# Holme Moss transmitting station

The Holme Moss transmitting station is a radio transmitting station at Holme Moss in West Yorkshire, England. The mast provides VHF coverage of both FM and DAB to a wide area around the mast including Derbyshire, Greater Manchester, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire.

## History

Holme Moss transmitting station was built by British Insulated Callender's Cables with John Laing & Son acting as sub-contractors for the foundations. It became the BBC's third public television transmitter, launched on 12 October 1951. Of historic and technical interest, this operated on the 405 line VHF system, with black and white transmissions originally on British System A, Channel 2, with vision 51.75 MHz, 45 kW and sound 48.25 MHz, 12 kW. The mast survived until the end of the Band I TV broadcasts in 1985, with a replacement mast being constructed, adjacent, in 1984. In early 1986, there was concern that heavy blocks of ice could bring down the old mast: February 1986 had been one of the coldest months on record, but demolition contractors worried that a sudden burst of warm weather could loosen lumps of ice, with the shock of the fall possibly buckling the old mast at its badly rusted centre. This in turn threatened to damage the new mast just 100 yards away and put all its FM broadcasts off air. In the event, a gradual thaw alleviated the problem, and the old mast was taken apart as planned.
The site is now owned and operated by Arqiva.
VHF Radio broadcasts started on 10 December 1956, for the Home, Light, Third Programme as they were then titled (see table). To this day, these three stations operate on exactly the same frequencies as they did in 1956. Subsequently, BBC Local Radio services were added in the early 1970s. With the awarding of a national commercial station, Classic FM is also broadcast. DAB transmissions also now originate from here.
These transmissions cover North West England (mainly Greater Manchester and Cheshire) and most of Yorkshire; however, signals can be heard as far south as London and as far north as Scotland, whilst coverage can also be heard in Ireland and mainland Europe.
The base of the station is 1,719 ft (524 m) above sea level and the mast another 750 ft (228 m) on top of that. This gives a maximum aerial height of 2,467 ft (752 m) which is one of the highest in the UK. The mast weighs 140 tons and is held up by 5 sets of stay levels. At 250 kW ERP on the national channels, it is one of the most powerful VHF sites in the country.

## Services available
### Analogue radio (FM VHF)

| Frequency | kW | Service | Entered service | Notes |
| 89.3 MHz | 250 | BBC Radio 2 | 10 December 1956 | Originally the Light Programme |
| 91.5 MHz | 250 | BBC Radio 3 | 10 December 1956 | Originally the Third Programme |
| 92.4 MHz | 5.6 | BBC Radio Leeds | 1975 | Radiating northwards towards West Yorkshire |
| 93.7 MHz | 250 | BBC Radio 4 | 10 December 1956 | Originally the North Regional Home Service |
| 95.1 MHz | 5.6 | BBC Radio Manchester | 10 September 1970 | Radiating westwards towards Manchester, north-east Cheshire and parts of the High Peak in Derbyshire |
| 98.9 MHz | 250 | BBC Radio 1 | 1 September 1988 | At launch, the output was 60 kW. This was increased to 250 kW on 19 December 1989. |
| 101.1 MHz | 250 | Classic FM | 7 September 1992 |
| 104.1 MHz | 4.4 | BBC Radio Sheffield | 1975 | Radiating south and eastwards towards South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw in northern Nottinghamshire |

### Digital radio (DAB)

| Frequency | Block | kW | Operator |
| 222.064 MHz | 11D | 4.7 | Digital One |
| 225.648 MHz | 12B | 5 | BBC National DAB |

### Analogue television

TV transmissions ceased from this site with the demise of the original VHF service in 1985.
| Frequency | VHF | kW | Service |
| 51.75 MHz | 2 | 100 | BBC1 North |

## Relay services

Being the main radio site in the North West and Yorkshire region, there are also a number of smaller relay transmitters used to fill in areas which receive poor coverage from Holme Moss. This is particularly evident around the Pennines, where there are many hills which result in poor reception from Holme Moss (especially indoors).

