Reporters

Bob Hockenhull

Bob, worked on several local newspapers in Cheshire, the county where he was brought up on a dairy farm before starting his broadcasting career on independent radio in Wrexham, Liverpool and Stoke-on-Trent.

He joined the BBC in 1992 and after spells at BBC CWR in Coventry and BBC Radio WM, he joined Midlands Today.

Since then he's covered many stories ranging from ones to make you laugh to ones to make you cry.

Some of his favourite assignments have involved taking journeys across the Midlands both on foot and on bicycle. He's recently been taking part in a series of walks suggested by viewers exploring some of the most beautiful parts of our region.

He's also pedalled his way through some of our most spectacular scenery for his "Bob on a Bike" features.

Another enjoyable story for Bob was a trip to the Italian Alps to cover an attempt to break a world altitude record in a balloon. "I didn't actually climb in the basket myself but it made a great story and some fantastic footage, " says Bob.

Over the years, he's enjoyed meeting celebrities through his work like Tom Baker, Rolf Harris, Sir Bobby Charlton and Ulrika Jonsson. But he finds interviewing members of the community who have an interesting story to tell, just as rewarding.

Away from work, Bob likes to keep fit. He's completed three marathons, two in London and one in New York. And he keeps getting faster with age, recording a 3:35 time in his last run in the Big Apple in November 2005. "I vowed I'd never do another when I crossed the finishing line but I'm still competing in shorter races with my club Bournville Harriers," he says. "and you never know marathon number four might happen yet ! "

Bob enjoys travelling, and recent trips have included Vietnam, China and the Olympic Games in Athens. "But I also spend a lot of time visiting parts of this country and it reminds me that you don't have to go far to find beautiful scenery, " he says.

Bob hails from Cheshire and still goes back home regularly to see his family and friends. He'll marry his fiancee Louise this summer.