The Weston Mercury & Somersetshire Herald, February 28, 1958


&
SOMERSETSHIRE HERALD
Incorporating The
WESTON-SUPER-MARE GAZETTE
& SOMERSET ADVERTISER

NEARLY 50 YEARS WITH
CABLE COMPANY

MR. PERCY HOPKINSON RETIRES
FROM WESTON OFFICE

  Recently retired from his position as
superintendent of the Commercial
Cable Company's offices, Richmond
Street, Weston-super-Mare, is Mr.
Percy Hopkinson, 43 Addicott Road,
Weston, who joined the parent, com-
pany in London 48 years ago.

  To mark the occasion the staff at
the Richmond Street offices presented Mr. Hopkinson with a clock and a
fountain pen, while Mrs. Hopkinson
was presented
with flowers.
Mr, Hopkinson
who was born
at Tisbury, near
Salisbury, joined
the company in
London in 1910
as a proba-
tioner. The fol-
lowing year he
went to a sta-
tion at Water-
ville, Ireland,
where he was                   
Mr. Hopkinson
an 'office electri-
cian. He came
to the Weston
office in 1929,
and, following a series of technical ex-
aminations, became superintendent in
1934.

London Presentation

  At a dinner given by the company
in London, Mr. Hopkinson's retire-
ment was marked by the presentation
to him, on behalf of the general staff,
of an electric shaver and a leather
wallet.
  Mr. and Mrs. Hopkinson, who were married in London in 1916, have a
married son, Mr. Eric Hopkinson--
who is on the staff of the "Bristol
Evening World," and lives at Weston
--and a married daughter who resides
at Guildford, Surrey.
  Now that h  has retired, Mr, Hop-
kinson and his Wife are planning to
live on the South coast, but have not
yet decided exactly where. Mr.Hop-
kinson then hopes to devote some of his leisure-time to two of his interests
--archaeology. and sea angling. He is
a member of Weston Parish Church
C,E.M.S.

His Successor

  Mr. Hopkinson's successor as super-
intendent atc the local office is Mr,E.
F, A. Mulholland, 55 Manor Road,
Weston, who
was previously
supervising elec-
trician there. A
native of Rock-
ferry, Birken-
head, Mr.Mul-
holland joined
the company in
1920 and, after
 a period of
 training worked
                                        in the London
    
Mr. Mulholland       office until com-
                                        ing to Weston
                                        in 1931.
                                          Mr. Mulhol-
                                        land's wife,
                                        formerly  Miss
Mavis Bryant Roe, comes from a well-
known Weston-super-Mare family.

Fully Automatic

  The Cable Company's Weston office,
which is fully automatic, is a coastal
repeater station for the main com-
pany, and has a staff of eight techni-
cians who maintain a 24 hour service.
  Telegraphic signals which come by
land-line from London are automatic-
ally repeated at the Weston station,
and then cross the 340 miles by sub-
marine cable to the next station at
Waterville on the West coast of Ire-
land. From there, the signals cross the Atlantic to the Azores and New-
foundland, and thence to New York.
  Weston is, therefore, the first "link"
in England for messages which origin-
ate from the other side of the Atlantic.
  The Commercial Cable Co. is a sub-
sidiary of the American Cable and
Radio Corporation.


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