Radio Essex on 222 Metres

Issue 1 : Updated : 8th November 2007

"This is the Voice of Essex Radio Essex on 2 double 2"

Was to become a familiar call sign from the Knock John Fort some 8.75 nautical miles miles from the nearest Essex coastline & some 18 miles from its base in Southend

With contemporary photographs of the annual Radio Essex reunion at The Vines Highgate Road London NW5 on October 8th 2003

This two part feature begins with historic pictures of the first boarding of Knock John by Radio City personnel in 1965

View between the West & east legs showing part of the dolphin & ladder remains

Viewed looking South Paul Elvey makes the first climb of the West leg ladder

Chris Stewart was to make the last scrambling up in heavy seas as the line securing the tender ripped the ladder off

Underside of platforms South wing

360 degree teak built radar observation room & radar aerial mounting top house

Paul Elvey on board with the landing party at the breach of one the 3.7" guns

A substantial structure the crew of Radio Essex were to demolish this under instruction of the office & engineers in the belief that it would improve the signal

Made a spectacular splash but no discernable difference to the quality of the signal

Reg Calvert talks Jerry & Cliff & another of his boys about his plans for a service from Knock John

The first trip out was organised by Eric K Martin Station Manager & owner of the Record Centre, 20a Oxford Street, Whitstable the Radio City South Thames Office, Cliff & Jerry stayed for two weeks cleaning up the fort & proclaiming owership by painting a big sign on the side of one of the guns

Radio London planned to launch UKGM (United Kingdom Good Music) from Shivering Sands. But following a visit to the fort & a damning report by a delegation from Radio London, plus the ongoing row over a transmitter & fort raid by Project Atlanta, Philip Burch MD wanted to distance Big L from Radio City & negotiations faltered

Around this time Reg Calvert was publicising Radio City West & a T/V channel from the mouth of the Bristol Channel onboard a 400-ton Schooner. It was probably “spin” Radio City was never cash rich, at best the plan to start another station on Knock John once the Shivering Sands was sold to either Radio London for UKGM or Caroline South (Project Atlanta) themselves in fanatical difficulty, wanted to use the fort instead of the more costly to run Mi-Amigo would have been most likely

A blue rinse for Knock John

By November 1965 Radio Essex had amicable control of the Knock John fort

Radio Essex tender the Kestrel approaches the fort in early 1966 before the top was cut away

Knock John later in 1966 from the North West

Notice that the teak radar & its top house had by then been removed

The bent scaffold pole acted as the aerial mast

Tender approaches the dolphin

Note the scored leg this is where a steel hawser had rubbed away over the years

In readiness to off load supplies & crew

Amongst the first to join Radio Essex Mark Wesley aka Mark West & Dick aka Richard Palmer above helping Dick read the menu at the 2003 party

Dick had sent a demo to Radio City & been refused. He'd taught girlfriend Sue Baker to drive, she in turn was desperate to become a journalist & did so after an article she'd written on Dick was published. Sue went on to work on Top Gear & also the Telegraph

Getting out to the Knock Dick managed to get two of the old wartime Gardner LW Generators running. The eldest at 22 his reward was to be made Fort Captain

Asked to instill some sort discipline the 17 year old crew, he encouraged them to be clean & tidy & keep sensible hours - right!

Mark West at the Reslo RBT ribbon microphone here presenting Essex Goes Pop

The Radio Essex one was mounted horizontally into its pre-amplifier therefore never worked as it should

You could often hear the microphone open as the old lorry headlight dip switch on the floor was depressed

This became notoriously unreliable so went to uncle Tom's cabin

Designed as a singers microphone extensively used by many groups of the period the RBT should be vertical to work properly

Ray Fairbrass of the Satan's & Ways & Means demonstrates above

Ray incidentally recorded some Radio City jingles

Despite partial collapse the war time dolphin was used to climb part way up the West end

Equipment, stores & personnel were then manually hauled up with the rope dangling from the top deck

