§ Mr. Llewellynasked the Postmaster-General whether he will publish particulars of the extent of the services which are being provided by his Department at the Commonwealth and Empire Games Village, St. Athan.
§ Mr. K. ThompsonI am pleased to say that we have received much praise for the work of the Post Office staff in connection with the British Empire and Commonwealth Games.
A special Post Office was established at St. Athan, and letters posted there were given a special postmark commemorating the Games. We also opened a special telephone exchange "Empire Village". 92W together with a new exchange in Cardiff, "Empire Games", and special intercommunication systems at each of the venues of the Games. There was also a new Post Office Cable and Wireless telegraph station at St. Athan, which was always ready for business—the operators slept in a caravan beside their equipment—with enough circuits to enable sports results to be transmitted all over the world with a minimum of delay; up to Sunday night some 463,000 words had been sent by telegram from the Games to countries overseas. From this station it was possible to send messages direct over the transatlantic cable. Television and sound broadcasting circuits were provided for radio commentators for British and overseas programmes, and many special facilities were provided for the Press. Altogether a thousand miles of wire were provided for telecommunication facilities for the Games.
A special booklet was issued by the Post Office to all competitors and Press correspondents: I am having copies of the booklet placed in the Library.