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Kerr Avon
  • 2 days ago
Highlight of this Edition is Peter Purves joins the team working Night Shift on the London Underground.

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😹
Fun
Transcript
00:00The End
00:30Hello.
00:31Hello.
00:31Well, that was me working with a maintenance gang 50 feet beneath the streets of London.
00:36I was in one of the tunnels of the underground, London's underground railway system,
00:40and you can find out how I got on working with the gang all through the night a bit later on in the programme.
00:44But first of all, we thought you might like to hear of an extraordinary story.
00:47It all began in Egypt 18 years ago, when Professor Ramses Wieser-Wassef tried out an unusual experiment.
00:54He went down to a remote village of Hirania, and their life was so primitive they'd never seen cars, television or cinemas.
01:01But he got older than some of the kids of the village, round about age 7, 8, 9 and 10.
01:06Here's one of them, Frouzi Mohamed.
01:09Well, Frouzi and the other children couldn't read or write because they'd never been to school.
01:13But they had terrific imaginations, and they were very good with their hands.
01:17So the professor gave them a wooden loom and some coarse wool.
01:21He showed the children how to use the wool and sort of weave in the loom, then he just left them to it.
01:26A few weeks later, they'd made their first tapestry, and it was breathtaking.
01:31Then they went on to make another and another.
01:34And you can judge for yourself just how beautiful they were, because we've got some of them here today in the studio.
01:41And this one, the children called the Clover Plantation.
01:44It's full of clover and full of animals and birds and people.
01:47For instance, up here, there's a figure of a man dressed in yellow, and he's got a flock of goats here.
01:54There's a camel in the middle, a rather splendid bird with a great pink beak, and a donkey here, and then some more goats.
02:01And on this side, a rather beautiful tree with lots of lovely colored leaves.
02:07And they actually chose their own dyes, made their own dyes, and then colored the wools as they wanted them.
02:13And as John said, the interesting thing is that none of the children had ever been to school or had an art lesson in their life.
02:19So all the shapes and the colors and designs they used came out of their own imagination.
02:23No grown-up was telling them exactly what to do.
02:27Well, that was 18 years ago, and although the children are now grown-up, they're still weaving.
02:32And two of them have come along to the Blue Peter studio today.
02:35And neither of them have ever been out of Egypt before.
02:38They're Fauzi Musa and Karima Ali.
02:41And as neither of them speak a word of English, I'm going to try and say hello to them in Egyptian.
02:46Saida.
02:48Well, the loom they're using is a hand loom, which is a design that's been used by man for thousands of years.
02:55But the interesting thing is that Fauzi and Karima are both using slightly different techniques.
02:59Fauzi here is working up from the bottom, which makes it much easier, because he's looking directly at the picture as he forms it.
03:05And it's a picture there, as you can see, of rather beautiful trees with lovely pink and blue leaves.
03:12Karima, on the other hand, is working her picture sideways, which I would have thought made it quite difficult.
03:18And it's a picture of horses.
03:20She's done two horses, a blue one and a brown one, and you can just see the half of two pink horses.
03:26And at this very moment, she's doing a bit more of the horse, and she's working the wool behind the warp threads.
03:32And this is really quite difficult, because she's got to pull out enough of the threads to be able to form the picture.
03:37Too many or too few, and of course the picture comes out quite wrong.
03:41You'll probably notice that unlike the people working in Morocco with the carpets, there are no pictures that they're working from.
03:47This is rather interesting, because they haven't actually drawn or painted the design so that they can work from it.
03:53It's all in their heads, so nobody except Karima and Fauzi really know what the picture's going to look like when it's finished.
03:59So it's pretty artistic work indeed.
04:01But Fauzi has very kindly lent us one of his finished tapestries, which is over here.
04:05And this one is called, quite simply, The Garden.
04:08And it's a rice plantation, and it's full of trees, rather small trees here, with one great big central tree with lovely green leaves.
04:18Very fine, very simple picture, but I think it's very attractive indeed.
04:21And it's very typical of the sort of landscape around where Fauzi and Karima live, in Haranea.
04:27And another tapestry I've got over here, which Pete's actually holding up, and this one is called the Monkey Tree.
04:31There they are. Very self-explicit, that as well.
04:35Monkeys all over the place, particularly like, there's a couple at the top here, holding hands.
04:39They've all got different expressions, and I think these two are quite a joke.
