FOR WHOM THE BELLS TOLL
Last Wednesday was St George's Day and after a discussion on BBC Radio Nottingham's Breakfast Show about how we don't seem to mark it very much, I decided to try and co-ordinate some kind of simultaneous celebration. If you heard bells ringing at about 8.15am that day, then it worked! I asked everyone who has access to some kind of bell to ring it at that time and we were overwhelmed with the response. Church bells, pub bells, clock bells and even household ornament bells all rang out for St George. The big news is that the Central Council of Bell Ringing has agreed to pass on the details of what happened in Notts to its members to see if there's interest in rolling it out nationally next year. If you joined in, thanks for your support!

MAD ABOUT MANNEQUINS
Did you catch the interview on the Breakfast Show the other day with the Notts woman who's just set up a business renting mannequins? Things are going well with one recent customer being John Barrowman! She contacted this newsletter to say that at the moment, the only place she has to store them is in her house - can you imagine sitting in your lounge being watched by 20 of them? If you missed the story you can read more and hear the audio here.

Here are my other recommended top picks on the website at the moment...
> Model Ambition
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A DAY IN THE LIFE
On the last Nottingham News I asked if you'd be interested in seeing pictures from a random day in my life and the response was a resounding 'yes'! So one day last week I took a camera with me everywhere I went from 4am through to 10pm and took pictures of what I got up to. It was a busy day involving dogs, children, elastic bands, dancing and horses and you can see the photos here

THE GREAT ELASTIC BAND EXPERIMENT - UPDATE
What a response! When I asked on the last Nottingham News for your support in collecting red elastic bands that you found in the street, I never thought I'd get so many. Here's the ball I've made so far, but keep them coming and it will keep growing! As it currently resembles a cricket ball, on today's Breakfast Show you heard how we got on playing with it at Trent Bridge. If you do have more of them, pop them in the post to Andy Whittaker, BBC Radio Nottingham, London Road, Nottingham, NG2 4UU.

WHAT DOES THIS BUTTON DO?
This is the bit of the newsletter where I take you through some of the bits of studio equipment that make it all work behind the scenes here at BBC Radio Nottingham. This is the bit of kit that controls ISDN lines. These are basically high quality phone lines that link to reporters, other studios and the Radio Car. Lots of our shows involve ISDN lines now, for instance on today's Breakfast Show these lines were used for all the travel bulletins, all the Radio Car interviews and to link to our reporter in Poland!

IS YOUR CREDIT CRUNCHED?
Are you being hit hard by the cost of living at the moment? We're planning to feature some people on the Breakfast Show who are suffering more than most from the increases in fuel and food prices. Maybe it's the credit crunch which is affecting you too - have you struggled to get a loan that you really needed? Let me know your experiences by email andy.whittaker@bbc.co.uk

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phone: 0115 955 0500 | e-mail: andy.whittaker@bbc.co.uk