The Peterborough transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications facility at Morborne Hill, near Peterborough, England ().
There are two tall structures on adjacent sites: a guyed steel lattice mast belonging to Arqiva, and a tall reinforced concrete tower belonging to BT. These sites are known by their owners as 'Peterborough' and 'Morborne Hill' respectively.
History The site was originally owned by Mr FJ Cheney of Polebrook.Peterborough Standard Friday 20 September 1957 page 1 It was a 7.5-acre site.Spalding Guardian Friday 28 February 1958, page 7 On Monday 23 September 1957 a 110-foot experimental aluminium mast was erected to test strength of transmissions around the area, with BBC engineer Colin White of the Field Strength Test Unit.Peterborough Evening Telegraph Saturday 21 September 1957, page 6 A 560 ft high mast was planned.Spalding Guardian Friday 27 September 1957, page 4 On Monday 14 October 1957 a war-surplus barrage balloon was flown at 600 ft. Morborne itself was 184 ft high.Lincolnshire Free Press Tuesday 22 October 1957, page 8 By November 1957 the test mast was removed.Peterborough Evening Telegraph Wednesday 6 November 1957, page 6 By June 1958, television broadcasts were expected by March 1959.Peterborough Standard Friday 27 June 1958, page 1
On Thursday 30 April 1959, the first 40ft part of the mast was installed, weighing 1.5 tons. The rest of the mast was expected to take three weeks.Lincolnshire Free Press Tuesday 5 May 1959, page 6 Test broadcasts took place from 21 September 1959. Television came from Sutton Coldfield, via a relay at Skeffington in Leicestershire.Peterborough Standard Friday 28 August 1959, page 1Lincolnshire Free Press Tuesday 1 September 1959, page 8
It was the same design and height as Tacolneston. Rowridge, North Hessary Tor and Pontop Pike are a similar design, but built five years earlier.
Transmission The 560 ft lattice mast would open on Monday 5 October 1959, with 405 line television. This was the first day of BBC eastern news programmes. The G.P.O. link between Norwich and Morborne would be completed by early December 1959.Peterborough Evening Telegraph Friday 28 August 1959, page 7 Broadcasts started at 6am on 5 October 1959. The mast did not carry ITV.Peterborough Standard Friday 9 October 1959, page 11 ITV reception came from Lichfield or Mendlesham, in central Suffolk.Spalding Guardian Friday 16 October 1959, page 6
The Sheerhatch television relay, near Moggerhanger, began operating on Monday 20 November 1967, serving Bedford.Biggleswade Chronicle Friday 17 November 1967, page 15 It closed in October 1982.
The FM frequencies were the same as today - the BBC Home Service on 94.5 FM and the BBC Third Programme on 92.3 FM.Spalding Guardian Friday 9 October 1959, page 3 Stereo FM radio came in July 1980, and alsoPeterborough Advertiser Thursday 19 June 1980, page 47 Hereward Radio began broadcasting on 95.7 on FM at 6am on Thursday 10 July 1980. For the south of Lincolnshire, this radio broadcast reception would much better than when BBC Radio Lincolnshire began later in the year in November 1980.Peterborough Advertiser Thursday 10 July 1980, page 1
Arqiva mast
A guyed high-steel lattice mast, belonging to Arqiva, is used primarily for FM broadcasting but carries many other services.
Originally, this mast was built for broadcasting television on VHF Band I.
On 30 October 2004, the original mast was destroyed by a fire. It collapsed, seriously damaging the transmitter building at the base. Services were temporarily restored by transferring them to the adjacent BT tower and two temporary masts, including the BBC emergency mast which was put in use for the first time. A new replacement mast finished construction in 2006 and is in full service.
Communications tower In June 1961 the original GPO 328 foot steel lattice tower had reached 100 feet, which weighed 80 tons. It was hoped to be built by the end of June 1961. It would carry around 5,000 telephone circuits.Peterborough Evening Telegraph Wednesday 14 June 1961, page 6Peterborough Standard Friday 16 June 1961, page 8 The foundations were 700 tons of reinforced concrete. It connected with a GPO tower 96 miles away, the Heaton Park BT Tower in north Manchester.Lincolnshire Free Press Tuesday 20 June 1961, page 8Peterborough Evening Telegraph Thursday 3 August 1961, page 7
The 1961 lattice GPO tower was replaced in September 1970 by a 280 ft concrete tower, built by Monk of Warrington, as more communication dishes were needed, with 9,000 more trunk circuits being needed.Peterborough Evening Telegraph Tuesday 8 September 1970, page 9Peterborough Evening Telegraph Tuesday 15 September 1970, page 7
Services available
Analogue radio FrequencykWService90.1 MHz40BBC Radio 292.3 MHz40BBC Radio 394.5 MHz40BBC Radio 495.7 MHz5.1BBC Radio Cambridgeshire99.7 MHz40BBC Radio 1101.9 MHz40Classic FM
Digital radio FrequencyBlockkWOperator216.928 MHz11A5SDL National221.352 MHz11D5Digital One225.648 MHz12B10BBC National DAB229.072 MHz12D4NOW Peterborough
| BBC One
BT concrete tower The adjacent tower is one of fourteen reinforced concrete towers owned by BT in the UK. It is used mainly for point-to-point microwave links and forms part of BT's national telecommunications network. It was not damaged by the collapse of the Arqiva mast.
See also British Telecom microwave network List of catastrophic collapses of broadcast masts and towers List of radio stations in the United Kingdom List of tallest structures List of tallest structures in the United Kingdom List of tallest towers Radio masts and towers Telecommunications in the United Kingdom Telecommunications towers in the United Kingdom
References
External links The Transmission Gallery: Peterborough Transmitter photographs and information The Transmission Gallery: FM coverage map
Map of site Peterborough Transmitter at thebigtower.com