Monday 6 February 2012: Radio Days

There was lots of snow still on the ground, but long distance rail travel proved reliable, so I managed to get to Essex and back in a day, as planned.

I was giving a seminar at Anglia Ruskin uni in Chelmsford, which was my first visit to that campus, and the 52nd tick on my lifelong journey of trying to visit every university in the UK. This was also my first visit to Essex other than once getting the boat from Harwich.

On these flying visits, the best you can do to get any sense of place is to walk from the train station to wherever the meeting is, and to try and leave a little bit of slack time to veer a bit off route is something catches your eye.

The Marconi Building was right on the route though, wearing its blue plaque with pride, even though it's boarded up.

"Guglielmo Marconi 1874-1937 - the father of wireless. From this site was transmitted Britain's first official radio broadcast by Dame Nellie Melba, 15th June 1920." And yes, that was the Nellie Melba of peach melba and melba toast fame.

If I'd gone into another line of work, it probably would have been radio, so it was nice to stumble across a bit of radio heritage on my route. Not even aghost pylon, nor an Olympic stadium could top this.

blue plaque
broadcasting memories
radio days

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