Bill's Message Archive
Bill's previous messages will be posted here to assist new and existing listeners alike
Previous messages
June 15, 2025
Hello me Hearties: Well that's it then. We somehow survived Friday the 13th at Beckenham Towers apart from a comparatively mild thunderstorm - possibly by the simple precaution of not setting foot outside the front door. In any case the thunderstorm was welcome for the rain it brought with it. We've learned over our many years to disregard these old wives tales.
I suppose the revelation came in 1976 when I was a callow youth of 45. You know that one about "if it rains on St Swithun's Day it will rain for 40 days afterwards". It happened that it rained on that day but DIDN'T rain for 40 days. I'd been working for BBC Radio Oxford for five years. The drought was newsworthy. The Thames dried up in places and we had a daily feature on our morning programme called Droughtwatch.
It was beginning to look like the end of the world as we know it. I imagined that when the rain came folks would throw off all their clothes and dance like dryads. I was at a gymkhana when eventually it rained and that didn't happen though as a good news man I kept my eyes open. Come to think of it this Friday the 13th threw up for me another reason to doubt an old saying. The Thunderball number came up on my National Lottery entry which sounds suspiciously like good luck. However with good fortune comes responsibility - in this case, the need to carefully consider how to spend this £3.
Love and best wishes from us to all of the Harmony Night family
June 8, 2025
Hello me Hearties: It's all change at Beckenham Towers. Rita's lovely grand-daughter Emily and her partner Eosa have found a lovely flat in Bromley and we went over to visit them on Friday with Rita's son Russell and found they've settled in nicely. Vitally also, the cats Kiki and Eli have also settled in . To re-inforce this process, Emily has been taking them for walks in the garden with an expanding lead! Emily, it will be remembered, was an auxiliary BBC engineer when I was broadcasting from home. There was one occasion when, acting on the telephoned instructions from our Al, she organised all the plugs so that we got Harmony Night on air with less than a minute to spare. Lovely memories.
We had another interesting outing on the following day. We responded, with lots of other residents, to an invitation to a coffee morning in Beckenham from our MP Liam Conlon. He's having a series of these with various residents in the Beckenham and Penge constituency and he chats to everyone in the room. Neither of us, in all our years as voters, can remember a local MP taking such an initiative. He's at present putting through Parliament something called the Philomena Bill to assist the Irish women still affected by, many years ago, having their children removed from them for the perceived crime of having them out of wedlock. Philomena's was a case in point and it will be recalled that Judy Dench played her part in a film about the real-life Philomena.
Finally I'm about to organise one of our Harmony Night re-unions at Canterbury early in September. More news of that later.
Best wishes to all of the family from all of the crew. xx
June 1, 2025
Hello me Hearties: Our Beckenham re-union on Friday was a somewhat bijou celebration but, as they say, it was little but good. The Toby carvery at Beckenham limits any party to 16 guests but the advantage with, as it happened, there was only eight of us meant that the conversations were more delightfully animated.
Rita and I have been together for nearly eleven years now - a time of love and pride. However my pride reached a new high at this party. Just now she's very unwell but she showed her resolve, born in her by her experiences as a child during the London blitz by joining us at the Toby. Once there she just showed her normal happy and friendly self.
Sadly our Joyce of Edenbridge, couldn't come because she was caring for her sister, but it was great to see her husband Steven. Desiree of Highgate, soon to join me in the nonagenarian club, was also with us, as were Keith and Sheila of Tadley and Peter and Tricia of Fulham. Plus Jo, our lovely waitress, was kind and attentive and is really an honorary member of the Harmony Night family. I'll now give my attention to arranging remaining reunions at Caversham and Canterbury.
Greetings and love to all of you from all of us. xxxxx
May 25, 2025
Hello me Hearties: First of all apologies for the non-appearance last week of "My Bit". It was because of my darling Rita's illness which took the form - among others - of impossible-to-manage giddiness .- resolving itself with a very dignified descent to the floor. My nonagenarian uselessness couldn't get her up and we were grateful for the services of our lovely neighbours, Ron and Belinda, to achieve her rescue. We spent the day at the marvellous Princess Royal Hospital in Orpington - always, to us, a great advertisement for the National Health Service and there's been some improvement since, though Rita is far from well. As usual though, her courage and good humour, is standing both of us in good stead.
Two days previously, Rita had bravely supported me at the funeral, in Hertfordshire, of my close friend and former BBC Radio 2 colleague, Colin Berry. This undoubtedly took a lot out of her but we both felt the need to go. Colin was so kind and supportive when I first moved to Radio 2 in 1978 and our careers there went largely on parallel lines. We were happy to help to support Colin's wife Sandra and to meet their daughter Marina who has inherited his talent. His friend Tony Blackburn delivered a eulogy and we re-united with many of my friends, among them Ken Bruce, Steve Madden, Charles Nove, Ian Purdon, Gary Richardson and folks from other BBC departments. Also I met, for the first time, Keith Skues who left Radio 2 just before I arrived. It was a marvellous celebration of Colin's life.
Love and best wishes, from all of us to all of you in the Harmony Night family. xxx
May 18, 2025
** Due to unforeseen circumstances there was no message from Bill this week. **
May 11, 2025
Hello me Hearties! Well we were all heartened at the commemoration of that amazing day May 8 1945 when we celebrated what, as we also hoped on November 11 1918 would be the war to end all wars. Rita and I were both in the thick of Nazi bombing - Rita much more than me. She and her grandmother, together under a Morrison shelter, were buried when the house collapsed in the blast of a V1 "doodlebug" which destroyed the house next door and killed the occupants. You can imagine the dismay with which we view the current events.
In a roundabout way the day brought a reminder of the hurt we felt when the BBC destroyed our lovely unique programme but certainly NOT our Harmony Night family. I recalled a story I once heard about VE Day 1945 from our family member Kathy of Sheppey. Like me ,she was 13 on that memorable day and she and her friend decided to WALK from their homes in Poplar to join the celebrating throngs in the West End.
Towards midnight they decided it might be a good idea to walk back to Poplar. They arrived and got, as you can imagine, a severe wigging from their parents who hadn't been consulted about the adventure. I rang Kathy and said it was a story that BBC Radio Kent would like to tell. With typical cockney candour, Kathy replied: "Nah sod 'em" and refused to budge from that position. There you go - it just illustrates the self-inflicted damage that the BBC did to us and them when Harmony Night disappeared.
On a more positive note Rita and I both get fed up with "the BBC is all rubbish" stuff often posted on social media. We both know that much of what the BBC does is both worthy and entertaining, We are both fans of the intrepid world traveller Simon Reeve and were lucky to pick up the very last tickets to see him at the Churchill Theatre, Bromley. Rita, in many ways less shy than me, was determined to meet him. Luckily for us, there was no need to seek out Simon - he came out after the show and sought out the audience. I came out of the gents to find Rita deep in conversation with the bloke we consider to be a national treasure.
Rita, for her part, was telling him of the days of her youth when she travelled several countries with her guitar and found herself in an evening-long duet with Julio Iglesias - then only known as the reserve goalkeeper for Real Madrid! Julio asked her for her telephone number but she was off with her friends to Toledo the next day! Simon and I exchanged stories of our youth , in many ways , fairly similar. It was, as Oscar Hammerstein might have put it "some enchanted evening".
Love and best wishes to all of the family from
Rita, Lisa, Pete, Al and me xxxxxxx
May 4, 2025
Hello me Hearties: Harmony Night lives!!!!!!! It felt like divine intervention when I rang Roy of Westcliff on the very day he celebrated his 94th birthday. We had a lovely chat - and that also goes for a call I had during the week from Ann of Glasgow and an e mail from John the Younger in Deal sympathising with Rita over the condition which I think I spelled right last week.
Lovely also to hear from Janet in Broadstairs, Joyce in Edenbridge, Peter and Tricia in Fulham, Linda and Richard in Maidstone , Derek and Ruffy in Basingstoke and Val and Bob in Deal. We have a reunion at the Toby Carvery, Beckenham on May 30. Anyone who'd like to attend is very welcome with an approach through this website.
Life with Rita is a continuing highlight but a minor one this week has been a visit to Lords to see my beloved Kent against Middlesex. It was a bit of a worry to Rita and to all of you who now know my gait, reminding of you of the John Cleese silly walks, viewing my journey to the home of cricket and likening it unto a hike across Ecuador.
As usual any outing from either of us brought home to us the kindness of strangers, opening doors and finding seats for us on buses and trains. In this respect the staff at Bromley South railway station must be close to the top of the league. So much absurdity and daftness in the world but the amount of respect and kindness is doing its best to eclipse it - and the Harmony Night family is at the forefront of this.
Bill, Rita and the crew xxxxx
April 27, 2025
Hello me Hearties! Well of course the big event of the week was the first of our 2025 Harmony Night reunions at Abingdon which was a great day full of laughter and love. An underlying sadness was the fact that Rita couldn't travel there because of her preliminary treatment in advance of a procedure on Saturday. We've now received the good news from that - she is not suffering from cancer - with a downside that they can't do anything for her diverticulitis - a condition she has to bear in common with several of our HN family including Anna of Andover.
Everyone at the lunch sent a message of love to Rita and our lovely Lisa read a beautiful poem about the programme from our Oxfordshire poet Ian of Harwell who was also unable to be present. Yes, a most successful gathering with big thanks to the staff of the Boundary House for their care and attention. Thanks also for the large number of Easter cards we received. The BBC can't kill Harmony Night as a living and loving entity. Thanks also to Joyce and Stephen of Edenbridge and Ossie for giving me a lift to Abingdon.
Love to all of you from all of us
Bill xxx
April 20, 2025
Hello me Hearties! Again, sadly the world has lost three people who leave a rich legacy of kindness and supreme good nature. They were Colin Berry, Avril Lethbridge and Clodagh Rogers and I knew all of them. The friendship of Colin and me goes back nearly 47 years to when I joined the presentation staff of BBC Radio2. He was so very kind to me enabling my swift settling into the job and later, we worked together on programmes including You and the Night and the Music, Nightride and the Early Show. He also worked on Eurovision and was well known for his smooth voice and one-to-one manner. We send condolences to his wife Sandra and the rest of his family and, all being well. will travel to the celebration of his life in Hertfordshire.
I worked with the sweet singer Clodagh on a Radio 2 pantomime and found myself sitting next to her on the plane on a journey from Australia. We talked and laughed through much of the trip. Again, a first class human being.
