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
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’
Pete in WM Studio 1
From PETE SIMPKIN – Radio Birmingham/WM producer and presenter 1970-1988
Pebble Mill was a pioneering Broadcasting Centre custom built to house the cream of the BBC’s non metropolitan broadcasting and its staff. It unified under one roof several premises in Birmingham and so brought together all the talent and technology for Broadcasting in the 70s and 80s. It also was the headquarters of the BBC’s non London Organisation. Others will tell the story of the building, of it’s multitude of programmes both on TV and Radio. There was a high profile Radio operation including drama and Music of all kinds, not forgetting of course the fact that it was the home of ‘The Archers’, the Radio soap opera.
For my part it was a terrific place to work. Local Radio was the first part of the operation to be homed here as it went ‘On air’ as the Mill was being commissioned. Wherever there are local radio broadcasters there are thousands of tales to tell and so I have collected here just four personal memories which pull together the magic of working at Pebble Mill and the ways in which this extraordinary building operated for good or ill!