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The Marconi Heritage Group - How it came into being

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The Marconi Old Geezers Society - MOGS - was formed by Ian Gillis in 2001 as an informal group of former employees, most of whom worked for Marconi Radar Systems. They use an online forum to exchange memories and news of personal doings, with over 120 members.

In 2010 it was decided to record the contribution made by Marconi Radar to the history of radar while those with first-hand experience are still alive. In addition, to record the stories and anecdotes and sadly the obituaries of those people who supported that contribution.

Following the success of the forum an online wiki format was chosen to allow the addition and modification of content by suitably experienced contributors, with an overall editorial control. Currently access is restricted to members, but the intention is to make the site public on the internet, to disseminate the fascinating history of the Company to those who will appreciate it.

This wiki has grown to be a substantial record incorporating text, graphics, photographs, audio and video clips, drawn from personal inputs and material collected and currently held in an archive stored in the Chelmsford Industrial Museum at Sandford Mill.

As the content includes factual material from company publications and records, to be made public requires authorisation by the present copyright holder, so cooperation is now being organised through their Heritage Product committee and as of January 2013 Alan Hartley-Smith was appointed to be a member of the Committee with the intention to set up a Heritage Project to establish a business plan for a Marconi Heritage Centre in Chelmsford. It transpired that what we are trying to achieve matches well with their existing activities. Based on similar situations at current and former sites, it has become possible, with a viable and sustainable business plan, to establish a Marconi Heritage Centre in Chelmsford.

For added emphasis, as a result of the success of the radar wiki interest has grown in similar activity for other product areas. Currently these are ongoing for television, broadcast radio and line communications, and there is a generic Marconi wiki which covers such as the college and research establishments. This means there is now a need for coordinated input from the wider community.

During the same time period there has been the eventually successful campaign to rescue the New Street site, in which the Marconi Veterans Association was involved. This has led to the possibility of a renewed physical presence in Chelmsford for Marconi interests. There is also a local upsurge of interest, through the Changing Chelmsford initiative, the Essex Record Office event to make an aural record of Marconi employee’s stories, and the public meetings of the New Street developer, Bellway, itself a Chelmsford-based company.

The consequence of these concurrent events is that there is now a need for suitably interested individuals, likely having some former association with Marconi and resident reasonably close to Chelmsford. This has led to the formation of the Marconi Heritage Group, to organise the establishment of and then arrange manning for a physical Centre to accommodate archive material, mount exhibitions and to enable volunteers to act as presenters for public involvement, which would include online facilities to show the content of the wikis, to carry promotion into local schools and seek to support from other organisations. This is how similar services at other heritage sites round the country are provided and supported.

The current members of the Group, all formerly senior staff members of Marconi, interested in the preservation of its history, are now ready to welcome other colleagues wanting to become actively involved. In the first instance please contact Alan Hartley-Smith by email – alanhs@alanhs.plus.com or by telephone – 01457 874548. Local contacts are being established.

The Marconi Veterans Association committee has expressed full support for the appeal for volunteers to assist the Marconi Heritage Group. Veterans can enroll to help by contacting any committee member.

The Chelmsford Science and Engineering Society has also endorsed the initiative. The Chelmsford Industrial Museum at Sandford Mill currently holds a lot of existing archive material. Both can be contacted.

To promote the formation of the Centre the Group will work with the Essex Record Office, Changing Chelmsford and the newly formed Industrial Archeology sub-group of the Essex Society for Archaeology and History.

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