HISTORY
1954 was when it all began. Two enterprising gentlemen, Mr Eddie Elllis and Mr Bill Cunliffe,
decided to collect music requests from the patients in three Blackburn Hospitals. The requests
were then recorded onto a tape in Eddie's garden shed and played back to the patients.
Radio Blackburn as it was then known was born.
1958 four years later Radio Blackburn became the first hospital radio service in the country to
provide football commentary, it was from Ewood Park, the home of Blackburn Rovers F.C. This
service is still going strong thanks to our sports team of Stuart Wearden & Barry Illsley. Barry is
our longest serving member with over fourty years of distinguished service, a remarkable
achievement. Another person who deserves a mention is John Aitken who has served the
radio station for over thirty six years in a wide variety of guises.
1964 brought a significant time in the history of RHB - we began our first live broadcasts. This
took place from a member's wash-house in Old Feniscliffe road in Blackburn. From here we
moved to our first studio which was housed in a room at the local Y.M.C.A.
1970 was the year that Radio Blackburn changed name to Radio hospitals Blackburn. This was
around the same time that the BBC was about to launch their local station, Radio Lancashire.
Shortly afterwards we expanded our hospitals to five. The list consisted of Queens Park
Hospital, Park Lee Hospital, Blackburn Royal Infirmary, Withnell Hospital and Accrington Victoria
Hospital.
1977 RHB moved to the administration block of the Park Lee Hospital where we remained until
the hospital closed in 1998. After a gap of a few months we moved to our present studios within
the grounds of The Royal Blackburn Hospital (Formerly known as Queens Park Hospital). The
room that now houses our two studios, office space and record library (Yes we still have 12"
albums and 7" singles) was converted from a bathroom / toilet. As the health authorities evolved
over the years the list of hospitals were reduced.
2006 when the Blackburn Royal Infirmary closed we were reduced to one hospital.
2007 Myriad was purchased, which enabled us to launch into a 24 hours a day station, the launch
was on the 12 May 2008 at 6pm, we are building more new shows than ever before. Take a look
in our programmes lists to see what varied shows we are doing. Our aim is now to give as much
variety as possible to reach out to many more listeners.
2010 Could be bringing our next big milestone, we are currently working on finding a way to make
RHB more accessible for patients relatives to be able to send requests to the bedside, by streaming
live output on the internet. There is no definite date yet but the task is well in hand for sometime this
year. Keep Checking back to our website for the latest updates.
decided to collect music requests from the patients in three Blackburn Hospitals. The requests
were then recorded onto a tape in Eddie's garden shed and played back to the patients.
Radio Blackburn as it was then known was born.
1958 four years later Radio Blackburn became the first hospital radio service in the country to
provide football commentary, it was from Ewood Park, the home of Blackburn Rovers F.C. This
service is still going strong thanks to our sports team of Stuart Wearden & Barry Illsley. Barry is
our longest serving member with over fourty years of distinguished service, a remarkable
achievement. Another person who deserves a mention is John Aitken who has served the
radio station for over thirty six years in a wide variety of guises.
1964 brought a significant time in the history of RHB -
1970 was the year that Radio Blackburn changed name to Radio hospitals Blackburn. This was
around the same time that the BBC was about to launch their local station, Radio Lancashire.
Shortly afterwards we expanded our hospitals to five. The list consisted of Queens Park
Hospital, Park Lee Hospital, Blackburn Royal Infirmary, Withnell Hospital and Accrington Victoria
Hospital.
1977 RHB moved to the administration block of the Park Lee Hospital where we remained until
the hospital closed in 1998. After a gap of a few months we moved to our present studios within
the grounds of The Royal Blackburn Hospital (Formerly known as Queens Park Hospital). The
room that now houses our two studios, office space and record library (Yes we still have 12"
albums and 7" singles) was converted from a bathroom / toilet. As the health authorities evolved
over the years the list of hospitals were reduced.
2006 when the Blackburn Royal Infirmary closed we were reduced to one hospital.
2007 Myriad was purchased, which enabled us to launch into a 24 hours a day station, the launch
was on the 12 May 2008 at 6pm, we are building more new shows than ever before. Take a look
in our programmes lists to see what varied shows we are doing. Our aim is now to give as much
variety as possible to reach out to many more listeners.
2010 Could be bringing our next big milestone, we are currently working on finding a way to make
RHB more accessible for patients relatives to be able to send requests to the bedside, by streaming
live output on the internet. There is no definite date yet but the task is well in hand for sometime this
year. Keep Checking back to our website for the latest updates.
