Westward Television was the first ITV franchise holder for South West England, holding the regional commercial television licence from 29 April 1961 until 31 December 1981. Based in Plymouth, the company carved out a reputation as a popular, distinctive and well-regarded regional broadcaster before losing its franchise to Television South West (TSW) in the 1980 franchise review. Although Westward itself produced relatively little for the ITV network as a whole, it was a prolific maker of regional programming, launched the careers of many broadcasters who later became nationally famous, and left a legacy that continued to shape its successor long after its final broadcast.
Winning the South West franchise
The company was founded by Peter Cadbury, who left the board of Tyne Tees Television to bid for the new South West franchise. He faced eleven rival bids, but the Independent Television Authority awarded the contract to Cadbury's company. He named it Westward Television after the golf course at Westward Ho! in north Devon, where he was a regular player. Ironically, Westward Ho! lay in one of the pockets of the region where the television signal was hardest to receive, a problem that persisted until the Huntshaw Cross relay transmitter was built in 1968. The region Westward served was surrounded on three sides by the sea, a geographical fact that became central to the company's identity, its output and its famous logo: a silver model of the Golden Hind, the ship in which Sir Francis Drake circumnavigated the globe, sailing from Plymouth.
Launch and a difficult start
Westward began broadcasting on 29 April 1961, transmitting from the Stockland Hill and Caradon Hill transmitters on VHF channels 9 and 12. The early years were commercially challenging, as they were for most regional ITV contractors. The company had purpose-built studios constructed at Derry's Cross in Plymouth, fitted out with top-of-the-range equipment by Marconi. Engineer Peter Rodgers later recalled that, wherever Westward could afford it, it bought the best equipment available. The studios cost the company more than £500,000 by the time broadcasting began, a substantial investment that put early pressure on the company's finances. Once established, however, Westward developed a warm, highly local character that won it loyal viewers across Devon, Cornwall, south Somerset and west Dorset.
The Cadbury era and boardroom turbulence
Peter Cadbury's chairmanship was eventful. In early 1969 he drew up plans for a merger between Westward and the Keith Prowse company, where he was also chairman, and the deal was completed within weeks. Later that year EMI purchased Keith Prowse Music Publishing from Westward. The Westward board soon fell into continual disagreement. In January 1970 Cadbury was sacked and then reinstated within days, after making outspoken criticisms of the advertising revenue levy imposed by the Independent Broadcasting Authority and withholding a corporation tax bill in protest over the same matter. The turbulence continued into the final years of the franchise: in July 1980 Cadbury was finally removed from the board, and he spent the following six months attempting, unsuccessfully, to regain control. By then the company's fate in the 1980 franchise round had already been sealed.
Studios at Derry's Cross
Westward's headquarters were purpose-built studios at Derry's Cross in Plymouth, designed by the architects Treadgold and Elsey, who had previously designed the TWW studios at Pontcanna in Cardiff and Arno's Court in Bristol. During Westward's tenure the complex housed three studios: Studio 1 at 2,500 square feet, Studio 2 at 400 square feet for news, sport and interview programmes, and a small announcers' studio beside master control. The company also maintained a London office, at various times on New Bond Street, Marble Arch and Sloane Square, and a sales office in Bristol. When TSW bought the company in 1981 the studios passed into its hands; the building was sold to a firm of solicitors in 1993, converted to offices, and finally demolished in 2010 to make way for a retail development.
Colour comes to the South West
Westward began broadcasting in colour in 1971, initially from the Redruth transmitter, with colour extended to Stockland Hill and Caradon Hill a few months later. To mark the change, the station's famous Golden Hind ident was re-shot in colour, this time against a blue background, with a small stylised ship emblem in a box and an outlined "Westward TV" caption, the "TV" picked out in red. The musical accompaniment was a nautical brass fanfare based on "Come Landlord Fill the Flowing Bowl", arranged by Paul Lewis, forming part of a longer ident theme titled An English Overture played at the start of each broadcasting day. Around 1978 the short ident theme was replaced with a seven-note fanfare, which remained the station's final ident until the end of the franchise.