Avril, a former actress (she would prefer that term to that of actor) and Rita and I weekly stayed overnight with her when we came up to Oxford to do Harmony Night before the pandemic. At breakfast her Summertown home used to resound with our laughter. She did a lot of good work including a website for young people and I found myself playing Ebenezer Scrooge in an online presentation to the former Commissioner of the Met Police Sir Ian Blair's Ghost of Christmas present. My portrayal caused helpless giggles from Rita and probably from Avril which wasn't exactly the right reaction. Avril was a very special person and I can recall more mirth at another member of the production thinking that Scrooge's downtrodden clerk was called Bob Scratchit!
RIP Colin. Clodagh and Avril and love to all of you in the family from all of us in the HN crew.
Bill xx
April 13, 2025
Hello me Hearties! Well, I've been telling you stories about me not being able to stay on my two feet and thought it was all behind me, but I was wrong - though entertainingly so. The moral of this story is that if you have to fall its best to do it in a chemists' shop. On Friday afternoon we were heading to one such establishment in Beckenham. I find it difficult to be standing for long and also to walk slowly. That being so I walked on ahead and into the shop - and into a fall. It wasn't my legs giving way - it was some sort of complicated trip - so much so that though I fell backwards, my nose took most of the impact.
I struggled and succeeded to get up before Rita arrived on the scene. However, the scenario that met her eyes was of me on a chair with a bloody nose being attended to by five or six ladies. Staff at the shop fixed the nose with the smallest piece of plaster in history. Rita has since fixed it over a more realistic area and happily I'm still walking with confidence though I'm looking like a casualty of the Crimean war.
Well that's enough about me. Sadly, falls are becoming endemic in the Harmony Night family. Sue of Radley is slowly recovering from her fractured pelvis and hopes to join us at our Abingdon re-union at the Boundary House on April 24. At the moment we have 25 family folk expecting to be there including Rita and our lovely Lisa. I had a splendid telephone chat with Anna of Wokingham who's also recovered from an involuntary contact with terra firma. As for me, I hoped to show my face at the Beckenham v Littlehampton football match but am staying home as a precaution.
Love and good wishes to you all....
Bill, Rita and the crew xxxx
April 06, 2025
Hello me Hearties! Nice to see Sue Dent on Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh and great to hear her stories about the use and misuse of words. Recall the time when our lovely head teacher at Bridge School Tom Godden told the class I had a command of my vocabulary. For weeks they called me Commander of the Cavalry!
I feel pleased with the way I'm recovering from all the falls I had either side of Christmas. I'm not using the walker and I took a big step (literally) by going to Lords to see the game between Middlesex and Lancashire. Not my beloved Kent you'll notice but I feel we cricket lovers should support proper cricket which has been banished mainly to Spring and early Autumn, partly because of the ridiculous Hundred competition. Lords was quite a marathon for me. Its a 300 yard or so walk to the bus stop, a bus to Bromley South railway station, train to Victoria and then a Finchley-bound bus to Lords. A good day's cricket, too.
Finally back to words. I remember, as a lad, losing my temper with my teenage sisters and calling them both morons. My parents looked up the word in the dictionary and, on finding it, sent me to bed! Another lesson learned!!!!
Best wishes to all of you from all of us
Bill xx
March 30, 2025
Hello me Hearties! Hope you've remembered to put your hour forward. It wasn't always thus with me. It was a time before I was old and daft as I am now. I was then daft and 60-ish. I'd become a freelancer after retirement as a BBC staffer and was taking anything that came along so I could afford a couple of meals a day plus the odd choc ice. One of the two occasions when I worked 14 of the 24 hours was a harrowing six hour programme from midnight to 6 am on the former Melody Radio.
I spent a lot of time telling folks to put their clocks forward and then went off to a hotel in advance of my second gig - studio presenting Test Match special for a game coming from the West Indies from early afternoon . I had a short but deep sleep and clean forgot to put my own watch forward. I had lunch and then sauntered off up Regent Street to Broadcasting House to find that I was that one hour late for TMS. Fortunately, the young lady studio producer guessed what had happened and did the early announcements herself. Also luckily, the top producer, Peter Baxter, was not angry, just amused.
Back to the present, its been another week of blessed contact with members of the Harmony Night family. I telephoned Anna of Andover and we had a lovely chat in which she told me that the swans on her local pond have done their Spring nesting. Its still great that we not only have contact between the crew and the listeners but also between listeners, often with stories of their pets.
Both Anna and Kathy of Sheppey asked me to remember them to other members of the Harmony Night family. It was great also to be rung up by Derek - of the famous Derek and Ruffy - of Basingstoke. He'll be coming to our Reading re-union when we arrange it. I've also telephoned Geri of Blewbury who sadly can't come to our Abingdon re-union on April 24 because she's on holiday. She did, however, regale me with one of her jokes. What do you call a man with leaves on his head ----Russell! Great also to be touch with John and Nora of Kidlington, Joyce of Edenbridge and Uncle Michael of Grays. Harmony Night will never die - nor even fade away.
Very best wishes and love from all of us to all of you.
Bill xx
March 23, 2025
Hello Me Hearties: One of the news items to catch the eye in the week has been the widespread complaint that disabled folk are poorly treated on public transport and we have to say that we have had occasional experience of this. Our local railway station, Bromley South, is a notable exception. Usually when we appear on the platform we don't have to look for assistance. Almost invariably a staff member notices a couple of old crocks and comes up and offers help. Quite often though there's a problem when we arrive at our destination. Its puzzling that Broadstairs station is very poorly manned - even at the height of the summer season.
In the meantime we often encounter heart warming kindness from members of the public. One notable exception: I asked a young bloke taking up two seats with his feet on the opposite one, if he wouldn't mind granting me the use of one seat. He stayed put and said that, at my age, I should be dead! Happily, in my case, things are improving. We had a lovely visit from our Keith and Sheila of Tadley and I went out without my pusher thing.
On the subject of "heart warming", the televised programme of songs from musicals sponsored by the National Lottery was mostly dreadful apart from a beautiful contribution from a choir of folks with dementia joined by wonderful Michael Ball already well known for his duet with Captain Tom. Its not a happy world, including the antics of the bloke who's initials are the short form of delirium tremens, but you never have to look far for happiness and kindness - and in the Harmony Night family, its everywhere.
Love and best wishes to you all from
Bill, Rita and the crew
March 16, 2025
Hello me Hearties. Lovely to see that Spring is shortly springing. I woke up this morning and hit on the date for our first re-union this year - Thursday April 24 at The Boundary House, Abingdon - and I'll shortly be ringing you round to check your availability. We're also thinking in terms of one in May at the Toby Carvery , Beckenham.
We've had a typically lovely week of contact with members of the family. We exchanged emails with our furthest flung members Tim and Jane, who listened to Harmony Night with their breakfast in Adelaide. They'll be making their usual long summer visit to the UK and we'll be hoping to see something of them. We had a great day with them last year. They love visiting churches and cathedrals and I'll suggest to them that they may be able to come to our Canterbury re-union and combine it with a visit to the cathedral .
We've also had telephone contact with Anna of Wokingham, Anna of Andover, John of Kidlington, Joyce of Edenbridge and Diane of Horsmonden. Kathy of Sheppey, like so many of us, is not at all well. She wants to send her love to you all. Also Sheila and Keith of Tadley will be coming to see us this week. Plus, Rita had a long chat with her daughter Vanessa in Trowbridge. Blessedly the Trowbridge family used to listen to Harmony Night.
And bless you all.
Very best wishes and love from
Bill and Rita xxx
March 9, 2025
Hello me Hearties. ITS HAPPENED AGAIN!!!! During last week Rita and I arrived at the manned check-out spots at Sainsbury's in Bromley with a full trolley, and found they were all UNMANNED! As I've done previously , I used my National Service corporal's voice to address the whole store and call for a cashier. No immediate response, so I repeated the message, now including the accusation that this supermarket policy is pure ageism. A genial staff cashier then appeared and all was well .
That voice of mine hasn't always been as successful. On Remembrance Sunday 1950 in Stockbridge, Hampshire, we were marching down to the village church in unusual icy autumn conditions, and some of the lads were sliding about. I called out "Dig your heels in and you won't slip". Immediately, I slipped and landed on my bottom!
I've often been outspoken about BBC slips and mistakes, including the grievous one affecting us in the Harmony Night family, but I do get upset about the sort of "Defund the BBC" and "Its all rubbish" criticisms we often read. Many BBC programmes are pure joy and a recent example has been the Friday evening Extraordinary Portraits one hosted by Bill Bailey. He employs artists to paint portraits of marvellous people who've gone the extra mile to help those of us who've fallen on sad times . The latest one gave us tears of joy. The subjects were a lovely old couple who fostered hundreds of children in the sometimes difficult over 12 age group. The portraits themselves have been, without exception, brilliant.
All the best then lovely family from
Bill, Rita and the crew xxx
March 2, 2025
Well well. Looking back over the events of the last few days reminds me of a plaque I saw once on a wall in Devon, which proclaimed :"At this spot on the 19th of November, 1928 - nothing happened".
One amusing thing though - Rita and I saw a film on YouTube When Willie Comes Marching Home in which the character played by Dan Dailey is feted in his small American town for being the first man to enlist after Pearl Harbour. Sadly his fame goes rusty when, despite his best efforts, he isn't sent sent anywhere to play an active part. Eventually, he succeeds and, by a hilarious sequence of accidents, enables the Allies to take out the Nazi secret weapon, the V2 rocket. His fame is sealed by an audience with the President of the USA - fortunately then a paid-up member of the human race with the highly appropriate surname of Truman.
Apart from that, our minds have turned to planning some reunions this spring and summer, perhaps beginning next month at Abingdon and Beckenham. More news next week when I'll have made some enquiries. I am quite keen on having one somewhere in Bucks and that adjoining part of Oxfordshire. I'd like to hear any ideas for a suitable venue.
Love and best wishes to you all from
Rita, me and the crew xx
February 23, 2025
Well, another lovely week of engagement with folks in the Harmony Night family. It almost got to tumult on one day when I spoke to three of you in the course of about an hour. Thanks to Lisa I got to speak to Marion of Deal who had her birthday during the week - caught up with me yet again at 93. So sorry for her though, not being able to walk after her most recent fall and confined to the establishment near Folkestone. Still I made her laugh a couple of times.
