Sun, sea – and the sounds of BBC Radio Sussex! On the hottest day of the year so far, Saturday, June 29, we were delighted to host presenter Mark Carter and producer Simon Jenkins while they broadcast their breakfast programme live from the car park next to Billy’s on the Beach.
Our man Brett arrived at the crack of dawn to chat with Mark about the Bracklesham Bay community and the delicious fresh seafood that comes from the Sussex coast.
While the café wasn’t officially open until 9am, Brett kept the BBC duo fed and watered with copious cups of tea and coffee, and then a delicious Billy’s cooked breakfast after the show was finished.
Arty chats
As the temperature steadily soared from around 17oC degree at 6am until the early 20s by 9am, local people came to say hi and share their love of this corner of the Sussex coast. Among them was Birdham-based artist Shazia Mahmood who has created the amazing scene which hangs on the walls of our café and has now been turned into a postcard raising money for Selsey Lifeboat Station.
She told listeners how she uses anything but brushes for her artwork – from cake-making palette knives to sticks. “They create unconventional marks which reflect this stunning landscape,” she said.
Selsey Lifeboat crew
Later Martin Rudwick, cox at Selsey Lifeboat Station, and fellow crew member Max Gilligan turned up to chat about their work saving lives along the Sussex coast.
The pair have 84 years of experience between them working for the RNLI and explained how the local lifeboat station is run purely on voluntary donations and its volunteer crew of 23 are all local people, living within a mile and a half of Selsey.
Talking rubbish
In between hit songs with a summery theme, the BBC team also did a phone interview with Clare Osborn, the founder of Clare Talks Rubbish, who spoke about the work sea kayakers are doing to fight the litter pollution along our local coastline.
By the time the three-hour breakfast programme came to a close with Belinda Carlisle singing “Summer Rain”, there were just a few spaces left in the car park and we were about to serve breakfast to a full house at Billy’s – with the BBC Breakfast guys and our local Selsey lifeboat crew among the first customers of the day.
