Museum of Communication
The Museum of Communication at Burntisland, Fife, specialises in communications technology of all types. It covers two centuries, from the pre-electric optical telegraph used in the Napoleonic Wars to the latest state-of-the-art webcams and cameras for mobile phones. It has a major collection — over 40 tonnes — of artefacts covering electrostatics, telegraphy, telephony, audio, radio, television and video and IT, as well as some early experimental radar, satellite, photographic and printing equipment, and a technical library.
The Museum mounts themed exhibitions throughout the summer months, and the 2014 theme is World War I. Here Dorothy Brankin and Prof. Tom Stevenson show some of the items on display.
Big Bill and the Guns of Alamein
At the second battle of el-Alamein, where the Allied artillery was the only protection for the slow infantry advance through a vast minefield, Signalman Bill Sutherland from Orkney kept up the flow of targeting information from the front line to the guns for forty-eight hours, at one stage running 700 yards over open ground under fire to get two more batteries.
Bill's story only became fully known after his death in 1995, through the book of family history produced by his brother, Capt. Robbie Sutherland that told of their times on land and sea, and growing up together in the town of Stromness and learning how to handle a boat in every type of weather.
The story of Bill and the role of radio communication in the battle was told in the 2017 Orkney International Science Festival by Robbie's grand-daughter Serena Sutherland, together with Prof. Tom Stevenson and Dorothy Brankin of the Museum of Communication, Burntisland, and Sandy Firth of Orkkney Wireless Musuem. They showed examples of the type of communication equipment used by Bill and the tpe of mine detectors that enabled the 51st Highland Division to advance through the minefield at Alamein.
Bill loved country music, and particularly the songs of Big Bill Campbell, the Canadian singer living in England who helped popularise country music to British audiences from the 1930s to the early '50s through his radio shows and recordings. During the presentation, musicians Andy, Lewis and Chris played one of Big Bill Campbell's songs and they rounded off the story of 'Big Bill and the Guns of Alamein' with this song, with its thoughts of the sea and the desert.
UK - public sector workers - strike
Public sector workers all over the United Kingdom began a mass strike on Wednesday against pension reforms.
Labor union leaders say the strike - which has brought key public services including schools to a standstill - could be just be the beginning of a wave of disruptions.
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Meall a' Bhuiridh
In 2010 photographer Jennifer Wilcox started documenting Glencoe Ski Centre in the Scottish Highlands. Using sounds recorded on the Hill and around the ski centre Barry Reid then added a compelling soundtrack to the images. This is a short film documenting the results from a fascinating project within Scottish mountain culture, one with it's roots right back at the beginning of the British ski industry.
Attention all Shipping
10 second promotional video for our upcoming exhibition featuring lighthouses, radar, RMS Titanic story, optical telegraphs as well as the most modern maritime communications.
Opens Saturday 19th May 11:00 Adults £3, accompanied children £1.50
Karin Maag - 500 years later: Why the Reformation still Matters
What is the legacy of the Reformation and why does it matter today, 500 years later? Learn some answers to this question with Meeter Center director and history professor Karin Maag, in commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.
Scapa Flow
Scapa Flow is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray, South Ronaldsay and Hoy. The Harbour Authority area of Scapa Flow in Orkney has been measured as part of a wider consultation in ballast water management in 2013, and it has been accurately calculated that Scapa Flow is 324.5 square kilometres in area and that this area contains just under 1 billion cubic metres of water. This statistic makes Scapa Flow the second largest natural harbour in the World after Sydney Harbour, Australia. Scapa Flow is one of Britain's most historic stretches of water - located within the Orkney Islands, off the northeast coast of Scotland. Its sheltered waters have been used by ships since prehistory and it has played an important role in travel, trade and conflict throughout the centuries - especially during both World Wars. It is currently a world famous diving location with the wrecks of the scuttled German Fleet offering unique diving challenges. Scapa Flow is also a major oil port and served the Flotta Oil Terminal and is a prime location of ship-to-ship transfers of crude oil product and liquefied natural gas. The world’s first ship to ship transfer of LNG took place in Scapa Flow in 2007.
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