04:41They're lovely, aren't they?
04:42Very individual monkeys.
04:43Great time in that tree.
04:44Well, the experiment is still going on in Egypt.
04:47Children are still joining it, and I think it's quite remarkable work.
04:50And if you'd like to see some more of Fauzi and Karima in action, you can,
04:54because they're at the Ideal Home Exhibition every day, demonstrating their weaving.
04:58And that's at Olympia in London until March the 25th.
05:02And if you are visiting London during the holidays, you'll know that, like every big city, London's got a traffic problem.
05:08In a bus or a car, it can sometimes take half an hour to travel a mile.
05:12So if you're in a hurry, the best way to get round fast is to hop down the tube.
05:18London's underground train system was the first ever to be started,
05:22and today it's still amongst the biggest in the world.
05:24There are 76 miles of tube tunnel, and many more miles where the trains run in the open as well.
05:31Every day, nearly 500 trains carry 2 million passengers to work,
05:36and in the rush hour, the platforms and trains are absolutely packed.
05:40The safety record on the underground is impressive.
05:43The tracks are in perfect condition and haven't caused a fatal accident in 40 years.
05:47Not long ago, I took a tube myself.
05:50I was going to find out what goes on behind the scenes to keep the track in tip-top condition.
05:55I had the carriage to myself.
05:57It isn't until well after all the rush hour passengers are home in bed
06:00that the maintenance work can begin.
06:01On the platform at Charing Cross, the people I saw gathering together
06:21were all workmen getting ready to go down on the lines.
06:24It's now half past midnight, and that was the last train on the northbound Bakerloo line.
06:34But it's still far from safe for me to step down onto the tracks,
06:37because the trains are run by electricity,
06:39and if I were to touch the live rail, I'd probably be electrocuted and killed.
06:43But the men who work down here maintaining the track
06:45have a very special way of finding out for certain when the power is switched off.
06:50It's a box of bulbs.
06:51Although the railmen know the time the current's going to be turned off,
06:55they can't tell it's happened just by looking.
06:57So John Gaffley here very carefully stepped down
07:00and connected the box to the rails by two terminals.
07:03The bulbs lit up because the current was still on
07:05and not due to be turned off for a few minutes.
07:10So now we wait, do we, John?
07:11Yeah.
07:12You've got to wait till it goes off.
07:14Any time.
07:15There are several bulbs, because if there was only one and it failed,
07:18you could easily think the current had been switched off when it hadn't.
07:21Oh, it's gone off now.
07:24It's safe now, it's fine.
07:25Just as well.
07:26Right, well, now I've seen the lights of the box go out,
07:27and I've got John's, good word for it.
07:29I know it's perfectly safe to climb down on the tracks for the first time.
07:33The tube trains always have four rails.
07:36Two of them carry the power, and the wheels run on the other two.
07:39Right.
07:39Oops.
07:40So.
07:42You've got everything you want?
07:44Yes.
07:45OK, let's go into the tunnel.
07:46They're very careful about safety on the underground,
07:48and no one goes onto the lines without all these precautions.
07:52The signals stay on.
07:54They're on a different circuit.
07:55What are we looking for?
07:56John and I had to walk through the tunnel to inspect the line.
07:59Down here, the tracks are just like an ordinary railway.
08:02Rails, sleepers, keys, and so on.
08:04Every inch of the underground is inspected each night by a patrolman
08:07to make sure it's safe for the trains.
08:09So we looked for faults, loose bolts, broken fish plates, even cracked rails,
08:14and we'd got paraffin lamps to spot them.
08:16This bit of track's 65 years old,
08:19and hundreds of trains pass over it every day,
08:21so things sometimes do go wrong,
08:23and it's the patrolman's job to spot them before they can cause any danger.
08:27Here's a key that's come out,
08:29something John can fix on the spot
08:31by banging it back in place.
08:35Although the current's off,
08:36it's not always safe to walk in the tunnels at night like this.
08:40There are still some trains around here,
08:42even at the dead of night.
08:44They're special trains powered by their own batteries,
08:46and they're used by the maintenance workers
08:48to carry around all the materials they need.
08:52Now, the movements of these battery trains
08:54are very carefully controlled,
08:55so we know for certain one isn't going to come along now.
08:58But if a railman did get caught in a tunnel by a train,
09:02there aren't many places he could hide.
09:04For a start, there's only about three inches clearance
09:06between the wall and the train,
09:08so he couldn't hide there.
09:09He could perhaps hide in the ventilation shaft,
09:11if there was one, there isn't one here.
09:13So in a case like this,
09:15there's only one place he could hide,
09:17and that would be down here,
09:19between the rails.
09:20If a railman really did get caught in this situation,
09:29he's one very important thing to remember,
09:31and that is to make sure that he lies facing the train.
09:35If he lies the other way,
09:36his clothes could get blown up,
09:38they could catch on something,
09:39and that would be that.
09:40I'm told that in this position,
09:42I'd survive.
09:43I wouldn't like to try it.
09:44At the end of his patrol,
09:48John has to telephone the maintenance headquarters
09:50to report any faults.
09:52If there's anything serious, like a broken rail,
09:54a gang of men would rush down to fix it the very same night.
09:57Nothing to worry about seriously in those, then, John.
10:01When we reached the next station,
10:02it was about 1 a.m.,
10:04and all the time, above us in the streets,
10:06there was still lots of traffic.
10:08London traffic never really stops at night.
10:10There were taxis
10:11and lorries going to the Covent Garden fruit market.
10:14But 50 feet below,
10:15I kept walking in the tunnels.
10:17I came out at Waterloo Station.
10:19There was a whole gang of men on the platform,
10:21and they said I could join them.
10:22They'd got a heavy job on,
10:24and as it was going to be dirty and dusty,
10:25they thought I ought to have a dust cap.
10:27Would you like to wear one of these?
10:28What's this?
10:30Just to keep the dust on.
10:31Do I have to wear this to you?
10:31Oh, yes.
10:32You'll keep the dust on.
10:34Are you sure?
10:34Yeah.
10:35Why not?
10:36I felt a bit of a fool,
10:37but I reckon their advice was worth taking.
10:40They said there'd be a cup of tea at the end of it all,
10:43and like every gang,
10:44there's one man whose main job is to brew it up.
10:47A battery train came into the station
10:49to take us down to the site.
10:51Our job was getting up old sleepers and replacing them,
10:54and the new sleepers were already loaded up.
10:57It was going to be hard work
10:58because all this lot had to be in position
10:59in only four hours' time.
11:04The train splits in two halves.
11:06There's an engine at both ends.
11:10When it was uncoupled,
11:12we all piled onto the back half and went off.
11:15When we started work on the line,
11:17we'd end up sandwiched between the two halves
11:19because as soon as we got to the site,
11:21the other end, with all our gear,
11:22would be backed up after us.
11:24While these switches are off,
11:26the power stays off.
11:27This is the control room,
11:28and the men here know the trains must run again at 5.49,
11:32but they'll make sure we're off the line
11:33before they turn the power on.
11:35There was no time lost in getting the first sleepers out.
11:39In just a few hours' time,
11:40a train would be thundering through here,
11:42so we had to work fast to be ready in time.
11:45For the time being,
11:46the rails are suspended in mid-air.
11:48Now they're used as a sort of slipway
11:49for pushing the sleepers along.
11:54Pushing the sleepers is heavy work.
11:56They're 2.5 hundred weights each,
11:58and to help move them more easily,
11:59we had a special metal roller,
12:01which I had to put under the front of the sleeper.
12:09All the time I was working,
12:11I was remembering that the safety
12:12of thousands of passengers on the underground next day
12:14would depend on our doing the work well.
12:17It was a great responsibility.
12:18At the other end,
12:26we had to heave the old sleeper
12:28up and onto the battery tray.
12:31Altogether, we got about 20 sleepers up.
12:33Then we had to break out
12:34the old concrete surrounding them.
12:36With the noise of five pneumatic thrills
12:47blasting away in here
12:48all at the same time
12:49in the enclosed tunnel,
12:51it must be the loudest possible noise
12:53you can ever expect to hear.
13:00The rubbish went into baskets
13:02to be taken away as quickly as possible.
13:04Already, it was ten past two,
13:05we'd only got another two hours
13:07to finish the job,
13:08and I joined in a human chain
13:10to get the baskets of rubble away.
13:11A single hunk of concrete
13:13left on the rail
13:14could mean an accident the next day.
13:20When all the old concrete
13:21had been broken up
13:22and cleared away
13:23to make a fresh surface,
13:24we had to get a move on
13:25to get all the new sleepers down.
