Does the BBC care about the folk programmes in its archives? I think not. So many of the 'lost' programmes that have surfaced recently and mysteriously were only ever aired once - then never saw the light of day.

Take for example the so-called Birmingham (Radio) Ballads - the disinterest of which was much lamented by the late Ian Campbell.

http://www.mustrad.org.uk/enth13.htm

BTW the HUGELY expensive i.t. project by which archival recordings would be made available online to the public for a small fee was recently abandoned at the expense of hapless licence fee payers who footed the multi-million pound bill.

Yet recently the Beeb has been increasingly aggressive against the sharing of what it regards as copyright material. RadioDownloader was forced to close down; as have numerous OTR torrent sites.

However at the same time the Beeb has become increasingly dissimissve in its response to legitimate OTR enthusiasts trying to return recordings to its archives. See:

http://wipednews.com/features/charles-norton-on-missing-episodes-and-thegraham-webb-archive/

One Robert Ross commented on January 6, 2012 at 11:51 pm:

"Incredible! Unbelievable! Crass! Stupid! If the BBC are only interested in recovering material they can sell, then surely they are effectively relinquishing copyright, and possessors of "lost" material should have the right to market it themselves – or donate it to an archive where it can be easily accessed! In years to come, I imagine the Beeb will regret their current stance!
"Crass and stupid" has been the response of the enthusiast who tried to return 'lost' recordings but was refused."

Personally I have offered back hundreds of Folkweave recordings - all junked by BBC Radio Manchester (the masters were found in a skip at the back of the building). The Beeb showed no interest at all. Likewise with the London Folk Song Cellar which we have rescued from New Zealand and around the world.

It is thanks to those home-tapers of the 1950/60/70/80s that many programmes have been saved for present and future generations to enjoy. Sadly the Beeb and its dusty archives (archivists?) think otherwise.

CJB