The Tettenhall Road Years - Beacon Radio

A flick through the colourful history of Beacon Radio (now Free Radio), against a timeline of its launch building on Tettenhall Road in Wolverhampton. Beacon was the 19th, and final, station in the first and long awaited wave of UK commercial radio 'ILR' stations.
davidlloyd-radi...

[@radiodarkhorse]

Went there on Friday to remove the Shropshire studio and a news studio to take to Stafford. Awesome being there at such an iconic building where so many great shows came from. Thanks for the memories 267 Tettenhall Road

[@simonjharrisson]

such a shame! All local radio in the.uk.has now gone!

[@christinamccheyne4879]

💖so loved Beacon Radio. They didn’t play the usual 20 odd songs like the BBC, it started to decline when they did start playing the same as everyone else. In its hey day noting could touch it. It was personal to us in the Midlands, no BBC speech for us. Remember going up on. Christmas Day to collect some much needed batteries for the nephews toys. Loved you Beacon.

[@simonnichollsfilm]

Happy 40th Birthday Beacon Radio 303 ! The sountrack to my youth.

[@dudleyhamerton2356]

In the mid 70's I lived in Waltham On The Wolds not far from where the TV tower is situated. Because of the elevation Beacon 303 reception was loud and clear. What a great station giving the presentation some gusto much to the annoyance of the authorities. RIP Beacon 303.

[@RobertHaynes-kw2sk]

I so much as loved Beacon Radio in the first two years on air, but when the IBA eventually punished the station with the threat of new management in October 1978 it was the end of an era. I recently found the page from the Express & Star over at the local Archives Department a few weeks ago.

[@peterturley2960]

The Halcyon days of 303!!! Xxx

[@Plutonique]

What a fantastic potted history of a truly iconic radio station. I have always loved how slick & tight Beacon sounded in the 1970's. Its multi band audio processing on 303 metres also gave it a bold, loud sound too. Unfortunately, Britain & the U.S were poles apart in terms of regulation at that time & Beacon simply could not satisfy the restrictive standards of the then IBA. A true catalyst in the development of British radio in those formative years. Brilliant! Jeremy Morley

[@john111257]

Got it loud and clear in S-O-T, Played quizzes on here, rushing up to the telephone box

[@mutinyonthekitkat]

Funny what you come across browsing youtube! Used to listen to Beacon mainly late evenings in the 1980s through to when it was taken over in 1997. Pete Clement's long running overnight show with 'naughty Nellie's number' at 3:45am. Ian Perry's midnight line phone-in with the Codfather, Wilf and the other regulars. I remember IP's last show when he left a few days before he was supposed to with the unpopular takeover. Don't think radio's ever been as good since actually.

[@nickyslattery]

the company that took beacon from us we shall never listen to rip beacon

[@nickyslattery]

well free radio dose nothing for me

[@joe-vl3nd]

Happy days 😙

[@Agnethatheredhairkid]

My former local radio station.

[@sammypye123]

A great video. I seem to recall that the station had a "long distance listeners" spot in the early years and had many listeners in places like Wigan and Warrington. Not just popular in the West Midlands and Worcestershire.......

[@wckartist]

+Sammy Pye That's true, I grew up in the North West, and all my school friends preferred it to City and Piccadilly!!

[@chrishulse5305]

The 303MW signal must have been very far reaching back then.

[@stevebrown4185]

40 years ago today,it all began for Beacon

[@Candolad]

Those first three years from 1976 were so good ! There'd been nothing else like it in the UK and as a very young boy I became obsessed with it. It was the iPod of its day. I stopped listening after 1979 as the party had been spoiled. Had Beacon got the franchise for London the station would have thrived and made a much bigger impact. Sadly, in the West Midlands/Black Country it was wasted, though not without first giving it a good shot.

[@chrishulse5305]

Don't mention that poor excuse of a station that replaced Beacon in 2012, myself personally, the golden years for Beacon were from 1976 to 1997, purists will say 1976 to 1979 were the best, whatever your era, RIP Beacon, the memories live on.

[@MOODSTORELAXATIONSOUNDSTOHEAL]

CAN YOU GET ANY OLDS RECORDING FORM THOSE DAYS 1981 MIKE BAKERS SHOW WAS MY AWAKENING TO MUSIC

[@andysmith1958]

Used to listen to this as there wasnt any commercial station in leicestershire at the time,its so sad that it and many other local stations have now changed to free radio with its 17 song playlist utter garbage cant listen to any of these cloned stations but now there are so many internet radio staions playing whatever takes your fancy

[@christopherhulse8385]

6:55 i wonder who had the brass plaque off the front of the building?

[@Candolad]

The guy who posted above under the name "@radiodarkhorse". Read through the posts and you'll find it was he who took the brass plaque.