Photo by Vanessa Jackson
These BBC Birmingham mugs were given to all staff when BBC Birmingham was moved from Pebble Mill to the Mailbox in 2004, when Pebble Mill was closed, and production moved to the city centre site. This one has never been used!
Copyright resides with the original holder, no reproduction without permission
This titles grab from Top Gear dates from the 1990s.
Thanks to Ian Collins for making it available.
Visiting Droitwich with Martin Watkins, who was later Quality Monitor. Copyright, Colin Pierpoint, no reproduction without permission.
Part of the comms work was out on the road. I did many Sound Lines Tests. These were on the day before a broadcast, which was usually live, but lines were also used for VTR (Videotape recording in London or other regions). From my diary, I tested lines in Birmingham Cathedral, Cheltenham Racecourse, Rugby, Wolverhampton Football Ground, Nottingham Forest Football Ground, Coventry, Ipswich {which at the time was of course in the Midland Region. (Only the BBC could do it this way)}, Hereford Cathedral, Hanley Queens theatre, Villa Park, Moseley Football Ground, Edgbaston Cricket Ground, and Birmingham City. Most of these I tested many times. I liked to take the “self drive car” then if it broke down it was not my fault. (see below!). At that time the lines were provided by the Post Office, later to separate as British Telecom. For a lines test the BBC engineer met a PO man usually with a cable coming down a telegraph pole, or from a hole in the ground. We did have some comms engineers who were not too good on the Comms switchboard (EMX); in one lines test I suddenly heard Stan Smith’s voice (the ACSE in the Comms Centre). He had been talking on the phone to someone else in Birmingham, so I said “Hello Stanley”. He asked Where are you? I said “Would you believe, standing in a flowerbed in Peterborough?”
As I mentioned above, we also did the radio links to get the television signals out from the OB to a BBC centre. Amongst others I did Coventry Locano, Derby FA cup, Dunstable mid-point (where you receive the signal and pass it on to the next radiolink site). Ipswich Town, Norwich City, Moseley Rugby Ground. The Comms Supervisor was often in the Sutton Coldfield OB room receiving signals from dishes on the top of the mast. There was a lovely catering woman there, who would ring me at Pebble Mill to take my order for the next day, and then bring my meal into the OB room on a tray!
When reporting on site at Sutton Coldfield, I often had a chat to the transmitter staff and got to know some of them quite well. They had a monitoring problem there because it was difficult to get a quiet signal with all the RF (Radio Frequencies) around at high level. At the time their Radio 3 transmitter drive occasionally made a low frequency rumbling noise, so we had an arrangement that it was all right for them to ring me at home to listen and check for them. My equipment was nothing special, but I did have a clean signal. They also encouraged me to ring their MIC (Monitoring Information Centre) whenever I heard the fault.
Barry Hanson
A memorial is going to be held for Barry Hanson, who died in June 2016, at Channel 4 on 29th September at 6.30pm. If anyone is interested in attending please contact Peter Ansorge (message me for details if necessary).
Here is a list of Barry Hanson’s numerous Pebble Mill credits:
1970s
You and Me and Him – Director, 1973, Thirty Minute Theatre
The Medium – Producer, 1973, Second City Firsts
Mrs Pool’s Preserves – Producer, 1973, Second City Firsts
If a Man Answers – Producer, 1973, Second City Firsts
The Movers – Producer, 1973, Second City Firsts
King of the Castle – Producer, 1973, Second City Firsts
Patrons – Producer, 1973, Second City Firsts
Humbug, Finger or Thumb – Producer, 1974, Second City Firsts
Girl – Producer, 1974, Second City Firsts
Bold Faced Condensed – Producer, 1974, Second City Firsts
The Actual Woman – Producer, 1974, Second City Firsts
Match of the Day – Producer, 1974, Second City Firsts
Lunch Duty – Producer, 1974, Second City Firsts
Pig Bin – Producer, 1974, Second City Firsts
Too Hot to Handle – Producer, 1974, Second City Firsts
Sunday Tea – Producer, 1974, Second City Firsts
Fight for Shelton Bar – Producer, 1974, Second City Firsts
Squire – Producer, 1974, Second City Firsts
Silence – Producer, 1974, Second City Firsts
Match of the Day – Producer, 1974, Second City Firsts
The Festive Poacher – Producer, 1974, Second City Firsts
Gangsters – Producer, 1975, Play for Today
Early to Bed – Producer, 1975, Second City Firsts
Swallows – Producer, 1975, Second City Firsts
Waiting at the Field Gate – Producer, 1975, Second City Firsts
The Permissive Society – Producer, 1975, Second City Firsts
Released – Producer, 1975, Second City Firsts
1990s
Broke – Producer, 1991
Out of the Blue – Producer 1991
Olly’s Prison Part 1 – Producer 1991
Olly’s Prison Part 2 – Producer 1991
Olly’s Prison Part 3 – Producer 1991
copyright resides with the original holder, no reproduction without permission
(This publicity photo was part of the press pack for the thriller drama The Deep Concern, below is the photo description)
BBC1
The Deep Concern
A thriller in six episodes by Elwyn Jones. From BBC Birmingham, starting on BBC1 Thursday June 7, 1979.
Left to right (back row) Mrs Kaye (played by Hilary Mason), Nigel Jackson (Tim Preece), Jonathan Bross (Neil Cunningham), (Middle row) Colin Eadon (Ronald Hines), Mary Eadon (Katharine Schofield), Wyn Lloyd (Bernard Lloyd), (Front row) Carrie Stone (Beth Porter), Marika Rau (Yolande Bavan).
Thanks to Beth Porter for sharing this cast publicity photo of The Deep Concern.
Beth Porter’s (long and amusing) autobiography Walking on my Hands, is available for a couple of pounds on Kindle, on the link below. Chapter 12 includes Beth’s adventures with the BBC.