Erection date: 30/7/1953
Erected under the auspices of the Wembley History Society (Chairman Councillor M. J. Curley).
This stone commemorates the site of the masts used for the reception of the first television signals from the continent by John Logie Baird, pioneer of television, in 1929, and was unveiled on July 30th 1953 by David Gammans MP, Her Majesty's Assistant Postmaster General.
The stone was erected on the base of one of Baird's television masts. Our picture is taken from the History of Kingsbury Manor website which has other photos and says "In the autumn of 1928 the disused coach house {of “Kingsbury Manor} was rented by John Logie Baird, who employed a small team of engineers to work there on his invention, television. Eighty foot high masts were erected, and the first picture broadcast from the continent was received in 1929, with the first combined transmission of sound and pictures the following year."
One of the photos there shows the plaque on the building below a ground floor window, and explains that it was moved there after vandalism.
Take a close look at the decorative frieze at the top of the plaque - it represents eyes and ears. No better motif could have been chosen!
Site: John Logie Baird - NW9 (2 memorials)
NW9, Kingsbury Road, Roe Green Park
On our visit in 2019 we could see neither the stone nor the blue plaque. Since they cannot be seen we've marked them as lost. Information welcomed.
When we visited the building was a children's nursery, so one couldn't get close but, 2021, it is apparently home to Kingsbury Veterans' Club so another visit might be in order.
We wondered why Baird chose this building so, thinking he might have required maximum elevation, we checked the topographic map, but this area is not particularly high or low. Perhaps the building was just available.
Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk
