What’s New Archive for 2018.
posted 31-12-18
And
Finally
before
we
ring
in
the
New
Year,
I
would
Like
to
thank
Arthur
Phillips,
Tony
Holmes,
Freddy
Bailey,
and
everyone
else who has contributed to the Ditchburn website, your help has made this website far bigger than i ever imagined.
Lets welcome 2019 with a new tune from Tony Holmes fantastic
Mk 1 Jack Hylton Jukebox watch it here
Another Update before the end of 2018, Christine Sands sent us a picture of her Music Maker T200
View Here
And
this
is
a
HUGE
update
to
end
the
year
on,
Whilst
searching
through
the
Internet
recently
i
came
across
a
photo
of
a
very
nice
example
of
a
MK2
Music
maker
that
was
on
display
at
the
Terra
Technica
Museum
in
the
Excalibur
City
complex,
in
Chvalovice
-
Czech
Republic.
the
Museum
has
one
of
the
biggest
Jukebox
displays
in
the
world
(
if
not
the
biggest
)
instantly
i
decided
i
needed
to
visit
this
amazing
place
and
booked
a
flight
for
February
2019
for
a
birthday
treat
for
myself.
I
contacted
Gábor
Varga
at
Terra
Technica
and
asked
permission
if
i
could
use
the
photo
of
the
MK2
on
this
website,
well
it
was
a
wonderful
surprise
when
they
sent
me
a
tour
of
the
museum
and
also
some
detailed
inside
and
out
custom
shots
of
the
Ditchburn
MK2
on
display.
I
have
added
some
photos
to
the
MK2
jukebox
page,
but
the
full
album
of
Terra
Technica
including the inside and out MK2 photos has been added to a page on the
“Tell Your Story” Section Click here to view
posted 30-12-18
Just
squeezing
another
update
or
2
in
before
the
new
year,
added
to
the
History
section
2
Arial
photos
taken
of
the
Ditchburn
factory on Dock Road, these were kindly sent to us by David Hoyle of the Lythams Past face book page.
View Here
Also
Added
today
is
a
photo
sent
to
us
by
Brian
Freeman,
the
brother
of
Chris
freeman
who
sadly
passed
away
recently,
Chris
Worked
at
the
Ditchburn
Watford
depot
and
serviced
the
machines
in
the
south
of
the
UK,
his
company
transport
was
a
pick-up truck, Brian told us that Chris taught his brother to drive in this very truck
View Here
posted 29-12-18
Just
when
one
update
happens
another
comes
along
at
the
same
time,
this
one
is
quite
an
important
one
and
was
sent
to
me
by
Arthur
Phillips,
and
this
new
addition
to
the
History
section
shows
the
number
of
Jukeboxes
that
were
imported,
distributed
and
operated
by
Ditchburn
from
1955
to
1973,
Ditchburn
operated
a
large
range
of
manufacturers
over
that
period,
and
from
the
figures
kept
by
Arthur,
a
pattern
becomes
quite
obvious
that
Geoffrey
Ditchburn
liked
to
purchase
and
import
around
8
units
of
each
model
every
month
and
this
pattern
continued
through
out
the
years
until
Ditchburn
was
sold.
See this latest update here
posted 28-12-18
It’s
been
a
while
since
the
last
Ditchburn
update,
I
apologise
for
the
lack
of
articles
but
i
have
had
a
lot
of
life
changing
things
happen
recently
(
all
good
things
though
)
and
this
has
kept
me
away
from
my
computer,
but
there
is
still
lots
happening
in
the
wonderful
world
of
Ditchburn,
I
still
have
many
updates
to
complete
and
articles
to
add,
so
I’m
hoping
to
be
doing
this
over
the
next
week
and
the
new
year,
I’m
on
a
bit
of
a
road
trip
the
next
few
days
which
is
“Very
Ditchburn”
related,
so
more
about
that
when
i
return
later
in
the
week.
i
have
opened
two
new
sections
in
the
PEOPLE
area,
the
first
is
the
Jack
Hylton
page,
rather
than
write
a
whole
new
section
on
the
life
of
Jack,
i
decided
that
as
Historian,
composer
and
conductor
Pete
Faint has produced a fantastic book and website dedicated to Jack Hylton, i felt it would be better to let Pete tell the story,
To Visit The Jack Hylton Page Please Click Here
.
Also i have added The Hawtins Section on the People area, there is a great website looking at the machines that Percy and
Frank produced over the years, this has been written in conjunction with Simon Hawtin, who is Percy’s grandson.