In rougher weather the lower noose was also deployed

Dick Palmer & Gerry Zierler aka Guy Hamilton recall scrambling up the dolphin

Dick had often frequented London's Flamingo Club later base for the Radio City Club. Inspired by the music he'd heard, mostly brought in by US servicemen he began the Essex Beat Club. Exposing the likes of Muddy Waters, John Lee-Hooker & early R&B for the first time on radio in Europe

For Radio Essex pictures from Guy Hamilton's photo album see The Pirate Hall of Fame

Breaking through the & enlarging the window in the second generator room at deck level 1 (A) just above the collapsed dolphin gantry might have provided easier entry

Behind Greg Bance the original Roger Scott, you can just make out the Vortexion open reel tape machine

The mixer section & the 50 watt power amplifier are Vortexion, these were available in both 25 & 50 watt & generally used for public address purposes

In the corner is an old surplus VU (volume meter) with the limit marked in red

Is that really me?

The hand gesture says it all

You know that I'm celebrating don't you!

The fog horn beneath the East end

Greg's last link forces good guy Gerry to the bottle

With a small team the early 1-2 hour Radio Essex high variety programmes proved to be impossible to maintain

Strip shows were adopted, but Radio Essex broke all conventional format rules by continuing to present the widest possible variety of music programmes

In a typical day you'd hear Pop, Easy listening, Big Bands, R&B & even Jazz

Advertisements were tagged with the line "That's in Essex of course"

looking up to the underside of the South wing

Andy Cadier aka Michael Cane on Radio Essex later Martin Kayne on Caroline North, 355, & RNI with wife Rosemary right & Roma Zierler left

Martin Kayne back on the air covering the Hythe Venetian Festival in Kent July 2003

Close up to underside of South wing that in commission held one of the fort lifeboats

Christine & John Hatt, met by Greg, oh by the way John today's a bit of a special one you know

John Hatt then Chris "Tea Set" Stewart playing promo & demo singles

Later another microphone was hung from the ceiling behind the on air DJ for reader of the bi-hourly Radio Essex News

Looking East along the Southern deck aspect

The late Ian Stroud aka Tony Mandell

Famous for his Nylon shorts, he had no shame exposing his dirty legs on the fan boats went out to the fort

Don't look now Kerry but Bob's getting his wallet out!

Tony on orange juice but Dick Dixon & Greg looking expectant at the thought of another round

Tony Mandell then taken from the London Weekly Advertiser supplement Radio News 14th February 1967

Even though by then as BBMS the station had closed down & the fort left two months earlier!

Greg clearly pleased that the reunion & his combined "Birthday Bash" going well

Radio Essex & BBMS Double Dick - Dixon & Palmer

Tony getting a lick & promise from Mark

Greg reflects on a good day & reaching the ripe age of 55

Today's 222 crew Kerry & birthday boy Greg Bance (Roger Scott), Roma & Gerry Zierler (Guy Hamilton) Christine & John Hatt (Chris Stewart) Richard E Dickason (Dick Dixon) Dick (Richard) Palmer, Mark Wesley (Mark West) Rosemary & Andy Cadier (Michael Cane) Ian Stroud (Tony Mandell)

Just found your pictures of the Radio City Crew when we boarded Knock John for the first time organised through Eric Martin in Whitstable at the Record Centre. You have a picture of me there, I was on board for the first 2 weeks getting the place cleaned up. We made a big sign on the side of the gun, Powerful Advertising. As for me I'm in picture no 8, 3rd in from the left, the guy to my left, in the black jacket was Jerry also out for the 2 weeks. All the best - Cliff Cuttelle

Part 2 of this feature continues in Britain's Better Music Station

There's also more on Radio Essex in Essex 2002 : Knockings : Thames Air & after the move to Roughs Fort navigate from Sealand One

See our tribute to Tony Mandell

For a surname A-Z biograghy of the Radio Essex Jocks The Pirate Hall of Fame

For details on all the Thames Estuary Forts see Fort Fax

We have a book on Radio Essex called making Waves & you might like your own guided tour of a Naval Fort in Sealand the Grand Tour on VCD available from the Offshore Shop