After the closure of the pirate station campaigning for the introduction of small independant radio stations in the UK became the order of the day. Then suddenly, in the early 80's, there was a ray of hope. The Government announced a "Community Radio experiment". The idea was that they would licence a small number of very low power stations in various locations as an experiment, then consider a full scale deregulation. Cambridge was chosen as one of the area's to have one of these small scale radio stations. The name of Cambridge's Radio Caroline changed to Midsummer Radio(reflecting the centre of the city, Midsummer Common) and an application put in. Alas, the Government then abandoned the idea, leaving little hope of the chance to own and operate a radio station....

More campaigning - then, in 1990, a new Government initiative RSL's.

The RSL's

What is an RSL? - A Restricted Service Licence.

These are 28 day low power broadcasting licences issued by The Radio Authority in Britain. They first became available after the publishing of the 1990 Broadcasting Act.

Midsummer Radio carried out it's first RSL in 1992, with a power of 20 watts(the maximum allowed) on FM. The station broadcast "solid gold" music from the 60's, 70's & 80's. Although the station was intended as a trial to guage the need for this type of radio, Johnnie & Roger decided it should aid the community and so promoted the Local Childrens Hospice, running an awareness campaign and donating all proceeds to the charity

The 28 day broadcast was deemed a success with much praise coming from the listeners and £500 being donated to the Childrens Hospice.

Arial mast & studios, the use kindly given free of charge, at Cambridge Cable ltd.

Arial mast & studios, the use kindly given free of charge, at Cambridge Cable ltd.