Daventry’s history of radio transmission caught on film…….

Rod Viveash with radio transmitting valve from the 1930s and portable radio from the 1920s

At the Full Circle film screening on Saturday I was sitting near Rod Viveash who caught on film the final day of the closure of the BBC radio transmitter plant at Borough Hill, Daventry.

Mr Viveash, now a museum volunteer, had a career at the BBC spanning some 32 years. He started out as a transmitter engineer and ended it as a senior maintenance engineer.

He has always had a special interest in old transmitters and their history and said that when he realised how much of the heritage of Borough Hill was in Daventry Town Council Museum he was keen to see it on display.

Mr Viveash said: “It’s been 20 years since the station closed down, and it will also be 80 years in December since the station was launched.”

For more information on events and exhibitions visit Daventry Town Council Museum http://www.friends-of-daventry-museum.org.uk/

May Day Films from the 1960s found at Daventry…….

Angela and David Adams with the May Day films

Sometimes a little gem turns up and this collection of films from the 1960s is just that! The films were handed to Daventry museum volunteer David Adams by James Green at the museum heritage event earlier on this year. James Green is now the owner of “Kinema in the Woods” at Woodhall Spa http://http://www.thekinemainthewoods.co.uk/ but a long  time before that he made some films in Daventry of May Day.  MACE/Full Circle will be storing the original films at the MACE archive and will make a copy of the cine films onto DVD for a celebration May Day  event next year – watch this space for more information, we think the film screening will take place at the award-winning iCon building in Daventry.

The iCon is a new landmark for the town of Daventry and a beacon for the low carbon economy in the UK and beyond.

If you know of anyone with films or videos that may be of interest to a local community then please contact Kay Ogilvie, senior curator, Full Circle on kay.ogilvie@tiscali.co.uk to find out how to preserve them for the future. Have a look at our pages on the Full Circle project to find out how to take part http://www.macearchive.org/Full-Circle.html