History

Community radio for the Amber Valley was conceived over 20 years ago when two youngsters decided they would play around with an electronics kit. They looked at the design of a small circuit and by connecting wires to to make the circuit created an FM transmitter. The two youngsters were 13 year old founder of Valley Radio Glyn Williams & the 12 year old founder of Amber Sound FM Chris Knight. To cut a long story short the 2 youngsters were going to run their own radio station one day.

Chris & Glyn had been friends for a long time from school. A few years past when Chris got a call from Glyn to come over to his house to have a chat about something. When Chris got there Glyn had been reading about The Radio Authority (now Ofcom) and had information that they would be issuing licences to groups in areas of the UK to broadcast their own service to the local area they lived in.

Glyn went to work on the application and sent it into The Radio Authority to apply to broadcast Valley Radio's first service and the ninth such station in the UK.

Broadcasting from a railway carriage at the Midland Railway Centre in Butterley on 1386 Khz medium wave the station made history in Amber Valley.

Staff Involved in that first broadcast were Glyn Williams, Chris Knight, Eddie Gold, Judith & Phil Shaw, Lee Raynor, Alan Fararr, Andy Hallsworth, Ian Perry, Neil Freeman, Andy Potter, John Dolby, Merrick McIver,Elizabeth Jane Taylor (harry) Phil Smith, Sue Bradshaw, Luke Barratt, Ian Chilvers, Tony Mullins, Brian Dee, Steve Jenner, Jay Drabble, Phil Penny, Alan Williams, Ian Hunt. and more that I can remember!

Valley Radio carried out four broadcasts during 1994 - 1996 using a host of local talent, broadcasts 2,3 and 4 on FM were using studio's above a shop called Cellar 5 in Oxford St Ripley. During this period Amber Valley's second station Amber Sound FM was created By Chris Knight & Alan Farrar following Chris's desire to be more upfront with the music policy and a burning desire to have his own station.

Operated from Chris's sister's dining room the first broadcast on 105.6 FM in 1996 was a great success, the feedback received from residents across the Amber Valley to both stations was extremely positive and in total the groups held seven 28 day broadcasts giving Amber Valley a strong taste of what was to come.

Glyn & Chris however became dissillusioned at the apparent reluctance of the Radio Authority to offer a full licence for the area and decided to call it a day for both stations in 1996. They went their own ways, Chris concentrating on the radio industry hosting shows on Choice FM in Birmingham and gaining a reputation in the big clubs of the midlands for being an excellent club DJ

Glyn on the other kept his hand in with mobile disco's and the like but turned more to business as a future career path working as a consultant and an internet entrepeneur. Little did the pair know at this point that the skills learned in these years would pay dividends later on when radio reared it's head again.

In 2006 another local radio guy Eddie Fowler sprang up on the scene seemingly from nowhere and carried out a 28 day broadcast from Heanor called 'Amber FM' On hearing about this Chris got involved to help the fledgling station and he had no idea what would happen next. Eddie's background was in hospital radio for Radio Robin in Ilkeston.

During 2007 Ofcom announced that community radio licences would be made available in the East Midlands for interested parties to apply for. Chris and Eddie set about resurrecting Amber Sound FM in readiness for a bid for the licence, Glyn got involved as a presenter and the returning bug hit him too.

Two 28 day broadcasts later and the licences were advertised and one cold January morning Chris took in his application to London. May 2009 saw the licence being awarded not only to Amber Sound FM but also to several other midlands stations. some of which had sprung up from the very first group.

Amber Sound FM acquired , designed and virtually built state of the art studio premises, located in the centre of Amber Valley, Ripley.

The complex houses three broadcast studios, sales offices and a media training department. The media training department will soon give local students and residents of the Amber Valley the opportunity visit and join in with their local radio station.

Amber Sound was the first station of the midlands licence awards to be on air, taking just four months from award to broadcast. At the time of writing (12 months on) it is still the only one operating live.

Our story is one that we hope is inspirational. Two schoolboys with a dream that grew up to make the dream happen.

If any part of the three had not been around then this wouldnt have happened. Glyn got the ball rolling all those years ago, Eddie re-kindled the fire and pushed the dream forward and Chris had the determination to make it happen for real when Glyn wasn't that interested in getting involved again.

Those three people now form the cornerstone of Amber Valley's own station Amber Sound 107.2FM and with a host of superb volunteers bring you your own very local station.

Chris Knight - Managing Director, Engineer and Programme ControllerrnEddie Fowler, Accounts DirectorrnGlyn Williams - Sales, Marketing and Promotions Manager

The effect of the original broadcasts of Valley Radio and Amber Sound FM has been the creation of the following UK Radio Stations:

Valley Radio, Amber Sound FM, Mansfield Radio, Erewash Sound (ilkeston), Pride FM(derby), The Eye(melton mowbray), Moorlands Radio (stoke on trent),

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