Hello and welcome to the start of another week of Levy Letters and indeed the start of another year. I wish you all the very best for 2007. Its hard to believe now, but the Levy Letter has been going some 18 months, 5 days a week, and the number of people reading the Levy Letter is on the increase. If youre one of those, then thank you very much indeed. Can I just say its lovely to be back, I hope you had a great Christmas. I was on holiday just before, and over Christmas, it was nice to go away and have a little break, but its even nicer to be back tonight on BBC One at half past six as we get back to normal after the holiday. On the programme tonight well be meeting the family who claim the noise of wind turbines has driven them out of their home. Wind turbines are a controversial subject these days, and this family claim theyve spent 60 nights in six months sleeping at friends houses because they cant stand the noise the turbines make.
We'll have the real life hermit living in Lincolnshire. She has a car, telephone, and electricity, but lives a simple life of religious devotion. Well be taking a closer look at this fascinating woman tonight. With just six months until the smoking ban in pubs comes into force, we take a look at both sides of the argument. Im sure this one will prompt a huge response from viewers. Well have the contact details on the programme if you want to give us your comment. We also be meeting the man who's been given a lottery grant to write a play about one of Hulls most famous Hollywood sons. Hes from Hull, and he owned his own chain of cinemas. Find out more about that on the programme later today. And we have a special report on the record seal pup breeding season at Donna Nook. Of course, Paul will have the detailed weather forecast. Thats all tonight at half past six on BBC One as usual. Christmas Well Christmas is done now. I hope you got what you wanted, and if youve been to the sales since Christmas, its just extraordinary the number of bargains to be had. I went to the shops in York on Saturday. Some shops are offering up to 70% off, but I dont know if this has occurred to you, or if youve witnessed it, but in one of the well known high street shops, they have many of their gifts that were specially packaged for Christmas at half price, and many of their other goods at half price. If youve just bought somebody one of those presents, and then they walk in and see that theyve been reduced to half price, it seems a little bit tough and a little bit sad. Maybe the answer is to start doing our Christmas shopping after Christmas, rather than before. There are some extraordinary bargains in the sales, but you usually never find what you actually want in a sale, its everything but. But this year does seem to be different, because of course many of the shops had quite a hard time before Christmas with many of us spending less in the shops. Whether we actually spent less, or whether we spent it on the internet I dont know, but anyway, I hope you got yourself a bargain. House Prices Its one of the stories that we did more often than anything else last year, and thats the subject of house prices. Its always very difficult to get an exact average, especially around here, because the house prices are still below the national average. The first time buyer crisis has become so severe that in nine out of ten towns, property is now unaffordable for young people. The average price of getting on the first rung of the property ladder has soared to £151,000, almost double the average of five years ago at £77,000. The figure comes after it was revealed that the house prices rose by almost £1,400 a month during the course of last year. Basically what this means is that for many young couples trying to get on the property ladder in many parts of the UK, and I know Ive just been in Cornwall, its absolutely impossible. There is nothing to buy under £130,000, and with salaries of course below average down there, its very, very difficult for first time buyers. If y! ou are a first time buyer, or if your son or daughter is, and you have a view on that, then do get in touch. Names Well the most popular boys and girls names during 2006 Jack was number 1, Thomas was number 2, Joshua number 3, Oliver number 4, Harry is number 5. The top girls names were Olivia, Grace is number 2, Jessica, Ruby, and Emily are the top five. Some of the more unusual names are Isabella, and Evie, and Freya coming in on the list of girls names. On the boys were Ryan, Ethan, and also Alfie. I suppose Alfie is not that unusual. So thats the top names that we gave to our babies during 2006. Gadgets The gadgets now when you go into some of the high street electrical retailers are just mind blowing. You dont know where to start, what half of them do, and whether if you buy something its actually going to be out of date by the time you get it home. Well some of the top gadgets for the new year are the Nintendo Wii games console with its ultra clever motion detecting remote, which means you wave it like a tennis racket. That will be 2007s must have gadget. Also in there is the X series phones. These are the new mobile phones that let you make free calls using something on the internet. Its much too complicated for me to explain, but nevertheless its the gadget that were going to want in the new year. Some phones have also got a phone that lets you get the TV on it, I know one of my friends here has got it in the office. Books If you had books for Christmas then I hope youre enjoying your read. Biographies are the thing I like to read, Mustnt Grumble is the autobiography of Terry Wogan. Its number 10 in the best sellers at the moment, and what a brilliant read it is. If youre a big fan of Terry then his autobiography is just out at the moment and an extremely good read. Well thats it from me today, just a reminder that Id love to hear from you now that were back in action. If you want to send me an email on any subject, if you have a problem that you think we can deal with on Leave it to Levy, or a photograph you think we can show, then drop me a line at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Were also looking out for any stories you think we should know about, or something that I should know about, so get in touch with me, nobody else will see it. I look forward to hearing from you. Join me tonight on BBC One at half past six. Bye for now. Peter And for the latest news and more where you live, go to: http://bbc.co.uk/humber and http://bbc.co.uk/lincolnshire ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the BBC Look North newsletter, go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/england/looknorthhull/newsletter/newsletter_index.shtml, enter your email address in the unsubscribe box. 1.94.4
