The story of local radio station NH Sound goes back nearly 40 years now, in fact 2019 marks it’s 40th anniversary.
Those who may have been following recent events concerning the station will know that a lot of its well- known presenters have left over the last year and indeed the very popular station manager, Pamela Parry also stepped down due to various reasons including ill health.
New management took over and the focus of the station changed.
Unfortunately, the subsequent broadcasts have not been well received and do not accurately reflect the demographic of Abergavenny and the patients in the hospital.
I decided to contact some of the ex- presenters to discuss the situation to see whether we could start a radio station that would be well received in the local community as well as representing those in hospital and to connect again to our various listeners throughout the world.
There was a huge amount of interest to do this, not only from the presenters but the general public who bombarded social media asking what had happened to NH Sound!
I was also questioned frequently by people who wanted to know why I had stopped my Tuesday night radio show. Former guests on the show including Councillor Teslin Davies, Mayor of Abergavenny, Hannah Hill from Abergavenny Focus, Liz Davies from Abergavenny Chronicle, author Matt Johnson, Lucie Parkin from the Abergavenny Writing Festival and of course Martha Musonza Holman from Love Zimbabwe (to name a few) were also interested in the story.
I had to explain that I was not happy with the current management and did not feel that my show was being professionally produced.
The situation at NH Sound deteriorated towards the end of last year when all of the broadcasting equipment was removed from the studio.
After Christmas the new group got together and decided to proceed with trying to start something else. In January, we met with the Health Board to ask whether there was space in which to re-start the station, but unfortunately this was not forthcoming, although they were happy to support any initiative that would benefit the patients at Neville Hall Hospital.
As most listeners to the station accessed shows digitally, this is a real possibility.
We are currently searching for premises in Abergavenny in which to locate a new radio station. If anybody has such a space, please let me know on – fairsfairfairs@mail2world.com or 07774608215.
We have had great support already from Craig Titchener from Abergavenny Voice and many others to launch this project, but will obviously need money to purchase new equipment. We will be starting a fund for this purpose which we will publicise as soon as possible. We think that Abergavenny should have its own community radio which represents all those in the town. People will be encouraged to come onto shows to talk about their projects, businesses and events. We would love to broadcast from large events in Abergavenny, and believe that the station should be a medium for bringing people together and promoting all that is good locally.
We will also need new presenters and sponsors, so please let me know if you fit this bill!
The past may have had its problems, but we are very much looking towards a brighter future, with your help.
David Holman