Westward Diary and regional news
From 1968 until the end of its franchise, the Independent Broadcasting Authority set Westward a target of 6.5 hours of new regional programming a week, a target the station always exceeded. The flagship was Westward Diary, a regional news magazine that began three times a week and later merged with Westward News into a weeknightly programme broadcast from 6.00 pm to 6.30 pm. Kenneth MacLeod presented it permanently, while the duty announcer read the news bulletins. The programme's two halves were separated by a commercial break: the first concentrated on regional news, the second on features of local interest, including a fishing spot called Tight Lines, nature items from the zoologist Jon Miller, architecture from David Young, and gardening from Topline Broadhurst. Regular slots included Help! for charities, Pick of the Post for viewers' letters, and the popular Picture Puzzle guessing game. The local weather forecast, with specialist information for fishermen and farmers, was delivered by the popular Graham Danton. By 1969 Westward employed more than 100 correspondents across the region and eight film cameramen gathering reports.
Entertainment, children and cult favourites
Westward's entertainment output included Treasure Hunt, a game show presented by Kenneth Horne and Keith Fordyce that ran for fourteen years and at one stage featured the Cornish comedian Jethro as a pirate co-host. For young viewers, the station produced Spin Along, a regional pop programme presented by Alan Freeman whose first edition aired in September 1961, followed by programmes such as Move Over Dad and Pop and Leslie. In November 1963 The Beatles had to be smuggled into Derry's Cross through a tunnel to record an interview with continuity announcer Stuart Hutchison, such was the crowd of fans outside. The Westward Beat Competition of 1964 had a judging panel that included Brian Epstein and Dick Rowe. In 1969 Angela Rippon joined Westward from BBC South West as a producer of children's and women's programmes; in the summer of 1972 she produced The Show Without a Title, claimed as the first "open access" television show for young people in Britain. On April Fools' Day 1973 the station broadcast a celebrated spoof film about the village of Spiggot, which had supposedly boycotted decimalisation and kept using pre-decimal currency; many viewers wrote in supporting the villagers, oblivious to the date.
Gus Honeybun: the station mascot
Westward's most beloved on-air personality was not a person at all but a puppet rabbit, Gus Honeybun, star of Gus Honeybun's Magic Birthdays. Gus served as the station mascot from 1961, and continued with TSW until December 1992. He attracted a cult following: it was not unknown for adults to write in requesting "bunny hops", and since twelve was the official age limit for having a birthday read out on air, forty-year-olds were presented as being four. Gus Honeybun became so identified with regional television in the South West that when TSW's managing director Harry Turner presented the station's 1991 franchise renewal bid, he took Gus with him.
Losing the franchise
On 28 December 1980, during the broadcast of Westward's own two-hour drama Drake's Venture — made to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Sir Francis Drake's circumnavigation, starring John Thaw — ITN interrupted a commercial break with the news that Westward and Southern Television had not had their licences renewed by the Independent Broadcasting Authority. The South West franchise was awarded to TSW (Television South West). Westward's management decided to sell up quickly, and early in 1981 the company, including its staff, premises and programme library, was purchased by TSW for £2.38 million. TSW continued to use the Westward name and symbol on screen until 31 December 1981, when it re-branded as TSW. A special farewell programme, 20 Years of Westward, was broadcast on 21 December 1981, presented by Roger Shaw before a studio audience, with guests including Angela Rippon, Kenneth MacLeod and Sheila Kennedy, filmed contributions from Alan Freeman, Jan Leeming and David Vine, and a closing message from Peter Cadbury wishing TSW well.
The final night and legacy
Unlike the other ITV stations that lost their franchises in that round, Westward — which had effectively been run by TSW since August 1981 — opted to hand over at midnight on 31 December 1981, continuing straight into Television South West. For decades no recording of the final evening was known to exist, until 2012, the thirtieth anniversary of Westward's end, when the classic television organisation Kaleidoscope recovered a full video recording of the evening. Parts were shown at a Kaleidoscope event and at that year's Missing Believed Wiped at the British Film Institute. Westward launched the careers of many broadcasters who became nationally famous, won numerous awards for its programming, and heavily influenced its successor. Gus Honeybun, the Golden Hind ident and the warm, maritime character of its regional service remain fondly remembered across the South West as emblems of the region's first commercial television station.
