Thursday, September 8, began for me with the usual alarm call at 5.55 am. It ended with the realisation that the next week or so would be very different.

At just after 12.35pm, I saw a Tweet about which included the line 'the Queen’s doctors are concerned for Her Majesty’s health'.

A statement so out of the ordinary that it said much more than the brevity of it. The directors of Black Cat Radio had discussed some time ago how we would deal with the death of our Monarch, when the eventual sad day would come.

Brian Dobson had written a lengthy tribute which Tony Gilliam had voiced and it it was interspersed with solemn music. The recordings had been done over a year ago, but as the news from Balmoral grew more concerning, so Tony and l took the decision to change the day’s schedule.

The Hunts Post: Black Cat Radio's Tony Gillingham announced the death of the Queen on air on September 8.Black Cat Radio's Tony Gillingham announced the death of the Queen on air on September 8. (Image: BLACK CAT)

While Tony reviewed and made a few amendments to Brian’s original script, I kept abreast of news developments and, should the worst happen, began lining up possible interviewees.

Without any speculation, Tony and I managed two and a half hours of live radio based upon that short statement from the Palace but adding references to the fact that the Royal family members were hurriedly travelling to Balmoral. There was a growing and sorrowful inevitability about it all. I left it to Tony, who has worked in the radio industry all his life and founded Black Cat Radio, to make our sad announcement at 6.30pm.

Over the course of the next week and a half, our output of news on the hour, solemn music and interviews was reflective of how our listeners felt. Over the course of the week, much of it alongside Nigel Pauley, I spoke with retired Royal correspondent Charles Rae, the mayors of St Neots and Huntingdon and the Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire, Daryl Brown, all made time to talk to us.

We had assembled one hour chunks of reflective and thoughtful songs which replaced some existing programmes. However, several of our presenters changed their personal styles to reflect the mood of the day.

As we often remind people, we are a group of volunteers. We will never have the resources of the paid professional and larger media outlets. But I am immensely proud of how we have competed with them at this sad and momentous time and the responses we have had from our listeners will attest to the fact that, yet again, Black Cat Radio has punched above its weight.

On reflection, no-one, not even time served journalists and broadcasters, can have known quite how we would react when the time to say farewell came. Farewell to a lady for whom the majority of the population have known no other sovereign. I hope that in the future, when we think back, the team at Black Cat Radio will feel pride at how we handled this mournful and momentous occasion.