13:35While the other men in the gang
13:37manoeuvred the new sleepers
13:38into position,
13:39up above us,
13:40the rest of London
13:41was busy as ever.
13:42There were night buses
13:43carrying the early shift workers.
13:47Already, the mail was on its way
13:48to the sorting depots.
13:49Now it was nearly three o'clock,
13:51and even at this hour,
13:52there was a cafe open
13:53full of people.
13:54This one was at Westminster,
13:56right beneath Big Ben.
13:57Way below the London streets,
14:12we were heaving
14:12the last of the new sleepers
14:14into place.
14:17Right, far enough.
14:19Okay.
14:21Going in there, master.
14:22Back one.
14:23Yeah.
14:23On your feet.
14:24Right.
14:25For ya?
14:25In the next few nights,
14:28the gang will lay fresh concrete
14:29around the sleepers.
14:30They'll bring a concrete mixer
14:32into the tunnel
14:32on the battery train.
14:34Although the sleepers
14:35were now roughly in position,
14:37the rails still weren't
14:38supported by anything,
14:39so that's where
14:39the next stage came in.
14:43Now this job
14:44won't be completely
14:44finished tonight,
14:46but so that the first trains
14:48this morning
14:49can run in
14:49less than one hour's time now,
14:52the whole track
14:53is jacked up
14:54on these
14:54jack-and-brace units,
14:56and that means
14:57that the trains
14:59can use the track
14:59quite safely
15:00until the gang
15:01can get down here
15:02and finish the job
15:03off in three days' time.
15:05After the darkness
15:06of the tunnel,
15:07the station lights
15:08seemed dazzling.
15:09As I climbed on the platform,
15:10I was glad to see
15:11that tea was nearly ready
15:12for us.
15:14Although we'd all come out,
15:16the bosses of the gang
15:17had stayed behind
15:17to check that our work
15:18was okay
15:19and everything was safe.
15:20Already,
15:21they could hear
15:21the first morning's trains
15:22running in another
15:23tunnel nearby.
15:33I was glad
15:34of a bit of a clean-up.
15:35You can't help
15:36getting dirty
15:36working in the tunnels.
15:38And I certainly
15:39needed that cup of tea.
15:42Now that the lines
15:43had been checked
15:43and everyone
15:44was out of the tunnel,
15:45the leader of the gang
15:46could telephone
15:46all clear.
15:48Apparently,
15:48it's all right
15:48on the southbound road
15:49and Waterloo.
15:51All okay, yeah.
15:52Thank you, Bill.
15:54In the power room,
15:55the man on duty
15:56filled in a certificate
15:57to say that everyone
15:58was out of the tunnel.
15:59Now it was safe
16:00to turn on the power.
16:04The first train
16:05in the morning
16:05came thundering
16:06into Waterloo's station.
16:08But I was up above,
16:09breathing the crisp
16:10morning air.
16:11My clothes were filthy
16:12and I was tired.
16:13But the trains
16:14were running safely.
16:16And that's it.
16:24It's a strange world
16:25underneath London
16:26at night.
16:26And I can't help
16:27feeling that the men
16:28who work down there
16:29in the underground
16:30live sort of
16:31topsy-turvy,
16:32upside-down
16:32kind of lives.
16:34It's now
16:35half past five
16:36in the morning,
16:37a time when
16:37many people
16:38are actually waking up,
16:39getting ready to go
16:40to work for the day.
16:41But for the gang
16:42and for myself,
16:43it's time to go home,
16:44go to bed
16:45and get some sleep.
16:55And it's nice
16:56to think that
16:57while we're sleeping,
16:58the underground
16:58has been made
16:59nice and safe.
17:00But not every city
17:01has got an underground,
17:02but in every city,
17:04village and town
17:05throughout the country,
17:06every week,
17:06thousands of people
17:07look forward
17:08to getting their
17:09next edition
17:09of their favourite comics.
17:11Mind you,
17:12there are an awful lot
17:12to choose from
17:13because there are
17:14a great deal printed.
17:15I suppose two top favourites
17:17you could say
17:17are the Dandy
17:18with Corky the Cat
17:19and Beano
17:20with Biffo the Bear.
17:21And these two characters,
17:22they've been in the same comics now
17:25for, oh,
17:25nigh on 30 years.
17:27No doubt your grandfather
17:28were laughing at these
17:28very same jokes
17:30at his age.
