Radio Teesdale - It's Yours!

Christmas Schedule 2009

2009-12-19T07:36:00.001Z

Daily update of what's happening at Radio Teesdale can be found on Twitter
http://twitter.com/RadioTeesdale

Radio Teesdale is extending their programme schedule over the Christmas fortnight and bringing you a whole variety of additional programmes on top of the regular offerings.

On Christmas Eve Thursday Thrash is extended to run from 2pm to 5pm with the second episode of the Christmas Special of the highly popular drama, Bridgegate. Kevin Sowerby has a special live Christmas Soul show from 7pm to 9pm.

There are a variety on Shows of Christmas Day starting with Ian and Sue Kirkbride with the late Breakfast Show at 9am. Elizabeth Conran and the team from Churches Together present carols and readings at 12 noon (repeated at 9pm), Andrew Harrison and Sarah Fells Christmas Lunch show is from 2pm to 4pm followed by Quotes and Quizzes from Wayne Mann. At 7pm there’s a chance to listen to music from the new Concordia CD with chat from members of the group. Ruth Dent and Chris Bamborough have a “Christmas Conversation” at 8pm.

The Castle Players have two special shows that have been adapted for Radio in partnership with Radio Teesdale. 6pm on Christmas Day is Dicken’s “Christmas Carol” and adaptations of the Brothers Grimm stories can be heard in GRIMM! at 5pm on Saturday the 26th.

On Sunday the 27th other Highlights include poetry from Judith Owston at 2pm, two hours of Christmas Number 1s at 6pm and a four hours rock show special with Dave Chipchase featuring the Hard Rock Hell Festival from 8pm to Midnight.

The Undercurrent’s Local Top Ten for 2009 can be heard in two parts from 7pm on the show’s regular spot on Wednesdays the 23rd and 30th. Highlights of What On interviews carried out by many of the station’s presenters over the year are featured in a two hour special at 3pm on Monday the 28th repeated 3pm on New Year’s Day. Gary Burgham’s popular feature on pirate radio is broadcast

Blogging moved to Twitter!!

2009-12-04T07:57:00.002Z

Radio Teesdale now issues tweets on a daily basis. For all the latest news look at the home page of our web site or sign up for our tweets.
http://twitter.com/RadioTeesdale

You may also want to look at the information circulated to members in our "Members' Update"
http://radioteesdalemembersupdate.blogspot.com/

Every cup counts

2009-07-19T06:53:00.001Z

One date for the diary - Radio Teesdale is delighted to be supporting Macmillan Cancer Support’s “Feel Good! World’s Biggest Coffee Morning” on the 25th September. The idea is to get your friends, family or colleagues together to share coffee and cake. And don’t forget to donate. Because every cup counts. Radio Teesdale is planning on hosting coffee morning in the centre of Barnard Castle as we broadcast an extended lunch time programme (11am to 1pm) live from the Barnard Castle Vision Box in Galgate. If you would like to get involved in that event then please let us know. By raising funds Macmillan Cancer Support aim to help improve the lives of those living with cancer.

We have now taken delivery of the outside broadcasting equipment that will enable us to produce programmes in locations across Teesdale. Our studio has been wired up and we are in the process of commissioning the computer equipment and setting up the broadband links. We hope to be broadcasting from the Barnard Castle Vision Box in Galgate in the near future. Watch this space for more information.

The new Summer Season on Radio Teesdale starts tomorrow. Many of the repeat times of our programmes have been changed in response to comments from our members and listeners. We wish Dave “Chippy” Chipchase the best of luck with his new two hour live show on Monday evenings (7pm to 9pm).

Our short introduction to radio presenting course got off to a great start last Wednesday. Due to the nature of the course (working within the studios) there are a limited number of places and the course was oversubscribed. Therefore, we are currently planning a 5 week course that will provisionally run from Wednesdays 16th September to 14th October. Sessions run from 6pm to 8pm each evening. If we have sufficient requests for a course to run a training programme through the daytime we will also run an additional day-time session. We will be covering areas such as radio presenting, operating the studio equipment, recording and editing. No previous experience is necessary. Let us know if you’d like to register for a place.

Stormy Weather

2009-07-05T07:51:00.001Z

We had a difficult period to cover during the storm on Wednesday afternoon/night. If there was every a case for a UPS that was it!! Let’s hope our funding bid is successful. The lightning kept cutting the supply in 10 second bursts from 3pm onwards until about 5.15pm. We had to reboot the computer systems and CDs.....about 10 times. We then lost power entirely between 5.15pm and 6.45pm when there was no supply to Enterprise House. Unfortunately, that took us totally off air. Well done to Martin in Drivetime and particularly Anthony Da Costa who had to suffer all this during a planned 3 hour stint on air with Paperclips and then Drivetime. The building also flooded (but other than our stuff in the attic that's not affected us). We had things running again towards the end of Drivetime. A short power failure in the night, around 1am lost us transmission until I sorted it out again around 7am before our breakfast show.

105.5FM transmitter at the school had a UPS and although the power at the school failed for a period on Thursda the "battery system" worked and kept us on air throughout until it came back on. Thank you Teesdale School for keeping us informed of things happening up there.

Power was out in a fair amount of the upper dale so we lost the 102.1FM Frequency from around 3pm on Wednesday afternoon. CE Electrics/NEDL has been very informative and their spokesperson came on air a couple of times on Thursday to update the listeners.

I returned to the Romaldkirk site on Friday and received very friendly support and help from both NEDL and Arqiva (who had 3 cars and 3 big truck at our transmitter site at one time.....not all needed for us but they just happened to be using them sorting problems in the area!!). Two engineers from Arqiva (the people we rent the space on the tower from) were particularly helpful and got our transmitter back on line. As the senior engineers said, we were in it together and there to help each other out. At around 12 noon Friday we were back on air on 102.1FM.

Teesdale’s Rising Star

2009-05-17T08:25:00.001Z

What a great week it has been for Radio Teesdale. It was a tremendous pleasure to be representing Radio Teesdale at the Sony Radio Awards in London on Monday the 11th May. Radio Teesdale’s Katey Wallace, was nominated for one of the radio industry’s most prestigious awards – the Sony DAB Rising Star Award. When the nomination was announced a few weeks ago the judges described Katey as, “Funny, original, likeable and listenable. The dream combination: Katey is completely herself - a truly rare commodity. Destined for great things.” On the awards evening I had the pleasure of talking to several of the award organisers and judges. They very much echoed those sentiments. Although Katey did not win the listeners’ vote is was no shame to be runner up to Singing Henry, who’s national station Kerrang 105.2 also won the Sony Award for “Station of the Year with over a million listeners.”

From a personal point of view I was thrilled for Katey. I was quoted at the time the nomination was announced as saying “Katey was shortlisted because she is a total natural, warm, funny and really talented and she broadcasts, not because she is being paid, but because she enjoys it and wants to support her local community.” Radio Teesdale was the only radio station from the North East of England represented at the ceremony and one of only two community stations present.
You can see the actual ceremony on a recording of the web cast on the Sony Award web site - http://www.radioawards.org . In Addition, there are a number of photographs from the evening on the Radio Teesdale Photo Gallery - http://picasaweb.google.com/RadioTeesdale/RadioTeesdale2009#

We also had the TV cameras into the studio on last Thursday’s Drive Time programme. For the first hour of the show the guest was local TV presenter David Harper. David spoke to Alan Bradley and a number of callers about a variety of antiques that the owners wanted some expert advise about. The whole hour was filmed for editing into a forthcoming BBC TV programme – “Put your money where your mouth is.” The film crew will be in Barnard Castle again on the 23rd of May recording further antique valuation sessions.

On Saturday 16/5/9 young reporter Marianne Dixon attended the Climate Change Fair in Barnard Castle and spoke to a number of exibitors as well as local MP, Helen Goodman.

A great two years

2009-03-28T05:45:00.001Z

What a week it has been at Radio Teesdale. The office has been buzzing with excitement. We are now into our 3rd year of full time broadcasting. The 27th March 2007 was the day we began transmitting from Barnard Castle on our full time license. Well done to the hundreds of people that have contributed to the station over the years. It has been as ever with members dropping in to record programmes, carrying out research and conducting interviews. There have also been a couple of events that have caused a fair bit of excitement.

This week saw the publication of the interview Adrian Braddy, the editor of the Teesdale Mercury, did with Deborah Jenkins of the Barnard Castle Vision. As Adrian said in his regular spot on Tuesday Drivetime it’s not common for a local newspaper to work so closely with the local Radio Station. Deborah and Adrian met up at the Radio Teesdale’s studios to do the interview. We recorded all two hours of it. The practicalities of us working together helped the process enormously. We provided Adrian with a CD of the interview, the Teesdale Mercury transcribed it and the transcript was enormously helpful to us as we produced our 58 minute edit. We’ve always said the people of Teesdale are able to read the Teesdale Mercury while they listen to Radio Teesdale. This is a prime example of that happening. We look forward to future similar cooperative productions. The full programme is now available on the Listen Again section of our web site.

Last Wednesday night was a wonderful evening for Teesdale……in Newcastle. Radio Teesdale won the “best not-for-profit web site” award within the Digital Users section and the Barnard Castle Vision won “best use of mobile phone technology” for “The Box”, within the Digital Innovators section. Congratulations to the Vision team and to the many people who have contributed to the Radio Teesdale web site. A full audio report, with interviews with five people who attended the ceremony, is on the Listen Again section of the web site.

