Radio 255 was possibly the first pirate station to
broadcast on Merseyside and thought to have been on 1187kHz. It
was operated by the late Alfred Quilliam (later, more well known over
the air to listeners as Bert
Williams), and followed the closure of his beloved offshore station Radio
Caroline North in March 1968. The actual start date is unknown, but
he was thought to be on the air by mid 1968 playing continuous music and
announcements to Merseyside. According to an article in local 1969
newspaper Wallasey News (see below), he was almost raided by the Post Office, and decided to
close. However he obviously had a change of heart, as he was
heard a few weeks later as Radio Merseyland, for which he was thought
to have been raided on 18th October 1969 and prosecuted on 14th January 1970.
Even after that, he continued, using numerous station names in the following decades, up
until his sad passing in January 2021. |
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Radio 255 Audio Library
All the
recordings below are
by kind courtesy of Rodger Dee
and were recovered from a number of old 3" reel to reel tapes originally belonging to Alfred
| 1969_00_00_radio255_station_id_bertwilliams-bw.mp3 New Jun 2023 | A Radio 255 station ID by a young Bert Williams. The recording was undated, but thought to be sometime in early 1969. | 87MB (9 secs) |
| 1969_00_00_radio255_signoff_bertwilliams-bw.mp3 New Jun 2023 | Radio 255 signing off, complete with theme tune 'Theme For Young Lovers' by The Shadows. The recording is again from an undated tape. | 136MB (3mins 30secs) |
| 1969_00_00_radio255_bertwilliams_comments_on_marine_offences_act-bw.mp3 New Jun 2023 | Bert Williams in his younger days makes comments on the Marine Offences Act. | 133MB (1min 12secs) |
| 1969_00_00_radio255_station_id_with_frequency_bertwilliams-bw.mp3 New Jun 2023 | On this station ID, Radio 255 is announced as being on 1187kHz, which was the frequency vacated by Radio Caroline South after it was towed away in March 1968. | 133MB (52secs) |
| 1969_00_00_radio255_bertwilliams_airchecks-bw.mp3 New Jun 2023 | Some airchecks from a Radio 255 broadcast. | 133MB (2mins 31secs) |
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