At long last my book about the history of GKA has been published and will be available for purchase in the next few weeks. Running to 320 pages, it contains details of the station's development from its beginnings at Devizes in 1920 to closure in 2000. The war years are covered in detail along with the expansion of the station in the 1940s and 1980s. Many recollections of staff and sea-going R/Os are included, along with a chapter describing life at the station. Many of the 'characters' are fondly remembered. Annexes with brief details of the associated transmitting and receiving stations are appended, as well as a history of the morse keys used at the station.
The book will retail at £9.99 and will be available from Amazon and other online retailers, and signed/dedicated copies will also be available via the GKA website as soon as they arrive. Postage and packing will need to be added for website orders but this price will be kept to a minimum.
As soon as I am able to take payment I will let everyone know.
Today I was advised by Waterstones that my book has been posted.
Now to find my reading glasses...............
Hoping it is a really good bodice ripper Larry !
Reading mine now.
Thanks Larry - it is answering a lot of questions I had over the years but never bothered to ask !
At last I know where GRL came from.
I must admit I didn't know either until I started my research. Interesting that when the callsign came to Burnham it had already been used at 2 other locations.....
Yep, it's international print on demand. Quite common these days and saves the logistical costs of posting books worldwide. As far as I know the publishers have printing contractors in the USA, Canada, Australia and Germany (and no doubt in other countries as and when required).
I am at that stage in the book as well. I suspect that few of us knew where GRL came from, it has flitted through my mind a couple of times over the years and then equally quickly flitted out again! All sorts of interesting stuff so far and I am only just getting stuck into it.
QRY 80 ? ...........I had a brief spell of Detached Duty at Wick/GKR in the mid 70's. It included spells on their HF service for Deepsea Fishing vessels. I only worked a few ships, mostly ore carriers but none were fishing vessels. It annoyed the OC at GKR because I was sat there on overtime doing mostly nothing !!
John - I have tried to date the DD by the car I had then to drive up to GKR from GKZ. It was a long way. I remember stopping for petrol just after leaving Inverness and the sign said 'Wick 135 miles' I think it was probably early 70's.
Frank lived in St Just before he retired with wife Margaret (now living in Southport) and two sons Graham and Ian. He used to wear tinted specs and had a full beard also liked his baccy roll ups.
Just an update on the book - as of this week, worldwide sales are just under 1,000, with 16 5-star reviews on Amazon. Has also been an Amazon 'Best-Seller' in the Telecommunications genre for a few weeks. Reviews in the UK radio press have also been encouraging. The book is still available from myself via the GKA website for UK customers as well as via Amazon and other on-line retailers worldwide.
Thank you for your kind comments and observations, much appreciated.
Larry, hi
I am enjoying you book a lot, thanks for putting pen to paper.
When I was at Plymouth Poly. Training our morse instructor was an ex GK operator named, Robbi Robinson who talked about the w/t "conveyor belt". Do you have any photos of this famed equipment in action ?
Best regards
Below is a picture from 1966 showing 'A' Wing (one of the W/T wings). You can see the conveyor belt going down the middle between the consoles. After taking down a QTC from a ship the GKA R/O would place (or skilfully flick) the completed form into the conveyor belt which would take the form to the Control Room. From there it would be hand-passed to another conveyor belt in the landline wing awaiting delivery by telex or telephone to the addressee.
And this is the landline wing from the same era - the conveyor belt clearly seen in the centre of the photograph. You can see telegram forms on the belt as well.
I finished your book last night, the final chapter made excellent reading and left me with a big smile on my face.
Thank you also for relating the story on pages 168 - 179 regarding the happenings on St.John III/6ZKX; I was the R/O.
As a volunteer I now look after the Library at Essex Industrial Museum, at Sandford Mill, Chelmsford and am now in year X of cataloguing it, it is a never ending task.
I will make sure my copy of your book is put on the Library's shelves. It is an important do***ent, it describes the use of Marconi equipment by GK and the contribution it made the stations life.
Best regards,
Charles Marshall - aka Dimples82
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