History

The ITA transmitter at Emley Moor entered service on 3 November 1956. At this stage the service was provided by Granada (weekdays) and ABC (weekends) as part of the "North" franchise. The Post Office provided a link from Manchester to Windy Hill where a stayed mast was added alongside the tower used for the (BBC) Manchester to Kirk o'Shotts link. The addition of BBC2 in January 1966 led to the requirement for a further vision circuit from Manchester. We understand these links operated at 4 GHz using GEC equipment.

A re-organisation of the ITV regions led to the transmitter being assigned to the new Yorkshire region. The contractor, YTV, established studios in Leeds and started operation in July 1968. The incoming ITV network feed was provided from Manchester via Windy Hill and Tinshill on a GEC L6 GHz system which included a return channel from YTV to the network. A two-way link between Tinshill and Emley Moor was introduced (allowing outside broadcasts to be received at the transmitter site) - this used transportable Pye equipment in the 7 GHz broadcast links band. During 1966 a new 385 m tubular mast had been brought into service at Emley Moor. The intention was for this to carry BBC1 and ITV UHF services in due course. The Post Office had planned to transfer the BBC2 link to the new L6 GHz system in April 1969, apparently re-using the 4 GHz equipment between Leeds and Emley Moor. A further vision circuit for BBC1 was to be provided later in 1969.

As is well documented elsewhere, the tubular mast collapsed on 19 March 1969. In subsequent days temporary masts and towers were used to restore ITV (VHF) and BBC2 but this also required changes to the vision circuits since it was not possible to establish a direct path to Windy Hill. An article in the Post Office Electrical Engineers' Journal, October 1969, describes the arrangements. The replacement concrete tower became operational in 1971 with all services fed via the planned new links from Tinshill. It is unlikely the direct path between Windy Hill and Emley Moor was restored.