Historic pirate radio station celebrates 60 years as Felixstowe Museum reopens

A pirate radio station which launched in 1964 celebrated its anniversary with the opening of Felixstowe Museum.

Radio Caroline, a pirate station which started broadcasting on March 28, 1964 from a vessel moored off the coast at Felixstowe, celebrated its 60th anniversary in conjunction with the opening of Felixstowe Museum for the 2024 season.

The station still runs to this day, albeit on a legal basis with a licence to broadcast in Suffolk and north Essex.

The official opening was carried out by Radio Caroline presenter and author, Ray Clarke, along with Felixstowe mayor Seamus Bennett and museum chair Sharon Harkin.

A number of Radio Caroline presenters past and present were also in attendance.

Felixstowe Mayor Seamus Bennett giving a speech (Image: Brian Nichols)

Brian Nichols, from Radio Caroline and Felixstowe and Offshore Radio, said: "It was a great celebration.

"From the museum point of view, it was a great launch event for the year.

"We decided to combine the two events and invited people along, and it was a good celebration."

At 12pm on Thursday, March 28, the museum officially opened, the same time that on the same day in 1964 Radio Caroline started broadcasting.

Ray Clark speaking at the opening (Image: Brian Nichols)

Mr Nichols added: "We played that same recording in the museum from the first broadcast to the gathered crowd.

"We are in conjunction with the museum as for the last 10 years there has been a display for Felixstowe and Offshore Radio."

The display has now been expanded from its existing 1980s themed display to now include a look back to when the ship arrived in 1964, with mostly local archive photos, material and memorabilia.

Last week, legendary DJ Tony Blackburn, who previously worked with Radio Caroline, 'hijacked' a Radio 2 show to celebrate the ex-pirate station's anniversary.