How it started / How it's going

[1 quart]

from the A21 we are welcomed to Hastings and St Leonards with this combination of signs, emphasised by Sussex Police, that using the fabulous technology developed here, the muggings and fights you will experience, particularly in the town centre, will be filmed. surely it was put there in the era of the mods and rockers skirmishes as we now see as museum exhibits. every day the nuance of that ridiculously misplaced police sign is a stereotyped embarrassment. our glorious towns deserve an acceptable welcome and i wondered if someone might guide me to whom i should approach to remove the prehistoric police sign please!

[Richard]

Hello 1quart,

Is it suggesting visitors are safe from harm or that their driving will be monitored?
I agree, tourist signs could do with a complete overhaul.
I don't think seahermit would disagree.

[seahermit]

The miscellany of signs neatly reflects the mixed-up character of the area. Effectively:

"This is Hastings and St Leonard's. But we don't actually "Welcome" you here".

"The birthplace of television". Except that that is a myth put out by the HBC tourist department. Several inventors across the world were working on early television systems and Marconi's was the one which was eventually adopted as a standard.

"There is a lot of petty crime in the town centre
.. we are watching you, mate. But have a nice day!".

[seahermit]

Getting these things removed is always difficult, they will pass on the buck and the blame to each other. But Facebook would be a good start - there are several local groups on there who would pick this up.

[1 quart]

many thanks. there are over 4 million CCTV cameras in the UK and mostly located in town and city centres. it would be ridiculous for Hastings and St Leonards not to be monitored likewise 24/7 and it irks me that they have placed this obsolete warning sign directly under the rumour that this is the birthplace of television. and yes, we are not actually saying welcome anyway! much appreciated your thoughts and suggestions, i hadn’t thought of facebook

[Richard]

The first true television success, the transmission of a live human face, was achieved by Baird in 1925.Baird was the first person to demonstrate televised objects in outline in 1924, he transmitted recognizable human faces in 1925, and demonstrated the televising of moving objects in 1926 at the Royal Institution, London.
When the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) television service began in 1936, from Alexandra Palace in N. London, his system was in competition with one promoted by Marconi Electric and Musical Industries, and in February 1937 the BBC adopted the Marconi EMI system exclusively.
It is not a myth that Baird was the first, just that Marconi developed a better system in competition.

[seahermit]

I am not going into all the details of this, because there is no simple answer to who invented television - and it depends what you mean by television. My understanding is that people in several countries were working on transmission of stiil and moving images long before Baird - Farnsworth in the USA, German, Russian and Italian inventors .. Baird seems to have been first to produce a marketable product nearer to what we would now recognise as a TV set, but Marconi's system was better and was adopted.

I seem to remember that Marconi was at first working in Italy but couldn't get support and investment for his ideas .. so, moved to the USA where industry was more progressive!

[Richard]

It also depends upon what you define as the first television.
Perhaps a sign saying 'Home to TV Pioneer John L. Baird'.

'The Birthplace of Television' is much more impactful and not far off the mark, unless you want to define it as the first to be demonstrated, which Baird was.

[seahermit]

That's it, he was one of the pioneers of television.

But to promote Baird as THE television inventor is a nonsense, an attempt to garner some dubious fame for Hastings .. as if it was at the cutting edge of technology in the 1930's!

Still, cheaper than investing some money into smartening up the town, dealing with the crime and making it a more welcoming place to visit.

To be honest, I have always been somewhat cynical about the "1066 country" business - it was just one ancient and brutal battle amongst many (one which was a disaster for the country, not a cause for celebration) and it has little relevance to the rather deprived town which exists now. Much better to concentrate on here and now, make Hastings into a nicer place and deal with modern issues.

In any case, much of the history has gone. Few remnants of that time are left and the imposing Norman castle on the cliff was half-destroyed by Victorian planners!

[1 quart]

in 1925 Baird sent the very first moving television image across a room and worked with the BBC to transmit these images using airwaves to people’s homes

he also lived in London and had a workshop in Soho so i wonder if the birthplace of television can decisively be said to be here

Baird’s system was mechanical and had a delay in showing the images, which is why the BBC preferred Marconi EMI’s ‘live’ electronical system after around 3 months of competition at Alexandra Palace

but it was Baird, 10 years before that competition, who had proved to everyone that it can be done

any town or city ought to impress on everyone the pride and community spirit there, but the combination of those signs is just heralding how the brilliant invention of television has been put to best use in Hastings and St Leonards by monitoring all the ne’er-do-well residents and visitors

without doubt 1066 country was the birthplace of the profound impact the Normans had on the country they conquered. on arrival here the warning message that Sussex Police are still sending about our towns is the continuing need for chainmail