Heart Somerset

Heart Somerset (formerly Somerset's Orchard FM) was an Independent Local Radio station serving Somerset, England. Originally owned by (and officially remains licensed to) Orchard Media Ltd, the company was purchased by GWR Group in 1999, and subsequently became owned by GCap Media in 2005. Somerset's Orchard FM (later Heart Somerset) broadcast from studios at Haygrove House (a converted farm house and grounds) at Shoreditch near Taunton Racecourse, Taunton, adjacent to the M5.

History

In November 2005 it was announced that GCap's local radio stations in the South West, including Orchard FM, were to be sold. This is because they were outside of the company's primary target area. This sale was called off in Spring 2006 because the bids received were much lower than hoped.

2008 saw the takeover of GCap Media by Global Radio. On 20 January 2009, it was announced that Orchard FM, along with 11 other stations in Southern England, would be rebranded as Heart on 23 March 2009.

Presenters on the station over the years included Bob McCreadie (later Pirate FM and Radio Plymouth), Steve Bulley (now at Wessex FM), Jennie Gow (now presenter of MotoGP for the BBC), Steve Carpenter (Radio Exe), Jon White (now The Breeze), Mike Harwood, Dave Hills, Dan Jennings, Alex James, Tim Ley, Gregory Steven's, Dave Gould, Robert D'Ovidio (now Capital 95.8), Jeremy Kyle, Ian Burrage, Laura James (now The Breeze), Matt Bown (later BBC Southwest) and Ben Clark. Newsreaders included Rachel Hart, Nicola Maxey, Helen Martin and Lisa Hay (later BBC Southwest). Black Thunder was the name given to Orchard FM's promotional team and their heavily branded 4x4 vehicles based at the Taunton studios, staffed by presenters including Laura James and Matt Bown along with promotional staff Becci Balliston, Jodi Peppin and Jemma Crook.

Somerset

Somerset (ⁱ/ˈsʌmərsɛt/ or /ˈsʌmərsᵻt/) is a county in South West England which borders Gloucestershire and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east and Devon to the south-west. It is bounded to the north and west by the Severn Estuary and the Bristol Channel, its coastline facing southeastern Wales. Its traditional border with Gloucestershire is the River Avon. Somerset's county town is Taunton.

Somerset is a rural county of rolling hills such as the Blackdown Hills, Mendip Hills, Quantock Hills and Exmoor National Park, and large flat expanses of land including the Somerset Levels. There is evidence of human occupation from Paleolithic times, and of subsequent settlement in the Roman and Anglo-Saxon periods. The county played a significant part in the consolidation of power and rise of King Alfred the Great, and later in the English Civil War and the Monmouth Rebellion. The city of Bath is famous for its substantial Georgian architecture and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Somerset (UK Parliament constituency)

Somerset was a parliamentary constituency in Somerset, which returned two Members of Parliament (MPs), known traditionally as knights of the shire, to the House of Commons of England until 1707, the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832.

Elections were held by the bloc vote system.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1290–1629

MPs 1640–1832

References

Sources

Somerset (SEPTA station)

Somerset Station is an elevated stop on the Market-Frankford Line, above the intersection of Kensington Avenue and Somerset Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the Kensington neighborhood. During peak hours, the station is served by "B" trains only.

Like the nearby Huntingdon Station, Somerset is located over a five-way intersection, which is northeast of a high truss bridge over a Conrail freight line. Access to the station from street-level can be found at the southwest and southeast corners of Kensington Avenue and Somerset Street. Unlike Huntingdon, no access is available from D Street.

The station is adjacent to the corner of Kensington and Somerset, named by Philadelphia Weekly in 2007 as the number one drug corner in the city. The corner itself is dominated by sales of hypodermic needles and the methadone-like detox medication Suboxone, with referrals readily available to one of the many heroin dealers on nearby blocks.

Station layout

SEPTA City Bus Connections