History
Appearing in the 1956 Backbone map as "Coalville", Copt Oak was planned to link with Pye Green and Charwelton and also to "Grantham", serving purely as a repeater station rather than a connection point. A 1959 network map still refers to "Coalville" but by this stage the site was expected to enter service as part of a television link from Birmingham to Norwich via "Peterborough" (Morborne Hill). The map shows the intermediate site at Oakham as part of this route but with a direct link to Birmingham (Telephone House). Links towards Pye Green and Charwelton were shown as "programmed" along with that to "Grantham" which by 1959 was also to be routed via Peterborough. In practice the television link opened in stages and the earliest archive photos (1961) show the building and an empty tower, similar in profile to that at Oakham. The site was adjacent to an ealier "Radio Station" which appears on the 1955 OS map - most likely for police communications. Copt Oak may be the earliest "takeover" site where the Post Office built a new structure and shared with the previous users.
The other routes converging at Copt Oak were subject to a number of contracts awarded to GEC in 1961: Copt Oak to Hunters Stones, to Albrighton and to Stokenchurch. These were the southern sections of "Backbone" and were among the first links to operate in the 6 GHz band, using horn antennas. By early 1965 the tower supported four "large" horns, attached to metalwork added to the original structure. By the late 1960s two of these horns had been removed, a new "small" horn added facing Twycross for the modified Birmimgham to Norwich route and additional dishes fitted, possibly replacing the large horns. These changes may have been associated with a 1965 contract for a 2 GHz link between Stokenchurch and Sutton Common - possibly with the intention to release 6 GHz equipment for use elsewhere.
The next significant change was a replacement tower in the late 1970s.