Sunday night September 15th on ITV

It is Monday 16^th September 2013 just before I set off to by GP Health Practice for a cardio vascular check up having by coincidence I am sure just received in the post an invitation to a scan check up £40 for one and £150 for four separate scan checks. Interesting,

The weather on Sunday was awful so I did not go to cheer on David Weir, Mo Farah and the up to 50000 others who brave blustery cool to cold and wet conditions for the Great North Run. The level of spectators which ahs reduced over the years was also significantly down not surprisingly. In the event the race between David Weir and his Canadian rival ended when the latter had mechanical problems and dropped out. And Mo was beaten as much by the condition as the current Olympic and World Marathon champion with the one of the great of all time also from Ethiopia also participating thus three generations of great runners were present.

I enjoyed watching the Newcastle victory at Aston Villa by 2 goals to 1 ( Ben Arfa and Gouffron scoring) so that they are now equal second on points and eight in terms of goal difference. Newcastle should consolidate with a home win against Hull at home Saturday, a game which I may have gone to see had I not decided to attend the 40 40 final at Lords on the same day. Sunderland will struggle to gain a point at West Brom on the same day.

I also watch the first part of Chicago Bears game in the NFL which I now know they won 31 30 having previously won their first game of the regular season at home 24 to 21 two tight finishers. The other tam I have supported being given a shirt on Christmas is the San Francisco 49ers who won their first game 34 to 28 against the Green Bay Packers while yesterday they were trounced at Seatle 29 to 3.Not good Seatle also won their first game away 12.3 so they have started the season looking good,

Yesterday evening I spent five hours looking at the programmes on the ITV channel commencing with Prince William demonstrating his concern and commitment to wild life conservation, primarily in Africa in recorded programme from Kensington Palace in the week when he formally left his role in the military after seven years and becomes a full time Royal devoting himself to official duties, supporting causes and being a good father. Late in the evening he was attending an event where one of five nominated wild life conservationists was to receive the first award he has set with the organisation Tusk and where he was accompanied by the Duchess on her first public function since the birth of Prince George.

This was followed by the gooee Surprise Surprise where the major story ending the programme was of a boy who survived two leukaemia outbreak where his life hung in the balance before a bone marrow donor was found and where the parent and the donor were not aware of identities for the period of two years. The man had offered to help someone he knew but did not match but was a 10/10 for the boy so went ahead. The programme was designed to encourage new donors to come forward and amen to that. It is difficult to watch ed the excruciating goeeyness at times but there are some good and moving stories in what will be a ten week series.

Following Surprise Surprise is the penultimate double audition for the X Factor where first there are studio auditions followed by presentation to the public. A sixteen year old boy from Scotland performed better before the audience and was the headline act getting TV interviews the following morning. A group of three brothers follow in Beejee footsteps and there was also a Take That type boy band of band but no female caught my eye.

It was then time for the last in the short series of Vera Northumbria Police Detective series which included a shot of South Shields beach walking and Newcastle club land stairways different levels from the key side. The story concerns a man ex police man stabbed just before he was due to meet a young woman he had picked up in a bar although why the two did not immediately leave together is nonsense although without the follow there would have been no story. The young was as nasty piece of work so no tears over his demise however the law is the law and various people all came into the frame although the young he had met was quickly ruled out.

There was a female corporate lawyer with the additional motive of wanting him to find info which would help the take over of a local brewery by an interested company. The brewery was owned by his brother in law where later in the two hour programme she admits she also had an affair with the man. He had been investigating her father and discovered that he had served in Ireland and subsequently changed his name. The father the daughter and the sister had all been to a function at Newcastle race course at the time when the murder occurred. Photos taken at the time confirm that the daughter was present throughout but the father appeared to be missing for about half an hour. Fortunately he had gone for a smoke with the manager of the course.

The brother had also made contact with his former girl friend who had since married with two children to a nasty bit of work. A record for violence he was found to have beaten up the former boyfriend when he came a calling and had also attacked his wife. However there is no evidence although charges are brought regarding the violence and the girl is provided with witness protection although it is not needed when it is found that the young man purchased a flat for them in the girl’s name in London. She now denied the husband was home and he admitted to the theft of lad from a church.

