Marconi made the first demonstration of his system for the British government in July 1896. A further series of demonstrations for the British followed, and, by March 1897, Marconi had transmitted Morse code signals over a distance of about across Salisbury Plain. On 13 May 1897, Marconi sent the first ever wireless communication over open sea - a message was transmitted over the Bristol Channel from Flat Holm Island to Lavernock Point near Cardiff, a distance of . The message read Are you ready. The transmitting equipment was almost immediately relocated to Brean Down Fort on the Somerset coast, stretching the range to .