Kate Corry
KATE CORRY joined Brooklands FM because it reflected her interests in drama and broadcasting production. Our 2007 broadcast gave Kate her debut in radio, presenting the Saturday breakfast show.
In her day job she is a production manager for a company making corporate films and her other interests include reading, writing, travelling, keeping fit and nights out in London with pals.
Kate, the daughter of Brooklands FM presenter Robin Corry, lives in Esher, where she was brought up. She went to Tormead School, in Guildford, and Manchester University, and appeared in stage productions at both.
Robin Corry
ROBIN CORRY fell in love with radio as a small boy in its heyday, listening to comedy shows such as ITMA, Much Binding In The Marsh and the adventure soap, Dick Barton, Special Agent. His dream of getting behind a microphone came true when he joined a hospital radio service.
His day job is print journalism and he has written for and worked on most popular national titles including the Daily Mail, The Sun and Take a Break. He now does editorial consultancy work and is Press and Communications Director with Brooklands FM.
Robin grew up in Middlesex and from Harrow County Grammar School joined the Army for National Service. He moved to North-West Surrey in 1967 and has lived in Esher with his wife since 1979. They have a daughter Kate, also a Brooklands FM presenter.
John Cull
JOHN CULL began his radio career on one of the legendary pirate stations of the Sixties, Radio 390, housed on a fort in the Thames estuary. After the pirates were closed down he spent four years on Radio KZ in Melbourne, where the late Alan Freeman began his career.
Back here, he presented on local hospital radio but took a day job with Qantas Airways. He was propelled into celebrity as the airline’s Duty Airport Manager at Heathrow in the BBC’s fly-on-the-wall docu-soap Airport from 2000 to 2003, still repeated regularly on digital channels.
John was brought up in Addlestone and went to St Paul’s School. Now living in Sunbury, he has taken early retirement from Qantas and runs the TV and radio website www.waveguide.co.uk.
Lance England
LANCE ENGLAND, Brooklands FM Technical Director, began his radio career when he was 11 – when his mum wrote in to a local hospital broadcasting service. He stayed for nearly 20 years, ending up as chairman.
After leaving St Paul’s School, Addlestone, he became a race car mechanic before joining BBC as an Assistant Sound Recordist, rising to Senior Audio Supervisor. He went on to set up his own business, Soho-based Gemini Audio, mixing TV and radio soundtracks for the BBC and most major broadcasters.
Lance lives with wife Liz and their two children in Woodham. He has retained his interest in motorsport and keeps a 1974 Ferrari 308 on the road. His other interests include electronics, music and, recently, growing his own vegetables
Mike Gurr
MIKE GURR, Brooklands FM’s Sales & Marketing Director, came into radio by chance when his wife Gill was in hospital to have the first of their two sons 25 years ago and a hospital radio volunteer offered to play a request for him. Mike joined the station and became a star presenter.
After leaving school, Mike joined the Air Training Corps and rose to Corporal Lead Drummer. But the world of music lost its budding star because he entered the motor industry as an apprentice. He has worked with top marques including Rolls Royce, Bentley, Mercedes Benz, Land Rover and Jaguar and today is a Fellow of the Institute of the Motor Industry.
Mike, who was was born and brought up in Worthing, West Sussex, has lived in Knaphill, Woking, for 26 years. His interests include radio-controlled model aircraft and motor-cycling.
Graham Laycock
GRAHAM LAYCOCK made his radio debut in his early teens, recording programmes at home and inflicting them on his family on Sunday mornings. He progressed to his local hospital radio service, becoming Programme Controller and then Chairman.
When he heard from former hospital radio colleagues of their plans for Brooklands FM he jumped at the chance to be involved and renew old friendships – so much so that he moved from Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, to Great Bookham to be part of the team and become Programme Controller.
Graham grew up in Walton-on-Thames and on leaving Ambleside School joined British Rail as a junior clerk. He rose to senior management roles in the railway industry but in 2003 a bout of ill-health led to early retirement. He and his wife Anita have two grown-up sons and his interests include photography, railways, buses and helping others with the vasculitis condition he suffered.
Colin Maunder
COLIN MAUNDER’s life-long interest in radio further developed as he studied for a broadcasting degree at Falmouth College of Arts and it was a natural progression to become a sports programming producer for BBC local radio, work he has been doing since 1998.
His day job is teaching media studies at Brooklands College, Weybridge, and he became involved with Brooklands FM when the station offered media students at the college the opportunity to make their own programmes as part of their BTEC course.
Born in Twickenham, Colin grew up in Sunbury, went to Sunbury County School and now lives in Stoke D’Abernon. His interests include art and music.
Ian McGee
IAN McGEE comes from a musical Irish family. All his uncles and aunts played musical instruments and Ian learned the guitar when young and played at local venues in Surrey. It led on to running party discos and joining a hospital radio service. But Ian was destined for higher things and appeared in a TV commercial for Smarties with Valerie Singleton that was screened for many years.