Members make it another successful year at Radio Teesdale

2009-01-25T08:54:00.002Z

Chairman Alastair Dinwiddie spoke of his delight at welcoming 46 members of Radio Teesdale who attend the AGM last Tuesday (26/1//9). He applauded everyone for their efforts and thanked the membership for a very successful year. In the Chairman’s report Alastair spoke about another significant year for Radio Teesdale which included the first full year of full time broadcasting at Radio Teesdale, completing the transmitter for the upper dale area, working with numerous community groups and individuals, establishing and maintaining a broad professional programme schedule with volunteers creating their own programmes and providing experience for volunteers and students and skills transfer through mentoring and training which benefits the community and individuals beyond the activities of Radio Teesdale. Other highlights mentioned included the vast amount of publicity obtained through the “press the button” story, forming good relationships with our other local media colleagues, the wide range of community magazine programmes and specialist music show broadcast including the involvement of a wide range of members of the community together and the willingness of known personalities who have been interviewed for Radio Teesdale.

Whilst taking members through the accounts Alastair explained that fund raising must remain of the highest priority in the New Year. John Atkinson and Keith (Jo) Jones were re-elected back onto the Board of Management of Radio Teesdale. Simon Allen, who had been co-opted to the board during the year, was also confirmed as a director by the membership.

We have carried out a several “in conversation” interviews this week. Top North East folk singer Katie Doherty visited the studio one afternoon and recorded an interview and three songs (including a track yet to be released). We have also spoken to top British play write and Director John Godber, Wings guitarist/vocalist/writer Denny Laine and former G4 member Jonathan Ansell who is currently launching a new album. Listen out for when these interviews will be broadcast.

NEWS

2009-01-06T11:29:00.002Z

Hello everyone, just to let you know that the local news bulletins and stories will now be available on here as of today!

If you didn't get chance to listen to them on air then you can read them at your own will.

Also, if you have or know of any local news stories in the Teesdale area, do not hesitate to post responses on this thread or contact the station.

You can do this by phoning

01833 69 67 50 - from 9am - 5pm
or Email us at studio@radioteesdale.co.uk.

6th JANUARY 2009 CURRENT NEWS UPDATE

*****

A new glass-information point is currently being installed in Barnard Castle.

The beacon on Galgate boasts Bluetooth downloads and wi-fi capabilities for users of the facility.

It will also have important information for bus times and what’s on in the area.

The installation is due to be completed later today.

Ann Allen from the Barnard Castle Vision believes the information point has good potential.

*****

The North East has the biggest fall in unpaid overtime work.

174,000 people in the region worked overtime worth 667 million pounds according to research by the TUC.

The average amount of unpaid overtime is six hours and twelve minutes a week – one hour less than in 2007.

*****

The Bowes Museum is now a grade one building after maintenance works.

The building has had a major transformation for the first time in over a century.

However, from January 19th until February 13th there will be limited access allowing final touches to be made to the revamp.

Matt Lang, from the Museum

*****

Patients will be offically able to use their mobile phone on hospital wards
from today.

Health Minister Ben Bradshaw's given the go-ahead as long as they don't
interfere with equipment or cause a nuisance.

*****

In sport,

Today's race meeting at Sedgefield has been abandoned because of a frozen
track.

The planned action at Southwell and Kempton is still scheduled to go ahead.

Happy Christmas and all the best for 2009

2008-12-24T08:31:00.003Z

Many thanks to everyone in Teesdale and beyond who has contributed to make 2008 a highly successful year for Radio Teesdale. A great number of people have played a part in producing a highly varied, informative and entertaining range of programmes. The growing involvement of members of the community in Radio Teesdale’s activities is a key reason for its success. A whole variety of people have gained valuable experience and many skills have been learnt. Plans are aready underway to make sure we continually improve this in 2009. During the next year we would like to involve the Teesdale Community in even more in our activities. Radio Teesdale really means – It’s Yours.
Peter x.

Young members doing well

2008-11-02T08:26:00.003Z

Teesdale Youth presenter Magz is performing in the chior all this next week at the Darlington Civic Theatre in the major production of “Joseph and his Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat” starring Craig Chalmers. We wish her well with that. As well as producing her “Tip Top” show, Magz also regularly adds the current music to the playout system, creates station idents and trailers on her own and recently interviewed the Princess of the Darlington Civic Panto moments after her “crowning.” Alex James produces a weekly programme. Jamezy, produces a fortnightly programme and regularly co-hosts our Thursday Drivetime. We hope to have programme from two new young presenters this coming weekend. It’s delightful to see the young people of Teesdale responding to opportunity that Radio Teesdale can bring. We very much have our fingers crossed for the next two weeks when we will know if we have been successful in our funding bid to Media-Box. This will give us even greater opportunities to produce youth led radio.

It’s always great to bring good news about how our members are doing in the world of media and radio broadcasting in particularly. Michael Storey, who presented local news bulletins over the summer will be doing some work experience with BBC Radio Merseyside in the near future. Having seen Michael working first hand for Radio Teesdale at Darlington FC matches and press conferences alongside seasoned journalists this is no surprise. Ian Smith, one of our presenters on “My best friend is a punk” and “It was all in the charts” is also doing various things with BBC Radio Tees. We wish them both well and look forward to Michael rejoining us for a month in December/January.

The Action Points of the last Members’ Forum meeting are on the Members Update section of the web site. The next two sessions are timetabled for Thursday 20 November 6.00pm and Wednesday 17 December 7.00pm. We aim to keep each session to 90 minutes. By far our biggest challenge is funding. This is a common concern amongst community radio stations and we are no exception. If you would like to lead any aspect of a funding project (event organising, grant application, sponsorship/advertising activity) then please let me know.

Radio Teesdale new Schedule for autumn 2008

2008-10-16T20:26:00.001Z

As we approach the start of a new schedule season it’s always a busy time. The new Autumn season starts on Monday. We have six brand new programmes as well as retaining all the favourites from the Summer season. New programmes include top Country singer Dixon J Scott producing Teesdale Country (7pm on Mondays, repeated 5pm Sundays), Paperclips with Anthony da Costa looking at some of the week’s quirky news stories (4pm Wednesday, repeated 10pm Sunday). Listener of late night music will love Richie’s new two hour programme, Drive by DJ, starting at 10pm on a Thursday evening. Saturday evening at 8pm (repeated 9pm on Wednesday) sees Katey Wallace taking a feature from her popular lunchtime show and expanding it into a weekly special. The music in the hour is based on a particular theme. Malcolm Proud and Kate Ruddick have revamped their Thursday afternoon programme “2 on Thursday” but it will include the ever popular drama, “Bridgegate.” Although Malcolm Proud has only been involved in Radio Teesdale for the last three months he is also going to be moving into the Drivetime seat on Mondays as well as hosting some of the Saturday Breakfast shows.

We decided to operate a system of quarterly schedules before we began our full time broadcasting. It has been a great success. I’m certain that it, as presenters know they are only committing themselves for a three month period, it has encourage many of our members to, “Have a go.” Several of our presenters have peaks in their other activities on a seasonal basis so we need to be able to rest programmes and return them later on in the year. Our philosophy has always been that, “Radio Teesdale is for the people and by the people of Teesdale.” We always need to be open to new members coming along and provide them with the opportunity to make programmes. This could not happen if we rigidly stuck to the concept that we always run programmes on certain times and certain days. By changing the timing of some of the programmes or their repeats we also hope that it allows new listeners to hear other shows across the wide range that we produce.

We have recently completed our first year report to Ofcom. More about that will follow, but it’s great to report that Radio Teesdale broadcasts around the clock and producing on average over twelve hours of presenter led programming each day. At the end of only the first year of a five years license, this is in excess of the original license commitment to Ofcom.

The Autumn Season is almost here!

2008-10-04T05:07:00.001Z

It’s been a very busy summer at Radio Teesdale. The Autumn Schedule will commence on Monday the 20th October. We will be having several new programmes including ones featuring country music, the history of folk music, dance music and quirky news stories. It is not too late to submit a programme proposal, but you will need to be quick. We are always looking for regular/stand-in presenter for our regular magazine programmes (Breakfast Show, Saturday Breakfast, Drive Time, etc). If you would like to become involved in presenting or co-hosting these programmes then please let me know.

The sound recording and editing training courses held at Enterprise House have been a great success. Well done all those who have attended for your hard work and commitment to the work.

The next members meetings have been scheduled for Wednesday 22 October at 10.00am and Thursday 20 November at 6.00pm.

Good luck to Tynedale Community Radio and Spice FM

2008-07-27T08:14:00.000Z

I had a wonderful morning yesterday visiting the steering group of a new community group based in Hexham. The very enthusiastic team, lead by Hilary Carter, has formed Tynedale Community Radio and has plans to complete an RSL prior to applying for a full time license. A photo taken at the meeting can be found on our photo gallery. The direct link is at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/RadioTeesdale/RadioTeesdale2008/photo#5227597975177913762

We have also been in touch with another community station and wish Spice FM all the very best of luck with there launch – at the unforgettable time of 8.08pm on the 8th day of the 8th Month of the 8th year. As they say, “The Spice is Back.” They are providing the service for the Asian community in Newcastle.

Training is a big part of any community radio station and at Radio Teesdale is this no exception. We are planning a 5 week training course on sound recording and broadcast skills (using the studio desk and editing). We are pleased to be running this course during the day for those people who have difficulty regularly attending evening classes. We will be starting on Wednesday 10th September from 9.30am to 12 noon. If we have sufficient numbers registering an interest we will also run a course on an evening. Let us know if you would like to attend.

I have also had a meeting with staff at the Bowes Museum to discus an exciting new initiative organized by the museums in the north east. The plan is to create a digital story based around or inspired by a museum exhibit. The Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle will be involved in the creation of eight stories over the next two years. A 4 day training course in September is available for anyone interested in leading a group to create at least one of these stories. If you are interested in this or in just getting involved then I’d be delighted to hear from you.

The Summer Season on Radio Teesdale

2008-07-13T21:55:00.001Z

The new Summer Season on Radio Teesdale commenced on the 14th July and runs through until the 19th October. Highlights of the new season include even more live show. We are also providing the opportunity to listen again at scheduled times for several of your favourite shows including Folkal Pont, Moondance and Bandstand.

There is also the welcome return of the “Potting Shed” with Malcolm Hockham (at the new time of 7pm to 9pm on a Saturday evening). Malcolm promises lots of interesting discussion on gardening and rural issues with a good bit of humour thrown in.

