Listen

My parents made me a gift of this lovely radio a few years ago, and it sits on my kitchen windowsill next to the Fairy Liquid. Having spent a long while easing me into the day beautifully with "Wake up to Wogan" on my desk at school, it now provides a soothing soundtrack to time spent in the kitchen courtesy of Classic FM, making the washing-up far less of a chore. I love its mission of bringing classical music to the masses, and it seems to succeed admirably in its aim. And I rarely laugh as much as when I'm listening to Sir Terry Wogan over breakfast, as he chunters on hilariously to the delight of the listening nation. What a man - his show consists largely of good clean fun, he rarely swears, he prefers going home to have dinner with his wife of more than 40 years to attending lavish showbiz parties, he relishes the absurd, he is perpetually cheerful unless riled with righteous indignation (over, for example, the resignation of the Radio 2 Controller following the recent Brand/Ross shenanigans) and he is still working, aged nearly 70, purely for the love of it. What an excellent role model he is - I don't look forward to the day when he retires!

Radio is a sometimes underrated medium, yet there is so much to appreciate about it and so many hidden treasures waiting to be discovered on the airwaves. I read recently about a blind novelist who keeps a radio tuned to a different station in every room in her house; I might follow her example and start a collection of my own, following Mother and Father Muir's much-appreciated gift!