Approaching Christmas

 Maybe 2013 is a year best forgotten – but at last we seem to be turning the corner. Things are at last looking better. Hope everyone else is seeing the same too and that you all have a wonderful Christmas holiday.

If you are still looking for Christmas gifts, or just a nice afternoon out, i can recommend the Christmas market in the middle of Manchester. its spread across a dozen or more street, sort of from the Arndale centre, down thru St Anne’s Square and then it fans out. Lovely atmosphere, coffee with a  rum in it, some quirky and original gists. Really busy times are a bit of a crush so its best avoided, but some great live music on every street corner it seems.

Its going to be our first all at home as a family for many years, we have usually all been working.  We have ten guests for Christmas Day lunch, so are all really looking forward to that.  Boxing Day we have to take over from my Mum who always had “open house”, a tradition that seemed to go back to our childhood.  Of course I missed most of them, invariably working over Christmas, either in clubs, or in radio, both of which took me far and wide. 

The last seven years we have been 'mine hosts;' at The Triton, and both Christmas Day and Boxing Day were two of the busiest trading days of the year.  We would fervently hope and pray for good sunny weather, as snow always turned trading at the Triton into a disaster - our friends in the media would bleat that the entire world was under a snow drift and no one should venture out. Very annoying when you've had contractors come in and clear the car park, and people are ringing to cancel!  This year we won't be fretting about the snow - it usually makes our garden look as tidy as my neighbours! 

Boxing Day for us this year will start an hour after the big game (thats The Tigers v Man U !)  and will feature a Murder, guaranteed!  We have a few glasses of wine some whereabouts the house. 

I should emphasise that these pictures of our home (right) and the Triton (above) were taken two years ago when we saw heavy snow and that this winter has been very mild so far, with a nice blue sky this morning and yesterday, not bad  for the shortest day of the year!  At least the nights are starting to get lighter now! 

Local TV on the banks of the River Humber

Estuary TV (New Local TV station) 

I've now had a little  time to dip and out of the new Estuary TV. As far as I can tell among my associates I'm the only one in West Hull and surrounding villages to bother, despite it being a cracking signal. If you don't already know, these new 'local' TV services are transmitting on the regular UHF band at Channel 8. There are stations also planned for York and Scarborough, maybe as soon as late 2014. Quite why the fair city of Hull hasn't been considered for one is beyond me, but the authorities who control broadcasting in the UK have always ignored the 'City and county of kingston upon Hull', for radio or television.

Estuary is run from Grimsby, from the programme output you would think that Grimsby or Lincolnshire  council, or the college,  run it (maybe they do??). There is precious little programme content about the East Riding, and aI'm wondering if their licence or funding have constraints that insist they devote their time and attention to Grimsby. 

The programmes are usually a couple of hours each day, which is then repeated several times - a great idea that I proposed for a radio station about 25 years ago. It makes sound sense when programme material costs a lot of money to produce. 

In summary, the content is a bit dull and won't be of mass appeal, although maybe there isn't anything else happening in Grimsby and Lincolnshire. Its not going to attract huge audiences and so won't be a commercial success, and even more so when it seems to 'hide its light under a bush'.  I am impressed with the enthusiasm though - not seen that in TV since Lex Harding set up several TV channels from the old Concordia Studios in Bussum, near Hilversum. One of these went on to great international success - the Music Factory. 

Just in case you missed my original piece on the launch of Estuary TV.

Posted on November 28, 2013

The new local TV station in Grimsby opened today. Its putting a great signal out as far as Hull as well, but you will need to retune your TV or STB first, a simple process 9usually under MENU and then RETUNE) .

Nice to see some local TV without the patronising sneers, or Hull stories being subservient to those about Sheffield and Lincoln, as we see on the existing 'local' services for Hull.