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Ross Revenge News

Picture: Roland Beaney

Our radio ship Ross Revenge is currently anchored at the Port of Tilbury, but sadly not accessible to the public at this time. However our maintenance crew can board her to continue their valid work.

The Ross was moved (yet again) on Thursday 2nd November. This time into the Barge dock within the Port of Tilbury. The move was made because the berth was required by the Port. Unfortunately this does not mean a reduction of charges. Refurbishment will continue as normal at the new location and the team will be on board once more before Christmas and hopefully again during the Christmas and New Year period.

Jigging in the Rigging

Picture: Roland Beaney

'Captain' Alan Beech recently decided that a couple of the stays needed changing on one of the Ross Revenge's aerial masts. Nick Roe was the man who put the aerial system at the top of the towers when the Ross was at Rochester just before the Tilbury RSL and was only too pleased to be called upon again! The new stays will eventually be attached to anchoring points on the bridge and back deck. It takes approximately half a day to do each one, measuring the length, cutting the wire, fitting bottle screws and about 20 minutes up and down each tower. Note the full safety gear used these days - I bet Tony Blackburn didn't even wear a hat when he did his famous shin up the mast in 1966. But that's progress!

Caroline Northern Group

The Northern Group is now known as The Radio Caroline Northern Social Group. It still meets on the first Tuesday of every month from 8.30pm at the Jug and Barrel Public House, Town St Stanningley, Leeds. As always all Caroline fans are very welcome!

Jenny Knight

Thank You! £205 was raised towards the work of the British Heart foundation following the untimely loss of Radio Caroline Sales/Horizon Magazine's Jenny Knight. Thanks to all who contributed in this way. Many thanks to to all of you who sent in messages of support to John Knight and his family. All were passed on and all were appreciated. Apologies if we didn't reply to you all personally.

Tony Allan Memorial Fund

One of Britain's greatest broadcasters Tony Allan, (known as 'The Voice') 'morphed' into another world after a long battle with throat cancer on Friday 9th July 2004. Tony chose to work with Radio Caroline for much of his career instead of following a conventional career with Britain's independent commercial stations or the BBC. Read tributes to Tony from Caroline staff & listeners here. Click here to find out more about the Tony Allan Memorial Fund operated by Tony's friend and long time collaborator Elija Van Den Berg. The funds supports charities and causes that were close to Tony's heart.

Obituaries

Chris Cary

The funeral of the notable Caroline broadcaster Chris Cary (Spangles Muldoon) took place on March 19th 2008 in Esher, Surrey. Tributes to Chris were provided by Johnnie Walker, Tony Prince and John Clarke, together with readings from members of his family.

Among the many guests, Radio Caroline was represented by Ronan O'Rahilly, Mark Dezzani, Peter Clayton, Dick Palmer, Peter Chicago, Alan Beech and Peter Moore.

A memorial fund to raise stroke awareness been opened for Chris and donations to it can be made to The Chris Cary Memorial Fund c/o Nat West Bank, Esher, Account 56536062 Sort Code 60-08-04.

Caroline Presenter Rob Leighton

By Peter Moore

Aside from the fact that he was from time to time absent from his weekly programmes, his audience will not have known that Rob was continually suffering from and battling with a wretched illness called Chrohn’s disease, a chronic and progressive condition that caused him much suffering, The nature of the illness meant, among other things, that his diet had to be precisely controlled. Any deviation caused severe reactions.

Returning from one of his many and ever more frequent spells in hospital, I asked him what had gone wrong this time and he replied, with just the slightest tinge of annoyance "You know, I just really wanted to eat an orange".

The archetypal stoic Englishman, if he ever discussed his health, he just stated that it was "a bit of a nuisance" although I knew that he structured the recording of his programmes within a window of time when he was not either in too much pain to make the programme or so sedated by pain killing medication that he could not do a proper job. He did not want his audience to think that he might be drunk.