There was also hilarity when Keith of Tadley rang and for the entire conversation , I thought I was talking to Peter of Fulham. We had a four cornered conversation including Rita and Sheila, Not until we said our goodbyes did I learn from Rita that we were talking to Keith and Sheila!!! Still it sort of shows how much of a family we are. We also spoke to Janet of Broadstairs on the same day. Also, we had a visit from our Joyce of Edenbridge. It was lovely to see our cat Kiki go straight up to her and Joyce was very thrilled when Kiki actually licked her arm!
During the week another milestone in my fight against the falls I had either side of Christmas. I got the bill for our newspaper delivery and decided to go to another part of Beckenham to pay it. It meant a bit of a walk either side of a short bus journey - which involved getting my walker onto the bus. I re-learned how lovely people are with opening doors for me, etc. I also learned that one of our bus routes was more barmy-old-chap-with-a-pusher-friendly than the other.
We also had a sublime day on Thursday when we had a lovely family visit from Rita's son Russell, his daughters Charlotte, Lydia and Emily - who has been living with us - plus Charlotte's 16-month-old son Freddie .The four generations had lunch together in a cosmic fish and chip restaurant I'd recently discovered on a trip to watch Beckenham Football Club. A great week!!!! Hope your's was OK, too.
Love and best wishes to all the family from
Bill and Rita xx
February 16, 2025
Hello me hearties: At last!!!!!!! I've made my first tentative step in writing my memoirs! its been mulling around in my head for all those 14 months since the BBC disappeared and it is difficult sorting through more than 78 years of working life. Settling down as well after the BBC insisted on my retirement. Eventually my love of the BBC has edged ahead of my indignation.
So much to remember too. In his article on me in the Daily Telegraph, Ben Lawrence commented on my recall. I can't equal the memory of a famous author who remembered being annoyed at the lack of visibility from his pram but I can recall the cries of "good boy " when I achieved a milestone in my potty training!
When I think of the history of BBC local radio my mind always goes back to D-Day and being thrilled at the voice of war correspondent Frank Gillard as he stood on the beach in Normandy. It turns then to his long fight to get BBC local radio set up in the 60's and to his betrayal by a handful of the Corporation bosses nearly 60 years later. Well I've now written a prologue so that's a start.
In the meantime, my constant theme is Harmony Night Lives!!! Its much assisted by our web editor Mark who passed on to me a post from Andrew and Michele of Paglesham Bay in Essex. Andrew recalls me working for Breeze AM in Southend back in 1989 and also, earlier than that, on Radio 2. Rita and I had a lovely four-way telephone conversation with them and hope to meet them soon.
Thanks also to so many members of the Harmony Night family who continue to keep in touch. Charlie Landsborough said that five is the most number of friends you will ever have that you can love and trust. When I look round at you folks plus the lovely nephews and nieces in my actual family I call out an Eric Morecambe shout of "rrrrrubbish....."
Love to you all
Bill and Rita xxx
February 9, 2025
Hello me hearties: First some important milestones in my recovery from my falls: two visits to Bromley, one of them shopping with Rita and - proudly - putting out the dustbins! However I'm paying for them now and my thoughts are turning to my autobiography.
I've first had to sort out my feelings for the BBC, my employers for more than half a century. I get really annoyed with the "defund the BBC " posts you see on social media. There's so much to praise - the morning output is so informative and helpful and the programmes about wartime anniversaries are brilliantly done. Also the brave travelogues from Simon Reeve are wonderful.
Our Harmony Night family though was terribly wronged by the terrible decision to destroy our programme and I have to achieve a balance. I'll start work on it soon.
Very best wishes and love from
Bill and Rita xxx
February 2, 2025
Hello me hearties: Well here we are. So many of our Harmony Night friends have been poorly lately that there's been less and less to report. Happily, I'm fighting back from the several falls I've had either side of Christmas. To guard against the spasms in my right knee that have been projecting to me to terra firma I've taught myself a new way to walk which, though effective, may get myself talked about. Rita is struggling as well but we have a lot of laughs as we try to steer our walking aids round each other.
As usual we've been cheered by our many contacts with the Harmony Night family and on Saturday we had a brilliant day with our Linda and Richard of Maidstone. Today we look forward to seeing Raluca, Rob and their lovely little daughter Amalia. I've known Raluca for over 30 years. They now live in Chelmsford but there was a time when they were in Poland, they worked to help Ukrainian refugees coming over the border.
We also look forward soon to seeing Joyce and Steven of Edenbridge, arguably the bravest members of our HN family. Though they have limited vision, they've recently had a typical adventure: a weekend visit to London with two theatre trips, a climb to the top of The Shard and a night-time expedition to the London Eye.
Love and best wishes to you from
Bill and Rita xxx
January 26, 2025
Hello me hearties: Well doesn't time seem to fly when you get as old as some of us (including me). I suppose one of the advantages for me is that when I shiver with the cold, cricket seems just round the corner.
And it seems only a month or so ago that Pete, Lisa and I used to have those lovely chats on the hour on Harmony Night - completely ad lib too. A miracle of casting saw three folks with similar senses of humour put together
.
Lisa and I love television sub-titles that go wrong. In fact, Lisa used to run a regular feature about them . However I saw one in the week that trumped the lot. The story about Prince Harry's case against the Sun newspaper referred to him as the Duke of Sausage! Leave 'em laughing they say.
We're preparing for a lovely day with Rita's grand daughters at Beckenham Towers but thinking about our lovely Harmony Night family as well.
Love to all of you from
Bill and Rita xx
January 19, 2025
Hello me hearties: Not too much to report this week with our world confined mostly to a small part of Beckenham but we have been getting used to a certain amount of etiquette with our push along things. We're thinking of putting on L plates now that we both have them. We're much concerned with rights-of-way in the hall and in doorways and are trying to learn not to damage paintwork in doorways etc.
A wonderful ever-present is our constant connection with all of you. An amazing irony came with advice from our Lisa to get a Cosi electric blanket for use watching television together. A drawback came when Amazon couldn't get this warming item to us because of challenging weather up north! In the end they gave us the money back and we'll start the whole process again. This will almost certainly bring about an improvement in the weather.
Love and best wishes to all of you from
Bill and Rita xxx
January 12, 2025
Hello me hearties: Well the whole business of AI, IT and much to do with computers tends to confound me and I sometimes have moments of pride when I find someone who knows even less. For instance - I discover that for some reason, Rita can't access some bits of this website on her little tablet that I can find on our computer.
So that's that - but now Mark, our editor of this website has discovered that I've had a number of messages from you that I haven't been able to access. So I'm a comprehensively daft silver-surfer. These messages go back to anything up to a year and, without exception, they are beautiful. I shall devote my time in the coming week replying to them - I promise.
In the meantime I've been enjoying the magic of the third round of the FA Cup, the hotspot for giant-killing clubs. Sadly one of them was Exeter City who dispatched my beloved Oxford United. Never mind, it took my mind back to my soccer reporting days.
In the early days we were only allowed half a dozen in-play 15 second flashes. It was amazing how often something happened during the 15 seconds that turned the game on its head. The most memorable one of these was after 15 goalless minutes of Oxford United v Blackpool. My 15 seconds went: "No goals yet, but its been all Oxford so far. They've hit the woodwork three times, there've been two great saves by the Blackpool 'keeper and two borderline penalties turned down. So - all Oxford. THERE'S A GOAL FOR BLACKPOOL!!!" Hmmmm - back to the studio. Well you can't win 'em all!!!
Much love to you all from
Bill and Rita xx
January 5, 2025
Hello me hearties: well you may never know quite what to expect from me so I'll start with a surprise - praise for the NHS. Showing little improvement from the falls I had before Christmas I tried ringing 111 on Monday and was answered straight away! That was the start of what turned out to be quite an enjoyable day.
A paramedic came and made an assessment and another ambulance crewed by a marvellously cheerful duo Joe and Paul arrived and took Rita and me to the hospital in Orpington. Although the hospital was incredibly busy and we had to spend the whole day there, shuffled to various departments, we were dealt with really thoroughly and with cheerful courtesy and the upshot was that I have no fracture. I still have a bit of a job getting about though and Rita and I have a lot of laughs steering our push-alongs round each other. I hope one day to see Bromley High Street again!
It just remains for us to thank the Harmony Night family and to express our delight with so many of you for being in touch with cards and conversations during the festive season. I'd say " long may it continue" but we know it will. Happily we are also delightfully in touch with the crew - Al, Pete, Lisa and Mark - and we wish you all a Happy New Year.
Bill and Rita xx
December 29, 2024
Hello me hearties: Well we're in our second year of no airtime Harmony Night - and still we exist as a family. I had a lovely call this very day from our lovely Ann of Glasgow who now listens to nothing at all on radio. It started me off writing to the DG to try to explain to him that he has no idea of the enormity of what he and the BBC have done to us all.
I didn't get beyond "Dear Mr Davie". What's the use!!! The idea of getting rid of a beautiful and unique programme is all part of the wider range of daft ideas by seemingly robotic minds and different political colours - re-introducing National Service, cutting off the winter fuel allowance to name just few.
As we enter 2025 we are all still together - to name just a few lovely contacts this week with Tim and Jane of Adelaide, Colin of Fareham, Valerie of Guildford, Helen of Chesham, Arley of Waddesdon, John the Younger of Deal and Rosemary of Wainscot.
We wish you all a wonderful 2025 with love from
Bill and Rita xx
December 22, 2024
Hello me hearties: Well it has to be said - but I feel I've aged about 130 years since my last bit. Early last week I tripped on the little bit of carpet at the door of the kitchen and fell base over apex with my right knee taking the brunt. Since then whatever happened to my knee, it gives way spasmodically and deposits me on the ground, causing me further hurt temporarily damaging me in other parts. Some of me remains intact including my left nostril and right ear lobe.
Also remaining is my sense of humour and my darling Rita. We share our two wheeled pushers (upstairs and downstairs) and of course, the chair lift. Our wonderful Joyce of Edenbridge is coming over with two redundant pushers so we can have the luxury of our own aids as long as we avoid having a traffic jam in the hall.
Well that's the bad news, the good news is that Rita has struck a rich vein of form with a hat trick - three consecutive wins over me at Scrabble - nearly 80 years man and boy as a person of words since I became a 14-year-old junior reporter on the Kentish Gazette set at nought ! Never mind her lovely smile is even more dazzling.
