Pontop Pike Television Transmitter

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Pontop Pike mast, left, with dish aerial array to the right

Pontop Pike Television Transmitter, grid reference NZ148526, is a British transmitter situated on a 205 metre high hill of the same name, between Stanley and Consett, County Durham, near the village of Dipton. It provides UHF analogue and digital television transmissions to Tyne and Wear, County Durham, Tees Valley, most of Northumberland and parts of North Yorkshire.

The mast was built in 1953 and its construction was brought forward by the BBC so that people in North East England could watch the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II live on the 405-lines monochrome VHF television system then in use in the UK.

Test transmissions from a low-power temporary aerial began on Monday, 20 April 1953, and the first programmes were transmitted on Friday, 1 May 1953, in plenty of time for the Coronation on 2 June.

It also carries the national BBC Radio FM signals, covering the whole North East, as well as 95.4FM Radio Newcastle. It was one of the first national FM transmitters in December 1955.

Analogue TV transmissions from this mast are due to cease on 25 October 2012, making Pontop Pike the very last transmitter in Great Britain to complete digital switchover.

The mast is 145 metres high, giving average transmitter height of 450 metres above sea level. It is owned and operated by National Grid Wireless.