Typically, he worried more about my dubious health than his own. When he detected that I was under excessive stress he would warn, using the precise pronunciation that was his on air trademark "Be careful, you are a thoroughly good chap you know and we don’t want to lose you".

Again it will not have been known that Rob was a brilliant technician. Some broadcast equipment is at his home, while he waited for his health to rally sufficiently to take it and install it overseas as a Caroline relay. He was also hoping that in the spring he might be able to go to Ireland top recover more equipment that he had built, which was then destined for Italy to set up a relay there.

I know that he was frustrated in having to hand in for a time his driving licence, but that he was waiting for the moment when he could again drive his much loved vintage Wolseley car.

Musically, he embraced the genre of progressive folk and rock, within which areas he was highly regarded. Rob’s wife Sharon who called me with the sad news, mentioned that an album by the band Blue Horses had just arrived at their home in Staffordshire and that the band had thanked Rob and Radio Caroline personally for helping their career.

The gentlest of men, Rob never abandoned his ideals of tolerance, freedom, love and liberty. He was genuinely perplexed when some were unpleasant, cruel and even offensive in their criticisms of Radio Caroline. Certainly this news makes me understand that the petty squabbles I am presently involved in are supremely irrelevant.

I salute Rob, mourn his passing and am devastated and diminished by his loss.

Funeral report by Peter Moore

Book of Condolences

Dave 'The Fish' Turner

We were sorry to be informed by many friends and colleagues of the death of our legendary tender skipper Dave Turner.

He was known to us just as ‘Fish‘ and so his trawler/our supply boat Fairwinds became simply The Fish Boat and his characteristic chuckle became The Fish Laugh.

Dave started tendering Ross Revenge in a tiny open boat, so small that Peter Chicago thought that it was just a dinghy that would take him to the actual tender. After he purchased the larger Fairwinds Dave began to rack up trip after trip to Ross Revenge and few staff of the eighties and until the end of the Ross Revenge’s time at sea will not have experienced a memorable voyage, especially those where he insisted that the returning crew must gut fish or when he had replacement mast sections lashed to his deck, extending either side of the wheelhouse. He once encountered a French navy patrol boat hopelessly lost in the Estuary and traded his boats charts for a bottle of Pernod.

It seems clear that Ramsgate Harbour authorities were not unaware of his activities but were mostly tolerant unless he pushed his luck way too far. I remember him telling me when the Harbourmaster took him aside saying ‘Mr Turner, I cannot keep looking the other way when you leave harbour with a Skipper and eleven crew‘. After that we were obliged to hide in the fish hold until Fairwinds reached the sea and the tolerance of the officials was thus restored. On the infamous day of the 1989 Raid, he bravely closed in on the Ross to put ‘journalists‘ on board even while knowing that what cover he may still have was completely blown.

The roll of honour in his wheelhouse, which was always alive with ear splitting rock music eventually read ‘Fish 141 – Dept of Trade and Industry 1'. The 1 was the only time he was captured, but even then we got him a good lawyer and no prosecution followed.

Dave had been a diabetic since childhood, but gave no concession to his illness in terms of limiting his lifestyle. His partying was as legendary as his seamanship. Sometimes he would drift in to a diabetic coma and others would have to steer his boat whilst attempting to revive him with Mars Bars and sweets to balance his blood sugar levels. Sometimes he would cheerfully plunge his syringe of Insulin straight though his grimy jeans, slick with fish oil, oblivious to the horrified looks of his passengers.

As stated by Jamie his crewman, Dave had two passions, catching fish and Radio Caroline. In the former case he recently clashed with the Fishing Authorities for exceeding his quotas and we know he was deeply concerned about the consequences and possible confiscation of his beloved boat.

He fully intended to give the Court and his prosecutors a piece of his mind, but he died at his parental home of natural causes on 14th/15th October. We send our sympathy to his father Brian and his mother who all of us knew as Mrs Fish.

When more details and funeral arrangements become known we will try to provide more information.

In the meantime we mourn the loss of a kind and brave man and a true hero of Radio Caroline. At only 43 his was too short a life, but a very full life all the same.

