Hospital radio broadcasting in the UK began in 1926 with a service in York. Other stations followed, with programmes covering local sporting events. Today there are over 300 stations, serving over 800 hundred hospitals across the country ..and Radio Brockley is London's longest-running hospital station!
Built on the Roman settlement of Sulloniacae, the 'Country Branch' of the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital opened in 1922 as an addition to the main hospital in the West End of London.
Radio Brockley was started by six volunteers who broke away from the ill-fated Radio Edgware some years later and approached the authorities as the RNOH in Stanmore.
Radio Brockley owes much to Mr Jack Upton, the hospital's engineer, who helped the original team set up the station. Tape recorders, a mixer, amplifiers and other equipment were built by and provided by members and the station was officially opened by Harrow East MP, Roy Roebuck, on Sunday 2nd October 1966.
The first 'studio' was near Intensive Care. The disused air-raid shelter's leaky roof affected the sound-quality, as the crystal cartridges dissolved in the damp. Although a second shelter half way along the slope became Radio Brockley's next home for the next few years, it wasn't until 1971 that a secure and sturdy brick-building, that was previously used as a laboratory, became what is now the current studio complex.
The first programme was a request show and the first outside broadcast was made using a Philips open-reel tape recorder to commemorate the new M1 extension from Watford to Edgware. Permission was given for Radio Brockley members to ride in the opening ceremony's cavalcade, so the proceedings could be later relayed for the patients to hear.
Most of Brockley's broadcasts took place on Sunday evenings and, although Bedside Bingo became popular, the request shows proved to be the station's main strength, as they are today. And when Radio Brockley was not on air, the 'Light Programme' (later 'Radio 2') was re-broadcast via the hospital's internal hard-wire system, as the sustaining service for patients.
Today, Radio Brockley holds the honour of being London's longest-running hospital service and, though the station faces stiff competition from other broadcast facilities, we have more listeners and more volunteers than ever before.