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In the early Sixties, a group of men from the Round Table set up a system of playing requests for patients in Birch Hill Hospital. However due to waning interest the service ground
to a halt by the end of the decade. It was not until around ten years later, that a pair of male nurses resurrected the service, and Birch Radio was reborn on the 16th December 1978.
The first studio was a
very Heath Robinson affair, and very small. The controls left a lot to be desired, to stop and start the record decks each was switched on or off at the mains socket. The microphone had its own switch on it, and the
volume sliders were fixed to a home made mixer on the table. Long, flexible arms were essential. Electrics were also a problem, because boiling the kettle meant going off air, or else the fuses blew. Finally in the
good old days, a trip to the toilet could only be undertaken during a very long record, as the nearest toilet was down the stairs, across the courtyard, and behind the kitchens.
As the eighties progressed,
Birch Radio grew. An inside toilet was built, the second studio formed, and a larger record library created. Fund raising was a necessity and took many forms, including discos, raffles, sponsored swims, a bed-push
and the member's favourite - good old pub crawls.
In 1992 the hospital service was broadcast for a week across Rochdale on the Medium Wave via a studio erected in the Wheatsheaf Centre. An outside broadcast
was also undertaken from Hollingworth Lake,
including a interview with a fast moving water skier from the back of a motor boat.
More recently, the Birch Radio Roadshow has taken on a high profile, with
the addition of a purpose built mobile unit. The team attend many summer events providing music, fun and games for the audience, whilst earning valuable funds for the upkeep of the station.
In February 1994,
a long standing ambition was finally achieved, when Birch Radio's service was extended to the Infirmary, thanks to a grant from ITV Telethon. This was then followed by the broadcasting of football commentaries from
Spotland which commenced in November of that year. The commentary is also relayed to blind or partially sighted spectators within the ground itself.
In September 1995, Birch Radio launched Appeal 95, to raise
funds to re-equip our studio complex, as the existing gear was getting quite long in the tooth, obsolete and unreliable. The outcome of the Appeal is, another story as they say!
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