[CW] "All Ships!, All Ships!" New Book about medium and short range UK coast stations

[D.J.J. Ring, Jr.]

"All Ships!, All Ships!" - the new book about Medium and Short Range UK
radio coast stations.

A reading sample thanks to the author. The new GLD Land's End Radio Station
at Sennen, Dutchy of Cornwall, UK.

By September 1977 the refurbishment on the Sennen site was well advanced,
although there were problems providing a suitable earth mat. It took some
time to overcome these problems, and it was not until June 1979 that the
receiving station was finally opened.
New operating consoles were installed and a public correspondence RTT
service opened. By now, the fifteen Radio Officers at Land’s End were
handling 3,500 telegrams and 12,000 telephone calls each month.
The new station was reported in the Post Office’s staff magazine ‘Hello
World’ in the Summer 1979 edition. Under the heading ‘Land’s End Radio
moves to Sennen’, the article continues:
“Land’s End Radio Station has officially moved from St. Just to its new
receiving site at Sennen, about six miles away. And on the day of the
changeover, March 7th, news was made public of an oil find in the Western
Approaches, which, if developed, could mean a big boost to the station’s
business in the next few years.
So it was a doubly-welcome day for station manager Lawrence Lawry and his
18 radio officers. The old premises at St. Just, which had housed the
station since 1917, had become cramped and rather inadequate for today’s
traffic. Separate transmit and receive stations were seen as the solution.
Now staff can enjoy carpeted and acoustically-balanced comfort at Sennen.
There is a bigger, airier operations room with consoles in a straight line
rather than banked. “We think this is the quietest layout we can achieve,”
said Mr Lawry. “That way the operating noise is kept within each section.
In the rest of the station, we have a good staff lounge for relaxing from
the inevitable tensions of the job. There’s a kitchen, gents and ladies
toilets, locker room, miscellaneous apparatus room, workshop area,
stationery store and an emergency generating room. After everyone’s got
used to travelling that much further to work I’m sure we’ll all feel a lot
better off for the move”, he added.
Two new aerials at Sennen have improved reception (the remotely-controlled
transmitting side remains at St. Just). “Apart from any new business we may
obtain from the Western Approaches oil exploration such as the rigs
‘Atlantic One’ and ‘Sedco 703’, we have also picked up extra traffic from
the Irish Sea gas and oil companies”, said Mr Lawry.
“There has also been a tremendous increase in VHF business and shortly
Start Point, which we control from Land’s End, will have a second VHF
channel. This is badly needed as ships are queuing up to an hour at present
to send their messages”. A further VHF station in the Scillies is also
being considered.
Of the move itself, Mr Lawry said the operation went remarkably smoothly in
view of the considerable engineering feats involved.
So now just the mice and VHF equipment are left in the strangely-silent
granite building at St. Just where for over 60 years, day and night, one of
the most famous Coast Stations in the world dealt with all that the often
cruel sea presented.”
The book can be ordered from Amazon worldwide, as well as many other
on-line booksellers. Price for UK buyers is £17.99, or around $22.99 in the
USA. Some prices online may vary, however. Links to the sites are:
UK
https://www.amazon.co.uk/All-Ships-History-Medium-Range-Stations/dp/1800311451/

USA
https://www.amazon.com/All-Ships-History-Medium-Range-Stations/dp/1800311451/

Italy
https://www.amazon.it/All-Ships-History-Medium-Range-Stations/dp/1800311451/
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