Alexandra Palace. What you didn't know !

[ppppenguin]

From "Here's looking at you" by Bruce Norman. p120. The book doesn't have proper citations so it's hard to know where Norman got this quote.

[Doodlebug]

Just found this photo of Leslie Mitchell and D C Birkinshaw.

   

[peter scott]

Here he is as a younger man.

[Doodlebug]

Have just bought a copy of. "Here's looking at you" from eBay for a fiver.
Thanks all for info and photos.

[Raditechman]

Very interesting reading.
I remember when television came from Alexandra Palace having had a TV since 1953.  I also had relatives who lived in Palace Gates Road,  North London and when staying with them often walked around the Palace grounds looking at the aerial.
How things have changed. Back then  studios and transmitter all in the same building. With engineers willing to climb the mast and fix it!.
I think a similar example of studios and transmission all on one site was the pirate radio ships. They also had to do running repairs.

John

[ppppenguin]

Having the studio and TX on the same site had benefits and problems.

The main benefit was keeping everything together, a single team of engineers. Also no link needed from studio to TX. Although this was feasible in 1936 it was difficult and expensive.

One problem was keeping RF out of the vision and sound systems. Always a problem at transmitter sites. I think very few other TV stations in the world ever had the TX on the same site as the studios. Also the studios were fairly remote from central London so all the performers and crew had to go up the hill.

Transmission moved to Crystal Palace in 1956, not long after ITV started. The ITV TX at Beulah Hil, not far from Crystal Palace, was known as "Croydon" even though it's nowhere near Croydon. On a clear day you can see both CP and Croydon masts from the terrace at AP.