Our What’s On coverage has continually extended over the year so we are delighted to announce an additional What’s On Hour, from 4pm to 5pm on a Monday. There’s also a new programme on a Thursday afternoon, Catfish Karaoke, on Thursday afternoon form 3pm to 5pm with Malcolm Briggs and Richie. The show includes a new radio mini series – Bridgegate!

Several young people have joined Radio Teesdale over the next year and at least four groups of 12 to 16 year olds have been working on different programme ideas. These youth led programmes can be heard each week on the new regular spots of 4pm Saturday with a repeat on 9pm on Sunday.

There are still plenty of opportunities to get involved in Radio Teesdale with space on the schedule allocated to special one off programmes. If you feel you have not got the technical knowledge to make this happen then don’t worry. There are people at Radio Teesdale who can support you with all aspects of broadcasting. We will also be running a studio operation and sound editing course starting during w/c 9th September. If you are interested then let us know as spaces are filling up fast.

The next members meeting will be at Enterprise House at 6.00pm on Tuesday the 22nd July.

Radio Teesdale Team take to the stage

2008-07-06T09:54:00.001Z

The home page this week features seven of our members who are also members of the Castle Players. They can be seen this next week in their production of “Measure for Measure.” Both the Castle Players and Radio Teesdale are constantly looking for new members to join the team to carry out the many roles we have to offer so it’s not surprising that a few folks find interest in both our areas of activity. From a Radio Teesdale point of view we are broadcasting 24x7 every day of the year so there is always space for new ideas whether it be in front of the microphone or behind the scenes. Of course, as we do with any community groups who wish to communicate with the listeners in Teesdale, we have worked closely with the Castle Players on a number of features. All the items relevant to this year’s summer production have been brought together as part of an hour long special. This was first broadcast yesterday afternoon. You can listen to it again on the opening night of the show, at 9pm on Wednesday 9th July.

I was personally involved in a few interviews last week….much more than I usually have time to fit in. One of the organisers dropped off a leaflet for the Dalton Scouts Fundraiser so we popped into the studio for a quick “shout out.” It was a delight to talk to Ann Pilling, a poet, and Toby Hadoke star of “Moths Ate My Doctor Who Scarf.” Both are appearing at the Theatre Royal in Richmond. Barnard Castle’s very own Gordon Duffy-McGhie came in to talk to us about his new one man show, “Red Peter,” that he is performing at the Witham Hall, Newcastle Theatre Royal and the Edinburgh Festival. On Friday I spoke to Craig Chalmer who is playing Joseph in Joseph and is Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat on a national tour of the UK. And that’s not counting the quick chat I had with David Dickinson before the local TV presenter David Harper interviewed him about filming “Real Deal” in Barnard Castle. What a week!

The Radio Teesdale Summer Season starts on the 14th July. Over the next week we will be putting the final touches to the schedule. It’s still not too late to be included if there is a programme you would like to create or get involved in. The door is always open!

The paint is now dry

2008-06-29T21:03:00.001Z

Our home page includes a photo of Ian Reddington, well known for his portrayal of the character Vernon in Coronation Street. I went along to the Darlington Civic Theatre to interview Ian last week….he was charming and very accommodating. The photo came about because a TV crew asked me to take some photos so that they could film me in action!

The studios have been painted. Thanks to everyone who moved studios last week as we juggled things around. A fair bit of manoeuvring, but worth it in the end……but let’s hope we don’t have to do that again for a few years!!

The summer season starts on Monday the 14th July only a few weeks away. Each season is a chance for members to propose a new programme. It’s also a chance to change timings and formats of existing programmes. As part of our programming we are hoping to produce an “Out and About in Teesdale” programme. The idea is to pop along to a Teesdale community activity and to record a quick sound file that can be broadcast. The hope is that it will enable us to attend more of the many community events (carnivals, fairs, markets, gigs, etc) that we are invited to. Plans are also underway to have an Day in September to recruit new members and volunteers.

A copy of the new Radio Teesdale Music policy is available to view on the policy documents page. The next members meeting will be at Enterprise House at 6.00pm on Tuesday the 22nd July.

Season's Greetings

2008-06-08T08:16:00.001Z

We’ve had great fun this week working with the Darlington Civic Theatre. All week we’ve been running a competition with 32 tickets being handed out to luck winners for the Civic’s Summer Repertory Season. It was great to talk to all the winners who were delighted to have won. For one winner it will be the first time he’s been to the theatre, so he was thrilled to bits…lovely to see. On Monday the Lunch Time Show (12 to 1pm) was overrun by Jake and Elwood from “The best Blues Brothers Show in the World – Ever!” A great pair who also brought their car….see the photos on the gallery page.

Well it’s Christmas next week!.....Oh, no it’s not!! Well, it feels a bit like that on Radio Teesdale as the theatre pantos are being launched this week. Tomorrow we will be attending the panto launches of Jack and the Beanstalk at Dalington and Aladin (where a big USA star will be announced!) at the Sunderland Empire. Last week, when we spoke to Simon Stallworthy about the Durham Gala Theatre’s production of the Likely Lads we also recorded an interview about their production of Aladin. You’ll be able to hear about all of this over the next month on Radio Teesdale.

On Tuesday (6pm to 7.30pm) we have our next members’ meeting. Main items for discussion our Radio Teesdale’s involvement in outside community events and our music policy.

Blues Brothers Take over the Airwaves

2008-06-01T08:44:00.002Z

Many thanks to Peter Levett for running the two evening training sessions on “How to run a mixer desk.” Correctly using this facility enables us to record and broadcast live multiple guests and musicians. I attended the first of the two sessions and found it extremely useful. If you missed the sessions but would still like to have a go then let us know and we’ll arrange further workshops.

Radio Teesdale has teamed up with Darlington Civic Theatre to offer our listeners the chance to win a fantastic ticket package! Everyday next week we will ask a question related to each show in the Summer Rep season. There will be a winner each day, and the names of the four winners will be announced on Friday (6th June) during our Lunch Time (12 to 1) and Happy Hour (6 to 7pm) shows. The lucky winners will each receive a pair of tickets for the opening night of every one of the four plays in the season – each day’s prize is worth £96. The team at the Civic Theatre has been most helpful. We have already interviewed Paul Henry (aka Benny in Crossroads), Julia Mallam (Emmerdale) and producer Ian Dickens. On Monday we are talking to Stephen Beckett (Coranation Street) and Barry Howard (Hi-Di-Hi). All of these stars, and many more, are in the "Rep Season" that runs from the 10th June to the 5 July.

Monday (2nd June) promises to be a great day at the studios. As well as the competition and interviews during the Lunchtime show we are having a visit from “Jake” and “Elwood” who will be appearing at the Darlington Civic Theatre in “The Best Blues Brotheres Show in the World – Ever!” on the 8th July. The famous Blues Brother car will be at Enterprise House for a press photoshoot.

The next members meeting will be at Enterprise House at 6.00pm on Tuesday the 10th June. The aim of the regular meetings is for members to get together to meet each other, hear any “hot news” and to work out action plans and provide the opportunity for volunteers to take responsibility for developing ideas. It is open to anyone connected with the Teesdale Community….we can sign you as a member on the night!

Another “Snake” at Radio Teesdale

2008-05-18T17:25:00.002Z

One of the best parts of being a Radio Station Manager that you get to meet and talk to some lovely people. Being interviewed this week was Snake Davis, the world famous saxophonist who is appearing at Darlington Arts Centre on the 24th May. He was very unassuming and was very generous with his time as he spoke at length with Alan Bradley. A lovely bloke. And what a revelation it was listening to the tracks he’s plays on and picking out the sax bits…stunning work. Talk of Snake reminded me that I’ve recently heard that the Python that Radio Teesdale help find a home for has settled in brilliantly well. Apparently he’s living with a few other snakes and loves the company.

It was great to hear Prelude performing live in the studio on Friday night on the Teesdale Live programme. If you missed it, than make sure you tune in this coming Friday for the repeat.

Radio Teesdale had a visit from a representative of Tynedale Community Radio who hope to set up a station and obtain a community license. We wish them the best of luck. They certainly have all the enthusiasm needed to make it work.

Mr Andy has been a great help this week and has done wonders with our computer system. We now have all our broadcast systems properly backing up and we’ve increased the size of our music playout computer drives….so we can store more programmes without constantly having to move things around.

We are currently thinking about how best we can participate in the Barnard Castle Meet. Our What’s On programme last Friday covered all information on the activities. Good luck to Mark Knight and his team with all the organisation. Tune throughout this next week for more information and details of events. If you would like to get involved in Radio Teesdale's input in the procession or supporting broadcasts over the weekend then please let me know.

From the US to Teesdale

2008-05-11T10:37:00.001Z

Another great week at Radio Teesdale. The phones and computer cables were transferred to our new office next door to the two studios. So we began our move. It’s a case of, “If we need it we’ll move it….if not it goes into storage!” It’s also nice to see Linda and Prink Media moving into Enterprise House this week. A very warm welcome to you.

Last Friday was an exceptionally busy day…..and with the glorious sunshine outside what more could we ask for than a “Beach Boy.” Stevie Heger had just flown in from LA for a short tour of UK venues. Stevie is a performer and record producer working on the west coast of America with lots of famous US acts including the Beach Boys. He called into the studio to speak to Wayne Mann and record an exclusive version of a track from his new album in our studio 2. Many thanks to promoter Dave McClean for setting it all up. Stevie was a delight to have in the studio. He certainly brightened the place up with his LA charm. And this was just a few minutes after Mick Brennan had had a lovely chat with another star from the US, Kid Creole. The previous evening Andrew Harrison had spoken to Helena Blackman (of “How do you solve a problem like Maria?” fame) who is appearing in South Pacific at Darlington Civic Theatre. Watch out for repeats of all of these interviews.

