Factual – Page 132 – What Was Pebble Mill?

Roy Castle Beats Time – Paul Balmer

Stephane Grappelli on 'Roy Castle Beats Time'

Stephane Grappelli on ‘Roy Castle Beats Time’ with The Suzuki Children.

The Story;

I met Stephane the day before this photo at ‘Pebble Mill at One’ – with Diz Disley and John Etheridge – he was riding high with a new Hot Club Trio and platinum selling albums with Yehudi Menuhin. I’d always been a fan of the original 1930’s HCQ line up with Django Reinhardt.

He wanted somewhere to warm up and I took him to Studio 1 which was empty as usual! – he was in seventh heaven.

He had just acquired his wonderful Galiano violin (he had never had money before!) he played non stop for the next two days and refused to stand under the notoriously hot Pebble Mill lighting in case the Galiano dried out – this caused big problems as he stood in the gloom.

The next day for Roy Castle the producer had prepared a surprise – ‘The Suzuki Children’ came on as a treat and formed a circle around Stephane playing their tiny violins. Stephane was very moved and wanted a souvenir photo – I rushed off and found a freelance who took the snap.

Stephane gave me his address and I posted it to him. Astonishingly he wrote back!

This was the beginning of a friendship of 20 years. I eventually wrote his biography, produced a one hour feature for BBC Radio 2 and directed a three hour DECCA DVD ‘A Life In The Jazz Century’ which was nominated for a BAFTA in 2002.

When we cleared Stephane’s Paris flat in 1997 the photo was still amongst his souvenirs.

Pebble Mill was full of surprises!

Paul Balmer

Song for Christmas – Paul Balmer

Mixing a 'Song for Christmas'

I loved this show!

Every Christmas 100’s of schools submitted entries for the Song For Christmas Competition.

The quadrangle was filled with artificial snow and Christmas trees – MAGIC.

I was Sound Supervisor and hand picked a great little crew – the tracks were recorded in London and mixed on Studio 2 ‘s 4000E SSL – 24 tracks and state of the art outboard gear.

Wayne Unwin won one year with ‘Snow in Moscow’ and this is him mixing in Studio 2 with Mike Massey. Wayne now works as a composer as Ty Unwin – his name pops up on the end of programmes.

Paul Balmer

Asian Music and Dance – photos by Lynda Kettle

This gallery contains 6 photos.

Photos by Lynda Kettle, no reproduction without permission. Lynda Kettle was a Production Designer at BBC Pebble Mill, working on factual, entertainment and drama shows in studio and on location. The photos were taken as records of the Sets. Pebble Mill became a important centre for Black and Asian programme making, including several Asian…

Morning Surgery – photos by Lynda Kettle

‘Morning Surgery’ was a summer spin off from ‘Good Morning with Anne and Nick’. There were two series, the first was transmitted in June 1993 and the second in September 1993. It was a BBC 1 Daytime show and featured Dr Mark Porter and Lydia Thomas taking the mystery out of medical matters. The show was studio based in Pebble Mill Studio C (the foyer). The title music was composed by David Lowe.

Production Designer, Lynda Kettle also worked as a theatre designer and an artist, and now runs courses from her art studio http://www.lynda-kettle.com. She is a member of the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists, Birmingham Water Colour Society. Midland Pastel Society and Birmingham Art Circle . She exhibits her paintings several times a year at selected galleries.

Style Challenge – Lynda Kettle’s photos

Photos by Lynda Kettle, no reproduction without permission. Lynda Kettle was a Production Designer at BBC Pebble Mill, working on factual, entertainment and drama shows in studio and on location. The photos were taken as records of the Sets.

Style Challenge was a BBC 1 Daytime make over show, presented by John Leslie, Shauna Lowery, Caryn Franklin and Oz Clarke. The image of two volunteers were transformed by hair, make-up and clothes experts. The show’s trademark was the revolving mirror, revealing the contributor’s new image with maximum effect. The series was broadcast on weekday mornings on BBC1, from September 1996 to December 1998, and recorded in Studio A. Eileen Stokes was the producer.