To Visit The Hawtin Page Please Click Here More updates coming soon….
posted 24-11-18
Hello Again, we have added a YouTube clip featuring a Ditchburn Tonomat 200
view here
posted 23-11-18 update 1
Hello to all here at planet Ditchburn… I am now back in the UK so i have started uploading the first of many updates..
this
first
update
is
quite
a
controversial
one,
most
of
the
research
i
have
done
for
this
website
has
been
via
newspaper
cuttings
etc…
and
after
speaking
to
both
Arthur
Philips
and
Chris
Freeman
who
both
worked
at
Ditchburn,(
at
different
times
and
they
did
not
know
each
other
)
they
both
told
me
that
the
Jack
Hylton
Jukebox
years
were
very
different
to
what
was
published
in
the
press,
the
early
days
of
the
Music
Maker
was
not
exactly
how
the
press
portrayed
it.
enjoy
reading
The
Alternative History of Ditchburn
Posted 08-11-18
Hello
all,
It
is
with
great
sadness
to
announce
the
passing
of
Chris
Freeman,
I
am
deeply
shocked
as
I
only
met
Chris
for
the
first
time
a
week
or
so
ago
at
the
Chessington
Jukebox
show,
and
he
was
full
of
life
and
full
of
enthusiasm
of
this
website
as
he
had
worked
for
Ditchburn
at
their
London
Watford
Depot
until
1963,
Chris
has
worked
with
Jukeboxes
for
most
of
his
life
and
said
to
me
last
week
that
he
was
still
actively
involved
in
Jukebox
restoration,
after
talking
with
him
for
over
40
minutes
i
felt
i
had
known
him
all
my
life,
he
came
across
a
a
warm
and
well
respected
Jukebox
expert.
a
very
sad
loss.
I
would
like
to
thank
Lewis
Dilaway
for
contacting
me
regarding
Chris.
sorry
all
for
the
limited
updates
by
I’m
currently
on
holiday
in
the
Philippines and i am having trouble updating the website server.
Posted 28-10-18
Hello
folks
and
welcome
to
another
update
to
the
Ditchburn
project,
sorry
if
there
has
been
a
bit
of
a
gap
since
the
last
one,
but
i
have
been
very
busy
with
my
day
job,
and
also
this
weekend
i
drove
to
London
to
visit
the
Jukebox
and
Retro
Fair
at
Chessington.
the
fair
was
superb,
and
allowed
me
to
purchase
many
7”
singles
for
my
Jukebox
many
of
them
only
50p
each,
great
bargains
to
be
had
there,
there
was
also
a
great
selection
of
Jukeboxes
on
display
and
for
sale,
some
really
good
prices
on
some
of
them,
I
noticed
that
a
lot
of
the
show
prices
were
far
cheaper
than
found
on
Ebay,
so
it
was
a
good
place
to grab a bargain, unfortunately no Ditchburn machines on offer, but there are very few out there for sale now.
I
did
manage
to
spend
most
of
my
time
at
the
show
talking
to
people
about
Ditchburn,
thanks
to
everyone
who
put
up
with
me
and
my
Ditchburn
Chat,
the
highlights
for
me
were
talking
to
Chris
Black
the
MD
of
UK
jukebox
manufacturer
Sound
Leisure,
who
told
me
his
father
worked
at
Ditchburn
back
in
the
day,
Sound
Leisure
had
a
new
Jukebox
on
display
that
played
LPs,
the
mechanism
was
quite
impressive.
I
also
had
a
chat
with
Chris
Freeman,
who
worked
for
Ditchburn
until
1963,
he
was
based
at
the
Watford
depot,
he
informed
me
that
Ditchburn
had
5
depots
around
the
UK
for
Juke
box
servicing,
they
also
carried
out
machine
refurbishments
at
these
depots
as
well,
he
has
promised
me
some
photos
from
back
in
the
day,
he
also
had
some
great
Ditchburn
stories
as
well
so
hopefully
we
will
feature
these
on
the
website
soon,
hopefully
he
will
be
in
touch
soon
with
some
great
additions
to
the
project.
the
depots
are
another
subject
that
i
would
like
to
cover
on
the
website,
there
were
many
support
engineers
and
money
collectors
that
were
based
at
the
local
depots,
it
would
be
great
to
feature this as part of Ditchburn Project as well.
One
of
the
vendors
at
the
show
was
the
Jukebox
Gallery
who
are
based
in
the
Netherlands,
they
had
a
great
selection
of
machines
on
show,
i
spoke
with
Corwin
Bierlaagh
on
their
stand,
he
told
me
that
he
has
a
restored
MK2
Music
Maker
that
is
for
sale
via
their
website,
it
is
a
beautiful
specimen
of
a
machine
that
has
been
extensively
restored
,
it
also
has
a
price
tag
to
match
the
amount
of
work
that
has
gone
into
it,
I
may
have
to
sell
a
few
limbs
before
i
can
afford
it,
but
anyone
out
there
that
has
a
few
quid
to
spare
you
can
check
out
the
Ditchburn
Mk2
for
sale
here
Corwin
has
kindly
allowed
me
to
feature
this
Jukebox on this website, see the photos in the
Mk2 Jukebox section here
.
