The RJs: The East Midlands and the North West of England

Biggest scoop in your patch.

One of the rewarding aspects of this job is the opportunity to report on what is happening 'on the ground' in the UK, long before it becomes a government statistic months later. Just a few of those stories have included gun crime, drugs, self harm, ADHD, child trafficking, teenagers leaving care, first signs of recession in the construction industry, soft justice with police fines and cautions, older people in poor living conditions, metal theft and increase in shisha smoking among the young.

Telling people something they didn't know and having an impact is highly rewarding.



Read Sarah's blog on metal theft in the UK.

Why does this picture represent your patch?

This is the view from my car as I drive past Trent Bridge test match cricket ground, home of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club, on my way to work in the Nottingham office. The 'lollipop' floodlights are now a local landmark, and made by a Nottinghamshire company which exports them worldwide to produce telescopic floodlights, they can be extended then retracted out of season. One of those little known facts you get to know doing this job.

The drive past always reminds me of that sense of awe as you walk inside a top class sporting arena from the surrounding grey streets and see the pristine, lush, green, turf below. The view from the broadcasting suite (by the clock you can see in the picture) is a fantastic vantage point right behind the bowler's arm.

As a youngster I remember sitting right next to the boundary close to where David Gower was fielding in the Ashes series of '81. We were thrashed in that 1st test but went on to retain the Ashes. Little did I know one day I'd be passing by so frequently.

The other great aspect of Trent Bridge, close to the banks of the River Trent, is its proximity to Nottingham Forest's City Ground and Notts County's Meadow Lane, the three sports stadiums within a boundary throw of each other.



What do you most like about your patch?

I love the broad diversity the patch provides. Its sports, its rural landscape, its cities, market towns and mixed ethnicity. It gives you an extra insight to a place when you travel about.

Take the Belgrave flyover in Leicester, about as mundane as it gets. Or so I thought.

I've travelled down the Belgrave Road for many years, often on the way to watch Leicester Tigers at Welford Road. Then, I looked into the health impact of shisha smoking for 5 live. Next to that concrete flyover, on the roof of an unassuming furniture store is a very popular Shisha café - Leicester's first. It's buzzing with people of all ages and ethnicity most evenings, all smoking a shisha pipe. It's a reflection of multicultural Britain and an extension of our coffee shop culture.

Along with inner cities there are a variety of rural market towns here. Oakham is a place I regularly pass through when visiting Rutland Water in the summer months. But this apparently affluent county town with a public school and beautiful surrounding countryside has just lost its local prison and RAF base. It's a reflection that even the local economies of picturesque 'chocolate box' corners of England have been affected by the cuts.

If you weren't doing this job what would you do?

Assuming I'd have a limitless amount of cash, I'd love to travel the globe enjoying all the top world sporting events along the way.

World Cup matches in football and rugby, an Ashes, the Olympic Games, The year would start in Melbourne for the tennis, (and I don't mean Melbourne in Derbyshire), Augusta for the golf, Wimbledon and the Open Golf in the summer at home. Plus a steady diet of Premiership Rugby and Premier League football across the autumn. Ireland versus England in Dublin for the Six Nations Rugby is also on the must-do list.

I like the idea of getting to know far away places by taking in their sporting events. I hear elephant polo in Nepal is popular.

Do you support local teams?

When you come from Tamworth, close to Birmingham and, as a child, your parents had season tickets for Birmingham City, then the natural thing to do is support the local opposition. So, since the age of four I've been a Villa fan.

There've been ups and downs. But by and large it's been a good move. I'm on safer territory with my rugby team, the Man Utd of English rugby. Since working at BBC Radio Leicester I've supported Leicester Tigers. Before the arrival of children, Saturday home games were filled with pre-match pub chat with Tiger-supporting friends, then the match, followed by a curry.

Luckily our two daughters have inherited the Sturdey genes so trips to Tigers still occasionally take place to Welford Road. We even managed to see a match at Eden Park in Auckland on a trip to New Zealand, as the country prepared for the Rugby World Cup. It served to show that the Southern hemisphere style of play is still so much faster.

Little known fact about yourself

As an 18-year-old I went to the US for a gap year. I was a guest on a local radio station who asked me to record a commercial for an English tea shop, so I poshed up my accent, as you do.

They then offered me my own programme and I spent the rest of the year presenting my own weekly current affairs radio programme, using newspapers posted from home (only a week out-of-date), mixed with English chart tracks on cassette tape (yes, they did exist once).

I've never forgotten a listener, who tuned in to the programme without fail. I was asked by the station if I could visit him before I returned home and on meeting him discovered he was blind. He said the programme was the highlight of his week. Very humbling and an indication of the power of radio.

The North West of England - Steve Blears

Steve Blears. Reporter for 5 live. I'm 41 and have been a radio reporter for the BBC for the past 15 years. During that time I've worked all over the UK for BBC Local Radio, Radio 1 Newsbeat and 5 live. I live in South Manchester and have a three-year-old daughter.

Which area/s do you cover?

Along with Judy Hobson, I'm 5 live's North West of England reporter. It's a busy patch which is why there are two of us - my focus tends to be towards the east of the region, and occasionally I cross into Yorkshire (and Nick Garnett's territory) depending on what programmes need and what news is happening.

Tell us a bit about your patch?

Here are a few facts you may not know about the North West. It's the UK's largest manufacturing region with petro-chemicals, bio-medical and aviation industries playing a huge role. It's also the second biggest area for the creative and media industries and growing - thanks to 5 live and other parts of the BBC moving to Salford. Nearly 7 million people live in the North West's varied landscapes. From the stunning Lake District and Liverpool's' world famous waterfront.

Biggest story/scoop you've had in your patch?

The biggest story I've covered recently was the shootings by Derrick Bird in Cumbria. He killed 12 people, injured 11 others and killed himself in a tiny hamlet called Boot in Cumbria.

I arrived there shortly after he took his own life leaving a trail of death and mayhem across West Cumbria. I retraced Bird's route that afternoon, it was a sobering experience. It's always important to remember that there are real lives behind the stories we report.

What piece of advice would you give to anyone who wanted to do your job?

Persistence pays off and go work in TV, the money is better.

Scariest broadcasting moment?

The first time I ever read the news into a live microphone. It was almost 20 years ago now on my first morning in my first ever radio newsroom. My mouth went dry and I made a right mess of it. I can remember the gaff to this day, it was a story about a police appeal for a witness and I got the details mixed up.

I ended up saying: "Police are looking for a man described as 20-feet tall aged about 6."

Half the newsroom staff were rolling around on the floor laughing.

Did you go to university? If so, what did you study?

I went to university, twice. I studied sculpture briefly at Bath Uni but it wasn't for me and I dropped out.

More recently I graduated with a degree in Art History from the Open University. It took six years working part-time but was a great experience that I would recommend especially given the cost of going to university now.

There's not a lot of call for someone with a knowledge of the Abstract Expressionism on a news and sport network though.