Radio 270

Radio 270 was a pirate radio station serving Yorkshire and the northeast of England from 1966 to 1967. It broadcast from a converted Dutch lugger (called "Oceaan 7" - note Dutch spelling) and was based in international waters off Scarborough, North Yorkshire.

History

The station was often criticised for its poor choice of wavelength. Its frequency of 1115 kHz was close to Wonderful Radio London on 1133 kHz, and this proximity caused interference between the two stations over a wide area.

Unlike most offshore stations which remained at anchor and were supplied by regular tenders, the "Oceaan 7" periodically sailed into port to exchange crews and resupply. Until the passage of the Marine, etc. Broadcasting (Offences) Act on August 15 1967 this was perfectly legal as long as the transmitter was switched off while the ship was within British territorial limits.

At midnight on August 14, the day before the passage of the Act, the station closed down for the last time, nine hours after Radio London and simultaneous with Radio Scotland, leaving the two Radio Caroline ships as the only offshore pirate stations still on the air.

Radio 270 People

The only two people connected with offshore radio ever to enter Parliament both worked at Radio 270. The station's Managing Director was Wilf Proudfoot, who had previously been Conservative MP for Cleveland (1959 - 1964) and subsequently for Brighouse and Spenborough (1970 -1974), whilst amongst the station's presenters was a direct descendant of Sir Francis Drake, Roger Gale who has been Conservative MP for Thanet North since 1983.

Other presenters who started their careers on Radio 270 include ex-Radio 1 DJ Paul Burnett [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/yorkslincs/series1/pirate-radio.shtml BBC Inside Out - Yorkshire & Lincolnshire: Monday 18th October, 2004] ] , ex-Radio Luxembourg DJ Mark Wesley (then known as Mark West) and ex-BBC TV Newsreader Philip Hayton.

Post-270 developments

After Caroline's ships were seized over unpaid debts in March 1968 the Caroline organisation secretly began negotiations to buy the "Oceaan 7", but the plan was scuppered when details were leaked to the press and the "Oceaan 7" was later broken up.

The transmitter and other broadcasting equipment from Radio 270 were placed in storage, and in 1970 found their way to the Dutch-based pirate Capital Radio (which had no connection to the later British radio station of the same name).

A later Dutch pirate, Radio Delmare, broadcast from the "Oceaan 7's" sister ship "Oceaan 9" (renamed "Aegir II") in 1978, but the station was short-lived.

External links

* [http://www.cwgsy.net/private/offshorepirateradio/rad270.html Basic History]
* [http://www.offshoreradio.co.uk/album37.htm Photo Gallery]

References

* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/northyorkshire/content/articles/2006/06/12/radio270_intro_feature.shtml 40th anniversary articles]
* Radio 270, Life on the Ocean Waves by Bob Preedy (R E Preedy)