Droitwich

Film of BBC transmitting station at Droitwich being constructed in 1934. See www.bbceng.info

[@alexanderjames6328]

I can see these beauties from Bromyard Downs, Herefordshire (26 miles away) on a clear day. Lovely engineering.

[@christopherhulse8385]

I think these men would have been amazed to know Droitwich was still on air 90 years later!

[@6643bear]

Shame it could be closing soon in the future

[@karhukivi]

A few years ago I had to deliver some equipment by road from Luton to Madrid and I had BBC Radio 4 all the way! On one day in the journey, a Saturday afternoon I think, there was a very good radio play about a man coming back as a ghost to annoy his widow and I became so engrossed in it that suddenly I found myself in a town in France that was not on my route! That would not happen with MW, or VHF(FM)...

[@navstar7334]

Hadn't quite realised the scale of things at Droitwich! Good to see this video 👍

[@johnrhodez6829]

Re the h/f whine, I suspect that the veritable density sound track they were using could not handle it so the proberbly ran the original recording a half speed.

[@Brian3989]

Visited the site some years ago and the cooling ponds were well stocked with goldfish! Knew staff who worked there back in 1960-1980.

[@szilardtoth8814]

Among others I remember Droitwich written on the frequency scales of older radio sets.

[@fraserdonachie]

... excellent archive content ...

[@6643bear]

Hi great video real radio engineering , I hope it carry on broadcasting . Regards mark

[@TheRetroShed]

Only a few miles from where I live. I’ve always wanted to have a look in that building but I guess most of this old equipment is long gone.

[@05111605]

Yeah. I've wanted to go in too. Apparently they did have a few open days years ago. Check out a PDF called Droitwich Calling. I stumbled across it a while back. Interesting read.

[@MikeFairman]

Thanks for sharing this very interesting film. I would imagine that a lot of people at the time did not have electricity & would not have known anything about power or wattage. The noise at 8:18 sounds like something out of a sci fi film:)

[@o00scorpion00o]

It's crazy to think that the BBC could demolish the site after 90 odd years, especially considering the blood and sweat of the many workers who constructed the buildings, mast and all the RF equipment, these should be preserved as natural treasures especially considering the countless millions that would have tuned in, not to mention the taxpayers' money that has gone into it.

[@CraigMilesYoutube]

Didnt realise they were potentially demolishing it. Used to see it on the way to Bromsgrove, to see my grandma, when I was a kid (70's / 80's).

[@johnpirie4804]

No hard hats, no high vis clothing, no safety equipment, before the days of health and safety

[@risvegliato]

Amazing footage! As someone commented below, one of the producers of this film is a Mr Watt, but they are still talking about power ratings in Horsepower!

[@risvegliato]

And it is nicely narrated by Mr Chumley-Warner

[@zqjzqjzqjzqj]

risvegliato Isnt a horsepower equal to 743 watts?

[@peteranderson217]

Interesting point that. All the time I was waiting for KW power but never mentioned. I woder if Luxy had to use a generator for its million watts? I always thought that the LW 1500 m Tx was run off the national grid. Had not ocurred to me that it was not. It used to facinate me when I was a kid to see all those masts in that area from the road.

[@Satters]

@@peteranderson217 Droitwich transmitting station was designed before the regional grids were completed in 1933, the regional grids were not interconnected nationally until 1938, moreover to guarantee continuous supply private generation and standby is better

[@laverdanick]

I did three tours as an engineer at Droitwich in the early 80’s and the Diesels, MG sets and DC switchboard were still from the original installation. The LW transmitters were newer, but still 1939 vintage and used CAT19 valves.

[@GordonHudson]

One of my neighbours used to work at Droitwich.

[@gtgene]

I was stationed at Bitburg, Germany in the 1970s and was able to hear the ground signal during the daytime, 400 miles from Droitwich. (200 kHz/400 kW then). It must be a treat to British expats living on the Continent far from the coverage of UK MW/FM/DAB sites. There was some talk a few years ago of closing the station. Is that still the case?

[@johncliff5417]

I remember hearing it very clearly in 65 up in Norway. That was quite high up in the mountains though

[@chrishulse5305]

gtgene As I understand it, the BBC are committed to Droitwich LW until 2021.

[@christopherhulse8385]

The UK government have announced analogue radio can remain on air until 2032, so hopefully the BBC keep R4 LW going until then.

[@alangiles4616]

@@christopherhulse8385 I believe LW Radio 4 will only last till the last remaining valves hold out - they are no longer made, and I suspect the BBC will use the valve situation to get rid of LW when it suits them.

[@R.A.N.I]

@@alangiles4616 that is flat out not true. There are plenty of valves to go round

[@Cashpots]

15 years later I would love to see an HD transfer of this film. Where did it come from?

[@Jonas_Keunecke]

Yeah that would be great, it''s amazingly well made

[@KlodFather]

They should have run the audio through a DSP and equalizer to clean up the muddy sound. Even me and my smaller mix board and PC could do a better job on the audio. I have transferred many old recordings to MP3 and did better than this.

[@jood5962]

oh how the times were before dshs

[@mikegalvin361]

I'd like if this footage was upscaled and colourised.

[@stuartthegrant]

The beeb on the cutting edge, as usual.

[@eyreland]

It is ironic that one of the names in the credits is WATT, but Watt as a unit of electrical measurement is never given anywhere in the presentation. : )

[@m1eft]

now that would break a few pile ups on 20 meters

[@BrianG61UK]

Why does the sound keep cutting out?

[@itsonlyme9938]

I wonder if its still the same radio mast from 90 years ago ?

[@brianwilson3765]

Amazing achievement. How times have changed. This, designed and built by us in Britain and not tendered out to foreign countries. The Conservative party were in power. Can't imagine May and Co. keeping the jobs here, today!

[@stephenbartlett8215]

Closer to bromsgrove. ?

[@eyreland]

Not even once did the announcer give valve or genset ratings in KW! You could get by with that mistake with the gensets, but all electrical systems are measured in KW (volts, amps, watts)... Aside from that massive goof, the short is otherwise free of flaws. The missing audio could be fixed by replicating nearby existing audio. Where did the film print come from? Who preserved it? Max Power, CEO Power Broadcasting / Deep Space Network @ Home ADL, AU / WEL, NZ VAN, BC / SEA, US

[@TheManFrayBentos]

Not so much a goof, as simply written for public consumption and put in to terms more readily understandable by the intended audience. Compare it to today's information programmes, if you can find any, where the science is so dumbed down, you'd be forgiven for thinking they were aimed at five year olds.

[@andrewjones2132]

@@TheManFrayBentos Yes, it's a bit weird the commentator talking about electricity in terms of horse power.

[@madcarew5168]

No bloody M5 carving through the countryside!!