Serious Jarin' - The Day we got a shout on on Radio 2 from Steve Wright (aka DJ Silly Boi)

A funny thing happened recently. I was on a training course to upskill my digital marketing know how and had been asked to record a piece of audio for our audience (my fellow cohort on the training) explaining the story behind our Piccalilli - essentially the discovery of my grandad's traditional Piccalilli recipe which eventually turned into a small family business that I run today.

I don't really use my phone as a tool to record audio, but managed to locate and refresh an old app that was lurking somewhere in the background of my iPhone. After the app had refreshed and was ready to use, scrolling through to find the record button I came across a solitary existing file, entitled 'Serious Jockin' dating back to early May 2017.

A very happy memory from eight years ago suddenly came back to me! We had been making a batch of Piccalilli at home in our kitchen for a farmers' market or food festival that weekend - I can't remember exactly where abouts in the North East the market was taking place although have managed to find a photograph of our stall (see below) which I believe was taken the following day. Perhaps somebody with a better memory than mine will recognise where we were selling our wares that weekend.

Anyway, back to the story behind the title of this blog. Back in the day, we were avid listeners of Radio 2, my favourite programme being Steve Wright in the Afternoon. The highlight of my week, unsurprisingly was a Friday afternoon, finishing work while tuning in to the last hour of Steve, or DJ Silly Boi (Steve's Alter Ego), blasting out the classic tunes during his Serious Jockin' - No 'G;' segment. The unofficial start of the weekend for millions across the UK.

For anyone unfamiliar, listeners were encouraged to send in their messages to Steve telling the audience what they were doing at the time of listening, ranging from families embarking on their travels, fun activities like snorklin' or rock climbin', down to the pretty mundane 'serious golfin' or caravanin' - you get the idea.

On this particular Friday, as we chopped vegetables and measured ingredients to make the piccalilli sauce, a short gap in proceedings allowed me just enough time to text in to the show in the vain hope of a shout out. The odds were slim.

I thought no more of it, assuming the message wouldn't even be read by the show's researchers, never mind reaching Steve himself so carried on peeling onions and cutting up cauliflower, but then to my amazement...

Well, have a listen yourself. I hadn't even noticed the 'best so far' comment until giving it another listen as I wrote this piece. I always remember the enthusiasm and genuine enjoyment from Steve and the team as they read out the listeners' contributions every Friday afternoon and what a magic memory to stumble across this recording of our dedication years later.

We love you Steve. keep on jockin' and thanks again for the shout out. Serious rememberin' from the Calder family.

Click on the audio clip below to listen to our Serious picklin', serious jarrin' shout our on Steve Wright in the Afternoon from May 2017: