News story about the possibility that Red Sand Fort, the offshore home of pirate radio station 'Radio 390' in the 1960s, could be restored and become a Heritage Site, written by Grant Goddard in April 2005 for The Radio Magazine.

1. NEWS: 1960'S PIRATE RADIO
LOCATION RED SAND FORT
MAY BECOME HERITAGE SITE
by
GRANT GODDARD
www.grantgoddard.co.uk
April 2005

2. News: 1960's Pirate Radio Location Red Sand Fort May Become Heritage Site Page 2
©2005 Grant Goddard
Red Sand Fort, home of 1960s pirate station 'Radio 390', may be preserved as
an English Heritage site and restored as a tourist attraction. The fort is a group
of seven towers built in 1943 in the Thames Estuary on concrete stilts as a
defence outpost against German bombing raids. Until the end of the War, up to
250 military personnel were stationed on several of these forts, but the Ministry
of Defence abandoned them in 1956. Notre Fort was demolished in 1959
because it posed a hazard to shipping, while Shivering Sand lost one of its
towers when a ship collided with it in 1963. Radio 390 used to broadcast from
Red Sand, while Shivering Sand was used by the late Screaming Lord Sutch
for his 'Radio City' pirate station. Now a project group wants to restore Red
Sand Fort as a tourist attraction, including the rebuilding of the flimsy walkways
that used to link the seven towers above the water.
Former Radio Caroline DJ Robin Adcroft, the project manager, explained: "We
have spoken to English Heritage and it has shown a lot of interest in what we
are trying to do. We asked the Port of London Authority to send divers down to
examine the structure below the waterline and it is in remarkably sound
condition. We have been in touch with the Ministry of Defence and the
Department of Transport, which is responsible for navigation in coastal waters,
and the feedback has been positive."
The group estimates that £3m will be required for the restoration and they
have bought a tug to start restoring the first tower later this year, once approval
is forthcoming. The government recently considered demolishing the two
surviving forts but postponed the work because of the £9m cost. Peter Kendall
of English Heritage said: "There is no question that Red Sand is a nationally
significant structure. We would like to see the fort preserved because it is a
part of our wartime heritage, but public funding is problematic because the
public benefit is an important consideration. This is not something that can be
easily visited."
The name 'Radio 390' is still visible across the gun tower of Red Sand Fort
from the time the station occupied it in the 1960s. It is not known whether
restoration would include the re-building of radio station studios. Robin Adcroft
would say only: "We will have to look at the possibility of finding a commercial
use for several of the towers to create revenue."
[First published in 'The Radio Magazine' as 'Red Sands Fort To Become Heritage Site', #680, 20 April 2005]
Grant Goddard is a media analyst / radio specialist / radio consultant with thirty years of
experience in the broadcasting industry, having held senior management and consultancy
roles within the commercial media sector in the United Kingdom, Europe and Asia. Details at
http://www.grantgoddard.co.uk