Tag: Transmitter

June 9th – Sad to note that like other towers in the backbone microwave network, Turner’s Hill mast in Rowley Regis is looking very bare now. The BT Tower in Birmingham now has next to no antenna on it, and No Man’s Heath and Pye Green are also looking sparse too. Turner’s Hill has only a few left, and like the others, are symbolic monuments to a past communications era, a lapsed cold war and the increasing ubiquity of the internet. I loved these installations, they fascinate and haunt me, but like so much cold war technology, their time has now gone.

September 11th – For the hell of it, today I got off the train at Four Oaks and rode back from there. On my way back through a sunny Little Aston, I noted the TV transmitters at Hill Hook. Having recently converted to digital, there are currently two masts – the taller one was first, then the one on the right was erected to substitute for it when the original was upgraded for digital. Now the switchover has taken place, I’m looking for signs of the temporary mast coming down, but nothing yet. 

I love these structures. So elegant, so beautifully engineered. Visible for miles around.

November 23rd – The rain had gone this morning, and it was the first truly clear morning for a week or more. There was a hint of frost, but the breeze and air were oddly warm, yet hard and clear. The lights of Lichfield and Shenstone sparkled in the distance as I poured myself liquid down the Chester Road to Blake Street. There were many good photos I could have taken of this dawn, but sadly, I was running late and had a train to catch, so I settled for a dawn shot of the twin Sutton Masts and Hill Hook from the station platform. The sky really was like this, is was gorgeous. Now the digital switchover is done, wonder when they’ll take down the temporary transmitter?