17:31And that's the great thing
17:32about comics,
17:32they're good for a laugh.
17:34A lot of people think
17:35that's all they're good for,
17:35just a bit of fun.
17:37But they started off
17:38on quite a serious note
17:39because back in the 1880s,
17:41a lot of grown-ups,
17:42they couldn't read.
17:43So somebody had the good idea
17:44to draw stories
17:46in a sort of series
17:47so people could understand them.
17:48And I don't really,
17:49comics became
17:49the first popular newspapers.
17:51This was a very early edition.
17:53It's Ali Sloper's Adventures.
17:56In fact,
17:57Ali Sloper and his adventures
17:58carried on in various comics
18:00for over 40 years.
18:02Now, these early ones
18:03were all black and white.
18:05This one here,
18:05which is Chips,
18:06cost a halfpenny.
18:07Now, colour printing
18:08was very expensive.
18:09Not many people could afford
18:10to spend so much for reading.
18:12But eventually,
18:13colour came in
18:14and the price went up.
18:15Puck here,
18:16in colour,
18:17costs a penny.
18:18Now,
18:18Puck was one of the first comics
18:20aimed directly at children.
18:22And then,
18:23no doubt your mum and dad
18:24will remember Rainbow
18:25with Tiger Tim
18:26and Mrs Bruins Boys.
18:28But during the last war,
18:30paper was quite scarce.
18:31Now, a lot of these comics,
18:32like Puck and Rainbow,
18:33they disappeared.
18:34But the war couldn't kill off
18:36the Beano and the Dandy.
18:37They were still going strong.
18:39In fact,
18:39this is the Dandy of 1938.
18:42And this one next to it
18:43is the Dandy of 1972.
18:46There's very little difference
18:47between the two of them.
18:49Perhaps the 1938 one
18:50is just that little bit thicker.
18:52But thousands of these comics
18:53were printed
18:54and thousands of these comics
18:55were just thrown away
18:57and not many of them
18:58have survived.
18:59But those that have
18:59have suddenly become
19:00highly prized collector's items.
19:02And all these belong to
19:03one man,
19:04Mr Dennis Gifford.
19:05In fact,
19:06he's written a book on comics.
19:08He, er,
19:09it's called
19:10Discovering Comics.
19:11And he,
19:12he's a comic drawer himself.
19:13He wrote the front.
19:15Inside,
19:15there's all the,
19:16information you want
19:17on any comic
19:18that's ever been printed
19:20in this country.
19:20So if you've got
19:21an old comic
19:21stuck up in the loft
19:23and you want to know
19:23something about it,
19:24I should think
19:25it'll be inside this book.
19:27But it's strange to think
19:28that, er,
19:29years ago parents
19:30used to say,
19:31oh, comics are terrible rubbish
19:32that their children
19:33were reading.
19:34But now they've become
19:35highly prized relics
19:36of an age gone by.
19:38So if you get a comic,
19:39why not save it?
19:41But if you save your comic,
19:42say for a couple of years
19:43or even a couple of weeks,
19:45you've always got that problem
19:46of where are you going to put it?
19:47You can't leave it
19:48lying around on the floor.
19:50Well, I've got a great idea.
19:51I've got a comic hanger.
19:53Now this you can hang
19:54behind your wardrobe,
19:55you can use it
19:56like you use a book,
19:57and then you can hang it
19:58back in your wardrobe,
19:59and it's quite easy
20:00to make everything
20:02nice and neat.
20:03It's quite easy to make, too.
20:05All you need is
20:06a coat hanger,
20:07just an ordinary wire
20:08coat hanger,
20:08the sort that you get
20:09from the dry cleaners,
20:11and your comic.
20:12Now get the largest comic
20:14that you want to keep,
20:16place it on that
20:17lower wire there,
20:18and then with
20:19a marker pen
20:22or something like that,
20:23make a mark
20:23about a quarter of an inch
20:25out from the edge
20:27of the comic.
20:28Now we're going to
20:29bend these ends over,
20:30put them on the edge
20:31of the kitchen table,
20:32just press down like that,
20:34and so at the other side,
20:36pressing down on the marks,
20:38so that your comic
20:40is going to be
20:41the right width.
20:42There you've got
20:43the basic framework
20:44of your comic hanger.
20:46The next step,
20:47if you want to,
20:48you can paint
20:49these ends
20:50and also the hook.
20:51They look quite nice.
