April 2018 – Page 3 – What Was Pebble Mill?

Stan Morgan on Great Expectations

Stan Morgan book keeping all the moves

Stan Morgan

Stan and John larking around on Great Expectations

Photos by Albert Sheard, no reproduction without permission. The photos show Stan Morgan on the props team at work on Great Expectations.

Thanks to Albert Sheard for sharing the photos.

Albert has added the following information: ‘Stan’s job was to mark the floor with tape each time furniture moved for camera shots and the other chap was John Mills, sadly both guys no longer with us, seems like yesterday when I took that picture, they were good times.’

Malcolm Stent and his band

Photo from Rod Fawcett, no reproduction without permission

Radio WM presenter, Malcolm Stent (left), and his band, ‘The Poor Boys’, with Radio WM engineer, Rod Fawcett, on the right.

Thanks to Rod Fawcett, for sharing the photo.

Rod Fawcett added the following information, ‘This was at the Old Silhillians Rugby Club. Malc and his band often performed there and on this occasion the evening was recorded for Radio WM.’

Gardeners’ World September 1987

Thanks to Stuart Allen for making these screen grabs available.

These stills are from Gardeners’ World transmitted on 9th September 1987. This was when the Friday night gardening series was still being made as an outside broadcast. I think it was usually shot on two cameras and used a system called editech to assemble the programme as the recording went along, rolling back to last edit and picking up from there.

Jean Laughton was a renowned production assistant, who was working more as a researcher than a PA. She compiled a very comprehensive set of card notes which included all the programme details, along with which plants were included in which episode.

Denis Gartside was a larger than life director. I worked with him on Gardeners’ World in 1989. I remember driving with him to location, he used to steer with his knees and stop with the handbrake!

Steve Johnson – Clearing the News VT Library 2002

Photos by Steve Johnson, no reproduction without permission

‘Clearing out the News VT Library at BBC Pebble Mill sixteen years ago. Preparing for the move to the Mailbox. My previous manager Garry Campbell looking on wistfully.

I was by this time working in the newsroom on BBC Birmingham Online but still daily visited my old offices next to the newsroom, sad to see them being emptied. Harvinder plugging a beta tape into a machine in the newsroom in the second photo.’

Steve Johnson

Mike Marshall remembers John Kenyon

John was my mentor over the years from 1967 when I came on an attachment from BBC Bristol for three months as a Production Assistant. The three months became six, and eventually I stayed on in the Unit as an Assistant Producer until 1972. It was the most exhilarating experience – John let me have full rein very quickly at a challenging time when the UK was in the throes of entering the Common Market! Agriculture was in a period of considerable adjustment as a consequence, and our programming always tried to reflect that.

Much of the knowledge in production that I gained working there is due in no small way to the guidance and encouragement that John gave me. He was also extremely tolerant of the fact that I was a non-golfer! The photo below was taken on an EBU Farming tour in the Netherlands in 1971, and shows many of the BBC’s Agricultural Radio and TV Producers – including John Kenyon.

Mike Marshall