History
Corby's Crags was initially established as part of the 1951 Manchester to Kirk o'Shotts television route [link to feature], providing an intermediate site bewteen Pontop Pike and Blackcastle Hill. In common with the other sites on this route there was initially a relatively short steel tower carrying a pair of dishes facing in each direction, together with a brick building for the equipment, including standby generator.
The site was later used for the Backbone link [feature] running over a similar route to the north west but diverted to Muggleswick rather than Pontop Pike. The current structure is a large square tower, dating from the early 1960s and with steelwork to support a number of horn antennas.
Post Office drawing DRG 100012 - assumed to be early 1970s - provides an analysis of the tower loading including the antennas then installed or proposed. These were all 12 ft dishes except where stated: four facing Pontop Pike, four facing Wooler, two facing Boulmer and a "small" horn facing Muggleswick. A 1975 photo shows two additional horns which presumably were already present but not relevant to the analysis.
The 1951 building survives and is possibly used by site sharers. A number of 18 GHz links are still operational, including one to Wooler.
