Workhouse Radio - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

gary_crutchley · 20th Mar 2016, 11:47 pm

Hi all,

I thought I would post this, mods if it's in the wrong place please move.

Today my wife and I visited the National Trust's Workhouse at Southwell. Upstairs is a room that recreates the period in the 1970's when the building was used to accommodate the homeless. In the dormitory they have a small kitchen area set up and a table with an Ekco radio, see attached photograph.

It looks like a U159, although someone will correct me if I am wrong. Although it was out of the period of the room I suppose that it's not inconceivable that such a radio might have survived and still have been used back then. Certainly I recall my grandparents using a radiogram in the 1970s.

The set was a little grubby but looked complete and untouched, it had a very frayed cable attached.

Regards,

Gary

mark pirate · 20th Mar 2016, 11:59 pm

That certainly is a U159, it is quite likely that such a set would have been still in use in the 70's. The Sobell set in my avatar was used as a kitchen radio by a friends family back then.
We still used a mid 50's HMV at the time.

Mark

gary_crutchley · 21st Mar 2016, 12:06 am

That's good, the room guide was worried it was out of context. But not in a dormitory used for that particular purpose. They would have used anything they could get their hands on that was working.

Regards,

Gary

gary_crutchley · 21st Mar 2016, 12:16 am

Attached are a couple of images of the dormitory.

Even in the 1970's I bet an old radio was the only entertainment these poor people had.

Gary

Nickthedentist · 21st Mar 2016, 8:48 am

I found some pics of my old school online, taken in the 1970s, i.e. well before I attended. They still had boarders at the time, and there were some pics of the dorms. I have to say that they didn't look that different from the pics Gary's posted. And in spite of all the well-heeled parents, the only entertainment I could see was a Bush DAC10.

So yes, I can well believe that sets like this are correct for this period setting.

Paul_RK · 21st Mar 2016, 1:13 pm

Yes, looks very plausible in various ways, not least the radio. In 1980-81 I started work in Lincoln and we rented a condemned house there, which had an electric cooker of similar vintage to that gas one (1935) and just that shade of blue distemper in its kitchen. By way of a deal with the landlord - an exchange for a '60s cooker found languishing in an outbuilding of the house we bought and moved to - we still have the said Revo cooker. The NT looks to have done pretty well, avoiding the all too common error that 1970s rooms were generally full of 1970s furnishings. Maybe those of newlyweds who happened to be both deliberately fashionable and very comfortably off.

Paul

20th Mar 2016, 11:47 pm	#1
gary_crutchley Heptode Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Bloxwich, West Midlands, UK Posts: 554	Workhouse Radio Hi all, I thought I would post this, mods if it's in the wrong place please move. Today my wife and I visited the National Trust's Workhouse at Southwell. Upstairs is a room that recreates the period in the 1970's when the building was used to accommodate the homeless. In the dormitory they have a small kitchen area set up and a table with an Ekco radio, see attached photograph. It looks like a U159, although someone will correct me if I am wrong. Although it was out of the period of the room I suppose that it's not inconceivable that such a radio might have survived and still have been used back then. Certainly I recall my grandparents using a radiogram in the 1970s. The set was a little grubby but looked complete and untouched, it had a very frayed cable attached. Regards, Gary Attached Thumbnails __________________ http://www.crutchleyhistory.co.uk/

20th Mar 2016, 11:59 pm	#2
mark pirate Dekatron Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Worthing, West Sussex, UK Posts: 5,185	Re: Workhouse Radio That certainly is a U159, it is quite likely that such a set would have been still in use in the 70's. The Sobell set in my avatar was used as a kitchen radio by a friends family back then. We still used a mid 50's HMV at the time. Mark

21st Mar 2016, 12:06 am	#3
gary_crutchley Heptode Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Bloxwich, West Midlands, UK Posts: 554	Re: Workhouse Radio That's good, the room guide was worried it was out of context. But not in a dormitory used for that particular purpose. They would have used anything they could get their hands on that was working. Regards, Gary __________________ http://www.crutchleyhistory.co.uk/

21st Mar 2016, 12:16 am	#4
gary_crutchley Heptode Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Bloxwich, West Midlands, UK Posts: 554	Re: Workhouse Radio Attached are a couple of images of the dormitory. Even in the 1970's I bet an old radio was the only entertainment these poor people had. Gary Attached Thumbnails __________________ http://www.crutchleyhistory.co.uk/

21st Mar 2016, 8:48 am	#5
Nickthedentist Dekatron Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Oxford, UK. Posts: 17,862	Re: Workhouse Radio I found some pics of my old school online, taken in the 1970s, i.e. well before I attended. They still had boarders at the time, and there were some pics of the dorms. I have to say that they didn't look that different from the pics Gary's posted. And in spite of all the well-heeled parents, the only entertainment I could see was a Bush DAC10. So yes, I can well believe that sets like this are correct for this period setting.

21st Mar 2016, 1:13 pm	#6
Paul_RK Dekatron Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Fakenham, Norfolk, UK. Posts: 4,259	Re: Workhouse Radio Yes, looks very plausible in various ways, not least the radio. In 1980-81 I started work in Lincoln and we rented a condemned house there, which had an electric cooker of similar vintage to that gas one (1935) and just that shade of blue distemper in its kitchen. By way of a deal with the landlord - an exchange for a '60s cooker found languishing in an outbuilding of the house we bought and moved to - we still have the said Revo cooker. The NT looks to have done pretty well, avoiding the all too common error that 1970s rooms were generally full of 1970s furnishings. Maybe those of newlyweds who happened to be both deliberately fashionable and very comfortably off. Paul Last edited by Paul_RK; 21st Mar 2016 at 1:20 pm.