Eurwyn Jones – What Was Pebble Mill?

Pebble Mill at One, Studio C

1980’s photo of the Pebble Mill at One studio, in the converted foyer of Pebble Mill. Note the Links cameras

The following comments were left on the Pebble Mill Facebook page:

Wendy Lewis Edwards: Four years on Pebble Mill at One then back years later for Good Morning with Anne and Nick. Remember Beryl Reid crawling on all fours across the floor between cameras to pull faces at Val Doonican singing away with his guitar. The viewing audience were completely unaware…

Julian Hitchcock: I hardly know where to begin. I first worked in the foyer in late 1978, worked on countless Saturday Night at the Mill programmes and hundreds of PM@1s.

Oddly, my last visit was as a guest on the Anne and Nick daytime show that took the same slot, in 1995, when I was escorted there and back in a limousine. On that occasion, I deliberately wore a checked jacket to pull the TM’s leg. (Sorry).

Eurwyn Jones: I remember working on Saturday Night at the Mill and Ginger Rogers arriving in a big car and walking in through the double doors.

The production team were Roy Ronnie, Roy Norton, Patricia Mifflin and Peter Wisdom.

David Crozier: I have many happy memories of being the designer on both Pebble Mill at One and Saturday Night at the Mill. I always loved the live TV atmosphere on both these shows. It was the Pebble Mill live TV experience which inspired my career change, a few years later, to becoming a TV director. I always enjoyed directing multi-camera live TV shows and the impression left by my time at Pebble Mill has never left me!

Carolyn Davies: Forgot how narrow it was! Amazingly well utilised space, remember it well for Daytime and Good Morning with Anne and Nick, bands, demos, cooking, how did we fit it all in!?!

Tim Dann: Great ‘daze!’…& who will forget Roy Norton in the Gallery; at the end of the show jumping up, knocking his chair over & screaming at ‘Presentation’…”Take me prez, take me, take me!!”….then as Susie says…Off to the ‘Strathallan’ for hospitality. Wonderful times.

Ruth Barretto: I used to work for john Grantham in Engineering (one of the loveliest boss) and I remember he had these huge rolled up artist impressions of the foyer area when it was in the planning stage. It was initially the reception area . He asked me if I wanted them . Being young I thought ‘why would I want them?’ Wish I had said yes now!!!

David Shute: I recall when the Wild Eyed Sidey was hot to go with this idea that the head of Engineering, a pleasant person, said it wouldn’t work ‘cos you can’t combine daylight & studio lighting. Phil gave him 30 mins back in his own office to come up with reasons WHY or come ready to discuss his early retirement. What a surprise, it all happened at speed !

Cargo Kings script front pages

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Cargo Kings was one of a handful of live plays from Pebble Mill transmitted in March 1983. By this time it was very unusual to stage television drama live, because of its limitations, so these plays were quite a brave enterprise.

These script front pages show the cast and crew of the drama, as well as the rehearsal schedule and scene order.

Thanks to Philip Thickett, who was one of the cameramen, presumably on camera 5, from the notes on the script, for sharing it.

BORRIS, (scribbled on the script) for those who don’t know was the drama rehearsal room which was part of the garage and outside broadcast block at the back of BBC Pebble Mill.

The following comments were left on the Pebble Mill Facebook page:

Terry Powell: ‘Yet, another show I worked on. We really did do some fabulous programmes.’

Janice Rider: ‘Yes indeed we did Terry – that was quite a nerve-wracking experience as I remember but we were all relieved we managed to pull it off including quick changes . See they spelled my name wrong on the running order as usual!’

Terry Powell: ‘Yes, indeed. But we still had fun. We literally went from one show to another in those days. We must have been like race horses.’

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Andy Payne’s funeral

Andy Payne cable bashing for Tony Wigley on Pebble Mill at One, crica 1980

Andy Payne, on the left, cable bashing for Tony Wigley on Pebble Mill at One, crica 1980. Photo by Eurwyn Jones, no reproduction without permission.

Andy Payne’s daughter, Jenni, has been in touch with the Father Brown production office to give them the funeral details.

They are going to have the celebration that ‘Andy would have wanted us to have’ on Friday, 5th August at 1pm, King’s Norton Church, B38 8RU. Then a gathering afterwards at the King’s Heath Cricket Club, B14 6DT. Jenni referred to this as ‘Dad’s second home’.

The family want anyone who would like to attend to know that they are welcome, and they’ve asked that we pass this information on.

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Pebble Mill at One cookery booklets

Copyright resides with the original holder, no reproduction without permission

Thanks to Becky Land for sharing the photo of these Pebble Mill at One cookery brochures. The booklets were published by BBC Books.

Mollie Harris’s Cottage Cookery from Pebble Mill was published by the BBC in 1976. Mollie Harris was an author and actress, she appeared as village shopkeeper, Martha Woodford, in the Radio 4 soap opera, The Archers
in the 1970s. Mollie was a country cook on Pebble Mill at One, and also wrote a country cookery book for The Archers. Additionally she wrote a three part autobiography about her life in Oxfordshire: A Kind of Magic (1969), Another Kind of Magic (1971) and The Green Years (1976). Mollie died in 1995.

Michael Smith was a regular food presenter on Pebble Mill at One. His Book of Sandwiches was published in 1979. Below is a photo of Michael Smith rehearsing on Pebble Mill at One.

Michael Smith rehearsing on Pebble Mill at One. Photo from Eurwyn Jones, no reproduction without permission.

Roly Polys on Pebble Mill at One

The photo is from a Pebble Mill at One rehearsal, where the Roly Polys dance troupe, of larger ladies, have joined floor manager, Eurwyn Jones, at the piano. This was for a Christmas edition of the lunchtime entertainment magazine show.

Thanks to Eurwyn Jones for sharing the photo.