A CUMBRIAN’S DIARY

28th September 2023 Dear Readers Regular readers on this website will realise that this Website campaigns for better, more localised Regional TV in the northern half of North West England: This website encourages folk who live in Lancashire and South Cumbria to fight for more local Regional TV news with the tools that they have. … Read more

20th August 2023 (Updated 29th August 2023) Dear Readers Much of BBC1 North West Tonight and ITV1 Granada Reports has been dominated by the coverage of nurse Lucy Letby, who has been convicted of the murder of seven babies in her care at the Neonatal Unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital. Nurse Lucy Letby … Read more

14th August 2023 Dear Readers This evening, I offer a geographic critique around transport links that have a bearing on the general appropriateness of Regional TV News for viewers who live on the Fylde Plain or in the Wyre valley in north-west Lancashire. This has a bearing on the relevance of output from BBC1 North … Read more

13th July 2023 Dear Readers Regional TV, when it is localised and relevant to a particular area provides a great function for local viewers: Viewers are informed of new job-opportunities in their area, they are warned about violent criminals on the loose in their community, they are warned of dangerous or unpleasant weather or motorway/ … Read more

4th July 2023 Dear Readers It cannot be much fun for some-one who lives in Millom or in Ulverston to turn on their Regional TV in order to get news about their area and the wider North West of England to only be told about what is happening 100 miles or more to the south. … Read more

11th June 2023 Dear Readers Recently, I travelled to a funeral near Birkenhead, following the death of an elderly in-law of my brother. Whilst I was there I caught the Sunday evening news from BBC1 North West Tonight and it was telling. The most northerly news- feature was that of a nine-year-old child hurt at … Read more

22nd May 2023 Dear Readers When a viewer- who lives in Millom, Kirkby Lonsdale or Morecambe switches on their Regional TV, whether it be ITV Granada Reports or BBC1 North West Tonight– they do not just get news mainly about Greater Manchester, the Liverpool City Region or Cheshire, but they also get news about Euro-vision, … Read more

25th March 2023 Dear Readers Both BBC1 North West Tonight and ITV1 Granada Reports struggled to get anywhere north of Preston this last week, although BBC1 North West Tonight did mention school-children in Milnthorpe preparing for King Charles III coronation, though the school-children at the Liverpool school still got the lions share of coverage. The … Read more

10th March 2023 Dear Readers Here are some pictures that I have taken of the snow near Nenthead, in north-east Cumbria: Yes, Cumbria had snow, not just places along the M62 Corridor, which neither BBC1 North West Tonight or ITV1 Granada Reports seem inclined to report on! Enjoy the stunning scenery in the montage of … Read more

9th March 2023 Dear Readers Viewers of Regional TV who live in northern North West England, that is those who live and work in communities north of Preston, and who can only get BBC1 North West Tonight and ITV1 Granada Reports, are again suffering from a lack of geographic-appropriate news-coverage, especially of anything important that … Read more

17th February 2023 Dear Readers We are into one of those periods- lasting a week or more- during which both BBC1 North West Tonight and ITV1 Granada Reports together seem to draw a red line from east to west across North West England, roughly from Fleetwood to Barnoldswick: It would seem that they agree, between … Read more

16th February 2023 Dear Readers The sad disappearance of Nicola Bulley, who lived in St Michael’s-on-Wyre continues to make headlines on both BBC1 North West Tonight and ITV1 Granada Reports: Rarely has both of the two mainstream Regional TV News- services for North West England provided at least 20% of their air-time to coverage North … Read more

31st January 2023 Dear Readers A few weeks ago this Website featured an article congratulating BBC1 North West Tonight for showing signs of covering all of North West England, including into northern Cumbria. This article made the point that this would be great if this signified a long- term improvement in news-coverage for locations northwards … Read more

13th January 2023 (Updated 15th January 2023) Dear Readers This evening, there was another suggestion that BBC1 North West News-programmers might be upping their game in terms of the proportion of coverage they provide North of Preston. This evening’s North West Tonight, presented by the friendly, outgoing Annabel Tiffin, provided two in-depth news-features about Cumbria: … Read more

11th January 2023 Dear Readers The New Year, 2023 starts with some signs of promise from our Regional TV broadcast media in North West England, with signs that both BBC1 North West Tonight and ITV1 Granada Reports are actually covering all of North West England better. However, one always has to be a bit wary … Read more

23rd December 2022 (Updated 28th December 2022) Dear Readers One major reason why, over thirty years ago, viewers in North Cumbria objected so vehemently to receiving BBC1 North West Tonight when the then Manchester-based BBC1 Regional TV service was broadcast right up to the Scottish Border was the fact that eighty percent of coverage was … Read more

19th December 2022 Dear Readers This Website campaigns for better and more geographic- appropriate coverage for viewers of Regional TV who live in more northerly parts of North West England, that is in Cumbria and northern Lancashire: It is often the case that both BBC1 North West Tonight and, especially ITV1 Granada Reports struggle to … Read more

