Photos – Page 241 – What Was Pebble Mill?

Marconi Mark One Camera – Pete Simpkin

I remember the Marconi Mk ONE……we trained on them at Evesham (Wood Norton) and this picture is of three of us carrying out some ‘impact’ maintenance on one of them! On the left is Phil Upton showing where to hit the camera and wielding the panning handle is Keith Tucker. We were from all the regional studios and I cannot recall the members from Birmingham on TA Course 16 in the Spring of 1963.

Pete Simpkin

Marconi Mark 3 Camera – photo from Dave Kirkwood

This is a very young ‘me’ with a Marconi Mark 3 camera. This was one of the iconic cameras of the era (1960s) used in studios and outside broadcasts. It was the one featured on the original opening shots for ‘Grandstand’.

(Incidentally it was the Grandstand titles that inspired me to go for a career in broadcasting). The camera was obsolescent by the time this was taken but still in daily use at Gosta Green (pre BBC Pebble Mill).

Dave Kirkwood

Former Radio WM presenter, Gordon Astley, remembers working at Gosta Green: ‘I was there as my first posting after Wood Norton. My biggest thrill was being allowed to play on the new colour cameras …I seem to remember a scanner outside. Then I went to be a boom operator on all sorts of shows such as “The Doctors”. Looking back I should have stayed on staff, and now would be living on an island on a hefty pension!!!’

The Power and the Glory – thank you letter

This thank you letter was sent to Dave Mason for his dubbing of the motor racing series: ‘The Power and the Glory’.

‘The Power and the Glory’ was a twelve part series about the history of motor racing from the 1890s, looking at the designers, the drivers and the action on the race track. It was a co-production between BBC Pebble Mill and John Gau Productions. It was transmitted in 1991. Ivan Rendall was the Executive Producer. Philip Tibenham was the narrator.

Studio A Sound Desk – Peter Poole

Studio A Sound Desk

I took these photos about 1980. They show the Neve sound desk fitted with 48 channels. This enabled complex sound mixing for live and recorded programmes. Many drama and light entertainment programmes were produced in Studio A. They include ‘Howard’s Way’, ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ and many other dramas. Light entertainment programmes include ‘Telly Addicts’, ‘Call My Bluff’ and the final series of ‘Pebble Mill at One’.

In 1997 a major refurbishment of Studio A started at a cost of £2.2 million. The studio reopened in 1998 with vision and sound facilities which compered with the very best in the country. The new sound desk was a 60 channel Calrec Q series. However a few years later the studio was closed. This followed a decision by BBC senior management.

I visited Pebble Mill shortly after it’s closure. The studio doors were padlocked but I was able to have a look in the gallery. The new installation was superb. This together with Pebble Mill’s talented crews should have kept Studio A very busy. It’s such a shame that it closed after so little use.

Peter Poole

‘Fighting Back’ – photo from John Greening

‘Fighting Back’, was a five part Pebble Mill drama, transmitted in 1986, starring Hazel O’Connor. It was produced by Chris Parr, directed by Paul Seed, written by Gareth Jones and filmed in Bristol. It was about a mother fighting to keep her children. It also started Derek Thompson (before Casualty).

The second photo features (left to right): ?, John Greening (AFM), and Alf Mayall (props).

Thanks to John Greening for making the photo available.