Paul Golder writes for the Brentwood Gazette

There are many people who get involved with a community radio station such as ours – not just DJs and presenters but regular contributors who help to make the station very different from normal commercial radio offerings.

Billericay resident Margaret Mills is an adult education history and literature tutor who first got in touch with us in 2014 to ask if she could do some bits and pieces on air with us, and they went down so well that she’s been on air every week since!

She’s a regular on Scott Ross’s One 2 Three show, chatting every Tuesday after 1pm about the weird and the wonderful from our county’s history.

There are many famous stories about Essex’s past, but Margaret has a tendency to find some really interesting tales that often get overlooked. Her recent chats on air with Scott have included Queen Victoria’s visits to Epping Forest, the Essex postman who walked his route of 26 miles every day for 30 years, and fighting at Essex v Kent cricket matches in the 1760s!

Margaret is also a book reviewer and has a monthly chat involving new works from both well-known and local authors including M.R. Hall, Alex Michaelides and Deborah Orr.

You can listen again to all of Margaret’s chats at https://www.phoenixfm.com/category/bygones-and-essex-tales/