This week also saw the several funding bid applications and reports submitted. If you would like to get involved in fundraising then we need help in all aspects of this important area. Just contact me at the office.

Radio Teesdale first with the Teesdale Ward’s County Council News

2008-05-04T13:54:00.000Z

Local elections with a difference took place in Teesdale on May 1st 2008, as part of the move to create a single unitary council for the county. Teesdale has 3 of the 63 electoral divisions on Durham County Council - and ultimately, a place on the county's new unitary authority. Normally, the county council elections return just one member for each electoral division, but at this election there were two for each existing electoral division. This is because the successful candidates will serve a dual role for their first eleven months of office. As well as running the existing county council they will also develop and finalise plans for the new-style unitary council. From April 1st, 2009, Teesdale District Council will cease to exist. There will be one new unitary council, providing both district and county functions. The six councilors representing the areas of Teesdale will become the first fully-fledged members of the new unitary council.
Radio Teesdale was delighted to be present at the count, at Teesdale Sports Centre, along with other media colleagues from the Teesdale Mercury and the Northern Echo. We were very well looked after by Fiona Hall from Teesdale Council. Radio Teesdale’s Linda Britton and I were there talking to candidates and officers responsible for the smooth running of the election. A recount in all three Teesdale areas, due to the closeness of the 2nd and 3rd places added to the drama. It was great to see that everyone we asked was willing to talk to Radio Teesdale. Some swift editing meant that we had comments from a whole range of candidates as well as the result announcements themselves.
Radio Teesdale's Breakfast show from 7.30am on the 2nd May became an election special featuring all the news from the election. Adrian Braddy, editor of the Teesdale Mercury, was our special guest for the whole of the show adding his own insight into the results and the outcomes. We are in the process of inviting all the elected Councillors onto our Drive Time show to explore their thoughts in more depth. You can see photos from the count in the photo gallery and extracts from the interviews on the Listen Again feature of the web site.

It has been great to see that we’ve had a number of performers in the studios in the last few weeks recording exclusive live recordings for Radio Teesdale. This includes “The Former Age” recording a track from a forthcoming show entitled “Shewings” based on a 14th Century text about Julian of Norwich, Luke Jordan supported by father Bob and the up and coming Indie Band Hungover Stutman. The later are managed by the originator of Viz Magazine, Simon Donald, who joined them in the studio.

Spring is here!

2008-04-20T08:40:00.000Z

We are coming the end of the first week of our Spring 2008 schedule and what a great week it has been. As mentioned in last week’s blog we have a variety of new programmes and all available to listen to online. We will be using our new web site as the key source of information to members and listeners. E-Circulars to members and notes form members’ meeting will be placed on our other blog – members updates. You can see the one from the 18/3/8 meeting here.

http://radioteesdalemembersupdate.blogspot.com/

The next Members’ Meeting is at 6.30pm on Tuesday 22/4/8.

The programme schedule is also linked to other pages, such as presenter profiles and featured programmes.

I had planned to have some time off during the school holidays but I ended up in and around the office for some time each day. I had the pleasure of working on this week’s What’s On programme. I’d always taken an interest in local events but since working at Radio Teesdale I’ve been staggered by the breadth and quality of events going on in and around the area. The two hour programme (4pm to 6pm on Friday) was jam packed full of material and we even had to drop some items until next week. We’ve also created a regular hour from 1pm to 2pm on Saturday afternoons when you can listen to many of the interviews and features from the What’s On programming. We are also creating our own “Event” each week with our Teesdale Live programme (Fridays 7pm to 9pm)….listen to local bands live on Radio Teesdale. Brilliant.

Listen to Radio Teesdale on line

2008-04-13T10:16:00.002Z

You can listen to Radio Teesdale at any location through our web site on the Internet or using a wireless radio. Our new look web site gives easy access to your station at any place at any time.

We are also launching our “Listen Again” facility where interviews, performances and programme features from our archive will be placed so you can listen at a time that suits you. We will be adding a whole variety of archive material over the next few weeks. If there are any sound recordings that you would like included in this feature let us know and we’ll do our best to include them. Well done Andy Greener and Chris Ord who have both worked hard on the necessary computer systems and the web site.

Tomorrow sees the start of our new Spring Schedule. I’d like to wish everyone the best of luck with their new programmes. In particular I’d like to welcome Robin Wallington (“Morning Magazine” on 1st Thursday in the month), Scott Patrick (“Retroclectic” Monday at 8pm), Walt Young (“Mess A Blues” Saturday 5pm and Wednesday 9pm) and Joss Harwood (“Business” alternate Thursdays at 1pm) who are involved in new programmes. I’m also delighted to welcome Ben Sadler, Dave Robinson, Andy Leitch and Ian Kirkbride who have been supporting programmes and standing in for various programmes over the last season. They are all now “regulars” on the schedule. We now also have the return (from the pilots during the RSL) of a regular two hour programme featuring live musicians - Teesdale Live. Bandstand (Sunday 8pm) also makes a welcome return. Richard and Ian have moved from the world of punk to the more mainstream “It was all in the charts.”

The studio booking schedule is currently with the Enterprise House Reception Team. It is important that you make a booking if you want to try to ensure you have access to the studio and the time you want.

The next members meeting is on Tuesday 22nd April at 6.30pm.

Teesdale District Council funding award

2008-04-09T06:33:00.002Z

I am delighted to let you know that Teesdale District Council is supporting Radio Teesdale with a District Council Grant. In making the announcement they said, "Councillors recognised the importance of Radio Teesdale’s expansion plans, with a grant of £15k…… It demonstrates that the Council recognises the importance of working in partnership with a range of organisations to provide sustainable services for people in Teesdale." This is great news for Radio Teesdale. Each year we need to raise at least £80k in order to maintain our present level of operation. It is very encouraging that Teesdale District Council has seen the value of Radio Teesdale’s contribution to communication throughout Teesdale.

The next Members’ Meeting will be at 6.30pm on 22nd April at Enterprise House. Anyone is welcome to attend. In the meantime we will be launching our new look web site, which will enable you to listen “on line.” We are also developing our “Listen Again” facility and will be making available past interviews and performances from our archives. I am most grateful for the hard work of Andy Greener in sorting out the computer infrastructure and Chris Ord for his work on the web site. Watch this space for more information.

First Birthday Party a great success

2008-03-30T07:31:00.000Z

The Radio Teesdale Birthday Bash at the Jersey Farm on Friday the 28th of March was a huge success. It was great to see so many children, members, supporters, performers, listeners and colleagues from the press all there and having a good time. Photographs of the night will be appearing on our gallery pages over the next week.

Throughout the evening presenter Mr Andy introduced the acts who freely gave up their time including, Eileen and Joe, Teesdale Folk, The Jazz Quartet, Dave Kidd, a local Dance Troupe and the up and coming Indie group, The Conspirators.

Helen Goodman, the local MP also kindly popped in and said some very kind words before cutting the beautiful birthday cake.

Of course, a great many people contributed to making such a fine evening and it’s difficult to list everyone. However, we should say a special thank you to Cat Chapman who coordinated the whole activity. Very well done everyone.

To coincide with the birthday we now a new range of merchandise – T Shirts, mugs and pens. Call into the office or catch us at one of the events we will be at over the coming months to buy one.

The next few weeks sees more exciting developments – Streaming on the Internet and a Listen Again facility, a redesigned web site and our new Spring Schedule starts on the 14th April. Watch this space for more details.

"Radio DJ broadcasts into the ether"

2008-03-07T00:11:00.001Z

It’s been a very busy few days in the Radio Teesdale offices talking to the local and the national press.
Yesterday morning Andy forgot to switch the transmitter from the automated to the studio desk. A very easy thing to do at that time in the morning. Especially when you are preparing for a busy show. As I always do I tuned in at home as I get the kids ready for school. I noticed the overnight automated system was still on just after 8am so I rang the studio. No answer. I tried a couple of times and thought Andy must not made it into the studio for some reason. I rang again a little later and Andy answered and we both worked out what happened. It turned out he'd seen the phone ringing as he was dong a voice a link and even asked "the listeners" to ring back when a record was on! We took a deep breath and brought it back on air with explanations to the listeners. Andy then managed to cram a 90 minute show into 30 minutes with reruns of what happened in the first hour! Well recovered Andy.
At the end of the show, a good friend to Radio Teesdale, reporter Jim McTaggart of the Northern Echo came rushing in. He’d heard from a listener about what had happened. The Northern Echo has today done a page 2 story with a photo of me consoling Andy. They even had the Cluff cartoon featuring Radio Teesdale! - Sheep with a mobile phone asking what had happened to Radio Teesdale. Then the fun started........
Today, we’ve had several of the national papers and the Press Association on the phone and ITV came down and did an interview. It's already appeared on the Wigan Observer and Daily Telegraph web sites.
Most of the reporters asked if Andy got “into trouble” for the event. Far from it. Our philosophy is that we aim to be professional at all times. Everyone makes mistakes and we certainly operate a no blame culture within Radio Teesdale. Almost every one of our 35 presenters had never been in a radio studio before they joined Radio Teesdale. As we approach our first birthday, everyone has done fantastically well to pick up all the technical aspects of broadcasting. At the end of the day, the radio side of things is 10% of what we are about. It’s all about working with the community of Teesdale. We truly believe that Radio Teesdale belongs to the people of Teesdale – for the people of Teesdale and by the people of Teesdale. Andy and his colleagues do a fabulous job and Andy will most certainly back doing great work on the breakfast show on Monday. I don’t think he’ll forget the press the button though!

It’s all go in 2008

2008-01-13T10:00:00.001Z

During the last couple of weeks we have been very busy finalising the Winter schedule that starts tomorrow, the 14th January. The new schedule will run for 3 month through to the 13th April. You’ll be able to download a copy from our home page tomorrow morning. I’m delighted to say that we have been able to build on the great success of our current schedule. Watch out for extended specialist shows, Workers Playtime on Thursday afternoon at 3pm and our extended What’s On programme starting at 4pm on Fridays. There are 8 new regular presenters producing programmes, although several had been doing stand-in and occasional items in the past – a great way to dip your “toe into the water” if you think you might like to produce programme.

As always, anyone is welcome to become involved in supporting and developing any programme where they feel they can contribute in any form. The breakfast show and drive time shows are particularly keen to welcome researchers, co-presenters, “news readers,” etc. The What’s On programme (and various What’s On spots that are broadcast as part of our automated programming) very much welcomes contributors. With various venues in Teesdale and the nearby region we are arranging to interview a variety of performers over the coming months. If you would like to get involved in putting together these programme features then let me know.

In less than 24 hours last week we had the great pleasure of meeting international writer and broadcaster Bill Bryson (watch this space for more information about that!), R&B legend Maggie Bell and top stand up comic Mark Watson. Interviews with Maggie and Mark will be broadcast during the next week.

Tuesday evening at 6.30pm sees our AGM. It’s at the Witham Hall in Barnard Castle. It’s open to all members, but if you are not a member you can easily sign up in a few minutes…and it’s free!!

2007 a great year for Radio Teesdale

2008-01-06T22:15:00.000Z

2007 has been a tremendous year for Radio Teesdale. This time last year we were worrying if we would be able to have our first transmitter up and running before the Ofcom Funding deadline of March to enable us to employ a Station Manager. Although the delivery of second transmitter proved to have a number of difficulties (before it went on air last week) that is now all behind us. We have had lots of very good feedback about reception within the whole dale (and beyond!).

We now have two fully operable studios that have been the envy of a number of visitors from other community radio stations.

Our membership has grown steadily over the year. We are delighted to welcome everyone on board. From a modest start of two hours of live programming each weekday in July we now have a schedule that averages eight hours of live broadcasting a day. Over the Christmas week we will have over 100 hours of new shows – 50% have been recorded over the last few weeks with 50% live. Many thanks to all those who are coming in over the holiday period or have worked so hard crafting a fabulous selection of pre-recorded programmes.

2008 will be equally as important as we seek to secure vital funding (in terms of sponsorship, advertising and grants), work even more closely with everyone in the Upper Dale, develop our programme schedule, increase our membership further and involve even more community groups and individuals all across Teesdale. Very exciting times ahead.

The new Radio Teesdale Winter Programme schedule will start on Monday the 14th January. If you would like to produce a programme (or programme feature) then please let us know.

Our AGM will be held at the Witham Hall in Barnard Castle on Tuesday 15th January at 6.30pm.

We now have available at a variety of locations across the dale the official Radio Teesdale CAR STICKERS. We hope that every one of you will sport one in your motors, windows, etc. If you know of other organisations that would help and would like a mention on air then let us know.

Finally, I would like to wish you and your families a very happy Christmas and all the very best for 2008.

The big switch on - 102.1 and 105.5FM

2007-12-15T06:38:00.000Z

Yesterday was a very important step in the life of Radio Teesdale. We switched on the transmitter that extends the broadcast area to the Upper Dale of Teesdale. We are now broadcasting all across Teesdale on 102.1 and 105.5FM. The installation and testing of the steelwork, aerials and transmitter equipment on the mast went very well over the two days that it took. For the most part the weather was brilliant with clear blue skies (as you can see from the photographs) although this meant it was very very cold – at minus 5 degrees at times.

This “switch on” is the culmination of a lot of hard work by a great many people from the community of Teesdale over the last five years. Everyone who has played a part should be very proud.

We very much welcome listeners located in the Upper Dale and hope you will enjoy the broadcasts and, even more importantly, become actively involved in this fantastic community initiative. Switching on the upper dale is only the beginning. Now the fun begins!

This weekend we are launching our new car stickers promoting our two frequencies. As far as we know, these are the only car stickers currently available that mention the name Teesdale. They are available from several locations across the dale. Tune in to find out where. On Sunday the 16th December we will be at the Farmers’s Market at the Bowes Museum.

Progress on the upper dale transmitter

2007-12-13T21:32:00.000Z

It has been a great day at Radio Teesdale. This morning was extremely busy with a whole variety of guests on the Morning Magazine programme. Many thanks to John Atkinson for his hard work on the Breakfast Show and the Business Programme, as well as managing some training activities.

The Christmas week schedule is looking brilliant. Several listeners have asked if we will be scaling things back during the holidays. Quite the reverse! I’m delighted that several of the presenters have given up their holiday time to do extra programmes. Maybe it’s the excuse they needed to get away from the turkey sandwiches and the “Mother-in-Law” who is coming to stay for the week!!

The long awaited steelwork which will support the aerials at the Upper Dale transmitter has been fixed. The Engineers will continue working tomorrow fixing the aerials and the transmitter equipment. We hope to have the work completed sometime during the day. If all continues to go to plan we will be broadcasting across Teesdale on 102.1FM (in addition to our current frequency of 105.5FM) by the end of Friday. There are a few photos of work carried out today on the web site photo gallery.

Lots going on at Radio Teesdale

2007-12-02T09:53:00.000Z

There are exciting times ahead as we build up towards Christmas. Radio Teesdale was actively involved in all the various initiatives that were happening throughout Barnard Castle last Friday night – The Witham Hall Fair, late night shopping and the switching on of the Christmas Tree lights. We had live on the spot and in the studio interviews covering all events. Town Cryer Ian Kirkbride even hosted the Drive Time Show from 5pm to 6pm. Lunch Time show presenter Katey Wallace did a fabulous job keeping the crowd informed and excited throughout the light switch on as we waited for Santa to arrive – the kids (old and young) loved it. Later today we will be interviewing folks at the Middleton in Teesdale Lights switch on.

A lot has happened over the last month. A new training course has started - book now for the course starting in the new year! We have finished the infrastructure work to the two studio and all the acoustic work is complete….people have commented saying that it looks like an art installation from the Tate Modern! A great deal of work has been going on to sort out the installation of our main transmitter in the upper dale. We have high hopes that the work will be complete before the end of the year and we’ll be broadcasting across Teesdale on 102.1 and 105.5 FM. Watch this space for more news over the next few weeks.

It has been great to see all the members of the community visiting the studios in recent months contributing to programmes such as Drive Time, Morning Magazine, What’s On, Inside Out and many more. Have a look at the photo gallery – we now have over 300 photographs on there! We’ve also been speaking to a whole variety of performers who have been in the area or simply just wanted to get in touch. These have included up people from wide ranging genres including up coming musician Chris T-T, top band British Sea Power, harpist Clare Bakewell, folk legend Bob Fox and The Avison Ensemble. We have also interviewed John Altman (formerly Nick Cotton from Eastenders), Emma Atkins (formerly Charity Dingle of Emmerdale) and Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics and these will be broadcast over the next week or so.

October Barnard Castle Farmers’ Market a great success

2007-10-07T08:16:00.001Z

Following the huge success of our visit to the last Middleton Market of the year the previous Sunday we had high hopes for our stall at the October Barnard Castle Farmers Market. We were not disappointed – it was a fabulous day. Over a dozen members of the community and visitors came on air to talk to our presenters who were manning the station throughout the market’s time of 10am until 3pm. They included stallholders, shoppers, event organisers, tourists and even a Norfolk band that were playing at the Tan Hill pub later that day.

It was also very heartening to hear from the many listeners who dropped by to say how much they were enjoying our broadcasts. Four people even came along with firm programming ideas for our next (Winter) season!

I had the honour of judging the best dressed stall and best dressed stall holder based on the Market theme of Apple Week. The prizes went to Just William and Loopy Lisa’s Fudge.

A big thank you from me to everyone who helped out to make the day such a great success. Charlotte Stow did a fabulous job setting things up, bringing along her Mum’s VW Beetle and generally talking to people on the stand. Kiddy and Peter Levett presented the Breakfast Show and worked on the stand. Barbara Levett and Ros Evans helped on the stand handing out leaflets and button holing passers by. It was also great to see members Steve White, Peter Martin, Les Blair and Wendy Short dropping in as they did their shopping. Wayne Mann spent most of the day on the stand and did a great job interviewing guests from the studio. A very special thank you goes out to Cat Chapman who stood in for Gary Burgham on the Dedications Show in the morning and, along with Wayne, was so enthused by the whole event later went back to the studio did a further two hours live broadcasting, talking to the numerous callers, until the end of the market at 3 o’clock. Well done everyone. Community radio at its best!

There is a whole selection of photographs from the day on our photo gallery. Barnard Castle Farmers’ Market is on the first Saturday of every month.

Alvin Stardust gets the weekend schedule off to a great start

2007-09-23T08:21:00.000Z

Congratulations to all presenters and producers of the first full weekend of broadcast on Radio Teesdale’s full time license. Katie and Richard’s laugh a minute style had us off to a fantastic start on the Saturday Breakfast show. This was followed by Gary Burgham – a real delight to have you – the voice of some many of our regular announcements - back behind the desk! Gary’s very special live guest was the one and only Alvin Stardust – My Coo Ca Choo!

Alvin is appearing at the Darlington Civic Theatre this Friday. A few technical problems with Alvin’s new mobile phone meant that the interview was a brief ten minutes but Alvin has agreed to join Gary on the Drive Time Show from 5pm to 7pm tomorrow (Monday 24th September). Alvin was a true gentleman and very helpful. His chat on Monday will be, “Must hear radio.”

Mike and Graham told us how we can get out more with their marvellous journey through what’s going on in the region. The evening brought us another chance to hear Songwriters with Rob Jones, the Comedy Hour, the Mix (without any additives!), followed by the new mystery voice of love on Radio Teesdale – enough to make your toes curl!!

Sunday brings us a full day’s schedule from nine in the morning right through to eleven in the evening. As I write, we’re off to a great start with Wayne Mann easing is into our Sunday morning.

The Autumn schedule starts tomorrow!

2007-09-16T21:23:00.001Z

Having started live broadcasting on the 9th July we are delighted to start our full autumn schedule some 10 weeks later. We have come a long way in this period. Well done everyone concerned. We also offer special thanks to the many guests and community groups that have contributed to creating a variety of exciting programmes. You can download the schedule from the link on the home page of the web site.

Our new programme schedule sees a whole range of interesting programmes. We have a wide and diverse array of specialist music covering such things as Classical Music, Indie, Soul, Disco Hits, Country and Western and Folk Music to name but a few.

If you are a member of a community group we would be only too happy to come along to talk to your members or group leaders to see how you could have your voice heard on Radio Teesdale. Likewise, we always welcome new members. If you would like to become involved in creating or supporting a programme then please get in touch through one of the ways described on our contact page. We would be delighted to hear from you.

An expanding programme schedule

2007-08-24T07:37:00.000Z

The Bank Holiday is almost here and it’s all smiles here at Radio Teesdale. While writing this blog Mr Andy and Mr Peter are working hard on the breakfast show and the sun is shining all over Teesdale.

An update on our broadcasting. Ofcom have confirmed our main frequency as being 102.1FM. So we will soon be broadcasting on 102.1 and 105.1 FM. The Engineers are doing their stuff during September so the plan is to have the Upper Dale on line very early in October. Watch this space for launch details.

The philosophy with our programme schedule has been to grow the live programmes we broadcast incrementally over the period prior to the launch of our main transmitter in the Upper Dale. The breakfast show is now two hours (7.30 to 9.30am). This week, Katey Wallace, ably assisted by Richard Rainbow, has done a fantastic job launching the Lunch Time show. Her bubbly approach to live certainly brightens up the airwaves during the day. On Monday the Lunch Time team will be doing a 2 hour Bank Holiday special.

From this next week we will have (after 6.00pm each weekday) 15 specialist shows on the air, and others planned. Listeners can tune into expert chat of music genres across a wide spectrum including Irish, Vintage, Classical, Folk, Indie, Regional, Jazz, Progressive Country, Rock, World, Comedy, Dance and Soul. On the 6th September (at 1.00pm) we will be starting our fortnightly Business Show. There is still room for more….so if you are interested in joining Radio Teesdale don’t hesitate to contact us on 01833 696750 or via all the other methods listed on our contact page.

Another Milestone

2007-08-02T09:08:00.000Z

We’ve reached another milestone this week by starting our live specialist shows. Val and Michael Fryer got us off to a great start with the "Vintage Generation" on Monday. As I left the studio just after 7pm and drove round it was delightful driving around Teesdale on a bright sunny evening listening to “A Little Light Music” with a lovely selection of classical music drifting through the speakers. Future programming plans include extending the Breakfast Show to 7.30am to 9.30am from the 6th August, a further hour of specialist shows together with a Lunch Time show (12 noon to 1.00pm) from the 20th August

Plans are also underway for our first accredited training course in Radio Production. It will start on Tuesday 11th September and run for 12 sessions until the 11th December.

We have continued our collaborative work with the Castle Players. This time it was with the youth section, The Turrets. We have recorded the play “45 Minutes” that they will be performing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The 30 minute adaptation for radio will be broadcast tonight at 7.00pm after the “Rock of Ages” show.

Great new from Ofcom. They have just approved the frequency that we will be using for the Upper Dale site. This now enables us to make firm plans for the installation of the transmitter and the all important creation of our marketing material. By September we will be saying “It’s Radio Teesdale on 102.1 and 105.5 FM, broadcasting to the whole of Teesdale.”

Specialist shows start on the 30 July!!

2007-07-24T11:07:00.000Z

We are now into our third week of live programming and the presenters and their support teams are doing a brilliant job. Hats off to you all. We are pushing ahead to bring you much more in the way of live programmes. We are starting a series of specialist shows each week day evening, at 6 o'clock after the drive time shows.

On Monday we have Val and Michael Fryer with the Vintage Generation – the Fryers special brand of easy listening and classic tunes from the 1950s and beyond.

Tuesday evening is Colin Robinson with the Undercurrent – with all the best in Indie music, with regular features on local bands.

The regular Wednesday slot is the World of Jazz with Terry Willits. Terry is away next week we have a special show of from Richie playing an hour of classic R & B and Country music.

On Thursday Dave Kidd takes to the air with his special brand of Rock Through the Ages.

On Friday, get in the right mood for your night out with Cat. She’ll get the night off to a great start with top dance and high energy tunes that will get you in the mood for a top night on the town.

So don't forget (now, I'm starting to sound like a DJ!!), that’s 6pm after the Drive Time show for our new specialist shows – Starting Monday 30th July.

Keep listening on 105.5FM in the Barnard Castle area. Coming to you from the Upper Dale in the near future. Watch this space for more details.

Live Programming is here!

2007-07-10T10:47:00.001Z

The last few days have been a big step forward in the life of Radio Teesdale. We have now started live broadcasting with our Breakfast Show (8am to 9am) and Drive Time Show (5pm to 6pm). Andy and Dave Kidd now have two breakfast shows under their belt. Cat was in the driving seat last night with support from Wayne Mann. The roles will be reversed this evening. Well done everyone – a great start. Later this week we’ll be having appearances from Peter Levett on the Breakfast Show and Ros Evans, Ritchie, Richard Rainbow, Mick Brennan and Katie Wallace at Drive Time. Alan Bradley will be joining the team next Monday and Thursday fully relaxed after his holidays.

As always, there are plenty of ways you can get actively involved in our activities. In the near future we are planning to extend our live broadcast.

Listeners can now text comments, requests for dedications and general feedback. You can now text us on 07781 474422. Please put DALE in front of your message.

Things to do while it’s too wet to get into the garden to mow the lawn

2007-07-01T20:09:00.000Z

It’s been another highly productive week at Radio Teesdale. The music system is coming along nicely….although more volunteers would be most welcome to lend a hand if you have the time. Richie was in all of this afternoon making sure all the “happening” sounds popular in the pubs in Barney were on the system. He was so busy, he didn’t even realise it was raining. Well done that man!

Brian Lister has been very productive in studio 1. The sound system is more or less set up. It is going to take a few weeks before we can install the computer but we should be able to use the system for testing and recording to mini-disc and tape sometime soon. For the record, the first song to be played in the studio was The Fray with “How to save a life.” There could have been some deep and meaningful reason for that, but the truth is we just happen to put the 2nd disc of Now 66 into the CD to play to test it. Mind, it was a very exciting moment, hearing the work going on in studio 1 coming through the fader!

Stacks going on this next week – getting ready for live programming, setting up the music system, recording an extract of Staindrop School’s production of “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” as well as recording two Opera singers from Verona, over in Teesdale as special guests of the Castle Players. Isn’t radio great fun?

Two community groups come together over “Verona”

2007-06-24T21:21:00.001Z

I had the great pleasure today to be involved in two community groups coming together, with the help of one of Teesdale’s most popular institutions, to great effect. Radio Teesdale set up a temporary recording studio in a room inside the Bowes Museum to record extracts from the Castle Players’ forthcoming production of “The Two Gentlemen of Verona.” Several photographs of the event are on our photo gallery starting at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/RadioTeesdale/ClickHereToViewRadioTeesdaleSPhotoGallery/photo#5079667188911425810

The Players cast and back stage crew juggled with their rehearsal schedule to make sure cast members were able to fit into a busy recording timetable. Fourteen sections of the Shakespeare play were recorded by Eddy Slack in the studio set up in one of the ground floor education rooms. Richie, Richard Rainbow and I provided support and carried out several background interviews. All the recordings will be edited into programme to be broadcast in the next few weeks.

The key focus over the next few weeks to prepare for live broadcasting. We will be starting with weekday breakfast and drive time shows. This will be steadily expanded to full time live broadcasting and the station launch when we also have start broadcasting from our main transmitter in the upper dale.

Exciting times ahead!!

It’s an Open Forum at Radio Teesdale

2007-06-18T15:56:00.001Z

The Radio Teesdale Forum is open for all to view and enter news, views, comments and suggestions. To add messages you will need to register, but we have made that a very simple process. All you need to do is click onto the “Register” button and provide a few simple details on the register screen. You’ll need to provide an email address to which you be sent a link. You should then, within a few minutes, receive an email to which you need to open and click the necessary link confirming acceptance that this is your valid email. You are then in business and can enter messages. We have already started topics on………..

• Program Ideas - Do you have an idea for a program or feature for Radio Teesdale?
• Listeners Comments - Heard something on Radio Teesdale that you would like to write about?
• Community Thoughts - Are you a member of the Teesdale community interested in talking to the people of Teesdale? Post your thoughts
• Local Performers - Local performers of all kinds (musicians, bands, choirs, poets and other performers). Post information about yourself and Radio Teesdale
• Volunteer Thoughts - If you are a member of Radio Teesdale, have you got something to say to the rest of the team?
• Suggestions - Radio Teesdale is always trying to continually improve and are open to suggestions. If you have a good idea then post away!

Bruno is a big hit!

2007-06-17T21:29:00.000Z

This afternoon I paid a visit with my two children to the Castle Players’ rehearsals for their production of “Two Gentlemen from Verona.” The show will be performed to a sell out crowd in the grounds of the Bowes Museum between the 4th and 7th July in a few weeks time. I went down to talk to director Simon Pell about recording an extract of the show for broadcast on Radio Teesdale – what this space for more details of that!

Anyone who has been around Teesdale in the last month can not have failed to notice the posters of “Two Gentlemen from Verona” in shops and noticeboards. The main feature of the poster is a dog called Bruno – who will be making a feature appearance in the production! While we were there Bruno turned up. He was a massive hit with my two girls. Out came the minidisk recorder and I managed to record an interview with Bruno’s owner. You’ll be able to hear it in the next day or two…..Bruno even got in on the act. That dog can bark! I've placed a few photos of the rehearsals and Bruno in the photo gallery.

It’s always great to welcome members of other radio stations to our studios. On Friday we had the great pleasure of having a visit from Capital Radio’s Tom Rudolph. Rantin’ Richie brought the London DJ in to record an interview for future broadcast. Good to see you Tom.

Another busy day in the studio

2007-06-14T14:49:00.000Z

It’s been another busy day in the studio. Richard has been joined by Eddy who is going to join our technical team and will hopefully support presenters and programme makers. Welcome on board Eddy. Richie and Mick Brennan have also been busy making recordings.

I’m currently processing our application for music licenses which should enable us to play licensed music from the 1st July. We are planning on starting live programming in the near future. This will start with an hour at breakfast time and an hour each evening. If you are interested in taking one of these slots then let me know. This should provide a brilliant opportunity to develop programming techniques during the run up to full time live broadcasting.

Planning permission has been granted for the transmitter in the upper dale. When equipment is installed, tested and available for transmission, this will be a big step forward in the life of Radio Teesdale.

Radio Teesdale goes Green

2007-06-12T11:21:00.000Z

The Green Festival in conjunction with BBC’s Springwatch campaign at Leazes park in Newcastle last Sunday turned out to be a great day out. I was able to spend some time with the team from NE1 FM one of the other three Community Stations in the North East with a broadcast license. They had launched the station just a few days earlier and were doing a fabulous job presenting an outside broadcast featuring the whole event. I also help out on the BTCV stand where we were making paper pots from old newspapers. It was a great chance to meet Alan Fransman of the Community Media Association. There are various photographs on the photo gallery page. Alan interviewed me about the “Spring into Action” Campaign, volunteering and how things are going at Radio Teesdale. The interview is available for anyone to download and listen to and for other community radio stations to broadcast. You can find it at:
http://www.commedia.org.uk/about-cma/cmas-projects/spring-into-action/broadcast-partners/north-east/

Radio Teesdale broadcasts as part of the “Spring into Action” campaign have included a very professional set of interviews with the Teesdale community group, the Rotters, carried out by 11 year olds Katy Robinson and Caitlin Brennan. All their work is being edited into a full conservation special. At the moment we are broadcasting the first of their interviews. It’s fantastic to see two young people so actively involved in radio and clearly enjoying themselves in the process. Their work should also appear on the CMA web site over the next few weeks. Very well done girls.

There’s lots going on in the office this week. On Thursday at 6.30pm we are moving in the rest of the furniture kindly donated by Radio Cleveland. If you’d like to give a helping hand then let us know. Various people have booked into the studio as members begin to prepare programmes in readiness for live broadcasting. We’ll be having discussions with everyone who has submitted a programme proposal over the next few weeks. If you want to talk about your particularly ideas don’t hesitate to fix up a meeting so that we can get down to sorting out the details. We’re also planning on launching a forum as part of the web site – watch this space!

Social Inclusion, Media Literacy & The Environment

2007-06-10T08:10:00.000Z

The focus this week in our programming has very much been on Social Inclusion, Media Literacy and the Environment. All very important issues for the people of Teesdale. Mick Brennan has produced a superb programme as part of our work with the Community Media Association (CMA) Comliteracy programme. It features an interview with ex Deerbolt worker, Les Blair, talking about how media can support young offenders. The piece includes poetry from a former inmate of Deerbolt recorded as part of one of our Restricted Service License (RSL) broadcasts. The programme has been skilfully edited by Richard Rainbow. Well done to everyone involved.

Our ‘Spring into Action’ work continues later today. Radio Teesdale and The Community Media Association have forces with the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers (BTCV) at the Springwatch Festivals in Newcastle on the 10th June. The partnership draws attention to the BTCV’s annual ‘Spring into Action’ campaign, a UK wide effort to encourage more people to get involved in volunteering for the environment. This year's BBC Springwatch Festival in Newcastle is at Leazes Park. The CMA’s press release is at http://www.commedia.org.uk/news-amp-press/news-items/do-one-thing-at-the-bbc-springwatch-festivals-this-weekend/

Radio Teesdale has always had a focus on the environment but our involvement in the Spring into Action campaign has taken this to a new level. We look forward to sharing our enthusiasm with people from all over the North East at the Springwatch festival in Newcastle later today. We are currently broadcasting interviews from the “Teesdale and Cleveland Conservation Fair” held at the BBC’s Broadcasting House in Middlesborough earlier this week as well as a profile of the “Rotters” in Barnard Castle.

Radio Teesdale & Radio Cleveland Conservation Volunteering Fair

2007-06-06T22:00:00.000Z

It’s been another very interesting 24 hours in the life of this Radio Station Manager.

This morning I had the pleasure of attending the “Radio Teesdale & Radio Cleveland Conservation Volunteering Fair” held at the new Open Centre at the BBC’s Broadcasting House in Middleborough. We organised the event as part of the “Spring into Action” campaign in conjunction with the Community Media Association (CMA). The exhibition featured groups such as Trees for Cotherstone, The Durham Wildlife Trust’s Great Crested Newt Project, Groundworks, Scrap Bank and Renew North East (where Radio Teesdale’s Ian Kirkbride is a Director). These interviews and various other conservation oriented features are being edited into three programmes that will be broadcast as part of our Limited Service Broadcast. Photographs from the event are posted on a photo gallery (scroll to the bottom).

Last night I was delighted to be invited as the after dinner speaker at the Barnard Castle Rotary Clubs’ meeting. At the end of the evening I was booked as a guest speaker for another “community group gig” by one of the members so I guess I did OK!! Everyone was extremely friendly (and interested in the future of Radio Teesdale) so it was a most enjoyable evening. I had my photo taken alongside their President Elect (Margaret Brown) and David Yeadon so hopefully these should appear in the local press in the next few weeks.

Radio Teesdale Springs into Action

2007-06-05T13:11:00.000Z

As part of the “Spring into Action” campaign we have organised, in conjunction with the Media Trust, the CMA and Radio Cleveland a “Teesdale & Cleveland Conservation Volunteering Fair.” Various voluntary conservation groups will be exhibiting in the Open Centre at Radio Cleveland’s Broadcasting House in Middleborough tomorrow (Wed 6/6/7) from 10am to 2pm including Trees for Cotherstone, The Durham Wildlife Trust and Renew North East (where member Ian Kirkbride is a Director). Both Radio Cleveland and Radio Teesdale will be carrying out interviews throughout the mornings so please come along and help out if you can make it.

Activity levels continue to rise as we move closer towards live broadcasting. Transmitter equipment for the upper dale site is on order. The equipment for the new studio has also been purchased and should be with us very soon. It will not be long before we have 2 studios!

Rob Jones has produced, along with several members who provided the voices, three top quality Public Service Announcements as part of the CMA’s Media Literacy Project. Great work Rob. Mick Brennan has being doing some interviewing which is currently being edited to create the programme element of the project.

Charlotte Stow and I have been talking to a number of people in Teesdale organizations about thinking how their “day job” can involve working as part of Radio Teesdale. This applies to a wide range of individuals involved in such activities as communicating with businesses, volunteers, tourists and members of the public. If you know of anyone that this applies to then talk to them about Radio Teesdale and let us know.

We continue to welcome volunteers in a whole variety of capacities. An advert will shortly be placed in the local media. If you, or someone you know, are interested in getting involved in the management of Radio Teesdale then please let me know.

I was delighted to be amongst a party of Teesdale residents who was introduced to the Countess of Wessex when she visited the Bowes Museum on the 30th May. Lunch with Royalty! The protocol of the day was such that Sofie Wessex, the Queen's daughter-in-law, was not able to be interviewed by the media, but she was able to tell me what a lovely place she thought Teesdale was and that she thought, as her car drove into the entrance, that the Bowes Museum had a real wow factor.

10 Ways of Getting Involved

2007-05-13T07:43:00.001Z

Wondering how you can get involved in Radio Teesdale. Here are 10 Ways.....

1. Become a member – fill out an application form. That way you will receive regular updates about the station and its activities. Membership forms are available on this web site.
2. Enrol on our next training course. It’s a 5 week “Introduction to Radio Skills” course starting on Tuesday 19th June. The course is being run by Teesdale Training (a part of Bishop Auckland College). Give us a ring on 01833 650 69 67 50 and we will pass on your details.
3. Listen to our Limited Service Broadcasts – currently on 105.5 FM in the Barnard Castle area. Stay tuned to find out about when we will be broadcasting live and from our second main transmitter in the upper dale.
4. Tell someone about our web site at www.radioteesdale.co.uk
5. Come along to one of our workshop sessions. The next one is at 6.30pm on Tuesday the 22nd May. We will be working on a Community Media Association Project about “Media Literacy.” Everyone is welcome to come along.
6. Come along to one of our regular members meetings. At the moment we are meeting each Tuesday evening from 7.00pm to 9.00pm
7. Spread the word….tell all your friends, family and colleagues about Radio Teesdale and how they can get involved and become members.
8. If you are a member of a community group then let the other group members know about Radio Teesdale. We can come along and talk to your whole group about how Radio Teesdale can work with you in the future.
9. Talk to us about the many and varied sponsorship opportunities.
10. Just get in touch – you can call us on 01833 69 67 50 and speak to Peter Dixon. Or email us at studio@radioteesdale.co.uk, or drop us a line or call in and see us at Radio Teesdale, Enterprise House, Harmire Enterprise Park, Barnard Castle, DL12 8XT.
We'd love to hear from you about any ideas you have.

Radio Teesdale on the Road

2007-05-11T07:10:00.000Z

What a busy few weeks it has been! It was great to get out and meet members of the community at the first of our Radio Roadshow events. We were overwhelmed with the support we had from people at Staindrop, It shows that the people of Teesdale are really excited about the launch and are keen to ensure the radio station really reflects the local community. We would like to thank everyone who gave up their time to make the event such a success. Many businesses in local organisations came along with displays including Thorpe Farm Centre with their beautiful owl (see the photo gallery), Teesdale Glass Engravers, The Enterprise Agency, 2 D, Glendale Productions, Teesdale Training and Loopy Lisa Fudge.

