Radio Clatterbridge
| Broadcast area | Clatterbridge Health Park |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 1386KHz |
| Website | www |
Radio Clatterbridge is a community hospital radio station based at Clatterbridge Health Park, Wirral, UK. It is also a registered UK charity.
The station notably carried the first broadcast interview with the Beatles. It is one of the oldest radio stations in the UK.
Radio Clatterbridge began life as a group of boys from a local youth group. As an aid to providing some vital rest and recuperation, the boys decided to visit sick patients at Clatterbridge General Hospital. Their genius was to play them songs at their bedsides using a portable record player. The idea was so popular that it soon became possible to buy permanent gramophones and "broadcast" the songs back to the patients, via a simple land-line system.
Soon the new radio station was broadcasting a number of programmes every week. One of those, Sunday Spin, created musical history. Presenter Monty Lister recorded the first broadcast interview with a new up-and-coming band, called The Beatles in 1962. This was marked with a special anniversary reunion in 2002.
As the Swinging Sixties moved into the Seventies, so the Radio Clatterbridge premises moved into Larch House. The station remained in these studios for nearly two decades.
Digital technology was first introduced during the late 1980s, as the station (now equipped with two studios) began playing its first CDs!
Before long Radio Clatterbridge was on the move again. This time it was only temporary. In 1993 the charity made its home near to St John's Hospice. The temporary move lasted for nearly a decade.
Radio Clatterbridge finally made its permanent move into the old boiler house in 2001. The charity's new home had to be developed from scratch. A series of successful community grant applications enabled Radio Clatterbridge to fit a new studio for the new millennium.
New computer equipment in 2003 enabled the station to do something it had never been able to do before. Radio Clatterbridge now provides a round-the-clock service to the health park.
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Wikipedia