As a maintenance tradesman from Bolton working all over the northwest its a wonderful sight when you spot winter hill from various points accross the NW.
Thanks Martin. Very informative as ever. Your Granada rentals career brought back memories. We had a telly from them in the late 70s and after it had been on for a bit it started to get this high pitched whistle, which you could stop by banging the top with the flat of your hand. The whistle came back a few hours later though so you had to tap it again. As time went on you had to hit it harder and it stopped for shorter times, until we were belting hell out of it every half an hour. Anyway, one night it started whistling and my dad give it a thump with his big shovel hand but it carried on whistling, so he took his slipper off and give it a hell of a whack, next thing theres this blinding flash, a loud pop noise, the set went of and smoke come out of the back. I remember my mum let out a scream! We had no telephone then so next day it was a trip into town to the Granada shop to report it and a chap came to collect it and replace it with a COLOUR set. Wow! Were we posh or what! Cheers the the memories Martin.
I retired from the Broadcast company in Melbourne that designed and built the Digital TV transmitting antenna panels for this site and other sites in the UK. There is also a lot of other equipment for both DTV and FM that originated Down Under in Melbourne. I worked for RFS for 16 years. Greg
Been up there many times but always good to see somebody else pass comments about it.. Great video and thank you .. always baffles me when people give something that somebody else has presented for peoples enjoyment the thumbs down .. Utter knobs them people .. keep them vids coming bud ;)
Hello, thanks for the comment. Yeah Ive been up Rivington Pike but never been so close to the Transmitter, it really was fantastic. Dont worry about the Thumbs down its one person who has 6 accounts. His life isn't very good. Thanks again 👍
I did some army training out of Ramsbottom in 1989 and hiked up past that mast. It was just as cloudy then. I've been meaning to drive up north and see it again. Great video.
I was a JET (Junior engineer in training) in 1969 for the ITA, about 3 years after the tubular mast went into service. I now live in Australia, at 76 years old it is good to see it is still standing as it nearly went the same way as the higher sister mast at Emley Moor that winter. Some spectacular drone shots, I never climbed the mast. The plane crash was about one year after the station opened and the enginneers who were on shift that night still worked at the Transmitter and related events of tht terrible night. It was the copilot who staggered through the front doors all torn and in shock. This was a complete surprise to the shift engineers settling down to stay overnight at the transmitter because of the snow road blockage. Winter is extremly bleak and twice a day we took weather readings. We used the platforms on the mast to measure cloud height, however all to often we were standing in the cloud. Ice on the guy wires and could approach six feet in diameter and about that diameter it was a main contributor to the downfall of Emley Moor. It used breakup and fall spectacular and probably still does today.
The view from my front room window for years until i moved to bury when im travelling home the sight of winter hill in the distance gives me comfort im nearly home 🏡 🙌
The TV and radio engineering itself is a fascinating subject. A few snippets - The aircraft warning lights are now LEDs not bulbs - they are phenomenally bright. Winter Hill has c70 relays that feed directly off the Winter Hill services and in total serves over 4m people. The transmitters are at ground level - the signals are fed up the tower using huge feeder cables to each antenna stack. The tv feeder cables look like drain pipes and are essentially coax cables, but, they cannot be seen at Winter Hill as they are inside the tower. Much space inside will be taken up by these feeder cables. In Winter, engineers will walk into site if they cannot get vehicles up the hill and they will stay there if necessary to protect and maintain the services in bad weather. This hard work and dedication usually goes unseen and unnoticed. The combined transmitter power output is huge - it will easily cook you from the inside if you are exposed to the RF - extremely dangerous stuff to be close too. The stays (guy cables) have many hundred tons of tension in them. They are thicker than your wrist and are re-tensioned regularly - indeed, it looks like re-tensioning was possibly being done in the video. The recent fire that was set on the moor up there put the whole structure at risk - great efforts were done over several days to cool the stays down. Ice was mentioned, but, workers on the tower also have to be very careful. Something like a dropped washer can bounce off the structure and spin out some distance and is potentially a killer for up to 200 feet out.
Light bulbs come in many forms, of which LED being one. So he’s correct to say they are light bulbs. LED light bulbs are a standalone bulb for a light fitting.
And it’s already been proven incorrect things like that dropped from a height are extremely unlikely to do much damage. Skyscrapers are in most cities lol, many have roof terraces and opening windows.
Great stuff Martin so enjoyable The infrastructure built over the years and the reasons for it is amazing appreciate seeing all the brickwork to the old buildings something which is never going to be used again to build buildings Love it !cheers
I went walking up there with my Dad during the 1976 drought! Amazing place. We saw that gravestone you showed as well . . . . there was a place called Jacob's Ladder up there too. Nice one!
Hi Harmonic Resonance Project, Think you may be a bit confused. "Jacob’s Ladder" is one of the main routes up on to Kinder Scout in the Derbyshire Peak District on the Pennine Way near Edale.
The plane had come from the Isle of man carrying as you said motor traders. The effects of the crash as can be expected was devastating to the Island. On a lighter note, on the Isle of man we get our terrestrial tv form local boosters, a much reduced service, do I decided I wanted the full service for my T.V. licence. So worked out if I had a clear line of sight to Winterhill from 5 miles inland on the Isle of man, I did put a b&q aerial up in the right direction worked out on Google earth and a full tv package was mine. Great video by the way
my parents gave me a box of tapes they recorded in Manchester in the 1970's and 1980s'. One of them was a documentary about the Winter Hill plane crash. I will upload it one day
A bit of an FYI, I used to run cables to a few of these transmitter 'shacks' at the base of the antennas, and one of the questions I get asked all the time was, why are the guide cables slack, and the reason is that on windy days, the tower needs to flex. If they were pulled tight, the strain on the cables would be too much and they could fail. A great vid Martin, and I encourage people to see these massive towers. I hope one day to see the Naval ELF tower in Western Australia, it's called Tower Zero and is 387 m (1,270 ft) tall !
Ghosts of times past ,very eerie listening back to the sounds of tv from my childhood,Will have to have a blast up there on the motorbike👍🏼👍🏼great vid Martin.Picture box and World in action takes me right back.
