================================================
| North Coast radio operated from Merseyside on 1350kHz medium wave from September 1987 and finally closed in March 1993 following a number of raids. (Thanks to Radar Roy for these dates). The transmissions began as tests on 104.8MHz in August 1987, and full broadcasts began on Friday 11th September 1987 on both 104.8MHz FM and 1350kHz / 221m MW. North Coast Radio could be heard over much of the North West of England. NCR were one of the few pirate stations on MW in the UK to make it into the 1990's, as by then most operators had opted for FM, due to both better audio quality and ease of obtaining locations. |
 |
 |
A nice article from The Liverpool Daily Post of Monday 20th August 1990
This, along with the
RIS receipt for the transmitter following a raid, an interview with Radar
Roy
and other
newspaper images and photos below were by kind courtesy of Steve West from a
media project produced by Ellaine Digman.
(Click images for full size)
 |
 |
Newspaper reports from May 1991 involving Ritchie C and an earlier North Coast Radio raid.
Birkenhead News of
Wednesday 8th May 1991 |
Liverpool Echo of
Monday 6th May 1991 |
North Coast
Radio were raided again in November 1991
and below left is the receipt left by the RIS
for equipment taken in empty premises.
Also below right is an interview with Radar Roy from 9th January 1992 which contains some
nice station information.
(Click the RIS image for full size, and the Radar Roy interview image for a pdf of the whole document)
 |
 |
================================================
 |
 |
A couple of photos of the North Coast Radio studio
================================================
North Coast Radio Audio Library
| 1987_08_30_sun_northcoast_1048fm_1755-1845_markross_test_tx-gh143.mp3 New Oct 2021 | This is Mark Ross with a test transmission from the new North Coast Radio which was an amalgamation of deejays from some of the other Merseyside stations. The FM transmitter was that of Radio Julie which had not been heard for a few weeks. They were also announcing 221m medium wave. Recorded from 104.85MHz near Blackpool, which was little crackly. | 63MB |
| 1987_08_30_sun_northcoast_1048fm_1845-1935_markross_test_tx-gh143.mp3 New Oct 2021 | A continuation of the above Mark Ross show. Recorded from 104.85MHz near Blackpool. | 63MB |
| 1987_08_30_sun_northcoast_1048fm_1935-2110_markross_ritchiec_tonywest_test_tx-gh143.mp3 New Oct 2021 | More of the Sunday evening test transmissions, with the last part of the Mark Ross show and then an hour of Ritchie C, followed at 9pm by the start of Tony West. Judging by announcements, the station would also be on the following day, which was Bank Holiday Monday. Recorded from 104.85MHz near Blackpool. | 127MB |
| 1987_09_11_fri_northcoast_1350_1200-1500_davecollins_ritchiec_first_day-gh697.mp3 New Mar 2024 | Three hours from Friday 11th September 1987, the first official day of North Coast Radio with of the medium wave transmissions on 1350kHz in addition to 104.8MHz FM. Starting at mid-day, Dave Collins starts off and mentions who would be on the station and plays some theme tunes of other stations. Ritchie C follows at 2pm. Recorded from 1350kHz near Blackpool with some crackling. |
163MB 178mins |
| 1987_09_18_fri_northcoast_1350am_1455-1620_lynnjames_ritchiec-gh697.mp3 New Mar 2024 | Friday afternoon 18th September 1987 with Lynn James followed by Ritchie C. Recorded from 1350kHz near Blackpool. |
79MB 126mins |
| 1987_11_09_mon_northcoast_1350am_0810-1042_tonyscott_davemoore-gh666.mp3 | First part of a 6 hour recording made near Blackpool from 1350kHz. This was from one of their Monday broadcasts and starts with Tony Scott on the breakfast show. There is some wobbling caused by a French station on the same frequency which was a problem in winter months. | 142MB |
| 1987_11_09_mon_northcoast_1350am_1042-1314_davemoore_richiec-gh666.mp3 | Second part of the above recording where the signal is suffering much less interfence. | 142MB |