We both wish all of you in our Harmony Night family a beautiful Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Bill and Rita xx
December 15, 2024
Hello me hearties: In one of our more and more frequent excursions into YouTube during the week, Rita and I came across a wonderful concert from Tokyo with the rather cheekily entitled American jazz quartet Fourplay backed by a brilliant Japanese symphony orchestra. They were all so beautifully together and it was strongly poignant for us, a couple who were in the firing line as children in World War 2.
Rita and her grandmother were actually buried when a V2 pilotless plane destroyed the house next door. That concert was a reminder to us of the futility of war when we recalled that the forebears of those musicians were brutally killing each other those years ago. Sadly this irony would be lost on Putin.
On a happier note your lovely Christmas cards continue to arrive at Beckenham . Thanks to you all and also to Rita who is working very very hard on the outgoing cards. I'm lost in admiration for her industry and artistry in conjuring up cards. We are constantly reminded of our beautiful Harmony Night and a regular theme is that we all miss each other and our love of the music. The love and harmony between us remains. The BBC bosses would do us all - and themselves - a good turn by bringing the programme back. Come on Mr Davie - make the big gesture!!!!
Bill and Rita xx
December 8, 2024
Hello me hearties: Well here we are nearly a year since we suffered from one of the many BBC aberrations of the last decade or two, the destruction of our dear Harmony Night. The radio programme has gone, but our family spirit remains.
With almost every post in the last week or so there have been greetings from you - so heartwarming. It has been a strong indication of the family love stretching far beyond the boundaries of Oxfordshire, Hampshire, Kent and Berkshire across the whole of the UK - in fact across the world - as far as we know to Adelaide, The Bronx, Calcutta (our lovely Debraj still prefers the old spelling), Ontario, Berlin and Madeira. Sadly we can't reply to them all - we are lacking some of the addresses - but there's one of many that struck a particular note for us.
We had a card from Jackie and David in East Sussex, the daughter and son-in-law of dear Eileen of St Leonards. They came with her to some of the BRAS lunches. When Eileen sadly passed away in hospital her family were around her bed and, at her request , a Harmony Night recording was playing. So moving , so bitter sweet.
It should bring home to the bosses, the enormity of the Corporation's behaviour, following the move to make the older generation pay the licence fee, exacerbating it by removing some of our favourite programmes and sacking some of our favourite presenters. In my case its difficult to complain at the age of 92, but there are scores of others in the prime of their careers. In many cases those who've had to choose between heating and eating won't have the consolation of lovely music to listen to. Thank you BBC and much much more sincere thanks to all of you - but they can't take the love from us. Sincere good wishes from
Bill and Rita xx
December 1, 2024
Hello me hearties: Here we are back again with lovely Mark and Lisa back from their trip down under. As for me, I'm inclined to have a good rant about all the ghastly things that have been going on but..... no.... its approaching the time of good cheer and I'm happy to be able to say that the Harmony Night family is still very much here and, still scarcely a day goes without communication with one of you.
Just today I had a telephone call from John of Kidlington - just to keep in touch and to tell us what they are doing for Christmas. John and Nora will be travelling to Banbury to be with John' s mum. It was lovely that Mike and Veronica of Basingstoke sent us an email - just to wish us well - to which we responded with the very best of wishes.
We've missed being in touch with Mark and Lisa and hope that they had a marvellous time in Oz.... Love and best wishes to you all from
Bill and Rita xx
November 3, 2024
As I write, we're looking forward to Sunday and a family party for Rita's birthday. The celebration is a wonderful reminder also of the of the widespread love for each other in the Harmony Night family - a wonderful mini avalanche of lovely cards for Rita. The favourite adjective for our programme is still "unique". I feel no conceit in saying that. The programme has just grown up around our crew - Al, Lisa, Pete, Rita, Galya et al - and myself. There was something about the alchemy of Harmony Night that led to the love - not just in the south of England but other parts of the UK and around the world - of our beautiful programme.
Here we are looking at all those cards and wishing we were back on air. Of course there's absolutely no chance of me forgetting my Rita's birthday and even if there were that date, November the 3rd - is etched on my memory. On November the 3rd 1949 I reported for my National Service. Had I known that, eventually, I'd know it as the birthday of the love of my life, it would certainly have taken the edge off my nervousness. That day in 1949 was Rita's 11th birthday. If I'd encountered her on that day I'd probably have gently patted her head and offered her a birthday liquorice allsort.
I can recall that Paddington station was heavily populated by young blokes carrying little cases. We talked to each other in small groups and one of our number said: " I'll tag along with you lads then." Big mistake! The tagging along took him not to his training unit in Oswestry but to ours in Devizes!
Off we go then for the last time for a month. Our esteemed editor Mark is taking a November break and we will back with you on December 1. Very very best wishes from
Bill and Rita xx
October 27, 2024
Oh dear, its happened again. After last week's sad demise of the wonderful Mitzi Gaynor, we now hear we've lost the marvellous Jack Jones. Apart from the world losing a unique singing voice, without Harmony Night we can't pay a proper tribute. He was of course the son of another renowned singer Alan Jones.
I did a couple of interviews with Jack, The first was between shows at the New Theatre, Oxford, when he was too torn apart by the end of his romance with Susan George to do it justice. The second was great. It was on my morning programme at Saga Radio and Jack was on great form. Apart from the on-air chat, he'd just taken possession of a smart phone thing called a Blackberry and we spent some time trying to make out how the ******** thing worked!!!!!
At Beckenham Towers the game of Scrabble is making a comeback. I can recall my lovely late sister Joyce ensuring my humility by soundly thrashing me at it most times. At other times I remember games of Ludo with a former wife. My tactics were as negative as Geoff Boycott's batting and at one of my moves, her ire hit the ceiling - and so did the board and most of the counters.
Peace reigns in the games with lovely Rita and honours are mostly even - not even threatened by her use of the word "qi" after Giles Brandreth had told the world it was permissible. If this word has a meaning it must be pejorative as in " I'm totally qi'd with most politicians world-wide". She still has my love as - from both of us - do all of you. Thinking of you all....
Bill and Rita xx
October 20, 2024
Hello me hearties!! There are so many times when I miss Harmony Night - but particularly when a music luminary dies and I immediately try to think of what to play in their memory on the programme - momentarily, that is, until I realise we haven't a programme to play it on.
Hitting particularly hard this week has been the passing of Mitzi Gaynor - and not only because of the fact that she was born just over a month after my birth making me address my own mortality. Imprinted hard on my memory is her performance in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific, from which I'd certainly played her song Cock-Eyed Optimist.
Apparently the writers didn't like the film version because of the use of colour filters. Like many, I thought it enhanced the action . One of the many things I loved about South Pacific was its anti-racist theme. I first saw it in 1958 and many years later I interviewed the daughter of Richard Rodgers who told me her father was a lifelong anti-racist.
I was very annoyed with the Daily Telegraph for making an important error in Mitzi's obituary. They said the lover of her character Nellie Forbush was killed in the war and she brought up his Samoan children as her own. In fact he made a triumphant return from a dangerous escapade and it was a happy-ever-after ending. Ah well - let the person who never made a mistake cast the first stone!
Love and best wishes to all in the Harmony Night family - all of us cock-eyed optimists in the hope that one day the BBC will see sense and bring back our unique Harmony Night.
Bill and Rita xx
October 13, 2024
Hello me hearties!!!! Well I never! Nine months and a bit since our beloved Harmony Night was strangled . Time flies even faster when you're 93 and my Rita tells me its just the same for her nearing the age of 86 . What is lovely though is that Harmony Night as a family simply refuses to lie down and die .
I can recall a Charlie Landsborough song called Five Fingers which expressed the view that you could count them and know that was the maximum number of people you could count on for true friendship. We loved Charlie as one of the artistes we played on the show - but we've proved that that particular concept is nonsense.
We have so many friends from Harmony Night and through our re-unions etc so many of you are friends with each other. Hardly a day goes by without we have some contact with at least one of you.
Great to have had email contact this week with Val and Bob of Deal, though sad to know they haven't been enjoying the best of health. Also Linda and Richard of Maidstone from whom Rita received a beautiful basket of flowers. And there was Ann of Glasgow who, since the demise of Harmony Night, now listens to nothing. Last but not least Anna of Andover who used to share with us stories of the swans on her local pond. She's sent us a picture of one mum and dad swan with their eight cygnets which we'll send on to Lisa and Mark for the website.
Very best wishes and love to you all from
Bill and Rita xx
October 6, 2024
Hello me hearties: During the week an interesting looking package arrived at Beckenham Towers. Upon opening it, we found an interestingly executed drawing taken from the picture of me displayed with the recent Daily Telegraph article on me.
The artist was our lovely Brian Thompson, leader of Boulevard Swing, often heard in the happy days of Harmony Night. Brian explained that he did his best, but that he was no Rembrandt. We fell about laughing and then decided if it was close to any artist it would be LS Lowry. Well, the dear Mancunian is sadly deceased so can't sue us.
I telephoned Brian and he said: "I thought I'd give you a laugh". I told him he certainly did and that it was better than I could have done. All I could ever draw was my pay. Brian said we could hang it in the loo, but we'd already stuck it on the fridge and, as you can see from Rita's photograph, we are still laughing.
All the very best dear family....
Bill and Rita
September 29, 2024
Hello me hearties: I'll start off with a confession. I got this piece in late this week and if its seeing the light of day I owe it to our brilliant editor Mark. The week has rightly been dominated by the funeral service for Shakun, the lovely wife of Rita's wonderful brother Tony . It was a great celebration of a splendid life and one of those conducted by a celebrant rather than a religious figure . In our experience they tend to bring out the true character of the subject.
Some way down the track, but our Wednesday belonged to an odd happening. Some weeks ago when I was alone downstairs. I looked out of the French window of our living room and there, lying on the carpet just outside was a young-looking fox looking ill and slightly mangy. By the time I'd managed to get Rita to the door, the fox had disappeared. Coming back to last Wednesday, Rita saw the fox re-appearing at the window. By now the mange had spread on his body. He looked up to us with his beautiful face showing stark ,yearning appeal. Rita's grand daughter Emily went to get some food for him, but as she opened the window, he ran off. Ever since, the expression on his face has stayed with us. His time on earth is clearly limited but we hope it is peaceful.
Our love to all of the Harmony Night family.....
Bill and Rita xx
September 22, 2024
Hello me hearties: I don't know about you, but I' still having problems with my ambivalent thoughts about the BBC. On the one hand, I'm lost in admiration at the some of the programmes on television. I've already mentioned the ones involving Freddie Flintoff and Zelensky and now can be added the start of the series about the life of Mozart. Just brilliant and much to be recommended. It can be caught up on iPlayer.