### Analogue radio

| Transmitter | kW | BBC R1 | BBC R2 | BBC R3 | BBC R4 | Classic FM | BBC Local | Notes |
| Barnoldswick | 0.02 | 99.3 MHz | 89.7 MHz | 91.9 MHz | 94.1 MHz | — | — | Serves area of Barnoldswick |
| Beecroft Hill | 0.2 | 99.4 MHz | 89.8 MHz | 92.0 MHz | 94.2 MHz | 101.6 MHz | 103.9 MHz | Relays BBC Radio Leeds. Serves western areas of Leeds |
| Buxton | 0.1 | 99.6 MHz | 90.0 MHz | 92.2 MHz | 94.4 MHz | | 96.0 MHz | Relays BBC Radio Derby. Serves the Buxton area |
| Chesterfield | 0.4 | 98.6 MHz | 89.0 MHz | 91.2 MHz | 93.4 MHz | | 94.7 MHz | Relays BBC Radio Sheffield. BBC national FM services are relayed from Sutton Coldfield |
| Cornholme | 0.02 | 99.3 MHz | 89.7 MHz | 91.9 MHz | 94.1 MHz | — | — | Serves villages of Cornholme and Lydgate, west of Todmorden. |
| Haslingden | 0.083 | 99.5 MHz | 89.9 MHz | 92.1 MHz | 94.3 MHz | — | — | Serves Haslingden area. |
| Hebden Bridge | 0.025 | 98.0 MHz | 88.4 MHz | 90.6 MHz | 92.8 MHz | — | — | Serves Hebden Bridge area. |
| Idle | 0.025 | 98.1 MHz | 88.5 MHz | 90.7 MHz | 92.9 MHz | 100.3 MHz | — | Serves Bradford area. |
| Keighley | 1 | 98.5 MHz | 88.9 MHz | 91.1 MHz | 93.3 MHz | — | 102.7 MHz | Relays BBC Radio Leeds. Serves Keighley area. |
| Kendal | 0.1 | 98.6 MHz | 89.0 MHz | 91.2 MHz | 93.4 MHz | — | — | Serves Kendal area. |
| Luddenden | 0.084 | 98.3 MHz | 88.7 MHz | 90.9 MHz | 93.1 MHz | — | 95.3 MHz | Relays BBC Radio Leeds. Serves areas west of Halifax and the Ryburn Valley. |
| Morecambe Bay | 10 | 99.6 MHz | 90.0 MHz | 92.2 MHz | 94.4 MHz | 101.8 MHz | — | Serves large areas of Southern Cumbria. |
| Olivers Mount | 0.25 | 99.5 MHz | 89.9 MHz | 92.1 MHz | 94.3 MHz | — | — | Serves Scarborough and surrounding areas. |
| Pendle Forest | 0.1 | 97.8 MHz | 90.2 MHz | 92.6 MHz | 94.6 MHz | — | — | Serves Burnley and Colne areas. |
| Saddleworth | 0.095 | 99.3 MHz | 89.8 MHz | 91.9 MHz | 94.1 MHz | — | 104.6 MHz | Relays BBC Radio Manchester. Serves Saddleworth and Tameside in the Upper Tame Valley |
| Sheffield | 0.32 | 99.5 MHz | 89.9 MHz | 92.1 MHz | 94.3 MHz | 101.7 MHz | 88.6 MHz | Relays BBC Radio Sheffield. Serves parts of Sheffield |
| Stanton Moor | 1.2 | 99.4 MHz | 89.8 MHz | 92.0 MHz | 94.2 MHz | — | — | Serves areas of the southern Peak District including Matlock, Bakewell and Cromford areas. |
| Todmorden | 0.1 | 98.5 MHz | 88.9 MHz | 91.1 MHz | 93.3 MHz | — | — | Serves Todmorden area (relayed via Cornholme). |
| Walsden South | 0.01 | 98.0 MHz | 88.4 MHz | 90.6 MHz | 92.8 MHz | — | — | Serves Walsden area and Littleborough, just south of Todmorden. |
| Wensleydale | 0.054 | 97.9 MHz | 88.3 MHz | 90.5 MHz | 92.7 MHz | — | — | Serves Wensleydale area. |
| Whalley | 0.01 | 99.2 MHz | 89.6 MHz | 91.8 MHz | 94.0 MHz | — | — | Serves Whalley and Clitheroe areas. |
| Wharfedale | 0.04 | 98.0 MHz | 88.4 MHz | 90.6 MHz | 92.8 MHz | — | 95.3 MHz | Relays BBC Radio Leeds. Serves Wharfedale north of Leeds |
| Windermere | 0.064 | 97.9 MHz | 88.3 MHz | 90.5 MHz | 92.7 MHz | — | — | Serves Windermere (relayed via Morecambe Bay). |

## Gallery

* Holme Moss mast and transmitter buildings
* Holme Moss, near summit from west side
* Holme Moss, eastward view from top
* Holme Moss, transmitter mast and buildings
* A panorama generated from 17 images