As the club secretary, I received from the previous secretary, some paperwork relating to the
club. The documents have since been residing in a plastic box in the clubhouse at
Harrington.
After a few years, I decided to go through these documents to gain a little information of how,
why and when the club was formed.
Alas, the damp has not been too friendly to many of these papers and Mould has taken hold
of several of them. Nevertheless, I have managed to glean some details that I have found
interesting.
The earliest document I have found so far dates to 1932 and is a letter from a person named
A. A. Kightly of Central Chambers, Market place, Kettering dated 9 April 1932. The letter is
addressed to the Editor of the Kettering Telegraph.
Rather than try to explain the letter, I repeat it verbatim here: –

Dear Sir,
I am pleased to see the letters from your readers
regarding the formation of a radio club in Kettering.
Undoubtedly, a club of this kind should be in operation in a
town of this size, as there must be a large number of amateur
Radioists who would appreciate an opportunity of increasing
their knowledge of the subject, apart from the fact that an
organised body of this kind would be in a good position to deal
with the troubles mentioned by G2AXF.
If your correspondent cares to call to see me by appointment,
I shall be happy to have a talk with him on the matter, whilst
if any amateur Radioist should feel inclined to write me giving
his views on the matter, I will most willingly do all I can to
assist in the formation of the club, by arranging a meeting to
discuss the preliminaries

Yours Faithfully
A A Kightly

The next document in age relates to the club finances. It is dated 25 March 1935.
however, at this time, the club was called the ‘Kettering Radio and Physical Society’. This
document is the Income and Expenditure for the year ending March 1935.
During this time the society met at a club room in Pollard Street. The annual rent for this
room was £3 18s 9d. (£3.94) They also had to pay for a transmitting licence at a rate of £2.
Also, an annual spend of £2 13s 2d (£2.66) was shelled out for biscuits; £3 1s 9½d (£3.09)
for electricity and five shillings (25p) for RSGB subscriptions. Insurance was 10 shillings
(50p) for the year.

Note as a matter of interest, the symbols ’s’ for shilling and ‘d’ for pence date back to the Latin ‘solidus’ and
denarius’ used in the middle ages.

I also have the income and expenditure paperwork for the years 1935/36; 1936/37; 1937/38;
1938/39 and 1939/40.
The name of the society again changed during the1937/38 year to become the ‘Kettering
Radio and Photographic Society’. Aligning with this name change, a subscription was taken
out with the Midlands Counties Photographic Federation for the sum of £1 relating to the
year 1939.
Amongst the paperwork was a laminated certificate dated 19 August 1946. This shows that
as of that day, the ‘Kettering Radio and Photographic Society’ is in affiliation with the ‘Radio
Society of Great Britain’. It was signed by the president of the RSGB.
Maybe I will be lucky and find a few more interesting documents. I hope this has been of
interest to someone other than myself.

Les Moyle
Secretary
KDARS