Bradford Industrial Museum

Bairds Television: Research and remembering

November 18, 2024

If you visited Bradford Industrial Museum earlier this year you might have spotted the display on Baird Television & Thorn Electricals that we had in our small cafe gallery there. The small, 2D exhibition we put on was with an eye to gauging the level of interest in the topic, to see whether or not visitors would want to see a larger exhibition.

Prior to this project, although I was aware of the company, I was not aware of quite how significant it was to those who worked or it’s legacy after the closure in the 1970s. When you mention ‘Bairds Television’ to people in Bradford, the response has often been either ‘Oh, I used to work there’ or that they knew someone who did.

The small display we put on was with an eye to gauging the level of interest in the subject.

I was lucky enough to be invited to join I worked at BAIRD TV Bradford facebook group, who were incredibly generous with their time, knowledge and memories their experiences working for the company using images from our own collections as well as those supplied by the employees.

I used a mix of of asking specific questions on topics, following ongoing discussions within the group and some focused discussions with individuals to tease out memories and information.

Most remembered their time with the company very fondly – as you can see from the word we generated from some of their responses to what they felt about their time there.

World cloud using phrases like 'Lovely Memories' 'Made life long friends' 'loved every minute there' 'Best job I ever had'

Although we don’t hold any physical objects linked to Bairds within our collections, what proved particularly successful on both sides was being able to share a number of images we hold within our Photo Archive that were noted as being related to the company.

CH Wood had taken photographs of various buildings, set ups and people, but the accompanying records were decidedly sparse – which is not terribly useful when you’re trying to use the images to explain the stories of the company to others!

However, by sharing the images with the group, I was able to provoke discussions and reminescences for the members – and tease out a lot of useful information that I could feed back into our Collections Database!

Like this picture

B&W photo of men boxing up televisions
E3 – the final testing and boxing section

The conversations revealed that this particular image was the final point in the process – where televisions were tested to make sure they were working, and catch any faulty ones, then boxed up and sent off to be sold by retails.

Likewise, this one of women working on a production line went from an unknown location, to a specific location and task identified, and even a rough date, based on the (lack) of colour coded overcoats!

B&W photo of women working at an assempbly line in a larger building.  They are wearing a range of outfits, rather than a uniform.  They have lots of different components sitting in boxes in front of them and most the women are holding what looks like soldering irons
women on the assembly line

Working together I was able to put together a time of key events, illustrated with images from our own collections – but also those provided by the group.

view of the time-line panels, which uses a curved snake effect over printed circuit boards and television broadcast imagery
view of some the exhibition

I also was able to learn more about the active social side of the company – on the sporty side, that included a cycling club that the company sponsored and ‘Its A Knockout’ style tournaments they took in against other Bradford-based companies (I’m lead to believe they were particularly competitive against Grattans!). There were also trips arranged away to places like Morecambe, Blackpool, Edinburgh and Glasgow, and a regular Christmas Party. Even those who didn’t generally take part in the organised activities described the company as having a very friendly work force!

Group employees in shorts and t-shirts and very 70s haircuts, stood around a pole with a cardboard cut of a televison, ready to compete
1977 It’s a Knock out team

Other discussions with ex-employees , revealed what happen after the closure of the Bradford sites – with ex-employees going onto found companies such as PACE Micro – responsible for innovations in digital communications – and the ubiquitous set-top boxes!

We had a lovely launch earlier this year, with members of the group bringing along their memories- and some objects they had to prompt discussions., and it was interesting to hear the stories our display prompted both from that group, and later in the year from other visitors who remembered the company, or had worked there themselves.

attendees at the launch event talking animatedly.
Attendees at the launch event

Working with communities and group in this way is really rewarding on both sides – I was able to share the resources and images we hold, that many had not seen before, and was also able to use the information we gathered to enhance what we know – so that in the future we can tell the stories of the people of Bradford more easily and effectively.

Which lead me onto the last part of this blog. This particular exhibition was a small one, in our ‘Cafe Gallery’ here at the Bradford Industrial Museum , but the interest in the subject makes us think that it could be a candidate for a larger exhibition in the main display space in a couple of years.

However, although we have some good photography, and we now have some more information on it. – which will also be complemented by a project run by the National Science and Media Museum to collect oral histories from Baird workers. – what we currently have is a lack of 3d objects with which to illustrate the stories.

If those of you reading this have links to the company and/or it’s workers, have stories to share or objects to lend that might help us to illustrate the history of this fascinating company – and more importantly it’s wonderful work-force we’d love to hear from you, to gauge whether our hope could become a reality!

One Response

  1. Yeah, my mum used to work there. Her first name is Carole. We was talking about it a few months ago. Her job was at the time soldering components on circuit boards, on the production line. This only came about as I own a Thorn EMI Ferguson portable black and white TV. She lets soon after Bairds became Thorn Electricals.If you would require anymore information let me know.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

News and Blogs from Bradford District Museums & Galleries

Our latest exhibition at Bradford Industrial Museum is gorgeous photography by Neil Horsley, looking at the repurposing and re-use of Mill Buildings. He kindly agreed to write this blog for about the project.
This latest blog from our volunteer Ian looks at the Butterfield Brothers as business men - which isn't a story we've told before.
Bradford District Museums and Galleries (BDMG) have worked with the Bradford Society of Architects and Surveyors to co-curate an exhibition marking their 150-year anniversary.
Callum finished his placement with us over the summer, but has written one more blog for us to share with you about the project.

Related News and Blogs from Bradford District Museums & Galleries

During their visit to Bradford Industrial Museum, three generations from the same family discovered photographs of their war hero ancestor from the Belle Vue Studio.
I must apologise to our visitors at Cliffe Castle for the hammering and banging of late but rest assured, it isn’t anything paranormal and just me using a nail gun for the first time!