Category: News

In November 1897, a twenty-three year old Italian inventor visited the Royal Needles Hotel that overlooked Alum Bay on the west coast of the Isle of Wight. The young Guglielmo Marconi’s proposal to rent rooms to perform his ‘experiments’ over the deserted winter months was warmly welcomed by the hotels proprietors. Marconi used some of the working capital of his newly formed Wireless Telegraph & Signal Company to convert the hotel’s billiard room and install his equipment and spark transmitter. Several small ships were hired and fitted with wireless aerials and receivers while moored at the pier below. A huge mast, 168 feet high, had to be hauled up the cliff face of Alum Bay and raised in the hotel grounds, a feat that required the help of most of the able bodied men in Totland. On Monday 6th December 1897 Marconi started his wireless experiments from the Royal Needles Hotel, including a month of private demonstrations for Queen Victoria and the Royal family using wireless stations he installed at Osborne House and on board the Royal Yacht. For the next two and a half years the world’s first permanent wireless station would be operated from the Isle of Wight.

By 1900 Marconi realised he need more space, greater privacy and longer ranges to his new stations being built in Cornwall. He moved his equipment and aerial mast from Alum Bay across the Island to a new station built in Knowles farm in Niton. While there Marconi developed the vital science of tuning, enabling multiple wireless signals to be separated without interference. In January 1901 transmissions from Niton reached Marconi’s new station at Lizard Point in Cornwall. This was 196 miles away, a world record for ‘radio’ waves,  convincing Marconi that his system was now ready to attempt to transmit across the Atlantic ocean, over 2,100 miles.

The success of Marconi’s famous “S” across the Atlantic in December 1901 gave a huge impetus to the growth of wireless (or radio as it soon become known) equipment. As the orders for ships wireless equipment started to increase, Niton soon became an active Marconi shore station (one of 40) handling passing ship wireless traffic in the Solent. Marconi’s Niton station was taken over by the Post Office on 29^th September 1909 and four years later, as part of a major reorganisation, land at Niton Undercliffe, about four miles from Ventnor, was leased from Lloyds at an annual rent of £5. On the new site a Lloyds signal and wireless telegraphy station using Marconi equipment was built, along with various houses which belonged to the Coastguard, and the station building that was later to become Niton Radio. There was also a Marconi station located on Culver Cliff.

The science and art of wireless communication was born on the Isle of Wight.

The story of a young Italian engineer, whose small experiments on a small Island grew to produce our modern world of instant global communication, radio broadcasting, mobile phones, television, satellite communication and even the internet is simply amazing. Marconi on the Isle of Wight changed the world forever.

The full story of Marconi on the Isle of Wight, 250 pages, 140 photographs is available directly from the publishers:- please see http://www.authorsonline.co.uk. For advance copies or further information please contact the author at timwander@compuserve.com or see www. 2mtwrittle.com

The Radio Officers Association are holding their AGM at the Atlantic Hotel in New Street Chelmsford this year on the 26^th/27^th April (see link below).

For those officers not familiar with Chelmsford The Atlantic Hotel is almost opposite the famous 1912 Marconi building although, at the time of writing, this is shrouded in plastic sheets as the new owners are undertaking emergency remedial work to make the roof watertight and prevent further deterioration.

Please note that the International Marconi Day will be held on Saturday 27^th April (nothing on the Friday) and will certainly be attended by radio officers who live locally.  They will be able to explain the three ship’s radio rooms on display.  Two are from the beginning of the 20^th century and the third is post second world war.

http://www.radioofficers.com/news-2/news-the-agm-2013/

As many of you will know Bellway Homes has recently completed the purchase of the derelict site.  In spite of the site only being in their possession for about 6 weeks they have already put in hand measures to prevent further deterioration of the 1912 building.

They already have outline plans and these were shown at an exhibition at Anglia Ruskin University on 18 & 19 October where there were representatives from Bellway, HardHat and the architects present to answer questions and to learn from those who visited things about the site during its operational days; this is relevant as they try to answer question 6 below. According to Bellway there has been some confusion about the exact spot from which Dame Nellie Melba made her famous Chelmsford broadcast.

What was on show at these exhibitions can be seen at http://www.marconiredevelopment.co.uk/ under “The Proposals” tab.  One major aspect of the plan that is not mentioned in Bellway’s proposals is that no building on the site will be higher than 5 storeys or the same height as the present Marconi House.  This is a change from the previous plans that would have built tower blocks in the area near the railway station that was the Marconi car park.  This area will now be flats with commercial units on the ground floor.

