Clive Cowdery, the former insurance salesman, saw his paper fortune surge from £72m to £88m yesterday when shares in Britannic Group returned from suspension. Britannic has agreed to merge with Mr Cowdery's Resolution Life group in what is in effect a reverse takeover of Britannic by Mr Cowdery. Britannic shares added 101.5p to close at 609.5p, increasing the value of the business 20 per cent. I am more radical now about education than I was as a young man. At his degree ceremony in St David's Hall, Cardiff, he explained why learning is central to his life. "I didn't go to university because I couldn't go - I hated school work so much that I didn't do any.
This is why the OU is so important - there must be so many children, who like me are smart but dumb, who have within them the latent ability to study but are prevented in some way. "Both consciously and unconsciously I thought that there was an awful lot of life fenced off from me by a high-flown vocabulary and by an elite group of people who were much cleverer than I was As I became older I became aware that it wasn't true. You can join in any one of 39 Discover Your Coast walks around Britain. Twelve (in Portsmouth, Plymouth, Falmouth, Cardiff, Caernarfon, Liverpool, Belfast, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Whitby, Hull, Great Yarmouth) are mobile phone interactive walks, allowing you to receive information via your mobile phone en route. There are also guided walks led by OU academics and Coast presenters. To find out more about Coast, and all OU/BBC programmes, see .
Tony Robinson's excited inquisitiveness has made the archaeological roadshow Time Team one of the most successful series on television. Colleges and universities around the country have seen applications for archaeology courses rise. "The Open Broadcasting Unit has been very successful," says Dr Crompton. "We are being invited to take part in more and more projects with the BBC."OU broadcasts are now being seen by more people than ever. Its programmes in subjects ranging from science, technology through to history and philosophy have been translated and sold in over 40 countries worldwide.So what remains for the OU student? Although less strictly course-related, the programmes provide an enrichment to study, says Dr Robinson, and the Broadcasting Unit contacts students to alert them to forthcoming broadcasts relevant to their course."Everything we do on TV is for our students too," he says. "In campus-based universities there is a stream of people coming through giving lectures and conferences; our students get excellent TV which widens their education."'Coast' is on BBC2 at 9pm on Fridays and Sundays from 22 July Check listings for details.