The formation of Raynet is documented elsewhere, in Southeastern Lancashire, as it was there were a few Radio Amateurs interested in using their hobby for the public good, amongst these were Mr J Scarborough [G3NVQ] and Mr ECM Walton [G4FSN] the latter newly licensed.
The first notable, some would say the only notable, event, which Raynet was involved with in this area, was the Air Crash on Stockport town centre in June of 1967, where an aircraft, an Argonaut I believe, failed to make the runway at Manchester Ringway. Raynet provided additional radio links for both Manchester and Stockport police forces.
In 1974 the reorganisation of local authorities took place and South East Lancashire and North Cheshire were reorganised into the Metropolitan County of Greater Manchester. The county at first had a unifying authority, whose Emergency Planning section was housed in Magnum House off Piccadilly in the centre of Manchester.
While at the moment it is unclear of the exact structure of Raynet in the new county, it appears that there were two fledgling groups at the time one based loosely on Salford & Trafford in the south and one based on Bolton in the north. Mr ECM Walton [G4FSN] was the controller of the Bolton & Wigan Group, appointed 01/10/1979, he also became the controller of the new county at about this time; the exact date is unclear, as is the controller of the Salford & Trafford group at that time.
