The birth of Jodrell Bank
Witness History

The birth of Jodrell Bank

B2Upper-intermediateSeptember 28, 202610 min

On an English field in 1957, the final touches were made to what was then the largest radio telescope in the world. But designing and building the Jodrell Bank Observatory hadn’t been easy. Sir Bernard Lovell, the mastermind behind the 76m wide dish, had to overcome money shortages, engineering difficulties and media scepticism. But as the space race took off in the 1960s, Jodrell Bank proved its worth, tracking American and Soviet missions. Jane Wilkinson has been through the BBC archives to find out more. Witness History is a sh...

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0:00

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. Hello and welcome to Witness History from the BBC World Service with me Jane Wilkinson. If you've heard us before then congratulations on your extremely good taste and do feel

1:04

free to skip on a few seconds but if you haven't then thanks for giving us a try we're the podcast that brings history to life in just nine minutes through the eyes of one key witness and lots of truly amazing news archive so if you enjoy it tell all your friends and please subscribe wherever you get your

1:24

BBC podcasts. And now I'm taking you back to the north of England in 1957 as final touches are being made to what was then the largest radio telescope in the world. Radio waves pouring into it will tell of cosmic events a thousand million light years away and astronomers will be able to see further into the past than ever before.

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