Pebble Mill at One sewing pattern

The lunchtime magazine show, Pebble Mill at One used to bring out all sorts of merchandise and information for viewers, such as sewing patterns, fact-sheets and recipes. Here are a couple of sewing patterns from the early 1980s which were bought by a viewer, but seem to be unused!

I remember buying a similar pattern Pebble Mill pattern as a teenager, and making quite a successful vest top for myself!

Thanks to Sue Sweet for sharing the photo of the patterns.

The following comments were left on the Pebble Mill Facebook page:

Jane Clement: ‘That brings back memories. Hilary James made a fortune out of these. It was one of the most successful regular segments ever on PM – we sold thousands of her patterns. I was the researcher who introduced her to the show and looked after her whenever she was there – we became quite good friends. Ironically, I can’t sew a thing myself!’

Mike Hayes: ‘…and so The Clothes Show was born…’

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The Bond Plays

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Special screening card for two television plays by Edward Bond made by Pebble Mill in 1993.

Richard Langridge was the producer of the plays.

Thanks to Ann Chancellor-Davies for sharing this screening card. Ann’s husband, Gavin Davies would have been the production designer on Olly’s Prison.

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New Window Please!

Photographs from Andy Stowe, no reproduction without permission

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Thanks to Andy Stowe and Malcolm Hickman for this tale from Pebble Mill:

Andy’s father, Pat Stowe, supervised the team of glaziers called in to install a replacement window at Pebble Mill in the late 1970’s. As you can see from the photo, it was a huge piece of glass, in the corridor outside Studio A!

Ray Lee added a comment about the cause of the broken glass:

“The incident I remember, was after a Saturday Night at the Mill, which I worked on. There was an item involving Paratroupers landing on the lawn and the Lighting TM had two large lights shining through the windows to illuminate the area. He checked regularly to make sure the windows were not getting hot, and all seemed well.
The program went well, and all the lights were turned off. That night was a very cold night with a sharp frost. At about 3am there was a loud bang heard by security. The thermal stress had proved too much and both windows that had been warmed cracked. A plastic film was applied to the cracked windows to prevent them falling out while replacement glass was arranged, which had to be imported as a special order as the size was too big for any UK Float Glass company.
The cracked windows were there several months before they were replaced, and when they were, it featured as an item on Pebble Mill at One. When the windows were replaced, the top edge needed an extra wide section of “putty” as the glass was about half an inch short of the top frame! I was there on the day they were put in as well, and remember seeing the gap at the top of the glass before the extra “putty” was applied.”

Malcolm Hickman remembers the incident well:

“I was watching as they removed the old glass. They attached these big suckers to it, took all the trim off and started pulling with the crane. It refused to budge, so one of the men claimed onto the frame that had the suckers mounted on it and started bashing the glass around the edges with a big rubber mallet. It came out in 3 big pieces.”

“No hard hats or safety gear. That would have been my dad!” (Andy Stowe)

The following comments were left on the Pebble Mill Facebook page:

Herbie Donnelly: ‘I believe the light didn’t fall over but was placed too close to the window. Its purpose being to live alone for parachutists to see it as they jumped in on Saturday Night At The Mill. The subsequent heat caused the glass to crack.’

Jayne Savage: ‘ I thought the safety film went on after the Birmingham bombings and because of threats to the building but maybe it was this incident.’

Richard Stevenson: ‘Many happy hours sat by those windows in the days when tea breaks were part of the drama schedule and as the trainee, you were dispatched with loose change from the camera crew to get the tea in at the time of the allotted break.’

Keith Ackrill: ‘I also think the film was added to avoid splinters after an explosion. I also believe the light was too close to the glass, but not as a guide for parachutist. I believe it was for some routine to be shot there, and the lamp was left there too long. I cannot recall any parachutist landing on the lawn after dark.’

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Malcolm Stent awarded a BEM

From Pebble Mill News 1984. Copyright resides with the original holder, no reproduction without permission.

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Congratulations go to Malcolm Stent, who has been honoured as a ‘Medallist of the Order of the British Empire’ (BEM), in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours (2017). The award is for ‘services to Entertainment and charity in Solihull’.

Malcolm was a presenter on Radio WM, in ‘the Barmaid’s Arms’, alongside Mary Kendall (Rosie), he also presented ‘Folk Scene’. In addition, he used to do audience warm-up for Pebble Mill at One.

Malcolm is still very active on the stage, writing and appearing in pantomimes particularly in Solihull.

The following comments were left on the Pebble Mill Facebook page:

Pete Simpkin: ‘I worked with Malc so much on his radio adventures and feel so proud of him achieving this honour . He has worked….sometimes too much…. but always with love and dedication to the people around him. the lad from Saltley off to Buck House!! Great news!!’

Clare Bryan: ‘I was lucky enough to work with Malcolm and Mary. Great days and great memories. A richly deserved honour.’

Jim Knights: ‘You’ve come a long way kid since “Stent on Sea”‘

Ned Abell: ‘Great warm-up “Coventry – a little fishing village just off the M6″‘

 

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