| 1987_11_09_mon_northcoast_1350am_1314-1434_richiec_andyrogers-gh666.mp3 | The final part of this 6 hour recording from November 1987. | 75MB |
| 1988_05_15_sun_northcoast_1350am_1730-2010_tonythollis_lynnjames_bobkemosabe-gh624.mp3 New Feb 2023 | After being off the air since losing a tranmsitter in a raid in February, North Coast Radio returned with test transmissions on 15th May 1988. Some of the audio levels earlier in the day were very low and intermittent, but had been fixed by late afternoon. This recording features the end of Tony Hollis at 6pm, then Lynn James until 8pm. The microphone was again low in places during her show. Recorded near Blackpool from 1350kHz - 221m. | 146MB 160mins |
| 1988_05_22_sun_northcoast_1350am_1020-1220_tonyhollis_markwright-gh649.mp3 New Feb 2022 | The first file of a six hour recording from a Sunday in May 1988. Tony Hollis hosts until mid-day when Mark Wright takes over. The on-hour theme tune is a bit muffled throughout the day. Recorded near Blackpool from 1350kHz - 221m. | 109MB |
| 1988_05_22_sun_northcoast_1350am_1220-1445_markwright_joewilliams-gh649.mp3 New Feb 2022 | The second part of this six hout recording with Mark Wright and then Joe Williams at 2pm. Recorded near Blackpool from 1350kHz, and sadly there are some lengthy chunks of local electrical interference in this particular file. | 133MB |
| 1988_05_22_sun_northcoast_1350am_1445-1645_joewilliams_bobkemosabe-gh649.mp3 New Feb 2022 | Joe Williams starts the final part of this six hour recording. At 4pm Bob Kemosabe continues with some country music. Recorded near Blackpool from 1350kHz. | 109MB |
| 1988_12_03_sat_northcoast_1350am_0913-1225_terrymitchell_johnlewis-gh782.mp3 New Jun 2021 | Three hours from a Saturday morning in early December 1988. Terry Mitchell hosts until 11am, giving out a phone number and playing a recording of the switch on of New Brighton lights. John Lewis follows at 11am. NCR were putting out a decent signal following a lot of DTI activity the previous month on Merseyside. At one point the signal goes off which sounded like the money had run out in the meter. Recorded near Blackpool from 1350kHz. | 179MB |
| 1989_01_08_sun_northcoast_1350am_1050-1400_markanthony_tonyjay_davegranger-gh799.mp3 New Feb 2021 | The first part of a 6 hour recording from January 1989. Recorded near Blackpool from 1350kHz. | 179MB |
| 1989_01_08_sun_northcoast_1350am_1445-1800_kennymg_tonyhollis-gh799.mp3 New Feb 2021 | The final 3 hours of this 6 hour recording from January 1989. There is increased foreign interference towards the end. | 179MB |
| 1989_11_19_sun_northcoast_1350am_1345-1450_tonyhollis_markanthony-gh830.mp3 New Jan 2022 | The end of the Tony Hollis show and into Mark Anthony at 2pm. Plenty of adverts on the station at this time. There is some hum towards the end of the recording from a European station in the Winter months. Recorede from 1350kHz near Blackpool. | 59MB |
| 1989_11_25_sat_northcoast_1350am_1155-1315_signon_tonyjay-gh830.mp3 New Jan 2022 | A sign on at mid-day on a Saturday with Tony Jay, complete with theme tune at wrong speed to begin with. The line-up for the day is read out shortly after. Recorded near Blackpool from 1350kHz. | 78MB |
| 1990_10_20_sat_northcoast_1350am_1435-1500_ritchiec-gh857.mp3 New Jun 2021 | Ritchie C on a Saturday afternoon, which was being announced as the penultimate AM broadcast from North Coast Radio. Recorded from 1350kHz near Blackpool. | 25MB |
| 1990_10_20_sat_northcoast_1350am_1518-1648_ritchiec-gh857.mp3 New Jun 2021 | A continuation of the above Ritchie C show. Recorded near Blackpool, there is some foreign interferece breaking thorugh towards the end, as well as splatter from the BBC in Northern Ireland, which was being announced as the penultimate AM broadcast from North Coast Radio. | 81MB |
================================================