Another great video not been up there for about 30 years must go and have another look next year your videos make me want to go out and explore. I thought you had ringway Manchester with you another great You tuber with great content thanks for sharing guys
In the late 1960s a kid went up the tower. He never came down after disappearing into low cloud. Firemen went up but found no trace of him. His name was hugh binhad. True story.
Ex Bolton lad here, been up there many times, Easter traditional walk was from the transmitter to Rivington Pike, great views in fine weather can see ships on the Irish Sea, and Anglesey.....always weather permitting.
That was brilliant ! I worked in Horwich for a few years and had a couple of strolls over Winter Hill, its a great place with old coal mines and the transmitter
Cheers Martin used to go upto Rivi all the time as a kid great spot wi Barns and bikes on a Sunday Reservoirs and the bridges great bit of engineering Do a bit more on Rivi Leadmine Valley Oh well doing a bit of reminiscing while I am sat here in Oz. Great work Martin
Great Video - most times I’ve been up there it’s been misty -but on a clears summers day you can see Blackpool-Derbyshire-and Southport -I Liked again 👍👍
I have always found it fascinating that you all use vertical polarization for the repeaters/translators. When I saw old images of Aerials on roof tops, they were always turned 90 degrees. We don’t have that here in the states.
Another great video Martin. I've been up there myself as the views on a clear day are amazing! Nice to see Lewis again 😉 Good selection of theme tunes but my memory is rubbish lol
It’s lovely up there, I live at the bottom in Horwich these days. Bit different from Higher Broughton where I moved from and Miles Platting/Openshaw where I was born and brought up.
1.World in Action 2.Tales of the Unexpected 3.Picture Box 4.Thames tv 5.White Horses 6.So it Goes Mr Manchester... 7. Corrie 8.Clive Roslin (radio & TV announcer) How did i do Martim?
Picture Box - I had not heard that since i was a child in the 70's, but recognised straight away. And from what i remember it always sounded like it was being played on the worst tape machine ever built, full of wow and flutter!
I grew up in Blackrod on the side that faced Rivington and Winter Hill in the 60s and 70s before moving down South, then London and now Hungary. It's like seeing an old friend again! Used to explore Rivi occasionally but was a bit far away for a 10 year old to go hiking alone! The Chinese gardens and the Blue lagoon were great in summer, but never got as far as seeing the transmitter. I hope there's footage somewhere of going up inside the tower! On another note, I remember there being a brick cylinder surrounding a mine or ventilation shaft at these coordinates: 53.585316, -2.563146 in a little coppice on a hill or spoil mound - we climbed up it and looked down to see the reflection of the sky in the water hundreds of feet below. The air stank of coal fumes, and I could see smaller tunnels leading off the sides of the main shaft. Very scary! I wonder if it is still there, or if they've filled it in. There used to be a lot of coal mining in the area. Found a similar one on the way to Haigh Hall, but can't remember exactly where it was. Was also a famous and lethal rope swing in Arley near the canal west of Blackrod and on the side of a small rivine - We'd get on the swing, pick up speed and be 60 feet in the air for a good few seconds as it swung out! Nice memories!
ahhhh the creepy Picture Box tune, World In Action theme i thought was rather weird too. Hang on , the video, another informative video from Martin. ((i will have nightmares about that Picture Box tune uurrggghhh )
picture box?, world in action, tales of the unexpected, corrie.....great video Martin, I've not been up this way for many, many years, I must take a trip up there sometime. I always say I bet it looks fantastic from up there on a clear Bonfire night or maybe New years eve! Take it easy mate. Dave.
Ha ha just listened to picture box after I typed it up here.....such a haunting tune! I loved the World in Action theme....takes me back to teenage years and another one was Weekend World....never did politics (wish I had now) but such a good tune I posted a link to the original song it was sampled from then deleted it due to me mixing it up with W.I.A. but here's the link anyway. Enjoy. ua-cam.com/video/qip4aQLc7L0/v-deo.html
Yeah Picture box was a strange tune. The World in Action theme is haunting, it takes me back so far, as a kid i wouldn't have been interested in the content, but the tune, the tune just got in my head and sondtracked my childhood, Granada, Manchester........
I'm sure I heard Tales of the Unexpected, The Tames Weekend TV bite, Definitely Coronation Street, but as I am not a local and we only had certain shows in Australia I am vaguely familiar with one or two others, but can't name them! What a fascinating episode - and I loved the opening, although I wonder whether it's just me or if that little girl playing noughts and crosses with a clown doll in the test pattern image creeps everyone out??!!
Great video, felt like I was watching a documentary ha. In a good way. I’m meeting Lewis soon, where hopefully il get to bring and use the drone. Cool to see some drone footage 🙂👍🏻 Andy
Martin Zero well we haven’t got a definite date set yet but soon and I’ve always wanted to go winter hill so said he will show us it, I’d hope to do a bit of a drone video when up there 🙂👍🏻 All 3 of us could meet sometime, great to find another UA-camr local 😁
Please do more plane crash sites. There are plenty to visit on the moors, I used to hike out to them when I lived in Manchester. Very desolate, sad places but I am sure you would do them justice.
very interesting martin, i remember going up there to RIVINGTON PIKE and there were two medieval barns there, are they still there please, thanks beryl
Hello Beryl, yes they're still there and doing very well, the top barn is a fancy eatery and party venue. Back in good old motorbike gang days we used to regularly go up there on the bikes on Sunday for a chat and a coffee. Bikers still meet there.
That might be Holme Moss tv transmitter mast you're seeing. Very similar with red lights and quite near to the Holmfirth South Yorkshire boundary moorland. Black Hill.
Was up at Rivington Barn a few weeks ago lovely area when the sun is shining , bit of a bugger when the weather comes in, cracking views all around from up there. Never knew about the two incidents you reported on. Another plane crash not many know about is the Salford Lancaster you might want to research that one for a video.
The Lancaster went down on anglezarke Moor. Next door to Rivington there is a memorial to the crew at a place called lead mine clough if I remember it correctly.