4th December 2022 Dear Readers Viewers of mainstream North West England Regional TV who reside in communities straddling the Lancashire- Cumbria boundary, who are rather sick of Manchester and Liverpool- centric coverage of BBC1 North West Tonight and ITV1 Granada Reports (a programme which has not really covered Cumbria since the summer!) can take heart. … Read more

23rd November 2022 Dear Readers North Lancastrians- who are disheartened with the miniscule amount of local and Regional TV News- coverage from BBC1 North West Tonight and ITV1 Granada Reports that gets North of Preston should be encouraged by an earlier example of whole communities getting together- to force the hand of the mighty BBC- … Read more

22nd November 2022 Dear Readers One of my followers from the Isle of Man on my Website showed me the following reply he received upon emailing that the Isle of Man’s Chief Minister (the equivalent of the UK’s Prime Minister)- about Public funding to set up a bespoke Isle of Man TV service: Dear XXX … Read more

15th November 2022 Dear Readers During the course of this year, 2022, the BBC has set up a Regional programming series called We Are England. Unlike in the past whereby BBC Regional TV documentaries aligned with the BBC transmission Regions that received BBC1 Regional News, for the BBC1 We Are England series the whole of … Read more

8th November 2022 Dear Readers Cumbrian viewers were given a real treat tonight from ITV1 Border’s Lookaround– nine proper news-items covering different parts of the county. And that does not include coverage of Carlisle United in the Sports coverage. I am certainly happy since the village of Nenthead, near where I live in the North … Read more

3rd November 2022 Dear Readers Previously, this Website postulated a worst-case Scenario for Regional TV in North West England and in North East England by 2050 as a result of ITV.Plc being allowed to dispense with Regional TV News-provision and the BBC amalgamating its BBC1 TV Regions so that just nine exist in Britain (you … Read more

31st October 2022 Dear Readers Most folk living and working in Cumbria will assuredly be familiar with ITV1 Border’s Regional TV News- service and it’s flagship early- evening news-bulletin Lookaround., currently presented by Amy Lea and Ian Payne (who, incidentally, are also the anchors for ITV1 News Tyne Tees which is the ITV Regional News … Read more

24th October 2022 Dear Readers This evening, on watching both ITV1 Granada Reports and ITV1 Border’s Lookaround via the respective online websites one sees very clearly how much ITV1 Granada Reports focusses on Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire to the exclusion of Lancashire and South Cumbria. In terms of actual news that was not Sports- … Read more

15th October 2022 Dear Readers In northern North West England local folk can tune in to BBC Local Radio stations. These have been provided by the BBC for over fifty years and they weere set up to provide local news- coverage that viewers could not easy get off Regional Television. In the North West of … Read more

6th October 2022 Dear Readers If the News-feed from the ITV Granada Reports Website is anything to go by it is abundatly clear how little of ITV.Plc’s flagship Regional TV News- service covers areas north of the M62 Corridor. It would appear that Cumbria has not been covered since August, but there was the coverage … Read more

25th September 2022 Dear Readers Today, I consider the fact that both the BBC in the North West and ITV Granada Reports do not provide great all-round Regional TV News-coverage for locations north of Preston. Neither cover the Isle of Man well either. There does not exist a TV Region that, for a viewer in … Read more

18th September 2022 Dear Readers The main aims of this Website are to ensure that all viewers of Regional TV who live in Cumbria, Lancashire and the Isle of Man have much more localised and geographic-appropriate Regional TV News-coverage. For viewers in Lancashire and Cumbria that is for a North West England-flavoured Regional TV News-service … Read more

16th September 2022 Dear Readers This last week has been one of great loss to this nation- and locally. Queen Elizabeth II has been a source of immense pride and stability. The Queen’s selfless service and Christian faith has helped to keep Britain together and provided a sense of security through some enormous social changes. … Read more

8th September 2022 Dear Readers The lack of geographic-appropriate Regional TV, as watch by viewers, affects over six million people living across large swathes of Scotland and northern England, as well as the Isle of Man: It is not just much of northern North West England and the Isle of Man that Regional TV News- … Read more

30th August 2022 Dear Readers This evening, viewers of ITV1 Border’s Lookaround were treated to no less than EIGHT proper non-sport news-items about Cumbria, the only other non-sport news-item was about a driver from Newcastleton- just over the Scottish Border about 20 miles north of Carlisle (so not a million miles from other parts of … Read more

26th August 2022 Dear Readers As this Website exists to help viewers of Regional TV in northern North West England get more local (and more geographic-appropriate) news-coverage, and to help them in pressurising the mainstream Regional TV News-services serving them provide more geographic-appropriate North West Regional TV, it is appropriate to point out that whilst … Read more

20th August 2022 Dear Readers A glance through ITV Granada Reports‘ Website (listed here: https://www.itv.com/news/granada), which lists all the news- stories they feature in their programming, and one would be struck by how Greater Manchester/ Merseyside- dominated the news-coverage is, that is, excepting their little Isle of Man section (which if one checks the dates … Read more

