Holme Moss transmitting station

The Holme Moss transmitting station is a radio transmitting station at Holme Moss in West Yorkshire, England. The mast provides VHF coverage of both FM and DAB to a wide area around the mast including Derbyshire, Greater Manchester, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire.

History

Holme Moss transmitting station was built by British Insulated Callender's Cables with John Laing & Son acting as sub-contractors for the foundations.Ritchie, p. 112 It became the BBC's third public television transmitter, launched on 12 October 1951. Of historic and technical interest, this operated on the 405 line VHF system, with black and white transmissions originally on British System A, Channel 2, with vision 51.75 MHz, 45 kW and sound 48.25 MHz, 12 kW.TV COMES TO THE NORTH The mast survived until the end of the Band I TV broadcasts in 1985, with a replacement mast being constructed, adjacent, in 1984. In early 1986, there was concern that heavy blocks of ice could bring down the old mast: February 1986 had been one of the coldest months on record, but demolition contractors worried that a sudden burst of warm weather could loosen lumps of ice, with the shock of the fall possibly buckling the old mast at its badly rusted centre. This in turn threatened to damage the new mast just 100 yards away and put all its FM broadcasts off air.Guardian, 13 February 1986, P1 In the event, a gradual thaw alleviated the problem, and the old mast was taken apart as planned.

The site is now owned and operated by Arqiva.Arqiva

VHF Radio broadcasts started on 10 December 1956, for the Home, Light, Third Programme as they were then titled (see table). To this day, these three stations operate on exactly the same frequencies as they did in 1956. Subsequently, BBC Local Radio services were added in the early 1970s. With the awarding of a national commercial station, Classic FM is also broadcast. DAB transmissions also now originate from here.

These transmissions cover North West England (mainly Greater Manchester and Cheshire) and most of Yorkshire; however, signals can be heard as far south as London and as far north as Scotland, whilst coverage can also be heard in Ireland and mainland Europe.

The base of the station is 1,719 ft (524 m) above sea level and the mast another 750 ft (228 m) on top of that. This gives a maximum aerial height of 2,467 ft (752 m) which is one of the highest in the UK. The mast weighs 140 tons and is held up by 5 sets of stay levels. At 250 kW ERP on the national channels, it is one of the most powerful VHF sites in the country.

Services available

Analogue radio (FM VHF) FrequencykWServiceEntered serviceNotes89.3 MHz250BBC Radio 210 December 1956Originally the Light Programme91.5 MHz250BBC Radio 310 December 1956Originally the Third Programme92.4 MHz5.6BBC Radio Leeds1975Radiating northwards towards West Yorkshire93.7 MHz250BBC Radio 410 December 1956Originally the North Regional Home Service95.1 MHz5.6BBC Radio Manchester10 September 1970Radiating westwards towards Manchester, north-east Cheshire and parts of the High Peak in Derbyshire98.9 MHz250BBC Radio 11 September 1988At launch, the output was 60 kW. This was increased to 250 kW on 19 December 1989.101.1 MHz250Classic FM7 September 1992104.1 MHz4.4BBC Radio Sheffield1975Radiating south and eastwards towards South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw in northern Nottinghamshire

Digital radio (DAB) FrequencyBlockkWOperator222.064 MHz11D4.7Digital One225.648 MHz12B5BBC National DAB

Analogue television TV transmissions ceased from this site with the demise of the original VHF service in 1985. FrequencyVHFkWService2100BBC1 North

Relay services Being the main radio site in the North West and Yorkshire region, there are also a number of smaller relay transmitters used to fill in areas which receive poor coverage from Holme Moss. This is particularly evident around the Pennines, where there are many hills which result in poor reception from Holme Moss (especially indoors).

Analogue radio TransmitterkWBBC R1BBC R2BBC R3BBC R4Classic FMBBC LocalNotesBarnoldswick0.02Serves area of BarnoldswickBeecroft Hill0.2Relays BBC Radio Leeds. Serves western areas of Leeds Buxton0.1Relays BBC Radio Derby. Serves the Buxton areaChesterfield0.4Relays BBC Radio Sheffield. BBC national FM services are relayed from Sutton ColdfieldCornholme0.02Serves villages of Cornholme and Lydgate, west of Todmorden.Haslingden0.083Serves Haslingden area.Hebden Bridge0.025Serves Hebden Bridge area.Idle0.025Serves Bradford area.Keighley1Relays BBC Radio Leeds. Serves Keighley area.Kendal0.1Serves Kendal area.Luddenden0.084Relays BBC Radio Leeds. Serves areas west of Halifax and the Ryburn Valley. Morecambe Bay 10Serves large areas of Southern Cumbria.Olivers Mount0.25Serves Scarborough and surrounding areas.Pendle Forest0.1Serves Burnley and Colne areas.Saddleworth0.095Relays BBC Radio Manchester. Serves Saddleworth and Tameside in the Upper Tame Valley Sheffield 0.32Relays BBC Radio Sheffield. Serves parts of SheffieldStanton Moor1.2Serves areas of the southern Peak District including Matlock, Bakewell and Cromford areas.Todmorden0.1Serves Todmorden area (relayed via Cornholme).Walsden South0.01Serves Walsden area and Littleborough, just south of Todmorden.Wensleydale0.054Serves Wensleydale area.Whalley0.01Serves Whalley and Clitheroe areas.Wharfedale0.04Relays BBC Radio Leeds. Serves Wharfedale north of LeedsWindermere0.064Serves Windermere (relayed via Morecambe Bay).

Gallery

Holme Moss transmitting station

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