Jane Garvey broadcast to the world from her little desk. It was incredibly low-tech, but this was all she needed as the voice of BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour.

I was always on the look-out for any references that Garvey might make to her undergraduate days at the University of Birmingham. When she said on air that as a student she lived in a house without central heating I gave her a hard stare. “OK”, she confessed, “I exaggerate. It was always nice and cosy at the Manor House”.

Later I asked Garvey whether she would welcome programme ideas from listeners. She replied that this was encouraged so I passed on two suggestions straightaway. First, I thought it was high time that Woman’s Hour ran a feature on the early retired. Second, I wondered whether the BBC might be willing to fund some research on public libraries.

Later Garvey showed us around her modest bedroom. There was barely space for a single bed. The only clue that this was the home of the renowned broadcaster was a Radio 4 programme schedule sellotaped to the flimsy wall.

See Jane Garvey elsewhere on Dreamaticus: Jane Garvey acrobat commentary, bad taste in clothes, and slum living (Rousse).