14th August 2022 Dear Readers Much of the Regional TV News-coverage on BBC North West Tonight and ITV Granada Reports during this last week of hot weather has focussed on strikes affecting rail and bus travel, the trial of former Manchester United footballer Ryan Giggs (who is accused of assaulting his ex-girlfriend), and various other … Read more

22nd June 2022 Dear Readers If viewers in northern North West England, particularly those who live in the extreme North of Lancashire and in South Cumbria have any doubts about the geographical- appropriateness (or otherwise) of the flagship Regional News programme from ITV Border, namely Lookaround, then tonight ought to dispel such concerns! Not only … Read more

20th June 2022 Dear Readers This evening, the flagship ITV1 Regional News programme enjoyed by viewers in most of Cumbria and southern Scotland, namely ITV Border Lookaround covered the tragic deaths of two people who died when the helecopter they were flying crashed in a field near the village of Burton in Lonsdale. This was … Read more

12th June 2022 Dear Readers As has been fairly typical of what happens with both BBC1 North West Tonight and ITV1 Granada Reports, a Cumbrian news- drought emanates from both the mainstream Regional TV News- broadcasters for North West England- and it lasts for a week or more! In the previous post (here: https://northwestisnorthwest.org/2022/06/03/pictures-of-north-cumbrian-platinum-jubilee-celebrations/) I … Read more

3rd June 2022 Dear Readers True to form, neither BBC1 North West Tonight, nor ITV1 Granada Reports have featured any Cumbrian celebrations of Her Majesty’s 70th anniversary of her succession to the throne. This is despite the fact that 200,000 Cumbrians live in the north of BBC1 North West’s transmission area and at least 100,000 … Read more

8th May 2022 Dear Readers One of the problems afflicting the BBC, thus preventing provision of good quality and local Regional Television in North Lancashire and South Cumbria, is a lack of money for Regional Television. This manifests in large TV Regions that do not provide geographic-appropriate local and Regional news-coverage for rural populations living … Read more

29th April 2022 Dear Readers It cannot be said that viewers in Lancashire are not reasonably well-served by news-coverage about Lancashire on BBC1 North West Tonight. This evening, 29th April 2022, BBC1 North West Tonight provided not just one, not just two but four news-features concerning northern Lancashire. There was coverage of the proposed Eden … Read more

24th April 2022 Dear Readers Viewers of Regional Television in places like Keswick, Maryport, Workington and St. Bees Head get their BBC1 Regional news from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and they can watch BBC1 Look North (NE/ Cumbria), at least eighty percent of which is about Tyneside, Teesside, Wearside, County Durham, or North Yorkshire. All of these areas … Read more

20th March 2022 Dear Readers There are changes in how Cumbria will be governed in little over a year’s time that will impact Regional Television in northern North West England- and in a manner that could further reduce the amount of news-coverage that gets north of Preston: Cumbria is about to be split into two … Read more

14th March 2022 Dear Readers This evening, I wish to touch on something that many viewers of Regional Television who live in North West England , particularly those who live in rural Lancashire or South Cumbria, must observe. It is fairly clear from watching BBC1 North West Tonight and ITV1 Granada Reports that the programing … Read more

3rd March 2022 Dear Readers The home town and identity of one of the people who died in the crash on the northbound M6, just south of Penrith have come to light. He was a 51 year-old from Rochdale- in Greater Manchester! Even though, traditionally, Rochdalians consider their town to be Lancastrian, as Rochdale was … Read more

1st March 2022 Dear Readers Yesterday morning, at about 11.15 am there was a fatal collision on the northbound M6 between Junction 39 (Shap turn-off) and Junction 40 (Penrith and North Lakes turn-off): Two people were killed when the car they were travelling in collided with a van, and a third occupant of the car … Read more

14th February 2022 Dear Readers Roger Johnson was back presenting BBC1 North West Tonight, this evening of Monday 14th February 2022- and he brought with him some news- coverage of Cumbria after what must seem to viewers to be a significant absence! This evening, there was a piece on William Wordsworth, featuring Grasmere and also … Read more

13th February 2022 The only “Local” and Rgional TV viewers on the Isle of Man get are ITV1 Granada Reports and BBC1 North West Tonight: These Regional TV News- services cover North West England, (mainly the southern half of it, mind) and have news coverage that is 70 to 80% about Greater Manchester, Cheshire and … Read more

10th February 2022 Dear Readers This Website discusses the relevance- or otherwise- of Regional Television as received in northern parts of North West England and on the Isle of Man. This Website campaigns for an improvement on local news- coverage for areas that are often overlooked and which receive Local and Regional Television news that … Read more

7th February 2022 Dear Readers This evening, Monday 7th February 2022 I again watched both BBC1 North West Tonight (which again did not cover Cumbria or the Isle of Man at all) and ITV1 News Border’s Lookaround. Of the non- sport news, three news- items concerned South Cumbria, including two separate, extensive pieces about a … Read more