Winter Hill transmitting station


The Winter Hill transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications site on Winter Hill, at the southern boundary of the Borough of Chorley, Lancashire and above Bolton. It is owned and operated by Arqiva.

Height

The original mast at Winter Hill was a tower that came into service on 3 May 1956, and carried the programmes of Granada Television and ABC Weekend Television. In 1966 services were transferred to a new higher mast erected adjacent to the original tower. The main mast structure is tall and has a diameter of. During the period of parallel digital and analogue transmissions, the DTT antenna attached to the top of the mast brought the overall height to, however as part of the Digital Switchover plans, this antenna has now been removed, reducing its overall height to. It is one of the tallest structures in the United Kingdom, the tallest being the mast at Belmont in Lincolnshire with a height of ; however, at above sea level, Winter Hill has the highest television transmitting antenna in the United Kingdom and is higher than Gragareth, the highest hill in Lancashire.

Construction

Unlike most masts, which are of a lattice design, Winter Hill mast is of a tubular construction. Five other masts in England share this design. Support wires, to hold the mast vertical, are pitched at 120° when viewed from above. These are connected at 5 heights, giving 15 supports in total. In recent years, these wires have been strengthened, and of dampening chains have been fitted by Arqiva to reduce the oscillations caused by high winds that were a factor in the collapse of Emley Moor's original structure in 1969. During 2007 - 2009, the mast was strengthened to allow the installation of the new heavier digital transmission aerials.

Maintenance

An advantage of the tubular design is that engineers can ascend the inside the mast and avoid adverse weather, which is a problem on frame structures. Maintaining the outside of the mast is typically performed using a bosun's chair.
The mast has always had a series of red aircraft warning lights but in October 2006 these lights were substantially brightened making the mast far more visible to passing aircraft. These lights can be maintained from the inside, as the lamps swing inwards for maintenance.
Eight external platforms encircle the mast along its height. These can be accessed from the inside of the mast, and are used to maintain the supporting wires, and the ILR antennas.

Coverage

The station's coverage includes approximately 6.3 million people. The coverage area is mainly southern Lancashire and Cheshire. Relay Transmitters are needed around eastern Manchester, northern Lancashire and The Wirral peninsula. The transmitter also covers the North Wales coastal areas and although not the 'correct' television region, it is the preferred region for some in North Wales, mainly because it carries Channel 4, Channel 5 and a much more powerful digital terrestrial output than the Welsh transmitters. The region's ITV franchisees, Granada Television and ABC Television weekends, were on air much earlier than North Wales' franchisee, WWN which launched in 1962 giving viewers more choice than they would with the Welsh transmissions. ABC Television lost its franchise in 1968, when Granada Television commenced broadcasting seven days a week. Since the digital switchover, the Welsh transmitters are broadcasting DTT at a much higher power and Channel 4, and Channel 5 are now included in the line-up. However, because of terrain and rough landscapes of North Wales, many will find it easier to stay with Winter Hill.

Output

Television

Digital

Winter Hill is the principal transmitter for the Granada region and in 2009 it became the first in the UK to broadcast digital television in high definition.
Winter Hill's 700MHz clearance will end on the 10th February 2020 when, somewhat surprisingly, Winter Hill will become an A group. Because the A group is the opposite end of the band from Winter Hill's C/D, people with original C/D group aerials in poor signal areas may struggle to pick up the signal.
Only four of the 70 Winter Hill relays broadcast six digital multiplexes. All the others broadcast just the three public service multiplexes BBC A, BBC B and D3&4. Winter Hill also broadcasts a Manchester multiplex on Channel 57.
Present channels
These will be moving around until February 2020 due to the 700MHz clearance.
Before switchover

Analogue

Analogue television transmissions from Winter Hill ceased officially early in the morning of 2 December 2009. Since then the site has carried only digital terrestrial television transmissions.
FrequencyUHFkWService
39—Channel M
4812.5Channel 5
55500BBC One
59500ITV
62500BBC Two
65500Channel 4

Digital television

The following is a list of the television relays served by Winter Hill, including UHF channels for each multiplex it carries. Only Lancaster, Pendle Forest, Saddleworth and Storeton carry all the main 6 multiplexes and have done so since 1998 when Winter Hill also started broadcasting these channels. Before 2009, the Cornholme, Lydgate, Todmorden, Walsden and Walsden South transmitters in West Yorkshire also relayed signals from Winter Hill, until this was changed to relay Emley Moor in 2009.
TransmitterBBC AD3&4BBC BSDNARQAARQB
Austwick453942
Backbarrow536057
Bacup464340
Barrow Town Hall444147
Birch Vale464340
Blackburn464340
Bollington272421
Brinscall212427
Broadbottom454239
Brook Bottom536057
Burbage474144
Buxton272421
Cartmel282522
Chaigley272421
Chatburn262329
Chinley536057
Congleton444147
Dalton464340
Darwen453942
Delph262329
Dog Hill464340
Elton272421
Far Highfield525648
Glossop282522
Haslingden262329
Haughton Green464340
Ladder Hill262329
Lancaster272421252822
Langley272421
Lees282522
Littleborough272421
Macclesfield282522
Manchester Hulme444147
Melling HP576053
Melling VP576053
Middleton282522
Millom Park282522
Moss Bank272421
Mottram in Longdendale464340
Newchurch212427
Norden535760
North Oldham272421
Oakenhead444147
Over Biddulph575360
Parbold414447
Pendle Forest282522272124
Penny Bridge262329
Portwood282522
Prestbury464340
Ramsbottom536057
Ribblesdale414447
Romiley444147
Roose HP222825
Roose VP222825
Saddleworth453942515248
Skelmersdale464340
Stavely-in-Cartmel464340
Stockport242127
Storeton282522232629
Stunningdale444147
Trawden536057
Urswick444147
Walton-Le-Dale272421
Wardle282522
West Kirby272421
Whaley Bridge453942
Whalley464340
Whitewell536057
Whitworth282522
Woodnook453942

Radio

FM

† Relays the signal from Holme Moss to cover south and central Lancashire

DAB

† Broadcasts from a directional aerial to cover Greater Manchester.
‡ Broadcasts from a directional aerial to cover central Lancashire.

Plane crash

On 27 February 1958, a Silver City Bristol 170 Freighter travelling from the Isle of Man to Manchester crashed into Winter Hill several hundred yards away from the mast. Thirty-five people died and 7 were injured. The weather that night was so severe that none of the engineers working in the transmission centre were aware of the crash. Several feet of snow hampered rescue efforts, and a snowcat vehicle had to be diverted from the A6 to cut a path for emergency vehicles.

Timeline