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Bawdsey Radar Group AGM
Saturday 19th November 2005
3.00pm - Bawdsey Village Hall
Chair?s Report
This is the first AGM of Bawdsey Radar Group. A
constitution was adopted in March 2004 and the Group
became registered as a charity in September of that year.
Since the Group?s formation life has been very busy. Our
objective is ?to preserve the heritage and advance the
public education and knowledge of the discovery,
development and use of radar by establishing and
maintaining a public exhibition in the Transmitter Block
on Bawdsey Manor Estate?. The pursuit of this aim has
taken us in many exciting directions.
Restoration
In February 2004 we were invited to be part of the BBC?s
?Restoration2004? programme. The only requirements they
had for us to take part were that we were a registered
charity and that we had a lease on the Transmitter Block.
As the Group was, neither a charity, nor did we have a
lease on the building, we thought that was that. However
the BBC decided in our case these could be overlooked and
the rest is history. ?Restoration? plunged us into an
enormous amount of work. We commenced thinking that it
would just be good publicity to take part and winning was
not important nor indeed in any way on the cards for us.
However, once we were caught up in the whirlwind that is
?Restoration? we came to believe we could win. We are
indebted to the support and help we got from every
quarter. The BBC allocated one of their employee?s, Jo
Black, to give us a hand. Jo was an absolute marvel and if
we didn?t quite believe in ourselves at the start we
certainly did once Jo got involved. Radio Suffolk and the
East Anglian couldn?t have been more supportive.
Woodbridge Air Cadets became a vital part of our team and
their contribution to the Final will never be forgotten.
We are particularly grateful to James Lindley for his
enthusiasm in involving the Air Cadets.
The Transmitter Block made it to the Final of
?Restoration? and came 4th. It received over 180,000 votes
and this was only 5000 behind the winner. Oh, if only we
knew then what we know now we are sure we could have won!
The most useful of the outcomes of being involved were
that it gave us a much clearer idea of how we might
achieve our long term objectives and many doors were
opened. Disappointingly it has not yet been possible to
sort out a lease but the owners of the building, Mr and
Mrs Toettcher, have continued to give us complete freedom
of access to the Block and full support for our
activities.
The Magic Ear
During last winter the opportunity of having an exhibition
about the history of radar arose. ?The Magic Ear? made its
debut in Malvern in 2000. Malvern was where the
scientists, based at Bawdsey before the War, were
eventually moved to for safety in 1942 and TRE
(Telecommunications Research Establishment) was based.
David Robertson, who devised the exhibition, is thrilled
for it to be in such an historic setting as the Bawdsey
Transmitter Block.
The Magic Ear arrived on a cold winter?s day in February
and the Air Cadets did the hard work of unloading it.
This, however, was only a small part of the job.
Throughout the winter on many a Sunday a small band of
volunteers, with the continued help of the Air Cadets,
cleaned up the Transmitter Block inside and out. This
unheated, unlit, waterless building was not the most
desirable place to spend a winter Sunday. David Roberson
came for 5 days in the last week in April to erect the
exhibition and it was open for the first Sunday in May.
The exhibition has been open from 12 to 4 every Sunday and
Bank Holiday Monday between 1st May and 18th September.
This meant the Block was open 25 days and this required a
big commitment from the committee and a small band of
volunteers. It is an achievement of which we can be
rightly proud. Over this period we had over 1500 visitors
and during the last six weeks around 100 people were
coming to each opening.
Shout and Whisper
In September this year BRG received a grant of ?47000 from
the Heritage Lottery Fund for a two year oral history
project, ?Shout and Whisper?. This project aims to collect
the reminiscences of people who were connected with
Bawdsey during WW2 and the Cold War. David Heath has to be
thanked for all the hard work he put into the application
and, most importantly, congratulated on its success. A
project manager is to be appointed. Equipment has been
purchased, a small team of interviewers has been recruited
and several interviews have already been carried out.
People?s War
During the period of the exhibition there has been a table
devoted to the BBC?s ?People?s War? project in the
Transmitter Block. Involvement in the ?People?s War? led
to us making some very useful contacts and receiving two
very helpful grants towards our activities. One of ?8100
was from the Big Lottery; another of ?500 from EEMLAC/??.
This money enabled us to establish an electricity supply
to the Block, provide a Portaloo and buy some portable
display panels.
MOD
During the summer BRG was contacted by the MOD?s
Faststream Graduates? scheme. This group of young people
was looking for a charitable project to adopt as part of
their training. They took on BRG. They have had the
asbestos cleared from the room with the air filtration
unit and several of them came for a week last month and
put a lot of work into cleaning the Block and the
surrounding area. They have plans and the finance to put
the washroom back into working order but this is proving a
complicated and slow process. Some of them are currently
working on a display about the history of Bawdsey which
will be on display at the Ministry and later in the
Transmitter Block.
Other Activities
As well as the regular Sunday openings the Block has been
opened on ??. occasions in response to requests for visits
from various organisations and individuals.
The Group has also been able to man a small display at
several outside venues and provide a speaker to other
organisations.
With the help of AMS and a ?100 grant from Bawdsey Parish
Council it was possible to produce a leaflet about the
Transmitter Block and a booklet about Bawdsey and the
history of radar.
Eileen Dew, our secretary, has made an excellent power
point presentation for us to take to talks and other
organisations? events.
Liz Brooking joined the Group and her experience and
enthusiasm has enabled us to provide teas and coffees in
the most difficult circumstances.
Future Plans
We plan to open ?The Magic Ear? again next summer.
In addition we are working towards a study of the possible
options for the long term future of the Transmitter Block.
It is hoped that Morton Associates Ltd will carry out the
options appraisal and we should be able get practical and
financial assistance from the Architectural Heritage Fund
for this.
Finally
Finally I must thank everybody who has supported Bawdsey
Radar Group in whatever way. A project like this can only
work because of everyone involved and the help that has
been received from so many sources has been quite
overwhelming. The public?s interest in Bawdsey and its
connection with the history of radar has been phenomenal
and I hope we will be able to continue to do it justice.
Mary Wain
Chair
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