‘HERE’S your question Melissa … in which city is the Leaning Tower of Pisa?" Quick as a flash, Melissa came back with the obvious answer.

"Islamabad."

"Not quite."

"Sorry – I meant Rome."

It is that kind of call that has kept Jimmy Wagg and me smiling through more than 3,000 hours of radio broadcasting and it all started on 6 November 6, 1988.

It was a grey, autumn Sunday morning when Jimmy and I adjusted our headphones and prepared to try to get the first word in. The red light blinked into life and a programme which was to become a BBC Radio Manchester institution went on the air for the first time.

I had been at the BBC for a while but this was the first time my brother-in-law, JimmyWagg, had joined me at the microphone as a co-presenter. We thought we would be doing well if we were still on the air by Christmas. Yet here we are, in 2009, celebrating 21 years of an enduring partnership which, we are very proud to say, has constantly topped the ratings and made many people giggle.

Jimmy says: "We’ve spent more than a thousand Sunday mornings talking about the stuff that doesn’t matter much, but somehow makes the world go round. You couldn’t call it a career, more like muckin’ about."

Whatever you call it, it means Jimmy and I haven’t had a Sunday lie-in for as long as we can remember. No cough, cold, sniffle or Saturday night has stopped us heading to the BBC studios at the crack of dawn to share a bit of Wythenshawe wisdom across the airwaves.

We try not to analyse the success in case it breaks the spell but we do love the fact that it has lasted so long and people listen to us in their thousands.

"I suppose it comes down to making a connection with people," says Jimmy. "We talk about everyday things, because they take up most of our lives. We both have kids and, like most parents, we worry about the world they will grow up in, but we treat Sunday morning as a time to put the serious things on hold. How much warmer can a globe get in three hours?"

Manchester humour, a slightly skewed way of looking at the world and a genuine desire not to take ourselves too seriously have all been trademarks. But it couldn’t happen without the listener. A caller who claimed she was called Miss %Spentyouth joined us one morning. When Jimmy asked her who wrote Mein Kampf she asked for a couple of clues. We helpfully told her this particular man ended his life in a bunker and had a small moustache. "Oh easy," she shouted. "Clark Gable."

For a while we were known by the listeners as the Two Fat Lads. We have no idea why, although when I went to the doctors and asked for something to keep my stomach in, he gave me a wheelbarrow.

BBC Radio Manchester is the most intimate of media. We are talking one to one, to people who feel they know us. We are in their front room, their kitchen, their car. Occasionally, for some, our voices will be the most comforting, friendly sound of the week.

I know that sounds a little dramatic but we have had numerous letters and emails from people thanking us for cheering up someone in their family who was unhappy or unwell. One man, who had sat by his father’s death bed, told us his dad had died laughing, listening to us. (We are not taking the blame for that by the way). We are immensely proud that people we have never met feel they can share their lives with us.

The radio programme has developed into a variety theatre show and we have performed all over the north west. When I say ‘performed’ I mean turned up. The guest artistes are the stars. Our first stage appearance was at the Oldham Coliseum and Jimmy remembers our first stage appearance it well, mainly because of a loyal listener called Millie.

: "We met Millie about 1990. She was a lady of a certain age, but still had an immense appetite for life and she came to a show we did at the Oldham Coliseum. It was one of Dave Spikey’s early theatre performances and he was at his brilliant best. I saw Millie, crying with laughter, reach into her huge handbag and extract a hankie the size of a tablecloth and stuff it in her mouth. The following year we decided to go back to the Coliseum and Millie immediately asked us to sort her out with two tickets, but not to put her behind anyone tall. Daft but lovely."

We will be treading the boards again to mark our birthday with a show at the newly-refurbished Plaza Theatre in Stockport on December 13. Buzz Hawkins and The Bradshaws are topping the bill.

Sunday mornings on BBC Radio Manchester have been a wonderful thing to be part of. We’ve welcomed guest presenters to share our programmes and even though I doubt any of them will make their mark in showbiz, I’ll mention them out of kindness. Dave Spikey, Peter Kay, Alan Carr, John Thomson. I wonder what they’re% all doing now?

Over the years we have had the chance to do some amazing things. What other job would allow two blokes, without even the semblance of an act, to present an award-winning radio programme and host shows at some of the biggest venues in this area? (I made the ‘award-winning’ bit up because it sounds good).

I have to admit Jimmy and I have survived by recycling a mere handful of gags and I would like to share perhaps the most celebrated of them. Thanks to our online listeners, this has travelled the globe.

"How long should a turkey last in a freezer?"

"About three months."

"I thought that but I put one in last night and it was dead this morning!"

So on Sunday, shrugging off a 21st celebration hangover, we will sit down opposite each other at 9 o’clock, the red light will flicker to life once more, each of us we will still try to get the first word in and we will talk nonsense for three hours. Just like we did that November morning in 1988.

  • Eamonn and Jimmy: BBC Radio Manchester, 95.1Fm & DAB Sundays, 9am-12pm