The Thames Estuary
From the Air
Page 1 of 2
Aerial photographs taken in 1985 by Jon Bird
Radio Caroline vessel - Ross Revenge in the Knock Deep
The mid-1980's was a period when Radio Caroline faced it's first real competition since the 1970's
Back then Radio Northsea, Veronica, Atlantis, & the fledgling 192, Capital & Mi-Amigo were all competing for listeners
Ding Ding wake up time, Radio Caroline had had stiff competition in 1964 with the arrival of the Radio London or Big L, nothing to do with the station masquerading as Big L today
Radio London was a slick Top 40 station based on the proven WABC American Dallas formula, Radio London even had re sung PAMS Jingles
Caroline was forced to rethink her imaging and music programming as Big L cleaned up
Radio London was by all intents and purposes the Number One Offshore Pop Pirate of the 60's
Blown out of the water again, history repeated itself in the mid-1980's when Laser 558 arrived with its tight & highly formatted Hot Hit programming
The output on 576Khz wavered with crew changes, musically it was a mishmash of the old LA (Loving Awareness) album track philosophy with a scattering of Top 40 so Caroline struggled to find identity & listeners
Ronan wanted to compete with Laser but feared a mutiny from the 70's Caroline stalwart's still aboard
An official boat buzzes the ships before making back to Essex
Luckily the daytime output of the 50kW RCA TX & studio space had been contracted to the Dutch Radio Monique
Radio Caroline was kept buoyant & survived almost entirely from these proceeds
Supplying the ships was a challenge
Bulky items, fuel & water generally came from Holland & the Benelux countries
Whilst day to day supplies & often crew came out of Ramsgate, Whitstable, Sheerness & backwaters of the Essex coast
Ross Revenge with the Laser ship in the distance
Laser 558's - MV Communicator
Laser 558 though was to get too big for it's own sea boots
Gaining a massive audience was one thing revenue quite another
Would be advertisers were scared off by visits from authorities, even roadshows weren't immune
The Dioptric Surveyor anchored in the immediate waters, she'd been chartered to starve out the Pirates, more specifically targeting Laser 558 as on-air jocks mercilessly taunted the Department of Trade & Industry
The blockade called Eurosiege silenced the station
When Laser closed Caroline moved to 558Khz, if as everyone's said it was a better channel why then hadn't it been selected in 1983?
Trading on a name, but why?
There's no doubt Caroline grabbed a bilge full of attention as Britain's first Offshore Station, there are many conflicting views about the Pirate's best period, what is certain is that to this day others have wanted to adopt the brand
Caroline fragmented after the sea act of 1990's, losing her anchor she'd floundered on the notorious Goodwin Sands. Towed into Dover she operated a restricted licence broadcast on 88 Mhz FM from the historic Granville Dock
The ship was then towed to the River Blackwater to anchor off Bradwell Marina, Essex then onto London's Docklands, later the pier head at Southend, Essex making short term broadcasts from these locations
In conjunction a satellite service was launched based at the Television Studios, Vintners Park, Maidstone then from a private residence in Aylesford before re-siting in Stroud
In the 1998 Holland launched a Dutch Radio Caroline
Bob Noakes was a partner with Ruud Poeze in the short lived station called the Bells 199 which made a brief appearance in Holland
In 2001 another Dutch
team were granted 3,000,000 cable connections but we needed to supply 24/7
programming. Unfortunately Caroline was then only on during the weekend. So
gaps were filled by Radio Caroline Holland, as airtime from England increased
it was mixed with sub leasers which the Dutch Radio Authority didn't like
The name change in Holland came about as it proved to it being impossible
to come up with the necessary money to continue with cable. The Dutch didn't
go bankrupt but stopped broadcasting with legal ties between Caroline severed
Thereafter a new entity began called Radio Seagull which operates on 1602 Khz
Radio Seagull Lightship Jenni Baynton in Harlingen Harbour pictured by Dave Foster
Radio Caroline South came on with an in dependant Southern European service, providing weekend programmes & an FM relay of Radio Caroline's satellite output for the French & Italian Riviera's
Now in December 2007 it's said that an old Scottish trawler the 'Rivero' moored on the River Medway might become another Radio Caroline
And more bells another Radio Caroline North may appear. Maybe but unlikely from the Ross Revenge or another ship currently being surveyed
The station would moor off the Isle-of-Man taking over from the aborted long-wave project that's been years in planning
4/12/07 - Its certainly not abandoned by any stretch of the imagination. Although fair to say that Iwalked out on it a year ago, due simply to frustration at the Board being unable to agree to the major investment terms, & needing to go and earn some money! - Paul Rusling
The bottom line is that Caroline was first & whilst maybe not financially successful after 1967 she's always flown the flag of freedom
The question is why mimic Radio Caroline when it's so easy to do something original?
A names a name which now means precious outside the radio fraternity
Grateful thanks to Jon Bird for the excellent photographs
Also to Dave Foster, Sietse Brouwer, Simon Cowel & Jim Burton for their contributions & input to this feature
The late Jon Bird was a long time talented artist from Whitstable
His colourful work is fairly priced & unique bringing a vibrancy to any setting