On the other hand there's all the other stuff - for instance Huw Edwards being paid while under suspension - and then, after they knew he'd been arrested not only continuing to pay his massive salary but including the annual increment. I was interested when the item was aired in BBC'S Newswatch with the predictable public criticism. The lass who presents it does a good job of putting it over but the BBC boss who defended the BBC position did a poor job of explaining it and couldn't be bothered to dress decently, wearing a horrible high necked woolly thing - the height of unsmart casual.
OK - call me old fashioned. At 93 I have a right to be but I think the majority of the Harmony Night family would agree with me. The original DG , Lord Reith, must be spinning in his grave. A lovely story about him. Upon it being reported to him that an announcer had been caught in - shall we say - a compromising position with a lady staff member on BBC premises, he ordered: "He must be sacked". Then he relented: "We won't sack him, but he must not, on any account, ever read The Epilogue"!
Something rather warming to close. Our lovely Joyce and Steven of Edenbridge have just paid another visit to Blackpool. They sat in the Tower Ballroom listening to Phil Kelsall at the mighty Wurlitzer organ and were thrilled when he struck up with Here's To The Next Time, our closing signature tune in the happy broadcasting days. He got a mighty round of applause. As we all know, Harmony Night lives on in our hearts.
Love and best wishes to you all...
Bill and Rita
September 15, 2024
Hello me hearties: Well what do we all think of the current political situation? Now that I'm free of the BBC shackles, I'm able to say what I like as long its not libellous. Actually what I say is completely free of political bias since I'm now totally a-political. I wouldn't give thruppence for any of them and didn't vote at the general election.
However, I've often thought I could judge a person by how they look. I was completely on the mark by what I thought of Jimmy Saville, for instance, and now we know of the impending disappearance of the winter fuel allowance, I nod approvingly at my own judgement of Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves. Incidentally why do they keep saying we'll still be better off once we get the triple lock pension increase? By the time that takes effect - for many people the necessary choice of food over heating will sadly have already left its mark.
As I write I read in the Daily Telegraph (Camilla Tominey) that Starmer has become a laughing stock. I rather naughtily posted in the DT "At 93, I'd take two bus journeys and a trip on the train to post a strongly-worded missive through Starmer's letterbox (or words to that effect) if it wasn't for the constable standing outside". In reply to my post someone said:" Do it soon before they take away your free travel pass"....Leave 'em laughing.
Love to you all.
Bill and Rita (though she doesn't necessarily approve of what I've just written!!!!)
September 8, 2024
Hello me hearties! You may think I'm the last bloke to be writing the foregoing but I have to say that, as an online reader of a certain newspaper, I'm upset by the ignorant sniping at the BBC by many people who comment. Usually posted under a nom-de-plume you get stuff like "Defund the BBC" , "Never watch BBC television", "Nothing worth watching, its all rubbish" - and so on. If they never access the BBC, how come they feel qualified to comment on it.
Fair's fair. We watched the first episode of Life of Zelensky and found it amazing . As a couple who found ourselves under enemy fire as children in Southeast England in the 40's, the story was akin to Charlie Chaplin assuming the role of Winston Churchill at that time in this country. Its a story worth telling and in this episode, it is told brilliantly.
Equally fascinating were the revelations about Freddie Flintoff . Countless other good things from the Beeb including the Simon Reeves travelogues, Animal Park and all the helpful programmes in the morning output, including the scam-bashing by Rav Wilding and my long ago acquaintances Gloria Hunniford and Angela Rippon.
All this has tended to be thrust into the background by the various scandals and ,particularly in radio, matters like the Corporation's treatment of we old 'uns. Keep the body going BBC and stop shooting yourself in the foot.
Love and best wishes...
Bill and Rita
September 1, 2024
Hello me hearties! Our lives have been clouded by the passing on Friday of Shakun, the wife of Rita's lovely brother Tony. For decades they'd been totally devoted to each other. At the last she'd been beautifully cared for at St Chistopher's Hospice, Sydenham. Last week Rita and I went to say our goodbyes and Shakun recalled that, in the past, we'd duetted together here on Where The Bee Sucks There Suck I from Shakespeare's The Tempest. At her bedside we softly and word-perfectly sang it again. It was one of the most moving moments of my life. We've just discovered that Shakun had been in touch with their many friends and in the last day or two, they've rallied to his support. So heart-warming.
It seemed almost appropriate that last night we happened upon a television repeat of the superb play Goodnight Mr Tom - the story of a curmudgeonly old blacksmith and rural choir master who, in world war 2 had a small London boy evacuee foisted on him. Slowly though, the young boy melted the old boy's heart . It had so many moving moments bringing tears to both of us. The old boy was played by John Thaw - how come he was never made Lord Thaw? His brilliance was matched by Nicholas Robinson as the boy and its great to find that Nicholas is still involved - mainly now as a producer. He was responsible for a West End stage revival of the Rodgers and Hammerstein show State Fair. So many ups and downs in Goodbye Mr Tom, showing that adversity can add steel to relationships - but we members of the Harmony Night family already knew that.
Much love to you all from
Bill and Rita
August 25, 2024
Hello me hearties: As usual quite a lot of contact with members of the Harmony Night family . Nice to be rung up by Michael of Grays who suggested that we might persuade the BBC to broadcast some Harmony Night repeats over Christmas, We had a lovely conversation, but I did doubt that this was possible. Michael suggested that I could use my "charisma" to talk them into it. I replied that, to BBC management, "charisma" is something that happens on December 25th. Ah well, perhaps I could have a go if I can think of whom to approach.
I've decided to declare a truce with the Bromley supermarket I've been at war with over their closure of cashier desks now that I've found some of the products we bought there can be obtained elsewhere. However, I now find that the wider conflict is showing some victories for us old 'uns. Morrisons and Asda are both having second thoughts about self-service and I noticed Marks and Spencer in Bromley had five human cashiers in action . Hurrah!!!!
Love and best wishes to all of you from
Bill and Rita and all of the crew
August 18, 2024
Quite a lot to say this week. Heard at short notice that my interview with Ben Lawrence was to appear in the Daily Telegraph and did our best to let as many of you know as poss in a few hours. It was a great piece, though sadly there was a bit of wrong information right at the start - that we only heard that Harmony Night was going off air hours before we did. As far as I can recall that was probably a misunderstanding as we talked before the recording was switched on and Ben changed it for the online edition. In fact, as you'll recall, it was a long process after we first heard and we're grateful to our boss Jason Horton for keeping us going six months AFTER the other stations morphed into a ridiculous non-local whole.
Rita and I had a very special day on Friday at Birchington with Nigel and Barbara, unless you reckon you know better from your love-life, the most romantic couple in the Harmony Night family. They met on a a train when Nigel was in the Royal Navy (all the nice girls love a sailor, the song goes). Within weeks they were engaged and they married on Boxing Day in the same year and this Boxing Day they'll celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary. They really ought to tell their story on Michael Ball's Sunday Love Songs on BBC Radio 2.
Speaking of which I get really upset by the trolls online who say things like "Defund the BBC - its all rubbish. Never listen!!". Starting with Michael's lovely programme and Elaine Paige's show time songs on Sunday afternoons, there's also so much to admire on television including Simon Reeve's travelogues, Animal Park and the marvellous Freddie Flintoff's Fields of Dreams.
Much love then to you all from
Bill and Rita
August 11, 2024
Hello me hearties: Well it seems on the much wider spectrum than Harmony Night that just at present love might be triumphing over hatred. On our local spectrum there has never been any doubt about it and its appropriate that as we go to press, our dear Lisa is celebrating her birthday with her Mark and their famous puss Sydney. As the person with the widest contact with our Harmony Night family she's engendered so much of that love and we wish her the happiest of birthdays, [Editor's note: due to a technical error at Beckenham Towers Lisa's birthday was entered into the calendar a month early - she appreciates the early good wishes, but says she will enjoy another month of youth!]
As far as the senior management of the BBC is concerned its possible to forgive them for our destruction as a programme of Harmony Night since they feel none of this love because distance has lent disenchantment to their decision. Our re-unions and my birthday party a fortnight ago show that ,though we're not broadcasting, the family is still very much alive.
I'm in telephone, email and personal contact with as many of you as possible and as long as we draw breath, this will continue.
Love and best wishes to you all from
Bill and Rita
August 4, 2024
Phew!!! That was more like summer weather - and I suppose it was typical August weather when the thunderstorms hit us. As usual we were quite lucky in Beckenham - a heavy and prolonged shower though the thunder and lightning didn't come very close. Up in North Oxfordshire, Mark, Lisa and Sydney reportedly endured something that must have sounded like the Battle of Alamein.
I had a great day at the cricket with our Clive of Sevenoaks on Wednesday - and Kent won!!!! This happened when last we saw Kent together a year ago, so perhaps we have a subtle benign influence.
As ever we maintained contact with lots of you. Dora of Folkestone tipped us off that the film The Great Caruso starring her favourite Mario Lanza was on BBC 2 . We saw and enjoyed most of it and knowing that dear Dora was with us in spirit made it a sort of blessed Harmony Night event.
We'd have seen all of it had our cab turned up at Bromley for Beckenham after a shopping trip instead of -in error - going to Beckenham to take us to Bromley. The cab company was undoubtedly mistaken. though I can't blame them for my exploits earlier in the week searching three or four rooms for my socks before discovering I was wearing 'em. Ho hum.
All the very best me hearties....
Bill and Rita
July 28, 2024
Hello me hearties: Well here I am. Another day/year older and still forgetting myself and planning for a programme that , sadly we no longer have. However, the beautiful birthday party that Rita organised for me was a reminder that the Harmony Night family is still alive and well despite the BBC'S cruel attempt to kill us off. If there was sadness it was that so many of you were not well enough to attend, including one of our resident singers Mandy Winters, Linda Sinclair and Isobel Pearce.
Our editors Mark and Lisa Simmons fought their way through London's traffic. Lovely to see Janet of Broadstairs, Desiree of Highgate, Joyce and Stephen of Edenbridge (who saw to much of the catering) Shanti of Oxford and her son and daughter-in-law Prem and Jackie, my nephews and niece, Raymond, Greg, Michael and Angela, new member but long term Harmony Night listener, Andrew of Islington and our other two brilliant resident singers Rebecca Robinson and Hayley Oliver with their chaps Nick and Dave.
