Radio City visited.............

Although I live in a part of Middlesex within easy traveling distance of Southall, this week was the first time I paid it a visit. I have passed through Southall on a local train bound for Maidenhead, quite regularly since the 1980s.  When Sunrise Radio first appeared on air their building was visible from the train.  It is almost impossible to photograph as the train speeds past the distinctive tall old warehouse type building in the distance.  I set off for my photo shoot, taking two buses. The on board bus announcements of the 120 bus were an excellent navigational aid, particularly because I had never been there before.  

On arrival I got off at what I thought was the correct stop. I did not realise that I could have stayed on to the railway station. Initially I walked down the nearest road, and could see the Sunrise building across the railway tracks. This was no hardship because I was able to walk back into the Broadway at Southall. This took me over the railway bridge and past the railway station .  I paused on the railway bridge to take pictures of Sunrise House and the satellite building, both in the distance. There in a busy suburban town was evidence of two radio stations.  Avtar Lit started off Sinah Radio as a pirate station, and eventually launched Sunrise Radio as a legal station. He seems to have set things alight radio wise in Southall, and I will detail as much as I can in this short article.

I reached the Sunrise building.  I noticed that it had a moving display,  on the top of the building, underneath the distinctive blue and white Sunrise logo.  It said in rotation "Sunrise Radio",Sunrise TV","Kismat Radio,"Yarr Radio","Punjabi Radio". They also publicised the fact that there is a free to air Sunrise TV channel on the Sky Astra Channel!

The Sunrise building houses offices, and no doubt has studios for five broadcasting companies. That is not the end of Avtar Lit's empire which includes Time 106.9 from Maidenenhead and Easy Radio, not  Asian broadcasts!  I took some shots of the building and then entered the main reception.  It was a tall, well decorated foyer, behind some very sturdy doors. Sitting behind a reception desk at a very lavish desk was a charming receptionist. She could not offer me more than a few publicity leaflets, there were no stickers or information to hand out other than these.

My next stop was at Akash Rado which appears to have its offices and studios in some viaducts near the railway. This in the road which leads up to Sunrise Radio. There are satellite dishes on both sides of the viaduct.. Perhaps one side receives a signal from a distant studio and the one on the railway side uploads the station to the astra satellite?

I then walked back to the main shopping area and was fascinated by shops selling Asian and Indian CDs and DVDs, mobile phone paraphernalia etc.  I notice that shops were selling fruit and vegetables quite cheaply.  Everywhere was a burst of colour and sound, enhanced by the lovely sunshine. There was not one charity shop to be seen at all. Every shop was occupied, and most had displays on the pavement, some were open fronted. It was quite a continental field, and people walked around in suits, saris, turbans and a mix of ethnic clothes. I noticed at less five stalls on the streets selling hot flavoured sweet corn in cups.  It seemed to be a very popular treat with old and young, the sellers were kept quite busy.

I thought I had done well for the day, but had to find a peaceful spot to eat my sandwich and have a drink.  I was on the crossroads of the Broadway Southall and High Street. I turned into part of the High Street I had not been down before. To my amazement I looked up to see two banners on a building proclaiming "Westside radio 98.6".  There in a local high street was both radio station and aerial. Community stations are of lower power, but normally environmental issues dictate the masts are elsewhere. I know that Sunrise Radio used to use a mast sited near the canal in Southall, not on its building. Sunrise of course now uses the powerful transmitter once used by BBC Radio London, situated in Brookmans Park Hertfordshire. Back to Westside Radio, I went inside the shop below the station studios. It is a community organisation of some sort. The girl in there was very helpful, and gave me a leaflet about the station which contained their programme schedule. I explained that I listened to the station back in Northwood, and was amazed to see that they had both station studio, transmitter and mast in the High Street. I commented that their town planning was very understanding, not many stations had achieved that.   I explained I had visited Southall for the first time to view the radio stations offices for myself. She smiled and said "welcome to Southall"

In the field near the canal in Southall are the transmitters and masts uses by Desi Radio and Club Asia - I did not visit it on this trip but have a photo of the mast which is in the slide show above, taken some years ago.

Desi Radio - as described on their website "

Broadcasting 24 Hours a day on 1602AM in West London and around the world via the World Wide Web.

We aim to present Panjabi ideas, concepts and ideals to our listeners through a variety of poetry, writings and music. We are also seeking to improve links with other communities within West London to reflect the cultural diversity of the area.

The name Desi, is derived from the word Des meaning a specific Space or Homeland, which for us is the Land of the Five Rivers, Panjab. Our object is to analyse our practices and heritage and so ensure a better understanding of the Panjabi culture and traditions.

Desi Radio is a community station staffed by volunteers many of whom have been trained by the various media courses provided by the Panjabi Centre.

The radio station was granted it's licence in May 2002 as part of the British Governments Access Radio Scheme. It has a licence to broadcast for one year as part of this experiment which aims to explore how Access Radio - a new tier of not-for-profit radio which will have social and educational benefits - might work in practice.

The Panjabi Centre (where Desi Radio is based) is a charity working to raise awareness of the Panjabi language, culture and history through the provision of practical learning and skills.

Southall has an ethnic population and the stations there seem to have mushroomed in number. I counted 6 whilst there, and perhaps there are some I do not know about. Does anyone know anywhere else in the Uk that has so many stations in a small town?   As far as I can determine the stations seem to adequately serve their listeners with a good variety of programmes.  It would be interesting to hear from any Asians or Punjabis who feel the stations do not appeal to them at all.  Overall though I have the utmost admiration for Dr Avtar Lit who brought Sunrise Radio into legality from his Pirate Sinah Radio. Whilst he broadcasts in many Asian languages Sunrise Radio does have English presentation, which makes it quite an interesting listen from time to time.

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