Inside Out East - 18/01/2010

A special programme looking at how snow and cold weather in January 2010 have affected the region. We ask if schools close too soon when the weather looks bad and find out how and when the decision is made. Julie Reinger explores fen skating. When the weather is cold enough, and the ice is good enough, the Cambridgeshire fens become a natural ice rink and on rare occasions races are held there. This year there are dozens of skaters hoping for more cold weather so that the national championships can be held for the first time in almost 20 years. We see how the modern style of speed skating originated in the fens in the nineteenth century. We join the BBC project History of the World, working with museums across Britain and around the globe. The project will put together a history of the world using just simple objects, and David finds something that sums up the East's place in history.