Paul
Latham
contacted
us,
he
is
a
record
collector
and
he
has
all
the
UK
releases
on
the
Domino
record
Label,
he
also
informed
me
about
the
Spiral
Record
label
that
was
also
owned
by
Ditchburn,
this
Label
started
in
1971
and
ran
until
1973.
Paul
has
all
the
releases
that
were
issued
on
the
Spiral
Label
also
and
has
sent
me
the
Back
Catalogue
list
of
these
releases,
Ditchburn
used
the
name
Music
Maker
Ltd
to
produce
these
records,
the
style
was
more
contemporary
rather
the
than the Pub sing-along style of the Domino Label.
check out the Spiral releases here.
We
also
have
lots
of
other
things
coming
up
soon,
i
still
have
a
quite
a
few
interesting
articles
from
Arthur
Phillips
to
complete
and
add
to
the
website,
i
also
have
some
photos
from
the
Lytham’s
past
group
to
add,
showing
Dock
Road
in
all
its
glory.
plus
lots,
lots
more.
I
am
starting
my
annual
holiday
in
a
weeks
time,
the
most
of
which
will
hopefully
be
spent
getting
the
website up to date.
Check the what’s new section again soon folks for more of the latest updates and Ditchburn News, all the best …. Karl
Posted 17-10-18
Hello
fellow
Ditchburner’s
….
tonight
we
have
added
a
new
area
in
the
History
section,
this
covers
the
history
of
the
company
from
1955
to
1973,
and
will
contain
information
on
the
Ditchburn
products
produced
during
this
period
including,
Jukeboxes,
Background
Music
systems,
and
vending
machines.
to
start
the
section
off
we
have
an
article
from
Arthur
Phillips
which looks at the importing and maintaining of the Tonomat Jukeboxes from Germany,
Click Here to view the article
Posted 15-10-18
Good
day
to
you
all,
sorry
for
the
short
gap
between
posts,
but
been
a
busy
time
here
in
Ditchburn
Land,
I
spent
the
weekend
at
my
sons
wedding
in
York,
which
i
have
not
visited
for
many
years,
it
certainly
is
a
city
full
of
history
and
i
can
highly
recommend
a
visit.
Back
to
Ditchburn
news…
Firstly
we
have
added
the
Red
Domino
Label
info
to
Arthur
Phillips
Domino
Records
section
.
Arthur
has
lots
more
articles
and
information
that
we
are
going
to
publish
over
the
next
2
weeks
along
with
info
on
the
Ditchburn
Background
Music
systems.
and
also
production
numbers
of
the
later
Ditchburn
Jukeboxes,
Whilst
searching
for
all
things
Ditchburn
i
came
across
a
photo
of
a
Music
maker
MK2
that
is
in
a
museum
in
the
Czech
Republic,
it
looks
like
one
of
the
best
restorations
i
have
seen
and
sure
is
beautiful,
i
clicked
on
the
link
to
the
museum,
which
is
called
Terra
Technica
,
and
what
opened
before
me
i
could
not
believe,
an
absolutely
amazing
place
and
caters
for
both
the
Jukebox
and
Pinball
enthusiast,
of
which
i
am
….
and
its
HUGE…
I
contacted
them
regarding
some
photos
and
info
of
the
MK2
and
they
kindly
said
they
would
get
me
some
photos
for
the
Ditchburn
website,
but
i
could
not
just
leave
it
there
…
i
was
totally
intrigued
by
this
place
…
so
i
decided
that
as
a
birthday
treat
for
myself
i
would
take
a
trip
to
Terra
Technica
in
February
2019,
Ryan-air
have
direct
flights
from
Stansted
UK
to
Brno
Airport
which
is
about
1
hour
drive
to
the
site,
there
are
hotels
next
to
Terra
Technica
also
…
it
is
also
part
of
the
Excalibur
City
Complex
so
there
are
many
other
things
to
do
whilst
there
including
bars,
restaurants
and
entertainment
for
the
kids.
So
i
have
booked
my
flights
and
hotel
and
I’m Looking forward to this amazing trip mainly to see a fine specimen of a Ditchburn MK2.
Posted 09-10-18
Hello
again
fellow
Ditchburner’s
..
Today
i
have
updated
my
restoration
progress
of
my
Ditchburn
Mk2R
music
maker
Jukebox
, and added a you-tube video of current progress, enjoy folks.
Posted 07-10-18
Hello
again,
Today
we
have
added
a
new
page
to
the
History
section,
all
about
the
Domino
Record
Label
and
its
releases
,
I
would
like
to
thank
Arthur
Phillips
for
taking
the
time
to
compile
and
send
us
all
the
information
on
this
page.
the
recording
studio served both the Jukebox market and also recording the background music for the Symphonaire BGM machines.
