Network – Page 19 – What Was Pebble Mill?

Radio Studio 2 before auction – photos Philip Morgan

Photos by Philip Morgan, no reproduction without permission. Philip took these photos in November 2004, when Pebble Mill was emptied before the auction to sell off the majority of the building’s contents. You can see the auction lot numbers on some items in the photos.

The photos feature Radio Studio 2, as well as 1/4 inch tape machines, recording rooms etc.

Studio 2 was mainly used for recording music sessions for Radio 2 – ‘BBC Big Band’, sessions for Paul Jones’ blues programme, for ‘Country Club’ which became ‘Bob Harris Country’ and many others. It was also used to record “as live” programmes with an invited audience e.g. a Cajun series. Pam Relton remembers ‘Voice of the People’ being recorded in there,with Jenny de Yong producing.

Thanks to Philip Morgan for making the photos available, and to Sue Welch for providing information about Studio 2.

Philip Morgan’s blog

My first brush with the newly opened BBC Midlands HQ was when my school class were “extras” on the rides at a fairground set up in Cannon Hill Park as part of the 100th edition of the lunchtime Pebble Mill at One programme. It was the 1970’s and I was fascinated by the Outside Broadcast operation mounted just across the road from the gleaming new studio complex. From that day on my heart was set on a career in broadcasting.

When I left school I wrote in to the (then) BBC Radio Birmingham and was invited to go along to look around the station. I remember it well as my visit was on the very same day that the stunt artist famously jumped off the building onto a pile of cardboard boxes in the courtyard for Pebble Mill at One. The visit led to the chance to become a “helper” on the Saturday children’s programme “Radio Brum Club” which was broadcast at 10.00am on Saturday morning before the “Ross and Henry Show” with a repeat at the same time on Sunday. I helped by recording the ROT, editing insert tapes on Studer B62’s, driving the MKII Pye desk in the Studio 2 cubicle and also doing location interviews with a Uher tape machine. Before long I was doing all sorts of fun interviews and features – frequently nabbing guests from Pebble Mill at One or The Basil Brush Show (which was “hosted” in TV Studio A on Saturdays). I did interviews with a very young Lenny Henry at the old Bingley Hall and a ringside knockabout chat with the wrestler Jackie Pallo Jnr. After these items had been on Brum Club I popped them into an envelope and sent them on to the Radio One “Playground” programme (a networked magazine similar to “Brum Club”) which went out on Sunday mornings just before “Junior Choice” (and so ‘pre-inherited’ an audience of many millions of listeners). Sadly I heard nothing more and assumed that my cheeky submission of a little jiffy bag of 5″ tapes and cue sheets had been chucked into a recycling bin at Broadcasting House!

Some months later at a party I met a teacher friend in Birmingham who it turned out had been freelancing for “Playground”. Out of the blue she congratulated me for my interview items – which she revealed had actually been broadcast on “Playground”. She urged me to get in touch with the producer (Don George at BH) as he was trying to trace me so that he could pay my network fees and give me more work. When I got in touch with Don he very kindly invited me to visit the recording of “Playground” one week at Egton House and introduced me to the presenter David Rider. Don had links to BBC Midlands himself as he revealed himself to have been on attachment to the 282 Broad Street radio studios in the 1950’s and he had been one of the SM’s who helped to “kill” Grace Archer (with the SFX of a burning barn anyway!). He kindly arranged with Jock Gallagher (Network Editor Radio at Pebble Mill at that time) that I could join the other network freelance contributors on the fifth floor at Pebble Mill and make regular contributions to the show. This was certainly a very lucky break and led to the chance to offer interviews to “Playground” as well as other programmes such as “The John Dunn Show” on Radio 2.

Network radio was certainly a very different operation to its local counterpart. I couldn’t just wander into an empty studio and ‘self-op’ a feature. Instead I would have to book a studio through the bookings department and someone from the Audio Unit would be on hand to operate the area. One day I needed to record some links for a package that I had produced with the pop star David Soul. When I booked a studio I was surprised that the only area available was Studio 1 where the Midlands Radio Orchestra recorded. Of course I expected that I would record my links in the adjoining “narrator studio” adjacent to the cubicle. However when I turned up in the cubicle at 10.00am with my typewritten script to start the booking the sound supervisor claimed that he had no idea how to patch a mic from the studio into the Type “D” desk and then he indicated that I would have to do my links from “out there” – the 3,000 sq ft floor of the concert studio itself! The studio was completely empty except for a microphone and headphones laid out on a small square table in the centre of the floor and a set of acoustic screens which had been carefully set up on three sides of the table. As I sat alone at that microphone in that massive studio and cleared my throat for the recording I was terrified! I must admit that over the years I’ve come to the conclusion that this was all a jolly jape by the sound supervisor to give me a bit of a baptism by fire…

I used to spend as much time as I could in the radio studios, or helping to edit tapes in the office for other colleagues. My forays around the building included lots of time spent in the Studio “A” observation gallery and in edit suites. Pebble Mill was a marvellous centre in that everyone was friendly and people were always ready to share knowledge if you were keen to ask questions. I knew designers, journalists, film editors, directors, researchers, projectionists, sound supervisors, people from TAR, indeed from all over the building. Because Pebble Mill had all aspects of production under one roof it was a terrific place to learn the nuts and bolts of broadcasting. I soon became friends with people in the film transfer suites who would kindly help me out when they had downtime by letting me copy tapes or grab sound effects and that led to opportunities to do freelance shifts in transfer or the dubbing record room working in areas that very few people in the building knew much about – or even knew existed! It was a perfect combination with my radio work and I spent several years freelancing in both areas.

