Portishead Radio


The remains of the welfare block - looking towards the control room and main entrance building.	Another closer view of the welfare block. 20 years ago it was a thriving social club, with a popular bar, regular events and a staff restaurant. Gone for ever.

The remains of 'D' Wing. The centre of excellence on 22 MHz.	The main entrance building looking sad and forlorn.

Pictures courtesy Brian Stewart, March 2007.

This limited-edition 4-page brochure was issued by BT to commemorate 75 years of the long-range maritime radio service in the UK. Written by myself, it has plenty of photographs and a brief history of the station.

I have a limited supply of these brochures to sell at £3 each (UK), US$5 or 5 EUROS (overseas). In addition, the First Day Cover mentioned beneath will cost £5 (UK), US$10 or 10 EUROS.

Cash only please from overseas, but a cheque made payable to L.Bennett is fine from the UK. My address is:

LARRY BENNETT, 147A BERROW ROAD, BURNHAM ON SEA, SOMERSET TA8 2PN, UK.

Proceeds from this and the First Day Covers will be spent on updating and expanding the website.

The FDC also includes an insert giving brief details of the history of GKA.

Remember these?

I am sure the sight of this will bring back horrendous memories for those GKA R/Os who used to avoid w/t like the plague...

However - what happened to the 90 or so keys which were made by BT engineers in 1983 or so? I know the whereabouts of about 16, so where are the other 74? Answers on a postcard....

GKA - THE OFFICIAL HISTORY

As many of you are aware, I am still working on the complete history of the radio station. Apart from the obvious historical information, I am hoping to include as many of the amusing episodes, stories and characters who worked at GKA over the years. The text (currently over 300 pages) has now reached the 1980s, although I have recently unearthed some very interesting information from the 1940s and 1950s.

Anyone who can provide any amusing recollections can send them to me for possible inclusion. My email address is lawrence.bennett@btinternet.com