Posted 06-10-18
Hello
again
From
Ditchburn
Land,
Have
been
doing
lots
of
website
tweaks
and
we
are
updating
the
new
“Message
Board”
if
you
have
anything
you
would
like
to
post
on
the
board
send
us
an
email,
Facebook
message.
and
now
you
can
also
contact
us using our
new message entry box
on the contact us page.
Posted 03-10-18
Hello,
we
have
added
a
“Message
Board”
to
the
“Tell
your
story”
page
for
the
messages
that
we
receive
via
Social
Media,
Facebook
and
email,
and
this
helps
keep
the
main
pages
for
larger
articles,
we
are
always
on
the
lookout
for
Machine
manuals,
Ditchburn
Sales
Catalogues
and
any
Ditchburn
related
documents,
please
share
them
with
us
and
help
preserve
a
little slice of Ditchburn History. we have some more articles from Arthur Phillips coming soon.
Posted 03-10-18
Hello
and
a
quick
update
to
yesterdays
post,
i
have
added
a
Photo
of
Tom
Greaves
,
to
Arthur’s
article..
this
was
sent
to
us
by
Philip
Marriott,
Tom
was
Arthur’s
first
boss
at
Ditchburn
and
the
father
of
Philips
wife.
i
have
also
had
a
tidy-up
on
the
website,
i
am
currently
moving
most
of
the
Photo
gallery
from
the
History
section
to
the
Juke
Boxes
section
this
makes
the
site less fragmented.
Posted 02-10-18
Hello
to
our
readers
again,
as
promised
a
couple
of
days
ago,
we
have
an
article
written
by
Arthur
Phillips,
who
started
at
Ditchburn
as
an
Electrical
Engineer,
his
story
follows
his
10
year
employment
with
the
company
and
his
journey
through
the
ranks and departments to become Ditchburn’s Chief Audio Engineer.
Arthur’s
story
is
one
of
the
most
detailed
that
we
have
yet
published
on
this
website
and
gives
a
great
insight
to
working
at
the
Lytham
factory,
It
also
details
the
later
years
of
the
Vending
and
Back
Ground
Music
side
of
the
business,
I
have
had
many
enjoyable
emails
back
and
forth
this
week,
with
Arthur
also
discussing
the
early
years,
most
of
his
recollections
of
this
time
come
from
conversations
he
had
with
his
fellow
work
collogues,
information
he
gained
whilst
working
with
Ditchburn,
and also directly from GND (Geoffrey Norman Ditchburn) himself.
One
thing
that
has
arisen
from
our
conversations
is
that
what
we
call
the
MK1,
MK2,
MK2R,
etc.
had
a
different
reference
within
the
Ditchburn
organisation,
they
would
refer
to
them
internally
as
the
MK1
to
MK6
machines,
and
this
is
understandable
especially
as
there
were
a
few
variants
of
the
MK2
fridge,
I
was
hoping
the
Arthur
would
be
able
shed
some
light
on
the
numbers
of
Juke
boxes
produced
in
the
early
years
but
Arthur
has
given
me
some
information
that
totally
changes
what
we
understood
to
be
correct,
More
on
this
in
a
later
article…
Back
To
Arthur’s
wonderful
Story
which
I’m
sure
you will all enjoy
CLICK HERE to view Arthur’s Story.
Posted 28-09-18
Hello to our readers,its been a while since my last post, but plenty has been going on behind the curtains, I’m currently off
work at the moment due to an illness, but i am trying when i can to do little bits on the restoration of my MK2R Jukebox, the
first thing i have done is to complete the Electrical Schematics, these have now been posted in the MK2R section of the
website Click Here to view the MK2R Technical Section Also to this section i have added more documentation regarding
the Acos Pick-ups and Tone arms that were used on the MK2 and MK2R Jukeboxes.
We
were
recently
contacted
by
Arthur
Phillips,
Arthur
was
the
Chief
Audio
Engineer
at
the
Ditchburn
Factory,
he
worked
there
between
1963
and
1973.
Arthur
is
currently
writing
his
story
of
his
time
at
the
Lytham
Dock
Road
factory,
and
of
his
recollections
of
earlier
years
through
conversations
he
had
with
Geoffrey
Norman
Ditchburn
during
his
employment
at
the
company,
Arthur
also
was
involved
with
the
vending
side
of
the
business
and
Also
the
Domino
Record
Label
and
recording
Studio
that
Ditchburn
set
up
to
supply
records
with
the
Jukeboxes
and
also
to
provide
music
for
the
background
music
systems
that
Ditchburn
later
provided.
it
will
be
an
interesting
read
and
will
be
a
great
addition
to
the
“Tell
Your
Story”
section
on this website.
