Rod Bach – What Was Pebble Mill?

CMCR 9 Vision Crew

Photo by E.M. John Abbott, no reproduction without permission.

The photo is of the Vision Crew of the outside broadcast scanner: CMCR9, Pebble Mill’s CM1 in the 1970s. This scanner went on to become North 3, in Manchester.

The truck was used on programmes like ‘Gardeners’ World’ and ‘Songs of Praise’, as well as dramas and sport.

Included in the photo are: Ian Dewar at the back, Ron Pickering on the phone, Rod Bach at the front and John Allinson on the right. (Thanks to Janet and Ian Collins for the identification!)

Messing about on the river – photos by Ian Collins

Photos by VT editor Ian Collins, no reproduction without permission.

These photos are from a day off on location on the Norfolk Broads, whilst filming nights on the drama series, ‘Vanity Fair’. The photos date from May, 1987. Included are cameramen Paul Woolston (without shirt), and Bob Meikle, grey hair and glasses, and the man with the plastic cup is probably soundman Alistair Askham. The man with the beard is Rod Bach, and the man foreground in the 2nd shot with blondish hair and sunglasses is broadcast engineer, Chris Glover. The man in the 2nd shot on the back, right, is engineer John Bradley.

Thanks to Andy Frizzell, Lesley Weaver, Stuart Gandy, Ian Collins, Chris Glover and Richard Stevenson for identifying those included.

Outside broadcast, ‘Vanity Fair’ – photos by Ian Collins

Photos by Ian Collins, no reproduction without permission.

These photos are from a Pebble Mill outside broadcast from May 1987. They feature VT engineer Paul Scholes, OB engineer Rod Bach, vision engineer John Bradley and PA Janet Redencowitz (sp?).

The outside broadcast was for the drama series: ‘Vanity Fair’, for which lighting director Dave Bushell was nominated for a BAFTA. The location was Heydon Hall or Thetford, both in Norfolk. The series was hosted at Pebble Mill, out of London.