Do you remember these names? I was thinking about them yesterday.




British ex-pats of my generation, British citizens of my generation (and younger), and friends fro  other lands who have lived in the U.K. will recall them as referring to the coastal areas around the United Kingdom  and the Republic of Ireland which feature in the BBC's "Shipping Forecast".

In my childhood and youth I would hear the Shipping Forecast": just about every day as it was broadcast on the BBC "Light Programme" (1500 m Long Wave).

The forecast itself had little interest for me, but "oh those names" were mesmerising.  They had   a magical effect on my mind. 

Indeed they were giving me a geographical lesson about the waters which surround the United kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. 

I suspect that my Dad, my older sister Maureen and I knew them by heart.

 Lord only knows why these names emerged from my memory yesterday.

"Back in the day" Fitzroy was called Finistere


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"Long Wave:  was re-christened as "A.M.", and what we knew as "Medium Wave" became "F.M.".

The Light Programme  (now BBC Radio 2?) was transfered from A.M to FM, and the Shipping Forecast was moved to BBC 4 (?) where it is  broadcast on A.M.. (The old "Long Wave" 1500 m)

 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Here's a bit more

 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6940597.stm
and this

 http://www.npr.org/2013/12/16/249722733/the-shipping-forecast-from-britains-seas-into-its-soul



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