I heard Tales of the Unexpected, Picture Box, The Granada caption theme, Corrie (obviously).Winter Hill was also part of the Backbone network that would relay (with many other towers) information from the South up to the North in the event of a catastrophic network failure (Nuclear War). There is a reason so many of them are miles from nowhere. They were maintained by BT and had very distinct shapes to the towers, that lattice structure was one of them next to winter hill TV mast ;)
Welt to Uni in Bolton and used to always be able to see it from around town. Since moving back down south I'm within spitting distance of Sandy Heath transmitter.
When I used to fly from Barton we'd sometimes climb through the clouds to break out in the sunshine 'on top' and see just the top of Winter Hill mast sticking up out of the cloud deck! The tragedy of the Bristol Wayfarer that crashed on the hill was that it was off course as the pilots were tracking the wrong radio beacon in cloud and thought they were west of the high ground. In fact they had flown down the valley to east of Winter Hill below the level of the top of the hill (but being in cloud they could see nothing). Tragically, an air traffic controller at Ringway saw them appear on radar well east of track and not knowing how low they were he gave them a heading change to the right (west) to put them on track for Ringway. This took them straight into the hillside.
Yes it was were the Granada signals for itv on Chanel 9 VHF was broadcast from to cover North west England and Parts of North Wales.. received on the old clunk clunk tuner TV's before they upgraded to UHF and now digital TV signals come from there for those that still use the television aerials to watch tv. It's also used for mobile phone and data networks and microwave links across the UK.
When I was flying out of Barton we would use the mast as a visual indicator ....... If you could see the top of the mast you were good to go with VMC flights! Obviously there was more to consider than that, but it was a handy thing! The mast itself is an excellent visual reference point for navigation!
@@MartinZero There is a lot around there too! You can still see the tiling from the kitchen (all that is left of Lord Leverhulme's house) halfway up the pike! .... and a lot of other stuff too!
I walked up there in 2005, it was a Very long walk as the damn thing just doesn't seem to get any closer until the final few hundred yards! Ha ha. You could get to within almost touching distance at that time, so I got some great shots looking right up from the bottom. Great report as always, I think Winter hill was channel 55 terrestrial. Was that right?
Was up there once hiking with my mate and we came across a couple having nookie in a car parked at the bottom of the mast. Wouldn't have minded but it was 2pm on a Sunday afternoon with loads of people about! My mate gave the lass a thumbs up when she popped her head up 🤣🤣
With grateful thanks to the transmitter people for not letting you up in that thing!!!! Three bits of history learned, thank you nicely. Bit of a short one this time? Did the weather have something to do with it!!
A landmark we can see from all over, especially coming up the M6, as it tells us we are nearly home. I worked on one of the smaller aerials at the side in the 80s, servicing the generators, it was used by the police communications. The others were for other emergency services.
I can see Winter Hill transmitter from my house, I kind of gauge what the weather's like by seeing if I can see the lights at night. The Yorkshire equivalent is Emly Moor transmitter between Huddersfield and Wakefield. It serves Yorkshire from the Pennine Hills in the West to the North Sea coast in the East. It's height is 1079 feet.
Hi Chris. I went to Emly moor in summer and made a half video but never actually completed it. It was when they were building the current relief tower as they are upgrading the main tower.
Little known features of Winter Hill......if you can get down to the anchor blocks (I could because I worked there) & bang the cables with a hammer it makes a sound like the laser blasters in Star Wars.......The Winter Hill tubular mast is the same as the one at Emely Moor that collapsed.....I had a mate that was at Emely Moor the night it collapsed & saw the end of the BBC TV hall dissapear & had the pleasure of explaining to the contol centre is that only 3ft of it was left!......and finally, it's got a dent! Ice formed one winter, fell off, but a crosswind blew it back & slammed into the mast some 20ft off the ground. It was later plated up with angle iron.
Only one I knew was Coronation Street, but also the Thames TV theme. (which reminded me instantly of "Minder") Its funny, you couldn't REALLY have done this video without doing some of the themes, its history as well. (as for not knowing the themes, I'm currently in New Zealand! A little bit out of range for me to have tuned into, right? :) ) AS FOR THE PLANE.... we had a few of those travelling between ChristChurch in NZ and the Chatham Islands. They were known (here and in the UK) as "40,000 rivets flying in formation"... the last plane was removed from service in the 70's.
I remember reading a magazine article by an airline captain who set out to fly every type of commercial plane available during his career, up to and including Concord. He publish his reports in a magazine for pilots. He flew that particular Bristol cargo plane featured in the video and the regular pilot shut down one of the engines. Training pilots do this to see how the pilot being tested copes. After a short time our reporter said to the regular guy I can´t maintain altitude on one engine and was met with the reply "Yes, I know, terrible isn´t it." Normally twin engine planes can manage to stay up and climb at a very much reduced rate. So, with bad weather and if one engine had packed up, no wonder that particular plane crashed.
A brilliant and touching tribute to the Winter Hill transmitter and the programmes it broadcast. As a child I remember tuning the old black and white 405 lines TV into the Winter Hill transmitter, a name to capture your imagination!
Did you grab a pint in 'the slaughtered lamb'? Only joking Martin another great vjdeo mate.world in action,tales of the unexpected ,london weekend television.brings back memories when we had to put 50p in the back of the tv and i always thought if you didnt switch the tv off when the dot was in the middle it would blow up?
There is a small lift at one of the service hatches that takes you higher. My friend and I entered the tower though the cable inlet and climbed up the inside. And came to the first opening looked out and then discovered the lift. Then chickend out and when down..
Interesting watch. Someone went to the Public Record Office (now National Archives) in Kew, London, and found the entire crash investigation file on the plane crash. It is very detailed (including some graphic photos), saying it put the issue of blame on members of the flight crew for following the wrong radio beacon.
Hi Denise, I must admit I never knew about this till I went up there. Yes I do believe they tuned into an Oldham Beacon instead of a Wigan one. A very costly mistake eh Thanks Denise 👍
As best as I can remember my dad,s info on the plane crash, the pilot was lost in the fog and mistook the tv mast for a guidance beacon and unfortunately he thought he was many miles away at a much higher altitude hence crashing into the moor, as far as I know the plane had no defects.
