We'll drink to all our wishes now, wherever they may be

"A typical show will include everything from 1930s close harmony group The Boswell Sisters to David Bowie via classical pieces and songs from musicals."

It is the end of an era. One of our "house favourites" here at Dolores Delargo Towers, the faboo broadcaster and beloved "national treasure" of our airwaves for seventy years, Mr Desmond Carrington has announced he will be hanging up his microphone later this month.

BBC Radio 2 has long been a focal point of our listening enjoyment round these parts, and Mr Carrington's dulcet tones - originally as part of the station's classic line-up on Sunday afternoons, latterly as a gentle lead-in to the not-to-be-missed Friday Night is Music Night - have been a constant throughout my memory of tuning in to "88 to 91 FM".

At 90 years old he is, of course, forgiven for deciding to retire [he has apparently had heart problems, and cancer, and has had a diagnosis of Alzheimer's - not a hint of any of that being evident in any of his broadcasts, of course]. He is probably the oldest, and certainly one of the longest-serving, DJs on the planet! [And with more than 700,000 listeners every week, one of the most popular nonagenarians still going...]

Here is a rather poignant song that Mr C played on his 90th birthday show. I listened to it. He was rather choked up. And so was I.

Peggy Lee - Where Did They Go?

I remember dancing to the velvet summer nights
Stars that softly flickered through a thousand coloured lights
Sipping pink champagne until the sun began to rise
When morning turned our laughter to good byes

Where did they go, all the good times
And the flowers and the wine
The young men who held me
All the lovers who were mine
Where did they go, all the sweet years
Filled with laughter ev'ry day
When time went on forever
Oh, when did they slip away

Driving through the midnight streets in gently falling rain
A man might offer everything except, of course, his name
Leaning close he'd whisper how his love would never die
Till once again the morning meant goodbye

Where did they go, all the good times
And the flowers and the wine
The young men who held me
All the lovers who were mine
Where did they go, all the sweet years
Filled with laughter ev'ry day
When time went on forever
Oh, when did they slip away

Now it's time to light another candle on the cake
Join me in a glass of wine, if just for old time's sake
We'll drink to all our wishes now, wherever they may be
If one or two come true just think of me

We will miss Desmond Carrington terribly. Who else would play that?