Based on the proposals shown at the exhibition (and which can now be seen on their web site) there was a feedback form provided.  This asked the following questions:

1.  What do you think of our plans to create a mixed-use development on the site?

2.  Do you support our plans to retain the 1912 Building, Powerhouse and Water tower?

3.  How do you feel about our proposal to create a pedestrian link through the site?

4.  Do you think our plans for Marconi Road are moving in the right direction?

5.  Is there anything else you would like to comment on at this stage?

6.  Please give us your ideas for how we can best remember the history of the former Marconi premises.

Bellway would be very pleased for any interested persons to respond to these questions which can be done at marconi@bellway.co.uk

The group Changing Chelmsford www.changingchelmsford.org was set up in 2010 to celebrate and grow the culture, character and creativity of Chelmsford.  One of their initiatives was to intrduce the concept of the Heritage Triangle in the city; this triangle encompasses Shire Hall, the Ann Knight Quaker Meeting House and the Marconi factory in New Street.

It was this group that organised the visit to the New Street site in June 2012, as was reported on this web site on 20 June and in the Essex Chronicle on 21 June.

On 13 October they organised The Heritage Triangle debate in Shire Hall.  The debate was chaired by Professor John Worthington who was also involved in the Marconi New Street visit and the panel consisted of Simon Burns MP, Councillor Dick Madden from Essex CC and Phil Martin chief executive of the YMCA Chelmsford.  Dick Madden chairs the working party on the future of Shire Hall and Phil Martin is working with Genesis, the company currently refurbishing the Ann Knight building.  There should have been a fourth member of the panel, Robert Macdonald from Bellway Homes, the current owners of the New Street site, but instead we had a group of three people from the company Hard Hat who are currently working on the redevelopment of the Marconi site on behalf of Bellway Homes; they spoke from the floor.

The debate itself did not address very specific details of any of the buildings within the triangle but it did provide an opportunity for an update on what was being proposed, how the refurbishments were proceeding and, in particular, produced some new ideas from the public present, one of the main ones being the need to significantly improve the railway station.  The Ann Knight building is already well advanced and should be open to the public next year as a multi function building that can host a wide variety of events.  Shire Hall is rather more problematic, Essex CC have stated that the building will remain in their ownership and will be available to all the people of Essex but have not yet determined exactly how this will be achieved or what would be its exact uses given that it must be self supporting financially.  Not much could be said about the Marconi site, given that Bellway have only had ownership for about six weeks, but it was stated that there would be no high-rise buildings on the site.  The plans will follow roughly what has already been proposed by the previous owners and agreed by the City Council, namely a mixed development of residential and commercial properties but will incorporate the ideas from Changing Chelmsford to open up an attractive route between the railway station and Anglia Ruskin university.

There will be the first public consultation on the Marconi site at:

Anglia Ruskin University
Room SAW002
Ground Floor
Sawyers Building

Thursday 18 October  1600 – 2100
Friday 19 October   1600 – 2100

You will remember that we carried an article in the 2011 newsletter about the Marconi wireless station at Clifden, Connemara.  The Connemara Heritage Society have organised a commemorative Marconi event this year on 12 – 14 October.  The attachment below gives details and comes as you see with an invitation to as many Marconi Veterans as are able to go. It looks as if it will be a very good weekend but it would be good if some Marconi Veterans could make it.

Attachment removed because of spam problems.

The radio station was set up in the grounds of Writtle College approximately 1 km from the site of the original 2MT broadcast in 1922.  Details of the station were published here on 1 August.  As will be seen the structure pays homage to the original Writtle hut and the early microphone with its cigar box mouthpiece.

The programme was broadcast for 1 1/2 hours each day between 11 and 18 September with a longer broadcast on Saturday 15 September.  The opening broadcast was given by Tim Wander giving a history of the early 2MT broadcasts and other broadcasts comprised readings, dramatic works, singing both solo and the Writtle voices, the Writtle All Saints bell ringers and music.  As can be seen from the photographs the action took place on an open stage so that it could be treated as both a live performance for the audience present, (there was a significant audience on the Saturday), and also the broadcast for listeners.

Unfortunately, due to the limited antenna height the station’s range was only about 2km when receiving on a portable radio and about 5km with a good rooftop antenna so the listener-ship was very limited and could not be heard over large parts of Chelmsford.

There is a community radio station broadcasting between 11 and 18 September at Writtle College.  The latest press release, number 3, is shown below.

On Saturday 7 July  2012 the Olympic Torch passed down New Street on its journey through Chelmsford.  The torch was carried on this leg by 14 year old Moesha Howard.  Pictures of the convoy and the torch as it passes the 1912 building are here.

The above festival will  be held from 10 to 14 July inclusive.  http://chelmsfordbeerfestival.com/

The Deputy Mayor of Chelmsford, councillor Paul Hutchinson, will open the festival but Marconi Veterans have been invited to be present on Tuesday 10th July at 12-30pm for the opening and to pull the first pints.

We look forward to meeting any veterans who can be present at the opening.