Latest news with #PeterAlliss
Telegraph
22-07-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
BBC must be brave and start a pay-per-view sports channel
What an amazing summer of sport we've had with Test matches, international football, motor racing and the rest. I found myself concentrating on Wimbledon and then The Open golf championship. You will no doubt have spotted that the BBC has recently been under the cosh for various reasons so they will have been mightily relieved that their coverage of the Wimbledon Championships passed without much criticism. Amongst the large cast of performers that the Beeb managed to attract, once again John McEnroe was the star, as he always has been and I was imagining how the young McEnroe, long before the eyebrows turned grey, might have dealt with the errors made by the new electronic line judging – probably down on his knees pulling it to pieces, I would imagine. Of course in these days of social media there is always a little bit of flak flying around, something the late commentator Dan Maskell would not have had to cope with. Nowadays his pronunciation of the word match (metch in Dan English) would probably attract some stick. Then it was on to The Open golf championship at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland. Sky's coverage seems to be exceptionally good although I have to say that when it comes to golf I do miss the commentary of Peter Alliss. I knew Peter a little and as far as I could detect he had little self-doubt, but he was superb at communicating his sport. He was outstanding at spotting the unusual and making a mock of it but he could be a harsh critic as when the Frenchman Jean van de Velde infamously threw away The Open at Carnoustie some years ago. The veteran Ewen Murray leads the accomplished Sky commentary team and they are joined from time to time by six-time grand slam winner Sir Nick Faldo, an able broadcaster these days. They have the brand The BBC does offer a highlights show but it only serves to show that they are also-rans. If they are to compete as serious contenders for big-time sport, they will have to form a separate sports channel and that means pay-per-view. They have the brand. I used to say that working for the BBC was not a job, it was a cause. In many ways that is still true but as time has gone by and the sports department continues a constant battle to hang on to the contracts it has, the relationship with Wimbledon will be in jeopardy as the competition continues to show ambitions in that direction. The only way to compete is to find the money to do so. Unless the BBC is content to cover only minor sports they will have to get out into the marketplace. To do this, the kind of money involved means the funding must come from a source other than the licence fee and that means pay-per-view. Whenever a major sport leaves the BBC it is usually with regret. They know how valuable it is to be a BBC product. If there is someone at the corporation who agrees with me and has the courage to fight for that cause I mentioned, get ready to summon up the blood, disguise fair nature and prepare for the incoming rage.
Daily Mail
13-05-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
Moment £1.5m mansion is destroyed by huge fire after 'solar panels cause it to erupt into flames'
A £1.5m mansion has been destroyed by a huge fire thought to have been started by newly installed solar panels. The huge blaze erupted at a house in Ferndown, Dorset, after a neighbour noticed the inferno at around 12.30pm yesterday, sparking a massive response from fire crews. Firefighters from six different stations raced to the property on the exclusive Golf Links Road where they desperately tried to extinguish the fire and stop it spreading to neighbouring houses. They were able to eventually douse the blaze, but not before it had completely destroyed the entire first floor and the roof of the mansion. Footage of the incident shows bright orange flames leaping 20ft into the air as they tore through the large detached home, which backs onto the exclusive Ferndown Golf Club in Dorset. The £2,300 a year club is a favourite of legendary golf commentator Peter Alliss who worked there as an assistant to his father Percy when he was a teenager. The owners, who were uninjured, are believed to have only purchased the house in January and were in the process of renovating it when the blaze broke out. The couple had installed solar panels on the roof around a month ago, according to neighbours, and are believed to be the cause of the fire. Stuart Gillion, group manager at Dorset and Wiltshire Fire Service, said: 'We were alerted to a significant and well developed fire. 'The two occupants were inside and they were alerted by a fire alarm so they were able to get out. 'The entire first floor of the property and the roof have been destroyed, but an early intervention stopped the fire spreading to neighbouring properties. 'It is absolutely heartbreaking for the owners to see the property they had developed and had become their home in this state, but the most important thing is they were unharmed.' A spokesperson for Dorset and Wiltshire Fire Service said they suspect the cause of the fire that destroyed the £1.5m mansion was from the new solar panels on the roof. They said: 'The reinspection has been completed. We believe the fire started accidentally and suspect the fire started from solar panels.' It is believed that the occupants at the home are an Eastern European couple aged in their 30s. Nextdoor neighbour Pete Webb, 75, a retired special needs specialist, said: 'My wife gardening and I suddenly noticed this burning smell and said "what on earth is that". 'I looked up and saw 20ft high flames shooting from the back of the house and called 999. 'They were tackling the fire from our driveway and there were exploding bangs like an air raid - it was terrifying. 'Thankfully they managed to stop it spreading to our house. 'The owners have been constantly doing work to the roof and the fire investigators asked me about their solar panels.' Another neighbour said: 'The fire started on the roof and sadly most of the house has gone. 'I spoke to the family earlier and they are doing okay and they were really calm. They only moved into the house in January. 'I think the owners spent a lot of money renovating it and they put solar panels on the roof a month ago. 'It is such a shame to see what has happened but the fire crews did really well to stop it spreading to other properties.' Fire crews from Redhill Park, Springbourne, Poole, Wimborne, Ringwood and Hamworthy were sent to the scene. Nearby residents were told to close their windows as a large plume of black smoke blew across the area. The golf course remained open and it is not believed that the house affected belongs to one of their members. The legendary golf commentator Peter Alliss worked as an assistant to his father Percy at Ferndown Golf Club when he was a teenager. During his broadcasting career he often described Ferndown as being his favourite course. After his death in 2020, the club renamed their nine hole course in his honour.
