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Ditton Park Archive

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The archive is a collection of photographs chronicling the pioneering radio research work that was carried out at Ditton Park in Slough from 1924 to 1979.

Included are photos of the early work at the Aldershot wireless station (1919 to 1924) and the National Physical Laboratory Teddington.

From 1924 to 1979 Ditton Park, Slough was a place of remarkable scientific innovation and invention.
At the forefront of radio research and ionospheric theory, the early Radio Research Station established a reputation for producing high-quality research from a dedicated and enthusiastic scientists, including Sir Edward Victor Appleton and Sir Robert Alexander Watson-Watt. This was a reputation the Station maintained through the years as they communicated and collaborated with scientific institutes within the United Kingdom and worldwide.
 
In the late 1950s, the Station recognised that its future would be involved with space science research, an important and exciting area of work that it had the expertise to contribute to.
The scientific advances were reflected in the expansion of the site with buildings to accommodate new facilities, equipment and the increasing number of staff.
 
In 1979, the Appleton Laboratory as it was then known, merged with the Rutherford Laboratory at Chilton in Oxfordshire to become the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. The world-class research in space science continues to the present day at Chilton, but for fifty-five years, Ditton Park was an inspiring and esteemed place of scientific work.