High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire visits Ouse Valley Radio

Ouse Valley Radio’s Today programme welcomed the High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire, Francis Burkitt DL to our studios on Sunday 2nd August which was broadcast live from 10am-12pm.  Mr Burkitt explained the role of the High Sheriff both historical and present day to our presenter, Martin West and the team.

Below is the content of his face book entry reflecting upon his time spent with us and also his recent visit to Radio Fenland:-

CELEBRATING OUR LOCAL RADIO STATIONS

My wife Jo edits our Parish Magazine (and very good it is too), so I’ve long been a fan of local media - whether it’s parish/community magazines, local newspapers or local radio stations. They’re a powerful glue that holds our communities together.

So I enjoyed being interviewed for the best part of an hour by Martin West of Ouse Valley Radio on the role of the High Sheriff. The station broadcasts from Huntingdon and its FM transmitter reaches about 10 miles around, though of course you can stream it from anywhere.

That followed an interview by Robert Windle of Radio Fenland Newsroom earlier this year, broadcasting from a room upstairs in Wisbech Town Council’s offices.

Both stations are not-for-profits; both are run entirely by dedicated volunteers; and both inform their listeners of what’s going on in their local community.

Cambridgeshire has more very good local stations besides those two. They complement BBC Radio Cambridgeshire and the other commercial stations in the county.

Local radio is also a good place for aspiring journalists to cut their teeth - at Ouse Valley Radio, as well as Martin, the production team was Freya Cushman and Harry Vallance, who’s waiting for his grades before hopefully studying politics at university with an aim to becoming a journalist.

If you want to know more about the role of a High Sheriff, do please listen to the interview at https://lnkd.in/eAAZg_pv starting at 1 hour 4 minutes - but you’ll have to do so soon, as it runs out at the end of the week.

Martin and I had a very enjoyable conversation about High Sheriffs, starting before Alfred the Great and ending up with the modern-day role. Here’s some questions for you:

1. Where does the word ‘sheriff’ come from?

2. When was the first female High Sheriff?

3. Why is the role for only one year?

4. What denier are my tights?

A huge thanks to all the volunteers at our wonderful local radio stations for all their dedication in keeping us informed, and for the music they play in between.

If you missed the programme, or would like to hear it again, go to our Listen Again facility and scroll to “Today” on 2^nd August – this will only be available for 2 weeks from the date of broadcast.