91Èȱ¬

No-one quite prepares you for the sudden realisation that you've been around a bit.

When I hit 30 I still felt like a teenager at heart, and so it followed that at 40 I was mentally entering my twenties.

If you're doing the maths and working out how old I am now, put it this way, my head is due a 30th birthday card in September. (Answer at the end of this blog)

The same is true of your work life.

At 08:30 GMT on Thursday 19 May 2011 I will have notched up 25 years service at the 91Èȱ¬.

I joined the week before Radio Newcastle moved into the .

You may notice from the pictures that pink was a dominant theme! With a brand spanking new building and equipment it was all very exciting.

Back then I was the thrusting young reporter who was lucky enough to go on to present a weekday radio news show.

Of the line up in the picture all but one are still working for the 91Èȱ¬ in some guise or other.

I look around now and the building is still standing, but in need of constant attention. Incredibly much of the broadcast equipment is still the very same.

In fact this flyer from circa shows my good self in the same studio with the mixing desk that is still in use today.

The old screens and vinyl on the turntable are a giveaway. Much like the tardis it's had a few new bells and whistles added, but it's basically the same old gear.

What has changed is all the faces. With a few notable exceptions (Yes, that is Colin Briggs in the background) I am now the oldest guy in town.

Some things have disappeared, , tape, razor blades to edit it with, lunch breaks!

I hope I've not become too much of an old hack who bores everyone with tales of the good old days. are rarely in focus.

Now we can get news out in an instant and from the most remote locations. The technical quality of sound and pictures is so much better.

The internet, email and mobile phones have made a journalist's life infinitely more productive.

So I look forward to 25 years from now. I won't be sunning myself on a tropical isle unless the lottery or pools comes in.

No, with any luck I'll be wheeled in to some 91Èȱ¬ reunion in my bathchair. There I hope to overhear today's thrusting young things remembering with fondness how mp3 players, wifi, blu-ray and HDTV are just so passé.

(answer: I hit the big 5-0 this autumn)