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Comfy...
Cherry and
Gregg rest
their case!27
Asleep on the job!
Gregg Wallace finds out what goes into making a mattress...
G
ood-quality mattresses
can be expensive and
heavy, and if you’ve ever
wondered why, then Gregg
Wallace has the answer as
he visits the Harrison Spinks
factory in Leeds, where 600
pocket-sprung mattresses are
handmade every day.
The 54-year-old MasterChef
presenter was amazed to
discover that no less than
5,000 components go
into every single one!
‘This factory visit was
amazing!’ he beams.
‘Have you got any
idea what goes
into making
a mattress?I couldn’t believe the number
of different layers!’
The first thing Gregg sees
is a lorry delivery of 128km of
steel rods, which will be turned
into enough springs to make
600 mattresses. And the
process that turns
the rods into the
much thinner
springs makes
him hungry
because it
reminds him
of how pasta
is made!While Gregg is busy on the
factory floor, Cherry Healey
finds out the potential benefits
of taking an afternoon nap, while
Ruth Goodman investigates the
history of the mattress.Keep cool
As well as being comfortable to
lie on, a good mattress must
also absorb sweat from our
bodies, and natural fibres
such as hemp and wool are
perfect for doing that job,
as Gregg discovers.
‘We’ve all got a mattress,
but how many of us have
ever looked inside one?’
he concludes. ‘This is what
I love about this series!’ ■FACTUAL
Inside the Factory
Tuesday, 8pm BBC 2It’s 40 years
since a bomb killed
Lord Mountbatten
on his fishing boat...
A royal
MURDER
D
uring the Summer of
1979, India Hicks was
holidaying in County
Sligo, Ireland, with her family
and grandfather, Lord Louis
Mountbatten, who was an
uncle of Prince Philip and a
distant cousin of the Queen.
He was also Prince Charles’
close mentor.
It was something India, then
aged 11, had done every year.
But on 27 August, Lord Louis
and several other family
members were out
fishing on his boat,
Shadow V, when an
IRA bomb went off. The
blast killed four people,
including Louis and his
14-year-old grandson,
Nicholas, India’s
closest cousin.
‘For some reason,
that day I didn’t join
them,’ recalls India.‘I stayed behind, although
I heard the bomb go off.
For several years
afterwards, every
time I walked into
a room and a door
or window slammed,
I would jump.
‘It was horrific for
the entire family. But
I was at an age where
at least I was able to
express myself.’
This documentary to
mark the 40th anniversary of
Louis’ death recalls the events
of that fateful day and hears
from India as well as Mary
Hornsey, whose 15-year-old
son, Paul Maxwell, was also
killed on the boat.The detonation of the
radio-controlled bomb, which
had been planted on Shadow
V the day before, shocked the
British establishment and the
public. But, as the film reveals,
it wasn’t the first attempt on
Louis’ life. The IRA had
planned another four
years earlier.
‘My grandfather
was very much the
centre of our family,’
says India. ‘He was
an extraordinary
character – he’d walk
into the room and you’d
notice him at once.
‘Everybody coped very
differently and some didn’t
cope well – and, of course,
we’re seeing the side-effects
of that even to this day. The
damage that was done was so
much deeper than any of us
could ever have imagined.’ QNEW (^) FACTUAL
The Day
Mountbatten Died
Mon, 9pm BBC2 (NI, BBC1)
Father figure... The much-
loved royal was a mentor to
Prince Charles (below left)
Victim... Mountbatten
(circled) at the helm of his boat
Escape... India
had stayed ashore