20:53I've got one here
20:53that's painted in red.
20:55The next step now,
20:57when you've hung it up
20:58and it's all nice and dry,
20:59is to put the string across
21:01for the comics
21:03to hang on.
21:04A bit of string,
21:05tie it on one end
21:06of the bit
21:07that you've bent up.
21:08Can't get a knot.
21:11There we are.
21:12And leave a piece
21:14fairly long over there,
21:17because that is going
21:18to run down the edge
21:19of the coat hanger there,
21:21and as you wrap it round,
21:23you're going to tie it down.
21:26Move the string over
21:27to the other side then,
21:29wrap it round
21:30a piece of wire
21:32a couple of times.
21:34It's quite a fiddly job,
21:35is this,
21:35and then take it
21:37back towards you,
21:41then round this one again
21:43a couple of times,
21:45and keep on doing this,
21:46and trap that piece
21:46of string underneath there,
21:48because that's what
21:48you're going to tie it off
21:49at the end with.
21:51In fact,
21:51when you've done all that
21:52and fiddled around with it,
21:54don't lose your temper on it,
21:56this is what it looks like.
21:58This is the last piece
21:59of string that's got
22:01to be tied now
22:01on the end,
22:03and this is a little bit
22:05of string.
22:06Oh, where's the other big gum?
22:07There it is.
22:11Tie it up in a knot.
22:14Make sure that the strings
22:16not slack,
22:18and they're nice and tight.
22:21And there we are.
22:23Now there's a little bit
22:24of a space here.
22:25This is quite easy
22:27to get rid of.
22:27I just covered it over
22:29with a piece of paper,
22:31a piece of card,
22:32in fact.
22:33And when I turned it around,
22:34I put on my favourite characters
22:35like Cork of the Cat
22:36and Desperate Dance,
22:37actually my favourite.
22:38And then with a bit
22:39of sticky-back plastic,
22:40cut out some letters,
22:42put comics,
22:43or you can even
22:44put your name.
22:45And then you hang
22:45your comics
22:46on these pieces
22:47of string,
22:48get your comic,
22:49open it up
22:50into the middle,
22:52thread it through,
22:55make sure the string
22:56goes down the middle,
22:57and then turn it over.
22:58There you are,
23:01your comic hanger.
23:02Well, I think this is
23:03a great idea
23:04because it means
23:05you've no need
23:06to leave your comics
23:06lying all over the floor
23:08and you won't get
23:09into trouble.
23:09You can just hang it
23:10behind your door,
23:11your cupboard,
23:12anywhere like that.
23:13Great.
23:13Now, over to Val.
23:15Well, I'm quite sure
23:16you'll still find comics
23:17in most of the houses
23:18in the country,
23:18but I don't think
23:19you'd come across
23:20the pet that I've got
23:21in this basket.
23:22It's still rather rare
23:23and you probably
23:24were thinking
23:25that it was a cat
23:25I've got in here
23:26like Jason,
23:27but if I get it out,
23:29come on,
23:30come out,
23:31you can see
23:31just exactly what it is
23:32and I wonder
23:33if you can recognize it.
23:34Come on.
23:35This is a ferret
23:37and this little ferret
23:39is ten months old
23:40and his name is Fang
23:42and he's very unusual
23:43because he's the family pet
23:44and it's quite rare
23:46for ferrets
23:47not to be vicious
23:48and wild
23:48and usually
23:49they're very untamable.
23:52Well, Fang
23:52belongs to Penny Whittle
23:54who lives in Burfield Common
23:56and she got him
23:58from her local...
23:59That's Jason.
24:00Jason?
24:01He wants to be friendly.
24:03Well, I think Fang
24:04likes Jason
24:04but I'm not too sure
24:05about Jason's reaction there.
24:07Well, Penny,
24:08as I was saying,
24:09got Fang
24:10from her local animal sanctuary
24:11and first of all
24:12she kept him in the garden
24:13in a run
24:14and then gradually
24:15he became more and more friendly
24:16until she was able
24:17to take him out
24:18for walks on a lead
24:19and then one day,
24:21one rainy day,
24:22she took him
24:23into the kitchen
24:24and I'm afraid
24:25after that
24:25Fang moved into the house
24:27lock, stock and barrel
24:28and has been there
24:28ever since.
