Richard Spendlove

Born in 1939, in Carlton, England, he was a railwayman for thirty five years, arriving in Cambridge in 1963, when appointed Relief Station Master - one of the youngest men to be so appointed.

He retired from British Rail on his 50th birthday - that being the earliest date at which his pension was available - and became a regular Regional Radio Presenter, hosting extremely successful 'phone-in' chat shows, syndicated simultaneously to stations in Northamptonshire, Norfolk, Kent, Essex, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. Via the Medium Wave they regularly attract callers from as far away as Lincoln, Birmingham, Swindon, London, Aylesbury, Nottingham, Coventry Leicester, Skegness and Northern France. Three 'country' songs have been written about the shows, which are now believed to be the longest continually running 'chat shows' in the history of British broadcasting.

Father of Gary Spendlove (born 1961) and Tina Spendlove (born 1962).

He began freelance writing in 1969 and freelance broadcasting in 1983. His radio and television work includes contributions in both media to news, documentary, feature work and comedy, as well as straightforward presenting - also in both. His first regular radio assignment, which began as a six-week trial and lasted over three years,was "Reflections", a 'one-to-one' profile/interview programme with celebrities. The guests included such luminaries as Sir Michael Hordern, Sir Donald Sinden, Bryan Forbes, Constance Shacklock, OBE. , Leonard Parkin, Jimmy Perry, OBE. , survivors of the sinking of the 'RMS Titanic', the 'R101' Disaster, Bill Pertwee, Jack Hargreaves. And they constitute only a very few.

In October 1996, he assumed the position of Afternoon Presenter on a BBC Radio Cambridgeshire. Within the first two years, he had increased the audience - in some half-hourly segments - by as a much as seven hundred percent, and, in the following year, effected a further increase of approximately fifty four percent.

He received - late in December 1999 - the Cambridge Evening News 'Medal for Outstanding Work in the Community' - also in connection with this work. This was followed in June 2000, by the award - In the Queen's Birthday Honours - of the MBE, "For Services to Regional and Local Broadcasting".