Next weekend (September 9 to September 12), there will be a number of open days running as part of the City of Gloucester Heritage Open Days weekend.
Heritage Open Days is an annual event, celebrating the architecture and culture of England by offering free access to properties which are usually closed to the public or normally charge for admission.
For 2010, there are ten new events added to the list – including the Crucible at Gloucester Cathedral, the Jet Age Museum and a Pub Tour of Gloucester.
But the event which I’m interested in, is the tour of BBC Radio Gloucestershire, which is open from 10am until 4pm on September 12 – booking essential.
BBC Radio Gloucestershire has the most up to date BBC studios in the country, and will be offering tours of the building to show where programmes are prepared, the broadcast studios and the technical systems that make it all work (apparently also including the outside broadcast vehicles that link the studios to anywhere in Gloucestershire via satellite).
A couple of days ago I called their reception desk (01452 308585) and booked a place for 3 of us – so at 1:30pm next Sunday we’re off to investigate!
I have been on a tour of BBC Radio Gloucestershire before, in 2004 when Mum organised one for my birthday. But that was before I got involved with Corinium Radio, and just over a year ago they had their studios completely refurbished and brand new broadcast equipment was installed. So it’ll be quite interesting to see what its like now, with the additional technical knowledge I’ve picked up from doing community radio.
For a full list of open days/events run as part of the weekend, a brochure can be downloaded from the City of Gloucester website.