The local organisation Changing Chelmsford http://www.changingchelmsford.org/ is organising another Ideas Festival this year.  It will be held from 26 October to 3 November. This year there is a Marconi involvement in several events as detailed below:
Marconi’s Wireless Telegraphy Workshop
Hosted by: Geoff Bowles, Sandford Museum
Venue: Library Square Drop in Workshop
Date: 28 October
Time: 10am-5pm
Audience: Children 8+ accompanied by an adult. Â
Experience Marconi’s! Â Join our wireless workshop mimicking the Marconi design / production process and commemorating a slice of what went on at New Street, Chelmsford. Â Wind a coil, assemble and test a Morse code receiver or drop in any time during the day and help build a giant mast from which to hang the aerials.
Imagining Marconi’s and Hoffman’s industrial past: ‘The Frederick Roberts Archive’.
Hosted by: Dr. Catherine Pearson
Venue: Anglia Ruskin University Talk
Date: 31 October
Time: 7.30-9pm
Audience: 11+
The talk provides a fascinating insight on 20th century industry in Chelmsford, and in particular manufacturers such as Marconi’s and Hoffman’s Ball-Bearing Factory (now the site of the University’s Chelmsford campus). The international impact on developments in telecommunications and transportation is explored through personal stories revealed by the archive. The talk also illustrates how the Chelmsford Campus we know today retains echoes of its manufacturing heritage, allowing visitors to imagine its industrial past.
Marconi- then and now
Hosted by: Marconi Heritage Group
Venue: Library Square Meet and Greet session
Saturday 2nd Nov
Time: 10am-3pm
The Marconi Company fostered a sense of family within its employees which is in danger of being forgotten. Â This event is part of an initiative to set up a Marconi Heritage Centre in Chelmsford. Â The aim is to provide a focal point for the housing and display of memorabilia, both personal and operational. Â Do you have any family or other associations with the company? Â Come and tell us all about them! Mike Plant from the MOGS has volunteered to front the “Meet and Greet” session to record the input and interest from ex-Marconi people visiting and would be pleased to see any veterans if they care to pop in – if any feel like helping out on the day that would be even better. There will be a display of Marconi panels from the ERO and details of any Heritage Centre progress to date will be shown. There will also be a supply of leaflets that were produced for the ERO conference on 6 July.
A full programme for the Ideas Festival is now available at:
http://www.changingchelmsford.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Ideas-Festival-2013-lo-res-3008.pdf
The venue “Library Square” is the atrium in front of the entrance to the main Chelmsford Library. Â This is accessed from Market Road.