Following the press call, everyone moved upstairs for the main event. During the afternoon there were a number of sessions discussing various aspects of sixties offshore radio. With so many former
broadcasters in attendance it was not possible to invite everyone up on stage but a large number took part. The first panel consisted of five people who had worked on the country's first offshore station, Radio Caroline.
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The Caroline panel. Photo courtesy of Martin van der Ven.
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Chaired by Mark Story, Head of Radio at EMAP, (not pictured) the panel consisted of, left to right, Keith Skues, Bryan Vaughan,
Nick Bailey, Roger Day and Graham Webb. Bryan had been the first to join, signing up for Radio Atlanta before its launch. Keith
first met him on the Mi Amigo soon after Atlanta had become Radio Caroline South and the two shared a cabin. Graham was the next to come aboard, initially as a DJ on the south ship, later taking over responsibility
for the news service on both ships. It was Graham who provided the commentary when DJ Mick Luvzit got married live on air. He also gave Nick Bailey his job as a newsreader. Nick
worked on the south ship first but spent most of his time on the northern one. Roger was last to join Caroline, just a few weeks before the Marine Offences Act in 1967.
Everyone sent their best wishes to Mick Luvzit who was not able to attend, having suffered a heart attack the previous weekend.
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Keith Skues and Bryan Vaughan.
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Bryan Vaughan, Nick Bailey and Roger Day.
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Roger Day and Graham Webb. Photo courtesy of Martin van der Ven.
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The forts panel. Photo courtesy of Martin van der Ven.
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The second session, ‘The Stations on Sticks’, looked at the offshore broadcasters based on the anti-aircraft forts in the Thames estuary. Left to right: chairman Ralph Bernard
CBE, Chief Executive of GCap Media, David Allan, Brian Cullingford, Guy Hamilton and
Mark West. David and Brian had been colleagues on Radio 390, Guy and Mark on Radio Essex. After an enjoyable discussion about their different offshore experiences, Mark showed a
3D computer-generated animated fly-around of the Radio Essex fort which he had made. Tom Edwards, senior disc-jockey on Radio City, had been booked to take part but sadly was
not able to attend. This meant that there was no one to represent ‘the tower of power’. The chairman invited Candy Calvert, the owners' daughter, and
DJ Bob LeRoi to come up from the audience to say a few words.
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Candy Calvert and Bob LeRoi.
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Ralph, David, Brian, Guy and Mark.
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Brian, Guy and Mark.
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David, Brian and Guy. These two photos courtesy of Martin van der Ven.
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More from the Celebration on the next page.
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