成人快手

Blind driver

Blind faith - Mike Newman is a blind speed driver

For most of us driving a car is a pretty unremarkable achievement.

We hop in and drive off. But the idea of motoring along at 200 miles an hour would terrify most of us - and it's not something a blind person could ever contemplate.

Unless that it is, your name is Mike Newman and by your own admission you're slightly "mad".

And what makes Mike unique, is that he drives on his own.

Mike, who works in a bank in Cheshire, was born almost blind - and lost all his sight by the time he was 13.

But this father of two has always been willing to swop the confines of a desk for something a bit more dangerous.

Mike Newman - speed king on the track

Back in 2001, Mike's daredevil streak led him to set a world record for driving unsighted on a motorcycle when he reached 89 miles an hour.

And that's staggering when you realise the first time he'd ridden a bike was just four days before.

Another biker acted as his eyes - conveying directional tweaks by radio.

Not satisfied with two wheels, Mike learnt to drive a car - this time in just three days - and promptly set a new world record as the fastest blind driver - clocking nearly 145 miles an hour in a souped up Jaguar.

Record breaker

Inside Out cameras followed Mike as he prepared to beat his own record by hitting 200 mph.

He was using a BMW M5 sports car that is normally restricted to a top speed of 150 - but the manufacturers had tweaked it and given it extra muscle.

The location was the UK's third longest runway - at Elvington in Yorkshire - originally an RAF station, it was the US airforce which stretched the landing zone to nearly two miles to accommodate B52 bombers during the Cold War.

Record breaker - Mike Newman at home

Now, it's privately owned - and despite having to occasionally share it with dumper trucks, it looked like an ideal strip to burn a new record.

The car was loaded with high tech satellite and communications equipment - but what gave Mike the ability to soar down the runway was his father in law - a professional driving instructor with the same name.

The two Mikes sat in the car for a few practice runs, then Mike senior left to follow behind in a chase car - issuing simple directions over the radio.

The record attempt was designed to raise awareness for a blind charity.

It soon became clear that even at a shade under two miles, the runway just wasn't long enough to hit that elusive 200 mark - so with time running out, Mike did the best he could.

That was still enough to set a new world record - with an average speed of 167.32 mph and a peak speed of 178.5 mph.

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Bluebird

Raised from its watery grave - Bluebird

The Bluebird is one of the iconic images of the age of speed.

Following its recovery from Coniston Water in the Lake District in 2001 Donald Campbell's daughter is now prepared to put the car back at the bottom of the lake.

Now Bluebird is back from the depths of Coniston Water, a battle is raging about how she should be displayed.

Gina Campbell, head of the Campbell trust, wants to rebuild Bluebird using Heritage Lottery Fund monies.

Her vision is the restoration of the boat to its former glory - including making Bluebird able to speed through the waters once again.

Gina says, "I want her restored to her beautiful magnificent self. I want her shiny and bright and the engineering perfect.

"I want young people from all over the world to view her in Coniston聟 and I will not settle for less."

However, the Heritage Lottery Fund don't agree - they would prefer to stabilise and conserve the boat in a museum, without rebuilding its engine and working parts in full.

The Lottery agree that the wreck should not go on display, but think a full rebuild will lose part of Bluebird's history. It wants a mixture of new and old parts of the boat to tell its story.

But Gina argues that full restoration of the boat into a working machine will inspire a new generation of racers and engineers to take part in breaking new speed records.

Inside Out investigates the battle to restore the Bluebird.

Restoration or renovation?

The Heritage Lottery believe that the key aspect of Bluebird is not just the speed records she broke.

Its view is that the crash needs to be represented in the story in any display of Bluebird.

It thinks that too much significant new material would change the nature of Bluebird and that this is not the one people want to see and experience..

The Lottery rejected a 拢2 million bid to restore and house Bluebird in Coniston for this reason earlier in 2005.

