主播大秀

Biggest story in your patch
I don't really like the word 'story' - some of the most important news events I've had to cover have been so tragic that it is a little demeaning to those who suffered to call them 'stories'.

Over the years I've been called to some terrible events: the murders in , snow disruption, the deaths of football fans, children, elderly men and women, terrorist attacks, riots and so on but the event that has stayed with me for almost six years now has been the day that the people who carried out the were found to have come from Yorkshire.

Three of the bombers lived here. I remember interviewing a neighbour. She was too frightened to open the front door but let me go round the back. She peeked through the curtains in her front room, looking at the police as they searched a house opposite.

"I saw ", she told me. "He was walking up the road. He was off to see his friends. He waved to me and smiled. He told me he was going to London the next day".

Why does this picture represent your patch

. If I'm asked to go to Whitby I try and make sure it coincides with lunch or dinner - just so I can get myself some fish and chips (best in the world.. . without doubt).

It's one of those magical places that I get to work in from time to time. It's like another world - especially if it's a when the town is full to overflowing. There's a certain sea mist that comes in from time to time and it's as if you've stepped back a hundred years. The first time I went to one of the Goth events (as a reporter, I hasten to add) I was expecting, frankly, a bunch of grumpy, miserable so and sos. Nothing could be further from the truth. They're wonderful - laughing, getting on with the locals, having a great time and filling every bed in the town. If you haven't been, get yourself there one Halloween.

Any odd talents?
I once tried to be an actor. It was the 80s and I reckoned that if I was going to be out of work then it was better to be an out-of-work actor. Sadly a few performances in a panto as a parrot, Humpty Dumpty and a Royal Executioner weren't a good grounding for a full-time career. Funnily enough, appearing alongside me in the school plays was Dr Evan Harris, the former Lib Dem politician (who, at no time in his life, has been a parrot, Humpty Dumpty or an executioner to the monarchy). Photos of us on stage DO exist and may yet see the light of day. Anyway, I managed to talk myself into a drama college and it was a whole fortnight before I realised what a mistake I'd made. Everyone was brilliant. I, frankly, was not.

So what can I do? Well, I'm still writing a children's book and I've got the plots to another couple ready to go, I can scuba dive and I taught myself how to pronounce correctly. To help you out here, suggests you say it in the following manner: lanvair藢pu涩伞w瑟虉n藢伞瑟虉涩伞o藢伞蓻r蓹藢蠂w蓹rn藢drobu涩藢涩ant瑟虉藢siljo藢伞o伞o藞伞o藧蠂

As a kid, what did you want to be?
Apart from a spaceman? Well, I had a worrying habit of wanting to do the same as the hero in whichever book I happened to be reading. I read all the books - so I wanted to be a vet until I realised I was rubbish at biology. I read by J. Meade Falkner so I wanted to go to sea. Sadly I come from a long line of lousy, seasick-prone sailors.

The truth is that being on radio and TV sought me out. My father was a Head Teacher. One day a crew from 主播大秀 North West Tonight came to the school to film a report. David Davies, who went on to be the Executive Director at the , was the reporter. A year later, I was interviewed for Radio 1's Junior Choice - from then, the die was cast, I guess.

What's the most unusual story you've ever covered?
Blimey... take your pick!

I once had to cover the world's first Jewish airborn wedding (the bride was a bit surprised: she thought she was going to the airport to get in a limo and ended up on a 20-minute flight around Liverpool while the Rabbi rattled through the service), on the night of the I had to ask the Mayor of to do a Frank Sinatra number to prove he was really a Rat-Pack singer in his spare time (he was).

A while back 5 live Drive called and asked me to measure how low young men are wearing their trousers these days. It was a survey (how I love those survey-stories) that had discovered that older men wear their trousers higher than 'the youth' (the same survey went on to reveal that grass is green and that night follows day). Put yourself in my shoes for a minute - just what is your opening gambit as you approach someone in the street and ask them for an interview and would they mind me pulling my measuring tape out? I got away with it but I still try and avoid that particular town centre.

The North West of England - Judy Hobson

I'm Judy Hobson, 5 live's North West of England reporter and live in . For many years I was the north of England reporter for Radio 1 Newsbeat and before that a producer for network TV news, so I know the area very well.

Which area/s do you cover?
My patch stretches from north up to , where it overlaps with my colleague Anna Foster.

Tell us a bit about your patch?
The North West of England is home to some of the biggest football clubs in the world and so I have covered several major sports stories over the last 20 years.

In 1999 I was lucky enough to be sent to for the final between and . Famously, United were losing with only seconds to go so I was going to have an easy night - it looked like the game was lost and there wasn't much for me to do.

Obviously United turned it around and I was lucky enough to have witnessed one of the greatest sporting comebacks ever. I had to file for all 主播大秀 radio outlets so I didn't get much sleep but history had been made. It was an amazing experience to be at the centre of such an incredible sporting story.

Biggest story/scoop you've had in your patch?
I have covered so many major stories here during that time.

The murder of Merseyside toddler James Bulger is probably the most shocking and it was also the first big story I worked on for 主播大秀 Network News. I don't believe any reporter can fail to be affected by stories like that.

I also covered the police investigation and the trial of multiple murderer , the Manchester bomb, and the shooting of Merseyside schoolboy .

But it's not just the big stories that make an impact, it's the human ones too and that's what I love about reporting for 5 live. A couple of years ago I spent a few days with a ten-year-old girl called Natalie whose family was homeless. They were living in a flat run by the charity based in Wales. Natalie was such a remarkable girl, she was bright and bubbly but her background also made her more street wise than most people twice her age. Her story was both heart breaking and compelling. One of the great things about the job is that it can bring you into contact with some remarkable people.

Why does this picture represent your patch?

I think this picture says a lot about the Manchester/Salford area and it's one of my favourite buildings. The club became internationally famous in 1986 when The Smiths posed in front of the building for the cover of their album The Queen is Dead. I am a huge Smiths fan. Morrissey wrote so many songs about Manchester and its people. But this is not just an. The club, which was established in 1903, still provides activities for both boys and girls in the area.

If you weren't doing this job what would you do?
I'd probably be a jockey. At the age of 16 I worked at some racing stables near my home town of in . I loved horses and so this seemed the perfect career. I rode the horses out on the gallops in the morning and had high hopes of riding in races myself.

But it is really tough for female jockeys to get on and I soon realised I had a huge mountain the climb. I lasted three months before heading back to the sixth form and taking my A levels. If I'm honest I'd have to admit I was also fed up of constantly landing on my backside!

Do you speak another language?
I speak Spanish. I studied it as part of my degree at Wolverhampton Polytechnic (now the ). It was my knowledge of Spanish that got my first job at the 主播大秀. I managed to gain some work experience on the youth TV travel programme Rough Guides as they needed a translator when they made the Rough Guide to . I can't have done a bad job as afterwards they kept me on as a runner and I eventually moved up the ladder in television before moving into radio.

Toughest story you've covered?
In 2001 I was sent to in the aftermath of 9/11. I will never forget the strong smell of burning metal as I set foot in , New Yorkers were still wondering around in a daze.

My job was to find the stories that no one else was covering at the time such as raising money for fire fighters, and two artists who were designing a work of art made of lights to stand in place of the Twin Towers. After such an atrocity it was tough to have to ask people to talk about what had happened but I was met with incredible warmth, people were so helpful and friendly.

It was an incredible experience.