Does anyone remember the great Manchester radio voice Roger Moffat ? He was before my time but my dad and his mates used to drink with him in Town. Apparently old Rog was a bit of a lush and would stagger out of the pub completely p*ssed. An hour later he would read the local news perfectly, apparently quite sober. What a professional!
Thats my forth video on this Sunday 11th Sept 2022, a big thank you and its raining in mid cheshire again. Ps we had a Finlandia TV rented from Granada a good set 26inch screen.
Oh man I remember Granada. My mum and dad rented an Atari 2600 from them for the summer back in '84. Granada Canada had some really aweful commercials on the telly.
@@MartinZero Visionhire,Granada,Radio Rentals,Nems and Stuart and Dorfmans all used to rent TV,s starting with the old Black and White ones, my Dad used to buy the ones there TV Service Engineer's couldn't fix and we would repair and sell them for a £5 that's how I learnt about electronics as a lad. Always remember the 1st colour tele I ever repaired age 15 and I was paid £10 for the parts an labour😊 I remember colour TV,s where very very expensive and heavy they cost more than a car when they 1st came out, hence the reason why so many people rented them. Got a shilling for the meter on the back of the TV 😉👍👍
@@MartinZero Belmont is in north Lincolnshire. The next large mast to the east is Emly Moor (Huddersfield), which fell down in the late sixties. I was about 10/11 at the time and remember people in South Yorkshire had to move their aerials / retune their sets to Winter Hill or Belmont while they repaired the mast. Bet a few Granada lads had to help with that?
@ 6:00 music. World in Action, Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected, Picture Box, Thames Television intro, The White Horses, So It Goes presented by Our Tony❤️, Coronation Street, BBC2 closedown announcement.
Wow I was a girl when most of those programmes came out, I was probably one of the only kids in my class that liked picture box lol, I used to be mesmerised by that spinning box haha (I was born in 1968) x
Same here Sue. I watched far too much telly when I was a kid! I remember watching the World In Action credits with the Da Vinci guy and how depressing the program was. Also, World at War, which was on Sunday night so not only was I depressed about having to go to school the next day, I watched that to lower my spirits even further! Happy days the 70s!
Go cycling up that hill in summer.... get to the top blowing out of my arse lol . My mate who goes with me is a machine and doesn't even get out of breath. The views are amazing in summer. Snowdonia , Blackpool tower , isle of man all easily viewed....... You should have visited the gardens on the other side near the pike
As a maintenance tradesman from Bolton working all over the northwest its a wonderful sight when you spot winter hill from various points accross the NW.
Great video Martin,I can see winter hill transmitter from my house in Hambleton Lancs 👍👍👍👍
Thanks Martin. Very informative as ever.
Your Granada rentals career brought back memories. We had a telly from them in the late 70s and after it had been on for a bit it started to get this high pitched whistle, which you could stop by banging the top with the flat of your hand. The whistle came back a few hours later though so you had to tap it again. As time went on you had to hit it harder and it stopped for shorter times, until we were belting hell out of it every half an hour. Anyway, one night it started whistling and my dad give it a thump with his big shovel hand but it carried on whistling, so he took his slipper off and give it a hell of a whack, next thing theres this blinding flash, a loud pop noise, the set went of and smoke come out of the back. I remember my mum let out a scream! We had no telephone then so next day it was a trip into town to the Granada shop to report it and a chap came to collect it and replace it with a COLOUR set. Wow! Were we posh or what! Cheers the the memories Martin.
Ha, brilliant, I remember our first colour set 😀
I retired from the Broadcast company in Melbourne that designed and built the Digital TV transmitting antenna panels for this site and other sites in the UK. There is also a lot of other equipment for both DTV and FM that originated Down Under in Melbourne. I worked for RFS for 16 years. Greg
Been up there many times but always good to see somebody else pass comments about it.. Great video and thank you .. always baffles me when people give something that somebody else has presented for peoples enjoyment the thumbs down .. Utter knobs them people .. keep them vids coming bud ;)
Hello, thanks for the comment. Yeah Ive been up Rivington Pike but never been so close to the Transmitter, it really was fantastic. Dont worry about the Thumbs down its one person who has 6 accounts. His life isn't very good. Thanks again 👍
I did some army training out of Ramsbottom in 1989 and hiked up past that mast. It was just as cloudy then. I've been meaning to drive up north and see it again. Great video.
I was a JET (Junior engineer in training) in 1969 for the ITA, about 3 years after the tubular mast went into service. I now live in Australia, at 76 years old it is good to see it is still standing as it nearly went the same way as the higher sister mast at Emley Moor that winter. Some spectacular drone shots, I never climbed the mast. The plane crash was about one year after the station opened and the enginneers who were on shift that night still worked at the Transmitter and related events of tht terrible night. It was the copilot who staggered through the front doors all torn and in shock. This was a complete surprise to the shift engineers settling down to stay overnight at the transmitter because of the snow road blockage. Winter is extremly bleak and twice a day we took weather readings. We used the platforms on the mast to measure cloud height, however all to often we were standing in the cloud. Ice on the guy wires and could approach six feet in diameter and about that diameter it was a main contributor to the downfall of Emley Moor. It used breakup and fall spectacular and probably still does today.
Thank you 👍
@@MartinZero your welcome.
The view from my front room window for years until i moved to bury when im travelling home the sight of winter hill in the distance gives me comfort im nearly home 🏡 🙌
Absolutely brilliant mate loved it!
Cheers Pal, your in it 🎥😄
Very useful and informative, Martin. Thanks.
