Copyright resides with the original holder, no reproduction without permission.
These title grabs are from one of BBC Pebble Mill’s longest running and most well known series – Top Gear. They date from the 1990s.
The series began as a monthly magazine show in 1977, and ran at Pebble Mill until 2001. It was fronted by a whole host of different presenters over the years, including Jeremy Clarkson, William Woollard, Noel Edmonds and Angela Rippon.
The colour schemes are all suitably macho, as are the design features!
Thanks to Ian Collins for sharing the stills.
The following comment was left on the Pebble Mill Facebook page:
Andy Bentley: ‘Sometimes the vehicles for the program were delivered to Pebble Mill and we kept the keys in the Security office. As space on the car park was at a premium we felt duty bound to re-park them of a night. Got to drive some fab motors.’
Gregory Hallsworth: ‘Standing next to the fax machine the day after Clarkson tore into the Vauxhall Vectra was very revealing!’
Copyright resides with the original holder, no reproduction without permission.
Thanks to Jan Poston for sharing this photo of her father, Ron Poston, with actor Warren Clarke, who died 12 Nov 2014. Ron was a doorman at the BBC Club at Pebble Mill. The Club was well frequented by BBC staff as well as actors, at lunchtimes and in the evenings. The photo was taken just before Pebble Mill closed in late 2004.
The following comments were left on the Pebble Mill Facebook page:
Mark Hellings: ‘Sad to hear of the death of Warren Clarke, but wow, the picture of Ron takes me right back to the liquid lunches over at the club – terrific picture!’
Andy Bentley: ‘I’ve poured Warren in to a few taxis when they were doing Dalziel and Pascoe. He always liked the end of run parties in the boardroom. Colin Buchanan would phone down to Reception and ask us to get a cab and give him a hand. Always great fun though.’
Margaret Thatcher produced two autobiographies, ‘The Downing St Years’ and ‘The Path to Power’; it was this second book that brought her to Pebble Mill in June 1995 to be interviewed by Sarah Greene and Will Hanrahan round the kitchen table on Good Morning Summer. I booked her and had the responsibility of researching her and looking after her on the day.
Beforehand, the building had to be checked by plain clothes detectives and sniffer dogs because the IRA was still deemed a risk to her. We couldn’t give her a dressing room near the crush bar or in the basement, so we had to locate her in a room adjacent to the radio complex, which was re-decorated and dressed accordingly with oil paintings and sofas from the props store in Selly Oak, thanks to Julie Knee.
You didn’t mind when some guests arrived early, but she arrived at 9.30am, hair perfectly coiffured and in full make up, she required no time in hair and make-up. The thought of making small talk with Margaret Thatcher was daunting, particularly when your political views were diametrically opposite, but I somehow managed to get through the next two hours, at one point physically holding her back behind the doors in the radio complex, with her handbag on her elbow ready to go on, because she just wanted to get on with it.
The thing I will always remember was Sue Robinson, who was directing that day, calling down to say that I should warn her about the loud intro to the music number that followed directly after her interview. We had the Tribute to the Blues Brothers on and they were playing ‘Everybody Needs Somebody’ with a huge brass section and Sue couldn’t move her out of the interview area before they started. I began to explain the situation and then the film and then the type of music and then a list of the legends of soul who appeared in the film and I knew she didn’t have a clue what I was talking about.
I’ve actually found the 1995 interview on YouTube – here’s the link
Caroline Officer
The following comments were left on the Pebble Mill Facebook group:
Jane Mclean: ‘I did Good Morning Summer and don’t remember Her Maj being on! Hysterical you looking after her and Sue directing!! Got through half of it then found myself thinking of all the spoof Maggies. Don’t believe you found it on You Tube. Think you have your own copy….’
Sue Robinson: ‘I have NO memory of this! I obviously decided to erase it from my memory in case it gave me nightmares!’
Jean Thomas: ‘On her visit there was a request over the tannoy for a welcoming commitee in the foyer. I was somehow at the front thanx to the guys from the 7th floor. She had fierce looking security guys who came in first who stood in the front staring at us. You guessed she came in and headed straight for me. Cameras popping everyone watching, I wanted to dissapear. She was lovely………’
Caroline Officer: ‘Sue Robbo, you can’t remember this one?? And Jane, yes I probably do have a copy but I stupidly dumped all my Pebble Mill stuff on to a D3 tape before I scarpered to Ready Steady Cook.’
Andy Bentley: ‘I was on the roof during the visit with Police Marksmen so they could view the whole area.’
Raymond Lee: ‘Don’t remember the Good Morning visit, but do remember her at Pebble Mill during the Pebble Mill at One era. Sadly I can’t remember what year, but likely to be late seventies, or early eighties. She came with Dennis, and I remember them both being in the production gallery at one point in proceedings. It’s likely that it was before she had engendered much of a reputation.’
Sarah Dunning: ‘I can remember her visiting pebble mill, as when she was walking around the bottom quadrangle corridor we were weren’t allowed anywhere near her by the security guards incase anybody did anything untoward!!’
Photo by Tim Savage, no reproduction without permission.
This photo is from a drama outside broadcast, probably from one of the ‘Come to Mecca’ dramas, called: ‘Salt on a Snake’s Tail’. The Traffic Warden, with the rigger driver, Bob Few, is writing out a ticket for the scanner, CM2 – despite it having a parking permit!
‘Salt on a Snake’s Tail’, was transmitted in 1983, it was written by Farrukh Dhondy. Franco Ross was the director, Peter Ansorge the producer, and Ian Ashurst the production designer.
The cast included: Zia Mohyeddin, Andrew Johnson, Gill Dharminder.
The following comment was posted on the Pebble Mill Facebook Group:
Andy Bentley: ‘Last time I saw Bob (Few) was a number of years ago, I had just parked the car on Barmouth Sea front when someone shouted ‘Oi what the F*** are you doing here. It was Bob driving a coach full of passengers.’
Copyright resides with the original holder, no reproduction without permission.
This photo shows the BBC Pebble Mill Security team in 1987, seated in the courtyard behind the Foyer Studio.
Back row L to R – Ted Mckeown, Andy Bentley (Me), Graham Kidner, Tom Edwards, Mick Dodgson, Adrian Hicks, Ben Mackenzie, Mike Hayes, Dennis Smith, Jim Homer.
Front Row L to R – Cliff Roberts, Charlie Biggins, Dave Fisher, Jayne Hobbins, John Harris, Pat Power.
The photo was taken on a Sunday, and non Security staff had to man the BBC entrances so that the photo could be taken.
