Bruce Rodney Wingate Parker, (born 20 July 1941) is a British journalist and television presenter whose career spanned the mid-1960s to 2003, when he retired.

Career

Strongly committed to regional broadcasting, he was responsible in the mid-1960s for a pilot local radio station in the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey ...

, which partly led to the setting up of a string of

BBC local radio BBC Local Radio (also referred to as Local BBC Radio) is the BBC's local and regional radio division for England and the Channel Islands, consisting of forty stations. History The popularity of pirate radio was to challenge a change within ...

stations across the UK. In 1967 he joined

BBC South BBC South is the BBC English Region serving Oxfordshire, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Dorset, Berkshire and parts of Gloucestershire, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Surrey, West Sussex and Wiltshire, with geographic coverage varying bet ...

Southampton Southampton () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire, S ...

, where he remained for most of his career, making a name as the main presenter and reporter for ''

South Today ''BBC South Today'' is the BBC's regional television news service for the south of England, covering Hampshire, Isle of Wight, West Sussex, much of Dorset and parts of Berkshire, Surrey and Wiltshire. Since 2000, an opt-out of the main progra ...

'' for 37 years, a record stint for any regional presenter in the UK. He was also a respected political interviewer and later BBC South's political editor, hosting ''South of Westminster'' and ''South on Sunday''. In the 1970s he became a familiar face to viewers in the rest of Britain, first as a network news reporter and later as the first host of ''

Antiques Roadshow ''Antiques Roadshow'' is a British television programme broadcast by the BBC in which antiques appraisers travel to various regions of the United Kingdom (and occasionally in other countries) to appraise antiques brought in by local peopl ...

'' (which he helped set up with Robin Drake) and a regular contributor to and presenter of '' Nationwide''. He also presented the BBC1 arts magazine ''Mainstream'' in 1979 and a number of ''

Songs of Praise ''Songs of Praise'' is a BBC Television religious programme that presents Christian hymns sung in churches of varying denominations from around the UK. The series was first broadcast in October 1961. On that occasion, the venue was the Tabe ...

'' editions in the 1970s and 1980s. He was also the BBC commentator for the raising of the ''

Mary Rose The ''Mary Rose'' (launched 1511) is a carrack-type warship of the English Tudor navy of King Henry VIII. She served for 33 years in several wars against France, Scotland, and Brittany. After being substantially rebuilt in 1536, she saw her ...

'' in October 1982, clips of which regularly appear on nostalgia and retrospective programmes. He also presented a number of programmes on Radio 4 including ''The Week's Antiques'', which he devised, and the regional ''Today'' from the South and West. He has won several Royal Television Society awards and is the author of ''Everybody's Soapbox'' (with Nigel Farrell), ''The History of Elizabeth College'' and ''A History of Guernsey Full-Bore Rifle Shooting.'' A keen rifle-shot since his schooldays when he became Public Schools’ small-bore champion and UK cadet forces champion, he achieved further successes at Bisley’s Imperial Meeting, winning ‘The Century’ in 1963 and appearing in the Queen’s Prize Final a number of times. He was a member of Guernsey and Channel Island teams until 2003 and took part in the Commonwealth championships in 1988, held in Sydney, Australia. Brought up in Guernsey, Parker was educated at Elizabeth College Guernsey followed by the

University of Wales The University of Wales (Welsh language, Welsh: ''Prifysgol Cymru'') is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff � ...

and a postgraduate degree at the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

. He is chairman of the friends of

Winchester Cathedral The Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity,Historic England. "Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity (1095509)". '' National Heritage List for England''. Retrieved 8 September 2014. Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint Swithun, commonly known as Winche ...

and a cathedral trustee. He also chaired two educational charities in Guernsey, the Elizabeth College Foundation and the Gibson Fleming Trust and is the former chairman of Harestock School governors in Winchester, a resident of AppleshawVeteran journalist and Appleshaw resident honoured at university's celebration
Retrieved 3/5/21. in Hampshire and was chairman of Appleshaw Parish Council for six years until January 2016. Created Honorary Fellow of Winchester University, 2018. Made Companion of the Order of St Swithun by Winchester Cathedral Chapter, 2023.

References

External links

Retirement and special award from BBC
1941 births Living people British male journalists Members of the Order of the British Empire Place of birth missing (living people) Guernsey people People from Appleshaw {{UK-tv-bio-stub Alumni of the University of Wales, Lampeter