Emley, West Yorkshire '16

This is the view I have of Emley Mast, in early morning light, from my backyard...

Paul Abbott said:

This is the view I have of Emley Mast, in early morning light, from my backyard...

Emley Moor Mast - Emley, W. Yorkshire '16 - Paul Abbott​

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Paul,

I like the wavy shadow in this picture, dipping down the sloping landscape.

Interesting mast! I wonder how important it is today and how secret! The giant tower in London is not actually on official maps, as far as I know as it is listed as "secret" as a high security communication device, even though everyone can obviously see it!

But in the age of satellite dishes, are these needed?

Asher

Hi, Asher,

Asher Kelman said:

But in the age of satellite dishes, are these needed?

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Well, many people still rely on "broadcast" radio and TV (which are the principal important jobs of this transmitting tower/station).

The collapse of the predecessor tower at essentially this site in 1969 was a well-known event in this field.

It is not at all "secret". I believe that from time to time, perhaps as a part of charity raffles, citizens are given the opportunity to ascend the tower.

Best regards,

Doug

Doug Kerr said:

Hi, Asher,



Well, many people still rely on "broadcast" radio and TV (which are the principal important jobs of this transmitting tower/station).

The collapse of the predecessor tower at essentially this site in 1969 was a well-known event in this field.

It is not at all "secret". I believe that from time to time, perhaps as a part of charity raffles, citizens are given the opportunity to ascend the tower.

Click to expand...

Doug,

Are you referring to this tower, or the one in London. I didn't know it collapsed. However, the London one was classified even though it was utterly part of the skyline and obvious to everyone- just not allowed to be on maps, AFAIK!

Asher

Hi, Asher,

Asher Kelman said:

Doug,

Are you referring to this tower, or the one in London.

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The mast at the Emley Moor Transmitting station.

I didn't know it collapsed.

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Yes, on March 19, 1969.

The matter-of fact-entry in the duty engineer's log read:



One of the guy wires cut through a church!

However, the London one was classified even though it was utterly part of the skyline and obvious to everyone- just not allowed to be on maps, AFAIK!

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Imagine that! Loose lips sink ships!

Are you referring to the BT Tower or the Crystal Palace Tower or the Croydon Tower or something else? (The coordinates of all these are today well known.)

Well, I guess it would be something else, since it is "secret".

Best regards,

Doug

Doug, i'm glad you highlighted what happened to the '69 mast here. There is a scrapyard on Emley Moor that I sometimes walk past and it holds some of the old concrete cylinders and pipework that belonged to it.
This mast belongs to Arqiva, a communications company I think, off hand. It does have a viewing platform but can't be used now because (would you believe it), it's become too unstable for public use. It's a crying shame for me because I would dearly love to have been up there with my camera, as would anyone I guess. What a view, I can only imagine!

This mast was beautifully lit up at night when the UK had the Tour de France visit. The Tour took in parts of Holme Moss in Holmfirth. Holme Moss has a fully working transmitter at it's peak, too.

Btw, this mast is 10m taller than the Eiffel Tower, fourth tallest in Europe, and is the 23rd tallest building in the world. Not bad for Yorkshire... I'm sure you knew that though...

Asher, it's the BT (British Telecom), Tower your referring to. It was designated a secret and did not appear on any ordnance survey maps. It still stands...and we all know it's there.

Paul, Asher,

This article:

http://www.urban75.org/london/telecom.html

gives a nice review of the Post Office Tower (as I have always called it) in London, including its paradoxical designation (until the 1990s) as "secret".

But is is almost inevitable that it appeared on aeronautical charts early on as it almost surely qualifies as a hazard to air navigation (or at best as an obstruction).

Best regards,

Doug

By the way, perhaps I should make clear a significant difference between the Emley Moor tower and the London BT tower (as it is now known).

The Emley Moor tower is primarily a radio and TV broadcast tower (although I'm sure it has microwave link antennas - including for transmitter link purposes - and probably some other kinds of antennas as well).

In contrast, the BT Tower, at least initially, was primarily intended to carry numerous microwave link antennas, presumably primarily used for the BT (originally GPO) telephone network. It is unlikely that it was ever used for radio or TV broadcast transmission (at least of the "conventional" sort).

With regard to the "telephone network", satellite links are not generally attractive alternatives to "terrestrial" facilities owing to the long propagation delay, which produces to the users of a telephone connection over a satellite link a very unsatisfactory experience.

In modern times, the use of microwave links for "telephone" network use has been greatly supplanted by the use of optical fiber transmission (which even more aptly deserves the moniker "terrestrial, since the cables are almost inevitably buried, or in some contexts, underground *).


Best regards,

Doug

Thanks for that, Doug.
In all reality, I had no idea that the PO Tower had been classed as a secret, To me, the 'secret' is the secret.