New
series unveils surprising stories from familiar places
Inside
Out, Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ ONE North East & Cumbria, Monday 9 September, 7.30pm
A brand
new series starts tonight on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ ONE aiming to uncover stories in
the North East & Cumbria that have never been told before.
For
his first Inside Out story on primetime television, presenter Chris
Jackson investigates the illegal racing of horses on public roads
in the North East & Cumbria.
Chris
says: "I was born and brought up in the North East and I had
never heard about road racing before, but that's probably because
most of it happens in the early morning hours when most of us are
still asleep."
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ
cameras capture the alarming speed of the racers in full flight,
and presenter Chris is given a ride on board a legitimate track
racer to experience "Trotting" at first hand - which includes
some extraordinary footage from the harness looking back at the
flimsy contraptions running along a public road.
"It
was absolutely terrifying sitting in one of the traps with the horse's
hooves coming right up to me," added Chris.
Chris
talks to the men involved in Trotting on the roads of County Durham
and hears about the vast sums of money that are bet on the races
- up to Β£30,000 in a day.
Trotters
will often race on public roads in the early hours of the morning
in an attempt to avoid the attentions of the police.
Some
of the biggest names in Trotting gather at the annual horse fair
in Appleby, Cumbria where top trotting horses are traded.
One
horse-owner, Joe Crombie, tells Inside Out that he had just turned
down an offer of Β£55,000 for his horse, Paddy Braveheart,
as he prepares his steed for a race worth Β£50,000 to the winner.
Mr
Crombie says: "We could be doing worse things like breaking
in to people's houses or selling drugs. We are not doing any harm.
We are on the road and we are off quickly. This is just fun."
But
Inspector Bob Bacon, of Cumbria Police, tells Inside Out: "It's
an arrangement where people turn up on main roads and just ride
down that road furiously. That's dangerous and we have got to stop
it."
Police
use an ancient law which bans "furious" or excessively
fast driving of horses to clamp down on road racing. But not all
trotting is illegal.
Track
racing with horses and traps is a growing sport in the region and
one of the largest venues can be found in York.
Road
racers are barred from joining the legal track racers, but several
legitimate track racers have been road racers in the past - some
have come from Ireland where trotting on public roads is not illegal.
Chris
also uncovers the moving tale of one woman's dark secret in her
family history that links her to the famous South Tyneside author
Catherine Cookson.
And
guest presenter Anna Nolan, the former nun who was runner-up on
the first Big Brother series, visits two nuns at a monastery in
Whitby, North Yorkshire.
The
nuns, one of whom is a former World War Two code-cracker and the
other a high-flying American lawyer, normally shy away from publicity.
But
they show their faces on television for the very first time in their
interview with Anna in the hope of inspiring more women to follow
their way of life at the Monastery of the Assumption.
An
offer to join their Greek Orthodox order is even made to Anna, and
her reply can be seen on Inside Out at 7.30pm on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ ONE (North
East & Cumbria) tonight (Monday 9 September).
A website
with more information on these stories can be seen after the programme
at
Notes
to Editors
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ
ONE's Inside Out must be credited if any of this story is published.
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