The TV and radio engineering itself is a fascinating subject. A few snippets - The aircraft warning lights are now LEDs not bulbs - they are phenomenally bright. Winter Hill has c70 relays that feed directly off the Winter Hill services and in total serves over 4m people. The transmitters are at ground level - the signals are fed up the tower using huge feeder cables to each antenna stack. The tv feeder cables look like drain pipes and are essentially coax cables, but, they cannot be seen at Winter Hill as they are inside the tower. Much space inside will be taken up by these feeder cables. In Winter, engineers will walk into site if they cannot get vehicles up the hill and they will stay there if necessary to protect and maintain the services in bad weather. This hard work and dedication usually goes unseen and unnoticed. The combined transmitter power output is huge - it will easily cook you from the inside if you are exposed to the RF - extremely dangerous stuff to be close too. The stays (guy cables) have many hundred tons of tension in them. They are thicker than your wrist and are re-tensioned regularly - indeed, it looks like re-tensioning was possibly being done in the video. The recent fire that was set on the moor up there put the whole structure at risk - great efforts were done over several days to cool the stays down. Ice was mentioned, but, workers on the tower also have to be very careful. Something like a dropped washer can bounce off the structure and spin out some distance and is potentially a killer for up to 200 feet out.
Light bulbs come in many forms, of which LED being one. So he’s correct to say they are light bulbs. LED light bulbs are a standalone bulb for a light fitting.
And it’s already been proven incorrect things like that dropped from a height are extremely unlikely to do much damage. Skyscrapers are in most cities lol, many have roof terraces and opening windows.
Great stuff Martin so enjoyable The infrastructure built over the years and the reasons for it is amazing
appreciate seeing all the brickwork
to the old buildings something which is never going to be used again to build buildings
Love it !cheers
Very interesting and atmospheric... Thank you Martin..xx
Thanks very much Anne
I went walking up there with my Dad during the 1976 drought! Amazing place. We saw that gravestone you showed as well . . . . there was a place called Jacob's Ladder up there too. Nice one!
Hi Harmonic Resonance Project, Think you may be a bit confused. "Jacob’s Ladder" is one of the main routes up on to Kinder Scout in the Derbyshire Peak District on the Pennine Way near Edale.
Great video once again Martin, Ikley moor transmitter has a fantastic story to tell if you get chance! Well done again Martin!
Thanks Steve, I bet my mate Lewis would be interested in that
The plane had come from the Isle of man carrying as you said motor traders. The effects of the crash as can be expected was devastating to the Island.
On a lighter note, on the Isle of man we get our terrestrial tv form local boosters, a much reduced service, do I decided I wanted the full service for my T.V. licence. So worked out if I had a clear line of sight to Winterhill from 5 miles inland on the Isle of man, I did put a b&q aerial up in the right direction worked out on Google earth and a full tv package was mine.
Great video by the way
Brilliant ingenuity and thank you 😃
I have full cable tv cable feed, haven't turned the tv on since last summer. Its march 2020 now.
UA-cam killed the telly.
my parents gave me a box of tapes they recorded in Manchester in the 1970's and 1980s'. One of them was a documentary about the Winter Hill plane crash. I will upload it one day
Excellent video Martin really enjoyed it thanks. John
Thanks John
6:14-7:33 the combinations of visuals and old clips was eerie but beautiful.
A bit of an FYI, I used to run cables to a few of these transmitter 'shacks' at the base of the antennas, and one of the questions I get asked all the time was, why are the guide cables slack, and the reason is that on windy days, the tower needs to flex. If they were pulled tight, the strain on the cables would be too much and they could fail.
A great vid Martin, and I encourage people to see these massive towers. I hope one day to see the Naval ELF tower in Western Australia, it's called Tower Zero and is 387 m (1,270 ft) tall !
Hello thanks for the info. I actually never thought of that about the cables 👍🏼
Another very interesting video! So much has happened as what you'd think would be an isolated place!
Yeah true
So Interesting. Like you we got our TV from Winter Hill as kids. Never knew where it was or how impressive it is.
Cheers John
Ghosts of times past ,very eerie listening back to the sounds of tv from my childhood,Will have to have a blast up there on the motorbike👍🏼👍🏼great vid Martin.Picture box and World in action takes me right back.
Hi Carl yeah picture box omg wayy back 😃
Never been up to da top of Rivington Pike another great video and of course clicked on da thumbs up as always 👍👍👍
Thanks Jay much appreciated
Another great video not been up there for about 30 years must go and have another look next year your videos make me want to go out and explore. I thought you had ringway Manchester with you another great You tuber with great content thanks for sharing guys
Great production and editing; particularly enjoyed the steady beat with the overlay - you’ve got a real talent 👍
In the late 1960s a kid went up the tower. He never came down after disappearing into low cloud.
Firemen went up but found no trace of him.
His name was hugh binhad.
True story.
Gerard Jones that’s peculiar, around the same time a young girl fell from the top of the mast, I believe she was called Eileen Dover.
Yeah and Eileen's brother found her he couldn't believe he was looking down at his sister. He was called Ben Dover.
Ex Bolton lad here, been up there many times, Easter traditional walk was from the transmitter to Rivington Pike, great views in fine weather can see ships on the Irish Sea, and Anglesey.....always weather permitting.
I was astounded when I saw the Mersey estuary from up there
I love the idea of a traditional Easter walk from the television mast :)
Every video of yours on Manchester makes me want to come and do some exploring. Fascinating city and great content delivery. Great music too.
Hi Paul thank you very much. Yes pop over. Where are you from ?
Ottawa, Canada. I was over in the UK a few years ago and hope to be back in the next year or two.
Great stuff, well I hope you make it to Manchester. Give me a shout 👍
That was brilliant ! I worked in Horwich for a few years and had a couple of strolls over Winter Hill, its a great place with old coal mines and the transmitter
Cheers Martin used to go upto Rivi all the time as a kid great spot wi Barns and bikes on a Sunday
Reservoirs and the bridges great bit of engineering
Do a bit more on Rivi
Leadmine Valley
Oh well doing a bit of reminiscing while I am sat here in Oz.
Great work Martin
Great Video - most times I’ve been up there it’s been misty -but on a clears summers day you can see Blackpool-Derbyshire-and Southport -I Liked again 👍👍
Cheers Nathan. Yeah you can see Liverpool and the Fylde coast, but not that day 😆
Superb video drove past this so many times in the distance on the m61.....
I have always found it fascinating that you all use vertical polarization for the repeaters/translators. When I saw old images of Aerials on roof tops, they were always turned 90 degrees. We don’t have that here in the states.