The Ruskin Museum in Coniston is where Bluebird would be displayed, and it has applied for Lottery funding.

The museum hopes to submit another bid to the Lottery in December.

If successful an extension would be built to house the boat, but the debate about the future of the boat rages on.

Speed king

Donald Malcolm Campbell broke many speed records. Born in Horley, Surrey in 1921, he had speed and racing in his blood.

Following the illustrious career of his father, speed king Sir Malcolm Campbell, he set out to smash speed records on land and water.

Campbell began his speed record attempts using his father's old boat Bluebird K4.

However, a 156 mph crash destroyed the K4 in 1951. Undeterred, Campbell developed a new boat - the Bluebird K7, a jet-propelled hydroplane type with a Metropolitan-Vickers Beryl jet engine.

Donald Campbell's daughter Gina back at Coniston Water

Between 1955 and 1964 Campbell set seven world water-speed records. The first was at Lake Ullswater on July 23, 1955, where he set a record of 203 mph.

After a series of record breaking attempts, he reached 276.33 mph in December 31, 1964 at Dumbleyung Lake in Australia.

Following a crash at Bonneville in the United States with the Bluebird CN7 car in 1960 on land, he went on to set a record of 403.10 mph for jet propelled four-wheeled vehicles at Lake Eyre in Australia in 1964.

He also became the first person to set both water and land records in the same year.

Between them, Donald and his father set eleven speed records on water and ten on land.

On January 4, 1967, Campbell was killed when the Bluebird K7 flipped over and disintegrated at a speed of more than 300 mph on Coniston Water.

Bluebird - from speed icon to wreckage

The cause of the crash has always been a cause for speculation. Some point to Campbell not waiting to refuel after doing a first run of 297 mph, and the boat being lighter.

Others blame the waves caused by his wash or a cut-out of the jet engine.

The wreckage of his craft and the body of Campbell were not recovered until May 28, 2001.

Diver Bill Smith was inspired to look for the wreck after hearing the Marillion song 'Out Of This World' about Campbell and the Bluebird.

The body of Campbell was recovered soon afterwards.

Now the boat in which he died could find itself back at the bottom of Coniston Water.

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Life on Mars

John Simm before his 1970s transformation

Remember the 1970s? The big hair, the discos, the furniture... it seems like they never went away.

But now a new TV drama looks set to take Mancunians back three decades.

成人快手 drama has been filming a new series in Manchester called 'Life on Mars' starring John Simm.

He plays Sam Tyler, a detective in 2005 who has an accident and wakes up back in 1973.

It's a kind of cross between 'The Sweeney', 'Spooks' and 'Back to the Future'.

The drama takes viewers back into the world of '70s disco - a time of big hair, giant collars and footballing heroes like George Best and Bobby Charlton.

Seventies fashion - George Best in his boutique in 1970

So what do we remember about Manchester in the 70's? Industrial unrest? Long hot summers? The seeds of the punk revolution?

Manchester has changed enormously in the last 30 years and this presented a few challenges for the film makers.

It was hard to find locations that still look like they did in the Seventies.

The TV crew has had to concentrate on the streets around the back of Piccadilly Gardens - camouflaging any signs of the 21st Century.

Inside Out meets Brian Sykes, the Production Designer, for the drama.

He says it was "very difficult" to capture the period and to find the right props.

Behind the scenes

Inside Out also meets actor Philip Glenister who plays the macho DCI Gene Hunt in the drama.

We also go behind he scenes in the costume department to see the glitz and glamour as well as the hard work, ironing and washing the costumes.

The Seventies was very much the brown decade and this is reflected in the colours of the clothes featured.

Then we speak with John Simm about wearing full '70s gear.

We also talk to Liz White who plays Annie Cartwright - she's too young to remember the 70's but is having fun with the whole look.

'Life On Mars' will be on our screens early in 2006. Until then you'd better dig out those platforms and prepare for a 70's revival.

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