B.B.C.'s Home Expands at Last

Radio Record, 7 August 1936, Page 9

B.B.C.'s Home Expands at Last

Death of Neighbour Makes Possible Expansion to Twice the SizeBetter Meal Accommodation. ne Ea London, July 10. FOR some time past Broadcasting House has been too small to ‘hause the large staff of B.B.C. employees. in London, which now numbers approximately twelve hundred. For some years, the B.B.C. has occupied several’ other premises in the vicinity of Broadcasting House, and hag purchased a number of houses. almost adjoining the B.B.C. headquarters, Plans to enlarge Broadcasting House were impeded by the fact that the B.B.C. were unable to obtain possession. of premises immediately adjoining. The occupant of these premises has now died, and the B.B.C. has made immediate plans to enlarge Broadcasting House to almost double its present size. It is hoped.to start demolition work on the present buildings within the course of the next twelve months. The addition to Broadcasting House. will consist mainly of Office accommodation for administration staff, but it is probable that one large studio will be constructed below ground-level. The B.B.C. does not propose to relinquish the studios which it has-erected at great expense at Maida Vale, and which up to now have given every satisfaction. One interesting feature of the new Broadcasting House will be a large roof tpstaurant, which will be available -to wymembers of the staff, to artists and (ers: who have business connections With the B.B.C. The present restaurant, which is situated two floors below ground-level, has been found to be too small, and suffers also from lack of adequate ventilation. Polo. [% the last few years polo has been moving out of the cloistered seclusion of the Best Circles and getting into the news. No longer do subalterns of crack regiments fall stunned from their ponies if they see among the spectators a face’that was not at Lady ‘Huntanshootin’s last night. Polo is getting popular, and this year’s. international ‘matches for the Westchester Cup aroused‘ quite a lot of interest among men in the street. This Cup, offered for competition be-

tween HEngland and the U.S.A. in 1886, has not been played for in Bngiand since 1921, The matches were played = at Hurlingham in June, and on each occasion a running commentary on part of the match was broadcast; few games ° played at such a speed cover so much ground, Dialects. OW that dialect has so many enemies, it is some comfort to think that the gramophone cal preserve the local dialects that are © threatened- with decay. If the speech of Hollywood or of Ken--sington ever does become universal in England, we can at least console ourselves by listening to the many dialects that have been recordeC by the

British Drama League in a unique series of twenty-four records, covering Britain from Cornwall to Lincolnshire, from Sussex to Aberdeen, including North and South Wales, Ulster, and even an’ excursion to County Kildare, Geoffrey Whitworth, Director of the British Drama Ledgue, broadcast some of these records on June 19, so all those people who write to the papers about "B.B.C. English" probably made a note of the date. Swimming. ANYBODY who cared to take a portable set down to the local swim-ming-pool could have had a first-rate swimming lesson by radio when the London children’s hour paid a visit to Wembley for a lesson from Ross HRagle, the celebrated swimming coach. Ross Eagle was the pioneer in this country of the Australian crawl that revolutionised swimming, and _ incidentally he taught this stroke to

Derek McCulloch many years ago. In the broadcast he had a dozen children in the water, and he guaranteed that he would teach his listeners something, even in one lesson, 75 Towels. [™ still encountering odd sidelights on Broadcasting House. The other night I met a man whose job it. is to change the roller-towels in the various wash-places for staff, artists, bands, -ete. Every night he changes 75 towels, and. at top speed it takes him an hour and a half to get round. Needless to say, somebody else looks after such far-flung dependencies as St. George’s Hall and Maida Vale.