Have I got news for you
IN HIS MEMOIRS, JOHN CRAVEN SAYS HE’S NEVER BEEN A VICTIM OF AGEISM. HANNAH STEPHENSON LEARNS THE SECRETS OF HIS CAREER LONGEVITY
Indeed, John’s own two daughters, Emma and Victoria, would watch it when they were growing up.
The way of life for children has changed since those days, he reflects.
“Whenever you’re out and about, children seem to be glued to their mobiles – it’s just a way of doing things now,” John observes. “Certainly, in my time of broadcasting to children, it was very different. There were hardly any channels on TV, so we had a huge challenge of winning them over to watch their own news bulletin.
He doesn’t watch much television these days, although he does tune into Countryfile on Sunday afternoons.
“I’m an ‘appointment to view’ person. We do record a lot and we have Netflix at home, but because my wife and I are both quite busy, we don’t settle down to watch TV together until about nine o’clock at night and usually over some supper.”
Countryfile, which he joined shortly after leaving Newsround, celebrated its 30th anniversary last year. He recognises countryside issues are probably more important now than ever.
“Ever since we started, rural issues have gone higher and higher up the national agenda. People are much more concerned about where their food comes from, about how it’s produced and tracing it back to its origins,” says John.
Throughout it all, Marilyn, his wife of 48 years, has been his rock, he admits. They met shortly after he’d moved to the north-east, when she was a production secretary for Look North.
They now live in a rural village in Oxfordshire, close to their two daughters and five grandchildren.
He says he’s semi-retired, doing a dozen or so Countryfile shows a year, but doesn’t know if he’ll ever fully hang up his microphone.
“It depends on health. I can still stride across fields and climb the odd hill,” John reasons. “I was never ambitious. We’ll wait to see what happens.”
Headlines And Hedgerows: A Memoir by John Craven is published by Michael Joseph, priced £20.