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BEGINNINGS
Mr.
Fernand LE GRAND
founder
of Radio Normandy
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Close
to the Benedictine's Palace,
Vincelli-La-Grandière,
the villa of
Monsieur Le Grand, from where the first broadcasts of EF8IC
took place, followed
by those of Radio Fécamp,
on 17 November 1926
Vincelli-La-Grandière, side court.
The
Palace is on the other side
of the street.
Nowadays, this building
is called the Villa Vincelli,
an art gallery,
with paintings and archives of Fécamp.
The
big lounge of Vincelli first
"auditorium", or studio, where
the first
broadcasts took place.
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In
two words...
In
the 1930's, the ancestor of free radio, in France, is called Radio
Normandy. Situated at Fécamp and Louvetot between Yvetot and
Caudebec en Caux, the "station" is highly listened to
and even broadcasts in English on Sundays!
Fernand Le Grand, whose grandfather "invented" the
Benedictine liqueur, started Radio Fécamp on 17th
November 1926. He didn't imagine that his station would find fame
far beyond the region. Renamed Radio Normandy, the station is
listened in England, a country without any commercial radio. In
France programmes fill listeners with joy. Some remember "Aunt Francine", the first broadcaster, and Uncle Roland, or the
accordionist Roger Queval, accompanied by the Radio Normandy
orchestra.. In 1938, the transmitter is transferred to Louvetot.
There are studios in the present city hall of Caudebec, as
well as in Rouen, Le Havre, Le Tréport, Le Touquet... as well as
Paris. The first private radio station in the province, Radio
Normandy operates a regular service until the war, when the
transmitter is destroyed. When liberation comes, the state seizes
the airwaves monopoly, and after thirty years relaying Parisian
"programmes", the dreaded return of private radio
(free radios) in the 1970's heralds the dismantling of the
station.
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Who,
nowadays, remembers,
that within a few steps of the Benedictine's Palace,
the dream
of a man fascinated with
the "Wireless Telephone",
became a reality?
The vicinity of the Benedictine's
distillery and Villa Vincelli.
This is an old still
Excerpt
from
a radio booklet :
After a year of
operation, in 1925,
the Radio Club of Fécamp had 18 members. As with all
radios clubs, Fécamp intends to unite Wireless amateurs, to introduce
them to the discoveries of this new science, to provide them with ideas
and to guide them in the choice of their equipment. The Radio Club becomes
the association of Listeners of Radio Normandy with 15,000 members.
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Birth of
the radio
"At
its creation in 1923, the Radio Club
of Fécamp and the region, intends to
unite wireless amateurs, to keep them informed of the latest developments
and to assist purchases or exchanges between its members.
The committee
comprises :
Fernand Le Grand, president ;
René Legros, vice-president;
Emile Durand, treasurer ;
P. Borocco, secretary
;
G. Pollet, secretary -
associate.
F. Le Grand is named President of the society, as he is one of
the oldest amateurs in the region. The PTT gives him the call sign 8 IC.
With the help of some devoted friends, he gets to work
constructing a
broadcasting station".
(Newspaper of Fécamp 12/28)
"Modulation
and frequency tests are done every evening on 200 metres wavelength, by
the radio clubs station. Amateurs are asked to report the results of their
monitoring".
(communiqué
of the Radio-Club
of Fécamp 2/6/25)
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