Essex Radio Remembered

These pages are dedicated to the memory of Essex Radio, the local radio station for the county of Essex. Essex Radio launched on the 12th of September 1981 from studios in Clifftown Road, Southend-on-Sea.

The site takes a nostalgic look at the radio station, and also provides a service for former staff members to keep in touch.

 

The voices

The day one presenters included:

• Alan Bell
• Andrew Marshall
• Andy Anderson
• Chris Green
• Dennis Rookard
• Eddie Blackwell (Jazz)
• Jeff Bonser
• John Wellington (Classical / Programme Controller)
• Jon and Penny Ledigo
• Lindsay King (Late night)
• Paul Lee ("The Hairy Eyeball")
• Terry Davis
• Tim Lloyd (Timbo, recently on BBC Essex)
• Dave Gregory (now a freelance voiceover)
• Keith Rogers
• Dave Gillbee
• Roger Buxton (Sport)
• Steve Wood (News)

Later presenters included:

Adrian Fox, Adrian Seek, Ana Schofield, Andy Jackson, Barry 'Baz' Jones, Caesar the Geezer, Chris Best (now with Wish FM), Dave Eastwood (sadly no longer with us), Emperor Rosko, Gavin McCoy, Geoff Cullen, Graham Bannerman , James Bassam, John Hayes (sadly no longer with us), Matt MacKay, Nick Richards, Peter Holmes, Robbie Dee, Romilly Paradine, Terry Ray, Tim Murphy and Tony Monson.

Presenters still on-air locally:

• Martin Day (presenting the Breakfast show on Heart Essex)
• Mike Porter (presenting the breakfast show on Southend Radio)
• John Leech (now on BBC Essex)
• Paul Lovett (heard on Southend Radio and Chelmsford Radio)
• Nick Hull (Former Essex FM newsman, now on Southend Radio)

The CR1 Tweed desk

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The pictures

The Roadshow crew circa 1983

Click on Radio House to see the picture gallery

Roger Buxton, Robbie Dee and Chris Best, from the early 90's

The news team of the 90's

Words and Music, from Queens Theatre, Hornchuch, with Mark Valencia (Centre) and Chris Green (Right). (Thanks to Alan Balding for this photo)

Longest-serving breakfast host, Martin Day, after having his long locks trimme

 

Essex FM Studio 2, in Southend on the last full day of broadcasting, Oct 2004

 

For a large collection of Essex Radio photos, see our Essex Radio Gallery

 

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The logos

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The Videos

A small collection of video clips - In Microsoft AVI format

Timbo on-air (1983) - 1.8Meg	Jon Scragg weather (1983) - 1.1Meg
Dave Gregory explains the desk (1983) - 1Meg	Gavin McCoy intro (1989) - 0.6Meg

 

Essex FM in Chelmsford

Essex FM moved from studios in Clifftown Road, Southend to a studio complex in Glebe Road, Chelmsford in October 2004. Here are a couple of photos of the new studios in Chelmsford. These are now branded as "Heart".

The new building, in Glebe Road, Chelmsford

Essex FM Studio, Chelmsford (Oct 2004)

 

The Sounds

Want to hear some memories of Essex Radio? Take a look at our Essex Radio Audio page.

 

Your questions answered...

• Dah... da... da... da... dah... H. W Stone. Gloria asked to name that tune. The HW Stone jingle heard on Essex Radio in the 80's used a jingle based on the "March of the Toy Soldiers" from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite. Extract.
• What ever happened to Paul Lee, the Hairy Eyeball? Last we heard was that he left the Essex area in the 1980s, and is no longer in the radio industry... but we don;t know what happened to him after he left Essex Radio. Please get in touch if you know!

Got a question about Essex Radio? Get in touch

 

The memories

STAFF REUNION 2003 - 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

 

Worked for Essex Radio and want to join our group? Join the free Essex radio mailing list and get in touch with others, and keep up-to-date on upcoming staff re-unions. If you're interested in joining, fill in the short signup form For more details of how to join the list, and who else is a member, see the Essex Radio List page

 

Related links

• Essex Radio History
• Essex Radio Gallery
• Essex Radio Audio
• Staff Mailing list