The Network Radio department always seemed to be thriving under Jock Gallagher and I remember several very happy Christmas lunches where after we had enjoyed lunch in the 7th floor canteen, Jock would lead all the radio folks behind the serving counter and we would serve Christmas lunch to all the catering staff (who obviously numbered many more than those we actually saw behind the servery each day).

Eventually I joined the BBC technical staff elsewhere in the BBC and did the BBC “A” course at Wood Norton. But I will always cherish my teen years spent at Pebble Mill and treasure the wonderful people from so many departments who took me under their wing and so generously shared their expertise and enthusiasm with me.

Pebble Mill in the 70’s was a bustling and innovative production centre and the building – and its equipment – was gleaming and state of the art and the staff shared a real sense of optimism where any creative idea seemed possible. I was therefore a little sad to return for the auction of contents (in November 2004) and to explore the building which by then was on the brink of final closure and looked completely forlorn. Its offices and technical areas were very shabby and of course almost completely devoid of all the wonderful and talented people that I was so used to seeing in the past and which brought the place to life. Nevertheless I decided to photograph as much as possible before the building was lost forever. Pebble Mill was a unique and happy working environment which produced so many fine and memorable programmes in its heyday. I was always proud to have the chance to work there with so many warm and wonderful people. It all seems like only yesterday…

Philip Morgan

Radio Training Week – Paul Balmer

Paul Balmer - supervising school children

Radio Training Week.

Jock Gallagher invited schools to come and learn about Radio production that’s me in ‘M3’ teaching tape editing with a razor blade!

I spent most of the day with Kenneth Williams as a ‘minder’ – I think Jock wanted him out of his hair . Kenneth spent most of the day regaling me with the agony of his haemorrhoids!

Pebble mill was full of surprises!

Paul Balmer

Keith Ackrill’s Memories of Working at Pebble Mill

Bob Langley dancing with Ginger Rogers

KEITH ACKRILL – MEMORIES OF PEBBLE MILL

I worked at Pebble Mill on Radio 4 and television, from the day it opened until I left in 1982. I have very many pleasant recollections of the years I spent there.

The thing you noticed most was the tremendous enthusiasm that permeated the whole staff.

It was the feeling that we were in a brand new building hailed as the biggest combined radio and television complex in Europe. We were all determined to make Pebble Mill programming a force to be reckoned with.

Hours and hours of top television had the Pebble Mill label. As well as Birmingham productions, many London drama series were based in the studio or filmed on location, using Birmingham crews.

The Brothers, Poldark, All Creatures Great and Small, Juliet Bravo, Howards Way, even Basil Brush – the list goes on and on. And that doesn’t include the many classic dramas that were produced in Studio A.

Radio was an important part of the building’s output too. Radio Two programming found a home there, the Midlands Radio Orchestra was in residence for many years. Folk music, pop music – every kind of music came from Pebble Mill. And that’s not forgetting radio drama. Pebble Mill, of course, was home to The Archers and many other dramas of all kinds were produced alongside, together with some fine radio documentaries.

There were many landmark programmes – Top Gear, Pebble Mill At One, Saturday Night At The Mill – all of which I was fortunate to have worked on.

My main memories from the last programme include talking to actor Robert Wagner, in the hospitality room, about English beer. I know nothing about beer, but it was worth talking about it just have Natalie Wood’s dark brown eyes focused on me! I remember sitting across the table from Ginger Rogers and, later, photographing Bob Langley dancing with her – lucky devil – accompanied by Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen, with guest trumpeter James Hunt. Many, many great stars came to Pebble Mill to take part in the wide range of radio and television programmes that came from within that building.

I miss meeting them, but I also miss the camaraderie of the people I worked with, of being part of a team dedicated to putting broadcasting in the Midlands on the map.

Paul Balmer – Memories of working at Pebble Mill

I worked at Pebble Mill for 17 years from 1974.

I initially worked as a sound guy on many of the continuing dramas including many Second City Firsts and Classic Serials.

I also worked developing the soundscapes for the BBC’s first stereo drama serial – Juliet Bravo.

As a musician I was the ‘off screen’ guitarist for Alison Steadman in ‘Nuts In May’ – Mike Leigh’s direction was “No! No, worse much WORSE!” (difficult for a trained classical guitarist). I was in the dubbing suite for ‘The Boys From The Blackstuff’.

Alan Platers ‘Curriculi Curricula’ was also a major undertaking – the first lightweight on location electronic drama also with stereo sound – ‘hand synced’ by Roger Guest and videoed on location at Birmingham University!

I stood next to the writer on the very first ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ as the horse produced copious manure and the props guys argued over whether poo was an action prop or litter?

I also wrote music for Pebble Mill at One films – McClouds Mysteries – re enacted ghost stories! – Great fun. I have VHS copies somewhere!

I became a radio producer for Radio 1/2/3 and 4 and eventually a TV director having moved to Television Centre writing and directing multi camera drama for BBC Schools TV.

At Pebble Mill In 1976 I had met Stephane Grappelli – the great violinist and wrote his biography, produced a 1 hour biog on Radio 2 and a two hour DVD which was nominated for a BAFTA in 2002.

I also directed the multi award winning ‘Africa I Remember’ – shot on location in Africa.

Pebble Mill was an amazing place to work – in the same day you could work on Radio 3, The Archers and the local news!

One day I staged a ZULU charge on the front lawn.

Faintly bizarre in hindsight! But truly wonderful.

I now work as a full time writer.

All the best

Paul Balmer,

Author ‘The Haynes Guitar Manuals’, Penguin Encyclopaedia of Music, Julian Bream etc