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THE OPENING OF BELMONT
With thanks to Brian Barber for the scans
Prior to the opening of the transmitting station at Belmont in 1965 viewers and listensers in the Lincolnshire area had to put up with indifferent reception from more distant stations. In the case of BBC1 this would have meant either Holme Moss, Peterborough or Tacolneston. In the case of ITV the alternatives were Emley Moor or Mendlesham.
But it was the introduction of 625-line colour tv transmissions on UHF which spurred the construction of a new mast at Emley Moor and sites such Sandy Heath, Waltham, Mendip and, of course, Belmont.
The Belmont mast is of the same tubular design and the same height as the ill-fated mast at Emley Moor which collapsed under the weight of accumulated ice in March 1969. Fortunately subsequent modifications at the remaining tubular masts have ensured that there have been no further incidents of that kind.
The BBC and ITV had differing opinions about which region the Belmont transmitter fell into. The BBC provided North region programmes on ch13 while the ch7 transmitter carried the programmes of Anglia tv from Norwich.
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Anglia and the BBC both produced leaflets to publicise the opening of their services in the area and as you will see further down the page the BBC were not slow to point out the advatages of VHF radio over the interference prone medium wave.
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