Radio Scotland was an offshore
pirate radio
Pirate radio or a pirate radio station is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license.
In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are received—especially w ...
station broadcasting on 1241 kHz
mediumwave
Medium wave (MW) is the part of the medium frequency (MF) radio band used mainly for AM radio broadcasting. The spectrum provides about 120 channels with more limited sound quality than FM stations on the FM broadcast band. During the daytime ...
(242 metres), created by Tommy Shields in 1965. The station was on the former
lightship L.V. ''Comet'', which had been fitted out as a radio station in
Guernsey
Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency.
It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...
using
RCA
The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...
technology and engineers, it was anchored at locations off
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
, usually outside
territorial waters
The term territorial waters is sometimes used informally to refer to any area of water over which a sovereign state has jurisdiction, including internal waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, and potenti ...
.
The station began on 31 December 1965
and featured
DJs including
Paul Young
Paul Antony Young (born 17 January 1956) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. Formerly the frontman of the short-lived bands Kat Kool & the Kool Cats, Streetband and Q-Tips, he became a teen idol with his solo success in the 1980s. ...
,
Richard Park,
Stuart Henry and Jack McLaughlin with a
céilidh programme that promised to tickle the "tartan tonsils". Later disc-jockeys included John Kerr, Tony Allan, Ben Healy, Mark Wesley (as Mark West), Alan Black, David Kinnaird, Charlie Whyte, Pete Bowman, Larry Marshall, Bryan Vaughan, Mel Howard,
Roger Gale (now Sir Roger Gale, Conservative MP and Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons), Eddie White, Drew Hamlyn, Jimmy Mack, Cathy Spence, Stevie Merike and Brian McKenzie (as Brian Webb). Its headquarters, Radio Scotland House, was a building at Cranworth Street, Hillhead in Glasgow. Cranworth Street also made taped programmes - using 1/4" magnetic tape - which were taken to the ship by tender.
The ''Comet'' was initially off Dunbar
on the east coast and had strong coverage of
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
, but not as clearly in
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
. Shields moved the ship in April 1966 to Troon off Arran on the west coast, but it had no engine so it had to be towed. Adding to expense was that the station remained on air, meaning a longer route outside territorial waters.
The anchorages off the west coast of
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
were found to be within territorial waters and the company was fined £80, bringing a move to Ballywater, off
Co Down,
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
, the station changing its name to Radio Scotland and Ireland.
Then
RTÉ
(RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...
claimed the station was causing adjacent channel interference to its
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
transmitter on 1250 kHz. Transmissions to the east of Scotland were worse from this location, so Shields took the ship to off
Fife Ness
Fife Ness ( gd, Rubha Fiobha) is a headland forming the most eastern point in Fife, Scotland. Anciently the area was called Muck Ross, which is a corruption of the Scottish Gaelic ''Muc-Rois'' meaning "Headland of the Pigs". It is situated in t ...
and the
Isle of May
The Isle of May is located in the north of the outer Firth of Forth, approximately off the coast of mainland Scotland. It is about long and wide. The island is owned and managed by NatureScot as a national nature reserve. There are now no ...
. As well as giving eastern Scotland a strong signal, the "water run" meant the signal didn't hit land until Grangemouth in Stirlingshire, about 20 miles (32 km) from Glasgow. So the
Central Belt
The Central Belt of Scotland is the area of highest population density within Scotland. Depending on the definition used, it has a population of between 2.4 and 4.2 million (the country's total was around 5.4 million in 2019), including Great ...
at last had a listenable signal. Peter Alex's 1966 book ''Who's Who In Pop Radio'' claimed that as well as covering Scotland and Northern Ireland, the station's reception area included the east coast of England down to Cambridge.'
The station was popular in Scotland with the '242 Clan' fan club' and ''242'' monthly magazine.
It was also seen as profitable, and one of the 'big six' pirate stations, along with Caroline South, Caroline North, Radio London, Radio 390 and Radio 270.
The station closed on 14 August 1967
with the
Marine Offences Act
The Marine, &c., Broadcasting (Offences) Act 1967 (c. 41), shortened to Marine Broadcasting Offences Act or "Marine offences Act", became law in the United Kingdom at midnight on Monday 14 August 1967. It was subsequently amended by the Wireles ...
1967. Shields had repeatedly lobbied the Government to exempt Radio Scotland and wanted terms under which the station might continue legally. One of his arguments was that the station broadcast into areas where it was not possible to receive BBC radio. Shields died just six months after the station's closure, aged 49.
The majority of the crew and presenters were at a party in Glasgow to say farewell to Radio Scotland on the last night. It was left to Andy Main, electrical engineer and occasional late night DJ, to give the last transmission and put Radio Scotland off air. Prior to the recorded 'last hour' show which finished at 11.59 pm, Tony Allan and Mark West presented a programme talking about past shows and DJs and playing their signature tunes.
Many presenters went to other stations, including
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
,
Radio Caroline
Radio Caroline is a British radio station founded in 1964 by Ronan O'Rahilly and Alan Crawford initially to circumvent the record companies' control of popular music broadcasting in the United Kingdom and the BBC's radio broadcasting monopoly. ...
,
Radio Luxembourg
Radio Luxembourg was a multilingual commercial broadcaster in Luxembourg. It is known in most non-English languages as RTL (for Radio Television Luxembourg).
The English-language service of Radio Luxembourg began in 1933 as one of the earlies ...
,
Radio Clyde
Radio Clyde is a group of two Independent Local Radio stations serving Glasgow and West Central Scotland. Radio Clyde is owned and operated by Bauer, based at studios in Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire and forms part of Bauer's Hits Radio and Gr ...
and
BBC Radio Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland is a Scottish radio network owned and operated by BBC Scotland, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts a wide variety of programmes. It replaced the Scottish BBC Radio 4 opt-out service of the same name from 23 November 197 ...
.
The only Radio Scotland 242 presenter still involved in UK radio is Richard Park, albeit in station management.
In April 2017, 242 Radio, an internet station (www.242radio.com), was launched and named in tribute to the station, using the offshore station's famous 242 call sign as its name.
References
External links
History of Radio Scotland on the Ross Revenge website in
Fife
Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...
]
{{coord, 56.0000, -2.5145, display=title, region:GB_scale:10000
Radio stations established in 1965
1967 disestablishments in Scotland
Offshore radio
Radio stations in Scotland
Pirate radio stations in the United Kingdom
1965 establishments in Scotland
Defunct radio stations in the United Kingdom
Radio stations disestablished in 1967