Ian Handford: The beloved DJ with a passion for aircraft

I believe many locals may recall BBC presenter Mr Keith Fordyce, who founded and was curator of our local Torbay Aircraft Museum at Barton near Marldon.

Keith and his wife Anne (commercial director) and a manager then ran the museum. Local friend Lincoln Shaw at BBC Radio said after Keith's death, "He was always a modest, companionable man who many, many people admired," to which I agree.

Keith was born Keith Fordyce Marriott on 15 October 1928 in Lincolnshire. After attending school locally, he went on to Emmanuel College, Cambridge, to read law. He became President of the Cambridge University Law Society in 1951–52 and always kept fit — playing squash, football, tennis, and even rowing. While at university, his natural presentation skills quickly became apparent. He also founded the university’s sports magazine, which he titled Light Blue.

It was during his National Service that Keith became besotted with BBC wireless (later radio), gaining further experience through work with Radio Luxembourg. By 1955, he was recognised as the BBC’s youngest ever presenter, having established the hugely popular morning show Housewives’ Choice on the BBC Light Programme. Within five years, he was contributing to regional television, which led to his first major break into the new medium of TV, presenting ITV’s Thank Your Lucky Stars.

In 1963, The Beatles were making their mark on the national stage with the programme Ready Steady Go!, launched alongside their hit Please Please Me. Keith soon transferred to this show, and, by then working for Westcountry TV, had moved permanently to the West Country. Despite relocating, he continued to present for BBC Radio until 1974, including a stint on Late Night Extra for Radio 2.

During the 1970s in Torbay, Keith hosted Westward TV’s quiz show Treasure Hunt and became self-employed after founding a museum. Dedicated to aircraft memorabilia, the museum was located at Barton Pines, Marldon, near Paignton. Keith and his wife Anne settled permanently in Devon. While travelling in the Midlands in 1971, Keith discovered a neglected de Havilland Dragon aircraft abandoned in a field. Determined to add it to his collection, he purchased the plane and brought it to his Barton Pines site. In time, the museum became recognised as one of only three private aircraft museums in Britain.

In the 1980s, Ron Sims of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), having met Keith, invited him to host a new event — the Miss Torbay show — held at the Rainbow Hotel in Torquay. At the time, I was Vice Chairman to Ron, who served as Branch Chairman while I sat on the FSB National Policy Committee. The "FSB Miss Torbay" became an annual event and ran successfully for three years before evolving into other formats.

Keith’s media career spanned an extraordinary five decades before he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s at the age of 83. As Lincoln Shaw once remarked, we all found Keith to be an amenable, easygoing, and thoroughly professional man to work with.

As a businessman, his museum grew to include more than twenty static aircraft exhibits and interpretive displays. He employed both a manager and an archivist, and with the support of Vernon Hillier (designer and researcher), his wife Anne served as the museum’s commercial director. The museum was a popular visitor attraction in Torbay until it closed in 1988, well before Keith’s passing in March 2011.

The Vicar of Collaton St Mary, the Reverend David Treby, led Keith’s funeral service and described it as a heartfelt family tribute — "a truly happy service of thanksgiving for the life of a man whose life was much valued."

Keith Fordyce Marriott died on 15 March 2011 and was survived by his wife, Anne, and their four daughters.