The Waltham transmitting station is a

broadcasting Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began wi ...

and

telecommunications Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that ...

facility at Waltham-on-the-Wolds, 5 miles (8 km) north-east of

Melton Mowbray Melton Mowbray () is a town in Leicestershire, England, north-east of Leicester, and south-east of Nottingham. It lies on the River Eye, known below Melton as the Wreake. The town had a population 27,670 in 2019. The town is sometimes promo ...

. It sits inside the Waltham

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

near Stonesby, in the district of Melton,

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire ...

, UK. It has a guyed steel tubular

mast Mast, MAST or MASt may refer to: Engineering * Mast (sailing), a vertical spar on a sailing ship * Flagmast, a pole for flying a flag * Guyed mast, a structure supported by guy-wires * Mooring mast, a structure for docking an airship * Radio mas ...

. The main structure height to the top of the steelwork is 290.8 metres (954 ft), with the

UHF Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter (on ...

television antennas contained within a GRP shroud mounted on top.

Construction

First structure

The first mast was built in 1966. On 16 November 1966, it collapsed. Parts of the wreckage are still in use as pig shelters. It had been built by the British Insulated Cables Construction Company. It was to have begun broadcasts in the summer of 1967.

Second structure

The structure was rebuilt in 1968 by the BBC. This delayed its first transmissions until 31 August 1968 of

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream a ...

only. It broadcast ITV from February 1970 and

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

from August 1970. On 9 April 1970, the whole region lost the signal when an excavator damaged the station's main cable. The mast was one of three similar types built at the same time by the BBC, with Mendip and

Bilsdale Bilsdale is a 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 Seph, formed w ...

. It is a shorter version of the second Emley Moor transmitter which collapsed whilst broadcasting on 19 March 1969, due to the weight of ice on the structural cables. The Waltham mast has four sets of stay levels as opposed to the six of the former Emley mast. The latter was identical to the current 385m high Belmont mast, both built by the

ITA Ita or ITA may refer to : Places and jurisdictions * ITA, ISO 3166-1 country code for Italy * Ita (Africa), an ancient city and former bishopric in Roman Mauretania, presently a Latin Catholic titular see * Itá, Paraguay People * Ita (pr ...

. It is east of the A607 between Grantham and

Coverage

The mast was originally built to provide BBC2 (on the new

625 lines system) to the

East Midlands The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Leicestershire, Derbyshire, L ...

. It became the main mast for ITV's

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known a ...

East Midlands from 1982 and

BBC East Midlands BBC East Midlands is the BBC English Region covering Derbyshire (except High Peak, North East Derbyshire and the northern areas of the Derbyshire Dales), Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire (except Bassetlaw), Rutland, southern parts of South Kes ...

from 1991. Previously it had carried broadcasts from Birmingham. NICAM was transmitted from 31 March 1992. It is now the main TV transmitter for all digital terrestrial channels covering the East Midlands, predominantly including most of

Rutland Rutland () is a ceremonial county and unitary authority in the East Midlands, England. The county is bounded to the west and north by Leicestershire, to the northeast by Lincolnshire and the southeast by Northamptonshire. Its greatest len ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The trad ...

and

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

. It can also be received in parts of

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the Nor ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to t ...

Huntingdonshire Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire and a historic county of England. The district council is based in Huntingdon. Other towns include St Ives, Godmanchester, St Neots and Ramsey. The popu ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avo ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands C ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

and

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

. It is owned and operated by Arqiva.

Digital TV

Waltham first broadcast digital TV on 15 November 1998. In July 2007 was confirmed by Ofcom that at DSO (Digital Switchover) Waltham would be transmitting five - of the six - MUXes within its original C/D group. For reception of all 6 MUXES a wideband is required. When Waltham undertakes its 700MHz clearance, between February and March 2020, it will become an A group - excluding MUXES 7 and 8 which are due to be switched off before the end of 2022 anyway (se
graph
.

Relay stations

The two most powerful relays are at

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

(just west of the M1 J26) and at

Stanton Moor Stanton Moor is a small upland area in the Derbyshire Peak District of central northern England, lying between Matlock and Bakewell near the villages of Birchover and Stanton-in-Peak. It is known for its megaliths – particularly the Nine La ...

(near

Bakewell Bakewell is a market town and civil parish in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire, England, known also for its local Bakewell pudding. It lies on the River Wye, about 13 miles (21 km) south-west of Sheffield. In the 2011 census, t ...

). The Nottingham relay at Kimberley began on 30 March 1973, following tests from late February 1973 ''Nottingham Evening Post'' Tuesday 20 February 1973, page 1 The area immediately to the north west of the latter transmitter i
the meeting point
between the Winter Hill, Emley Moor, Sutton Coldfield, and Waltham broadcasting regions and this is why just north-west of Bakewell, the filler transmitters are BBC North West. Stanton Moor transmitter feeds the Darley Dale site, which was Britain's 1000th television relay station.

Transmitted services

Analogue radio

Digital radio (DAB)

Digital television

On 4 March 2020, the following channels came into use as a result of the 700MHz clearance programme.

Before 700MHz clearance

Prior to 4 March 2020, the following channels were used.

Before switchover

Analogue television

Analogue television is no longer transmitted from Waltham. BBC Two closed on UHF 64 on 17 August 2011. ITV1 was moved into its frequency at the time and the BBC A multiplex began transmitting on UHF 61. The remaining four analogue channels were switched off on 31 August.

Notes

References

External links

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

The Transmission Gallery: photographs, coverage maps and information

Waltham at UK Free TV

Relay stations

Ashbourne
on Wyaston Road
Ashford-in-the-Water
off the A6
Belper
on Firestone Hill near Hazelwood
Birchover
at Uppertown Farm towards

Winster Winster is a village in the English Derbyshire Dales about from Matlock and from Bakewell at an altitude of approximately . It was formerly a centre for the lead mining industry. The village lies within the Peak District National Park and The ...

Bolehill
near the National Stone Centre
Darley Dale

Eastwood
next to

Morrisons Wm Morrison Supermarkets, trading as Morrisons, is the fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Scotland, as well as one in Gibraltar. The company is headq ...

Little Eaton
next to the A38
Matlock
at High Tor, east of the A6
Nottingham
in Strelley, Broxtowe
Parwich
towards Tissington
Stamford
on Barnack Road next to Stamford High School
Stanton Moor
at Stanton in Peak next to the Nine Ladies {{Television transmitters in the UK Buildings and structures in Leicestershire Transmitter sites in England Mass media in the East Midlands Borough of Melton 1968 establishments in England 1968 in British television Buildings and structures completed in 1968

Construction

First structure

Second structure

Coverage

Digital TV

Relay stations

Transmitted services

Analogue radio

Digital radio (DAB)

Digital television

Before 700MHz clearance

Before switchover

Analogue television

See also

Notes

References

External links

Relay stations