A petty thief was found to have used the credit card of the dead man and the thief admits to stealing and using the card but to murder. The man late also admits he broke into the property of man sister looking for documents he had not been paid because he not found what was required and had stolen the credit card as a consequence.

The sister and her husband lived at a farm which had been left to the sister alone because she had looked after the parents until their death while son had been doing his thing away from the area. It is then established that the girl had made or was giving over half the value of the property but why when there was no legal need to do so,

It the emerges that the brother had wanted the total value of the farm having discovered that her husband was wanted in Ireland for the murder of his own father It was also established that the sister had gone to lie down in a room for an hour claiming a headache. She admits to killing her brother and the husband is also arrested admitting to manslaughter.

Do you think you know who you are September 2013

The highlight of the evening was Do you think you know who you are South Shields Sarah Milligan who forged a nationally recognised career for herself after her marriage broke up and wanted to know if her family had always lived in the north east and she discovered two to great great ancestors. The first born Whitstable on the South East Coast is shown to have been a diver and this leader her finding that he was one the first divers anywhere in world which commenced at Whitstable and led him to join an expedition to Holly Island where there had been a major sinking and loss of life off Holy Island involving a passenger steamer from Hull. Sarah was initially concerned that her ancestors had profited from raising belonging of those who died at the going rate of 40% but a notice in the Shields Gazette reveals that he brought up belongings free so they could be sold to provide for children orphaned in the tragedy.

The man had stayed in The North gaining secure and respected employment on River Tyne locating wrecks and other underwater threats to shipping. He had married and had five children but there was no money as thought at one time within the family.

The second relative was born in the Orkney islands and had then accepted a five year contract as a labourer with the Hudson Bay Fur company in Canada but because if competition had been sent across country in winter 350 miles to an outpost at Albany but because local fishing failed to provided enough food the ancestor and been sent back only for the man to found almost dead and with severe frostbite by an indigenous local. However it was necessary to sever both feet to save his life. He had eventually returned to Britain where he married and had children. Both men had triumphed over great adversity and both men were shown to have had good hearts, married and raised children, with good messages for Sarah to be proud of.

I have noticed a new direction in the most recent editions of this excellent series where the basic information about a family tree is found out in advance by a professional genealogist rather than showing or encouraging individuals to undertake this aspect themselves and thus reducing business for this growing profession as a consequence of the programme although as from my experience the professional genealogist can make mistakes, especially if they are acting for someone at a distance.

The programme is now concentrating on individuals within family trees who offer the prospect of recorded occupational or other information such as travel information of interest which is of interest to the subject and will make good programme viewing. In the instance of an Asian Indian whose family had been an Kenyan Asian the subject about whom I missed the introduction and therefore knew nothing of his celebrity nature. The programme went first to Kenya to learn why his grandparent had come to England and also to India to learn something why the move was originally made to Kenya. The majority of those of Indian nationality came to Kenya when recruited by the British to build a railway and where the work was such that an very high percentage were killed or severely injured and only a small proportion elected to stay when their contract ended. His grandparent had become an early general shop keeper in on the new towns that had sprung up along the railway line. When the country gained independence the Indian population were given the opportunity to stay and become full citizens of the new state, giving up their British passport or losing their ability to own property and occupational status, Many chose to come to the UK and many if not the majority opened the local all hours corner store as well as the Indian food restaurant and Indian food supply provisions that play such an important role in our community today, although many of their generation have progressed into all aspects of the employment society. Back in India he went to the village of his roots bringing him a better sense of identity and understanding of the courage and effort of his ancestors. In the instance of his mother/grandmother he learned that her mother had been a child bride at the age of six to a boy of ten and that although she borne many children only 2 survived, unusual even for India likely because of the very young age when she was likely to have commenced giving birth.

It is now Thursday September 12 and we shall see if it is to be a cricket day let alone a good cricket day from the Durham viewpoint.