Hayley entranced us all with the news that she and her guitar accompanist Dave are now married and were celebrating their 9th anniversary (days that is). Of course they sang delightfully to us as ever and Rita sprang a marvellous sketch in which she morphed in and out of Joyce Grenfell and Tommy Cooper. All in all a brilliant day.
Love to you all from
Bill and Rita xx
July 21, 2024
Hello me hearties: I've been giving much thought to various 'ism's. My anti-racism view is well known. Most of us have no idea what it can be like to be targeted for our colour. I got a strong insight of it many years ago at a pub lunch before a cricket match at Chipping Norton. A black member of our team went over to another table and asked to borrow the salt. The man addressed picked up the salt cellar, glared at our player and liberally sprinkled salt on his own meal until it must have been inedible. I felt like giving him a smack but confined myself to removing the salt cellar from the idiot's hand and we returned to our table.
Now though, like many members of our Harmony Night family, I know the problem of being victims of an 'ism'. Yes, its ageism - an 'ism' that should be taken more seriously. Enough has probably been said already about the BBC'S obvious intention to destroy local radio. I know its mainly financial, but try to convince any member of our Harmony Night family that their isn't an ageist element. Leaving that aside, there's another element that supermarket customers know well - the dramatic reduction of cashiers and their replacement with machines. Older customers (like us) can't get their heads round machines - and in any case its not easy either for young-uns with an over-flowing trolley.
During the week I paid a lone shopping trip to a supermarket and was astonished to find that there wasn't a cashier in sight when I went to pay. When told that there wouldn't be one for some time, I succumbed to an impulse to address the entire building thus: "If there isn't a cashier in position within two minutes, I'll leave my trolley here, leave the store and never, ever return". I estimate that there was a cashier in position after one and half minutes. I got a few smiles and kind words from some of the older customers. A battle won - but the 'ism' war goes on.
Love and best wishes...
Bill and Rita
July 14, 2024
Hello me Hearties! Well not that much has happened at Beckenham Towers. All quiet on the Western Front you might say - though since we live in South East London, maybe all quiet on the South Eastern Front. We have however, as usual, had some delightful telephone chats with several of you .
Otherwise there has sometimes been a little tension with difficulty in getting the cats, Eli and Kiki, in during the evening. At least the called-out names aren't embarrassing. One of Rita's long ago cats was called Droopy Drawers! Its likely to be even more quiet in the coming week. The cats' human mum, Rita's grand daughter Emily, is on holiday, with the cats in kennels so that their medical needs can be expertly dealt with. We could liven things up by having a quarrel - but we never have those.
I'm looking forward to the birthday party Rita is throwing for me on Saturday, July 27. All the HN family is invited and if you can make it, do let us know. We can't publish our phone numbers here in case any of bad people latch on to it, but if you know them -our numbers, not bad people - give us a ring.
Love to you all
Bill and Rita
July 7, 2024
Hello me hearties!!! Well, for our aim to keep the Harmony Night family together, its been an even better week than usual. Last Sunday our Adelaide listeners Tim and Jane came to see us from their holiday home in Cambridgeshire and what a delight that was (see picture below). They were almost exactly as we imagined them and, as usual, when we see family members for the first time, when we reached the evening, it seemed as if we'd known them for years. Like so many others they have pets and we saw pics of their delightful dogs Archie and Gracie. They started listening some years ago when Tim was browsing the radio for news of the Didcot area where he spent much of his boyhood.
On Thursday we had our first re-union in Berkshire for some years (see picture below) and met, for the first time, Anna of Wokingham and, from the Basingstoke area, Michael and Veronica, Jackie and Tony and Derek (of Derek and Ruffy fame) with his next door neighbour Sophie. There also were friends Keith and Sheila of Tadley, Melvyn and Carol of Burghfield Common and Joyce of Edenbridge. Again, as always, being a family member of our wonderful and unique programme (all down to the family and crew) gives folks a certain sheen and it was a wonderful occasion. Thanks to Joyce and Ossie for the lift down to Berkshire - and it so heartening that at least three of you won the battle with poor health to be there.
Love and best wishes to you all...
Bill and Rita
June 30, 2024
Hello me hearties!!! Its been a delightfully crowded weekend but we've been largely lying low during the mini heatwave. We decided it best to heed warnings about the sun's effect on "people of vulnerable age" and we reckoned that a combined age of over 177 counted as "vulnerable". Rita did one short shopping trip driven thence by Emily and I had a walk to the postbox and a failure to buy the Radio Times! Lots of laughs though included an joint inquiry about whether the cats had been microwaved. You'll be relieved to hear that" micro-chipped" was what was meant!
Fortunately it cooled down for our weekend of visits from Linda and Richard from Maidstone. We never stopped talking and Rita and Linda did a bit of rehearsing for songs they might do for the birthday party that Rita is throwing for me on July 27.
Talking of songs, Michael and Veronica of Basingstoke popped up up with a surprise request for Rita and me to sing We're a Couple of Swells at next Thursday's re-union in Reading. Strangely, top-hatted and scruffified (coined a new word there) we sang that at one of the BRAS garden parties. We reckon we can get away with it if we do it in the car park to save us from the exclusive group of people thrown out of a Toby carvery.
As I write we are awaiting with eagerness the visit of Tim and Jane, Harmony Night family members from Adelaide, who used to listen to us during their breakfast. Its not a 24-hour trip with a stop-off at Singapore they are planning. Luckily they are paying their annual summer visit to the UK and are tackling the still-arduous drive from Huntingdon. Lots to tell you about next week then.
Much love from us both
Bill and Rita
June 23, 2024
Another week of trying to keep up with the Harmony Night family - still very much an entity despite the fact that we're not on air. Is it really half a year since we were removed. Some great successes - we located Tim and Jane of Adelaide who used to listen at their breakfast time to the programme. (by the way, one of the many irritations of using a computer is having your spelling incorrectly corrected - damn American spellchecker - programme is spelt p-r-o-g-r-a-m-m-e).
Any road up I was pleased to discover that Tim and Jane are paying their annual English summer visit to this country. Blessedly they are coming all the way from Huntingdon to Beckenham to see us. On the previous day Linda and Martin are visiting us from Maidstone. Two carvery meals on successive days. I can cope with that. Also I managed to contact Kevin of Formby, a loyal scouser Harmony Night family member who reckons he may be able to come to our Reading re-union on July 4. Hope so Kevin.
Sadly, John and Nora of Kidlington are otherwise engaged on that day - the funeral of John's father Gordon. The service will be at Banbury crematorium at 11.00 am with interment following at the nearby cemetery. The wake will be at the General Foods Sports and Social Club behind the Castle Quay shopping centre.
Love to all of you in the Harmony Night family
Bill
June 16, 2024
Hello me hearties: Well it hasn't been all that event-ridden this week - but one event gladdened my heart. Phil Kennedy, one of the many immensely popular BBC local radio presenters launched into space last year, is back with a show on Radio Kent. Perhaps someone, somewhere is showing a glimmer of sense. The listening figures should produce a searchlight of sense but I'm not holding my breath.
Not encouraged either when I turned the television on for the Trooping of the Colour and found that Claire Balding was presenting it on the BBC. She doesn't exactly spring to the mind in that situation and I'm afraid I re-tuned to the Sky presentation.
Otherwise its been the usual reservoir of happiness at Beckenham Towers and we had a wonderful evening, Rita and I, with the Jerome Kern bio-pic Till The Clouds Roll By on YouTube.
Love to all of you in the Harmony Night family
Bill
June 9, 2024
What a wonderful week it has been for Rita and me - highlighted by a great re-union at the Victoria Hotel, Canterbury - a lovely confirmation that we still have the Harmony Night family though we're still not broadcasting. We haven't given up hope that our unique programme could and should still be the pearl in someone's oyster. It was a really blessed occasion with kisses and hugs all round. A good job Rita doesn't know the meaning of the word 'jealous'. I got more lipstick imprints than I had at a teenage party game of postman's knock - back in the 40's.
A huge thank you to Rita who's done an amazing job of producing the newsletter, As we mentioned earlier the printing firm we used has gone out of business and Rita has painstakingly produced a manual edition - a one-by-one business that has built up stress and fatigue for her. She distributed the first copies at the re-union and more will follow as she continues her battle with the vagaries of the computer. As usual the standard is high but this one, with the advantage of colour pictures, is the best she's done.
We continue to keep in touch with as many of you as we can reach and its so heart- warming that so many of you ask about other members of the family. Ann of Glasgow inquired about Marion of Walmer, still recuperating after her operation. John the Younger of Deal is also keen to pass on his thanks to Di of Kennington for her kind words about his taste in music. Both were avid requestees (is there such a word!) when we were on air. Lovely to hear also from Anna of Andover with beautiful pictures of the male and female swan and their cygnets on her local pond. Meanwhile we look forward to swanning over to Caversham for our next re-union on July 4.
With love to all of you.....
Bill and Rita
June 2, 2024
Hello me hearties: We'll start off with the medicals after which, as in life, things can only get better. Our Marion of Walmer, my fellow nonagenerian is recovering from an operation on her leg resulting from a recent fall and is in some pain, not helped by the fact that she's in a hospital of which she's not exactly a fan. Lisa and I are grateful for frequent texted bulletins from her lovely friend Niki.
Marion, as a devoted fan of Harmony Night, was a star herself in the mid 20th century. As Marion Keane, her singing held her in a stellar position, somewhere in the region of the present day Elaine Paige and Martie Webb and, as a child, entertained folks in a candle-lit air raid shelter in her native Newcastle.
Stephen of Edenbridge is still waiting for his operation. Rita has three grand-children - our resident Emily and Christina and Thomas in Wiltshire - who are not at all well and would benefit from a substantial recovery itself from the NHS.
Now.... I know you're all avid for news of the duck situation here at Beckenham Towers. Well - the fact is - there isn't any. Quite simply no news is good news. During the week, the ducks haven't turned up. They've sent us to Coventry and, after the previous week of a feathered version of an uncensored Fifty Shades of Grey, its quite a relief. Another week of those sort of antics and we might have gone off to the West Midlands city of our own accord.
Separately, we have another re-union at Canterbury on Thursday and we look forward to seeing a good number of you at the Victoria Hotel, just up the road from my birthplace. One of these days I'll summon up the courage to knock on the door at 33 London Road.
Finally, we wish you all the best of luck knowing we all share the luck we have in the love all of us in the Harmony Night family have for each other...
