EssexRadio remembered

This page is dedicated to the memory of Essex Radio, the commercial radio station that started back in September 1981, in Clifftown Road, Southend-on-Sea.

The voices

The day one presenters included:

Jon Scragg (Now at Smooth Radio), Steve Wood, Paul Lee, Tim Lloyd (Timbo, recently on BBC Essex), Lindsay King, Terry Davis, Alan Bell, Dave Gregory (now a freelance voiceover), Keith Rogers, Dave Gillbee, Roger Buxton (also with BBC Essex), Andrew Marshall, Dennis Rookard, Andy Anderson, Jeff Bonser, Chris Green, Jon and Penny Ledigo, Eddie Blackwell and John Wellington.

Top: Jon, Paul, Lindsay, Tim. Bottom: Keith and Dave

Later presenters included:

John Hayes, Chris Best (now with Wish FM), Gavin McCoy, John Leech, Tony Monson, Terry Ray, Adrian Fox, Graham Bannerman (Now at Carlton and Dream), Emperor Rosko, and many, many more.

 

The Station

Based two floors below ground, in Radio House, Clifftown Road, the studio complex is fondly remembered by those who had to type in the magic three-digit combination code to gain admittance to the heart of the station.

Radio House, Southend

If you were a listener to the station, you'll probably be unaware of the fun and games that used to take place below ground, so some of the material here may give you an insight into what happened at Somewhere Special. If you have an interest in the station, are looking for photos, or to have a listen to some old Essex Radio clips or jingles, you've find my collection of memories at my Essex Radio Remembered page

About me

This page is put together by Pete Sipple, a former employee of Essex Radio. Some years ago, a couple of Essex Radio folk suggested that I use my personal website to create a few nostalgia pages. This was the first page, set up some years ago. I've now moved the nostalgia to the Radio & Telly Essex Radio Remembered pages.

My background: A Day One listener, aged 12. I started out as one of the guest kids presenters on the Saturday morning Wotnot Show, hosted by Tim 'Timbo' Lloyd. This not only got me on-air for the first time in my life, but more importantly got me into the building to meet the faces behind the voices. Well and truly hooked, I made it my mission to end up working for the station (when I was old enough). Hard work paid off, and when I was sixteen, I started working behind the scenes answering the phones and helping out in the studio. A couple of years later, I was working for the radio station, full-time, as a commercial producer and as a studio Technical Operator, eventually joining the Engineering team. Now, 25 years later on, I'm passing on my radio experiences to a new generation through the 'Introduction to Radio' weekend college course at South East Essex College.

Some of my Essex Radio memories: The "Somewhere Special" jingles, Outside Broadcasts from Southend High Street, calling in to the radio station's phone-ins, drifting off to sleep with Lindsay King (who subsequently married fellow presenter Tim Lloyd), making a nuisance of myself in the station's lobby to get myself a job there, listening to the closedown theme (called "1431"), and my first day on-air as the studio engineer for Eddie Blackwell's Essex Jazz programme in the mid-eighties.

Former member of staff?

STAFF REUNIONS - As a result of this page starting, and the founding of the Essex Radio mailing list, the first ever Essex Radio Reunion of staff members was held on the 4th January 2003. See the reunion report. Now and then, there rumours of another get-together. Join the mailing list, and if one happens, we'll let you know.

The CR1 Tweed desk

To explore more, and find some other Essex Radio memories, check out the Essex Radio Remembered page I've created over at the Radio & Telly website.