The Pontop Pike transmitting station is a facility for

telecommunications Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...

and broadcasting situated on a 312-metre (1,024-ft) high hill of the same name between

Stanley Stanley may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Stanley'' (1972 film), an American horror film * ''Stanley'' (1984 film), an Australian comedy * ''Stanley'' (1999 film), an animated short * ''Stanley'' (1956 TV series) ...

and

Consett Consett is a town in the County Durham (district), County Durham district, in the ceremonial county of County Durham, Durham, England, about south-west of Newcastle upon Tyne. It had a population of 27,394 in 2001 and an estimate of 25,812 in ...

, County Durham, near the village of Dipton, England. The mast is high, giving an average antenna height of above sea level. It is owned and operated by

Arqiva Arqiva () is a British telecommunications company which provides infrastructure, broadcast transmission and smart meter facilities in the United Kingdom. The company is headquartered at the former Independent Broadcasting Authority headquart ...

History

The mast was built in 1953, by BICC with Rowridge (also ) and North Hessary Tor in Devon (). Its construction was brought forward by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

so that people in

North East England North East England, commonly referred to simply as the North East within England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of County DurhamNorthumberland, , Northumberland, Tyne and Wear and part of northern North Yorkshire. ...

could watch the

Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II The Coronation of the British monarch, coronation of Elizabeth II as queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms took place on 2 June 1953 at Westminster Abbey in London. Elizabeth acceded to the throne at the age of 25 upon th ...

live on the

405-line television system The 405-line monochrome analogue television broadcasting system was the first fully electronic television system to be used in regular broadcasting. The number of television lines influences the image resolution, or quality of the picture. It ...

VHF then in use in the UK. Test transmissions from a low-power temporary aerial began on Monday, 20 April 1953, and the first programmes were transmitted on Friday, 1 May 1953, in plenty of time for the Coronation on 2 June. UHF transmissions began in 1966 with the first colour transmissions in 1970, and the VHF television signal was switched off in 1985.

Coverage

The Pontop Pike transmitter provides

digital television Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using Digital signal, digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television technology which used analog signals. At the time of its development it was considered an ...

transmissions to

Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England. It borders Northumberland to the north and County Durham to the south, and the largest settlement is the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. The county is ...

, County Durham,

Tees Valley Tees Valley is a combined authority area in North East England, around the lower River Tees. The area is not a geographical valley. The combined authority covers five council areas: Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland ...

, most of

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

and parts of

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

. This includes the cities of

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

, Durham and

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

. It also carries the national

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

FM signals, covering the whole North East, as well as 95.4 MHz FM BBC Newcastle. It was one of the first national FM transmitters in December 1955. All of its television output is within the C/D aerial group.

Digital TV switchover

Analogue TV transmissions from this mast began to close from 12 September 2012 and completely ceased on 26 September that year, making Pontop Pike, alongside

Bilsdale Bilsdale is a Dale (landform), dale in the western part of the North York Moors in North Yorkshire, England. The head of the dale is at Hasty Bank, and the dale extends south to meet Rye Dale near Hawnby. The dale is the valley of the River ...

and Chatton, the last-but-one transmitter group in the United Kingdom to complete

digital switchover Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Businesses *Digital bank, a form of financial institution *Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) or Digital, a computer company *Digital Research (DR or DRI), a software ...

(DSO) with Northern Ireland being the last area to switch. In July 2007 it was confirmed by Ofcom that Pontop Pike would remain a C/D group after DSO. Pontop Pike underwent its 700 MHz clearance between September and November 2019 when its output moved down the band from a C/D group to a K group. Thus people with original C/D group aerials, who live in poor reception areas, may struggle to pick up some channels (se
graph
.

Services listed by frequency

Analogue radio

Digital radio

Digital television

Before 700 MHz clearance

Before switchover

Analogue television

Analogue television from Pontop Pike has now ceased permanently. BBC2 analogue was switched off on 12 September 2012 and the remaining three on 26 September 2012. Pontop Pike never transmitted analogue Channel 5. Instead it was transmitted from

Burnhope Burnhope is a village and civil parish in County Durham, England. It is located in the Craghead valley on the opposite side to Stanley and has 1,564 inhabitants, as measured in the 2011 census. Burnhope overlooks Lanchester in the Brow ...

on UHF 68.

Relay services

Being the main broadcasting transmitter, there are also a number of relays (or repeaters) to cover patches where this transmitter can't properly serve.

Analogue radio

Digital television

The following is a list of the television relays served by Pontop Pike:

References

External links

Info and pictures of Pontop Pike transmitter including historical power/frequency changes and present co-receivable transmitters.

Entry on Pontop Pike on The Transmission Gallery

{{Pontop_Pike_VHF_405-line_Transmitter_Group Radio masts and towers in Europe Buildings and structures in County Durham Transmitter sites in England

History

Coverage

Digital TV switchover

Services listed by frequency

Analogue radio

Digital radio

Digital television

Before 700 MHz clearance

Before switchover

Analogue television

Relay services

Analogue radio

Digital television

See also

References

External links