1967 - 1969 Putteridge Club House

In the late 1967 the club house, The ATC headquarters in Crescent Road in Luton, used by The Luton Radio Club was sold for redevelopment. The club secretary at the time, Don Pinnock, G3HVA, found an empty building in The Putteridge Estate. It was the old laundry building which was in a very poor state of repair. During 1967 to 1969 a group of volunteers spent a lot of time making it habitable, including installing a generator, but the club only ever held a couple of meetings. At the end of 1969 the Luton VHF Group held it's one and only contest from the site. The laundry was demolished in the 1980s so there is nothing left of the site.

Click on the thumbnail pictures to see a larger picture.

 

The old laundry at Putteridge to be used by the Luton Radio Club

This is the old laundry on the Putteridge estate on the outskirts of Luton, it is on the boundary between Bedfordshire and Hertfoirdshire. The building had been disused for many years when Don Pinnock found it and it was full of straw. One of the first tasks was to clear the straw.

Putteridge clear up

Moving all of the straw out of the building was a big task with lots of helpers and plenty of bonfires. If you recognise anyone in the pictures please let the webmaster know. In this picture I think the person in blue at the centre of the picture is Don, G4LOO.

Putteridge clear up

More straw burning. In this picture the people are from left to right: Don, G4LOO, Phil, G3TUI. Hedley, G3JZW, Steve Downs, ?

Repairing the generator house

Don, G4LOO and Len Cutting, G3KAA repairing the dorway of the old coal store ready for the generator to be installed.

The generator

A 5.6KVA generator was installed in the old coal store. Many hours were spent rebuilding it and persuading it to work on TVO. Chris burkitt, G3PZE designed an electronic control to replace the original electro mechanical system.

Generator controls

The generator controls designed by Chris Burkitt, G3PZE.

Andy flame throwing

One problem with the site was the continual growth of weeds. We had a spectacular way to remove them with a flame thrower.

The club house at Putteridge

This is the old laundry at Puttridge in December 1969 where we entered a 2m contest. Note the 2m antenna and the smoking chimney. The chimney was an old metal telephone pole fitted to an enclosed fire in one of the rooms

View of the club house accross the fields

The club house was on the edge of the Putteridge estate. It was the laundry for the estate. There were two other farm cottages on the same plot.

Barry clearing the snow

Barry Jackson, G8FFM, clearing the snow away from the drive so that we could get the cars parked.

Barry and Phil in the shack

Barry Jackson, G8FFM and Phil Thompson, G3TUI I think, in the shack at Putteridge