Photos by Tim Savage, no reproduction without permission.
VT Editor, Tim Savage, took these photos of Pebble Mill in Autumn 2004, as the building was being de-commissioned.
In the photo of the entrance to the rear car park, someone seems to have helped themselves to a souvenir ‘C’ from the BBC logo!
The following comments were left on the Pebble Mill Facebook Group:
Gail Herbert: ‘It really is hard to realise that this building is no longer there – such happy memories.’
Brian Johnson: ‘London was always jealous of the success of P Mill so demolishing it under the guise of economy and using the ‘Mailbox’ made it look right on paper, but also made sure it was not a competitor to London productions (did I say London or Salford) ooops old age is a terrible thing, it seems to make you realise the truth.’
Photo by Tim Savage, no reproduction without permission.
This photo is from a drama outside broadcast, probably from one of the ‘Come to Mecca’ dramas, called: ‘Salt on a Snake’s Tail’. The Traffic Warden, with the rigger driver, Bob Few, is writing out a ticket for the scanner, CM2 – despite it having a parking permit!
‘Salt on a Snake’s Tail’, was transmitted in 1983, it was written by Farrukh Dhondy. Franco Ross was the director, Peter Ansorge the producer, and Ian Ashurst the production designer.
The cast included: Zia Mohyeddin, Andrew Johnson, Gill Dharminder.
The following comment was posted on the Pebble Mill Facebook Group:
Andy Bentley: ‘Last time I saw Bob (Few) was a number of years ago, I had just parked the car on Barmouth Sea front when someone shouted ‘Oi what the F*** are you doing here. It was Bob driving a coach full of passengers.’
Photo by Ivor Williams, of Pebble Mill TK 1971, no reproduction without permission.
I joined telecine (TK) in 1974 having transferred from telecine in Television Centre. At that time there were 2 Rank Cintel flying spot telecine machines. There was a 2 storey block to the rear of the main office area and Studio A. Much of the first floor level was occupied by Telecine, Video tape (VT) the Dubbing theatre, film processing and an assortment of film cutting rooms.
TK and VT shared a common area, with a corridor down the middle. There were 3 rooms /cubicles on each side TK on the left, VT on the right as approached from the main door. TK A, TKB, and an expansion area, likewise VTA, VTB and an expansion area. VTA, and B had a large sliding Marley Door between them where the common wall would have been, so that they could be worked as an edit pair by sliding the door back, or as individual machines working to separate areas, with the door closed.
Just inside the entrance, was the film transfer area, where 1/4” tape was transferred to Sepmag film in order to be edited synchronously with the film pictures. There were a number of SepMag bays some of which could be linked to the Dubbing theatre in order to dub additional sounds onto the film. This area was reorganised shortly after my arrival, so the detail is hazy.
Working in the area at that time were Paul Richards, Jim Gregory, Graham Winter, and Peter Hodges, and myself (Ray Lee). Peter soon moved on to become VCMS in Studio A, and there were a number of other people moved through TK in the time I was there. Charles Osborne, Peter Greenhalgh, Keith Salmon (who moved into News), Tim Savage, and some others whose names have been lost in the mist of time.
Photos by Tim Savage, no reproduction without permission.
Tim took these photos in autumn 2004, when Pebble Mill had been cleared, but before the demolition in 2005. The photos show the views on all sides of the Pebble Mill building roof.
Photo by Tim Savage, no reproduction without permission.
The photo is of Engineering Manager, John Allinson. He is enjoying the location catering on an outside broadcast for the hosted drama series, ‘Angels’. Eating a cooked breakfast in a bun required great care – note the tie tucked out of the way, to avoid any dripping egg.
