Radio Sutch & City - Part 8

Shiver Me Timbers more from Shivering Sands

Pop group manager Reg Calvert & David Sutch came up with the idea for a radio station as something of a glorified publicity stunt following in the wake of Radio Caroline

Reg Calvert envisaged a radio station as an ideal platform to promote his roster of groups, especially Screaming Lord Sutch who worked under the Kings Agency banner at London's "Tin Pan Alley"

The Radio Offices above at 7 Denmark Street

Pictured in summer 2004

Screaming Lord Sutch & his backing band the Savages were touring Britain & parts of Europe at the time with an unusual & somewhat macabre Rock Horror Show

Radio Caroline had shown what could be done, & so with a miniscule budget Radio Sutch launched from the Pool of London on the old fishing Boat the Cornucopia on 25th May 1964

No one's really clear if transmissions were made from the boat, but what is certain Radio Sutch boarded the disused WW2 Army Fort on Shivering Sands. Above pictured in 1977 after the catwalks had collapsed, said to have been assisted by grapling hooks

Abandoned by the MoD since 1958 the forts had been mentioned by the Cornucopia's captain & other Kent & Essex fisherman. Reg & David seized upon the idea & transferred their gear aboard the derelict fort

Being comparatively easy to board & the furthest out in the Thames Estuary it proved an ideal location

The first transmissions were made on 197 mmw on 27th May 1964 using the most primitive of equipment

Close to the Knock John & Knob Channels the station found plenty to talk about as ships sailed close by making their way to & from the Thames, Medway & East Coast Ports

Eric K Martin's engineer Don Witts was repairing a radio set at The Record Centre 20a Oxford Street Whitstable when he heard an appeal for water from Radio Sutch

Whitstable Harbour in the 1950's with the Harvesters 1 & 2 centre left

The Harvesters were used quite often as umpire boats during the annual regatta

Not knowing where Radio Sutch was, Eric & Don made enquiries at Whitstable Harbour

Rare shot of Whitstable fisherman Fred Downs who was persuaded to take out water & other supplies there & then on his Harvester 2

Much to the delight of those on the Harvester they were greeted by David Sutch & a bevy of partially clad girls

The supplies were sent aboard & it was to be the beginnings of the South Thames Sales Office & local management of Radio City

The CD the Radio Sutch & City Story recounts the whole tale, go to the Offshore Shop

By September Reg Calvert had sole control of the station having paid £5,000 to David Sutch for his share of the operation

20a Oxford Street as the Record Centre you could buy the latest chart hits EP's and LP's, get yourself a record player or tape recorder or buy a Kay Greeting Card. The record retail part of the business greatly benifited from the promotion it enjoyed on air with Chart Singles litteraly flying out the door

Despite the link with the record shop adverse weather sometimes delayed new records & supplies coming out. I remember in the evenings when we'd closed down for the night, we'd record songs from the old TV in the lounge on the fort to be played the next day. Especially during the build up to the Eurovision song contest when the station was keen to be first to play the UK's entry

Later Eric later opened a Squash Bar selling cheap soft drinks in the shops basement. The juke box encouraged many to buy the latest singles as the bar became the meeting place for the towns youth

The CD The Radio Sutch & City Story gives an insight to life with the fort, available from the Offshore Shop

The premises have since been a fruit & vegetable shop, the carpet shop Rival pictured above & at the time of publication a book shop see below

Eric K Martin's Whitstable home at 16 Westcliffe just round the corner from The Record Centre pictured in summer 2005

Very early lash up of gear to record Radio City Tender Shows in winter 1964

Being a small operation the towers were seldom manned by more than 3, with all hands on deck to take aboard supplies & change crews. Itching to get involved I nagged Eric for a piece of the action, to keep me quiet I was tasked with producing filler tapes, played out as the fort was supplied. For some reason they liked them, from there on it was just a matter of time before I joined the crew on the fort

The old Civic bought by my father from Curry's in 1964 looks quite sad these days but a useful deck for maintaining old archive tapes

Based on the Collaro Deck, it benefited from being 3 speed & half track so recordings were compatible for the Ferrograph on the fort

It also had an amazingly fast forward/rewind speed Don Witt had a similar model which he thought he'd be able to convert to a high speed duplicator. An idea that never came to fruition

From 1965 things became more commercially aggressive

With posters, letter heads & rate cards produced

Dorothy accompanies Reg on a rare trip out to the Towers for her on the Harvester in the early days of Radio City

Following the raid on Shivering Sands on 20th June 1966 & Reg's untimely death the next day. Dorothy took over running Radio City until it's enforced closure on 9th February 1967

For all the Radio Sutch & City features navigate from Sutch & City Part 1

For all the Red Sands Army Fort & it's Radio Stations navigate from Red Sands Rendezvous

For the Navy Forts & their Radio Stations navigate from Radio Essex 222 & Sealand One

For a brief history of all the Thames Estuary Forts see Fort Fax

Trips to the Maunsell Sea Forts are arranged throughout the summer from Herne Bay & Whitstable in Kent

For details of cruises to see the sights of the Thames Estuary & North Kent Coast see Boat Trips