Bye Bye Broadmead

Shop till you drop - Bristol is getting a retail makeover

Look at the centre of Bristol these days and you'll see a forest of cranes.

The city is going through its biggest regeneration programme since the end of the Second World War.

Inside Out West has been looking at what's going on.

Five hundred million pounds is being spent to create a new shopping centre at the bottom of the M32, with the aim of putting Bristol back into the top ten retail destinations in the country.

The new development will be called Merchant's Quarter.

It includes a new House of Fraser as well as a branch of Harvey Nichols.

In total there'll be more than 100 new shops, 13 cinema screens, and 12 restaurants, creating up to 2,000 new jobs.

The work is long overdue.

Shopper's paradise

While the exisiting Broadmead was once a shopping paradise, it's now become a bit of a joke.

Shoppers complain that the buildings look drab and uninviting.

Much of the transformation has been happening at night time for safety reasons.

Some of the old stores and car parks are being demolished to make way for shiny new ones.

The project is due for completion in the Autumn of 2008.

When complete, it looks set to transform Bristol and its shopping area into a new retail and leisure paradise, fit for the 21st Century.

Links relating to this story:

• Broadmead Shopping Centre
• Bristol City Council
• Bristol Broadmead

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Motorbike adventure

Open road - biking in Mauritania

At some point in our lives most of us dream of chucking in our jobs and taking off on an adventure around the world.

But then we start to worry about down to earth things like career paths, pensions, and insurance… and we chicken out!

Inside Out West meets a couple who've had the courage to live their dream.

Simon and Lisa Thomas, from Somerset, are mad on motorbikes.

So when they decided to go on a little journey together no-one was very surprised.

But two years, nine months, three continents and 42 countries later, they're still going!

Their route took them from the UK into Scandinavia, before heading down through Europe and into Africa.

Motorcycle diaries

Then they took on South America and things started to go badly wrong.

Happier days - Mike on the African leg of the journey

In Brazil the whole journey very nearly came to a tragic end in the Amazon rain forest.

Simon fell off his bike on a rickety bridge, breaking his neck in two places.

They ran out of water as they waited for help, resorting to drinking river water.

Somehow they managed to get themselves to Sao Paulo where surgeons set to work on Simon.

But the troubles didn't stop there - Lisa caught malaria and ended up in the same hospital.

Back on the road

Inside Out West catches up with them in Argentina, back on the road, and still determined to finish their journey and create a new world record for visiting the most countries in a single trip.

They're currently heading south through the Andes towards the most southerly city in the world, Ushuaia.

African adventure - getting to grips with Mali's roads

But the health problems haven't gone away.

Simon has been back in hospital, suffering from malaria.

His neck is also still causing him a lot of pain.

And Lisa has had her troubles too, with sickness a real concern.

So two obvious questions - why do they do it?

And will they pack it in?

Well, they say they couldn't even contemplate giving up the trip they'd originally conceived.

And they reckon they'll be on the road for another four years, assuming they can find the money to support themselves.

Links relating to this story:

• Two Ride the World
• Long Way Round

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Husky Rally

A dog's life - huskies love racing in the annual rally

Inside Out joins Graham Good on Exmoor as he prepares to compete in the annual husky rally in Scotland.

Graham Good was an RAF dog handler for many years, and his pedigree has helped him become the fastest musher in the west.

We join him as he defends his title, competing against 220 other teams at the annual husky rally in Scotland.

For Graham and his partner Sue every weekend is given over to training.

This isn't a hobby for the faint hearted - the stakes are high.

Graham knows that the competition is going to be intense, "Everyone wants my scalp," he admits.

So he's harnessing cutting edge technology used by the security services, including a helmet camera which will help him choose which dogs will be going to Scotland.

Pulling a quad bike builds muscle and trains the dogs to work as a team.

After the training session Graham is able to review what went right and wrong.

Call of the wild

The call of the wild welcomes mushers from all over the UK to the Cairngorms in Scotland.

Graham will be one of the last teams out - not an easy position - but it will take more than that to knock him off course.

"I don't come here to come second," says Graham in competitive mood.

One of his biggest rivals is John Patchett, one of the Scottish team and Graham's nemesis, but he's feeling confident:

"Well, I beat him last year on the second day so I'm hoping I'll win over all this year."

Graham is competing in the six dog race - it's four and a half miles and the course is run twice over two days. The fastest team wins.

With no snow, sledges are replaced by bikes and it's much harder on the dogs' paws.

Leader of the pack

Graham's top dog, Chalky, leads the team home and although the huskies are literally dog tired, they seem to have run a good race, but Graham's not happy.

The conditions are tough: "That track is wicked," says Graham.

Despite the conditions on the trial, Graham's completed the course in 14 minutes and 23 seconds - and he's in the lead.

Racing dogs at Aviemore Photo c/o Andrew Milligan/PA

But John's snapping at his heels.

It's time for the second and last run, and the pressure is mounting.

Graham makes a last minute substitution - Chalky is replaced and Jak gets pole position.

As the fastest racer from the previous run Graham is due off first.

He makes a flying start - all important if he's to maintain his slim lead over John at the start.

As his team gets underway, there's a disaster - one of Graham's dogs has got his lead caught.

Untying the tangle will cost him vital seconds.

Finishing line

In the meantime John's had a clear run and is in sight of the finish line.

Graham is sure that he's lost. He's right - those 18 seconds have cost Graham victory

John is elated but feels for Graham, "I feel really sorry for him - he's lost through no fault of his own."

Despite the disappointment, Graham and the rest of the team have vowed to be back next year.

But for lead dog Chalky, it's time to take a well earned retirement.

Links relating to this story:

• BBC News - Huskies strain at leash
• Siberian Husky Club
• Champdogs
• Rykalov

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites