Direct Television from Alexandra Palace is now as complete as it can be at the moment. Navigation should now work properly and we have managed to recover some more pictures. Do visit the Internet Archive which is a fascinating project and has enabled us to recover these valuable memories.
Obituaries section added to The Credits. As well as the Bryan Cowgill obituaries below, I have placed Neil’s appreciation of Don Kershaw and two old obituaries of Ian Macnaughton and Dennis Main Wilson.
I have finally added the real TA19 photograph to ETD, thanks to Dave Baldwin who sent me a copy which had the original typed list of names on it. So, perhaps, our old TA19 really was C52 Part 1?
Our document archive is increasing by the day. I’ve just added Dave Braithwaite’s notes on the HS-100 from 1968. Like all paperwork in those days, it was produced in foolscap format, so the ‘modern’ version doesn’t look quite the same, as the original wouldn’t fit fully in my scanner! These old instructions and memos do provide a valuable historical record of the developments in the department, but I will not be scanning the Intersync manual by the way.
From Cliff White via John Vigar comes this picture of PTA1 – it’s their 50th Anniversary this year.
Back Row, Left to Right
Osborne J.F.V.P., James F.A.F., Lock R.C., Pulford R.C., Howse D.J., Cranefield D.H., Williams M.B., Brindley A.J., Bird P.
Middle Row, Left to Right
Dunmall D.R., Mount D.J., Hiscox R.E., Lewis R., Lawson J.L., Bartlett M.J., Wynne J.W., Vigar A.J. Palmer J.A
Front Row, Left to Right
Thomas D.P., Tristem D.J., Gittins R.W., Hussey A.G., White C.J., Mead P.E.J.
I am attaching a photograph of a group of young men who joined the BBC back in 1958. We were among the first ever school-leavers in this country who did not have to do National Service.
Until then, the BBC always took on engineering staff who had a Services or University background, so we were the very first eighteen-year-olds to be employed by BBC Television.
This happened on Monday 13th October 1958, when what became known as “Junior PTA Course Number One” were given a weeks introductory tour of all the engineering departments in London, then dispersed to London and the Regions to become pioneers (and guinea-pigs!) in the task of educating youngsters to the highest levels of BBC Engineering standards.
Half a century later, of course, a very special anniversary is looming, and some of us were wondering if the BBC itself would be interested in helping us to celebrate this momentous occasion by organising a grand reunion. We would obviously need a lot of assistance from the BBC and the BBC Pensioners Association to track down the whereabouts of all the (surviving) members of
this very first intake, and perhaps a little bit of sponsorship in arranging a date and a venue would be nice, too!
In the first instance I would be grateful if you could publish this letter and photo in Ariel, Prospero, and on the Heritage website and then, depending on the response we get, we will take the project up to the next level.