Bill and Rita
May 26, 2024
I have to start this week with a confession: at Beckenham Towers we've been playing hosts - however unwittingly and certainly unwillingly - to a series of orgies. The participants have been our duck visitors. Gone are the days when it was just Fred and Ginger with the occasional romantic interlude. Its 10 years or more and we're not even sure whether Fred and Ginger are among the dramatis personae.
It all began when the Fred and Ginger characters were joined by a larger male duck who forced his attentions on Ginger. Now, we're getting up to four males and an additional female recognised only by a longer beak. We realise its the mating season but mating shouldn't be a cross between rapine and controlling and/or abusive behaviour which would land humans in the dock . As for the females they play hard to get, if you include hiding in the bull rushes and failing to turn up at all . Ah well boys will be boys and ducks will be ducks...
Happier news. We hope our lovely Lisa and Mark had a happy 20th wedding anniversary and yesterday I had a lovely day at the cricket in my beloved home city of Canterbury. Unhappiness for John and Nora of Kidlington, John's father is very ill in hospital at the time of writing and Steven of Joyce and Steven of Edenbridge has had his operation postponed at the last moment . What IS going on in the NHS? Hope it will all be resolved very soon.
As usual we wish all the very best to all in the Harmony Night family.
Bill and Rita
May 19, 2024
Hello me hearties!!! A highlight of our week at Beckenham Towers - yesterday Ben Lawrence, Arts Editor of the Daily Telegraph, came to visit us to conduct an interview and if the laughter engendered between us is anything to go by its going to be , in jazz terms, a gasser. Rita was with us and made many helpful contributions.
Later we were joined by the DT photographer Rii and the laughter continued. She took so many pics and Ben and I discussed so many subjects that I'd estimate the finished product should appear just on time for my 100th birthday! I jest - but I'll let you know the date of publication as soon as I know it.
I had a lovely telephone chat on Friday with our Harmony Night family member Leslie - now living in Maidstone and he played me a clip of me opening my Nightride programme on Radio 2 back in 1985-ish . Bit of a shock, but a pleasant one. Happy days - but my happiest days of broadcasting were yet to come - the days with you , our Harmony Night family.
Very best wishes to you all....
Bill x
May 12, 2024
Dear family: I tend to sing first thing in the morning which Rita, happily, rather likes. I was trilling along happily the other day and went from "The mist of May is on the meadow" to the lovely Rodgers and Hart song "It might as well be Spring" Then I looked out of the window at a dawning of a beautiful day and realised - it is Spring - and we have summer to look forward to. Hooray!!!!
As I mentioned to you recently, Rita has been busy with the forthcoming BRAS magazine - but there has been a slight setback. The firm that printed it has gone out of business, which has also been a setback for our lovely Heather, who was so helpful. Rita will now be self-publishing it with the help of her wonderfully techno-wise grand daughter Emily, who often acted as a resident auxiliary engineer when we were on air.
We're still keeping in touch with as many of you as we can and now have a provisional date for another re-union at the Caversham Bridge branch of the Toby Carvery - July 4 - and look forward to seeing those of you within reach of Reading.
All the best to all of the family....
Bill x
May 5, 2024
Dear Family....Well I've come to a big decision!!!! It happened the other day when our Al texted me and told me that local radio boss Chris Burns was talking about the infamous re-organisation on Radio 4's Talkback. The subsequent platitudes and dodging of questions sent me into a rage - and led me to send a rollicking e mail to the lady.
Well - it was the ultimate catharsis - and I sat myself down and told myself I'm not going to spend the rest of my life ranting about what's happened. Positive thinking is going to take over - including gratitude that our beautiful Harmony Night happened at all, giving us friends that we wouldn't have known about otherwise. Its wonderful that we've managed to keep the spirit going.
We talk to as many of you as we can, we've had two lovely re-unions at Beckenham and Abingdon, with a third one round the corner in Canterbury. At this one my real family - nieces, nephews and cousins - mix happily with the rest of our family. We enjoy all the telephone conversations we have with you - the other day delightful ones with two of our Annas - of Wokingham and Andover - the sound of their laughter as much music to my ears as Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings or Elgar's Nimrod. Even being bitten on the hand by Kiki had its upside - bringing new ways of rising from a sitting position. That's it then - no negs - all pos's.
Love and all the very best wishes to you all.....
Bill and Rita
April 28, 2024
First of all, sad news: June Kennet who, with her husband Derek, was the brilliant Kent organiser of BRAS, has passed away. Derek was a school mate of mine in Canterbury, until my family moved to Bekesbourne when I was eight.
While we're using the word "organiser", our lovely reunion at Abingdon on Thursday took a bit of organising because a platoon of you attended. However, it was a marvellous occasion made the more so by the efficient and smiley staff of the Boundary House. (Rita and Lisa took some lovely photos, which you can view on the Crew Messages page.) We, however, missed Ian of Harwell and Jenny because Ian was ill and also Danny of Headington for the same reason.
Melvyn of Burghfield Common and his wife and sister had to drop out because Melvin's daughter collapsed at work. Luckily we can rule out a heart attack, with the illness put down to stress. Otherwise we had a great day with lots of people putting faces to names. I enjoyed swapping memories with Sue Calvert-Fisher who worked with me on the Oxford Mail more than 60 years ago, starting with the dreadful winter of 1963 when snow drifts were piled high from the New Year until mid-March.
Finally, sorry to say, my right hand is swathed with bandages , after our cat Kiki bit me while I was trying to get her in for her supper. Ever since, she's been begging for forgiveness purring and rubbing round me . Didn't need a tetanus jab though - that was a couple of bites ago . She just gets over-amorous!
Love to you all....
Bill
April 21, 2024
Hello me Hearties!!!! I thought it might be nice to start with the hearty welcome we used to call at the start of Harmony Night. So far, time has failed to dilute our love for the programme which we didn't really plan to cause such an ocean of affection, but which evolved through our combined liking for the sane world we used to inhabit. We look forward to seeing lots of you at our Abingdon re-union on Thursday.
Rita is beginning to formulate plans for the next BRAS magazine. It might be worth mentioning that it started off as the official organ of BRAS with a subscription from members. Time however, has blurred the circulation with the growth of the Harmony Night family, with invitations to the re-unions to anyone with a reciprocated love of the programme . As a result, Rita is dipping into her own pocket for much of the production cost. If you haven't so far contributed, a £5 payment would be much appreciated. Our email address which we also like to use for non-fiscal messages (!) is radiorennells@aol.com.
Like all of you, we are enjoying the onset of spring at Beckenham Towers. The wisteria viewed through our living room window is impossibly beautiful. However, there was another sad landmark in the murder of Harmony Night when we gave up the equipment we used to broadcast from here. The silver lining was that we made yet another lovely friend in Sharon Terry who called to pick it up. We had a wonderful chat together and she helped us with a search for our Eli who, we thought had disappeared when the wind blew open the bolted back door .
Eli was confined to barracks because he was wearing the "lampshade" to prevent him licking his poorly back foot. Rita and I frantically continued the search for much of the remainder of the day, until we discovered that our Emily had taken him to the vet's where she works! Sharon, by the way, who works in content at Radio 4 and reads weekend news at Radio Kent, lives just round the corner from us.
Very best wishes to you all from all of us.
Bill
April 14, 2024
Hello lovely family: Well our re-union at the Toby Carvery, Beckenham, turned out to be a bijou affair with Peter and Tricia of Fulham and Paddy and James of Sevenoaks not being able to make it and Steven of Edenbridge sadly not well enough to attend. So we had Steven's wife Joyce, Linda and Richard of Maidstone, Keith and Sheila of Tadley, Desiree of Highgate and Rita and myself. Covering a much smaller area of the table, it meant we could all join in the one conversation.
There'll be a whole platoon of us at the Boundary House, Abingdon, on Thursday 25th April so it should be uproarious. If we get the same beautiful weather as we had yesterday, it'll be brilliant.
We're still in touch with members of the family almost every day. Arley of Waddesdon hasn't been well and neither has Kathy of Sheppey. Sadly, Marion of Walmer has had yet another fall. Our Lisa has been brilliantly keeping in touch with Marion including, at least once, travelling all the way from North Oxfordshire to East Kent to see her and I'll find out from Lisa if Marion can be reached by telephone.
All the very best to all of you....
Bill and Rita
April 7, 2024
Hello lovely family: Well - one of the highlights of my week was going along to Lords and renewing my acquaintance with the former Kent captain Sam Northeast. It turned out to be a highlight for him, too. He got the highest score of any batsman in the whole history of Lords - 335 not out. It was for Glamorgan. How come Kent let him go!
We're looking forward next Saturday to the first of our Harmony Night re-unions since the programme was strangled by the BBC. We're restricted at the Toby Carvery, Beckenham, but it looks as if we might have a few vacancies if you'd care to contact me at radiorennells@aol.com
Best wishes to you all.....
Bill and Rita
March 31, 2024
Hello lovely family: It has just struck me that one of the problems parallel with the scandal of BBC local radio's transparent destruction has been the decline of investigative journalism in the National Press in the last few decades, For instance, the sudden prosecution of hundreds of sub-postmasters should have triggered a massive response at the time from national newspapers. Years and years later it took action from one of the persecuted sub-postmasters.
There has been sporadic condemnation in the media about local radio's so-called re-organisation but, generally speaking , there hasn't been a sustained campaign anywhere against the BBC'S transparent policy of deliberately weakening local radio to make an excuse, probably not far down the line , to take it off altogether. Never mind - Harmony Night LIVES! We're still a family.
At Beckenham Towers our ducks have made a return to our pond. On their previous visit several months ago, Fred and Ginger were joined by a much larger male we called Arnold (Schwarzenegger) whose advances on Ginger had to be repelled by Fred. This time the trio seems to have called a truce and there's a degree of togetherness with sex apparently taken out of the equation (so far).
Meanwhile, we've continued to keep in touch with as many of the family as possible. Sadly Stephen of Edenbridge has been poorly in hospital at Tunbridge Wells and Joyce visited him every day by taxi. We all wish him a speedy recovery.
Much love to you all and a very Happy Easter from the Harmony Night crew
March 24, 2024
Hello lovely family: Well, another week of great connections with many of you and thanks for a record number of Easter cards we've had. Just thinking of something we'd certainly have shared with you on our 11 and 12 talk bits on Harmony Night. We heard of a de luxe chair lift that gets you upstairs so quick that you don't have time to forget why you were going upstairs!
