Eric Robson invites people to talk about issues directly concerning them.
In a Class of Their Own
In the last ten years, small village primary schools have been disappearing at the rate of one a week. Along with the local bus services, pubs and churches, they have been quietly shut down-often without any fuss from despondent villagers who see it as the last blow to the life of their community. But suddenly country people are no longer content to allow city-based officials a free hand to destroy the very heart of their villages. They have adopted the traditional urban tactics of protest with a speed and an eagerness that has taken many officials and politicians by surprise. In Cumbria, plans to review the future of small village primary schools have had to be withdrawn and reconsidered after running into a vigorous and determined campaign to stop further closures. Brass Tacks reports from the village of Uldale - population 180. Its 200-year-old school has 24 children and was selected for review by the Cumbrian education committee along with two other schools in the area. But the committee reckoned without the deep feelings of pride the people of Uldale feel for their school. In tonight's programme, the education policy-makers, who feel there may be a case for bigger and better rural schools, talk to the villagers of Uldale, and others who fear they may be destroying something which is both small and beautiful.
Producer BRIAN JAMES Editor ROGER LAUGHTON
Mann BBC Local Radio Stations in England are giving their audience a chance to state their views on this issue - in phone-ins following Brass Tacks.