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 eventually led to the setting up of a string of BBC local radio 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 b ...

Southampton Southampton () is a port 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 built-up area, which also covers Po ...

, 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 program ...

'' for 35 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 people ( ...

'' (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'' 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.'' Brought up in Guernsey, Parker was educated at Elizabeth College Guernsey followed by the

University of Wales , latin_name = , image = , caption = Coat of Arms , motto = cy, Goreu Awen Gwirionedd , mottoeng = The Best Inspiration is Truth , established = , , type = Confederal, non-member ...

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 Winches ...

and a cathedral trustee. He also chairs two educational charities in Guernsey, the Elizabeth College Foundation and the Gibson Fleming Trust. He is a former chairman of Harestock School governors in Winchester, a resident of

Appleshaw Appleshaw is a village in the English county of Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities ...

Veteran 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. He is a vice-patron of both the Hampshire and Isle of Wight air ambulance and Smile Support and Care charities, and an ambassador for Leukaemia Busters in Southampton.

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