Posted 09-09-18
Hello
again
to
those
following
the
Ditchburn
website
…
for
this
update
Tony
Holmes
has
sent
us
some
photos
from
the
past,
firstly
two adverts for the MK2R and two photos of the later Music Maker 200s
We have been contacted by Suzanne Taylor via our Facebook page regarding some memories from her mother when
working at Ditchburn, we have added this to our Tell Your Story Page.
Coming up in October is the “JUKEBOX and RETRO FAIR” at Chessington Community College, this take place on the 27th
and 28th of October, I’m hoping to get there all being well work wise, so hopefully I will be able to catch up with a few people.
Posted 27-08-18
Welcome
again
to
Ditchburn
Land,
i
must
apologise
firstly
for
my
disappearance
over
the
last
month,
my
day
job
has
had
me
away
from
home
installing
some
new
robotic
technology
at
KP
snacks
at
Ashby
UK,
putting
our
beloved
Hula
Hoops
snacks
in
boxes.
this
is
keeping
me
very
busy
at
the
moment
so
I
have
not
had
time
to
update
the
website
as
much
as
i
would
have
wanted,
but
it
doesn’t
mean
things
have
stopped
behind
the
scenes,
lots
of
Ditchburn
things
have
been
happening
and
i
have plenty of things to post about
Firstly
i
have
added
a
questions
and
answers
section
to
the
“Tell
your
story”
page
During
my
research
for
the
Ditchburn
Project
i
have
come
up
against
many
un-answered
questions,
some
have
stemmed
from
tidbits
of
information
people
have
given
me,
sometimes
based
on
distant
memories,
some
are
just
dead
ends
with
no
further
information
to
be
currently
found,
as
a
writer
for
a
History
project
I
have
be
careful
that
I
don’t
re-write
history
by
publishing
inaccurate
information
or
misleading
information,
so
i
have
compiled
a
list
of
questions
that
still
need
answers,
but
more
importantly
i
need
proof
to
verify
these
answers,
maybe
a
newspaper
cutting
or
photo
etc
or
at
least
verification
from
multiple
people
that
the
answer
is
factual,
as
time
goes
on,
the
list
will
grow,
and
i
will
publish
the
answers
here
with
the
verifications.
If
anyone
can
help
with
any
of
the
questions
it
would
be
very
much
appreciated
or
if
anyone
has
a
question
they
would
like
to
add
to
the
list
please
email me.
see the Question section here
.
Tony
Holmes
wrote
to
me
recently
to
tell
me
a
rather
sad
story
regarding
a
jukebox
that
he
supplied
many
years
ago
to
the
Beatles
story
in
Liverpool.
he
says….
“
About
20
years
ago
I
supplied
this
machine
to
the
Beatles
Story
exhibition
at
the
Albert
Dock
Liverpool
when
it
was
being
constructed.
I
visited
the
event
about
a
year
later
and
they
were
using
it
in
a
cafe
setting
with
music
playing
through
the
speakers.
This
week
I
went
there
again
and
it’s
still
in
the
complex
but
sadly
it
just
stands
against
the
wall
and
it’s
not
connected
or
lit
and
it’s
suffered
vandalism
and
missing
the
telephone
dial”
really
sad
but
overall
the
machine
is
restore-able,
maybe
someone
should
contact
them
to
either
offer
a
restoration
or
buy
it
to
restore,
its
a
shame that a small slice of jukebox history is being left abandoned …
see photo here
As
some
of
you
know
i
have
a
long
term
project
(
its
long
term
as
I’m
hardly
ever
at
home
)
which
is
restoring
my
Ditchburn
MK2R
which
is
shown
on
the
front
page
of
this
website,
The
Ditchburn
Amplifier
was
sent
to
Geoff
Young
(
the
Jukeboxman
)
for
repair,
one
of
the
main
concerns
for
us,
was
for
the
two
70
year
old
PX4
valves,
as
they
are
currently
£400
each
for
NOS
replacements,
the
great
news
was
that
Geoff
tested
the
valves
and
even
though
one
was
a
slightly
unbalanced
(
but
not
audibly
weak
),
they
were
both
pronounced
working…
and
last
week
i
picked
up
the
amp
from
Geoff’s
workshop
in
Lincoln…
Geoff
played
some
Vinyl
through
it
and
to
me
it
sounded
fantastic,
it
has
a
beautiful
warm
sound
that
only
the
valve
era
can
produce.
a
big
thank
you
to
Geoff
for
his
great
work,
which
included
getting
rid
of
all
them
leaky
electrolyte
caps,
slapping
a
couple
of
new
preamp
valves
and
much
more,
but
more
importantly
bringing
the
70
year
old
amplifier
back
to
life
again … Thank you.
