Pudsey at the Club – Marie Phillips

Photos by Marie Phillips, no reproduction without permission.

These photos were taken on the football pitch at the back of the Pebble Mill Club.  It looks like Pudsey was involved, so there was obviously a Children in Need connection.

 

Portable 1″ Videotape Recorder (VPR 20)

Photos by Video Editor, Ian Collins; no reproduction without permission.

Ian took these photos before the sale of equipment when Pebble Mill was cleared prior to being demolished in 2005.

The portable 1″ videotape recorder (probably a VPR-20) was a useful piece of technology, meaning that shots could be recorded on location without a full outside broadcast, and before the advent of portable single cameras.

The VT editors shown in the photo are (left to right) Ian Collins, Steve Neilsen, Brian Watkiss, Ivor Williams, Mike Bloore, John Burkill, John Doidge, Steve May.

Peter Poole added the following information on the Pebble Mill Facebook page:  ‘I remember a Clothes Show recording using the Ampex/Nagra VPR5. It was an audition for models in Studio 1. The queues stretched down Pebble Mill road.’

Please add a comment if you remember which programmes used portable 1″ recorders.

Studio C Sound Gallery – Kathryn Shuttleworth

Carolyn Davies, Andy Freeth, Nick Johnson

Photo by Kathryn Shuttleworth, no reproduction without permission.

The photo is of the Studio C Sound Gallery.  Studio C was the Pebble Mill Foyer, which housed shows like ‘Pebble Mill at One’ and ‘Good Morning with Anne and Nick’.

Stuart Gandy added the following comment on Facebook dating the photo: ‘Can’t say exactly, but I am guessing it is mid 90s when Studio C was revamped. The laminate floor and position of the desk is a clue. The original Calrec desk that had been there since the 80s was facing the other way and the floor was carpeted.’

Peter Poole adds: ‘I used the new desk when Studio B was being refurbished. I think it was about 1995.’

Eagle Tower – Stuart Gandy

Eagle Tower 1980

Photo by Stuart Gandy, no reproduction without permission.

The photo is of the Eagle Tower, it was taken in 1980 in the Pebble Mill car park. This vehicle was used by the Comms department at Outside Broadcasts. It had a 60 foot mast that was raised and had a microwave dish on top that was used to transmit the programmes back from the OB to a receiving point. The Comms engineers needed a good head for heights as they had to climb the mast to position the dish correctly. It was usually driven by one of the many Pebble Mill ‘rigger/drivers’ as they were known.

Stuart Gandy

Paul Grice, added the following comment on Facebook: ‘It’s interesting to think that these were the mainstay of OB transmissions until satellite technology took over in the 90’s and that they only transmitted over line of sight which meant some OB locations might need three midpoints to get the signal back. Here’s to the people who spent many a happy day stuck on a remote hilltop.’

Richard Taylor left the following comment: ‘I would hasten to add that we didn’t actually climb all 60 feet of it! The first stage was 30 feet, the mast was telescopic and rose from the centre of the first stage. It was all done by hydraulics, the engine gearbox being locked in to a hydraulic pump mode first. After the first stage was raised to the vertical, we’d climb up the fixed vertical ladder, through a small trapdoor and onto the platform raising the safety rails.

The radio link components had to be manually hauled up, using a hoist arm, and bolted into place. Once all was fitted together the tower could then be raised and panned remotely from the ground.

I remember giving David Robinson, an EM then, cause for concern at a Grand Prix rig. The tower chassis had been extended lengthwise for some reason, and the shuttle valve to convert prop shaft motion from driving to pumping would jam. The solution was to get into the chassis and “help” it with a long screwdriver. All perfectly safe, wouldn’t do it otherwise, but David was concerned because the engine was still running, and someone could have knocked it into gear accidently. Not with a burly Rigger Driver guarding the cab, they couldn’t!!’

Studio A – Kathryn Shuttleworth

Studio A Sound Gallery

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was taken shortly after the Widescreen refurb of Studio A. Which didn’t last long before they decided to shut down the studio. Andy Redfern is at the desk.

Studio A Vision Gallery

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

David Ashton, vision engineer standing up and seated at the back is Keith Knowles who at that time would have been on the lighting console.

Studio A Gallery

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Taken shortly after the Widescreen refurb. Obviously the production team hadn’t arrived when I took this photo!

Studio A Floor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was the set for a corporate event. As well as making programmes we went through a phase of hosting a few of these for big businesses. I guess it was quite prestigious to hold your annual corporate bash in a TV studio and have a professional recording of the event made.