The Radios In My Life

All this cold weather and hibernating means that I've been listening to the radio a lot.

I have a thing about radios. I. Just. Love. Them. I have the radio on in the house constantly, and I have a particular thing for Radio 4. I get really cross when they say that the average Radio 4 listener is fifty and lives in London. No! Not me. I am thirty something and live in Yorkshire. It's such a wonderful, interesting, diverse radio station. Don't get me going on how fabulous Woman's Hour is. When my alarm goes off first thing in the morning, it's set to Radio 4. When I go downstairs to make a cup of tea, the kitchen radio goes on and I continue with the Today Programme. When I go back upstairs to get dressed, the radio on my dressing table goes on. And so on, throughout the day, from room to room. You get the picture. When you're at home looking after little people, you spend a lot of time At Home. And the radio keeps me sane.

Occasionally I flirt a bit with other radio stations. Sometimes I listen to Five Live. But then that gets a bit too sporty, and a bit too Live. I hate the way they abandon a really fascinating interview just to broadcast a tedious press conference or, even worse, a golf match, just because it's LIVE!!  That's when I go back to Radio 4. 

John listens to 6 Music. I know this because I have to retune all the radios after he's been listening to them. I don't mind 6 Music. It's alright. It's not Radio 4 though.

So today - welcome to my radios.

This was my first proper radio (that wasn't attached to a cassette recorder in my bedroom as a child). It's an old Roberts analogue radio that's about 12 years old and annoyingly it doesn't work unless it's on VERY loud. It was expensive for me when I bought it, and it betrayed me by breaking. So it is banished, unplugged, to the landing windowsill, where is sits looking pretty.

This is an analogue Bush Radio that sits on my dressing table. I can't remember where I bought it, but I love the look of it. It's reliable and makes a satisfying crackly clunk when I switch it on.

Now this radio has a very special place in my heart. It belonged to my Grandma and I remember it sitting on the worktop in her kitchen throughout my childhood. I think it is from the 1970's. I had it in my kitchen until about a year ago when, after much crackling and moaning, it finally decided to stop working. It now sits in pride of place in the living room where I can admire it's vintage loveliness.

John bought me this gorgeous, cheerful digital radio for my birthday a few years ago. It lives in the kitchen, where I spend a great deal of my time, and is happy high on the shelf, away from the greasy splashes from the cooker.

And last, but by no means least, is this yellow beauty. The newest addition to the family, it sits on the sideboard in the dining room where it can be heard for miles around. I heart this radio. The colour, the retro design, the digital tuning...it's magic.

I would love to hear about your radios...are you as obsessed as me?