Another great video Martin. I've been up there myself as the views on a clear day are amazing! Nice to see Lewis again 😉
Good selection of theme tunes but my memory is rubbish lol
Hi Neil. Everytime I go anywhere its foggy and the views are obscured 😰
Martin Zero better luck next time matey
You always have interesting stuff. Thank you
Thank you
It’s lovely up there, I live at the bottom in Horwich these days. Bit different from Higher Broughton where I moved from and Miles Platting/Openshaw where I was born and brought up.
Brill & love the sound clips. Sadly I can’t remember any of those that haven’t already been answered!
Hello Swizz, thanks, Those soundclips map my bloody life 😆
1.World in Action
2.Tales of the Unexpected
3.Picture Box
4.Thames tv
5.White Horses
6.So it Goes Mr Manchester...
7. Corrie
8.Clive Roslin (radio & TV announcer)
How did i do Martim?
4. is Salute to Thames
Picture Box - I had not heard that since i was a child in the 70's, but recognised straight away. And from what i remember it always sounded like it was being played on the worst tape machine ever built, full of wow and flutter!
Blimey its been a while since White Horses, catchy tune though
Brilliant, only got his name wrong!
Just found your channel. Very good really enjoy your vids !!!!
Danny Rolfe Hi Danny thanks very much, and thanks for commenting 👍
I grew up in Blackrod on the side that faced Rivington and Winter Hill in the 60s and 70s before moving down South, then London and now Hungary. It's like seeing an old friend again!
Used to explore Rivi occasionally but was a bit far away for a 10 year old to go hiking alone! The Chinese gardens and the Blue lagoon were great in summer, but never got as far as seeing the transmitter. I hope there's footage somewhere of going up inside the tower!
On another note, I remember there being a brick cylinder surrounding a mine or ventilation shaft at these coordinates: 53.585316, -2.563146 in a little coppice on a hill or spoil mound - we climbed up it and looked down to see the reflection of the sky in the water hundreds of feet below. The air stank of coal fumes, and I could see smaller tunnels leading off the sides of the main shaft. Very scary!
I wonder if it is still there, or if they've filled it in. There used to be a lot of coal mining in the area.
Found a similar one on the way to Haigh Hall, but can't remember exactly where it was.
Was also a famous and lethal rope swing in Arley near the canal west of Blackrod and on the side of a small rivine - We'd get on the swing, pick up speed and be 60 feet in the air for a good few seconds as it swung out!
Nice memories!
ahhhh the creepy Picture Box tune, World In Action theme i thought was rather weird too.
Hang on , the video, another informative video from Martin.
((i will have nightmares about that Picture Box tune uurrggghhh )
I love those old theme tunes, they are painfully nostalgic
If it wasn't so foggy you could probably see my house from there! Fantastic video!!!!
Geraldine, thank you. It was so bloody foggy the transmitter kept disappearing 😆 I need to go back up on a clear day, are you in Bolton ?
Martin Zero yeah I live on the Salford/Bolton boarder. 👍
picture box?, world in action, tales of the unexpected, corrie.....great video Martin, I've not been up this way for many, many years, I must take a trip up there sometime. I always say I bet it looks fantastic from up there on a clear Bonfire night or maybe New years eve! Take it easy mate. Dave.
Hi Dave. Very impressive ate. 10/10 for picture box. Didn't think anyone would get that 😃 Yeah I would like to go up on a clear night or a day
Ha ha just listened to picture box after I typed it up here.....such a haunting tune! I loved the World in Action theme....takes me back to teenage years and another one was Weekend World....never did politics (wish I had now) but such a good tune I posted a link to the original song it was sampled from then deleted it due to me mixing it up with W.I.A. but here's the link anyway. Enjoy.
ua-cam.com/video/qip4aQLc7L0/v-deo.html
Yeah Picture box was a strange tune. The World in Action theme is haunting, it takes me back so far, as a kid i wouldn't have been interested in the content, but the tune, the tune just got in my head and sondtracked my childhood, Granada, Manchester........
I have worked at Winter Hill telephone exchange, was one of my sites when I was an engineer with BT.
Great video dude! Very interesting. Have relatives who live near Bury and in Bolton so know the mast well.
I'm sure I heard Tales of the Unexpected, The Tames Weekend TV bite, Definitely Coronation Street, but as I am not a local and we only had certain shows in Australia I am vaguely familiar with one or two others, but can't name them! What a fascinating episode - and I loved the opening, although I wonder whether it's just me or if that little girl playing noughts and crosses with a clown doll in the test pattern image creeps everyone out??!!
You can find pics of her as an older woman now. I only have nostalgic memories of the Test Card 👍
Thank you, Martin! I am sure she's a lovely person - it's just something about this photo...
That picture box music stuck in my mind a long time & the world in action music.
Great video, felt like I was watching a documentary ha. In a good way. I’m meeting Lewis soon, where hopefully il get to bring and use the drone.
Cool to see some drone footage 🙂👍🏻
Andy
Hi, Ha I know am starting to sound like the BBC 😃 When you meeting him what you getting up to ?
Martin Zero well we haven’t got a definite date set yet but soon and I’ve always wanted to go winter hill so said he will show us it, I’d hope to do a bit of a drone video when up there 🙂👍🏻
All 3 of us could meet sometime, great to find another UA-camr local 😁
Yeah be cool to meet up 👍
I haven't heard that "Picture box" theme tube in years!!
Please do more plane crash sites. There are plenty to visit on the moors, I used to hike out to them when I lived in Manchester. Very desolate, sad places but I am sure you would do them justice.
very interesting martin, i remember going up there to RIVINGTON PIKE and there were two
medieval barns there, are they still there please, thanks beryl
Yes think they are
Hello Beryl, yes they're still there and doing very well, the top barn is a fancy eatery and party venue. Back in good old motorbike gang days we used to regularly go up there on the bikes on Sunday for a chat and a coffee. Bikers still meet there.
We can see this tower from the Moors around Sheffield. I had no idea exactly where it was or how tall.
