Bob Barton (1975 - 1990)



How I joined

As a journalist, I came to Radio Hillingdon in 1975 to research a handbook I was writing for DJs - and liked it so much I ended up staying for 15 years.

When I joined we were broadcasting out of a shack hidden away behind the hospital but, within a few years, we had a modern studio complex and large record library which was the envy of many other stations.

What I did

Among the programmes I presented was a magazine for which I did a range of interviews, including local newsmakers and TV personalities such as Wendy Richards and Michael Parkinson. I also wrote our printed magazine, which doubled as a sort of Radio Times and contained mugshots of the handsome band of presenters (though the photos certainly look dated now!).

I also did the usual round of fund-raising outside broadcasts and fetes - at one I remember being a 'minder' for a real Dr. Who Dalek which had trouble moving around the car park so I don't know how they managed to invade Earth!

Where Am I now?

My Radio Hillingdon years were great fun and excellent experience - and I like to think it provided light relief for the patients/listeners, too. I made lots of friends, not least my wife Lorraine, who was a staff nurse at the time and we now have two lovely daughters. I returned to writing and press work as a career, but several RH people have made it in the big world of broadcasting, which has certainly broadened in size since the crackly pirate radio days of my youth.