BBC Radio 4 FM

BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

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The House I Grew Up In

Factual: Life Stories

Series revisiting the childhood homes of influential Britons

Series revisiting the childhood neighbourhoods of influential Britons

The House I Grew Up In: Series 5: Episode 2: Terry Waite

Terry Waite

Episode 2

Episode 2: Terry Waite

Series 5

BBC Radio 4 - The House I Grew Up In, Series 5, Terry Waite

Terry Waite returns to his childhood home in the small Cheshire village of Styal.

Terry Waite – Beirut hostage for nearly five years - returns to his childhood in the small Cheshire hamlet of Styal. From 2011.

Born in 1939, he remembers the constraints of being the son of the local policeman, where any misdemeanour from a young Terry came under scrutiny. His father Thomas, a highly principled man, was also a disciplinarian, leading to an ambivalent relationship between father and son. His mother Lena worked hard to keep the family fed, especially at a time of post war rationing. Terry's parents used their large garden to sustain meal times and even sold fruit and vegetables to supplement a policeman's wage.

As a child, Terry failed his 11-plus and left school at 16. Being a loner and finding village life too confined, Terry was eager to see more of the world and applied to join the navy, but he was persuaded by his father to stay at home and continue his education through evening classes and college. The Church of England played a big role in his life. As a boy he sang in the church choir and even learnt large parts of the prayer book by heart and it was the rituals, language and music of his faith which he says nourished and sustained him while in captivity.

Terry Waite takes Wendy Robbins back to the home and haunts of his childhood.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2011.

The House I Grew Up In: Series 5

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Wendy Robbins revisits the childhood neighbourhoods of influential Britons

Wendy Robbins presents a series revisiting the childhood neighbourhoods of influential Britons

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The House I Grew Up In

Series 5

Episode 2: Terry Waite

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