A Day in the Life of: Ben Hartley

We spend the day with the Manx Radio Breakfast presenter

In this new series, I'm speaking to Isle of Man residents who have, shall we say, unconventional jobs, and take a look at what their work entails.

And in this edition of 'A Day in the Life of...', we’re a little closer to home.

As a matter of fact, I’ve only ventured across the corridor from News to Programming to find my next guest, as I caught up with Ben Hartley to mark World Radio Day.

Proclaimed in 2011 by UNESCO Member States and adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2012, the day is celebrated on 13 February each year.

So, what makes Ben tick? And what made him want to be on the wireless? Well, I asked him.

A Peel boy born and bred, and proud of it, Ben argues 'you don't get any more Peel' than his dad, who was born in Charles Street.

His dad and brothers were - and are - plumbers, but Ben went in a different direction.

Picture the scene: It's the 1980s, you're in Peel on the Isle of Man, and a young Ben Hartley is cutting together sports bulletins on a tape deck in his room.

He says he's always had a fascination with communication, and as a youngster, he used to listen intently to Sport on 2 - now 5 Live Sport - for the results in the classifieds, jot them down, and make his own sports bulletins.

He'd sit with the fixtures in front of him which he'd cut out from the newspaper, scribble down results, and then on an old cassette recorder, he'd read them back.

By eight or nine, he'd graduated to the hard news.

(Also known as reporting the skeet of the school day for his devoted imaginary listeners.)

For those concerned, he assures me that there was never any bias in his reporting.

So the love of radio was there as far back as he can remember, and by the time he was in high school, he was eyeing up work experience at what would become his future employer.

He came up to Manx Radio for a week initially, but soon became involved in many aspects of the station, doing everything from helping to man reception to making the tea.

"This place on Douglas Head was like this magical building for me. I'd look up from the bus station on Lord Street and think 'I want to be in there. I want to be on the radio'." – Ben Hartley, Manx Radio Breakfast presenter.

He remembers working alongside the likes of Stu Lowe doing Breakfast, Suzy Richardson doing Swap Shop, Bernie Quayle on the Late Show and David Callister doing Mannin Line and still speaks with awe when talking about them.

He joined MR full time in 1998, and then in 2004 he re-located to London.

In 2006, Ben joined the Travel team at BBC Sussex and BBC Surrey and went on to present Early Breakfast there.

(The "Dream Team" - as I like to call them anyway - of Ben, Lewis and Sian. Picture: Siobhán Fletcher/Manx Radio)

Over in England though, he wasn't Ben Hartley. No, no, no. He was Ben Kerrigan.

Oh yes, a presenting pseudonym. 

He debated pulling a name from his beloved 'Neighbours', but settled on Kerrigan, which he thinks may have been from Brookside.

If you can settle that one for us, do let us know!

In 2010, Ben headed back to the Island and now presents Manx Radio Breakfast every weekday from 6am.

“My friends have always joked if you cut me open, you’d see ‘Manx Radio’ written through me like a stick of rock.” – Ben Hartley.

So, what does a day look like for him?

Well, it starts with a very early alarm. 

He gets up at either 4am or 4:15am, depending on how much work he got done the day before!

He tends to get up to Broadcasting House by 5am, which is when the day's prep begins.

This generally includes checking for any traffic/travel issues - think sailings, flight disruption, or more recently, snow - and making sure everything is in order for the day's Breakfast programme.

Thanks to the lovely News Team (if I do say so myself), the news content for the day is generally in the day before.

However, that doesn't account for news breaking overnight, or a last-minute live guest into the studio.

Alongside Ben, listeners will know Sian Cowper, or at least her voice, really well.

He credits her with being a 'vital part of the show'.

He says: "She obviously prepares and reads the news, and very often will join in with some sort of expert analysis, an insight into the various stories - particularly the political stories, of which there have been a lot already this year!

"Sian is great to provide that punditry because she just knows off the top of her head everything that's gone on and has gone on over the years."

“I love radio as a medium, I love local radio, whether it be here, or across. I think it’s so important that local media exists - and long may it continue. It’s just great to be involved in a station on my own doorstep that I’ve loved for many many years.” – Ben Hartley

And once a show finishes, it's all about the prep for the next one.

The next episode of "A Day in the Life of..." will be broadcast as an Island Life programme this evening at 5:30, and a longer edition will be available as a podcast afterwards right here at the Manx Radio website, or streaming wherever you get your podcasts.

You'll be able to hear much more from Ben - and our Lewis - in that longer edition.

For now, here's a sneak peek:

If you have an interesting job that you think we should cover - or you know someone with one - email siobhanfletcher@manxradio.com