I've just checked with the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. They have nothing on the sound archive database or the card catalogue for anyone called Jim Carmichael. That furthers my suspicion that it wasn't one of the collectors who were engaged on the BBC's collecting project. Also, the fact that this guy made several visits suggests it wasn't somebody from local radio.

That leaves me wondering whether it might have been somebody who worked for the BBC but not as a folk music collector. Alternatively of course, it could be that bridie mis-remembered and that it was a private individual with no BBC connections. In north west England I'd have thought that the most likely candidate would be Paul Graney, who was based in Manchester.

I've asked John Adams, who is looking after the Paul Graney archive. He couldn't turn anything up, although cataloguing is still in progress, so we'll have to wait and see on that one.

Gina, I've a couple more questions which might give us a clearer picture.

First of all, is Bridie still alive, or do you know of any living relative who might remember?

Secondly, were they definitely living in Widnes when the recordings were made?