothpaste available to me. White, green, pink, striped. Minty and unflavoured. There are gels, and pastes, and even powders! It's all so confusing!

Returning home, I was determined to do more than just be competely baffled. So I turned to that trusty aide - my computer. Here's where my problems really started. There are literally hundreds (if not more) websites devoted to teeth, toothpaste and all things orally hygenic!

Some are just informational, others more educational. There are those which are designed for younger teeth, some are historical and just plain scary,  others just a bit of fun. Toothpaste, it appears,  can be used for much more than whitening/saving/cleaning your teeth!

I know that the arrival of toothpaste in our world means that, generally speaking, the dental health of the globe has improved considerably. No longer, as in the past, do people need to devise wooden pegs for false teeth which were, apparently, available and in use (in Japan at least) until the early part of the 20th century. Now THAT's scary!

But really - do we have to have QUITE such a range of options on the toothpaste front? Is the vast numbers of pastes, gels and more on the Toothpaste shelves at the supermarket more to do with sales and advertising than anything else?

AND SO WE COME TO THE QUESTION WHICH HAS BEEN BOTHERING ME FOR A WHILE ....

Why can't we have a toothpaste which Whitens, ensures Good Sensitivity, protects Gums, fights Tooth Decay, Plaque and Tartar, cleans the secret and hidden parts of our mouths as well as the bits on public display, freshens our breath and does everything we want it to do - all in ONE PRODUCT?

It is, I'm guessing, not entirely because the producers of dental products are committed to the general improvement of the dental world. I'm GUESSING that there may be something in it for the conglomerates who sell the products. I know - I'm such a cynic!

I'm also guessing that if ... if .... someone was to produce that ONE SINGLE PRODUCT which did everything we'd ever want and need in a toothpaste, there would be no requirement for the plethora of expensive dental product advertisements. We would all be happy with our little tube of DO IT ALL TOOTHPASTE and the advertising industry wouldn't have to spend endless hours coming up with slogans and jingles, sourcing people with already perfect teeth to show us how our teeth should really be, and dentists happy to promote one particular brand.

Yes, I guess with the development of that one perfect toothpaste there would be a lot of people out of work! That's the way of the world!

I've nothing (much) against the worlds of product development and advertising....but sometimes it all seems a bit pointless, doesn't it?

I am sure there will be those out there who will want to comment on why (scientifically) we need all the different pastes and gels and liquids, and powders. There may be some wanting to defend the members of the advertising industry who spend days, weeks and even months in a room devising new ways of selling another new product to the unsuspecting general public. And, of course, there will be those who will wish to champion the different manufacturers of toothpaste who need to keep producing new products to keep us all happy.

You can see why I've been loathe to come out on the subject before.

It's not that I don't care about my teeth - I am actually a fantatical brusher! It's not that I'm unintelligent, but really the science behind toothpaste is beyond me, I'm not ashamed to admit it!

And, of course, I'm very very grateful for toothpaste. In previous centuries I might already be toothless and having to gum all my food to death, or having to use bits of stick to scrape the nasties off my nashers. I might have had to turn to the kitchen where baking soda on a rag would have had  to suffice for teeth scrubbing, or I might have had to clean out the fireplace to get some woodash to smear on - actually, I've discovered, some still swear by those remedies. If I was not so fortunate as to be able to afford toothpaste I might be with the many millions in the world today who still use sugar cane and other twigs to clean their teeth, or just don't bother with oral hygeine because it's more important to eat and ensure their children eat!

But - and this is where I enter the world of imagination and fantasy and my mind begins to roam once again.  I wonder if we might ever return to a more simple time when toothpaste was just for cleaning teeth - nothing more, nothing less? No hype, no complicated science, no guilt. Just toothpaste!

 

 

 

 

 

Going with the Olympic Flow

So, it's almost upon us! The Greatest Sporting Circus is about to hit town....or to be more specific....London!

