Wireless Connection? Just ask Bill!

Ninety-five-year-old Bill Palmer pictured with DJ Alex Dyke in The Times newspaper this week.

When 95-year-old Bill Palmer married his wife, Sheila, last year after 30 years of friendship, life seemed perfect. Little did he know that his desperate loneliness would soon make him an internet sensation.

The plucky pensioner hadn't reckoned on the power of his own voice when he joined a phone-in on BBC Radio Solent when he had 'no-one else to talk to.'

Bill, it seems, has been been living alone  in their bungalow since Sheila, 85, had a bad fall. She was taken to hospital and then then on to a nursing home, suffering from dementia.  'Every day is hell, he confessed to disc jockey Alex Dyke. ' She's just so happy when I see her.... (but)  oh, I feel so alone.'

How did the disc jockey react?  He sent a BBC car to pick up Mr Palmer and take him to the station for a cup of tea and a piece of cake.  The emotional moment, captured on the radio station's facebook page, has been viewed almost 200,000 times.

Dyke, who was sadly too busy to see Bill when he visited the station last year said it was his 'nicest moment in 30 years of broadcasting.'

Meanwhile Bill has been inundated with offers of companionship, from Sunday lunch to a private concert by a ukulele orchestra -  and a message from someone in North Carolina.  When his wife found out what had happened she told him. 'We're the talk of the nation.'

 I like to think  this feel-good story is one with a mission, proving it wasn't always better in 'the good old days.'  Local radio is the unsung hero of the airwaves these days keeping whole communities in touch with each other and, as a result, looking after their wellbeing. Only last year I was fortunate enough to be interviewed on BBC Radio Lancashire when DJ John Gillmore organised a 24 - hour interview marathon to raise money for Children in Need.

 These acts of kindness are actually going on all day every day all over Britain.  So don't forget to support your local radio station. You might even be saving someone's life.



 

Cats, Christmas - and a bull that got my goat!

Children's author David J Garnett called into my book signing this weekend  at Greenlands FarmVillage, Carnforth, Lancashire  where the annual Christmas Craft and Food Fair turned out to be the busiest on record!

As well as meeting some lovely readers we managed to raise almost £30 for Children in Need, thanks to some very generous customers.

The mild November weather made it easy for young and old to mingle with a host of animals - cows, bulls, goats, sheep, donkeys and a very friendly turkey which seemed intent on making friends with everybody.

Meanwhile author David, who lives in Bolton-le-Sands on the edge of the Lake District, explained that he was inspired to write The Glutton Cat - the story of a very greedy moggy- by his friend's cat Mindy, who, has a reputation for eating too much!

An adventure story for children, the 56-page illustrated paperback is available for £5.99 from amazon.co.uk.  David, who works full time for Network Rail in Carnforth as an electrical engineering technician, has just finished the sequel  aptly entitled The Further Adventures of Glutton Cat - the Legend of Hector. 

And now for some more photos of the animals at Greenlands Farm.

 

Lunch anyone?

Taken for a ride? 

 

 

 

And finally, bringing up the rhea...

 

 

My thanks go to The Bookworms, the Lancaster-based reading group who hosted the

book signing.

 

Hard to bear? Twenty-four-hour interview stint breaks world record!

John hears the news that he's broken the world record!

I helped to break a world record today - along with almost three hundred volunteers. The star of the show was BBC Radio Lancashire's popular presenter John Gillmore who worked  round the clock interviewing every single one of us to raise money for Children in Need.

Known affectionately as 'Gilly', John held 293 live interviews  over twenty-four hours in the Blackburn-based studio - beating the previous record-holder's  (an Italian broadcaster) total of 256.

I do my bit

And what a day it was! The studio was buzzing with a carnival atmosphere that belied the serious intention behind the task. We all wore Paddington-bear type tags so that we could be easily identified and played a game of musical chairs as we gradually moved up the queue to take our place in the studio.

Just ahead of me was Dr Nick Lister, of the Lawrence House Academy and Space Centre, Fleetwood, the UK.s only school of astronomy.  He was very excited about robotic space probe Rosetta's successful comet landing  after 10 years work by the European Space Agency. As I watched  his live interview I felt like I was witnessing a piece of history taking place.

People came from everywhere to discuss their charity work, their businesses, their successes, their plans and their achievements.

Along with  a very lifelike Pudsey Bear,  several animals even made it into the studio  to have their moment of glory.

And then there was me, of course, talking about Baggy Pants and Bootees.  All very humbling, really.
I'll be doing a book signing at Greenlands Farm Village Christmas Fair in Tewitfield, Carnforth this weekend  (Saturday November  15 - Sunday November 16) from 10am-5pm. This is kindly being hosted by Carnforth-based reading group The Bookworms and £1 from every copy sold will go to Children in Need.

Watch this space for the final total raised by Radio Lancashire's Gillathon . And spare a thought for the  unstoppable John Gillmore.  I hope he's having a well-deserved rest...

 Greenlands Farm Village Christmas Craft and Food Fair