( visit the Jukeboxman website here )
One
of
the
discussions
i
have
had
with
Geoff
and
Tony
is
about
the
tone
arm
on
my
Jukebox,
when
Ditchburn
brought
out
the
MK2
fridge
and
the
MK2R
they
advertised
the
pick-up
as
having
an
everlasting
Stylus,
i
can
assure
you
that
poor
old
Norman
would
be
in
court
today
for
false
advertising
if
he
was
still
around…
the
Pick-up
they
used
on
the
MK2
and
MK2R
was
the
Acos
GP-20
tone
arm
and
the
HGP-31
crystal
pick-up,
but
due
to
the
fact
that
the
crystals
failed
due
to
humidity
damaging
the
crystals
they
were
not
everlasting
and
finding
a
working
one
today
is
like
finding
hens
teeth
…
but
surprisingly
on
my
searching
the
internet
i
found
a
tone
arm
and
pick-up
for
sale
in
Russia,
still
brand
new
in
its
70
year
old
retail
box,
the
pick-up
is
sealed
in
a
screw
top
tin
so
hopefully
it
will
be
free
from
any
humidity
issues,
it
arrived
at
my
house
this
week,
but
i
am yet still to test it, but looks in new condition.
Geoff
has
given
me
the
input
option
on
the
amp
between
using
either
the
crystal
or
Magnetic
pick-up,
so
if
the
pick-up
has
deteriorated, i can still modify the head for an alternative type of pick-up.
( see photos here )
I have found some exceptional information about the HGP-39 Pick-up during my research so i have added it here HGP-39
PICK-UP
And
Finally
for
this
update,
Geoff
Young
sent
me
a
page
from
a
spares
brochure
for
Ditchburn
Jukeboxes,
this
has
info
on
the
Wall
Box,
i
have
added
it
to
my
questions
section,
because
after
discussion
with
Geoff,
we
are
still
not
sure
how
this
works
as
all
the
early
machines
were
manual
selection
and
you
had
to
push
buttons
or
turn
a
knob
to
make
the
selections,
one of the many Ditchburn mysteries yet to be solved
( see photo here )
Posted 23-07-18
Clive
Mark
has
sent
us
some
additional
photos
of
a
car
badge
that
was
made
for
the
Ditchburn
badge
and
also
some
photos
of a set of
Ditchburn playing cards
.
Tony
Holmes
has
also
sent
us
some
great
photos
of
a
pair
of
MK2
Music
makers
and
also
some
photos
of
un-restored
MK2R
Music Makers
, now in the photo gallery.
Geoff
Young
(
the
jukebox
man
)
also
sent
us
some
fantastic
photos
of
some
restored
MK2R
Music
Makers
that
he
restored
in 1982
Posted 15-07-18
Clive Mark has updated his article on the “Tell your Story” page to include some information on the Ditchburn Clairtone
Stereogram
Today we have also added some information regarding the acos tone arm types used in the MK1, MK2 and MK2R technical
and Schematics sections.
Posted 14-07-18
T
oday
is
a
very
special
and
exciting
day
for
me
as
we
have
now
completed,
and
can
finally
publish
the
article
written
by
Tony
Holmes
following
his
full
restoration
of
the
only
known
surviving
Jack
Hylton
Mk1
Jukebox
made
by
Hawtin’s
in
1946.
the
restoration
was
done
in
2014,
and
Tony
photographed
the
whole
process,
(
thankfully
)
and
we
appreciate
the
fact
that
he
is
sharing it with this website and with our readers. Enjoy the
Full Restoration of the Jack Hylton MK1 Jukebox by Tony Holmes
Posted 13-07-18
T
oday
we
have
added
the
Ditchburn
1972
Company
Handbook,
that
was
set
to
us
by
Tony
Holmes,
it
contains
an
amazing
amount
of
detail
about
the
humble
beginnings
of
the
company,
and
also
opens
some
more
unanswered
questions,
like
where
in
Blackpool
was
the
first
Ditchburn
Factory
before
it
moved
to
Lytham
in
1949,
maybe
Norman
utilised
the
Hawtins
factory
?,
i
need
to
do
some
more
investigation
as
i
cant
find
any
Ditchburn
documents
with
a
Blackpool
Address
See
the
Handbook
HERE
As you can see from the top of this page my lovely enamelled Ditchburn Music Maker badge arrived from
www.jukeboxparts.co.uk thanks for the speedy delivery guys.
Also today i started reading the book Jukebox Britain By Adrian Horn ( recommended by Tony ) a great book with lots of
Ditchburn references.
Posted 12-07-18
Hello
Music
Makers,
We
have
added
some
more
photos
to
the
photo
gallery
here
and
we
recently
received
a
request
regarding
the
loan
of
a
Mk2
Jukebox
to
the
Blackpool
Museum
Project,
i
have
added
the
request
and
information
about
the
project to the
Tell Your Story Page
.
