Bringing broadcasting history to life

The Broadcast Engineering Museum is Europe’s leading collection of technology for radio and TV. Andrew Vaux meets its chairman, Paul Marshall.

When a group of like-minded engineers came together in 2017 to work out a way of gaining admittance to a popular air show, little did they know that several years later they would be the proud operators of the largest museum for radio and TV engineering memorabilia in Europe!

Their passion and enthusiasm for all things radio and television grew and grew. And just like the amazing artefacts they’ve collected, the rest, as they say, is history.

The museum is housed in a historic former sergeants’ mess near Lincoln and the exhibits date from the dawn of broadcasting to the present day.

Chairman, Paul Marshall explains the group’s origins: “We wanted to take one of our vintage television outside broadcast trucks to RAF Scampton Airshow, but when we applied, we found out we had to be an official registered organisation.

“So, a group of friends and colleagues sat down and thought, what do we call ourselves? We came up with the Broadcast Engineering Conservation Group – although at the time we didn’t realise it was quite such a mouthful!”

Finding a home
Paul’s lifelong fascination with television started at the age of six when he was given a TV set to take to pieces.

A Marconi student apprenticeship led initially to a career in TV transmitter design but evolved into R&D in the world of flight-simulation visual systems.

What started with the acquisition of a single scrap TV has resulted in Paul now being the owner of a huge collection of older broadcast equipment and the holder of a PhD in early television history, awarded in 2011.

As the group’s collection of various artefacts and memorabilia continued to grow – with three outside broadcast trucks, an enormous array of one-tonne video recorders, and everything television and radio-related – the need for a permanent base to house everything soon became apparent.

Paul says: “Once the collection grew, we thought, why don’t we make this formal? And so we became a charitable incorporated organisation (CIO), which gives us lots of benefits, for example the ability to claim Gift Aid.

“We started looking for premises. By chance, I was looking through an estate agent’s brochures in Spalding and there was a former sergeants’ mess at a very good price at Hemswell Cliff.

“We thought there must be something wrong with it at such a cheap price and so we went to look at it. It had been derelict for several years but as a 30,000sq ft building with two acres of land it was ideal, and so with the help of a benefactor, and some of our own funds, we bought it.

“The building was in a very poor state with over 200 broken windows, a leaking roof, and stains on the floor in the part which had been a former pub, the Gunners Arms.”

Paul continues: “Everything you can imagine was in there and it took us quite a while to get things sorted out.

“We were very grateful to West Lindsey District Council for a grant to cover much of the necessary repair work.

“We had our first Heritage Open Days in 2022. We weren’t remotely ready, but we all thought it was a good idea because it helped drive things forward. We all worked incredibly hard, and it was a big success.”

Collections and memorabilia
Paul realises that the subject of engineering can be quite dull and boring, and so he and his team work hard to generate interest in their prized artefacts.

He says: “It’s not the sexiest subject, so we’ve sweetened the pill to try and generate interest with stories about the cameras. For example, we’ve got a camera from the late Queen’s Coronation, one of the cameras which was used to film rock band Queen’s ‘I Want To Break Free’ video, where they all dressed up in drag, and also one of the cameras used to film TV’s puppet character Roland Rat.

“Most people have never climbed onto an outside television broadcast truck and so we give them the opportunity to climb aboard, which is always a popular experience.”

One of the museum’s oldest exhibits is the recreation, as near as technically possible, of an outdoor broadcast truck used in Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation on 2nd June 1953.

Paul explains: “For television in the UK, the coronation that year was a coming of age. Before it, TV was a minority interest; afterwards, it was well on the way to surpassing radio as popular entertainment.

“It was the largest-ever outside broadcast in the UK – but it very nearly didn’t happen. The establishment wasn’t keen on having cameras inside Westminster Abbey, but they were overruled by the young Elizabeth.

“We’ve tried to be as true as possible to an early 1950s BBC OB truck. The cameras, monitors and much other equipment are authentic. The vehicle is about 10 years younger, though it’s remarkable how little the design changed in that time.”

Open days
The museum throws open its doors for two two-day periods during the year – once in spring and once in autumn; although there are plans to increase this in the future. Paul says: “We get people coming to our open days from as far away as Glasgow and Plymouth. We joke that we have a box by the door for dropped jaws because people just don’t realise how big it is, how much stuff there is, and how diverse it is.

“We’re very conscious of the fact that we’re in a 1936 former army sergeants’ mess. Lincolnshire is a very famous and successful bomber base. We have a memorial here to the 429 flight sergeants and warrant officers who lived in our building and took off on missions and never returned.

“We’ve embedded ourselves quite well into the village and are in the process of offering our venue as a village hall, as there’s currently no community facility like that here.”

The new facility has been made possible thanks to a £100,000 grant from FCC Communities Foundation.

The money will be used to improve the room known as Studio 2 and its associated kitchen.

Paul adds: “This project will provide a real boost to the people of Hemswell Cliff. It’s fantastic that FCC Communities Foundation has awarded us this money and we’re really looking forward to our meeting space taking shape over the next year.”

FCC Communities Foundation is a not-for-profit business that awards grants for community projects through the Landfill Communities Fund.

Richard Smith, FCC Communities Foundation senior grant manager, said: “We’re delighted to be supporting the building refurbishments at the Broadcast Engineering Museum and pleased our funding will make such a difference in allowing the building to be used as a community centre. FCC Communities Foundation is always happy to consider grant applications for projects that benefit local communities and we’re looking forward to this one having a positive impact very soon.”

West Lindsey District Council has supported the BECG through the funding process and has awarded the charity further funding to help the project become a reality.

Sally Grindrod-Smith, director of planning, regeneration and communities, said: “We’re delighted to have been able to support such an amazing project as this. This new space will significantly enhance provision and ensure there are sustainable and impactful community activities and events for everyone to enjoy.”

Graham Prestwood, chairman of Hemswell Cliff Parish Council, said: “We feel that this provides an opportunity for the village to prosper once again, by allowing people somewhere to come together for a multitude of different reasons. The Parish Council and the BECG will work tirelessly to make this a success. This really will be a huge milestone for the village since the MoD left all those years ago. Huge thanks go out to the BECG and FCC Communities Foundation.”

So, what does the future hold for the group? Paul concludes: “The whole project is very young, and it’s got a long way to go. But unfortunately, some of the leading people haven’t got a long way to go! For this reason, we need to redouble our efforts and bring in younger blood to move the group forward. We’re extremely proud of what we’ve built up and achieved, and it would be a terrible shame if it couldn’t continue into the future.”

For further information visit: www.becg.org.uk

Photography: Dave Higginson

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