24:29He's completely house trained
24:31and he's very good indeed
24:32and gets on
24:33very well indeed
24:34with the two family cats
24:36and with the Whittle family
24:37although as I said
24:37he doesn't seem to...
24:39Well, Jason doesn't seem to be...
24:40Don't do that.
24:42I don't think I'm going to risk Jason
24:43giving him a whop over the nose.
24:45Well, he had
24:45at one time
24:46two Fang-like front teeth
24:48which is why
24:49he was given that name
24:50which he's actually lost now
24:52but they're the teeth
24:53of course
24:53that he would have used
24:54in the wild for his food
24:55but he's still got
24:56a jolly good set of teeth
24:57he's still quite capable
24:58of eating
24:58and Penny gives him
24:59raw meat
25:01and eggs and milk
25:02so I've got some raw meat
25:03down on the floor here
25:04in a little dish
25:05so if you'd like to have a
25:06go at that Fang
25:07and he does
25:09he likes that very much indeed.
25:11Well, of course
25:12in the wild
25:12ferrets are nocturnal creatures
25:14they sleep all day
25:15and hunt at night
25:16but Fang's rather adjusted
25:18his ways
25:19since he moved in
25:19with the Whittles
25:20he now spends most
25:21of the days awake
25:22rushing around the house
25:23getting stacks of energy
25:24and poking his nose
25:25into everything
25:26that's going on
25:27and when he does sleep
25:28he sleeps in a basket
25:30in a cupboard
25:31under the stairs.
25:32He's a very pretty
25:33very light honey colour
25:35with a little bushy tail
25:36and very tiny pink eyes
25:39there
25:39and little tiny ears
25:40and he's really tucking
25:41into that isn't he
25:42and he plays quite a few
25:43odd games
25:44one of which is to
25:45burrow down
25:46at the bottom
25:46of Penny's sheets
25:47in the morning
25:48and to wake her up
25:50by nibbling at her bare toes
25:51he seems to like bare toes
25:52so Johnny's very kindly
25:54offered to come in
25:54and expose a foot
25:55Not the way
25:56he's going at that meat
25:58if he goes at me
25:59toe like that
25:59I don't want to have a toe left
26:00He doesn't bite Penny's toes
26:01like that
26:01so he should be right
26:02I'm not Penny
26:02am I?
26:03Look at that
26:04for a grotty foot
26:05how's that then?
26:07He doesn't seem
26:08in the least bit interested
26:09as long as he doesn't think
26:10it's a piece of
26:10staking kidney or something
26:11Where's my raw meat
26:12Johnny says
26:13that's really all he's right about
26:14all right then
26:15have your raw meat pack
26:17it's much more tasty
26:18than me
26:19thought I'll tell you that
26:20perhaps it's just Penny
26:22perhaps it's because
26:23he knows that
26:23I think if I had the choice
26:25of a plate of meat
26:26or John's feet
26:27I'd have definitely
26:27I'd go for the meat
26:28you made a pun there
26:30plates of meat
26:30oh
26:31I was going to give him
26:32to you to hold
26:33but he's
26:33for a large bit of meat
26:35he's really enjoying himself
26:37I always thought
26:37ferrets were quite vicious
26:39but this one's obviously
26:40very friendly
26:41and we've kept
26:42Petra and Shep
26:43well out of the way
26:44because although
26:44he doesn't seem to mind
26:45Jason we know
26:46that he doesn't like dogs
26:47we're going to be back
26:48on Monday
26:49when we'll have
26:49a very important visitor
26:50in the studio
26:51Yehudi Menwin
26:52and I'll be doing
26:53some canoeing
26:54not the ordinary kind
26:55but acrobatic canoeing
26:57and by the way
26:57before we go
26:58there's a Stamp Ex
26:59exhibition on
27:00at the new
27:01horticultural hall
27:02down at Westminster
27:03it's on till
27:04Saturday evening
27:04and one of the exhibits
27:06is this letter
27:07and you may remember
27:08we had it in the
27:08Blue Peter studio
27:09it was written
27:10in 1832
27:11by a boy
27:12at Tom Brown's
27:12school rugby
27:13and he wrote it
27:14to his sister Jane
27:15and the exciting thing is
27:16it's going to be
27:17auctioned tomorrow
27:18and half the proceeds
27:19are going to be donated
27:20to our Blue Peter
27:21dormitory appeal
27:22so see you again
27:23on Monday
27:23bye bye
27:24I'll see you again