With just a day or two to go now before the Olympic opening ceremony at the magnificent Olympic Stadium in Stratford in East London the country is gearing up for the excitement and, after months of poor summer weather, the sun has come out at last!

There's so much to say on this if you're a journalist. Disasters with the private security contract - the Army has been mustered. Transport issues - will the London Underground cope with all the extra bodies? Is it fair that there are priority lanes on the road which will ensure that most normal drivers will spend hours in traffic jams? The 'Branding Issue' - the brand police purportedly ensuring that only official Olympic brands are seen... anywhere.... during the next two weeks! But all those questions have been and are being and will be discussed, picked over and mauled to death and most of us are tired of it all right now.

For some the excitement is just too much. The Torch Relay, which is coming to an end and is now making its final progress through the London boroughs on its approach to the East End and the Olympic Park, is creating a bit of a minor frenzy. Our TV carries feature after feature of smiling people enjoying the sight of the torch....the nearest most of them will get to an Olympics event because most Londoners, and indeed Brits, haven't actually been able to get their hands on tickets.

For others, of course, this is just the tedious end to a tedious seven years of constant Olympics since London won the bid for the event in 2005. Some people will leave the country, others will have a TV fast for the fortnight from Friday and I'm guessing many more will pretend to be interested as their family, friends and colleagues gush unendingly while they silently wonder, with a sinking heart, 'WHEN will it end?' Two weeks (or just over that) is an awfully long time if you're a dissenter.

I'm no sports person but I'm excited. I freely admit it. Not that I have tickets for an event, or have pushed through a crowd to catch a glimpse of the Torch -  it was 15 minutes away from my village today but .... I was busy and it was hot and ...quite frankly I just couldn't be bothered.

I accept that the transport will be a nightmare but .... what's new? London's transport system is often a nightmare and if you want to go anywhere in a hurry then you probably need to note that London is not the place for you, at any time of the year.

As for the Olympic Priority Lanes, I had to drive into Central London last weekend and got to go down one of the special bits of road (the restrictions don't take effect until tomorrow morning) Did I feel a bit special? I can't quite decide. I don't drive into London that often and I do feel sorry for those who will be inconvenienced and may even lose business by all the Olympic restrictions. Their  plight may be eased a little if those of us who really don't have to drive into the city just leave the car at home for the next little while.

But I'm still exited because I AM involved in the Olympics, albeit on the fringe!

I've lived with it for years. When working at The Salvation Army UK as Head of Media I was involved as part of a team negotiating and preparing for the hosting of an Olympic venue. The Salvation Army is, as far as I know, the first church in the world to host an Olympic event. At the Army's Hadleigh Farm in Essex the Mountain Bike Event will be held on a specially created course. The legacy will live on there with a community course run by the Army's partner Essex County Council. That's an amazingly exciting prospect.

Thousands of churches across the British Isles have embraced the spirit of the Olympics and I've been involved, just a little, helping to tell their story. More Than Gold, the agency established by all the main denominations to help churches make the most of the Games, is supporting the London organisers as well as the churches and other groups and I've been working one day a week for them since January.

Now I'm about to pick up my little bag and head into London where I'll be part of a great team in the first ever church Media Centre for the Olympic Games. From Friday we ( a team of media guys drawn from a range of organisations) will be manning phones, pointing people to stories and spokespeople, answering questions, sending out daily bulletins with the aim of ensuring that media in particular are aware of what the churches are doing. It's a real honour to be involved.

So - although I'm sure I'll have a few moments over the next fortnight or so when I may join the ranks of the Moaning Minnies, especially when buses don't arrive or are overstuffed (I'm going to try to avoid the London Underground at all costs) or I can't stand another news bulletin with nothing but Olympics stories - I'm determined to be pragmatic about it all.

I've decided I'm just going to go with the Olympic Flow, to get my work done and try to be helpful to and smile for all the lost tourists I'm bound to meet. And also I'm going to remind myself that this is history in the making around me.  I'm unlikely to see anything of the kind again in my lifetime and even though I'm on the fringes, I'm involved.