Phil Adam A (Philip Nay) 1969 - 2006

Phil was very much involved in Rock Music had an ambition to broadcast on Caroline, particularly when he was found to be in ill health and had to give up his trade as a Publican in Suffolk, where his good friend was our own Barry James. His on air surname was chosen rather tongue in cheek, since it is a robust insult if spoken in a particular Eastern European language.

Around two years ago he was diagnosed with a form of lymphatic cancer for which he was receiving very extreme treatment and medication, but because the disease was of a rare and severe type, cure or control was not possible in the end. Listeners noting his slow and sometime slurred speech will not have known that this was caused by his medication.

Though gravely ill, he travelled recently from Lakenheath to present a daytime programme. The Caroline office offered him air time at any time he felt up to taking it, but sadly a further opportunity did not arise.

His one time partner Nicky had been looking after Phil. His condition worsened and he died at 10.30pm on Sunday May 7th. He leaves his family including Tessa, teenage daughter Rose and son Sam aged five.

Phil had asked and this was reinforced by Nicky, that some of his programmes, that he had recorded should be played again on Caroline. We will schedule these programmes in the near future in accordance with his wishes.

Tommy Vance 11th July 1943 - 6th March 2005

Legendary rock radio DJ Tommy Vance died of a stroke in the early hours of Sunday March 6th 2005. Tommy's career began in the early 60s in US radio followed by a successful stint with Radio Caroline South where he made his UK debut in 1966. Read more about TV on radio's career, tributes from Radio Caroline DJs and listeners, and links to other tribute pages on the web by clicking here.

Dave Francis

Caroline helper Dave Francis has died after suffering a heart attack on 16th September 2005. Alan Beech remembers him:

Like many of his generation offshore radio was part of Dave's youth, and Caroline was to become the soundtrack of his life. With the resurrection of Big L in 1997 and the continuing Caroline RSL's his interest was rekindled In the mid/late 90's, and he quickly became involved behind the scenes with helping out on the Ross Revenge and for a while co-ordinated the volunteer restoration crews. Taking early retirement from his career with Thames Water around this time and with a van at his disposal he found a role in carrying anything and everything around. Fridges, cookers, washing machines, beds, mattresses, pumps, motors, bits of generators, light fittings, water barrels, even visiting DJ's. You name it, at some time Dave transported it in the back of his van to or from the Ross Revenge. An amusing photograph in a Caroline Newsbeat magazine at the time showed the back of his van carrying a brand new bed, complete with two of Caroline's Dutch colleagues on top of it, who he was transporting back to the ferry terminal one Sunday afternoon!

It was during the heady summer of 1999, with the Ross Revenge moored on Southend Pier that he met Jenni, and they immediately became friends. With both being unattached with grown families, their friendship blossomed and they made plans to marry.

When not helping on the ship, he could often be found in the Maidstone studios in those early days of Caroline's satellite service. He quickly settled in to be one of the regular team of helpers on the Tuesday night 60s and 70s request show, and was well known to many of the phone callers of the time. He later went to help out at Caroline's office in Highgate and became a well respected figure within the organisation.

His life was shattered in 2000 when, after a short and sudden illness, Jenni passed away. A while later his own mother passed away, and he inherited her house which was in need of some modernisation. Taking a break from Caroline work, he spent over a year working on the house but never forgot his friends in offshore radio. He stayed in regular touch with many, especially the Caroline family in Holland, a country for which he had a great affection. For the past couple of years he had been acting as the UK agent for Radio Waddenzee and the new Radio Seagull, an activity on which he was engaged at the time of his heart attack on 9th of September.

Although in hospital within minutes of the event, and in the operating theatre within hours, there were complications following surgery. Although things were starting to look up for a while, he never awoke, and slipped into a coma. Following close to two weeks of further tests and scans all of which pointed to a worsening situation, his son and two daughters took the decision to switch off the life support machine and he faded from this earth in the early hours of Friday 30th September 2005.