BBC Radio Leeds features

TIS THE SEASON TO BE JOLLY?

Deaths outside pubs, stabbings at railway stations. We’re crying out for a bit of good news but instead we get the story of the Knottingley family who have had their house destroyed by fire. And just to add that extra touch of Christmas spirit, they’ve got no insurance.

So you’d have thought the milk of human kindness would have spilled over for these poor unfortunates. Well not quite, a lot of people texted us to criticise them for not having insurance in the first place, “I feel sorry 4 the Martins but we all need insurance. Ten days ago the same thing happened 2 a friend of mine but they’re insured thankfully. No sympathy, the rest of us have insurance, it’s all about priorities! Don’t smoke, drink or have Sky telly. So many people on benefits seem to be able to afford these!”

Now we don’t know this family’s circumstances and judging by the rest of the texts into Andrew and Georgey it seems there is some love in the world “It's disgusting that people are condemning the Martins . Where's the goodwill gone? I’m out of work but willing to make a small donation. We all should. Gary, Keighley”.

Parents in Holmfirth have been left seething after a special school bus service was withdrawn without notice and replaced by a regular bus. Parents say that car journies to local schools could treble and that some children are having to walk up to three miles home at night because there just isn’t enough room for everyone who uses the route.

First Bus say that there still is a school service, it just picks up ordinary passengers as well. Carl emailed to say “It is high time someone took them to task. They are clearly putting profit before passengers and it seems that there is little or no competition to them in the Huddersfield area. I had a similar problem earlier in the year to the one in Holmfirth and had to write to First. 

They are so focused on happenings in our area that their customer relations centre is in... PLYMOUTH. I received no reply from them” A lot of you have asked us to talk to the transport regulator, to Metro and to talk to First Bus in the area where you are. We are onto them all and hope to get them on with Andrew and Georgey in the New Year.

email your transport stories to westyorkshirewire@bbc.co.uk

NIL BY MOUTH

Lot’s of you got in touch about your hospital food horror stories after a ‘Which’ report gave it the thumbs down. Tony though reckons that despite it tasting horrible it’s got an upside. He had a spell in hospital a couple of years ago and the men on his ward had a “grumpy old men” therapy session each day.

Tony says “We were a diverse group, and might have upset each other very much with our angry views on sensitive subjects like religion and politics, if it were not for the hospital food. We all agreed that it was of dire culinary standard, and discussed possibilities such as building garden walls with the salmon briquettes, or repairing yacht sails with chewed up stringy vegetables. Had the food been good, we would all have been at odds with each other. It was the one subject about which we could be in harmony”.

But as he rightly points out hospitals aren’t there to promote harmony but make you feel better.

And on the hospital theme, we had an email from Susan who said her dad's posh watch had gone missing while he was in a local hospital. Susan contacted the hospital but says the hospital did little about it. This seems to have happened to a few people in the area recently. Has this happened to you or someone you know? Email the westyorkshirewire@bbc.co.uk or call/text 07711 856 800.

After nearly four years of waiting it seems work could be about to get underway on Bradford's long awaited Broadway shopping centre (Our picture shows a distinctly colourful Bradford City Hall).

Our reporter Spencer Stokes has been speaking to contractors on site who say they're gearing up to start building the multi-million pound centre in the next few days. That will come as a relief to many people in the city who are sick of looking at a deserted patch of land with a pile of rubble in the middle of it.

Let us know if you see any comings and goings over the next few weeks. And do you believe that this marks Bradford's rebirth or are Westfield's plans for the city centre just another false dawn?

Bothered of Bradford? email westyorkshirewire@bbc.co.uk

AOB

FESTIVE CHEERS

So after all that doom and gloom we’re aiming to provide loads of festive cheers to take your mind off things on BBC Radio Leeds over Christmas. Graham Liver kicked it all off with his Christmas Extravaganza next to a building site 50 yards outside our building (that's Graham as Santa, with chef 'Mad Malcolm', on the right). And he’s recording his nativity play, as I write this, to go out on Christmas Eve. Take a look at Graham's festivities here...

Andrew and Georgey are carol singing this Friday morning in Leeds bus station from 8am so please give generously.

And listen out for Steve Bailey in Wakefield on Thursday from 4pm - the last late-night shopping before Christmas. If anyone is still stuck for gift ideas, we've got a personal shopper who will take them around the shops and get them sorted before the end of the show... you’ll need to get in touch with us if you want to take part so email westyorkshirewire@bbc.co.uk

Steve will also be joined by some Wakefield Wildcat stars.

And don’t forget our Christmas service recorded in Halifax Parish Church, some beautiful singing from North Halifax Grammar will go out at 6pm on Christmas Eve with a chance to hear it again at 8am on Christmas Day. Plus... The Durbervilles on Sunday bring you traditional Christmas music especially recorded and performed from The Bacca Pipes Folk Club in Keighley.

GETTING BIGGER ALL THE TIME

West Yorkshire's Biggest update: Peter Scott from the Otley Brass Band wrote to us to say that they had the biggest "ooomph" (ie bass section in WY). So Daragh went to record a special concert at the United Reformed Church in Saltaire and Andrew and Georgey will be playing festive highlights on Christmas Eve.

AND FINALLY FINALLY

On behalf of me, Trevor, Emma and all of the people who have helped get the West Yorkshire Wire off the ground I’d like to wish you all a smashing Christmas. I’d also like to thank you for all of your funny, sad, informative and moving emails and your support over the last 8 months. I think it’s only fitting that Chris from Ilkley should provide our Christmas message.

"Please accept from me (the "wisher") with no obligation, express or implied, my best wishes to you (the "wishee") for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, climatically pleasant, gastronomically rewarding, low stress, non-addictive, and gender neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice any religious or secular traditions whatsoever.

"I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2008, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make Britain great, (not to imply that Britain is necessarily greater than any other country) and without regard to the race, gender, creed, colour, age, physical ability, religious faith, or sexual preference of the wishee."

Cheers, we’re off for the Winterval Interlude now ;-) so see you in the New Year with some new features.

Cheers, Andy