That might be Holme Moss tv transmitter mast you're seeing. Very similar with red lights and quite near to the Holmfirth South Yorkshire boundary moorland. Black Hill.
Was up at Rivington Barn a few weeks ago lovely area when the sun is shining , bit of a bugger when the weather comes in, cracking views all around from up there. Never knew about the two incidents you reported on. Another plane crash not many know about is the Salford Lancaster you might want to research that one for a video.
Hi Mike, no never heard of the Salford Lancaster. Yes the views are stunning, it was low cloud on our day as you can see, gutted
The Lancaster went down on anglezarke Moor. Next door to Rivington there is a memorial to the crew at a place called lead mine clough if I remember it correctly.
I heard Tales of the Unexpected, Picture Box, The Granada caption theme, Corrie (obviously).Winter Hill was also part of the Backbone network that would relay (with many other towers) information from the South up to the North in the event of a catastrophic network failure (Nuclear War). There is a reason so many of them are miles from nowhere. They were maintained by BT and had very distinct shapes to the towers, that lattice structure was one of them next to winter hill TV mast ;)
Welt to Uni in Bolton and used to always be able to see it from around town. Since moving back down south I'm within spitting distance of Sandy Heath transmitter.
I do love a good Transmitter
Ah, Sandy Heath was my local transmitter, but we could get London and midlands n Anglia where I lived. Brilliant for Tiswas watching haha
When I used to fly from Barton we'd sometimes climb through the clouds to break out in the sunshine 'on top' and see just the top of Winter Hill mast sticking up out of the cloud deck!
The tragedy of the Bristol Wayfarer that crashed on the hill was that it was off course as the pilots were tracking the wrong radio beacon in cloud and thought they were west of the high ground. In fact they had flown down the valley to east of Winter Hill below the level of the top of the hill (but being in cloud they could see nothing). Tragically, an air traffic controller at Ringway saw them appear on radar well east of track and not knowing how low they were he gave them a heading change to the right (west) to put them on track for Ringway. This took them straight into the hillside.
Oh dear, it was awful what happened
Thanks very interesting is this were the old Granada signal cans from.?
Yes it was were the Granada signals for itv on Chanel 9 VHF was broadcast from to cover North west England and Parts of North Wales.. received on the old clunk clunk tuner TV's before they upgraded to UHF and now digital TV signals come from there for those that still use the television aerials to watch tv. It's also used for mobile phone and data networks and microwave links across the UK.
When I was flying out of Barton we would use the mast as a visual indicator ....... If you could see the top of the mast you were good to go with VMC flights! Obviously there was more to consider than that, but it was a handy thing!
The mast itself is an excellent visual reference point for navigation!
Yeah amazing what you can see from up there
@@MartinZero There is a lot around there too! You can still see the tiling from the kitchen (all that is left of Lord Leverhulme's house) halfway up the pike! .... and a lot of other stuff too!
I walked up there in 2005, it was a Very long walk as the damn thing just doesn't seem to get any closer until the final few hundred yards! Ha ha. You could get to within almost touching distance at that time, so I got some great shots looking right up from the bottom. Great report as always, I think Winter hill was channel 55 terrestrial. Was that right?
Interesting video thanks.
Thanks very much for watching 👍
Was up there once hiking with my mate and we came across a couple having nookie in a car parked at the bottom of the mast. Wouldn't have minded but it was 2pm on a Sunday afternoon with loads of people about! My mate gave the lass a thumbs up when she popped her head up 🤣🤣
With grateful thanks to the transmitter people for not letting you up in that thing!!!! Three bits of history learned, thank you nicely. Bit of a short one this time? Did the weather have something to do with it!!
Cheers Bob
Ummm....why is there chain hoists holding the guy wire to the anchor point in the beginning of the video?
A landmark we can see from all over, especially coming up the M6, as it tells us we are nearly home. I worked on one of the smaller aerials at the side in the 80s, servicing the generators, it was used by the police communications. The others were for other emergency services.
I can see Winter Hill transmitter from my house, I kind of gauge what the weather's like by seeing if I can see the lights at night. The Yorkshire equivalent is Emly Moor transmitter between Huddersfield and Wakefield. It serves Yorkshire from the Pennine Hills in the West to the North Sea coast in the East. It's height is 1079 feet.
Hi Chris. I went to Emly moor in summer and made a half video but never actually completed it. It was when they were building the current relief tower as they are upgrading the main tower.
Little known features of Winter Hill......if you can get down to the anchor blocks (I could because I worked there) & bang the cables with a hammer it makes a sound like the laser blasters in Star Wars.......The Winter Hill tubular mast is the same as the one at Emely Moor that collapsed.....I had a mate that was at Emely Moor the night it collapsed & saw the end of the BBC TV hall dissapear & had the pleasure of explaining to the contol centre is that only 3ft of it was left!......and finally, it's got a dent! Ice formed one winter, fell off, but a crosswind blew it back & slammed into the mast some 20ft off the ground. It was later plated up with angle iron.
Thanks for that
Only one I knew was Coronation Street, but also the Thames TV theme. (which reminded me instantly of "Minder") Its funny, you couldn't REALLY have done this video without doing some of the themes, its history as well. (as for not knowing the themes, I'm currently in New Zealand! A little bit out of range for me to have tuned into, right? :) ) AS FOR THE PLANE.... we had a few of those travelling between ChristChurch in NZ and the Chatham Islands. They were known (here and in the UK) as "40,000 rivets flying in formation"... the last plane was removed from service in the 70's.
I remember reading a magazine article by an airline captain who set out to fly every type of commercial plane available during his career, up to and including Concord. He publish his reports in a magazine for pilots. He flew that particular Bristol cargo plane featured in the video and the regular pilot shut down one of the engines. Training pilots do this to see how the pilot being tested copes. After a short time our reporter said to the regular guy I can´t maintain altitude on one engine and was met with the reply "Yes, I know, terrible isn´t it." Normally twin engine planes can manage to stay up and climb at a very much reduced rate. So, with bad weather and if one engine had packed up, no wonder that particular plane crashed.
