Hi, Peter here. I am glad to be getting back to a familiar routine after the Christmas season but not enjoying the cold snap. I am back with my radio show on BBC Radio Humberside 95.9FM, 1485AM or on DAB from today between 12 and 2pm. Tomorrow I will be chatting to author Joanna Trollope. You can also listen live or listen again at bbc.co.uk/humberside. I will be back as usual on Look North tonight on BBC One at 6.30pm. I hope you will be able to join me.
Wedgewood Blues China and ceramics firm Waterford Wedgwood has said it expects to call in administrators to its UK arm on Monday. Chief executive David Sculley said he was "disappointed" some of its UK and Irish subsidiaries had been forced into administration or receivership. But he was optimistic that a buyer could be found for the business, known for its Wedgwood pottery, Royal Doulton and Waterford crystal. Wedgwood has been known as an iconic name in British pottery firm for 250 years, with many households in the UK owning one or more of their pieces. BBC business editor Robert Peston has said it was "no surprise" that the heavily indebted firm had floundered. "Waterford Wedgwood's collapse is a resonant event, that speaks of a noxious global squeeze on consumer spending," he said. "Almost everything that it manufactures is a nice-to-have rather than a must-have. An Upbeat Note . The 45 rpm single is about to reach its 60th anniversary and despite repeated predictions of its demise, sales are rising once again. Most people think of records as being made of black plastic, but it turns out that coloured vinyl is as old as the seven-inch single itself. The first 45 rpm disc, Texarkana Baby by country and western singer Eddy Arnold, was issued by RCA in the US on 31 March 1949. It was made of green vinyl, as part of an early attempt to colour-code singles according to the genre of music they featured. Others included red for classical music and yellow for children's songs. But such novelty features were left behind when the advent of rock and pop turned the 45 into the music industry's most prized product. Seven-inch sales peaked in the UK in 1979, when a staggering 89 million of them were sold, but once the CD hit the market, vinyl of all kinds went into sharp decline. In 2001, annual singles sales dipped below 180,000. Roy Matthews, who used to ! run the factory for EMI and is now Portalspace's general manager, says production of the seven-inch format dwindled to "almost nothing" at one point, but is now healthy again. "Although we almost pronounced its death eight or nine years ago, it's now revived itself enormously," he says. That rebound is reflected in UK sales figures for seven-inch discs, which have now risen to more than one million a year, most of them pressed at Portalspace. Do you remember the first single you ever bought? Lucky Legacy A classic Bugatti car, which gathered dust in a Tyneside garage for almost 50 years, may fetch up to £3m when it goes under the hammer. Relatives of reclusive Newcastle doctor Harold Carr found the 1937 Type 57S Atalante in a garage after he died. Now the classic car, thought to be one of just 17 built, is to be sold by Bonhams in Paris next month. Dr Carr, a former army surgeon, left the contents of a lock-up garage to his family when he died in 2007. As well as the Bugatti, his nephew also discovered a classic Aston Martin, and a Jaguar E-type in the lock-up. The nephew, an engineer from Newcastle, said: "We just can't believe it. Dr Carr bought the car in 1955 from Lord Ridley, a member of the Northumberland gentry. He drove the car for the first few years, but in 1960 it was parked in his garage where it remained until his death. James Knight, international head of Bonhams' motoring department, said "I have known of this Bugatti for a number of years and, like a! select group of others, hadn't dared divulge its whereabouts to anyone. How very Del Boy to have such a treasure in the garage have you ever had a lucky find? If you have, I would love to hear about it. Thats all for today. Take care. 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. Your email address will be held by the BBC and kept confidential, and will only be used in relation to this newsletter. You will be given the option to unsubscribe from this newsletter each time you receive it. Please visit the BBC's Privacy & Cookies Policy (www.bbc.co.uk/privacy) for more information.
