Rigging for the broadcast
‘Sikh Worship’ Not actually at PM but typical of the pioneering ideas coming from it. This was a live relay of Sikh worship from the Graham Street Gudwarah. Here can be seen Pete and engineer Stuart Miller preparing for the broadcast. Radio Birmingham was the first to transmit live non Christian worship in the UK and this has incidentally never been repeated.
Maureen & Pete
‘Maureen and the coffee’ One Christmas eve the BBC canteen had closed early for the holidays and we cheekily regretted the fact on air. This lady Maureen lived in one of the tower blocks nearby in Edgbaston and walked down to the studio with refreshments for we forgotten broadcasters!
Pete Simpkin
Dunchurch Silver Band
This shows Barry Lankester and I producing the annual Local Radio Knockout Contest organised by the West Midlands Brass Band Association. This was typical of the programming of the early days of BBC local radio….and the way in which the building itself was used to communicate with the public. A community organisation would get the programmes organised and we would get them on air.
Barry Lankester was the driving force behind all sorts of artistic productions involving over the years literally thousands of local music makers from bands of all types, classical and pop , choirs and many others trooping into Pebble Mill, usually at weekends to record a multitude of broadcasts encouraging and entertaining the listeners. The band shown in the picture is the Dunchurch Silver.
Pete Simpkin
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
Malcolm Jay
Photo copyright of Willoughby Gullachsen, no reproduction without permission.
This photograph features Radio Birmingham presenter Malcolm Jay, and dates from the mid 1970s. It was taken in Radio Studio 2 Control Room, which could operate ‘self drive’ or control the actual Studio 2 which is on the left of the picture. Malcolm used to present a Tuesday night rock music show called ‘Heavy Pressure’