Posted 11-07-18
Hello
Music
Makers,
welcome
to
another
day
in
the
wonderful
world
of
Ditchburn,
Today
we
are
proud
to
present
an
fantastic
article
by
Tony
Holmes
on
how
he
acquired
the
only
known
surviving
Jack
Hylton
Mk1
Juke
box,
there
is
more
to
follow
on
this wonderful machine so watch this space for more updates, check out the Tony’s article on the
Tell Your Story page here
Posted 10-07-18
Lots
and
Lots
happening
behind
the
scenes
tonight
on
the
website,
but
not
much
that
is
is
visible
at
the
moment
…
but
not
long,
and
it
will
all
be
out
there
soon…
We
have
added
the
original
Hawtin’s
Sales
sheets
to
the
Mk1
info
and
Mk2
info
pages
in
the
Juke
box
section,
this
does
throw
a
few
questions
out
there…
regarding
what
amplifiers
were
fitted
to
the
MK1
…
but
as
there
is
also
a
sales
sheet
for
the
MK2
around
this
same
time,
i
think
this
was
in
the
later
stages
of
production
and
just
before the business was handed over to Norman Ditchburn… if only… i had a time machine !
☺
Regarding
the
restoration
of
my
Ditchburn
Amplifier,
the
bad
news
yesterday
turned
out
not
to
be
quite
as
bad
as
i
thought,
Geoff
Young
“the
Jukebox
man”
contacted
me
today
to
say
although
one
of
the
PX4
valves
showed
low
emission
during
the
testing
it
has
not
necessarily
failed,
sometimes
they
can
rise
again
when
in
the
correct
electrical
environment,
so
fingers
crossed
once
the
little
mite
has
had
a
couple
of
volts
across
its
filaments
for
a
while
it
may
spring
back
into
life…
but
hey…
when
your
a
70
year
old
valve
and
not
had
your
bits
tickled
in
a
while
..
i
guess
it
takes
a
bit
of
foreplay
to
spring
you
back
into action
☺
Posted 09-07-18
Just
when
you
think
there
is
just
a
little
bit
to
do
on
the
website
…
and
then
its
all
hand
to
the
decks,
but
i
mean
that
in
a
really
good
way,
especially
after
the
bad
news
i
had
today,
but
more
of
that
later,
Yes,
this
has
been
one
of
my
busiest
evenings
ever,
but
it
has
been
incredibly
good
fun
and
very
satisfying.
Firstly
Tony
Holmes
has
written
an
article
on
how
he
acquired
his
MK1
Jukebox,
and
it
is
quite
fascinating,
we
should
be
publishing
that
over
the
next
day
or
so
when
it
is
fully
finished,
We
also
had
an
article
from
Clive
Mark
about
his,
and
his
fathers
time
at
the
Dock
Road
factory
.
i
n
the
Tell
Your
Story
section.
we
have
also
added
a
few
photos
to
the
website
as
well.
So
onto
the
bad
news
i
had
today,
I
had
an
Email
from
Geoff
Young
“the
Jukebox
man”
who
is
rebuilding
my
Ditchburn
Amp,
on
Saturday
he
took
the
two
PX4
valves
to
a
friend
with
a
PX4
tester
to
make
sure
they
are
OK,
unfortunately
the
news
today
is
that
only
one
of
my
PX4
valves
are
working,
which
means
that
i
need
to
buy
another
PX4
Valve,
and
as
these
are
quite
scarce
they
don’t
come
cheap…
at
least
one
of
them
works..
so
i
guess
it
could
have
been
a
lot
worse
or
at
least
double
worse.
so
until
tomorrow
evening
folks…
Dr
Ditchburn Signing off …
Posted 08-07-18
Good
day
to
all
my
Music
Maker
Friends,
This
weekend
has
been
fully
taken
up
with
lots
of
back-end
things
happening
on
the
website,
the
Jukeboxes
section
now
have
the
info,
technical,
and
Restoration
pages
added,
although
still
in
the
construction
phase
we
will
start
adding
more
content
soon.
we
have
had
some
photos
sent
to
us
by
Abigail
Hudlass-Galley
of
a
music
maker
Panoramic
that
is
soon
to
be
restored,
we
have
also
added
some
more
photos
sent
to
us
by
Freddy
Bailey
in
the
Photo
Gallery,
Coming
soon
in
the
“Tell
Your
Story”
section
is
an
article
from
Tony
Holmes
on
how
he
obtained
the
only
known surviving Jack Hylton Music Maker MK1.
Posted 07-07-18
Hello
everyone
in
Ditchburn
Land
…
This
week
i
have
been
busy
working
near
Lincoln
at
the
new
Jordan’s
Ryvita
factory,
because
of
the
hectic
work
schedule
i
have
had
little
time
to
update
the
website,
but
some
page
links
are
now
working,
but
being
in
Lincoln
did
allow
me
to
start
the
process
of
the
restoration
of
my
MK2R
Jukebox,
as
fortunately
Lincoln
is
also
the
home
of
Geoff
Young,
aka..