A brilliant and touching tribute to the Winter Hill transmitter and the programmes it broadcast. As a child I remember tuning the old black and white 405 lines TV into the Winter Hill transmitter, a name to capture your imagination!
Did you grab a pint in 'the slaughtered lamb'? Only joking Martin another great vjdeo mate.world in action,tales of the unexpected ,london weekend television.brings back memories when we had to put 50p in the back of the tv and i always thought if you didnt switch the tv off when the dot was in the middle it would blow up?
Brian thats true, Many TV's did blow up. That pesky Dot
There is a small lift at one of the service hatches that takes you higher. My friend and I entered the tower though the cable inlet and climbed up the inside. And came to the first opening looked out and then discovered the lift. Then chickend out and when down..
Tales of the unexpected. Corrie , London weekend television ?.
Interesting watch. Someone went to the Public Record Office (now National Archives) in Kew, London, and found the entire crash investigation file on the plane crash. It is very detailed (including some graphic photos), saying it put the issue of blame on members of the flight crew for following the wrong radio beacon.
Hi Denise, I must admit I never knew about this till I went up there. Yes I do believe they tuned into an Oldham Beacon instead of a Wigan one. A very costly mistake eh Thanks Denise 👍
The tune on your video is called Walk 'n' talk.
5:22 "... There's also microwave dishes that curry all sorts of things... " 😂
I knew the manager of the station he lived three doors down from me in heywood ,wild place been up there many times with the rochdale ramblers
Is that ringway manchester up there with you l
Am subbed to him for radios
Yep thats him 👍
As best as I can remember my dad,s info on the plane crash, the pilot was lost in the fog and mistook the tv mast for a guidance beacon and unfortunately he thought he was many miles away at a much higher altitude hence crashing into the moor, as far as I know the plane had no defects.
I think he miscalculated where he was and crashed into high ground , believing he was in lower ground.
How much power does it need ?,and where from ?
Not sure how much. It will draw power from the mains
Does anyone remember the great Manchester radio voice Roger Moffat ? He was before my time but my dad and his mates used to drink with him in Town. Apparently old Rog was a bit of a lush and would stagger out of the pub completely p*ssed. An hour later he would read the local news perfectly, apparently quite sober. What a professional!
Great stuff 😀
Thats my forth video on this Sunday 11th Sept 2022, a big thank you and its raining in mid cheshire again. Ps we had a Finlandia TV rented from Granada a good set 26inch screen.
Cheers William, I used to tune those bloody Finlandias in 😄
Can you comment on Life on Mars, the TV series? For example, was it really shot in Manchester?
Hello, I know definitely parts of it were, I think I saw them filming one scene 👍🏼
I nearly got them all same as Mr Grange says below, except the last one, I remember the voice but never knew the name. I think 6 is Tony Wilson.
Yeah, well done 😀
Spotted you raving on the hill😂😂
Oh man I remember Granada. My mum and dad rented an Atari 2600 from them for the summer back in '84. Granada Canada had some really aweful commercials on the telly.
Renting an Atari 😆👍
@@MartinZero I think we also rented a VHS player as well. Lol I was 11 then and I'm STILL a gamer today ☺
@@MartinZero Visionhire,Granada,Radio Rentals,Nems and Stuart and Dorfmans all used to rent TV,s starting with the old Black and White ones, my Dad used to buy the ones there TV Service Engineer's couldn't fix and we would repair and sell them for a £5 that's how I learnt about electronics as a lad. Always remember the 1st colour tele I ever repaired age 15 and I was paid £10 for the parts an labour😊 I remember colour TV,s where very very expensive and heavy they cost more than a car when they 1st came out, hence the reason why so many people rented them. Got a shilling for the meter on the back of the TV 😉👍👍
Miss this version of you Martin, your vids were much better with just you, and occasional splash of music too!
was Winter Hill also known as the Belmont transmitter?
Possibly, But I only know it as Winter Hill
@@MartinZero Belmont is in north Lincolnshire. The next large mast to the east is Emly Moor (Huddersfield), which fell down in the late sixties. I was about 10/11 at the time and remember people in South Yorkshire had to move their aerials / retune their sets to Winter Hill or Belmont while they repaired the mast. Bet a few Granada lads had to help with that?
@ 6:00 music. World in Action, Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected, Picture Box, Thames Television intro, The White Horses, So It Goes presented by Our Tony❤️, Coronation Street, BBC2 closedown announcement.
Realy good that Martin
With a transmitter pushing out gigawatts its a wonder you didnt loose control of the Drone !
Wow I was a girl when most of those programmes came out, I was probably one of the only kids in my class that liked picture box lol, I used to be mesmerised by that spinning box haha (I was born in 1968) x
Same here Sue. I watched far too much telly when I was a kid! I remember watching the World In Action credits with the Da Vinci guy and how depressing the program was. Also, World at War, which was on Sunday night so not only was I depressed about having to go to school the next day, I watched that to lower my spirits even further! Happy days the 70s!
Haha, intro reminded me of Life on Mars....
Bloody hell, picture box theme music. Was always a bit creepy
Go cycling up that hill in summer.... get to the top blowing out of my arse lol . My mate who goes with me is a machine and doesn't even get out of breath. The views are amazing in summer. Snowdonia , Blackpool tower , isle of man all easily viewed....... You should have visited the gardens on the other side near the pike
Yes I agree with you it’s incredible up there Mersey estuary as well 👌😃
that World in Action music used to put the fear of god in me as a child. I was always about plane crashes or murders etc.
Still haunts me
World in Action , Tales of the Unexpected and Coronation Street are the only ones I can name .
my mums boss Fred Kennish survived the winter hill plane crash, he was co owner of Crosbie, cain and kennish on the isle of man.
Wow !!!
When you’re over on the other side why not do something on the Emley Moor transmitter site and the tower collapse there.
I actually made a video on Emley moor and never put it out Stephen
Can see why you like OMD with dance moves like that!
Of course 😀
Do you remember the days when you had to tune the tele ? 😳 yes unfortunately I can lol 😂 📺📡📻🎛🎙💶📢🗼🎩🕵🏻 where is Sherlock Holmes when you need him?
I used to tune tele's for a living 😀