Memories – Page 3 – What Was Pebble Mill?

Dome on the roof of Pebble Mill

Photo by Bhasker Solanki, no reproduction without permission

This dome appeared on the roof of the Pebble Mill office block circa 1980.

The following comments about were posted on the Pebble Mill Facebook page:

Annie Gumbley Williams: The dome was built to be used for recordings, interviews etc. Remember doing one there with Robin Cousins in Roy Ronnie & Roy Norton days. Roy Ronnie used it for meetings sometimes to get out of the office. It made a lot of noise when it rained so not good for recording!

Malcolm Hickman: It also acted like a greenhouse and anything left in there suffered with the condensation.

Andy Shepherd:The dome was bought second-hand from Granada who had used it in the summer of 1979 for their Saturday morning children’s show The Mersey Pirate. The show was based aboard the ferry MV Royal Iris moored at Liverpool Docks. The dome structure was built on the promenade deck of the vessel. The run of the series was cut short by the ITV strike which started in August.

Here are a couple more photos of the dome being installed in 1981. They are from Stuart Gandy.

Photo by Stuart Gandy, no reproduction without permission

Dome being hoisted on to the roof. Photo by Stuart Gandy, no reproduction without permission

Alec Robson

Thanks to Alec’s son, Michael for sharing these photos. They are of cameraman Alec Robson’s retirement party at BBC Pebble Mill. Alec sadly died in 2020.

L-R: Jim Dumighan, Glyn Elledge, Ruby Robson, Alec, Fred Hale (house services), Don Cooper in glasses on the right.

L-R Chris Howard (studio sparks), Alec Robson, Keith Moreton

Alec Robson with Derek Price

Harrier landing 1982

Here is a photo from Keith Warrender of the landing of the Harrier in 1982, during an episode of Pebble Mill at One. It was one of director John Smith’s episodes. You’ll see the new club building visible on the right of the picture, which hadn’t been open long. Keith thinks he must have popped in to the Club for a lunchtime drink after taking this picture on an off-shift day from TAR (Technical Apparatus Room).

Steve Weddle remembered by Steph Silk

Marian Foster with Steve Weddle

Today [8th April 2020] is Steve Weddle’s funeral and from a distance I mourn the shocking devastating loss of a lifetime friend. In 1976 we were both new researchers, desk to desk in the hairy scary Dobson days of PM@1. All the producers and directors were male and all the researchers except Steve were female – that’s what it was like in those days. Never macho, Steve quickly became one of the girls to the extent that his name was on the office PMT wall-chart.

First and foremost, Steve was fun. He was of course talented and creative, wacky and wonderful and super sociable but he also had great empathy and kindness and was friends with one and all. He gave my daughter her TV break and passed on his Spurs programmes to my grandson.

Recently we had two lovely holidays at the Exotic Marigold Hotel in Menorca. Steve, a great holiday companion, suggested that we should travel as Hinge and Bracket.

Post Beeb we met up every month with our fellow Sagalouts to wine and dine down Memory Lane. In January we celebrated his 70th birthday. In February Steve talked about his latest book, not an autobiography exactly but drawing on his life in television.
That would have been a good read.

Stephanie Silk

House Services Engineers circa 1983

Thanks to Richard Smith for sharing this photo of the House Service Engineers, who had just set up the marquee for Regional Clubs Day. It’s circa 1983.

From L to R: Dave Tansey, Mick Taylor, Dick Smith and Mick Archbold.