Radio Sutch & City in Pictures

Part 4

Issue: 10 Updated: 28th August 2020

Welcome back to Shivering Sands

Fred Downs stands off the Fort in Harvester 2

His Whitstable Fishing boats were the Harvesters 1 & 2: F121 & F122 carried the local licensing authority port (F) for Faversham

Leaving a lonely sole climbing the G1 Southern Gun Tower in 1964

Just visible the hoist hook not yet pressed into service for lifting personnel aboard. You can also just make out the ariel scaffold poles, feed came out of the centre of a transmitter room rear window on north western side

Birmingham friend of Reg Calvert acted as Fort Guard over Christmas 1964

Chris braving the breeze on the first level of the landing stage in a coat he virtually lived in on the Fort

The rotten catwalk that was to be condemned to the deep to be replaced by the famous "Jungle Walk" see the pictures in Sutch & City Part 2

Catwalk coupling arrangement

Original design section of Catwalk showing support & sliding bearing arrangement, drawings by J A Posford the fort builders from "The Construction of Britain's Sea Forts"

Dick Dixon

Dick dressed in his usual black roll-neck

'Halifax' aircraft transmitter

Used by Radio Sutch on 197 metres, survives to this day

The frequency was in fact 187 metres but David Sutch and Reg Calvert made up the slogan 'You're in heaven on 187' later used by Swinging Radio England on 227

General Electric TCK-7 Transmitter

Replaced by the former US Naval General Electric TCK-7 Transmitter nicknamed "Big Bertha" on 299 metres shown above before being joined by a surplus MoD Airforce Cossor transmitter to run 188 metres

26/12/07 - The General Electric TCK-7 medium wave TX covers 300 to 600kc, 837 master oscillator, 807 Intermediate power amplifier with a pair 813s in the final amplifier. CW and MCW modes, 400 watts carrier output at 1800V on the plates - 73, Rob Flory

TCK-7 Chest Microphone and Generator

Stable food consisted of lumpy mash, not much potatoe left after the eyes had been removed with processed peas, this along with the tinned meat pies kept most of the fort stations going, all washed down with tea laced with sickly "Fuzzels" canned milk after the nasty sterilized stuff had run out

An electric kettle appeared, but it was never switched on during the day. Our first small "Lister" generators just weren't capable of providing enough power, if the kettle or the electric hoist was used the record decks slowed down!

Martin Green

Radio City boasted the first Dutch DJ Martin Green pictured above during a programme in 1965

See Martin Green feature

Trinity House vessel 'Patricia'

Whilst the "Patricia" passes by on her way towards the Queens Channel

There's another picture of this Trinity House service ship in Sutch & City Part 1

QSL Card

QSL Card depicting the 1966 line-up; Alan Clarke, Ed Moreno, Tom Edwards, Phil Jay who never once set foot on the fort rather recorded "Discomania" on shore, Dennis "the menace" Strankey, Ian MacRae & Paul Elvey

The Radio City programme schedule through early 1966

Radio London (Big L) Logo

Visitors from Radio London popped over to have a look at the set-up in 1966 but thier representatives Kieth Skues, Duncan Johnson & Engineer Martin Newton were not impressed so negotiations to take over Radio City's 299 output ceased

Tom Edwards in the last studio

The 3" tape reels above the panel were commercials and jingles still being played out from the old 1958 Brennell MK5 tape decks

Studio notice Part 1

To Tom's right for reference this station Memorandum shown in section for clarity was pinned on the studio wall

Some Tower of Power T' Shirts also survive to this day!

Studio notice Part 2

As well as dog eared copies of The London Weekly Advertiser

A close-up view of the platform following the raid of June 1966

In the early days under normal circumstances there were seldom more than three or four people on the fort at any given time

Final programme schedule

Also from the studio wall this was to be the final programme schedule

Tender leaves Shivering Sands February 1967

Onboard the Tender : Leslie (Luc) Dunne, Alan Clark, Paul Kramer & Eric Martin

Remaining on Fort: Ian MacRae, Tom Edwards & Ross Brown

Shivering Sands 1

Finally some contemporary pictures of Shivering Sands taken in the summer of 1992 during an Invicta Radio listener broadcast whilst sailing around the forts

Shivering Sands 2

Even to this day the Radio City logo is still prominent testimony to some good paint!

Shivering Sands 3

One of the four Whitstable fishing boats on the cruise sailing north westerly around the fort cluster

Grateful thanks to Dick Dixon for some of the early photographs, & the recently discovered recordings of Roy Daley at Christmas 1964 & the Religious & Cultural test transmission

Terry Vacani for the Radio City printed data retrieved from Shivering Sands in 1967

Pete Collison for the colour photographs from 1992

And the pictures we had at the Radio City office believed to have originated from Eric Jay

This story continues from Sutch & City Part 5

I would like to thank you for your website. I acquired a TCK-7 transmitter the same model you Radio City guys used. I'm in the process of building a high level plate modulator which the original TCK-7 did not have. I plan to get it on the air this spring.
Thanks again from your friends across the pond, Bob Bartola

Well what can I say? except what a truly informative and bloody good site Bob! the Radio Sutch & Radio City stuff really captured my imagination, listening to the audio clips and looking at the photos was great. Cheers! Steve Hibbert from Ealing in London

I wanted to let you know that the Sealand VCD and Radio City posters arrived safe and sound, I enjoyed the VCD tour very much. I had no idea everything would be in such good condition 60+ years on. Alan