Skyport

Magz Hall. Skyport. Mixed media, 2019

 

About the work :

I am interested in the contested nature of radio frequencies and their governance. In the skies above London private transmissions from air traffic control compete for wavelength with a range of public transmissions, both pirate and licenced, and indeed, the AM spectrum is dominated by the airport’s transmissions.  While these transmissions are available for all to hear, in the UK it is both illegal to listen to them and to relay what has been heard to a third party. In defiance of these regulations, communities of aviation enthusiasts eavesdrop on air traffic control and there is a burgeoning market for the scanning technologies that make it possible. David Smith’s air band radio handbook (above) first published in 1986 has eight editions. On display for Skyport is a set of air band radios, which visitors can scroll through but must not listen to the air traffic. The irony being its perfectly legal to own such a radio scanner and there are some great sounds to be picked up across that band. The screen to the right shows in waveform live air traffic radio activity.

The photos and cards on display come from Skyport Radio which broadcast from a garden shed under the Heathrow flightpath from 1971 to1979 at 46 Shaftesbury Avenue, Feltham, coincidently next to Gladstone Avenue Freddie Mercury’s family home. Whilst researching pirate radio activity in the area, I found it had a rich history as the first ever national pirate radio conference happened at Heathrow. I was drawn to Skyport due to its socialist ethos and the wonderful photo documentation from the personal archive of Mark Aston, taken on a Zenith EM, with Helios lens which is old Soviet tech.

The station was listened to around the world and on display are just a few of the thousands of cards they received. The irony is not lost that listeners in Russia were keen to hear western music to get a sense of the so-called democratic freedoms in the West whilst station members sent listeners info about the Tory cuts and the miners’ strike. Former DJ Terry Anderson told me

“At the time I joined, Skyport had a left wing feel to some of its programmes, as a rebuff to the rise of the National Front and other racist organisations. In addition, much of the listenership from around the world seemed to contact the station to ‘prove’ they were listening in some far flung corner of the globe and then receive a card to add to their collection – there was a worldwide form of club for people who listened in to shortwave stations.”

“The studio was in a shed at the bottom of the garden and it was very cold indeed in winter – there was a line that ran to Mark’s bedroom back in the house from which the shows were engineered (in the sense of checking levels and so on) and recorded onto a reel-to-reel tape machine. I had complete freedom to play whatever tracks I wished, and I cherished that. Mark was a very pleasant man, and his mother was extremely kind, providing cups of tea and so on”

Mark recalls  “Having grown up near the airport I have mixed feelings about it, it was a playground for us as kids in the 60’s before the tight security regulations, and it provided a career for my mother who worked for BOAC at Hatton Cross, but it also work me up most mornings around 4am when they were running up the engines of aircraft for the day.”

Mark Astons amazing photo archive can be found at http://gunfleet.com/ his website is 20 years old and is certainly worth visiting.Many thanks to the Pervasive Media Studio at the Watershed Bristol for research a research and development residency and ACE.

 

Air Matters Research Blog

Air Matters: Learning from Heathrow is a forthcoming exhibition and programme of events at Watermans Arts Centre, 8th October – 31st Dec 2019, that explores the politics of air at London Heathrow. For some, the air at Heathrow is a space of networks and travel. For others, it is what they must breathe. The conflation of diverse requirements within one locale presents a significant societal challenge that hasimplications for sustainable development, well-being, and dignity. Air Matters responds to these challenges, bringing together newly-commissioned artworks, workshops and a symposium.

The exhibition will comprise of six commissioned works by Kate Carr, Nick Ferguson, Matthew Flintham, Magz Hall, Hermione Spriggs & Laura Cooper, and Louise K Wilson. Through investigations into sound and geography we will consider how the air shapes what can be felt and performed. Through study of birds and other airborne life, we will identify competing users of the air. Through mapping patterns of movement, we will make visible aerial architectures. We will ask what art can teach us about the air

My own contribution “Skyport” named after the Heathrow based 70’s pirate station, take the form of a radio air band sound installation that exploring Heathrow, airspace across radio frequencies. I have been looking into the history of radio scanning and the areas ongoing pirate radio legacy. Which is proving to be very fascinating.

I contacted Terry Anderson who was a DJ on the SW station in the 70’s who very kindly shared with me his memories of his time at the station which was broadcast from a tiny shed near the airport runway.

Mark Aston was the founder of  the station and has an amazing photo archive of the station on gunfleet.com it was located at 46 Shaftesbury Avenue, Feltham, coincidentally the next street was Gladstone Avenue home to the late Freddie Mercury.

