Pebble Mill Reunion – Pimms in the Park 6th Sept 2011

Thanks to Annie Gumbley-Williams and Keith Ackrill for these photos of the Pebble Mill Reunion at the Midlands Arts Centre in Cannon Hill Park, on 6th September 2011.

The photos include: Steve Weddle, Annie Jenkins, Jane McClean, Jane Hyde, Bob Jacobs, John Couzens, James French, Howie Dartnall, Annie Gumbley-Williams, Julie Knee, Lis Walker. David Weir with Toni & Jenny Fortey & Sarah Costigan. Steve Weddle with Carol Sparrow and (back of) Nicky Barfoot/Savage. Also Sara-Jayne vision mixer, Robin Sunderland, Keith Froggatt, Kath Woolston, Laura McNeill, Neil Murray, Steve Saunderson, Dave Baumber, Dave Ballantyne, Sue Welch (Radio 2), Pete Johnson (Radio 2), Maureen Carter (ex Midlands Today presenter) Keith Ackrill, Cathy Houghton (Midlands Today journalist), Angela Jameson who was secretary to Dick Knigh before being Secretary to Radio Birmingham News, Ken Hodges and Simon Evens from engineering.

Studio C, Calrec Sound Desk – Peter Poole

Photos by Peter Poole, no reproduction without permission.

Studio C was the Foyer, made famous by ‘Pebble Mill At One’. In the early days of ‘Pebble Mill At One’, Studio C did not have a dedicated Production Gallery.  Studio A or B’s Galleries were used depending on which one was available. About 1982 Studio C had it’s own Gallery built. This enabled much greater use of the Foyer by other programmes. ‘Saturday Night At The Mill’ and ‘Good Morning With Anne And Nick’ were among many programmes to be broadcast from Studio C. In the final years of Pebble Mill the Foyer was used to record the daytime drama ‘Doctors’.

The photos show the Studio C, Calrec Sound Desk, which gave similar facilities to the Studio A desk, and offered more channels than the Studio B desk. It was very well designed for live broadcasting.

Peter Poole

Radio Studio 2 before auction – photos Philip Morgan

Photos by Philip Morgan, no reproduction without permission.  Philip took these photos in November 2004, when Pebble Mill was emptied before the auction to sell off the majority of  the building’s contents.  You can see the auction lot numbers on some items in the photos.

The photos feature Radio Studio 2, as well as 1/4 inch tape machines, recording rooms etc.

Studio 2 was mainly used for recording music sessions for Radio 2 – ‘BBC Big Band’, sessions for Paul Jones’ blues programme, for ‘Country Club’ which became ‘Bob Harris Country’ and many others. It was also used to record “as live” programmes with an invited audience e.g. a Cajun series.  Pam Relton remembers ‘Voice of the People’ being recorded in there,with Jenny de Yong producing.

Thanks to Philip Morgan for making the photos available, and to Sue Welch for providing information about Studio 2.

Costume Department – photos from Ruth Kiosses



Photos copyright of Ruth Kiosses, no reproduction without permission.

Here are a couple of photos some of the Costume Department staff at BBC Pebble Mill, from the early 1990s.

The first photo features Anne Marie Morrell, and Ruth Kiosses.

The second one features Ruth Kiosses, Russell Barnett and Andria Fletcher.