Did you see that Ronan O’Rahilly had died? Probably not and if you did see do you know who he was?

Well back in the 1960’s the management of the BBC decreed that their clients, that is to say the general public, and certainly the younger half of it, should not be able to listen to popular music, that is to say they should not be able to listen to the records that the public went out and bought by the million. Nothing really changes. Just like today really where the overpaid BBC executives tell us what they think we should hear, not what is actually happening. Remember also that in the 60’s there were no commercial radio stations only the BBC. It was illegal to try to set up a radio station in competition.

Anyway this guy Ronan had an idea. He bought quite cheaply a ship, an old passenger ferry. He took it to Ireland and had it fitted out with a very tall radio broadcasting mast and a broadcasting studio. He then hired technicians and several disc jockeys. The ship was then moored off the Essex coast, just outside British territorial waters so it was not in British territory so was outside British jurisdiction. The team of DJ’s started broadcasting pop music non stop 18 hours a day and most of the population under 30 (and some over) immediately tuned in and the revolution began. Ronan named his ship Caroline and the station Radio Caroline.

And what made this possible was the arrival at the same time of the transistor radio. This was a small portable battery driven radio a bit bigger than an iPhone. It had a tiny speaker that gave out a tinny sound but the great thing was the transistor radio was highly portable. It would fit in your pocket. You could walk along holding it to your ear (well before ear phones), you could sit around in the playground listening or in lunch break at work. The younger generation could listen under the bed clothes. The radio was cheap to buy and suddenly everybody had one. And overnight the BBC lost its monopoly. And everything went from there.

The first DJ to broadcast was Tony Blackburn, that’s right the old bugger who still can be heard on Radio 2 (the BBC had to let him back in in the end).

So salute Ronan – all the multiple listening choices today came out of his “pirate” radio station, as it was called.

It seems some of you who follow my wine guide have the wrong impression. I have a glass at a time, not a whole bottle. Wine is to be sipped slowly and not poured down like a pint of lager (gnats piss). On this topic today’s glass of white wine was a very nice glass of 2018 VinaSol from Spain. Not too heavy only 11.5% it has plenty of flavour however and is readily available from your supermarket if you are prepared to pay a couple of pounds above the basic plonk price. Needs to be well chilled though.