Archive: When radio went live; Chris Upton looks back 80 years to the first radio broadcast in Birmingham.
Byline: Chris UptonExactly eighty years ago an exciting new world of live entertainment opened up across the West Midlands. No longer would it be necessary for mother to brush the dust off the piano and rummage for sheet music under the seat. Nor did father need to queue up outside the Prince of Wales or the Theatre Royal. Professional musicians would now be performing in their very own parlour, courtesy of something called a 'crystal receiver' and a small studio in Witton. For a small and select band of enthusiasts the radio age had begun.
Radio was undoubtedly the greatest invention of the 1920s, but its origins go back to Marconi's patent and experiments in the 1890s. The first transatlantic signals were sent and received in 1901, but only with the opening of the first radio station at Pittsburgh in 1920 did the new medium become truly public.
Nothing better illustrates the difference between UK and US attitudes to new technology than these earliest days of radio. Within four years America had over 500 unregulated and commercial stations across the country, pumping out what was little more than audio advertising. On the other side of the pond the British government saw what radio could do and didn't like the sound of it.
Instead the UK opted for a more centrally controlled and unitary approach, a single coalition of the companies involved in the manufacture of wireless equipment. In 1922 the BBC (then called the British Broadcasting Company) was born and the first official transmission was made on November 14 1922.
One of the companies now affiliated to the scheme was Western Electric, which had installed equipment at Oswaldestre House in Norfolk Street, London, and called the station 2WP. Indeed, the apparatus they had - and particularly the microphone, which had been designed in the US - was rather better than its partners, especially for the broadcasting of music.
If the UK was to avoid the American model, with stations proliferating across the country, it was necessary to establish regional centres and have them operating immediately. On November 12, therefore - three days before it was due to be launched - Western Electric loaded their precious equipment into a convoy of steam lorries, and sent it off to Birmingham.
This first Birmingham station - initially called 2WP and quickly changed to 5IT - was housed in three tiny rooms at the General Electric Company works at Witton. There were just three members of staff to deliver it - the station manager, Percy Edgar, his assistant, Pat Casey and an engineer, A F Thompson. Remarkably, given its recent arduous journey, the station was up and running on time on November 15. At exactly 5.20 pm, when the engineer, doubling up as an announcer, said 'This is the Birmingham Broadcasting Station, the Western Electric Company. We are transmitting on behalf of the Broadcasting Committee', the show was on the road.
It's interesting to see what delighted the ears of crystal set owners on that opening night. Arthur Gilbert opened up with Take a Pair of Sparkling Eyes - sparkling ears might have been more appropriate - and then sang duets from Il Trovatore and Madame Butterfly with the aptly named Miss Florence Winkless. Later on, Vincent Curran read The Uncle and The Lady and the Tiger, while Katrina Lund recited The Bells and told a children's story. Perhaps more famously the announcement was made that news bulletins would be regularly read out.
It is my intention to read the bulletins twice, first of all rapidly and then slowly, repeating on the second occasion wherever necessary details upon which listeners may wish to make notes. The first evening's broadcasting was a long one. As chance would have it (or design, I know not which) November 15 was also General Election night, and the station remained open until 1.30 am to report results. By the time the programme was over a thick Birmingham smog had descended and Messrs Edgar and Casey were obliged to grope their way home along the tram lines.
Given the presence of computer and autocue, pre-recording and DAT today, it is surprising to see just how 'live' and experimental early radio was in the Midlands. In June 1923 the station went on air in the morning to broadcast live a speech by the Prince of Wales at Birmingham Town Hall. It was certainly the first time anyone in Birmingham had had a member of the Royal Family in their living-room, and though the applause in the hall sounded more like hail on the roof or a passing train, the speeches themselves came over crystal clear.
There were regular visits to the Lozells Picture House for performances by the theatre orchestra, and even an outside broadcast (OB) of community singing from the Molineux before a Wolves' home game - no censor was needed at that time. Not quite so impressive was the attempt to relay the opening of the Empire Exhibition to crowds in Victoria Square and the Bull Ring. Here the speech of George V was interrupted by what sounded like the sound-effects from Cocktails for Two. Programming too was innovative. Less than a month after opening up Witton had put together the first Children's Corner, the adaptable station staff transformed themselves into Uncle Thompson and Uncle Edgar. The programme, later extended to an hour, became hugely popular.
But live music remained the mainstay of the station's output and it was this, more than anything, that led to the first of a number of house moves. Painful attempts to squeeze an orchestra into the studio at Witton made it obvious that 5IT needed bigger premises, and in the summer of 1924 the station made its first move to rooms above the New Street Picture House in the middle of Birmingham.
Accommodation here was larger, but the building was infested with rats, and even the introduction of a mongoose failed to keep them out. So the station shifted again, out of Rodent Corner and into 282 Broad Street, where it was to remain (apart from a temporary move during the war) until 1954.
CAPTION(S):
An Evening Despatch cartoon showing how Birmingham broadcasting worked in 1923; Presenter Paul Coia leaps from a helicopter for the last ever Pebble Mill at One; A corner of Birmingham's first radio station at Witton in 1922; The cast gather round the mike for a 1955 recording of The Archers; Senior producer Keri Davies at the modern-day recording desk now used for The Archers
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| Publication: | The Birmingham Post (England) |
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| Date: | Nov 16, 2002 |
| Words: | 1077 |
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