Old Friends
and New…
BHBN’s been broadcasting to Birmingham’s
hospitals since 1952, and recently we were thrilled to be
contacted by a former member from our early days.
Sylvia Williams, or Churchill as she
would’ve been known then, found a number of press cuttings from
her time at the station- itself operating under its former name
of BHBA (Birmingham Hospitals Broadcasting Association)- and
sent them in to us.
Sylvia chats with a patient on air
The photos have captured the imagination of
all those who’ve seen them. Quite apart from the elegance of
the shots, they’re a glimpse into BHBN’s history, and a snapshot
of the time itself. And interestingly, it seems that some
things haven’t changed…
As a presenter from 1956 to 1960 Sylvia,
along with her co-host Rudi Hill and producer Clarrie Newell,
broadcast Hospital Call on Thursday afternoons from 4.15 till 6,
using Johnny Mathis’ Call Me as their signature tune. Just as
today, they encouraged patients to get involved in the show, by
ringing in to make a request or dedication.
Sylvia, with Rudi Hill (l) and Clarrie Newell (r)
Of course, the average stay in hospital
during the 1950s was a lot longer than it is today, so it was
not unusual for patients to write in to the station too.
Again, just as we do today, BHBA used to
raise funds through staging Outdoor Broadcasts, and here,
Sylvia, Rudi and Clarrie entertain shoppers in what looks like a
busy day at Lewis’s, on Corporation Street.
Saturday shoppers look on…
We rang Sylvia to find out
more....
“We used to play the big stars of the day-
Frank Sinatra, Jim Reeves,” – both of whom are still frequently
requested today- “...Johnnie Ray, Bill Haley and the Comets and
Frankie Vaughan.”
And she didn’t just play Frankie Vaughan-
she met him too!
…and the likes of Tony Britton, Roy
Boulting, Donald Sinden and Joan Sutherland.
Sylvia worked in advertising at the Evening
Dispatch, the forerunner of the Evening Mail. Through her
connections made at work, she was able to involve BHBA in many
events in the social calendar, which helped to raise awareness
of the station across the city and gave greater opportunities
for fundraising.
The station was even covered by ATV’s
Midlands Montage, the ‘grandparent’ of Central News – and the TV
Times was there to cover the filming.
Other presenters met the stars too…
Rudi Hill interviews Mel Torme
Fashion! Sylvia at a Sunday Mercury Beauty Contest,
held at the West End Ballroom, Suffolk Street
“Oh, the West End Ballroom. It was the
place to be seen- I danced my feet off there, every Saturday
night.”
But whilst fashions and hairstyles have
changed, some things remain the same.
“I enjoyed presenting my own show, but it
was always better when you partnered with somebody else. Being
able to banter on air and bounce ideas off each other always
made the show sound more natural – better for the listener, and
more fun for us”.
Sylvia left the station and began a new
life in Wales a staggering fifty years ago, but soon, she’ll get
the chance to banter on air again.
We are overjoyed that she’s agreed to make
the journey from her home in Wales to visit the studios and meet
the current generation of presenters- and she’ll be talking more
about her experiences from back in the day, on the Saturday
Muffin with Brendan Delaney and Chris Friday.
“I’m really looking forward to the visit-
I’ve not been to Birmingham for over twenty years, and I cannot
wait to meet everyone, and see the studios you use now”.
Sylvia
and Rudi at Birmingham Town Hall
Were you involved in BHBN or BHBA in the
1950s and 1960s? Do you remember Sylvia Churchill or Rudi Hill?
We’d love to hear from you.
Contact us at
enquiries@bhbn.net , call us on 0121 554 5522 or text 07519
694 698
Sylvia will return to the airwaves for one
day only from 11am, Saturday 3rd July, at The Studios, City
Hospital, Birmingham. Listeners in hospital can tune in via
Premier, Hospedia / Patientline.
Article by Chris
Friday
BHBN is
over 50 years old. Discover where we have come from, where we
are and where we are going.
The Network was founded in 1952
by Hon. Alderman Mrs Freda Cocks OBE as the Birmingham Hospital
Commentaries Association (BHCA). It became the BHBA in 1955 and
BHBN in 1972. It adopted the name of Birmingham's BHBN in
1992, and adopted it's current broadcast name of BHBN HOSPITAL
RADIO in 2006
Nationally, hospital radio first
started life in York in 1926.
The Network was a pioneer in many
aspects of its broadcasting. Time spent in hospital back in the
early days was very different to today where day case surgery is
common. In the 1950s and 1960s a two-week stay in hospital was
the ‘norm’ and as such the stations volunteers could forge
good relationships with patients.
The Network began life at Yardley
Green Sanatorium, providing live football commentaries of local
teams, and as the service successfully expanded it moved home
quite a few times before finally settling at the Warwickshire
County Cricket Ground, Edgbaston, in 1966 (this included time
spent near Digbeth in the early 1960s). We still serve the
Yardley Green Hospital today!
It was at the County Ground that
the Network really found its place within the Birmingham
hospital community, and where it became a familiar sound around
the wards, popular with patients, staff and relatives.
