Winter Hill Transmitter
The Winter Hill transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications site on Winter Hill, at the south eastern boundary of the Borough of Chorley, Lancashire, England, and above Bolton. It is owned and operated by Arqiva.
The original mast was a 140-metre (450 ft) tower that came into service on 3 May 1956 and carried the programmes of Granada Television (weekdays) 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 309.48 metres (1,015.4 ft) tall and has a diameter of 2.75 metres (9.0 ft). During the period of parallel digital and analogue transmissions, the DTT antenna attached to the top of the mast brought the overall height to 315.4 metres (1,035 ft), however as part of the Digital Switchover plans, this antenna has now been removed, reducing its overall height to 309.48 metres (1,015.4 ft). It is one of the tallest structures in the United Kingdom, the tallest being Skelton mast; however, at 778.1 metres (2,553 ft) above sea level, Winter Hill has the highest television transmitting antenna in the United Kingdom and is higher than Green Hill, the highest hill in Lancashire.
Picture by Dave Green
Maintenance
An advantage of the tubular design is that engineers can ascend the inside of 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.
