THREE DAY PARTY of loCA l HERITAGE f Or LOCa L ra D i O

Nearly 300 people attended four events in The Space to celebrate the 3rd birthday of KTCRfm, the local radio station for North East Somerset and South Gloucestershire, based in Keynsham.

The four events on the 19-21st January celebrated the station’s birthday and linked the occasion with important local heritage events relevant to the radio, and the whole community.

Did you know that Horace Batchelor, the man who put the ‘K-E-Y’ in Keynsham would have been 125 years old on the 22nd January this year? And that Keynsham Abbey, celebrating its 850th anniversary this year, was dissolved on 23rd January 1539?

KTCRfm began Broadcasting, by pure chance, on the 23 January 2020.

Horace Batchelor made the name Keynsham part of the national consciousness with his extensive ’infra draw’ adverts on Radio Luxemburg during the 50s and 60s when football pools were the National Lottery of the day. This also fed an infatuation within the Bonzo Dog Do Dah Band, who mentioned Horace Batchelor on their first album in 1967 and gave the town’s name as the title of their fourth album.

Strange bedfellows making up a radio heritage for the town that is only now being acknowledged.

Horace Batchelor appeared in Keynsham on Friday 20th January this year, in the guise of actor Roland Oliver who played Batchelor in the one-man play ‘An Audience With Horace Batchelor’ that toured the West Country in 2013, and seemed genuinely delighted to have the part revived, as did writer, Kevin Cattell. Roland certainly enjoyed his performance, and the Keynsham audience, so much that he returned to The Space on the Saturday for an evening of the music of the Bonzo

Dog Band. Stephen Rogers of The Week In was heavily involved with the original production of this play in 2013, and the station was glad of his help for this production too.

Of course, all true market towns should have an Abbey and the one at Keynsham, perhaps greater than most of us thought, and the burial place of two, not one, significant historical figures, has a heritage that is now in the safe hands of Elaine Cook and Andy Williams of the Keynsham Abbey Working Group, who told stories and explained much to the audience in The Space on Thursday 19th January. The Q and A session following their presentation was perhaps one of the longest and most interesting many had experienced.

Then came meet KTCRfm at The Space on the Saturday morning, including the cutting of the KTCRfm birthday cake, skilfully baked by Dave Hallet. Within a week, two visitors had held further discussions about their possible contributions to KTCRfm’s future – a significant return for the radio station.

To emulate a live performance of a band as unique as the Bonzo Dog Band is some challenge, but with Nick Pallett directing and producing, the concert on Saturday 21st was not far short of stunning –featuring tracks from the Keynsham album and a selection of the Bonzo’s most well-known pieces, and clearly capturing the unmistakable comedy.

The three events on three consecutive nights have answered many questions that are consistently asked about these aspects of Keynsham’s cultural heritage.

KTCRfm is grateful for the support for these events given by the Keynsham High Street Action Zone, the local authority’s funding consortium, with Historic England, for the regeneration of central Keynsham.

KTCRfm is also grateful for the help and goodwill given by Council staff, and particularly the library staff, in enabling the three days to work as smoothly as possible.