Radio sculpture with Marconi links approved

A controversial four-metre wooden sculpture to mark the first radio broadcast is to be erected in Cardiff.

The first radio signal of its kind was transmitted by Guglielmo Marconi between nearby Lavernock Point and Flat Holm island in 1897.

But earlier this year there were calls to scrap the sculpture after councillors learned of Marconi's fascist links.

Cardiff Council said there will be no reference to Marconi on the sculpture.

The artwork will be approximately four metres high and will sit on a concrete plinth half a metre high, near the Cardiff Bay barrage.

The application was made in April this year for the sculpture, which was granted at the end of August.

On 13 May 1897, the world's first radio message was sent across open water.

A transmitter was placed on Flat Holm, an island halfway across the Bristol Channel, and began sending a signal through a radio frequency.

The first attempt ended in failure, with the team member at Lavernock Point sat waiting for a non-existent signal.

But on 13 May, the instruments rang out with a clear spark, with a message of "CAN YOU HEAR ME," which was received loud and clear.