After Johnnie and I had finished talking, I looked outside and there was Ronan O'Rahilly, on his own. I know Ronan shuns publicity, having had unhappy experiences with the Special forces – Caroline had been a massive thorn in the side of the establishment and one cannot imagine what he must have gone through for the cause. I approached him and, to my delight, he seemed happy to talk. I was delighted, more than 40 years down the line, to be able to thank him for Caroline and to tell him how she had changed my life. No, I hadn't gone into radio, but it had made a massive difference to me and it was good to be able to credit him for this and express my gratitude. He seemed delighted that “the Lady” had had such an impact on me, saying that the world had needed shaking up! Right on!! I asked if it would be ok to have my photo taken with him and he was very obliging, while I handed my camera to a bystander and while Hans Knot took another photo. I was absolutely thrilled to be meeting my radio hero, a truly charismatic man who made a dream happen.

Howard Castle aka Bud Ballou	Chris Cary aka Spangles Muldoon	Ronan and Tony Blackburn

A number of people then came up to have a word with him and he seemed to make himself available to anyone who wanted to speak with him. He agreed to pose for photos and that made my day. The last I saw of him he was in deep conversation with Tony Blackburn. For the next half hour, I just wandered round, talking with folks and taking the odd photo or two. By then, Graham Webb and Norman St John were outside, with their friend, Rolf Harris, so I wandered over to them, taking some piccies before Rolf got swamped by non-anorak tourists.

Graham "Spider" Webb and Norman St John	Graham Webb, Norman St John and Rolf Harris	Graham Webb and Rolf Harris

I then made my way over to Leicester Square, where I had a bite to eat at a Tapas bar, before going back to my hotel, picking up my suitcase and then onto Euston to get the train home.

Me with Johnnie Walker	Me with Johnnie Walker	Ronan and me

The three photos immediately above were taken by and are copyright of Hans Knot and reproduced by kind permission

I’d had a great day – the whole trip had cost me just over £200 to go down south but it was money well worth spending. I doubt there will ever be such a well attended commemoration in the future – every year we seem to lose more of those great voices to the grim reaper, so I don’t know how many of us will be around for the 50th anniversary in 2017. For those of us there, it was a truly memorable afternoon and an all-too brief opportunity to pay homage to our radio heritage from those watery wireless days. Alan Milewczyk

More pictures of the event available at these sites Hans Knot The Offshore Radio Guide Radio London

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