Broadcasters celebrate 40 years since radio launch

Broadcasters involved with the launch of BBC Radio Bedfordshire have been celebrating its 40th anniversary.

The station, founded on 24 June 1985, covered major events including a failed IRA bomb attack in St Albans in 1991 and Luton Town winning the Littlewoods Cup in 1988.

Also serving parts of Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire, it rebranded as BBC Three Counties in 1993 to reflect the wider reach.

Mike Gibbons, the managing editor who oversaw the launch, said: "The target was get on air and get on air well - that was the most important thing."

Members of the original team included (from left) Chris Burns, Gerald Main, Gavin McCoy, Tony Gillham, Mary Sharp and John Smith

Staff had to quickly build a rapport with audiences tuning in for the first time

Gibbons' voice was the first heard on air as he welcomed new listeners, followed by the news bulletins and then breakfast presenter Gareth O'Callaghan.

Reflecting on that first day, Gibbons said: "On that morning, we were all in early and there was an air of anticipation before we started."

Gavin McCoy presented mid-mornings, but also voiced Sid the Manager on the Radio 1 show Steve Wright in the Afternoon

The Man Ezeke went on to become the first black presenter to front BBC Radio 1's weekly chart show on a Sunday

"We were really, really pleased with the response we got from the audience that day," Gibbons continued.

"It all went well, the technology held up and we were really grateful to be there."

The 1990 Luton Carnival was covered by the station during an outside broadcast in George Street

Chris Burns, who was the first afternoon presenter, said she and her colleagues had five weeks of training before launch day.

They carried out countless dummy runs and delivered leaflets to people advertising the station.

"There was a real feeling of camaraderie around the station," Burns said.

"I think it immediately struck with listeners because that hadn't been there previously."

Chris Whitehead, pictured with Lizzie Downton, presented The Ideal Breakfast alongside John Radford

Whitehead presented The Ideal Breakfast alongside John Radford

Staff involved in the station's first day met in Clophill, Bedfordshire, on Sunday, to mark the anniversary.

They included John Terrett, who went on to become the BBC's business correspondent in New York, US, after leaving Radio Bedfordshire.

"In those days, having a good voice was pretty much everything," he explained. "It was almost the number one consideration."

Gerald Main is another familiar name for listeners

Terrett once recorded his Back Home show while onboard a flight from Spain to Luton Airport.

"A friend of mine who lives in Stopsley, right under the flight path, said to me 'I was looking out for that plane and it never came over', and I said 'That's because we recorded it three days earlier'," he added.

Pam Spriggs presented during the Bedford River Festival in 1990

It was not just airwaves that BBC Radio Bedfordshire dealt with

Another of the major stories covered by the station came in 1987, when campaigners fought to stop nuclear waste being stored at Elstow in Bedfordshire.

When it came to sport, commentator John Smith had no fonder memory than Luton's triumph over Arsenal in 1998.

He spent three nights holed up in the Hastings Street studio as Wembley fever swept through the town.

Radio Bedfordshire once broadcasted from studios in Hastings Street, Luton

"The whole energy and enthusiasm of the public in Luton, it was like you were being held up by a bubble of enthusiasm," Smith recalled.

"We were a local radio station and we had the most incredible team."

The original team reunited in Bedfordshire on Sunday