Talked yesterday with Anna of Andover who gave us delightful news that spring has sprung - the swans are nesting again on their local river. We've also been in touch with Roy in Westcliff, Mary in Newbury and Mike and his dog Ruffy in Basingstoke. One thing that has occurred to me is the number of local radio broadcasters turning up on national television and radio. From Radio Oxford alone there's Emma Vardy, Adina Campbell, Helen Catt, Robyn Cowen, Henry Moeran and Sejal Karia. In the past there's been Libby Purves, Tony Adamson and - well - me! Here's an avenue of recruitment that will be severely curtailed now that local radio has been ripped apart - and will entirely disappear as a result of the damage damage now being inflicted.
And if we want proper music we have to play it at home. At Beckenham Towers we listen, with our breakfast, to wonderful music on our CDs, particularly the light music kindly sent to us by our mate Roger of Horsham. Thanks so much Roger and best wishes and love to you all....
Bill and Rita
March 17, 2024
Hello lovely family: Happy to tell you that Rita and I may have given up giving each other colds - we're both so generous - and are now down to slight sniffles! The bad news is that our lovely Lisa has been proper poorly since my last missive, but happily is now on the mend. Its been another week keeping up with the Harmony Night family and have had some great telephonics. One was with one of our resident singers Mandy Winters and her husband Geoffrey . She is marvellously cheerful after making an amazing recovery from her long stay in hospital a few years ago.
We also talked to Joyce of Edenbridge. We are lost in admiration for Joyce and her husband Stephen , who have something like 15 per cent of eyesight between them. Yet they travel around all over the place. Currently they are planning to visit Blackpool for a second time - mainly to see their idol Daniel O'Donnell - but they are including Blackpool tower in their itinerary. We also had a call from Rosemary of Wainscot . She and her partner Jim are also in good spirits, though as supporters of Gillingham FC they have quite a bit to put up with!
I've also swapped emails with my fellow nonagenarian Paddy Gaywood who holds high office with the 40 Club, an organisation for elderly cricketers. Though my playing career lapsed some time ago, age wise I'm a member more than twice over. Like so many of us she mourns the passing of Harmony Night as a programme but we hope to see her and her husband at one of our reunions.
As ever, best wishes and love to you all
Bill
March 10, 2024
Hello lovely family: Well, we're still sneezing and coughing our way through the days here, so not too many outings - and its no consolation that quite a few of you have also been ailing. Sadly that includes Val of Deal, who's had a bad attack of Covid, Linda and Richard of Maidstone and Kathy of Sheppey who gave us a welcome ring the other day. We had a lovely chat with Kathy, giving us her views on the loss of Harmony Night, with her wonderful Poplar accent sprinkled with the Anglo-Saxon.
We've also been busy organising the two family re-unions. The London one at Beckenham is a bit restricted, because of the room at the Toby Carvery, but there are one or two places left. One of our problems is that the swift removal of my BBC account didn't give time to take a note of your details. If you haven't heard from us since we left please drop us a line on radiorennells@aol.com. We recently had a nice chat with Marion of Liss and shared our joint love of the television programme Call The Midwife.
Rita and I also enjoy dipping into YouTube with its recent introduction of episodes of the grand old This Is Your Life programme. Particularly moving was the one about the marvellous Douglas Bader. Particularly poignant was his comradely hug with the German ace Adolf Galland - a reminder, in the current climate, of the futility of war....
Love to all of you from all of us.
Bill
March 3, 2024
Hello lovely Harmony Night family members: Well life has been on hold a bit this week. Both Rita and I have coughed and sneezed our way through the days - I think about 17 sneezes in one session has been my record. However, to us its just a reminder of how together we are. Not a week passes without a reminder of our simultaneous thought processes. The more mundane they are, the more amazing. This week's main example was Rita thinking :"Perhaps we'll have those apple turnovers and immediately me saying: "Shall we have those apple turnovers". We have a joint reminder of the love we've come to share together in our ancient years. And its so much that we have some left over for our Harmony Night family and Al ,Pete, Lisa, Mark and the others who've worked with us, as that multiplies and spreads like the feeling on a summer's day .
Pete has kindly recorded for us that amazing last programme on New Years Eve/Day and we listened to it yesterday with mixed emotions. The uppers were the heart-warming messages we received from you, the downers were in the incredulity that the BBC should be so heartless as to destroy such a jewel in the crown as Harmony Night and to cause such heartbreak in the process . I find no joy in predicting that within 10 years or so, there will be no BBC .
We did find family joy on Friday when we'd sufficiently recovered from our maladies to have a family get-together. Rita's granddaughter Emily happily got through an operation and we had with us Emily's partner Eosa, Rita's son Russell and her granddaughter (and Emily's sister) Charlotte and her little 3-month-old son Freddie. He's Rita's second great grandson and he's grown from a gorgeous little bundle to a gorgeous aware, smiling and happy little bundle . We wish this sort of happiness on all our extended Harmony Night family. Our joint love is something the BBC cannot destroy...
Bill
February 25, 2024
Hi family - my weekly report on how things are going in my enforced retirement. I've sent out a couple of cheeky letters - the least cheeky one to the boss of Boom Radio, suggesting that we'd love to move Harmony Night lock stock and barrel to one of Boom's titles. Awaiting a reply on that one. The other letter went to the Head of Radio 2 Helen Thomas, upon my reading that they are proposing to launch a new channel for underserved music, suggesting a similar thing to her for that channel. I thought "underserved" would certainly describe our music. A week has gone by since I wrote that letter so it might just be that its being considered. I hope so. Most of the music knocking about nowadays is not so much underserved as undeserved.
The wildlife is beginning to stir at Beckenham Towers. The biggest fox we've ever seen has started to wander round our back garden. Our pusscat Eli advances on it menacingly, while his sister Kiki looks on with concern - but before Eli has a chance to display his heroism our near-resident magpie Dick Dastardly flutters wildly at the fox, closely followed by his unlikely ally Peter the pigeon and the fox retreats to and over the back fence. That's it folks. More news next Sunday....
Bill and Rita
February 18, 2024
Hello Harmony Night family: An excellent idea from our Editor, Mark to look back on the week as we used to in our hourly chats on the programme. Well its still a story of marvellous support from so many members of our Harmony Night family. Since we disappeared off air never a day has gone by without contact from some one in the family and its so very heartening .One problem is means of making contact for those who are not online. If you happen to be in contact with non surfers you could perhaps let them know. We're very sad at the loss of Steve Wright and I've been in touch with a mate and former colleague Gavin McCoy who was the voice of the cinema manager and the hairdresser on Steve's Radio 1 show. I notice a wave of grief online from Steve's fans slightly and sadly offset by the usual trolls who have a "so what" attitude to the way he was treated by the BBC. I posted one reply to the effect that none of these considered the effect that this had on the listeners. In my own case my main thought was your sadness. Harmony Night was really your programme and you were the producers, giving the programme wonderful balance with your variegated requests . I'm still very much in touch with Mark, Lisa, Pete and Al and together we are determined to keep the Harmony Night flag a-flutter. More next Sunday. 'bye for now...
Bill
January 12, 2024
Well two Sundays have elapsed since Harmony Night was strangled and, no doubt like all of you, we still can't get used to just retiring to bed at 10 and trying to forget the aching void between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m . As a result of my last post ,there was some interest in national newspapers, notably The Sun. Sadly those who commented seemed to think I was complaining completely on the effect on myself. One of them said: "Probably the BBC was fed up with his comb-over!!!". However I think I speak for all of the marvellous Harmony Night crew when I say that our main feelings are with all of the family, particularly those of you living alone. Our lovely Lisa tells us that one lady spoke only to her all week when she rang in to Harmony Night.
The heart-warming and sometimes heart-breaking messages are beginning to include the word "bereavement" and ,to some extent, that's how it seems to us . In fact, in my humble opinion ,the national media, has failed to notice that the " local radio re-organisation" is the first clumsy step to abolish local radio altogether - just as it failed to notice the Post Office scandal as it developed . Sadly, investigative journalism is going down the pan and many so-called news hawks wouldn't know a story if it kicked them in the behind . There - a rant on your behalf !. The important thing is that we are all together and we're beginning to plan some re-unions.
Love to you all.....Bill
January 6, 2024
Dear family.
Here it is Saturday Jan 6 2024 and I still find myself thinking of things to do in Harmony. I have to pinch myself to tell myself we are no more as a radio family .As long as I can remember, there's always been radio. When I was a child in London Road, Canterbury, the radio was on all the time. As I drifted off to sleep the sounds of dance bands floated up the stairs from the radio . I recall radio plays too and resolving at the age of six or seven that when I grew up I would be a Great Lover! Then, of course, I didn't know all the details implicit in such a title.
Later, perhaps when I was eight-ish I resolved to be a radio announcer and 31 years later, at the age of 39 the ambition was sort of realised . After many years of bouncing around southern newspapers as a journalist, I decided to apply for a job on the new BBC Radio Oxford and became a programme assistant in the newsroom there.
Like the rest of us I got the chance because of the successful campaign by the renowned war correspondent Frank Gillard to set up local radio . I was so proud to be with the BBC and still look back with pride . I am however unhappy with some of the senior appointments that I consider to have dragged the Corporation down.
Recent events have been the prime example and we now see what is clearly the first instalment of a blatant attempt to save money by abolishing local radio altogether . Scores and scores of the best presenters and backroom staff have been jettisoned and others like our great ex-producer Al Ryan have seen what's coming and have simply and sadly gone away . Their replacements might be all right but their terms of reference have manifestly not produced the sort of programmes that our audiences want.
Clearly , listening figures will haemorrhage and there'll be the excuse to close the whole lot down . My sympathies lie not only with our wonderful Harmony Night family but also the middle management that has had to introduce the changes. I suspect that they are simply carrying out the orders of senior management - very senior management . One, who's name I could mention, has been a really good boss and a thoroughly nice person. I can't believe that he honestly thinks that the "re-organisation" will work. I'm so sorry that the dislike for him has hovered somewhere between that addressed to Meghan Markle and Vladimir Putin.
So many adjectives have been used for the destruction of our beautiful Harmony Night and the league leader of those is "cruel" . Our last night was so emotional. It is ludicrous that they destroyed us when the programme was at the height of its strength and popularity . Our tears have joined yours in despair but we have resolved that the Harmony Night family will live on. We'll keep in touch with as many of you as possible and have re-unions in several places . Happily we have this website, brilliantly set up by our Mark and Lisa to help this along. Truly it is au revoir and not goodbye.
Much love to you all from Bill and Rita
