60 years of Television from Emley Moor

The view from Emley Moor tower West Yorkshire Credit: JON MITCHELL

By Jon Mitchell

Standing 330 meters high or 1,084 feet, the Arqiva tower, more commonly known as Emley Moor mast is visible for miles around and this year marks 60 years since transmissions started from the site and 45 years since the familiar concrete tower became fully operational

Emley Moor Tower Credit: MARK COSGRAVE

The grade two listed building is the tallest free standing structure in the UK. It stands 20 metres higher than the shard in London and weighs 11,200 tonnes.

It's a listed building and in a high wind it does list! This plum-bob indicates how much the tower is swaying. Credit: JON MITCHELL

This tower is actually the third to have occupied the site.

The orginal was a lot smaller and it was officially opened in 1956 to provided independent television to the Yorkshire area.

It was replaced by a taller 1,265 foot mast in 1964 after colour TV was introduced.

At the time it was the tallest structure in the world but on 19th March 1969 a combination of strong winds and ice brought it crashing to the ground.

This is a scale model of the tower produced during the planning phase in 1969 Credit: ARQIVA/JON MITCHELL

Click below to watch Jon Mitchell's report: