Forty years ago this month, at midnight on the 14th August 1967, it became illegal to broadcast from a ship. This spelt the end for pirate radio, especially Radio Caroline which was my favourite. Apparently I was one of 20 million people across Europe who tuned in that night to listen to Johnny Walker. I was living in a shared house during my year in Leeds, working for George Wimpey and based on the site of a seventeen storey apartment block and housing development.
At the time, I owned a Grundig reel to reel tape recorder, so I was able to record the show leading up to and beyond midnight. Unfortunately, the old Grundig went somewhere when cassettes took over. So not only is that recording lost, but also that of Freddie Truman's 300th test wicket at the Oval in August 1964. That was recorded on a visit home in Braintree with a microphone next to the radio. Brother John interrupted the commentary to comment that Freddie was a "spell bowler". I wonder if he remembers?
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