Category: News

There is very good news in the ongoing campaign to get a sustainable and viable presentation of Marconi Heritage content in the original Marconi factory in Hall Street in Chelmsford. As the first wireless factory in the world it is of international significance and can therefore justify support as a site of special heritage interest. Many of you will be aware of the recent considerable media interest in this initiative.

Although the whole building has been subject to a successful planning application for residential development negotiations with the owners are underway with a view to acquiring the ground floor for the creation of a community/heritage asset, and the Marconi Heritage Group is working with the Moulsham and Central Chelmsford Community Trust to get this underway and to raise finance for this opportunity.  We are convinced that a successful application can be made to the Heritage Lottery Fund but we have to find matching funding and initially pay the costs to set up a trust body to carry out the necessary work – the full amount required for purchase and fitting-out is of the order of £1.5 million.  To start us off we need a fighting fund of a few thousand, and then go after substantial contributions to the full amount.

We are therefore planning on launching both national and worldwide appeals for support, as from the earliest days the Marconi companies traded in an international market, and setting up an online crowd-funding site to collect donations.  We are a currently a small group and will need additional help with the back-office work in running the appeals and the trust, so both those local boots-on-the-ground and those able to use the internet are invited to contact us through our website www.marconiheritage.org or by personal means to give us an idea of what support we can get.

With your help we can be confident of gaining a facility to ensure the deserved and continued recognition of the work of our founder coupled with that of the many thousands who served in the companies as researchers, skilled tradesmen, professional engineers and operators, which laid the foundations of the modern world.

Post updated and pictures added 28 September

Selex ES Limited at Basildon are staging an open day on Sunday 21 September.  The event runs from 11:00 – 15:30 at:

Sigma House
Christopher Martin Road
Basildon
SS14 3EL

The event is by ticket only.  Tickets are free and there will be many exhibits and activities for children of all ages.  It goes without saying there’ll be food and drink too.  Those with memories that go back further than 2001 will better remember the location as ‘K’ Building.  The ground floor of the building will be accessible and in the main reception area there will be a timeline of products and programmes from both the Electro-Optical and Airadio divisions spanning the 60 years.

For tickets please apply at  basildon.60@selex-es.com  advising how many tickets you need and if there are any under 18’s among your party.   As this email address is also being used for other planning purposes would you please write TICKETS in the email subject box.

The Marconi Veterans Association will be having a stand at the event.

The pictures below were taken around the Marconi Veterans Stand on 21 September.

Click on the images for a full-sized version

 

We regret to report the deaths of the following Veterans and extend our sympathy to the families of those mentioned.

Mrs D Bateson
D G Beech
H M Chandler
C S Dodd
P W Gurton
J A Jason
J R Moody
J S Nicol
C S Owen
A Peters
V Wood
R Wray

This list was correct on 10 March 2014 and supersedes the list published on 13 January 2014.

Some of you may have noticed that this website looks a little different from what you were expecting.  Unfortunately, the site has been compromised by spammers and hackers.

Luckily our ISP is on the ball and quarantined the affected files before I became aware of the problem.  These files are mainly plug-ins that create functionality on the site and all the content is completely safe in an isolated database.

However, it will take a little time before all the functionality can be reinstalled. Please be patient.

 

As part of the Chelmsford Ideas Festival the Marconi Heritage Group held a “Meet & Greet” day in Library Square.

As can be seem from the photographs (rather poor as taken with a camera phone) there were display boards showing the development of the New Street site over 100 years and many people came to talk about their experiences of working for Marconi.

Marconi Veterans who may be seen in the pictures are : Jim Selby, Owen Hawkes, Stan Atkins, Alan Hartley-Smith and Colin Page.

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.  
Experience Marconi’s!  Join our wireless workshop mimicking the Marconi design / production process and commemorating a slice of what went on at New Street, Chelmsford.  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.  This event is part of an initiative to set up a Marconi Heritage Centre in Chelmsford.  The aim is to provide a focal point for the housing and display of memorabilia, both personal and operational.  Do you have any family or other associations with the company?  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.  This is accessed from Market Road.

This award is in recognition of Geoff’s work in maintaining the collection of Marconi equipment and memorabilia at the Chelmsford Industrial museum at Sandford Mill.

As you will have seen from the report of the 2013 AGM the decision of the committee to elect Dr Geoff Bowles as an Honorary Veteran was approved by the members.

The picture shows Geoff being presented with his veterans tie and the coaster from this year’s reunion by our secretary Veteran Barry Powell during the International Marconi Day at Sandford Mill on 27 April 2013.