The following memories of BBC technical training at Wood Norton were posted on the Pebble Mill Facebook Group:
Pete Simpkin: ‘I was at Wood Norton in the mid 60s and our engineerng course TA16 was the first engineer group to be allowed to produce a show in the famous Gym studio. It was relayed to the club in Evesham. I was Floor manager……we evn had to design our own captions!’
Take a look at the following 360 degree photo of Wood Norton, by Tom Poole: http://www.tompoole.co.uk/360/woodnorton2.swf
Stuart Gandy: ‘As an engineer my first 3 months in the BBC were at Wood Norton on my A course in 1979. Part of the A course for us TV engineers was to make a programme in the studio at Wood Norton trying out the different roles. In those days there were always a lot of trainees there and for our course we could not use the studio there as it was fully booked, so we had to come up to Birmingham University studio for 3 days. Whilst there we had the chance to visit ‘a proper TV studio’, that was Pebble Mill of course, one of the BBC’s most iconic buildings. It was an interesting visit especially for those of us like me that would be starting there later on. Who would have ever thought back then that 25 years later it would be gone!’
Gordon Astley: ‘Wood Norton was my rite of passage.’