Harry Haward

Nice piece by Celia Topping in last week's Time Out London magazine about Resonance FM, broadcasting its eclectic mix from Borough High Street to the capital. Among the contrbutors interviewed is Harry Haward of DAGE (Deptford Action Group for the Elderly):

''Nice to meet ya,’ growls Harry Haward. His gnarled hand encloses mine in a powerful grip. For an 80-year-old, he does a pretty good line in intimidation. So he should: Haward is a former mucker of the Krays’, an ex-boxer, an ex-jailbird (‘I tried to do a coupla banks but wasn’t no good at it’) and now a broadcaster. In fact, he is mid-broadcast or, more accurately, mid-tirade – a scourging rant directed at Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt for his plans to downgrade Harry’s local A&E department at Lewisham Hospital. ‘You should be ashamed of yourself, Hunt,’ he spits. ‘You’ve got two weeks to do something about it, or we’ll come round your house… and I’ll hit you so hard you’ll be nicked for speeding!’ Magic FM this is not.

Harry’s robust style of broadcasting on his show ‘Calling All Pensioners’ is typical of Resonance FM’s approach to radio. As ‘the world’s first radio art station’, Resonance has provided audio snapshots of real London and real Londoners for 11 years. Uninterrupted by adverts, traffic and weather reports, news bulletins, tired playlists and tireder DJs, it truly is a broadcaster for the people, with all their quirks, passions and oddities...'  

   
You can listen to 'Calling all Pensioners' at Resonance FM's archive.