A few dates for your diary:

Monday the 14th May (7.00pm to 8.00pm) – Parish Hall, Barnard Castle – Radio Teesdale Roadshow.

Wednesday 16th May (7.00pm to 8.00pm) – Teesdale Village Hall, Middleton in Teesdale – Radio Teesdale Roadshow.

Tuesday 22nd May (7.00pm to 9.00pm) – Enterprise House, Barnard Castle – Workshop on Media Literacy with the Community Media Association – all welcome.

Tuesday 19th June (6.30pm to 8.30pm) – Enterprise House, Barnard Castle – commencement of the 5 week “Introducing Radio Skills” course – booking essential on 01833 696616 (contact Elaine Laurie).

Community Radio Debate in the House of Commons

2007-04-27T11:25:00.000Z

On Tuesday, the 24 April 2007 the members of the House of Commons debated, “Community Radio and Television.” 147 MPs, including the Teesdale MP (Helen Goodman), had signed an early-day motion 922, which calls for additional and secure funding for community media and for space to be reserved for community media on the digital spectrum. This is the link to the Hansard record of the Adjournment Debate.
http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200607/cmhansrd/cm070424/halltext/70424h0001.htm

Ian Stewart the Labour MP for Eccles referred to the often quoted phrase that, “Community media is ten per cent. media and ninety per cent. Community.” He added that, “The 90 per cent. is all about engaging and empowering local people, encouraging volunteering and giving an outlet for people’s aspirations through voice, local engagement and providing innovative training and employment opportunities.” He later said, “Community media is a curious beast—it is both media and community. The media part is the one that is instantly recognisable, like the tip of an iceberg, but most would say that the community impacts are far more significant.”

I would certainly agree with those sentiments and very much look forward to meeting members of the Teesdale Community at our events on the 9th, 14th and 16th of May.

For the people…by the people of Teesdale

2007-04-25T22:03:00.000Z

At Radio Teesdale we have a continuous open door policy to welcome new members. We are literally looking for volunteers to help in every single aspect of the running of the radio station. In every respect our operations are for the people of Teesdale…by the people of Teesdale. In the next few weeks we are holding three events where people who have an interest in what we are doing and feel they may be able to contribute in some way (however small) can come and have an informal chat to our existing members. All events start at 7.00pm and finish at 8.00pm. Feel free to drop in at any time during the hour.

Wednesday 9th May - Staindrop Scarth Hall, Staindrop
http://www.teesdalehalls.co.uk/staindrop-village-hall.asp

Monday 14th May - Parish Hall, Barnard Castle
http://www.teesdalehalls.co.uk/parish-village-hall.asp

Wednesday 16th May - Middleton in Teesdale Village Hall
http://www.teesdalehalls.co.uk/middleton-village-hall.asp
I hope to see you there.

Send us your pictures

2007-04-21T12:15:00.000Z

We are planning on compiling sets of photographs of our members showing them at their normal place of work and in front of Teesdale landmarks (High Force, Village Greens, Barnard Castle Market Cross, Bowes Museum, etc). They will be used as part of the marketing campaign to tell all Teesdale residents that the station really does belong to the people of Teesdale – by the people and for the people of Teesdale! If you can supply us with suitable photos of yourself or your Radio Teesdale colleagues then we would be delighted to receive them. All prints will be scanned and returned.

Listener pictures are welcome too!

Recruitment Campaign - Marketing Meeting

2007-04-19T07:52:00.000Z

Plans are starting to take shape for the launch of Radio Teesdale live broadcasting from both our transmitter in Barnard Castle and our main transmitter in the Upper Dale. We hope to be in a position to “Go Live” during the summer. A fundamental requirement for this to happen is that we need to greatly increase our active membership in every single area of our operations.

To give our “Recruitment Campaign” a kick start we are planning on holding meetings at various locations in the community over the next month. We hope to have the first of these within a few weeks. To get things moving we are having a Marketing Meeting at 3.00pm at Enterprise House on Friday the 20th April (tomorrow!). Everyone is welcome – the more the merrier.

I appreciate this is short notice – if you would like to get involved in supporting the campaign but can not make the meeting then just drop me a line, give me a ring or pop into the office and let me know.

Get Your Act Together

2007-04-18T07:37:00.000Z

Two fascinating programmes were broadcast on Channel 4 and E4 on Tuesday 17th April. They were part of the series “Get Your Act Together with Harvey Goldsmith” where Harvey and various experts offer advise and guidance on how to improve a faltering set up. The programme featured the BigL Commercial radio station (on Medium Wave, Internet and Sky).

The expert opinion was that the station had poor listener awareness, lacked listener focus, did not follow sound advice, was being “presenter” rather than “management” led, had misdirected marketing campaigns, and didn’t sort out their web streaming (I still couldn’t get it this morning!) and at the same time was loosing £50k a month. These are, of course, all things that all radio stations, including community radio stations, need to take great care over.

We wish BiGL all the best in their future plans. If you missed the TV shows and would like to see them they are still on my Sky + box so let me know before Mrs D replaces them with an episode of Coronation Street!!

Everyone welcome to drop in for a cuppa!

2007-04-13T15:34:00.000Z

Gary Burgham is making very good progress with the Media Literacy project we are undertaking with the CMA. I described the project in my blog on the 5th April. There are links to details about the Media Literacy project on our “Info Links” page. We are planning to focus our “dedicated media literacy programme” around the very important issues of how the media can support people suffering from Depression. If you would like to become involved in this very interesting initiative then simply contact myself or Gary.

We have agreed our key commitments with Ofcom as part of the issuing of our full time Community License. It is very much based on the promises we made at the time of completing our application license. In the next few weeks I will be developing an Action Plan that helps us make sure we hit and maintain all of our objectives and targets.

Don’t forget, I’m now in the office at Enterprise most days. I’m delighted to say that as I’ve been here during the week 4 new and former members have popped in to sign up for active involvement in our work – welcome on board Stuart, Wendy, Linda and Martin. So if you are passing by, then call in for a cuppa. We now have a ready supply of milk in the fridge…..it’s the bottle marked “RT 105.5”…..well, we can’t miss every opportunity to promote our frequency!!

What a week!

2007-04-05T13:18:00.000Z

Only four days into the role of Station Manager as a full time position, and what a week it has been! We have now received our “Licence for the Transmission of Community Radio Broadcasting Services” from Ofcom. It commenced on the 29th March 2007 and runs for five years until 28th March 2012.

The studio has been reorganised. This was very much facilitated by the kind donation of computer equipment racks from BBC Radio Cleveland. Over the next few weeks we will be designing and setting up the studio with a view to creating a solid foundation for live broadcasting later this year. If you are aware of any community groups that would be interested in a tour of the studio then we would be pleased to make the necessary arrangements – members of and visitors to the Teesdale community are always welcome to drop in.

Priorities over the next few weeks include creating material for our Limited Service Broadcast, preparing funding applications, membership recruitment and arranging our next training course.

Have a good Easter.
Peter.

Media Literacy Project

2007-04-05T11:08:00.000Z

Radio Teesdale has just been selected as one of the community radio stations to be part of the Community Media Associations' (CMA) initiative to improve media literacy. What is media literacy I hear you ask? Well, it’s defined as, “The ability to access, understand and create communications in a variety of contexts.” Our part of the project is, by the 31 May, to produce:

1. Three Public Service Announcemnts. Typically these are about 20 or 30 seconds long. Radio Teesdale will broadcast these PSA's. They will also be uploaded onto a specific Media Literacy CMA sub-site and made available to download and re-broadcast by other Community Radio stations.

2. A dedicated Media Literacy programme (min 20 minute length). Again this will be broadcast on Radio Teesdale and made available to other Community Radio stations through the CMA Media Literacy sub-site.

3. A Media Literacy awareness raising workshop will take place aimed at volunteers at Radio Teesdale. The workshop will be coordinated by the CMA and delivered according to the format provided by the CMA.

Our Info Links page has links to information and resources on the CMA and Ofcom web sites. Two community radio station have already undertaken pilot projects and their material is on the CMA web site.

If you are interested in getting involved in a small group that will deliver this project then please let me know.

This Day in History

2007-03-29T07:14:00.000Z

A brief note to let you know that I’ve just come back from the studio, where I’ve changed all the broadcast recordings.

We are now transmitting about an hours worth of short pieces with various announcements.

This is the start of our Limited Service Broadcast. 29th March 2007….another day in history!

We’ve lots of different voices delivering scripted announcements. These will be fed into the system over the next few weeks along with new material as it is produced by members.

We are now into Phase 2 – the start of Limited Service Broadcasting. Exciting times ahead!!!!

All the best, Peter.

Testing Testing

2007-03-21T07:38:00.000Z

Hi Everyone,

After midnight and into our 2nd day of testing the signal is still coming through strong in Lartington!

A brief note of personal thanks to you all for your contribution to making the whole of today possible.

When TEESDALE popped up on the car radio and the jingle blasted out it made all the hard work of the last few months seem very very worthwhile.

We all know this is just the start of making our vision come to fruition, but I think we’ll look back at today as a turning point in future of Teesdale.

Best Wishes,

Peter

The BBC !

2007-03-12T23:35:00.000Z

This afternoon Andy Greener (along with a representative from each of the other 2 community radio stations in the North East) met the BBC in Newcastle.

It is part of an initiative based on working out how CMA organisations could work more closely with the BBC. It was a very useful meeting.

Mike Shaft of Radio Manchester has attended meetings across the UK. He’s writing a report making recommendations on the way forward. We added a number of points to the overall report. The report is likely to have some very positive points to make about future arrangements between the BBC and Community Radio Stations.

Specifically, we have made contact with Radio Newcastle and started a good relationship with them. A direct outcome is that they are going to run a training day for all community radio volunteers (that we nominate) in mid-April.

We have also made contact with the other 2 community stations in our region and will follow up that relationship. There are lots of similarities in what we are doing!