Did you catch my 3000th Breakfast Show? I had a whale of a time at Bird's bakery in Derby helping to make my celebratory limited-edition Swiss buns! You can see loads of photos from the that morning and some of the other shows recently by clicking on the "exclusive breakfast photos" link below. I started on the show in April 1994, but it really doesn't seem that long ago!  | | Andy takes a tumble |
Another highlight for me was attempting to re-live my childhood on a sledge when the snow fell the other day. I was sent off to Darley Park in Derby, but before borrowing a sledge from an unsuspecting 5-year-old boy, I attempted to use two tea trays from BBC Radio Derby's kitchen. I wouldn't recommend you try this at home - the results were not good! The other thing to mention is the discussions that started on the show recently about declaring a Derbyshire Day. This would be a day each year where people in the county could celebrate its scenery, its produce and its people. The idea seems to have been warmly received so far, with lots of potential dates being suggested. Feel free to email with your thoughts on this and watch this space! Now on the last newsletter, there were a couple of things I asked if you'd be interested in. The first was "A day in the life of Andy" which you seemed keen on, so click this link to see what I get up to each day... The other thing I asked about was the Tiffin recipe which I would thoroughly recommend. So here it is, courtesy of Brian Shelton from Sinfin... Chocolate Tiffin Recipe225g (8oz) Rich Tea Biscuits, 2 tbsp Cocoa Powder, 120g(4oz) Butter, 1.5 Tbsp Golden Syrup, 1dsp Sugar, 120g (4oz) good chocolate for topping. Crush the biscuits by putting them in a plastic bag and bashing with whatever is to hand (usually a rolling pin). Don't bash so much it all turns to crumbs-leave a few larger bits for crunchiness. Put into a large mixing bowl. Gently melt the butter in a saucepan and mix in the sugar, golden syrup and cocoa. Stir until all dissolved then add to the crushed biscuits. Press the mixture into a well greased baking tray (approx 25cm x 15cm). Chill until set. For the topping: melt the chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of boiling water and pour over the top of the chilled biscuit. When just set, cut into slices before chilling again. Do you know someone you could nominate for one of our Community Champion awards? We're continuing to hear some terrific stories on the Breakfast Show. The link is below Do you ever call the Breakfast Show with travel news? We rely on you to tell us if you've come across a problem and what's more if you're a first time caller, we'll send you a Derbyshire Flag tax disc holder! Call 01332 616161. Here's some links to try... with Breakfast Show sports presenter Charles Collins... "It's not always obvious from outside that the early sport shift is fairly regimented. We present sports bulletins at 0635, 0735 and 0835, as well as short sports headlines in the news bulletins at seven and eight.  | | Photo by Dave Griffin |
"The day reporter the previous day will have done a lot of the work for the early presenter, who arrives at six (much later than Andy and the news reader!) So first duty is to see what they've left you, which hopefully includes a Derby County story, and often a Derbyshire Cricket Club or Burton Albion story. "Then we check the papers (all of them) for any stories we may have missed, as well as taking some national sports stories from our London desk. "The best thing about the shift is the pace. It's over before you can blink really, and it can be exciting when you break a story. For any journalist there's never anything quite like knowing YOU broke that story. "Of course Colin Gibson does the early shift more often than me, and is, I suspect, more popular with our colleagues, as unlike me, he both drinks and makes tea! I sip cordial or diet cola!" More extracts from BBC Radio Derby's Andy Potter... Thursday 8th FebruaryPreparations have been going on around the clock, staff members throughout BBC Radio Derby are ready to pounce, and the Radio Car is winter readied to expect the worse. Why? Today it will snow like it has never snowed before, the ground will be so covered in the white stuff that a trained team of huskies is ready to carry me and my equipment to wherever a story is breaking…….and yet when I threw back the curtains expecting a scene from Scott of the Antarctic, nothing.  | | Andy Potter ready for his next job |
In the warm confines of the Radio Derby phone in area it's twenty past six before we get the first call of an impending “white out”. Then in quick succession more listeners help us build up a map of the course the weather is taking. With flakes gently drifting onto the Radio Car bonnet I'm off to our first news story and then I need to report on the weather. It’s 8.30 when I arrive at Stenson Bubble and gaze across the lightly dusted fields and clear roads. When Andy starts to speak to me, it's the cold rather than the snow that is having an impact and blimey, I'm freezing. “You sounded really, really cold and it sounded great,” said producer Alison when I got back to the studios. I had to thaw out before I could smile. Friday 9th FebruaryThis is the big one, Andy's 3000th breakfast show on BBC Radio Derby and it's coming live from the Birds Bakery on Ascot Drive. It's a morning that sees an even earlier start to the day as we need to be at the location by 5.15am. With barely a hitch we go live at 6am, Andy has his scripts, I have a camera, spare batteries an eye on the clock, and a telephone link to the studio. Having toured the bakery, salivating all the way, we're in the factory shop with Andy behind the counter serving his commemorative buns, when THE BOSS, calls…………….. “Mark from London” is eventually revealed and in the blink of an eye the show is over. Armed with a small arsenal of cream buns we head back to base and suddenly I feel tired. How has he done these hours for so long? Wednesday 14th FebruaryThe day every man dreads. I just knew, however, that Valentines would be an integral part of my Radio Car shift today, and I was right. In true Mission Impossible style I was given the task to procure a last minute present fest, before 9am. First stop, the petrol station, and as the roses on show looked pitiful, I plumped for a cheap card, rose scented air fresheners and a lottery ticket accompanied by a poem offering half of any winnings to a beloved. Amazingly I got top marks for ingenuity from a partnership expert – and the total cost was less than a fiver! Filled with pride, I then headed for a nearby supermarket. Obviously there was more choice, but my decision to get a microwave was met with waves of disapproval. Finally, I went for the sure fire winner, a season ticket for Pride Park, but the box office was shut, so plan B involved the purchase of a ticket for the FA Cup game against Plymouth, and the coach trip down there all booked on the web. Derision of huge proportions came back from the studio, and when I tried to sugar the pill by suggesting that it meant we'd spend the whole day apart and that that had to be good… it all went quiet!
This is the keypad for "Radioman" which I mentioned a few newsletters ago.  | | Radioman key-pad |
Basically, these are the buttons I press to play various bits of audio in the Breakfast Show. If everything is in the right order, all I have to do is press that big green GO button and it all works perfectly. Then again, if it's not in the right order then catastrophe strikes! The other buttons allow me to change the order of material around and search for new audio to add to the show. In the next newsletter...More exclusive pictures and stories from the Breakfast Show team, but I'd love to know you want to see in the next edition? | 
