| Kent
North Radio, or KNR as the jingles promoted, began in 1976 and was believed to have broadcast mainly from
the Rochester / Chatham area of Kent but could also be
heard in Essex across The Thames Estuary, as well as in eastern
parts of London. Their address was in Essex which caused some
confusion. It was originally a medium wave station on 240m /
1250kHz, then 252m / 1190kHz, but in 1978 moved to 90.6MHz FM and
finally 96.3MHz FM on a Sunday afternoon as KNR-FM.
The station heavily promoted free radio, and the presenters used large
numbers of jingles and promotions to make the programmes very entertaining.
There was a tale that later on some transmissions were made from the
same site as Essex Radio used for one of their FM outlets,
which was also apparently on 96.3MHz some years later!!!
The images and most of the recordings below came from the collection of Stuart Cocker (aka Peter Davies).
The recordings were traded with Gary many years ago around 1980, but
the photos etc. were from a number of scrap books retrieved from a
house clearance skip, following the sad passing of Stuart in
Northallerton, North Yorkshire on 5th June 2022. The whereabouts of Stuart's tape collection is unknown. |
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A photo of the AM transmitter on site from 23rd January 1977. And the description of the photo on the rear. The actually frequency at this time is not known. (Click each image for full version) |
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A couple of interesting items from the days on AM. Firstly a receipt left by the Home Office for equipment they confiscated during a raid on 12th June 1977. And right from November 1977 is the hourly format that was followed by the presenters. (Click each image for full size readable version) Below is a report trimmed from Issue 15 of Free Radio Focus from August 1977. |
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By October 1977 the station had
created a security file with photos of Home Office staff and also the detector vans. The detector vans pictured here were apparently spotted in Southchurch Road, Southend-on-Sea. A sketch was also drawn to recognise any passing threat. |
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The KNR-FM installation on location at Starkey Castle, Kent for a broadcast on 13th August 1978. |
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A Kent
North Radio infosheet from 1979 when the station was on 96.3MHz, but giving a good history of the station. (Click each image for full size readable version) |
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. This set of photos shows the assembly and erection of the aerial and transmitting equipment from when the station was operating on FM. The date or actual site is not known The photographs were from the collection of the late Stuart Cocker (aka Peter Davies) |
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Some small newspaper
clippings related to KNR-FM |
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A detailed article from The Chatham News of 25th May 1979, and using some photos from those shown above. (Click article for full size readable version - Size is 9.4MB) |
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 A letter sent to a winner of a competition in October 1978 which also had some interestig station information. (Click image for letter in full size) |
A questionaire sent to listeners, probably in 1979. The questionaire is arranged so the respondent could fold it over and send in the post. (Click image for a pdf of both side of the questionnaire) |
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An information
leaflet about KNR-FM as a local radio station
(Click image for a pdf version of the full
4 page leaflet)
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Kent North Radio / KNR-FM Audio Library
| 1977_07_17_sun_knr_1190am_1100-1200_peterdavies_bobearl_50th_broadcast_studio_copy-gh473.mp3 New Aug 2024 | A studio recording of part of the 50th broadcast of Kent North Radio on Sunday 17th July 1977. The transmission opened at 11am with Peter Davies who was followed by Bob Earl at 1130. Apparently the station was raided during this broadcast and although nobody was caught, all equipment was lost. Despite announcing the off channel 1190kHz, it is thought the station was actually on 1187kHz which Radio Caroline had vacated. |
87MB 63mins |
| 1978_03_12_sun_knr_1190am_peterdavies_jerrykay_last_mf_tx_studio_copy-gh473.mp3 New Aug 2024 | Two hours of what would be the final AM transmission from KNR on 252m / 1187kHz. The first hour is Peter Davies and he is followed by Jerry Kay. This is a copy from the studio tape. |
171MB 125mins |
| 1978_06_11_sun_knr_906fms_1900-1930_jamesrakocy_first_show_studio_copy-gh473.mp3 New Aug 2024 | The first half hour of James Rakocy from Sunday 11th June 1978. This would have been the first regular broadcast after the station moved to FM, initially on 90.6MHz. |
76MB 33mins |
| 1979_07_08_sun_knr_963fm_1600-1700_peterdavies_studio_copy-gh473.mp3 New Aug 2024 | Peter Davies from 4pm to 5pm on Sunday 8th July 1979. This is a copy off the studio tape. The station had changed to 96.3MHz by this time. |
83MB 60mins |
| 1979_10_07_sun_knr_963fm_1615-1700_jeffcorbett_airchecks-gh.mp3 Updated Aug 2024 | A short extract of Jeff Corbett up until sign-off on Sunday 7th October 1979. This recording was made from 96.3MHz in North London and was converted from an old Real Audio file so the quality isn't great. It will be improved when we find the original tape. This may have been one of the last broadcasts from the station. |
8MB 6mins |
| 1979_knr_jingles_promos-gh473.mp3 New Aug 2024 | A compilation of jingles and promotions from Kent North Radio. |
40MB 29mins |
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