For a number of years I’ve been a follower of and contributor to the mb21 Transmission Gallery which aims to document the various sites (now over 2000) used for radio and television broadcasting in the UK. A number of these are sites originally used by the Post Office (later BT) for microwave linking and many of the link sites played an important part in broadcasting, carrying television programmes from studios to transmitters.

Following a visit to Kirkby Underwood in February 2016 and encouraged by a few others with similar interest I started research into the history, development and subsequent decline in the PO/BT network. The majority of the photographs come either from BT Archives or via Geograph. The text is based on archive material where available, from observation, and in some cases from an element of deduction.

The material is arranged as individual pages for each known site and as a series of features describing the technology and overall history. There are bound to be errors – I would be pleased to correct them and add additional material, please contact me with any relevant details. There is a list of unresolved issues here…

Please note: most of the sites described remain operational and are not open to the public – a number are surrounded by private land with limited access.