Bill and his wife ran a very busy shop. On Saturdays a queue of radio buffs wanting to buy parts for their latest projects would often run outside the small shop and into the street.
Living within a stone's throw of the Radio Constructors Centre I grew up with Bill as one of my mentors. Bill was an incredibly sympathetic and knowledgeable person - he would not only stop serving in his busy shop to explain to me how to solve my latest technical problem, but he would often provide me with the spare parts virtually free. From the age of 8 years I began repairing simple faults on old domestic broadcast receivers and black & white 405 televisions.
The inside of the shop was jammed floor-to-ceiling with component drawers and racks of valves. Outside the front of the shop and on the pavement there were boxes and boxes of surplus electronic components, old radios and ex-military equipment for people to see and sort through at their leisure. It was always a hive of activity, and attracted people from far and wide.
Bill continued to help and provide us with parts for many years until his retirement.
Bill had two children, Monica and Jim, and in the later years Jim took over the shop. However, the era of the home constructor started to fizzle out, and like so many local shops, the Radio Constructor Centre has sadly since closed down.
If anyone has any old photos of the Radio Constructors centre, I would be more than happy to add them to this site!
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