Beginnings
Let's look at the four years up to the launch. I've always been a big fan of radio ever since I built a one-valve radio set at about fifteen years old. But I digress...
In 2004, the UK government implemented a new kind of broadcast radio licence, for Community Radio. Gala day 2005 came along and my old mate Ian pointed me to a windswept corner of the Showground, roughly where the Tesco is taking over. Darren Holmes was alone on his Community Radio stand with not too many visitors. His great idea was to set up a local radio station in Penistone. I couldn't be sure if he was 'for real', as I thought that it might have been too big a thing to do. What I didn't know about was that he had some other people behind him, all with a good background in hospital radio and all enthusiastic to be part of a real radio station. I told Darren about my Penistone website, which he had seen, and we swapped email addresses.
A radio station is a big idea. For one to survive, there are a lot of things to get right: fund-raising, suitable premises, equipment, transmitter mast site with power (line-of-site to the studio for a radio link), mast planning permission or access to an existing mast, technical know-how, programme material (not just music), news feeds, ability and experience as a presenter, other presenters with good qualities, more money, spare time and much more than I could list here. Also, a knowledge of the 97 pages of Ofcom's Broadcast Code was necessary or they could land in hot and expensive water.
Penistone Fm was formed just before the Gala of May 2005. As time went on, Darren sent me updates and the next thing I knew a trial broadcast licence was on its way. I was getting about 25 hits a day on this website and I suspect that my copious publicity for PFm might have helped raise their profile at a time when it mattered most.
RSL Trial Broadcasts
In September 2006, three weeks of 'Restricted Service Licence' FM transmissions came from a studio nearly opposite to Cubley Hall and the music went out on 87.7MHz. The transmitter was on a hilltop at Hoylandswaine, as it is now. The first record played was Robbie Williams singing 'Let Me Entertain You'.
In spite of a few minor glitches, the presenters did a great job. However, there was a big set-back right at the start. A hard disc failure meant that thousands of music files were lost and had to be re-installed PDQ before the first broadcast. It must have been a rush job to get it started again but without the music there would have been no station. Other snags fell in the way. A flat tyre at 11pm prevented one presenter from doing his show but it carried on regardless. Penistone Fm quickly became very popular. There were some murmurings about the team being from outside our area but most people I talked to appreciated what they were trying to do. It was sometimes comical if a presenter discovered something new about our area and then told us as though we didn't know already. Oh, and the odd pronunciations. Nobody could say 'Ingbirchworth' properly (then as now - stress the middle syllable). Dodworth and Oughtibridge were tricky for some people ("Dod'orth" and "Ootybridge") and the long 'ah' sound started to drift in from somewhere south (as in ahfter-mahth and dahnce). Sounds which were very foreign and unwittingly comical.
I was off work for a while with an eyesight problem and reading or watching telly was difficult. It was far easier to sit there listening to the radio and drinking tea. Not much else to do. I wanted to give this new local radio station a fair chance and they needed people to listen so I did my duty and I helped them with this website.
The RSL period included Penistone Show weekend and PFm plonked a gazebo there. 'Dismal Dearne' had better business connections with the Show people at the time and had a better location and a bigger stand, whilst PFm was sidelined as an upstart. PFm's publicity was sabotaged just before Show day. Someone was taking down PFm posters as fast as the team could put them up. Fingers were pointed but nothing was proved. PFm was the talk on the street and the sabotage had no effect at all.
I can assure my patient reader that Penistone's gravevine works very well. Often too well. It was alive and twitching with news of the radio station. You could hear PFm playing in local shops and cars going past. Customers in Bernice's hairdressers were thrilled to hear my record request to PFm (at their urging) as they waited their turn. 'The First Cut is the Deepest', was on in seconds.
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Unlike Dismal Dearne of distant Barnsley, PFm sort-of belonged to us. There was plenty to listen to and not just music. We heard voices from Penistone/Thurlstone/Silkstone and the rest of our area, saying things that were relevant to us. A lot was crammed into those three weeks. A few interviews were squeezed in and I was interviewed about my website. Nicolette of Cubley Hall was interviewed about the 'Titty Trek' charity. There were job adverts, interviews and visits to local businesses and schools. Other interesting things were heard. Musicians and local people were encouraged to be involved. PFm had a link-up with Barnsley Hospital Broadcasting and a few requests came in for the captive audience. I don't know if it helped their health or not.
Presenters went to a great deal of trouble and did a great job. I listened for long hours and enjoyed it all. It was a sad moment when it came an end. The last record played was Take That's 'Back for Good' but there was an unspoken question lingering in the air: 'Would it be back for good?' We know the answer now but it was much less certain in 2006. Listeners were urged to support PFm's application for the full licence and a lot of supporting letters were sent in, including from myself. If you listen to my clips, it is clear that they hoped to be back in Feb. 2007 but that didn't happen. From April 2007, PFm continued on the internet to keep up interest. I never heard it because it used RealPlayer at the time.
The 2006 Cubley Studio
I was privileged to visit the Cubley studio, where I was interviewed for a programme by station manager Darren Holmes'. The picture above shows Darren at the controls. As a techie, I enjoyed looking at the equipment. You can see the coloured stripes of 'Myriad' on the monitors and, just visible, text and email messages on the top monitor. There was a 'live room' in the background. Just off the picture were chairs for guests with a microphone angled towards them. Looking at the equipment, the top unit was the link transmitter, the middle one RDS data injection (which puts the station name on your radio) and an 'Optimod' unit at the bottom to add some gentle compression to the sounds and to encode the stereo. The studio had a radio link beaming the complete signal to a tower on top of a local hill, where it was re-transmitted on 87.7 MHz FM.
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