Graeme Keys
Obituary by John Ward
Following TCPD, a spell as T.M. Operations at Crystal Palace, primarily responsible for the MIC operations, took Graeme’s career in a totally new direction.
In 1987 he was appointed T.M. Wrotham and tasked with amalgamating the maintenance teams based at Dover and Heathfield and relocating the operation to the VHF/FM station in Kent. Graeme was also responsible for overseeing the establishment and running of the new maintenance team being set up at Brookmans Park.
Establishing these two new facilities, particularly Wrotham, presented Graeme with significant challenges but as always he met these challenges with enthusiasm, energy and always with good humour.
The excellent staff from Dover provided a core of engineering expertise but Graeme had to recruit many new colleagues to fill the vacant posts which had largely resulted from staff retirements. In addition the buildings at Wrotham had to be adapted to provide suitable accommodation for the new team. Graeme showed great imagination in deciding to repurpose the DF area and even greater tenacity in obtaining permission to do so!
The fledgling operation was only getting started when Graeme faced a totally unexpected challenge following the great storm of October 1987. He found himself responsible for a patch with virtually no operational television transmitters. Supported by generators the BBC radio network became a vital lifeline for the community and under Graeme’s leadership we were able to maintain all these services throughout the event.
With all his engineers marooned in Dover, Graeme and I found ourselves on the road as a team dealing with the many incidents reported by the Crystal Palace MIC. With his typical humour Graeme suggested to CP that they advise us which television transmitters were actually working rather than the faulty ones as the list would be much shorter!
This was when I first discovered Graeme’s great interest in cars and in the art of fast driving. It was quite an experience accompanying Graeme as he sped along the deserted roads of Kent and Sussex in the pitch darkness dodging many fallen trees and branches as well as the odd telephone pole.
Throughout this particular incident and indeed his career Graeme displayed the dedication, calmness, technical skill and good humour which characterised the man. Above all he cared about people. He was always supportive of his colleagues and encouraged everyone to seek to advance themselves and take on new challenges.
Graeme was never a 9 to 5 clock watcher. He instilled into all of us the necessity to work hard and do the job right. He was demanding but he also demanded these high standards from himself and he was always generous in sharing with all of us his experience and expertise and helping us develop our skills.
Graeme was a terrific leader, a skilled engineer and a very good friend and colleague. Always proud and loving of his family Graeme was above all a good and decent man.