Radio Stockton Heath

Here,  we talk about the year 1971 and how it had an impact on pop music. We get introduced to singer songwriter Lally Stott and his hit single 'Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep', as well as discussing Rod Stewart, David Bowie, Marc Bolan, George Harrison and the Rolling Stones.

Here is the audio narration from a MUSICAL STEPS video of Warrington as seen by Viola Beach.

Here is a recording of a drive from Stockton Heath to Cronton, Widnes. No plans or script. A simple audio snapshot of the journey on March 17th 2022.

I thought I'd atke a quiet walk along Dingleway in Appleton for old time's sake seeing as my Grandad would have been 110 today!

Here, we take a MUSICAL STEPS walk through Lymm village and discuss Ian Brown, the solo artist that was formerly the singer for the Stone Roses.

I thought I'd take a walk around where I grew up and see if it's changed much.

In 1965, Paul Simon temporarily lived in England and played at various small venues; mostly folk clubs. His song 'Homeward Bound' has long been argued was written at Widnes railway station. Here's a discussion  and analysis of the lyrics. For the video, please visit: https://youtu.be/BEnAlPyXiPM  

This is a 'Musical Steps' podcast as I walk along Old Pewterspear Lane in Appleton to the site of the bungalow Beatle George Harrison bought for his parents in 1965. The bungalow allowed his parents some tranquillity away from the hundreds of fans that swamped their existing Woolton home. It is at the Appleton bungalow that George Harrison wrote 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps'. A corresponding video of this walk can be found at the link below. https://youtu.be/HmZKnIaGVQA

Experimenting with some new software to make recording different people in different locations easier, I chatted with Gareth Heesom about songwriting, the Mersey gateway bridge, gigging and other such inconsequential topics. Here's that test recording. It's a bit muddy. And in mono. So, I won't be buying the £160 software. There is a live 'standing in a beer tent' hand held stereo recording I made of one of Gareth's songs at a recent gig though. So, all is not lost. :)

This is episode 2 of my chat with Junior Dayvis about his single 'Elvis Is King', guitars and about songwriting generally.

I'd organised a phone podcast with Junior Dayvis to talk about his new single 'Elvis Is King', but we got talking about all sorts of things whilst I was setting up the levels etc. As always, Junior entertained me - and, therefore, I thought it worth publishing the pre-chat we had prior to discussing his new single. That podcast will follow! By the way, this episode is sponsored by CHEFY. www.chefy.uk

Taking a break from creating 'DigIllustrations', I went for an evening walk on a most poignant day - VE Day - down the lanes and roads that mean so much to me, for various reasons. I talked to myself. I had nothing planned. I simply wanted to take in - what we all possibly previously took for granted prior to lockdown - our home surroundings. There had been plans built up by the media / government for weeks to turn the evening into a huge celebration. I'm not sure 'celebration' is the right word to use. This podcast is as simple as it can get. No music. No comments. No local information. Just a simple spontaneous narration that can be used for the people that follow us in the coming centuries; if the human race survives. I hope it does.   By the way, you can buy my digital images at the link below. https://digillustrations.bigcartel.com/

It's been a while since the last podcast. So, I thought I'd better do one today seeing as the UK has shut down with the virus. Apart from the really serious implications to life, this has also meant many pubs and clubs - that provide live music - have closed down for the next few months. As a result, many musicians will struggle to pay their bills. I rang my musician mate Gareth Heesom to chat to him about it. Here's the phone call.

In this podcast, I talk about Zeppelin L61. This WW1 German airship brought death and destruction to Cheshire and Lancashire a century ago. During bad weather, L61 flew west over Warrington towards Moore and on to Runcorn and Halton before heading north again over Liverpool and on to Wigan before returning to Germany. Music featured in this podcast was written and performed by myself, with live performances of Junior Davies, Gareth Heesom and Nathan Greenfield that I recorded at a recent songwriter's evening hosted by Junior and played through my QSC digital PA and recorder.  

TICK IT TO RIDE It's been a little while since the last podcast. So, I thought I'd better create a good one. Here, you'll hear me talk about new and old transport around Warrington and Stockton Heath. And how salt was a commercial commodity around Lymm. You'll get to hear some great songs by Matt Jefferson, Dave Cannon, Gareth Heesom and Jonny Daniel too. I do have other recordings of other artists that I didn't get space to fit here. S, I'll use them over the course of the next few podcasts. See you soon.

After reading about Vicky Williams recording a song to help those that suffered at Grenfell, we arranged to have a quick chat over a quick coffee in my studio. I'd not really met her prior to this podcast. We'd only previously encountered each other at an OPen mic she ran a year or so ago. Owing to Vicky being excellent company, the quick chat turned into a three hour conversation, and we drank tea instead of coffee.

I work from home and, therefore, I thought I'd record a quick podcast of me having my usual morning coffee in the garden sitting on our bench under the blossom tree with the kitten. Once she's out in the garden, 'Cat-Face' stays in the garden for most of the day. Can't blame her.  

I wanted to talk to you all about the issues facing Moore Nature Reserve. But the day after our little early morning Bank Holiday walk, I got struck down with the worst man-flu ever and lost my voice. So, just have a listen to our little walk and what we all might be missing in the future.

Not had chance to create and upload any podcasts for half a year now. I'll get back on it in the new year. For now, here's an old recording of one of my daughters teaching me how to cook.  

I have been meaning to visit Grappenhall Heyes Walled Garden for a long time. I finally got chance last weekend. As you'll hear, it wasn't the first time I'd been there! Grappenhall Heyes was an estate of around 150 acres just outside Warrington. Built by Thomas Parr around 1830. The Parr family were wealthy local bankers who had founded Parr & Company in 1788. Though they started in Warrington, the company grew to be a nationally known and important institution. In 1918 they merged with London County and Westminster Bank. The merged company was known as London County Westminster and Parr’s Bank until 1968 when they merged with National Provincial and became National Westminster Bank. The 1877 head office of Parr & Company is still used by Natwest and the family name can still be seen above the door. There are many other buildings around the country which were Parr's & Company branches. They were well known for having buildings of quality design and decoration.