A Sandbach resident and avid broadcaster is hanging up his microphone today(Sunday) - after a radio station closes after 58 years of broadcasting.

Hospital Radio Leighton went on air officially on 7 January 1967 and avid broadcaster, Stewart Green, well-known as a local photographer as well, joined the station in 1983.

Stewart Green will join other broadcasters for one last live broadcast before the switches are finally turned off and the light of so many happy memories begins to fade today (January 5th).

New technology and other changes within Leighton Hospital have led to a decrease in listener figures to a point when it was decided it wasn't worth broadcasting to so few so a decision was made to close the station.

Stewart, who lives in Sandbach Heath, joined the radio station 42 years ago in 1983 after seeing an advert in a shop window.

"I always wanted to do radio and saw an advert in a shop window in Crewe advertising for broadcasters. I applied and had an interview. My first appearance on radio was in 1983," said Stewart.

"I like the fact you're talking to one person usually and I've met some fabulous people and celebrities. It's very personal which I like. TV involves lots of people whereas radio doesn't."

Started in 1966 as an experimental one-off football commentary, Hospital Radio Leighton evolved into a regular broadcast station on the 7 January 1967 when they started covering home matches of Crewe Alexandra with equipment loaned by the North Staffs Hospital Broadcasting Service.

In 1968 it started broadcasting regular programmes of requests to patients from a new studio in November. These new shows included all the features the station has continued to broadcast.

Programmes on Hospital Radio Leighton have included celebrity interviews, carol services, quiz nights, coverage of local events, Crewe Alexandra home matches to both those in the beds and also the blind at the Gresty Road stadium, talking to local people and most of all the many request programmes delivered each week to give messages to patients in the Crewe Memorial, Coppenhall and Leighton Hospitals.

"A request programme, interviews with local people and the start of an annual Mayor's interview which was originally the Crewe Mayor changing to more recent times when it became the Mayor of Cheshire East and only slowed down when Covid struck the world and forever changed the way programmes were made and broadcast.

Stewart added: "After 58 years of local broadcasting South Cheshire's first broadcast station fades down its shows for the last time on the 5th January 2025 ending an era of broadcasting that has given so much to the patients in Crewe hospitals, the community, local and national radio and overall great pleasure to the over 440 presenters and technical staff who have been involved with Hospital Radio in Crewe."

Sunday's final schedule (January 5th) will start at 11.30 am with a special programme looking back over the years of broadcasts, including archive from some of the first studio shows, celebrity interviews, concert recordings and some of those many presenters who have appeared on the station.

At 1pm Dave Roberts will present his final show of Music Memories followed by the final football commentary from Crewe Alexandra's ground at Gresty Road between Crewe and Bromley.

At 5pm Ben Ridsdale, the current chairman of the society, will broadcast until 7pm when the final programme opens the fader for a nostalgic look back at the broadcasting lives of some of the presenters as Stewart Green, Bob Squirrell, Linda Rose, Dave Roberts and others join together for one last live broadcast before the switches are finally turned off and the light of so many happy memories begins to fade.

Now Stewart, who lives in Sandbach Heath, is hoping his broadcasting days aren't over yet and he gets the chance to join another radio station sometime in the near future.

"I will still be doing some local interviews and using these but would love to be back on air soon," he said.

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