42 By the Dart • Jean Judge


to Robbie Coltrane, before he was really famous. I like to think I might have had something to do with his rise to fame actually! He was wondering whether to move down to London to try his luck but was a bit tentative. I said he should go for it and he did!” Jean then became a BBC re- searcher and helped kick start the Scottish version of the Archers, which was called Kilbreck. She spent a few days in Birmingham watching how the Archers was made, then took her findings back up to Scotland: “I enjoyed working on Kilbreck. We had a team of three or four writers who would take a couple of weeks each. One of the things I had to do was make sure there were no glaring mistakes like repetitions of birthdays – if one writer says a character has a birthday in May and another writer says the same character’s birthday is in July that would never do!” Jean continued to work for the BBC when she moved


to Oxford in 1982, but now found herself on the airwaves presenting a daily topical show: “I would interview interesting characters and celebrities from the city and elsewhere and met some great people along the way.” The BBC agreed to give her a five year career break when, in 1989, her husband’s job took them to America: “We arrived in Connecticut and I thought; ‘This will be nice – I’ll be a lady of leisure for a while’. I joined a few local groups to meet people and took part in activities and coffee mornings. But one morning I was watching a demon- stration of Ikebana (Japanese flower arranging) and I thought; ‘what am I doing! If I were at home I would have already been working for four or five hours planning my radio show. I’m in my early 40s – I can’t do this for three


years!” By the end of the day she had taken herself off to the local community college and enrolled on a course leading to a BA in Mass Communication. On their return to England and Oxford, Jean decided


not to return to the BBC; so much had changed she felt she didn’t have a place there anymore. Then she was contacted by some professional musicians who used to listen to her folk music programme on Radio Oxford and asked if she would manage a tour for them. She took up the challenge and that led to her setting up her own artist management business, which included organising concerts around Oxford and further afield. She and Peter moved to Dartmouth in 2012. ‘Dartmouth Rock’ will be performing a benefit


concert on behalf of the Flavel on Saturday the 9th December. They’ll perform some of the best-loved pop songs from the 1950s to the present day along with a couple of brand new arrangements and a sprinkling of Christmas numbers. The audience will be treated to a guest appearance from the daughter of one of the choir’s regular members: “Francesca sings beautifully and plays the harp,” says Jean. “We think of her as an honorary member and have given her one of our choir scarves. It will be a joy to have her join us as a solo performer at the fundraising concert.” ‘Dartmouth Rock’ is always happy to hear from


potential new members. They would particularly welcome more male tenors and basses. If you fancy signing up for a free taster session visit www. dartmouthrock.co.uk


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