And .... after all .... it's only two weeks! That is, until the Paralympics....but that's another story.

And if I have the energy to post updates, I'm going to do so ..... watch this space!

 

 

 

Time for a BBC Sports Channel

My first memories of television will show my age .... but here goes.

'Andy Pandy' and 'The Wooden Tops' - early kids programmes featuring puppets and all in glorious black and white. The programmes, I believe, were part of something called 'Watch With Mother' although whether my mum sat down with us kids to watch I can't recall.  I do also remember seeing a funeral service on TV - very solemn - and I think that was probably the funeral of Winston Churchill, former British Prime Minister.

In those days and for many years, UK TV watchers only had a couple of channels to chose from - the BBC (1+2), then ITV (Independent Television) and eventually two other commercial stations Channel 4 and 5 .... and all on the 'terrestrial' channels which came to us on an 'analogue' signal via our TV aerials.

Zip forward forty odd years and we're now in a digital world when we have access to literally hundreds of TV (and radio) stations via 'digital platforms' galore. It no longer matters if a programme is transmitted on one of the 'main' BBC or commercial channels. Now space can be found on a digital channel and we can 'surf' away to our hearts content and find many new programmes, and many many many repeats!

By the end of this year or thereabouts the 'analogue' signal in the UK will be switched off for the final time, everyone will have 'switched' to digital and we'll all be in the new world where it will matter not if a programme is transmitted on BBC 1 or BBC 2 or indeed any other channel.

Already the BBC is making changes based on this new world. They've already announced that Children's Programmes will come off the 'main' BBC (1+2) channels and in future will only be found on the existing BBC Kids channels. We already also have a BBC News channel with the majority of news carried there, and a BBC Parliament channel which carries politics live or 'as live'.

So,  if we're going down the 'ghettoising' of programming route there's an idea I'd like to float.

To any BBC executives reading this - If you're intent of putting programmes into a virtual alcove on separate channels, PLEASE START WITH SPORT! AND PARTICULARLY FOOTBALL!

Right now, during the European Cup Football Tournament, our 'main' BBC channels are dominated by hours and hours of 'live' coverage. It's not just the matches, but all the chitter chatter and so called 'expert' comment that preceeds each match and chews up hours of TV time during 'half time breaks' and then again at the end of each match. Before the match they try to predict what is likely to happen. At the end of the match they spend precious time trying to explain why what they said would/might happen didn't happen. It's SO tedious and uninteresting for people like me and it sort of makes me want to scream.

I don't so much mind the matches themselves but it's all the drivel that is the commentary that really bores me rigid. Tonight, for instance BBC 1 started it's coverage of the Sweden-England match at 7pm and it's not expected to end until 10pm....and it'll probably over run the schedule because the start of the match was delayed due to bad weather.

On the flip side, there are sporting tournaments which I would rather watch uninterrupted by other programmes - the Olympics this summer from London may turn out to be one example and I would love to be able to watch the tennis from Wimbledon this summer without having to stop watching because it's time for a programme about DIY or even a news programme.

In the digital world of television WHY does sport need to be on the 'main channels'? We have quite a number of BBC Channels already so why not just shift things around a bit  ... why not put sport on just one, and not mix sport with other interests at all?

Before you start clamouring about my philistine attitude towards sport ... yes I know that ITV (the main UK commercial station) is also carrying lengthy hours of football from the same tournament, but the commercial channels aren't solely funded by MY money.

The BBC is wholly funded by people like me who have to pay an annual (rather expensive) licence fee, so I feel I have a right to a say in how they spend my money. 

So here it is Mr and/or Ms BBC - here's that idea again, and I won't even charge you for it.

Put sport on JUST ONE BBC CHANNEL and then I'll know which one to avoid when there's a tournament which I can't bear and I'll also know which channel I need to flick to for the tennis.