Looking Ahead:

There was a good turnout again for this year’s AGM.

Apologies for Absence were received from Richard Porter, G3NII, David Lloyd, G8UOD, Mary Williams, John West, G6RHL and Chris M0IDE

Reports followed without questions.

All officers and committee members were returned unopposed in the election conducted by Victor, G3JNB.  They are:

Paul Bradfield, G1GSN, Chairman
Ken Amos, G4YRF, Vice Chairman
David Lloyd, G8UOD, Secretary
Owen Williams, G0PHY, Treasurer
Don Ross, G4LOO, Equipment and Contest Officer
John West, G6RHL committee member
Terry Rose, G4OXD committee member
Graham Laming, G4JBD, committee member

During Any Other Business, Victor reminded members of the passing of Bob Heil, K9EID who was a great supporter of Amateur Radio and known for his brilliant audio products. Victor provided a copy of the obituary for the archive.

Another subject by Geoff, G4CEP was the need for a suitable sound system for those members who are not hearing very well. A product was suggested for the committee to discuss.

Victor wanted to make members aware that the 2m coverage of PI repeater is quite wide and at some times World Wide! He suggested we should talk about radio subjects.

The meeting closed at 21:30

Brian began by saying that for such an important company, there was very little written about it’s history which began in America in 1897.

Aside from their batteries, which were well known to the public, the company also produced radios in 1935 and onward under the name BEREC.  Included in the list of Ever Ready ‘Novelties’ were cigar lighters, night lights, and the Number 1 Ever Ready Torch, among many other items.

As sales rose in 1912, the shortage of workers led to women being employed for the first time.  Battery sales exceeded 15 million.  In fact, Ever Ready was a main supplier during the war and by 1942 they had supplied over 54 million Battery torches.

By the end of the war, Ever Ready employed over 15,000, but by 1950 production had been centralised into 12 factories with a labour force of only 7000.  From that date onward, Ever Ready sales had dropped and the company was eventually acquired by Hanson Plc for £95m in 1982.  The company then went through a series of other owners.

By 2010 the Ever Ready brand logo was replaced by Eveready and most of their products were made in the Far East.

Just a few of the items on display!

Where did Aspidistra come from, where it was located and why. How was it constructed and by whom were David’s opening to a very well researched presentation. In response to the propaganda sent out by Germany during the Second World War it was decided that we should do the same.

David said Richard Gamber Parry, who joined MI6 in 1938 was assigned head of Special Communications in 1939. Along with others in S.O 1 they planned Aspidistra, a medium wave transmitter which would be the strongest in the world.  The use of weaker transmissions would be recognised as not coming from within Germany. Fortunately, at that time in the U.S.A., RCA company had just produced a 500KW transmitter and were looking for a buyer.

The planners set about finding the right spot to locate the transmitter and decided on a high place along the South coast. Knowing it would be a target, the site was built under ground and reinforced with thick concrete walls and roof. The location was Croborough which was 620 feet above sea level and close to the coast. The large hole to put the building was dug by the Canadian Army Road Builders and took six hundred men six weeks. The station was ready for service in November 1942.

David showed some nice photos of the inside of the transmitter hall and said that after the war the station was used by several organisations including the FCO, BBC and also Voice of America. The station closed in 1982 and the site was dismantled in 1984. The Crwborough site was upgraded in the 80’s to become RGHQ 6.1 with extensive reinforcements to the structure and additional features eventually becoming a training centre for the Sussex Police.