Woman's Hour - 21/09/2009

With Jane Garvey. Alan Clark died in 1999 and is best remembered for his political career, military history and sensational diaries, along with his passion for cars and women. Ion Trewin edited his diaries and has now written the authorised biography of his fascinating life story. Alan's widow, Jane, gave her full co-operation, along with unrestricted access to papers, diaries and letters contained at their family home of Saltwood Castle in Kent. She gives Jane Garvey her side of the story. Alison Stephens was just seven years old when she first asked to play the mandolin. The instrument was deeply unfashionable in this country and it was no easy task to find her a teacher. But Alison persisted, she became the first graduate of mandolin from Trinity College of Music, London and is now our leading exponent of classical mandolin. She joins Jane to talk about the history and the cultural eclecticism of the instrument - it is hugely popular in countries as diverse as Latin America, Germany and Japan - and her performances with Louis de Bernieres. She plays from her latest CD - a mix of solos and mandolin and guitar duos of music from around the world. Bedwetting is a hidden but distressing problem for many children, making them anxious about normal activities like sleepovers and school trips. The British Medical Journal says that by age seven, most children have stopped wetting the bed but about five per cent of ten-year-olds, and three per cent of 15-year-olds have difficulty controlling their bladders at night. Jane hear about what it's like for a child who bedwets and some possible solutions. The recent string of child neglect cases has brought into sharp focus the need to consider the way children are monitored and protected. But a new report argues that the needs of parents are being overlooked. Could children reap the benefits if the parent is targeted? Yvonne Roberts, a senior associate at the Young Foundation and co-author of the report, and Eileen Hayes, a parenting expert and advisor to the NSPCC, discuss whether we've swung too far in focusing on the child.