The Network was first formally
registered as a Charity in 1962 and incorporated as a Limited
Company in 1981.
What we have done
-
Provided
a high quality and relevant radio service to Birmingham
patients for fifty years.
-
Implemented
a modern studio premises capable of coping with the demands
of modern radio production.
-
Served
up to 23 hospitals at one time across Birmingham, Solihull
and Sutton Coldfield.
-
Provided
a 24-hour a day service to Birmingham’s patients since
September 1994 (with test transmissions commencing in 1993)
-
Provided
patients with live football home match commentaries from
Aston Villa, Birmingham City, West Bromwich Albion, Walsall
and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
-
Provided
patients with live test match, league and cup cricket
commentaries from Warwickshire Cricket Ground at Edgbaston.
-
Broadcast
the European Cup Winners’ Cup Final from Villa Park
-
Broadcast
the England v Spain friendly match from Villa Park
-
Won
awards from the Hospital Broadcasting Association in 1990,
1991 and 2003 - including National Winner 1990.
-
Broadcast
daily on Birmingham Cable (now Telewest Broadband)
television from 1994 to 1997.
-
Broadcast
seven radiothons on an FM frequency across the City of
Birmingham between 1986 and 2003.
- Developed numerous media and
broadcast personalities.
Including "Voice of the Balls" Alan Dedicoat &
Birmingham Broadcaster and DJ Phil Upton
-
Implemented
different broadcast transmission systems, from landlines to
closed FM transmissions.
Where we
are going.
-
Serving
nine hospitals on eight sites 24 hours a day every day.
-
Providing
sports commentaries from Aston Villa, Birmingham City and
West Bromwich Albion home football matches and Warwickshire
County Cricket Club home cricket fixtures from Edgbaston.
-
Completing
the implementation of the Myriad P2 digital broadcasting
system.
-
Working
with Patientline and Premier to deliver a high-quality
digital radio service to patients in the areas Hospitals
After a long and happy period at
Edgbaston, in 1988 Warwickshire County Cricket Club decided to
authorise redevelopment at the County Ground. So the Network
relocated once more in 1989 to its present studio complex. This
is the top floor of a general purpose building on the site of
City Hospital, Dudley Road.
After a great deal of hard work
from a dedicated group of engineers, the Network now has an
impressive studio complex which enables it to provide an
entertaining and professional 24 hour service to Birmingham's
health community.
Myriad, Patientline &
Premier
We have implemented new
computer-based broadcast equipment from Myriad and are working
closely with Birmingham hospitals in rolling out new modern
radio reception equipment, and the equipment providers
themselves such as Patientline & Premier.
June Snowdon President of the
Hospital Radio Association
opening the new Studio 5, with (Left to Right) David Reynolds
who
designed and built the studio complex in 1989, David Elliott
former
BHBN Chairman, David Horton Technical Controller
Radiothons and Cable
Television Broadcasting
In particular, the Network
carried out eight Radiothons on various FM frequencies between
1986 and 2002, and during the mid-1990s, the Network broadcast
daily programmes on Birmingham Cable television.
24 Hour Broadcasting all day every day – and awards for our
efforts!
The first U.K. hospital radio station to introduce continuous 24
hours a day broadcasting in September 1994, we remain at the
forefront of UK and European hospital radio with a number of
awards to our credit, including HBA Awards National Winner in
1990.
So after fifty years, the Network
continues to broadcast a wide range of programmes. The character
of these programmes were developed at the County Ground:
interviews, local news items, and, of course, the number one
priority of any hospital radio station, patient requests.
The year 2002 brought an
important milestone: the Network’s 50th birthday.
An outside broadcast at The Fort
Shopping Park in September 2001 kicked off the celebrations,
where a Peugeot 206 was on offer to a lucky winner! A similar
event was also held in July 2003!
The two centrepiece events were
held in October 2002 - the 50th Anniversary Dinner at Villa
Park, and the 50th Birthday Radiothon, where the Network
broadcast for ten days to the whole city on FM!
Looking
Back at Fifty Years of Success
When asked to reflect on the
history of the Network, Freda Cocks remarked that what pleased
her most is that the enthusiasm with which the Network was begun
has never faded.
We were privileged to have Freda
at the 50th Birthday dinner – a fitting tribute to our Founder
and to a remarkably important figure in hospital broadcasting.
Hospital radio’s national body,
the Hospital Broadcasting Association, have openly acknowledged
the quality of our work and have been in active contact with the
Network over the past two years.
The Network has undoubtedly gone
from strength to strength and remains as professional as any
radio station in the West Midlands County.
-
Explore
the viability of webcasting on the internet in the future.
-
Strive
even harder to provide a radio service that serves all of
Birmingham’s diverse communities.
-
Maintain
this website as a useful resource for BHBN members, website
visitors and all who take an interest in our activities.
The future will bring new
opportunities and challenges. We will continue to make our
programme relevant to all the patients we serve regardless of
their background or characteristics.
As the National Health Service
and our local hospitals continue to grow and develop their
services, so BHBN HOSPITAL RADIO will continue to maintain and
improve on our high standards of patient broadcasting.
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