Outside Broadcaster: An Autobiography

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For his successor he has nothing but the warmest praise: “She’s a charming lady with a wonderful voice, consummate broadcaster and a great sense of humour”.

In 1939 he sought no easy job; he served with the West African Regiment, reached the rank of Major, and after arduous campaigns - Abyssinia, and later in Burma - he became the historian of his regiment. At the age of 36 he had risen high in the ranks of English historians and he had the most brilliant prospects. Bonus for me, it is now 192 miles instead of 262, I did like the show as it was, missed last year but was rather disappointed with the previous year. No doubt quite a lot of people are cut off from gardening because all they can afford is a one-bed flat. Nicholson (1913 – 1987) was certainly the most important Cumbrian poet of the twentieth century, but I’d say his writing was valuable and excellent in a wider perspective, whether you’re interested in Cumbria and the Lakes or not.There is a huge amount of work to be done following the pandemic and I am proud to be part of that effort. The former chairman of BBC Radio 4’s Gardeners’ Question Time has lived in the area for much of his life and is honorary president of the Cumbria Tourism organisation. Still, his fingers are green enough to roll his eyes when I enquire what he feels about the latest trend of ‘vegan gardening’ recently suggested by Matthew Appleby, deputy editor of Horticulture Week, who has deemed bird feeders and killing slugs beyond the pale.

Eric said: “Working with Gill Haigh and the talented management team at Cumbria Tourism has been a privilege and a pleasure. With a new places to visit on a weekly basis, where often two episodes would be recorded, the sheer amount of travelling involved was one of the things that led to his decision to stand down.Eric Robson is probably best known as the chairman of one of the longest running broadcast programmes in the world - Gardeners' Question Time on Radio 4. in which we head west to Wasdale to talk with one of Cumbria's living greats; broadcaster, author, film-maker and former sheep farmer Eric Robson OBE. whose proud boast was that he'd had 43 engine outs and lived to tell the tale" might mean something to you, but not to me it doesn't!

He sought every opportunity of helping those who followed him from Malton to Manchester and delighted to act as an elder brother when he had the opportunity. Robson told the PA news agency that the honour would draw attention to the plight of domestic tourism amid the coronavirus pandemic. Radio 4 newsreader Kathy Clugston, who will become the show's first female host, said she was "honoured and excited" to be stepping into the shoes of "the great Eric Robson. In 1994, Robson became the principal chairman of the long-running Gardeners’ Question Time programme, where amateur gardeners put questions to a panel of experts, stepping down in 2019 after nearly three decades. We walked out on the nature reserve at Hodbarrow – former site of the Millom ironworks and the haematite (iron ore) mines that gave rise to them.But he wrote about the town, its inhabitants, and the nearby landscape and geology of the Lakes in a unique way. Coincidentally she also has an adopted chicken named after his successor – Kathy Cluckson – of which the same cannot be said. Jim said: “It has been a huge privilege to serve as chair of Cumbria Tourism’s Executive Board during the last three years. It is important that we continue to promote these adverts as our local businesses need as much support as possible during these challenging times.

The former Gardeners’ Question Time presenter was appointed to the honorary role in 2019 following a long-standing association with Cumbria Tourism, including a number of years as chairman.In this blunt, humorous and indiscreet memoir Eric Robson bites the hand that feeds him in a canter through the stupidities of broadcasting which he still can't bring himself to think of as a proper job. Quite a lot of the flat cap and muscle image, of allotmenteering particularly, was very much the case in some places. Thus his brilliant career as a student at Manchester University came as no surprise to those of us who had watched him develop. It’s entirely my decision,” he insists, his mellifluous Cumbrian drawl booming about the empty hall of Manchester Grammar School where we are sitting ahead of his final broadcast.