Peterborough transmitting station

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Morbone hill site from west
Morbone hill site from west

The Peterborough transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications facility at Morborne Hill, near Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, (grid reference TL127913).

There are two tall structures on adjacent sites: a guyed steel lattice mast belonging to National Grid Wireless, and a reinforced concrete tower belonging to BT. These sites are known by their owners as 'Peterborough' and 'Morborne Hill' respectively.

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[edit] National Grid Wireless mast

Original steel lattice mast collapsed, showing contact with building at the base.
Original steel lattice mast collapsed, showing contact with building at the base.

A 154 metre (505 ft) guyed high steel lattice mast, belonging to National Grid Wireless, is used primarily for FM broadcasting but carries many other services.

Originally, this mast was built for broadcasting television on VHF Band I.

On October 30, 2004, this mast was destroyed by fire. It collapsed, seriously damaging the transmitter building at the base. Services were temporarily restored by transferring them to the adjacent BT tower and two temporary masts, including the BBC emergency mast which was put in use for the first time. A new replacement mast has now been built and is in full service.

[edit] BT concrete tower

The adjacent tower is one of twelve reinforced concrete towers owned by BT in the UK. It is used mainly for point-to-point microwave links and forms part of BT's national telecommunications "backbone" network. It was not damaged by the collapse of the National Grid Wireless mast.

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Coordinates: 52°30′28″N, 0°20′36″W