copyright resides with the original holder, no reproduction without permission
This is an excerpt from a book called Working in Television written in 1980 by Jan Leeming, who worked at Pebble Mill for a time. The aim was to encourage young people to think about careers in television.Thanks to Jonathan Dick for sharing the photo.
Copyright resides with the original holder, no reproduction without permission
This interview with Steve Weddle is from a 1980 book called ‘Working in Television’, by Jan Leeming. It gives a fascinating insight into the life of a researcher on Pebble Mill at One.
Thanks to Jonathan Dick for sharing the excerpt.
The following comment was added on the Pebble Mill Facebook page:
Steve Weddle: ‘I do remember writing this for Jan’s book, Working In Television. She very kindly said a few positive things about me in the preface, without money changing hands, for which I was most grateful. There were a number of ex-Pebble Millers featured in the book, including Mike Bloor, who I discovered from his piece, used to be a postman. It was really a guide on how to get into television in the 1970’s, when oopprtunities were limited, mainly becuase there were only three channels, and no such thing as indies. Jan Leeming used to present on the original Pebble Mill at One, before going on to find even more fame and fortune as a Newsreader on the BBC National Bulletins. She was a lovely lady who is still going strong, most recently on I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here.’
Copyright resides with the original holder, no reproduction without permission. L-R back-row: Brian Conway, David Waine, Steve Lee, Gary Hudson, Sue Beardsmore. L-R front-row: Kay Alexander, Roy Saatchi, Rick Thompson, the late Alan Towers.
Thanks to Jonathan Dick for sharing this article from the internal BBC newspaper, Ariel, featuring Midlands Today winning the Royal Television Society award for Best Regional Programme in 1989.
Photograph from Rosin Elder, no reproduction without permission
Female production team in the gallery of Midlands Today in 1990 at Pebble Mill. Left to right: Christine Palmer, vision mixer; Rosin Elder, director; Fiona Barton, PA; Maureen Carter Producer.
The following comments were posted on the Pebble Mill Facebook page:
Richard Uridge: ‘They all look very worried. I was probably presenting that night!’
Jonathon Dick: ‘The VM is Christine Palmer, who went on in later years to become a senior production executive with the BBC OU Production Unit. The Sound Sup is Peter Poole, who was a regular on MTD.’
David Croxson: ‘What a fantastic front desk. There was a right to do and a hoo-hah recently on a friends Facebook when it was shared as a triumph that the whole of a regional news programmes’ production team turned out to be female. Someone else complained that they wouldn’t have shared a similar photo if it was all men.
Perhaps Midlands Today was years ahead of its time!!’
Stephen Neal: ‘Roisin and I worked together at Look East when we were both Regional Station Assistants (aka the best first job in regional TV)! The chap at the back is the sound sup for the show by the look of it.’
Photo from Jonathan Dick, no reproduction without permission
The Midlands Today newsroom at Pebble Mill from the early nineties.
Cathy Houghton in the foreground and David Davies in the background, at BBC Pebble Mill, Birmingham. The computer system was BASYS, which Cathy apparently excelled at!
Thanks to Jonathan Dick for sharing the photo.
The following comments were left on the Pebble Mill Facebook page:
Malcolm Hickman: ‘As a Comms engineer, we sometimes had to see Gwen Smith when there had been a problem with the Saturday results feed. Her bark was always greater than her bite. When you got it wrong, she gave you a tongue lashing, when it went right, she sent out a hero gram. A lovely lady.’
Jane Partridge: ‘I remember when Phil was doing a Saturday Comms shift and I was away (possibly at Guide Camp in those days) he took our eldest daughter into work with him, she was 5 at the time (so 1989-90) and he was heavilly involved in setting up the BAYSIS system. She was used to using the BBC Model B computer we had at home, so going into the newsroom with him, she perched on a stool and was happily occupied tapping away on a keyboard…. the report I got was that there was a newsroom of open-mouthed journalists nervously attempting what this 5 year old didn’t bat an eyelid at.’
Diane Kemp: ‘I remember when BASYS came in. There were some ‘super users’ who taught the rest of us. Jane Green was one, I think??’