Poldhu, Mullion, TR12 7JB
Tel: (01326) 241656
Email: enquiries@nationaltrust.org.uk
Web: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/features/marconi-on-the-lizard
Web: www.marconi-centre-poldhu.org.uk
Marconi's radio station
Poldhu Cove on the Lizard Peninsula was the of the transmitter for the first transatlantic radio signal. A signal from Guglielmo Marconi went from Poldhu Wireless Station to Signal Hill in St. John's Newfoundland , Canada on December 12th, 1901.
This achievement rightly received much accolade, with the station being visited by the future King and Queen in July 1903. Marconi later used Poldhu for his shortwave experiments from which he developed the Beam Wireless Service for the British General Post Office.
Marconi was quick to develop the commercial potential of radio. Lizard Wireless Station was one of a dozen coastal UK stations which handled ship to shore messages, for a fee. It was the first coastal radio station to receive an SOS call when in 1910 the 'Minnehaha', aground off the Isles of Scilly, radioed for help.
The new Marconi Centre is a hike up a hill to the top of the cliff. This is a new building that to house transmitting equipment and exhibits.
The station at Poldhu operated until 1933 and the site was later cleared.
It was a joint project between The National Trust, Marconi Plc and Poldhu Amateur Radio Club and was built in 2001 to commemorate the centenary of the first transatlantic wireless signal which was sent from Poldhu to Newfoundland, Canada one hundred years previously.
The new centre has three objectives:
Funding for the centre has come from Objective One Partnership for Cornwall and Scilly and Marconi Plc, with the balance obtained from The National Trust'sEnterprise Neptune Fund.
The radio station has been restored to how it would have looked in Marconi’s day. One of the two huts, with a dramatic view across Housel Bay, is now a National Trust holiday cottage.
On the cliffs 0.5 mile west of Mullion Village.
Opening Times25th March until 28th October Admission Free |
Lizard Peninsula Mullion Porthleven
Goonhilly Earth Satellite Station