RADIO AQUARIUS AND MY PART IN IT.  PART TWO


THE arrival of Independent Local Radio gave us something to think about. Given the extra choice, would our l
isteners desert us? We decided to do something about it and when we heard that Piccadilly Radio 
(261 MW and 97 FM) was due to soon start broad­casting, we knew what we had to do. Our VHF transmitter 
was on 96.7 MHz, quite close to Piccadilly so we made plans for an all day broadcast starting one hour before 
they were due on the air. With any luck, people would tune to us instead of Piccadilly. After all, there was no 
such thing as digital tuning in those days so most listeners wouldn't know the difference. 
It was worth a try even if it did mean an early start and possibly no sleep for some of us but this was Free Radio! 
And so we found ourselves stumbling through moorland on the night of April 1 st, 1974. Carrying two car batteries, 
transmitter, aerial and assorted stuff were Stuart, Frank, Pete (also known as DJ Barry Derv) and me. It was rather 
cold and there was about half a miles walk up to the site in Lyme Park, Disley. Nick Catford from Radio Jackie in 
London was also due to arrive but had not yet turned up. 
The gear was dumped at the top of the hill to the sound of much gasping and wheezing. Pete and I were the lucky (?) 
ones who were to stay overnight and put the station on air in the morning. When the others drove away, we felt very 
lonely and didn't really know what to do with ourselves. Stuart had told me to shift the frequency of the transmitter to 
bring it slightly closer to Piccadilly's channel but it was far too dark to start mucking around with the rig. By now it 
was turning very cold indeed and a mist-laden icy wind was gusting over the dry-stone wall nearby. After 
half-heartedly listening to the radio for a while and a ridiculous game of 'I Spy' (something beginning with B ..... 
Blackness!), we huddled together for warmth and waited. After an hour or two, we heard faint noises coming from 
somewhere along the hill. The sounds came closer although it was hard to tell what it was over the sound 
of the howling wind. In the end, we heard "Hello?" and so decided it must be Nick, searching for us. We shouted 
"over here!" and saw the beam from his torch swing in our direction. After the introductions, we settled down in the 
bushes and listened to the BBC World Service for a while but it was getting too cold to remain still for long. 
Nobody dared fall off to sleep. Of all the experiences I had with Aquarius, this is the only one I would not repeat.
 
Eventually, the sky began to brighten. I looked at my watch, which told me it was 5 o'clock and time to set up. 
Piccadilly's carrier was on so with numb fingers, I removed the lid from the exciter and gingerly tweaked the 
VFO coil. While I was doing this, the others were assembling the three element aerial and poking it up a nearby 
tree. Waiting for 6 o'clock seemed like an eternity and it was still very cold but at ten minutes before the hour, 
we decided to fire everything up for ten minutes of silent carrier. 
The dynamotor whined up to speed, generating the 250 volts required by the PA valve and Aquarius took to the 
air again! 
At 6 am, our first tape, consisting of continuous music with no IDs was started. 	
Stuart's programme was next, then mine at 9 o'clock and I remember starting with Good Morning from the 
Beatles. But what was this? The cassette player was slowing down! We knew we would have to replace the 
batteries at some time during the day but we hadn't expected them to go flat quite so soon. In went the new 
set of cells, which kept us going for another couple of hours. 
Stuart and a few others had turned up by now and from somewhere came a brand new 'lantern' battery which 
saw us through. Stuart said he had travelled from his home in Hazel Grove into central Manchester and the 
Aquarius signal was strong and clear all the way, which was a great boost to our morale. 
At about three in the afternoon, we came to the end of our tapes which was just as well because the final battery 
was drooping slightly. I recall feeling really depressed at the thought of trudging home by bus and train - all I 
wanted to do was curl up and sleep. 

We got quite a bit of mail following this transmission, most of it favourable. We decided to do a series of Sunday 
FM broadcasts from the same place and all went smoothly until mid-May, just after my 21 st birthday. We were on 
air as normal and had just played a piece that Stuart had made, all about black workers' conditions in South Africa. 
Suddenly, one of our lookouts said "Watch it, there's a group of blokes in suits down there." We took turns in peering 
over the wall through the binoculars and what we saw could only mean one thing - a raid! 
They were coming straight toward us but about half a mile away so we should have made a neat getaway. After all, 
they couldn't see us because we were hidden by the wall. So we calmly (well, fairly calmly) went off the air and hid all 
the clobber in the bushes. 
When we were all ready, we made our way down the hill towards the main park area, all except Trevor James, 
our new DJ, who walked straight toward the men in suits, pretending to be a bird watcher. He got away with it! 
We were not so lucky. At the bottom of the hill there was a high wall, where we stopped and decided which way 
to go. We climbed over the wall, straight into the path of a group of PO officials and police. Damn! There was 
no escape this time and we were escorted to Lyme Hall for questioning. One by one, we were grilled by Gordon 
(no surnames) and one of his henchmen. When it came to my turn, even though I was terrified, I decided to have 
some fun. It went like this ... 

HIM: Right then, Mr Howlett. Fancy meeting you again. What do you know aboutRadio Aquarius,eh? 

ME: Hmmm ... I've heard of that. Is it one of those new independent things? 

HIM: Come on now. What about it? 

ME: OK, I've heard of it but never listened to it. I don't know why you've brought me here, I haven't done anything. 

HIM: Why did you run away from us then? 

ME: Well, I was out for a nice walk when all hell broke loose. I could see other people running and I thought there 
was a bomb scare or something so I ran as well. 

HIM: (turning purple) DON'T GIVE ME THAT - I'M NOT GREEN YOU KNOW!! 

ME: (beginning to enjoy it) I can see that. 

HIM: Don't get smart with me. I know you're involved. (Sweating) I'M NOT GREEN!! 

He said "I'm not green" several times as though it was his favourite phrase of the week, and Bob made use of the 
phrase in one of his spoof adverts .• 

Pirate Chat
September 1993