'It's been a privilege to serve' says Bob Warman as he receives honorary doctorate

Now, the veteran broadcaster has been rewarded for his years of serving the Midlands with an honorary doctorate.

Speaking before his graduation ceremony on Thursday, Bob told the Express & Star: "I'm very honoured. It came as a complete surprise to be nominated and to become a Doctor of Arts at the University of Wolverhampton is a great privilege."

The Walsall-born journalist retired from ITV Central in July of last year, as legions of people across the region tuned in to bid farewell to the respected broadcaster.

The likes of Ozzy Osbourne and Chris Tarrant recorded special messages for Bob, and his face was even beamed onto the large advertising screen at the front of Grand Central, with the message: "We'll miss you!"

However, Bob is loving his retirement, and said: "People do keep saying I must be missing the studio and my colleagues, and of course I do, but I am enjoying retirement.

"I seem to fill the time. People ask how on earth do I fill the time after such a busy working life, but I have no problems with that because I have so much to do.

"I'm able to indulge my hobbies a lot more - I enjoy things like gardening, walking, reading, and until recently, rowing. I also enjoy tatting about. I'm happy to spend hours tatting about."

He added: "I still watch Central News and there are moments where I think, 'I wish I was involved in that story', but generally speaking, they're a great team there, a small team, and they put out a great programme."

Reflecting on the highlights of his career, Bob said: "Every interview is interesting because you never quite know what's going to emerge from the interview. I still believe that everybody has a story to tell, you've just got to winkle out that story.

"It's difficult to pinpoint specific stories from 50 years, but of course there have been highlights and lowlights. There have been some big, big stories that I've been very involved with, such as the Birmingham pub bombings.

"But it's been a privilege to work on those stories and hopefully to talk about those stories accurately and bring those stories to the Midlands audience."

Born in the Chuckery area of Walsall, Bob attended preparatory school in Shrewsbury before starting his journalistic career at his local newspaper, The Walsall Observer.

He joined Central's predecessor, ATV, in April 1973, covering stories ranging from the Birmingham pub bombings to the closure of the Longbridge car works.

His achievements include being awarded the Baird Medal, The Royal Television Society’s highest honour, in recognition of "his outstanding contribution to the Midlands television community".

And in March, Bob was awarded an MBE by Princess Anne for services to broadcasting and journalism in the West Midlands.

While his career occasionally led him to stray from the Midlands, the vast majority of his working life has been based in the West Midlands.

Addressing what makes the region so special, and why he finds it such an interesting place to be a journalist, Bob said: "The audience here is a wonderful audience. It's a very loyal audience, it's a friendly audience, and it's been a privilege to serve them, it really has.

"The great place to be for stories is to work amongst the chimneys. They produce the greatest stories and it's ordinary people who are producing fantastic stories."

Addressing the next generation of journalists, Bob said: "If you're considering a life in journalism, the two things I think you've got to have are endless curiosity and plenty of stamina."

Other honorary graduates who received their degrees from the University of Wolverhampton included BBC's Springwatch host, Michaela Strachan, charity fundraiser and Wolves fan Manny Kang, and Oscar-winning visual effects specialist Manolo Mantero, who was nominated for an Emmy award for his work on Netflix's Stranger Things.

Michaela Strachan, who has been made an Honorary Doctor of Sciences for her continued efforts to highlight environmental issues and a commitment to animal welfare, said she was "completely overwhelmed" by the doctorate.

The presenter has travelled all over the world filming animals and conservation programmes and has a huge amount of enthusiasm, passion and compassion for animals and the environment.

Michaela said: "I’m completely overwhelmed to be receiving an honorary doctorate and be surrounded by so many, clearly, very clever students.

"For someone who left school at 16 and then studied Musical Theatre at College, this is something I really did never imagine!

"Because I don’t have an academic background, I have always felt slightly inadequate, especially compared to people like Chris Packham and Iolo Williams, my co-presenters, whose knowledge about the natural world is unbelievable.

"So, to have an academic institution like The University of Wolverhampton recognise, that to inspire people with enthusiasm and passion, is just as important as academic knowledge, well that really means a huge amount.

"I, like so many people I know, suffer from imposter syndrome, and this honorary doctorate has certainly chipped a large bit of that insecurity away!"