His amazing photo archive shows how the station was listened to around the world and the thousands of  QSL (reception)cards sent in by listeners. Although a music station Sky Port clearly had socialist links. Listeners were sent out info about the miners strike and the Tory cuts, a morning star poster sits behind the desk seen here. It seems the team even went on a trip to Moscow. The station stopped broadcasting in 1979 as its founders moved to FM to run a new station called Uptown Radio. Skyport actually pioneered the first Hindi Film music programme but from the outset it focused on punk music and Heavy Metal which was at first ignored by the mainstream stations something DJ Terry Anderson championed. The station ended due to improved sound and local reach offered by FM transmitters and frustrations that international listeners were more excited about sharing QL cards rather than the music.

Skyport Radio – 1977/78 – Terry’s personal memories… Photo by Mark Aston

“I was asked to join Skyport by a friend (Rob), who already had a show on the station. I was aware of pirate radio having listened to the offshore stations in the 1960s, and then later the land based pirates, Radio Jackie, and Kaleidoscope Radio. Although I did think that the pirate radio stations had an exciting edge to them, the truth is I was motivated by the idea that I could play music that I loved to people listening all around the world.

At the time I joined, Skyport had (if I recall correctly) a left wing feel to some of its programmes, as a rebuff to the rise of the National Front and other racist organisations.

In addition, much of the listenership from around the world seemed to contact the station to ‘prove’ they were listening in some far flung corner of the globe and then receive a card to add to their collection – there was a worldwide form of club for people who listened in to shortwave stations.

I was less interested in this and was simply enthused to be a radio presenter, playing music that I loved. At the time, it was the growth of punk music and I played The Clash, Sex Pistols, Siouxsie & The Banshees and so on, and also added the reggae music to which I was thoroughly devoted (still am!) with artists such as Ken Boothe, Gregory Isaacs, and Sugar Minott.

It was a long time ago but this is what I recall of the circumstances: I used to take the train with Rob to Feltham and we would walk to Mark King’s house, where he lived with his mother. The shows were broadcast on a Sunday but we recorded them on (I think) a Thursday evening. The studio was in a shed at the bottom of the garden and it was very cold indeed in winter – there was a line that ran to Mark’s bedroom back in the house from which the shows were engineered (in the sense of checking levels and so on) and recorded onto (if I recall correctly) a reel-to-reel tape machine. I had complete freedom to play whatever tracks I wished and I cherished that. Mark was a very pleasant man, and his mother was extremely kind, providing cups of tea and so on.

I was never really interested in the nuts and bolts of how the station got on air. From memory I think Mark simply took the risk of broadcasting from his house on Sunday mornings. I don’t recall the station ever being raided by the authorities (maybe they weren’t so interested in shortwave stations).

The studio set up worked very well but it was basic – a couple of record decks and (I think) a cassette or cartridge player. It was very close to the runways at Heathrow and I imagine there may have been aircraft noises in the background but I don’t recall this.

The main part of the experience that I enjoyed was that it gave me a first start into broadcasting and I was given the freedom to learn on the job and from my mistakes. The least enjoyable parts were the cold in the winter months in that shed, and the fact that it was shortwave only which restricted the audience – this was what motivated all of the presenters to move to a new FM based radio station the late summer of 1978 (Uptown Radio).

I did attend some sort of ramshackle meeting of pirate radio stations in London but this was a year or two later. There is a well-known story in the history of pirate radio in that on my way home after this conference/meeting I was recognised on Waterloo station by someone from another pirate radio station that coveted our frequency – so he threatened me with a shotgun and told me I should tell everyone on our station that we should move frequency, or else…! We didn’t move and I lived to tell the tale.

I recall there was a ‘political’ station around at the time (was it Radio Enoch?) but I have no memory of it. I suspect it was notorious because of its name and intentions but probably had only a handful of listeners. At this time there was much concern about the rise of extremism and I attended many events protesting against the National Front and similar organisations – the best were those organised by Rock Against Racism; I particularly remember a great day with a march to Victoria Park in Hackney and a scorching gig in the park with X-Ray Spex, Tom Robinson, Steel Pulse, and a magnificent performance from The Clash.

I truly don’t believe that any right wing radio stations had any serious impact at that time. Shortly after Skyport, Uptown, and (I think) Thameside Radio, I moved into mainstream media and forged a career in radio, television, and film.”

A selection from Mark Aston’s Archive

Sky Scanning

Scanning has a long history, as a male dominated hobby since the invention of radio. In the UK scanners have been available commercially since the early 60’s.