Lynn Bowles (born 1963) is a Welsh broadcaster and a former traffic weekday mornings reporter for

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

Early life

Bowles was born in

Splott Splott () is a district and community in the south of the city of Cardiff, capital of Wales, just east of the city centre. It was built up in the late 19th century on the land of two farms of the same name: Upper Splott and Lower Splott Farms. S ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

, Wales in 1963, and is the youngest of three siblings. Her father, Cliff, was a marine engineer; her mother, Josephine, was born in

Monmouth Monmouth ( or ; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Monmouthshire, Wales, situated on where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. The population in the 2011 census was 10,508, rising from 8 ...

but moved to Rumney in Cardiff. Bowles attended St Hilda's School, a

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, before moving to Llanishen High School when the family lived in Rudry. She went on to university in

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

Broadcasting career

After university, Bowles worked in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

for a TV news station. She returned to the UK in the early 1990s but struggled to find work. Eventually she secured a position as a traffic reporter with

LBC LBC (originally the London Broadcasting Company) is a British phone-in and talk radio station owned and operated by Global and based in its headquarters in London. It was the UK's first licensed commercial radio station, and began to broadc ...

, on Richard Littlejohn's show. She subsequently joined the ''Nationwide'' programme on

BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts mainly news, sport, Talk show, discussion, interviews and phone-ins, and is on air 24 hours a day. It is the principal BBC radio station Broadca ...

where she remained for eight years before moving to

in 2000 as the first official traffic news reporter for weekday mornings. From Saturday 9 June 2012, and for eight consecutive weeks, Bowles presented her own show on

BBC Radio Wales BBC Radio Wales is a Wales, Welsh national radio station owned and operated by BBC Cymru Wales, a division of the BBC. It began broadcasting on 13 November 1978, replacing the Welsh opt-out service of BBC Radio 4. As of August 2022, the stat ...

, featuring guests such as

Ken Bruce Kenneth Robertson Bruce (born 2 February 1951) is a Scottish radio and television presenter. He hosted a weekday mid-morning show on BBC Radio 2 between 1986 and 1990, then again from 1992 to 2023. Since April 2023, he has presented the same s ...

with whom she appeared as travel reporter on his show on

. Since 2 November 2014, she has presented a weekly Sunday afternoon show on

. On 16 March 2018, during

The Chris Evans Breakfast Show ''The Chris Evans Breakfast Show'' (currently referred to on-air due to sponsorship reasons as ''The Chris Evans Breakfast Show with Virgin Money'') is the name given to two versions of a radio programme hosted by broadcaster Chris Evans in the ...

and

's mid-morning show, Bowles announced that she would be leaving

, after 18 years of broadcasting. Her last day was 29 March 2018. Bowles continues with her

broadcasting.

Personal and charitable activities

Bowles learnt to drive in a

Land Rover Land Rover is a brand of predominantly four-wheel drive, off-road capable vehicles, owned by British multinational car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), since 2008 a subsidiary of India's Tata Motors. JLR builds Land Rovers in Brazil ...

and became a mascot for the marque after competing in the 2004 run of the Macmillan 4x4 UK Challenge and co-presenting the Heritage Motor Centre Land Rover show from 2005 to 2010. In the August 2013 issue of Land Rover Owner international magazine Bowles was a guest columnist 'for one month only' discussing her childhood experiences in Land Rovers and her time training for the Camel Trophy . She is an ambassador for Bobath Children's Therapy Centre Wales, a registered charity based in Cardiff that provides specialist Bobath therapy to children from all over Wales who have

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, spasticity, stiff muscles, Paresis, weak muscles, and tremors. There may b ...

. In the November 2007

Children in Need ''BBC Children in Need'' is the BBC's UK Charitable organization, charity dedicated to supporting disadvantaged children and young people across the country. Established in 1980, the organisation has raised over £1 billion by 2023 through its ...

week a "Money can't buy" experience was auctioned which included spending a day with her at Land Rover and other automotive experiences under the banner of 'Petrolheads', and the item raised £22,000 for the charity. Bowles previously lived in

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

but moved back to

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

permanently in 2018, she regularly travelled back to her family home in the village of Rudry near

Caerphilly Caerphilly (, ; , ) is a town and community (Wales), community in Wales. It is situated at the southern end of the Rhymney Valley and separated from the Cardiff suburbs of Lisvane and Rhiwbina by Caerphilly Mountain. It is north of Cardiff an ...

References

External links

Lynn Bowles's profile
at

BBC Online BBC Online, formerly known as BBCi, is the BBC's online service. It is a large network of websites including such high-profile sites as BBC News and BBC Sport, Sport, the on-demand video and radio services branded BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, t ...

''Lynn Bowles''
(BBC Radio Wales) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bowles, Lynn Living people Mass media people from Cardiff Welsh radio personalities Welsh radio presenters BBC Radio Wales presenters BBC Radio 2 presenters 1963 births

Early life

Broadcasting career

Personal and charitable activities

See also

References

External links