Waggoners’ Walk

1 9 6 9 – 1 9 8 0 (UK)
15 minute episodes

Premiering in April 1969, this BBC Radio 2 series (a replacement for Mrs Dale’s Diary, which had run since 1948 and was now regarded as twee and outdated) was a world away from the comfortable Archers and featured storylines about illegitimacy, homosexuality, abortion and a host of other hot social topics.

Set on the titular cul-de-sac in Hampstead, north London, most of the storylines revolved around the various tenants of No. 1 Waggoners Walk, a large townhouse that had been divided into several bedsits and flats. Other settings on the show included the local newsagents, the local pub (The Waggoners), the offices of the weekly Hampstead Herald, Minden Road and the nearby Belsize Park shops.

The house at No. 1 belonged legally to 18-year-old ‘Rusty’ Vaughan, who lost his parents less than a year ago in tragic circumstances. Rather than further disturb his life and his studies at art school, his grandparents, Oliver and Sybil Vaughan, had given up their bungalow in Lyme Regis and moved to London to see him through until he was able to stand on his own feet.

The Walk and the problems of managing the house were a far cry from the retirement they had anticipated after a lifetime of school teaching in the Midlands. Rusty sold the house late in 1969, but continued to live in the studio flat on the landing until December 1972.

When the series began, the top floor of the house was occupied by the Dixon sisters from Norfolk: Lynn (28),  who worked at the personnel department of an Oxford Street store, and Tracey (22), who worked as a temporary secretary. To help with the rent, the sisters shared wth Barbara Watling (24), who had recently arrived from Hull and eventually married Colin Bartley and ran an antique shop.

Lynn married Peter Tyson in late 1969 and had a son (Jeremy) in 1972. Following her divorce, she married Matt Prior (pictured below), and the couple opened a restaurant called Priors after Matt was injured in a light plane crash in 1974. Peter Tyson then married Liz Warner, the editor of the women’s page of the Hampstead Herald.

In the basement at No. 1 lived Stan and Alice Hickey, tenants for 23 years, and the only genuine Londoners in the house – two facts which they never allowed anyone to forget! When Stan died in 1972, Alice married the owner of the local newsagents, Gordon Turner.

Gordon’s Canadian nephew, Jack Munro, ran The Waggoners pub and later married his barmaid, Kay Marsh.

Mike Nash was the editor of the Hampstead Herald. He and his wife, Claire, a former model, bought No. 1 Waggoner’s Walk late in 1969 and owned it until early 1980, when they moved to Bath. They had a part-time cleaner named Mrs Tandy.

Other key characters during the show’s 11-year run included Cliff and Shirley Edwards, Debbie Franks, George Underdown, Kath Miller, Sophie Richmond, and local GP Ben Woodhouse.

The 15-minute episodes were broadcast on weekday afternoons and repeated the following morning. It overtook The Archers in popularity and, by 1974, was attracting audiences of over four million listeners. A Sunday-afternoon omnibus edition was added to the schedule in January 1980, though heard only on Radio 2’s medium wave transmitters.

Despite healthy ratings, the series was cancelled as part of a BBC economy drive in 1980. The BBC also rejected a request from Capital Radio to take over the series.

Rupert ‘Rusty’ Vaughan
Nicholas Edmett (1)
Derek Seaton (2)
Mike Nash
Edward Cast
Claire Nash
Ellen McIntosh
Lynn Prior/Dixon
Judy Franklin
Matt Prior
Michael Spice
Barbara Watling
Heather Stoney (1)
Patricia Gallimore (2)
Liz Tyson
Ann Morrish
Peter Tyson
Basil Moss
Arthur Tyson
Lockwood West (1)
Peter Pratt (2)
Gerald Cross (3)
Stan Hickey
Leslie Dwyer (1)
Edward Evans (2)
Alice Hickey
Hazel Coppen (1)
Hilda Kriseman (2)
Anna Wing (3)
Peggy Aitchison (4)
Gordon Turner
Will Leighton
Jack Munro
Rod Beacham (1)
Malcolm Terris (2)
Kay Munro/Marsh
Frances Jeater (1)
Jo Kendall (2)
Cliff Edwards
Anthony Jackson (1)
Peter Messaline (2)
Sion Probert (3)
Shirley Edwards
Carole Boyd
George Underdown
Alan Dudley
Sophie Richmond
Glynis Brooks
Kath Miller
Charlotte Mitchell
Dr Ben Woodhouse
David Valla (1)
Derek Seaton (2)
Debbie Franks
Tara Soppet
Mrs Tandy
Grizelda Hervey
Mrs Dixon
Dorothy Edwards

Audio