“The
Jukebox
Man”
,
so
on
Friday
i
took
my
Ditchburn
Amplifier
to
Geoff’s
workshop
for
inspection,
I
thoroughly
enjoyed
talking
to
Geoff,
he
is
extremely
knowledgeable
and
has
done
some
amazing
amp
rebuilds,
and
is
a
genuinely
helpful
and
nice
guy,
I
will
be
following
the
progress
of
the
Amp
restoration
here
on
the
website,
Geoff’s
first
task
is
to
get
the
PX4
valves
tested
which
he
is
doing
this
Saturday,
we
also
now
have
restoration
pages
added
into
each
model
in
Jukebox
section
of
this
website,
so
if
anyone
has
photos
of
a
Ditchburn
restoration
that
they
have
done
or
are
currently
undertaking,
send
us
some
photos
and
we
will
add
it
to
restoration
sections.
The
restoration
of
my
MK2R
will
be
a
long process due to my work schedule ( I’m predicting it will take over a year ) you can follow the
MK2R Restoration here
.
I have also added Geoff’s Facebook and website to our Links on the “Contact Us” page Check “The Jukebox Man” out here.
Posted 29-06-18
What
an
unbelievable
time
i
have
had
the
last
few
days,
i
have
started
to
spread
the
word
about
the
Ditchburn
Project,
and
the
response
has
been
amazing,
some
really
great
feedback,
and
i
have
received
some
beautiful
photos
from
Ronnie
Garside,
and
today
I
received
a
video
from
Tony
Holmes
of
the
only
known
surviving
Jack
Hylton
Music
Maker
MK1,
check
out the video in the Juke Boxes
Jack Hylton Mk1
section
Also today Barry Cartmell sent us some great photos of the Dock Road factory, thanks Barry…
posted 26-06-18
The website is now starting to take shape, and more pages are getting added, the aim is to get the History section up and
running first and then move on to the other sections. we hope you enjoy you visit here and please join our face book page to
get notifications of further website updates.
Posted 03-06-18
Well... for a start this website is “what’s new” ☺
Welcome
to
the
History
Of
Ditchburn
Jukeboxes
website,
I
have
started
this
website
as
a
definitive
place
to
go
for
all
things
Ditchburn,
The
idea
for
the
website
started
when
I
acquired
a
Music
Maker
MK2R
(
The
one
shown
on
the
Home
page
)
and
started
to
search
for
information
about
Ditchburn
on
the
internet
to
help
me
restore
it
to
its
former
glory,
I
found
a
few
articles
and
bits
and
pieces,
but
information
was
fragmented
and
spread
over
many
different
types
of
websites,
and
sometimes
contradicted
itself,
so
I
thought
it
would
be
great
to
have
a
website
that
preserved
the
history
of
Ditchburn
Jukeboxes
and
provided
all
the
history
and
information
in
one
place.
I
started
another
website
about
3
years
ago
that
was
a
very
similar
project
for
a
company
in
Norwich
called
Autowrappers
that
produces
packaging
machinery,
www.autowrappers.co.uk
this
company
started
around
the
same
time
as
Ditchburn
(
1947
)
and
is
still
going
strong
today,
the
response
was
fantastic
and
the
amount
of
information
sent
to
us
was
far
more
than
we
ever
expected,
and
it
has
now
become
the
definitive
go
to
website
for the history of Auto-wrappers. Please check it out.
I am hoping that we can bring the history of Ditchburn website to a similar standard, the current plan is to include the
following …
1, The history of the company though the years until its takeover by Gainesmead in 1972 2, Information about its subsidiary
companies, including the background music, Record Labels, and vending ventures.
3, Information of all the models of Jukeboxes Manufactured at the Blackpool and Lytham St Anne’s Factories and also the
later German imports that were customised for Ditchburn.
4, Jukebox Technical Information for each model produced, including Schematics and drawings to assist others in the future
to restore and repair of these wonderful machines. and possibly a database of all known surviving machines.
5, The People that worked for and with the Ditchburn Organisation. And its distribution sector.
6, Other Content and stories linked to Ditchburn.
7, A Restoration section following the work of others, bringing these machines back to life ( including the restoration of my
own MK2R),
8.also a Jukebox Links page for all companies and people providing Jukebox services including Jukebox forums that offer
advice and help relating to Ditchburn Jukeboxes.
If anyone would like to see anything else added to the website, please let me know via the contact us page and I will do my
best to get it implemented, I see myself as the guardian of this website, not the owner, I do not own any of the content, it has
all been provided by the generosity and help of others for which I am very grateful.
If anyone has anything they would like to share on the website, please email me at Jukebox@ditchburn.co.uk
The website will be updated on a regular basis, so please check back at this page to follow the progress of the website.
Click on the yellow highlighted
areas below to follow the links