Radio Features

"I name this pond... open"

Monday evening in Toppesfield was lovely. I'd been invited by Lucy to open the pond at St. Margaret's Primary School and it seems that the whole village came out to join in on this special occasion.

Lucy, Sophie, Bonny, Georgia and Emily gave me the tour of the frog friendly facility and told me about the resident snake too.

Toppesfield must be one of the most peaceful villages in the county, but the girls have no wish to join the 'rat race' of the city. They're very happy growing up in the quiet countryside.

Imagine this orchestra ....

In the pipeline

Planet Ray played host to a most unusual orchestra on Tuesday morning, when we were entertained by a group of musicians playing water pipes.

Playing in the BBC Essex garden, Major Tom took control of proceedings and found out all the facts about water conservation while we listened to an assortment of musical bathroom instruments.

... playing here...

Busy man that he is, or so he claims, Tom let us all down and forgot to take a photograph for the Ray Clark Breakfast Show Blog; so you'll have to recreate the magic of the moment with our do it yourself photo kit! (Orchestra on right, BBC Essex garden on left).

A lot of allotments

Many Essex towns have played host to judges from Essex in Bloom over the last week or so. On Saturday I was invited, along with The Shelley (my wife) to judge the allotments in Halstead for the 'Halstead in Bloom' competition.

Who wants to do the weeding?

Allotments, as you know, are the new sex and it would appear that many people in the north of Essex are getting turned on to it ...gardening, not sex!

Planet Ray listeners Julia, Joan and Den were our guides and we found even more Ray Clark Breakfast Show listeners among the allotment holders. There are some brilliant plots in Halstead, the guides and brownies even have one with a secret pathway to the riverside.

Move over Abba, here are CRAT!

ABBA good day

We had so many calls from Planet Ray listeners who've been queuing up to see 'Mama Mia,' plus requests to see what 'the girls,' Claire and Alison, look like.

So... we thought we'd link the film and the request by getting The Ray Clark Breakfast Show team to pose, ABBA style.

Please welcome CRAT: Claire, Ray, Alison and Tom. As opposed to ABBA: Anni-frid, Benny, Bjorn... and the other one.

The story 'wot' you write

A great story this week, which may continue into next week. Thanks to Alan, Michael, Anna and The Story Lady.

Cinema 'cues'

Electrical Fault = Short Circuit
Precious Digit = Goldfinger
Blown Away - Gone with the Wind
Plenty of work for the vicar = Four Weddings and a Funeral
Searching for Bambi = Deerhunter