15 July 2003
Brian, Phillips, managing director of European Antennas Ltd in Cheveley, had a thoroughly enjoyable time today when visiting Cheveley Primary School to tell the children about what the company does and about some of the historical associations of the company's buildings, known locally as 'The Old Radio Station'.
This was in response to a request received by training manager Tina Turkentine whose daughter is a pupil at the school. The children knew about the company but they did not know what they manufactured.
Complementing their current topic 'The Local Environment', the children learned about the early beginnings of the building (originally built as a 'listening post' during World War II), the development of wireless communications for the Police and Fire Service launched in 1947 and the transfer of ownership from the Home Office to NTL in 1994. The site remained within the forefront of wireless communications technology when it became the property of European Antennas in 1996.
Pupils were given a practical demonstration of electromagnetic radio waves (using a piece of red rope) and shown photographs of some of the interesting applications where the company's antennas are used including race cars, weather stations, helicopters, cameras and satellites. Aerial photographs of the site taken in 1976 and 2001 highlighted the changes in Cheveley over the last 25 years.
