ARCHERS DISPLAY IN CHURCH - 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE PROGRAMME

9 Apr 2026 • Other News

Hanbury Church is St Stephen’s Ambridge!

Celebrating 75 years of BBC Radio 4 ‘The Archers’

Now on display in the north aisle

Hot drinks while you browse!

Open daily 9.30 am – 4.00 pm

It’s 1950 in post war Britain and Godfrey Baseley, a larger than life trained actor living in Bromsgrove has a fire burning in his soul. He wants to create a radio show, in Dick Barton Style, which will be broadcast on radio each evening for fifteen minutes. The subject matter will focus on farming, reflecting his own passion, and be intended for an audience of farmers to provide information on best agricultural practices.

His proposal was at first rejected, but with a friend's encouragement, it was revised and after five pilot episodes in 1950, the show launched in May 1951 to continue to the present day. Remarkably, it is a record breaking, longest running show.

Godfrey, as both creator and editor, gathered material for the show by visiting relations at Hanbury’s Summerhill Farm and spending time with locals in the pubs of Hanbury and Inkberrow.

In the Hanbury church display, you will see evidence of many interactions between the BBC and St Mary’s Church, which provided acoustics and bells when required. In recent times, other churches have also been used but we are proud of our long and happy friendship with the BBC.

Harvest festival and evensong services feature and there were several weddings, notably one that led to the rector being reprimanded by his Bishop. There were traffic jams and secret early morning visits witnessed by the postman who always took his morning break in the church car park. Publicity photographs highlight interesting changes in social history and fashion. The ring of eight bells too have been recorded many times and most recently, ‘Songs of Praise’ brought the Archers’ vicar and charming Aled Jones to the site.

An appeal for more material for the display has brought in our best exhibit of all! Godfrey Baseley’s modest writing desk which he bequeathed to a friend made at agricultural supplier ‘Midland Shires Farmers’ at Stoke Heath. We plan to apply to BBC Four ‘The Repair Shop’ to ask if they are interested in featuring the restoration on one of their shows. Watch this space!