A PIECE of Rugby’s communication history has gained welcomed exposure – with a little help from the Queen.
The giant tuning coil that was dismantled at BT’s Rugby Radio Station nearly a decade ago was unveiled at the Science Museum in London as part of their new Information Age exhibition.
The exhibit can be seen in the background of photos of the Queen sending her first tweet at the unveiling.
The 8m by 11m spider-web structure dates back to 1943. It formed an integral part of a high-power transmitter used to communicate data to ships and submarines. It was decommissioned in March 2003.
Malcolm Hancock, local historian and former manager at the station, said: “A not so little bit of Rugby is now the centrepiece in the new gallery. No one can possibly miss it when they visit.”
It took a team of six BT engineers several weeks to dismantle the coil at the end of 2004 (s).