Born in Kingston upon Thames, Ian grew up in Surbiton and now lives in Worcester Park. His career began with an apprenticeship with British Aerospace and he now has a technical role with the NHS. He enjoys cooking, meeting new people and walking, especially along the Thames and exploring rural Surrey and Sussex.
Terry Peters
TERRY PETERS’ enthusiasm for radio surfaced in his teens when he began recording shows on cassette to play to family and friends. After an early career as a baker he began broadcasting on London station Choice FM where he stayed for 13 years. He went on to present TV shows, including Dancemania on QVC.
Terry is also busy with voice-over work, compering, and running his business, Terry Peters Discotheques.
Born in Hampton, Terry went to Kenyngton Manor School, in Sunbury, and now lives in Sunbury with his wife and two children. Away from the microphone he relaxes with angling, belonging to several local angling clubs, and representing tackle manufacturer Colmic in match angling competitions at local and national championship levels.
Ray Rainbow
RAY RAINBOW’s interest in radio began at age 13 when he was talent-spotted by a Radio 1 researcher visiting his youth club, where he ran discos. The result was a stint as a guest Radio 1 presenter with Andy Peebles and Anne Nightingale.
He went on to present shows on local station Jackie, when it was a pirate. From there he joined a hospital radio service, where he got to know the people who years later founded Brooklands FM and invited him to become a presenter.
Ray, who has a young daughter, is an aircraft engineer and grew up in Long Ditton, where he still lives and is chairman of the Residents Association and the Village Fair committee. He enjoys golf and swimming.
Barry Richards
BARRY RICHARDS has broadcasting in his blood – his father was Sound Director at ATV and he had uncles working at ITN and Thames TV. In his teens he joined a Surrey hospital radio service and moved on to host a chat show on London News Talk with Adrian Just. He has also done voice-over work on radio and cinema commercials.
In his day job Barry is HR Director for Europe, Middle East and Africa with international advertising agency McCann-Erickson, whose clients include such household names as Mastercard, Microsoft and Nestlé – making him ideally qualified as both Advertising & Promotions Director and HR Director with Brooklands FM.
Barry grew up in Weybridge, went to Fulbrook School, in New Haw, and now lives in Woodham with his wife and two children.
Andy Richens
ANDY RICHENS made his broadcasting debut as a presenter on the Kent University radio station and was hooked. After graduating, he joined a Weybridge-based hospital radio station where he ran a request show for 25 years.
On top of his day job as a taxation expert he was also also match day DJ at Chelsea FC for seven years and is still a supporter. He likes all kinds of music, but in his car it’s likely to be Snow Patrol, Keane or Coldplay.
Andy grew up in Staines and Wraysbury went to Ashford Grammar School. He is married with a son and is tax technical director with a West Country firm of chartered accountants. He commutes to Brooklands FM from his home in Devon in his Lotus car – he has driven one (not the same one) for 30 years.
Mark Smith
MARK SMITH’s destiny in broadcasting was sealed at age three, when his dad gave him an old reel-to-reel tape recorder which he played with endlessly. From Fullbrook School, in New Haw, he joined the BBC as a technical operator on Radios 1 and 2, later moving to BBC News.
He is now the Technical Manager for Five Live and Radio 4 news programmes such as Today, and Website Manager for Brooklands FM.
Mark lives in Walton-on-Thames with wife Sara, a governor at Cardinal Newman School, in Hersham, and formerly Late Show and Breakfast Show presenter on the Guildford-based County Sound radio station. They have two children.
Alan Timbrell
ALAN TIMBRELL, Chairman of Brooklands FM, had the idea for the station in 2004 and has worked towards making it a full-time community radio service since then.
His love of radio was fired by the off-shore pirates of the Sixties. At age 16 he and a friend founded a hospital radio service at Weybridge that survives today. From St James School, Weybridge, Alan joined GPO Telephones (now BT) as an apprentice engineer, later managed projects in the mobile phone industry and is now a consultant project manager with a private medical group.
Alan believes that radio today could be much more enjoyable, entertaining, and distinctive. He feels that presenters should have more say in content and encouraged to try out their own ideas so that their programmes reflect their personalities.
He is married with two daughters and lives at Jacob’s Well, near Guildford. His interests include travel and experiencing different cultures.
Sarah Wilson
It was SARAH WILSON’s love of music and singing that brought her to Brooklands FM. She grew up in Weybridge with Motown classics playing in the house and became a huge funk fan in her early teens. A trained mezzo soprano, she has sung with bands here and in the US, and presents The Funk Show on Brooklands FM.
Sarah went to St Maur’s School, Weybridge and later became a film and TV writer/producer, working in Los Angeles for three years and now over here. She also teaches scriptwriting and video production at Brooklands College, Weybridge.
A keen animal welfare supporter, she has workerd for charities including PETA and the Randalls wildlife sanctuary in Stoke D’Abernon. She lives in Richmond with her husband and two cats.
