1940s: The days of steam radio and nine-inch TV screens

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The first televisions started arriving in Derby while Dennis Shallcross worked for electrical and music store Daltons. Sue Williams talked to him about his life as a radio and TV engineer in the late 1940s to early 50s.

Live wires: Tom Smith and a boy called Roy who worked with him outside David Rawson’s house at Borrowash

Tuned in: Dennis Shallcross with his Daltons van on Raynesway in the 1950s

DENNIS Shallcross was a driver wireless operator in the Army during the Second World War.

So, when he was demobbed in 1947, it seemed logical to apply for a job as a radio engineer with Dalton & Sons in Derby.

Jack Dalton and his brother, Fred, ran the business at the time.

“I had a very good time at Daltons,” said Dennis (82), of Hilcote, Alfreton. “I worked in the radio department to start with. There were five people in the department and just one, David Rawson, in the TV section to start with.

“Television was just coming in. People started being able to receive it in the Midlands in 1949. I was one of the first to have a set that year. It had a little nine-inch screen with a magnifier and my neighbours used to come in and watch.

“There was a big surge in people buying televisions for the Queen’s Coronation in 1953. Everyone wanted one. We couldn’t get enough. I was dashing around everywhere installing them.

“TVs had a lot of problems in those days. They were built using valves, not transistors. They used to overheat a lot and blow valves and other components.

“Sometimes the screens would have a mass of lines or there would be a sound fault.

“I worked at Daltons from 1948-56. After I progressed to become a TV engineer, I used to travel all over Derby and Derbyshire, doing deliveries and repairs in a Tempo three-wheeler or a van.

“Some of the people I remember are Jimmy Crombie, Albert Fenton, Fred Ratcliffe, Harold James, Maurice Wright ,Jim Lilly and Tom Smith. Maurice had a girlfriend, Lilian, who worked at Daltons on reception. He eventually married her.

“I would like to contact Jimmy in particular as I have other photos of him that he might like to see.”

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This article is from the Derby Evening Telegraph and is reproduced online here.