with Dominic
Radio Heffalump
On the 8th of March 1977 the JCR agreed to the beginning of a legal radio station. The meeting began at 7pm and closed 7.35pm, previous minutes were signed, correspondence dealt with. The radio station was item 3 out of 4 arising and is recorded as:
"Mark Langridge requested allocation of JCR funds for a legal radio station in the Glen. The Home Office had been making favourable noises concerning a license and the committee agreed to endorse up to £20 for a license and other basic requirements. It was agreed that if a room could be found in which to keep the equipment, the risks involved in undertaking such a project would be minimised."
But this radio station was born before that albeit in a somewhat illegal form. Every Tuesday from the autumn term of 1976, "the normal quiet of etherial silence was ruptured by Radio Heffalump as it broadcast an hour of good music and alternative news items." Broadcasts were made on 103 MHz VHF. So recorded the Glen Eyre newsletter "Hot Eyre".
What was it that caused the shift from pirate to legal. Well, I was JCR Vice President in 1976/77 and there was certainly some creative tension between the JCR committee and the Bar Committee GEHORC. What better vehicle than a radio station to ensure the correct message came across to all the residents. (Well, new media services either flourish on propaganda or pornography, thankfully neither eventually prevailed) It took us some time to track down the pirate radio operators: students being rightly protective of anything anti-establishment and very suspicious of the intentions of anybody from the JCR committee. Considerable difficulties awaited us in pursuing a licence. "Letters were dispatched to the Home Office who replied that regulations were tight, omitting to say how tight. Undeterred, a letter was sent to Loughborough University where a licensed station was known to exist. The reply was as informative as it was devastating. Whilst giving full details of transmitter requirements etc it also gave some details of license prices." With a price of £540, the idea was abandoned, temporarily.
But by the following academic year the Radio station was up and running. Richard (Rioch) Williams being the first Radio Station Manager, I think. I had left Glen by then and never did get to use the station for political ends.
David Bricknell ----- Glen Eyre JCR 1975 - 1977
Back to History Page
